“You are growing into consciousness, and my wish for you is that you feel no need to constrict yourself to make other people comfortable.”
-Ta-Nehisi Coates, Between the World and Me

This quote from the text Between the World and Me by accomplished American Author, Ta-Nehisi Coates, describes the experience of being Black in the United States. This poignant message should also be communicated to psychologists seeking to serve as advocates of systemic change. Our field is often guided by principles based on “things that have worked in the past,” and it can be difficult to implement new perspectives, policies, and procedures, yet doing so is essential to the provision of equitable care and the production of representative research. We must ask new questions, pursue novel methods, and challenge the status quo regardless of resistance based on cultural discomfort (one of the constructs described in Owen’s 2013 framework of multicultural orientation). Through our selection of the special focus for the past four issues, “Social Justice in Psychotherapy: Bringing Advocacy and Interdisciplinary Perspectives to the Forefront,” we have intended to elicit content focused on broadening our conceptualization and understanding of psychotherapy, and we are thankful for the unique contributions you have made to this publication and to the Division at large.

This year has been a productive one at the Bulletin. We have put effort into calibrating and refining our editorial process, and with your help, we have been effective in disseminating timely and informative publications. Thank you to our editorial team members, Stephanie Winkeljohn Black (Associate Editor), Kate Axford (Editorial Assistant), Sree Sinha (Editorial Assistant), Kourtney Schroeder (Internet Editor), and Zoe Ross-Nash (Associate Internet Editor). We also wish to express our true appreciation for Resident Bulletin Expert, Tracey Martin. To the domain representatives and thoughtful authors who submit pieces, we have valued your time and the dedication you put into shaping our publication into the engaging medium for the exchange of ideas that it has become.

In this final edition of the year, we have a collection of thought provoking articles whose content is broad in scope. You will also find a column from our President, Dr. Clara Hill, which describes her Presidential Initiative and the thought process behind it. Under the leadership of Dr. Hill, the Division continues to thrive in spite of the very challenging times that have pervaded 2021. We admire your productivity and look forward to the ideas and insights you will communicate in 2022. With that said, we welcome your submissions and plan to operate on the following schedule of deadlines: January 15^th, April 15^th, July 15^th, and October 15^th. Your writing serves as an important mechanism for members of the Division to remain engaged and apprised of contemporary issues that we face as a field.

As concern about COVID-19 variants continues to rise, we at the Bulletin wish you and your loved ones a healthy and safe holiday season. We continue to acknowledge that providing any direct care at this time (in person or via telehealth) is accompanied by a sense of fear and stress that is shared by clients and therapists alike. It is our overarching goal that the bulletin serve as an outlet for you as you reflect on your experiences and think critically about your position and power as a member of our profession. For submission guidelines or to write for the Bulletin, visit our website at http://societyforpsychotherapy.org/bulletin-about/. Please reach out with questions to joanna.drinane@utah.edu. See you in the New Year!

Thank you,
Joanna

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Joanna M. Drinane, Ph.D.