Advocacy: Advancing Psychology and Public Well-Being

Abstract

Winston Churchill famously declared, 'Americans will always do the right thing... after they've exhausted all the alternatives.' This statement may be even truer in today's hyper partisan political environment. Churchill's comment points to the role of advocates in helping policymakers to select and implement effective solutions. Psychologists, as members of a helping profession, are naturally drawn to advocacy on behalf of public well-being and have the skills to succeed as advocates. Yet, many perceive advocacy as 'confrontational,' 'irrational,' or 'unseemly' and, as data presented later will show, psychologists are more averse to political giving than other health professions. One of the messages of this chapter, however, is that advocacy takes many forms, most of which are well-suited to the skill sets of psychologists. This chapter gives a brief overview of the motivations and methods of policy advocacy, and helps students and early career psychologists identify ways to engage and integrate advocacy into core professional duties. As professionals serving the public well-being within a representative government, advocacy is one of our most important responsibilities to society, the profession, and ourselves (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)