Motivate to advocate

MOTIVATE TO ADVOCATE Political Advocacy, Leadership, and Organizational Strength John D. Gavazzi, PsyD, ABPP

Political Advocacy: What is it?
The act of pleading or arguing in favor of something, such as a cause, idea, or policy; active support.
Psychologists have varying expectations about the purpose and function

Political Advocacy: Why do we need it?
No one else will look out for psychology and our patients
Educate legislators and the public on the importance of psychological services
Give voice to those who have none or are fearful to express their concerns

Political Advocacy: Why do we need it?
Rights: Concerned with law, social structures, and patient protection
Mental Health Parity
Organizational: Inclusiveness, community building, and working toward something beneficial; rally around a cause

Pitfalls of Advocacy
Psychologists must focus on the topics that they are advocating
Easy to get lost in the technical aspects of advocacy
Fear and intimidation because advocacy can be seen as outside of our comfort zone

Psychological Concerns
Challenging authority: Anxiety and conflict avoidance
Social loafing: The belief that someone else is responsible for advocacy
Isolation: Many psychologists practice alone and lack a comprehensive understanding

A Day in the Life
Wake up to the radio
Have a cup of coffee
Drive to work
Check email
Restroom Break
FCC regulation of spectrum
Trade tariffs on coffee beans
Government roads and maintenance
Government regulation of telephone service
Local sewer overflow regulation
Activity
Governmental Issue

Whether you like it or not….
Many of the rules and regulations do not rise to the level of conscious awareness.
Why is that?
What do we need to do about it?
Government regulation influences many things that we do in our lives, including the air we breathe, the food we eat, how we drive, etc.

What is the overarching message?
Political Advocacy is part of our professional responsibility
By not becoming involved in political advocacy, the psychologist is engaging in social loafing behavior and “free rider” mentality.

You are taking a leadership role
By participating in advocacy and the Pennsylvania Psych Association

Political Advocacy: Broader View
Depth of feeling and commitment to advance a cause
Going beyond the call of duty, truly an aspirational ethic
Stresses vision, voice, and choice
Passionate volunteerism: Making the world a better place (Exercise about career choice)

Stages of Change: Advocacy
Pre-contemplative
Contemplative
Preparation
Action
Maintenance

First Step: Find your passion
Why is advocacy important to you?
Why is advocacy important to your patients?
Why is advocacy important to your job and profession?
Is it part of your aspirational ethic?

How do we message it?
Take into account political, socio-economic and professional circumstances
Language of psychology and our culture
Trustworthy and Credible
Informs, Convinces, and Encourages (ICE)
Treats members/psychologists with respect

Relationship Building
Start with similarities (bonding)
Talk about your excitement and enthusiasm about political advocacy (modeling)
Provide some concrete examples of how political advocacy has helped your practice (sharing)
Expand on how laws or regulations have helped the other psychologist’s practice (education)

Relationship Building
Multiple contacts or sources of information (repetition)
Creating a reason or passion (motivation, fear)
Outline options for involvement: Start low and go slow (Foot in the door technique)
Invite to Advocacy Day, encourage to respond to legislative alerts, contact legislators directly

“ Modern” ways of outreach and repetition
Web sites
Listserv
Email
Facebook
LinkedIn
Twitter
YouTube
Social networking sites

One contact, one conversation, one statement, one email, one tweet, one phone call, one article, one blog post, one meeting, one text at a time.
We can build organizational strength and value through advocacy.
Building a Community of Advocacy

What are you signing up for?
To be a leader…

Building Organizational Strength through Advocacy
Part of the culture of PPA needs to be that advocacy is an important component to our professional responsibility (Print, social media, etc.)
Needs to start at the Board of Directors level and work down toward the committee members
Supervisors, professors, mentors, and peer contacts need to acculturate psychologists to political advocacy

Reminding psychologists (and ourselves) of our legislative successes
Mental Health Parity
Helped to ban corporal punishment in schools
20 year effort to establish psychologists to practice psychotherapy in private practices as INDEPENDENT practitioners
Major force for recognition under Medicare (in conjunction with APA)

Advocacy includes
Political activity in service to our clients, our community, our citizens, and our profession
Leadership skills, either within the formal hierarchy of PPA or within our community of psychologists
A process to build better organizational unity and value

Questions
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Testimony
Grand Finale

Motivate to advocate

by John Gavazzi on Jan 03, 2012

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