I am deeply honored to receive the New York State Psychological Association Presidential Award. Although I am not a member on NYSPA, I have long been active in State Psychological Associations (SPA's) in Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Florida, and have long been an advocate for SPA's in APA.

     Why do I advocate for SPA's? Because SPA's like NYSPA are the lifeblood and lifeline of the profession. They are on all of the front lines, including: the state legislatures and the U.S. Congress, where they advocate for scope of practice, parity, patients' bill of rights, and prescriptive authority; the business community where they have developed the healthy workplace awards; and on the very front lines of ground zero where they participated in the Disaster Response Network. State Associations, of course, have a terrific case to make, because psychology is a truly wonderful profession, applicable to every aspect of human behavior, including, in addition to mental health, physical health, education, family life, public policy, corrections, and responding to the threat and impact of terrorism. I love psychology and am passionate about being a psychologist.

     Let me conclude by pointing out that less than 5% of the public holds a doctoral degree of any kind (Ph.D., M.D., Psy.D. Ed.D., J.D., Sc.D. etc). We are therefore the educated elite. As former APA President Pat DeLeon has said, If we take care of society's pressing needs society will take care of us. Hence, our future is as bright as we dare to imagine it to be!

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