Asian American Psychological Association Research Articles

Richard M. Suinn (1933-2024).

Richard M. Suinn, an eminent psychologist known for his work in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), sports psychology, ethnic minority issues, and professional association leadership, passed away on January 5, 2024, in Fort Collins, Colorado, at the age of 90 years. Suinn was born on May 8, 1933, in Hawai'i. Suinn was an expert in anxiety management and developed the widely used Mathematics Anxiety Rating Scale. He was the first psychologist appointed team psychologist to a U.S. Olympic team, applying his CBT expertise to five Olympic teams. Suinn developed the Suinn-Lew Asian Self-Identity Acculturation Scale, the most widely used measure of Asian American acculturation. He served as a president of the American Psychological Association (APA) where he opened the door for APA presidents of color, and the Association of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT) and a member of the Board of Directors of APA, the American Psychological Foundation, American Board of Professional Psychology, Association for the Advancement of Psychology, ABCT, and the Asian American Psychological Association (AAPA). (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Alternate Cultural Paradigms in Psychology: Long Overdue Recognition and Further Articulations

Many ethnic-acknowledging psychology researchers, practitioners, and their allies have expressed dissatisfaction with Eurowestern, mainstream psychology in the United States as it shows serious shortcomings when used to understand and serve minoritized communities. Eurowestern psychology has been criticized for its imperialistic, one-size-fits-all view of humanity. Accordingly, we challenge the neglect of the history and value of ethnic acknowledgment in psychology perpetrated and maintained by Eurowestern psychology, including mainstream psychology in the United States. We operationalize such challenge by articulating the construct of alternate cultural paradigms, by following it with a series of contributions authored by leading figures from each of the Ethnic Acknowledging Psychological Associations (EAPAs) in the United States, and by closing with a commentary by a renowned scholar in the field. The current article, followed by five separate and distinct articles from authors identified with each of the EAPAs (i.e., the Association of Black Psychologists [ABPsi], the National Latinx Psychological Association [NLPA], the Society of Indian Psychologists [SIP], the Asian American Psychological Association [AAPA], the Arab, Middle Eastern, and North African Psychological Association [AMENA-Psy]), together with a concluding commentary conforms the Special Issue on alternate cultural paradigms in psychology in the United States.

The Asian American Psychological Association

This article provides an overview of the Asian American Psychological Association (AAPA). A brief history is provided, followed by current status and resources, connections to counseling psychology, and implications for the Society of Counseling Psychology and for the future of the AAPA. AAPA was created in 1972 in response to psychology’s neglect of practice and research concerns within Asian American communities and the emergence of “Asian Americans” as a political and personal identity rooted in the shared experiences of different Asian ethnic groups. Since then, the association has been at the forefront of advancing Asian American psychology and the interests of Asian American psychologists. AAPA ties with counseling psychology can be evidenced by significant overlap of professional values and goals and leading counseling psychologists actively involved in both AAPA and Division 17. The article discusses some of the existing resources within AAPA and points out existing collaborations and ideas for future collaborations with Division 17.

Ethnic Minority Psychological Associations and the Society of Counseling Psychology

This article provides a summary of the Major Contribution on the Ethnic Minority Psychological Associations (Asian American Psychological Association, The Association of Black Psychologists, National Latina/o Psychological Association, Society of Indian Psychologists, and American Psychological Association Division 45) and their connections to counseling psychology and the Society of Counseling Psychology. An overview and highlights of common themes are provided and seven recommendations for future connections are explored. This article is one of seven articles that are part of a special issue of The Counseling Psychologist focused on the relationship between the five major Ethnic Minority Psychological Associations (EMPAs) and the Society of Counseling Psychology.

Ethnic Minority Psychological Associations

This article provides the introduction, background and rationale for the Major Contribution focused on five national ethnic minority psychological associations: the Asian American Psychological Association, The Association of Black Psychologists, the National Latina/o Psychological Association, the Society of Indian Psychologists, and the Society for the Psychological Study of Ethnic Minority Issues (Division 45 of the American Psychological Association). The first five articles focus on each of the five major ethnic minority psychological associations and their relationship to the specialty of counseling psychology in general and, more specifically, to the largest professional organization of counseling psychologists, the Society of Counseling Psychology, Division 17 of the American Psychological Association. In the final article, we summarize general trends and make recommendations. In this introductory article, we (a) describe our rationale for the Major Contribution, (b) provide a brief history of counseling psychology’s growing commitment to an inclusive multicultural psychology, and (c) conclude with a brief description of the articles and authors included in the Major Contribution.

History of Asian American psychology.

An overview of the history of Asian American psychology is provided by reviewing the context for the development of the field as well as the early founding of the Asian American Psychological Association (AAPA). The presidents of AAPA as well as key events and conferences are noted. The involvement of AAPA leaders in national mental health policies and activities are reviewed. The substantive areas of Asian American psychology and the education and training of Asian American psychologists are also discussed. The article ends with some comments about the future of Asian American psychology.

