Description: Advocacy has become an ethical, professional, and societal imperative for psychologists working in increasingly complex and inequitable healthcare and community systems. Yet many psychologists receive little formal preparation for advocacy despite widespread recognition that psychologists are uniquely positioned to promote mental health equity, advance human rights, influence policy, and address systemic barriers affecting individuals and communities. This webinar introduces a comprehensive framework for integrating advocacy as a core competency throughout the lifespan of health service psychology education, training, practice, research, leadership, and lifelong learning. Based on the blueprint proposed in Kaslow and colleagues’ Blueprint for Implementing Advocacy as a Core Competency in Modern Health Service Psychology (HSP) Training and Practice, participants will explore how advocacy can be conceptualized within a scientist/scholar-practitioner-advocate model and implemented through eight interrelated advocacy subcompetencies. The presentation will provide practical strategies for developing an advocacy identity, engaging in critical self-reflection, empowering individuals and communities, using data to support change efforts, communicating effectively with stakeholders and policymakers, building strategic partnerships, facilitating systems-level transformation, and influencing policy development. Examples from training programs, professional organizations, and community-based initiatives will illustrate how psychologists can move from recognizing inequities to actively participating in social change. Learning Objectives: 1. Identify and explain the eight advocacy subcompetencies necessary for effective advocacy across education, practice, research, leadership, and policy settings. 2. Apply evidence-informed strategies to engage in advocacy activities, including collaboration, systems-level change, and policy development, while maintaining ethical and culturally responsive practice.
Events
Live Webinar: The Psychologist as Advocate: Blueprint for Training, Practices, and Systems Change

