Co-hosted with the Division 35, Section 4, Section on Sexual and Gender Diversity
Presenter: Linda M. Woolf, Ph.D.
Overview: My understanding of leadership does not begin with titles or authority, but with questions about who is heard, who is protected, whose knowledge is valued, and who is asked to bear the costs of change. My experiences of marginalization and community have taught me to question whose voices are centered and whose are left out. As a queer feminist psychologist, my path to leadership has emerged from lived experience and long-standing commitments to human rights, social justice, and advocacy within psychology. Early in my career, I was trained in a discipline that often emphasized “bias-free” science, hierarchy, and individual achievement, even as my own experiences of marginalization pushed me to question those norms and to consider how psychological knowledge, institutions, and professional practices can either reinforce or challenge inequity.
In this webinar, I reflect on key transitions in my professional life, from early-career academic work to leadership and service within APA. Across these roles, my work has focused on teaching, global concerns, human rights, social justice, ethics, and advocacy. I have come to understand leadership, teaching, and service as inextricably intertwined, with advocacy serving as an essential expression of psychology. Advocacy involves more than speaking out against injustice; it also means questioning established assumptions, amplifying perspectives that have been marginalized, challenging inequitable systems, and creating opportunities for meaningful participation and change.
These commitments have implications across the breadth of psychology, including clinical practice, where psychological knowledge and professional values can inform how practitioners understand individual distress in its social and cultural contexts, recognize the effects of discrimination and structural inequity, and consider their ethical responsibilities to the people and communities they serve. Advocacy in clinical settings may involve addressing barriers to care, challenging stigma, and recognizing the broader conditions that shape well-being. Beyond clinical practice, psychologists can contribute through research, education, organizational leadership, public policy, and community engagement. Although these roles differ, they share fundamental questions about whose interests psychology serves, how professional authority is exercised, and what responsibilities accompany psychological expertise.
I invite psychologists to rethink leadership not as a path to power or personal recognition, but as a collective, imperfect, and deeply human practice. Such leadership requires us to connect our professional responsibilities with our ethical commitments, to recognize advocacy as integral to psychology’s contribution to society, and to cultivate relationships and communities in which diverse voices can be heard and meaningful change becomes possible.
Learning Objectives:
- Describe how queer feminist perspectives challenge traditional hierarchical and authority-based models of leadership within psychology.
- Identify relational leadership practices—such as mentoring, accountability, and coalition-building—that support equity and inclusion in academic, professional, and organizational psychological settings.
- Analyze the role of advocacy as an essential component across clinical practice, education, organizational leadership, and public policy in psychology.
- Formulate actionable strategies for collective leadership that align professional responsibilities with ethical commitments to social justice, human rights, and community well-being.
About the Presenter: Linda M. Woolf, Ph.D. is a Professor of Psychology and International Human Rights at Webster University with more than three decades of experience in teaching, research, and professional leadership. Her work focuses on human rights, ethics, social justice, peace psychology, genocide and mass violence prevention, and Holocaust education. She is a widely published scholar, award-winning educator, and active leader within the American Psychological Association (APA), where she has served in numerous national leadership roles. Woolf is currently the President-Elect of APA and will serve as President in 2027, reflecting her longstanding commitment to advancing psychological science, education, ethics, and human dignity on a global scale.
Attendees must attend the entirety of the program to receive CE Certificate. A password for the CE Certificate will be given to attendees at the webinar and in a follow-up email.
Cost:
SCP and Division 35, Section 4 Members: Free
Non-Members: $50
PLEASE NOTE: The Zoom Registration Link is in the Course in your Account. Please make sure to register before the webinar.
Cancellation Policy: No refunds will be provided except when SCP cancels the webinar.
The Society of Clinical Psychology, Division 12 nor Dr. Woolf have commercial support for the content of this webinar including endorsement of products, conflict of interest including but not limited to research grants, royalties for books or training, commercial support from companies or pharmaceutical sponsorship.
AI was used to help develop the multiple-choice questions. Additionally, Grammarly was used to polish the abstract language.