Advancing Psychiatric Thought Since 1946

The Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry is a think tank of top psychiatric minds whose thoughtful analysis and recommendations serve to influence and advance modern psychiatric theory and practice.

FEATURED THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
SPECIAL REPORT
Faith Communities & LGBT Youth
  • The Psychiatry and Religion Committee and the LGBT Committee of GAP have collaborated in producing a publication for faith communities to educate their members about the heightened risks for serious mental health consequences faced by LGBT youth and ways to mitigate those risks; both of these messages are based on research findings.

    Read full report >>

FROM THE BLOG
Helpful Mindset Shifts After A Crisis
  • Here we examine helpful mindset shifts that one can institute after a crisis. We also explain our growing understanding of how these shifts may cause corresponding brain changes too.

    Many of these interventions have been empirically shown to be useful, while the actual state of knowledge about how these interventions affect brain changes is still in its infancy.

    Read full article >>

GAP REPORT
Psychiatry of Workplace Dysfunction
  • Psychiatry of Workplace Dysfunction describes key drivers that disrupt the workplace environment and provides strategies and tools to address problematic behaviors and emotions that place the mental health of employees at risk and reduce the effectiveness of the organization.

    The principles discussed in this book are designed to foster high-functioning workplace relationships, and the authors' psychiatric training, coupled with the breadth of their collective years of business and legal consultation experience, offers unique wisdom about developing and sustaining a relationship-focused perspective at work.

    These insights integrate cutting-edge information with existing research and understanding of the psychological dynamics of the workplace-all clearly presented to speak to an audience of mental health professionals, managers, and employees alike.

    See book on Amazon >>

Adolescent Psychiatry article
Strengths-Based Therapy for Adolescents
  • Description text goes hereThe field of psychiatry has conventionally employed a medical model in

    which mental health disorders are diagnosed and treated. However, the evidence is amassing

    that using a strengths-based approach that promotes wellness by engaging the patient’s assets

    and interests may work in synergy with the medical model to promote recovery. This harmonizes with the patient-centered care model that has been promoted by the Institute of Medicine.

    Read full article >>

GAP BY THE NUMBERS

GAP is composed of over 200 leaders in psychiatry who come together twice a year to debate and think through pertinent issues in psychiatry.

200
1946

Founded in 1946, the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry grew out of the successes in providing modern psychiatric care to our soldiers in the field during World War II. 

32

Our 32 committees consider issues ranging from psychopharmacology to the ethical and moral issues inherent in the practice of a field fraught with technical and human pitfalls.

FROM PSYCHOLOGY TODAY AND OTHER PARTNERS

Talking It Out: Psychological Debriefing After Trauma
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Loneliness Can Occur at Every Life Stage
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Virtual Checkup Doesn't Check Out
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The Return of Syphilis
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The organization of GAP was not a revolution. With the deepest sincerity, the founding group was seeking a way in which American psychiatry could give more forceful leadership, both medically and socially. Although the name may sound presumptuous, it was chosen because of the sense of great urgency that psychiatry should advance, and the belief that by hard work, and teamwork, we could help it do so.
— Dr. William Menninger

Born October 15, 1899 in Topeka, Kansas.

Died September 6, 1966 in Topeka, Kansas.

Dr. William Menninger

Dr. Menninger was a founding member of GAP. He is known as one of the key influences in the development of a psychiatric guide which later became known as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.