Volume 32, No. Most senators and members of Congress are unaware of psychology's basis in cognitive and behavioral science or its broad reach into such areas as aging, educational testing, job safety and treatment of terminal illnesses, to name a few. So far, they've found that their political colleagues generally understand psychological practice, but show little understanding of psychologists' research, training and credentialing.
Perceptions are mixed.
I don't think there's any hostility or negative feelings toward psychology. There's an appreciation of the importance of mental health counseling in general. Secondly, there is lack of knowledge about what we do in counseling and the research literature demonstrating efficacy. There's a blurring of professional groups. There are problems with not making the distinction between what psychologists do in counseling and counseling writ large.