Taking stock

As we approach the end of the year, I believe it's a good opportunity to take stock and reflect on everything that we've achieved as a psychological community in 2023.

This year we've seen the most significant updates made to the structure of our Board of Trustees for quite some time, as we have welcomed four non-psychologist trustees – our chair, David Crundwell, and trustees Jon Harding, Matthew Howell, and Kevin Quinn.

With new board chairs Professor Tony Lavender (Practice Board) and Professor Patricia Hind (Education and Training Board) also joining us, there has been an influx of fresh ideas, and I've thoroughly enjoyed working alongside all of them.

We also welcomed Dr Roman Raczka as our new President-Elect following member elections earlier in the year – Roman will begin his term as President in 2024, continuing the new two-year terms that were introduced when I was elected.

The board is united in our view that we want to see a flourishing and well-governed organisation representing psychology and our members, and we're looking to the future with a strong sense of purpose.

As ever, I would encourage members to take the opportunity to get involved in the society's work and help us to deliver for our community.

As President, I have spent much of this year visiting various branches and other parts of the society.

It has been a pleasure to meet people, and to have the opportunity to discuss their work as psychologists. The branches are an important part of the society, as they are open to all members and bring together psychologists from the various parts of the profession.

One of the biggest focuses for the society's leadership recently has been strategy development, and I am delighted that we've now reached a stage where we will be launching this to members in January.

Another aspect of our future planning is the ongoing member network review - dedicated groups comprised of senior leaders, BPS staff, and network representatives have been working together in groups to push forward this work during 2023 in a number of areas, including finance, events, and communications.

We look forward to providing some updates on this work early next year.  

This year has also seen a worldwide renewal of international relationships among psychology associations, which tended to take a back seat as nations struggled with their own issues borne out of the pandemic.

Our colleagues at The European Federation of Psychological Associations (EFPA), however, have continued their work throughout, and as President I attended several of their meetings - the most special of which occurred in Brighton this July as we hosted the European Congress of Psychology, which was deemed to be a highly successful event both by EFPA itself and by those who attended.

I think everyone who attended would agree it was fantastic to spend time together as a psychological community, listening to such a range of incredible presentations, speeches and posters, while also enjoying all the delights of Brighton, despite some very appropriate British summertime weather!

Since then, I have attended a further EFPA meeting in Naples, and an EFPA workshop on climate change. I also attended the annual conference of the Psychological Society of Ireland, and our close relationship with that organisation has continued throughout the year.

Happily, others have also begun to renew their international work this year. I had several meetings with representatives from the American Psychological Association, discussing possible connections and initiatives.

One of these is the establishment of the Global Psychology Alliance, which provides an international forum for discussion of topics that affect psychologists worldwide - members of the BPS have been active in those discussions.

So far, the GPA has produced position papers on psychology and mental health and on the worldwide climate crisis, which are available to our members on our website.

I participated in a discussion panel with the APA President and representatives from Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, and Japan, which covered a variety of topics including recovery from Covid and mental health, how to influence politicians and decision-makers, and important issues regarding diversity and inclusion.

That was at the 87th annual congress of the Japanese Psychology Association, which I attended by invitation, and which was both fascinating and educational. I have frequently been told how much the active involvement of the BPS is appreciated internationally, and I believe that this has been an important aspect of my work as President.

I also participated in three other fascinating workshops - two of them on a Unesco project on teaching social and language skills across the global school curriculum, on the grounds that this might help to develop mental health resilience worldwide.

The third was conducted by the International Project on Competence in Psychology, which is exploring the idea of competence as a common language, both for professional identity and as a basis for international recognition of psychological skills.

Closer to home, it would be remiss of me not to mention the fantastic campaigning work that the society has done to call for funding for NHS Staff Mental Health and Wellbeing Hubs this year.

The campaign has shown the impact that we are able to have when we work together to promote evidence-based psychology and what it tells us about important, real-life issues.

There are too many individual aspects of the campaign to mention them all, but it has seen us attract the support of celebrities on social media, gain fantastic media coverage, work alongside parliamentarians and other organisations, and gain real momentum for the case to maintain dedicated mental health and wellbeing support for health and social care staff.

All this work recently culminated in the publication of a comprehensive report urging investment in these services and making that case in an evidence-led way - give it a read!

As we gear up for the festive season, I'll be taking a moment to think of all of our colleagues working during the break. The work they do is invaluable and remains the driving force behind this project.

Finally, I want to send my season's greetings to all our members and the wider psychological community – it has been a pleasure to meet and talk with so many of you during the year.

I hope that you are able to have a restful break, however long it's for, and I look forward to our paths crossing again in 2024.

- Nicky Hayes, BPS President 2022-24