Pender Chosen APA’s Next President-Elect

APA’s voting members have elected Vivian B. Pender, M.D., of New York City to become APA’s next president-elect. She ran against David C. Henderson, M.D., of Boston.

Pender is a clinical professor of psychiatry at the Weill Cornell Medical College and training psychoanalyst at Columbia University. A Distinguished Life Fellow, she has served APA in leadership roles at the United Nations and in her district branch, APA components, the Assembly, and the Board of Trustees. She is the founder of Healthcare Against Trafficking Inc. She advocates for diversity, inclusion, and equality. Her recent book is titled The Status of Women.

Pender told Psychiatric News that she plans to focus her presidency on the social determinants of mental health. She intends to concentrate on prevention of some forms of mental illness by eliminating contributing factors. This will be coupled with early intervention tools and equal access to high-quality psychiatric care. Additional use of psychodynamic theory will provide insightful and durable treatments.

“One avenue to accomplish this is through education,” she said. “A more informed society will be able to employ early intervention and create an environment conducive to mental health and devoid of stigma for those who need treatment. Another avenue is prevention. As psychiatrists, we all know there is a relationship between a strong early foundation in life and mental health, and so we must work toward the prevention of childhood trauma and violence. Such experiences include the long-held practice of corporal punishment and the sexual abuse of children. Also, education and prevention can help to decrease the number of incarcerated people who have mental illness, including substance use, and reduce other disparities that exist among women, people of color, indigenous people, the LGBTQ community, people living in poverty, and many other disenfranchised groups.

“We are all global citizens who care about the pollution of our environment, refugees, human rights, poverty, and human decency,” she continued. “As president, I will invite APA members and nonmember psychiatrists to contribute to this endeavor of education and prevention to improve the lives of people worldwide.”