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Society of Indian Psychologists

History

The Society of Indian Psychologists (SIP) in the only freestanding professional association for American Indians and Alaska Natives who are psychologists or psychologists in training. The society emerged from two interest groups: one created during the late 1960s by Carolyn Attneave, the other founded in the early 1970s by Joe Trimble. Attneave formed a national network of Indian psychologists among people she had identified as having an American Indian background. Trimble formed an interest group of Indian psychologists when he was a student at Oklahoma City University. In 1973, Attneave changed the name of her network to the Society of Indian Psychologists. Trimble later integrated his group with the SIP. Since then, the SIP has grown to include more than 110 American Indian and Alaska Native psychologists. However, the number of American Indian and Alaska Native psychologists is unknown because many do not join the SIP or the American Psychological Association.

Goals

Currently, the society's goals focus on improving the mental health of all American Indians and Alaska Natives, enhancing positive relationships among Native people, and promoting ideas to improve the quality of their lives. The organization serves as a support network for American Indian and Alaska Native psychologists through its listserv and an annual meeting; its goal is for members to assist one another in career development and to recruit more American Indians into the field of psychology. Finally, the society aspires to advance psychological services for all Native peoples of the Americas (see http://www.geocities.com/indianpsych/aboutsip.html).

Membership

Membership in the SIP is open to anyone of any career background who has an interest in the mental health concerns of American Indians and Alaska Natives. An annual SIP conference is held each June in Logan, Utah, under the auspices of the American Indian Students Program in the Department of Psychology at Utah State University. Officers— president, past president, president-elect, secretary, treasurer, and three graduate student liaisons—are elected at this meeting. In addition, the SIP offers a Web site and a listserv. The Web site offers information for students such as internship sites, graduate study programs, and scholarship information.

  • Society of Indian Psychologists
  • American Indians
  • Indian Americans
DianeWillis
http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781412952668.n193
See also

Further Reading

Trimble, J. E.(2000). American Indian psychology. In A. E. Kazdin (Ed.), Encyclopedia of psychology (pp. 139–144). New York: Oxford University Press.
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