SOUTHEASTERN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION
Founded in 1955, SEPA is the largest psychological organization in the southeast and one of largest in the United States. Originally comprised of psychologists in the southeastern states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and Puerto Rico, our members for many years retained their membership and involvement when they moved to other parts of the country. With the 1999 revision of our Constitution, we acknowledged the broadly national flavor of our membership by officially welcoming the membership of psychologists from any state who are interested in the mission and affiliations of SEPA.
The purpose of SEPA is to advance psychology as a science, as a profession, and as a means of promoting human welfare. Our mission is to stimulate the exchange of scientific and professional ideas across the diverse areas of psychological inquiry and application. The professional members of SEPA hold positions in settings such as universities, colleges, business and industry, hospitals and clinics, government, and private practice. In these and other settings, the psychologists of SEPA teach, conduct research, engage in psychological assessment and therapy, serve as administrators and consultants, and publish scholarly works on all aspects of the human experience. The student members of SEPA, from psychology undergraduate and graduate programs throughout the southeast and beyond, reflect the varied interests of their mentors in the behavioral sciences, from the functions of the brain to the actions of nations.
SEPA is unique in many ways. As the first regional psychological association to establish a committee to enhance the role of women in the organization, the mandate of that early committee has subsequently been expanded to include psychologists in underrepresented groups broadly (Committee on Equality of Professional Opportunity, or CEPO). SEPA was also the first regional psychological association to provide continuing education workshops for its members (popular in early days not only for their breadth of scholarship, but also for their location on the cruise ships of the Caribbean). SEPA has historically celebrated the diversity within psychology, and today, the Awards Program of SEPA is designed to encourage and reward presentation of the highest quality research by our professional and student members in both popular and traditionally underrepresented fields of psychological inquiry.
SEPA’s Annual Convention is where it all happens! Symposia and posters, invited experts, award winners, old and new friends meeting at social hours to catch up, network, spark new ideas, plan collaborations, or just relax and enjoy good food and good company in the ambiance of the South.
Membership in the Southeastern Psychological Association is open to students and professionals who share our interests and goals in psychology and would like to join us in this mission.