A week of conference meetings in Birmingham UK with British Psychological Society (BPS), and to finalize my inauguration as a UK Chartered Psychologist is based on one premise: the future of my work will be through a collaborative international practice in providing support to families across continents. APA and BPS, it’s time to set up a method of reciprocity beyond a simple memorandum.
Let’s face it: The world has changed. They come with diverse, multicultural needs. Many of us work globally with individuals living in more than one country, and more than one family. Families move, and continuing treatment is crucial. Psychology knows it can no longer treat ‘health’ by putting one peg into one hole; it now is faced with multiple pegs in multiple holes. We multi-task to incorporate multiple time zones.
If we believe in ‘health’ to global families then we should do more than providing it better through a world wide distribution through professional association. The world is shrinking, while shrinks’ activities are increasing in fashion and form. It’s time for psychologists to visibly participate in the global economy of health welfare, and to start talking to professional organizations like APA, BPS, and EFPA about global reciprocity. Perhaps, in this way we as psychologists can serve the global citizens of the new world.
Dr Burdick, Chartered Psychologist plans to speak as part of a panel discussion on the subject of international cooperative reciprocity between APA, BPS, and EFPA next May in Liverpool, UK.