Guest editor’s introduction: History of racial and ethnic minority psychology.

Michigan State UniversityBeginning with an observation about the neglect of the historyof racial and ethnic minority psychology in our mainstream pub-lications, this Guest Editor’s Introduction to the special issuemoves on to provide a overview of the contributors and their foci.The special issue consists of seven lead articles covering AfricanAmericans, American Indians, Asian Americans, Native Hawai-ians, Hispanic Americans, the American Psychological Associa-tion (APA) Minority Fellowship Program, and the APA Division45. Commentary articles are provided by two pioneers in the fieldand an historian. A rationale for the special issue, as well assuggestions for its use, is also provided.Any cursory review of the leading books about the history ofAmerican psychology will reveal that there has been little or nocoverage regarding the history of racial and ethnic minority psy-chology. Although it is true that the history of this special subfieldof psychology is somewhat shorter than that of mainstream Amer-ican psychology, there have also been important and significantdevelopments in the subfield during the last 5–6 decades. In orderto take advantage of the success of Cultural Diversity and EthnicMinority Psychology (CDEMP ) as the premier journal coveringissues related to racial and ethnic minority psychology, a specialissue focused on the History of Racial and Ethnic Minority Psy-chology was proposed and accepted.The purpose of the special issue is to provide a snapshot of thehistory and development of racial and ethnic minority psychologyin the United States. It will also attempt to link these historicaldescriptions to possible future developments in the field.Although some of this history has already been published indifferent outlets, much of this literature is scattered and oftendifficult to locate [e.g., Leong wrote a monograph on History ofAsian American Psychology for the Asian American Psychologi-cal Association (AAPA) in 1993, but this monograph is not widelycirculated nor readily available]. Therefore, this special issue willprovide a current and systematic treatment of the topic withinCDEMP , which will be readily available for future generations ofpsychologists.The major goal of the special issue is to document some of themajor accomplishments and challenges faced by racial/ethnic mi-nority psychology from an historical perspective (i.e., past 50–60years). The historical review covered by the special issue wouldprovide important lessons for psychology and for historians whoseek to analyze the development of this subfield of psychology. Assuch, this special issue should be of interest to scholars andscientists, as well as students of history and of racial and ethnicminority psychology.In order to provide a scholarly overview of the history of racialand ethnic minority psychology, some of the leading scholars inthe field were invited to prepare an article covering the significantpeople, events, and associations related to their specific racial andethnic minority groups. This resulted in four articles covering thefour major racial and ethnic minority groups, namely AfricanAmericans, American Indians, Asian Americans, and HispanicAmericans. There has been a tendency for the federal government,through it various departments and agencies, to lump Hawaiiansand Pacific Islanders in with Asian Americans for the sake ofconvenience, even though these groups share little in commonexcept their location in the Pacific Ocean. To counter this difficult-to-justify classification, a separate article on the history of NativeHawaiian psychology was included. In addition, the special issuewill also provide an historical overview to two other importantdevelopments in the history of racial and ethnic minority psychol-ogy, namely the APA Minority Fellowship Program and the APASociety for the Psychological Study of Ethnic Minority Issues,Division 45.The article on African American psychology was written by Dr.Bertha Holliday, Senior Director of APA Office of Ethnic Minor-ity Affairs who had authored the History chapter in the Handbookof Racial and Ethnic Minority Psychology (Bernal, Trimble, Bur-lew & Leong, 2003). The article about American Indian psychol-ogy was prepared by Dr. Joseph Trimble, Professor of Psychologyat Western Washington University and Past President of APADivision 45. Professor Trimble, a leading Native American psy-chologist was assisted by Dr. Mary Clearing-Sky, Odama mother,grandmother, and clinical psychologist who practices in FortMeade, South Dakota. Dr. Clearing-Sky is only one of a handful ofNative American clinical psychologists.The article on Asian American psychology was written by Dr.Frederick Leong, Professor of Psychology at Michigan State Uni-versityandPastPresidentofboththeAAPAandtheAPADivision45. He had authored the History monograph for AAPA which wasreproduced in the CD format in his Digital History Project for theAssociation. Dr. Sumie Okazaki, Associate Professor Psychologyat New York University, coauthored this article with Dr. Leongand both of them also prepared the History chapter in the Hand-book of Asian American Psychology (Leong, Inman, Ebreo, Yang,Kinoshita, & Fu, 2007) with E. J. R. David. The Hispanic Amer-ican article was authored by Dr. Amado Padilla, Professor ofEducation at Stanford University and one of the leading pioneersin Hispanic American issues in Psychology and Founder andEditorofthe HispanicJournalofBehavioralSciences. Dr.Esteban