Shirley Ann Higuchi, Esq ., is the associate executive director of legal and regulatory affairs for APA. In this role, Ms. Higuchi manages all aspects of a complex agenda focused on developing and implementing legal and regulatory strategies to achieve optimal psychologist participation in the health care field. Topics covered include managed care, class action litigation, state health care reform, Medicaid, professional licensing, scope of practice, confidentiality, telehealth, and parenting coordination. Through her work at APA, Ms. Higuchi has contributed to the field of parenting coordination by offering training workshops, developing practice guidelines, supporting research, and helping launch the Office of the Parenting Coordinator in the District of Columbia Superior Court. Ms.
Higuchi is active in the DC Bar, having served on the Board of Governors from 1994 to 2000, as chair of the Bar's Nominations Committee in 2001, and as president in 2003. She recently completed a 6-year term on the Judicial Tenure and Disabilities Commission for the DC Courts. Ms. Higuchi has received several prestigious awards, including the Lever Award, the Honorable Annice M. Wagner Pioneer Award, and the United Planning Organization Community Service Award. In addition to her service to the legal and psychological communities, Ms. Higuchi is chair of the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation, which provides education, policy, and research on the experiences of the Japanese Americans wrongly incarcerated during World War II. Prior to joining APA, Ms.
Higuchi was in private practice with the law firm of Epstein Becker & Green, PC. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan and her law degree from Georgetown University. Stephen J. Lally, PhD, ABPP , is a professor in the clinical psychology program at American School of Professional Psychology at Argosy University, Washington, DC. He is the past president of the National Council of Schools and Programs of Professional Psychology. He received his diplomate in forensic psychology from the American Board of Professional Psychology. Dr. Lally is the past president of the District of Columbia Psychology Association, a former APA Council Representative for DC, and a past member of APA's Committee for Professional Practice and Standards.
He has presented and published in the areas of assessment, ethics, and forensic psychology. Dr. Lally has a part-time forensic and clinical practice in the Washington, DC, area.