American Psychiatric Association Assembly Meeting Report

November 22-23, 2025

By John P.D. Shemo, MD, DLFAPA
Medical Director, Psychiatric Alliance of the Blue Ridge
Associate Clinical Professor,
University of Virginia

The fall APA Assembly Meeting was held in Chantilly, Virginia, with participants from mostly all 50 states, including Alaska and Hawaii, as well as all of Canada and Puerto Rico.

The time spent in the live meeting was truncated in the context of financial restraints engendered in part by federal grant cutbacks. This was compensated for by a significant increase in time spent by the assembly members in online preparatory work, which had both positive and negative aspects. Perhaps the most positive aspect was not having the Reference Committee meetings overlap so members could attend the Reference Committee discussions for all five Reference Committees done over three evenings.

The Assembly reviewed 28 Position Statements and 23 Action Papers. Position Statements are generated by councils of the APA, such as the Council on Psychiatry and the Law or the Council on Geriatric Psychiatry. While Position Statements are presented to the Assembly with a lot of background material supporting and explaining the Position Statement, that which is published is generally worded as succinct conclusions. For example, one Position Statement presented at this meeting was entitled “Position Statement in Opposition to Cannabis as Medicine for Psychiatric Disorders.” The published Position Statement reads as follows.

 It is the position of the American Psychiatric Association that:

• There is insufficient evidence that cannabis is an effective treatment for any psychiatric disorder.
• There is a strong association of cannabis exposure and use with the onset and exacerbation of psychiatric disorders, especially with children, adolescents, and young adults.
• Research on the benefits and harms of cannabis derivatives is critical to improving patient health and reducing harm.
• Cannabis products should have the same oversight as other FDA-approved drug products.

Position Statements, if approved, are in place for five years at which time they are reviewed, updated if this is relevant, and resubmitted. With Position Statements, the Assembly reviews and may debate passage, but may not amend. They must vote to either approve or reject as written. If rejected, the Position Statement goes back to the relevant council for further revision and resubmission.

Action Papers are submitted by members of the assembly but may have co-authors who are APA members but are not in the assembly. They may be endorsed by various entities such as district branches, assembly areas, or allied professional organizations. Again, they are written with often considerable background, research information, and references, but ultimately what is “published” is the “be it resolved” statement at the end of the Action Paper. The Action Papers often undergo a lot of review and revisions by assembly members, Reference Committees, and ultimately potential discussion and debate on the floor of the assembly. The five Reference Committees will have reviewed and revised the Action Papers and present their decisions to support as written, support with revisions, or not support a paper on a consent calendar. Any single member of the assembly can request that an Action Paper be removed from the consent calendar for discussion on the floor of the assembly. All items not removed from the consent calendar are dealt with as recommended by the Reference Committee. Again, as noted, the Reference Committee, during the time leading up to the Assembly Meeting, has had a lot of input on the Action Papers and their various revisions from the assembly members.

At this meeting, eight of the Action Papers were removed from the consent calendar. Most frequently, Action Papers are removed by their original author if the Reference Committee has elected to reject the paper or has made revisions with which the author does not agree, or if a member of the assembly thought that some aspect of the paper required more consideration.

The following Position Statements were approved by the assembly on the consent calendar:

• 4.B.1.: Proposed Position Statement on Resident Physician Suicide.
• 4.B.2.: Proposed Position Statement on Psychiatry Core Rotation in Primary Care Training.
• 4.B.3.: Revised Position Statement on Civil Commitment of Adults with Substance Use Disorder.
• 4.B.4.: Revised Position Statement on Reducing the Burden of Treatment Plan Documentation.
• 4.B.5.: Revised Position Statement on Addressing Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities in    Substance Use Disorder Treatment in the Criminal Legal System. 
• 4.B.6.: Revised Position Statement on Medicaid Coverage for Maternal Postpartum Care.
• 4.B.7.: Revised Position Statement on The Role of the Psychiatrist in Nursing Facilities.
• 4.B.8.: Revised Position Statement on Emergency Department Boarding of Patients with Acute        Mental Illness.
• 4.B.9.: Revised Position Statement on Opposition to Cannabis as Medicine for Psychiatric Disorders.
• 4.B.10.: Revised Position Statement on The Ongoing Need to Monitor and Assess the Public Health and Safety Consequences of Legalizing Cannabis.
• 4.B.11.: Retirement of the 2019 Position Statement on The Use of Cannabis for PTSD.
• 4.B.12.: Proposed Position Statement on Comprehensive Sexual Education for Children, Adolescents, and Young Adults.
• 4.B.13.: Revised Position Statement on Screening and Treatment of Mood and Anxiety Disorders During Pregnancy and Postpartum.
• 4.B.14.: Revised Position Statement on Torture.
• 4.B.15.: Revised Position Statement on Suicide Among Black Youth in the United States.
• 4.B.16.: Revised Position Statement on Protecting the Mental Health of Immigrant Children: A Call for Evidence-Based Reform.
• 4.B.17.: Revised Position Statement on Sexual Abuse of Migrants in ICE Custody.
• 4.B.18.: Revised Position Statement on Psychiatrists’ Input into the Design and Construction of Psychiatric Evaluation and Treatment Facilities.
• 4.B.19.: Revised Position Statement on Banning of Pharmacy Benefit Management Policies that Require the Provision of Dangerous Quantities of Medications.
• 4.B.20.: Revised Position Statement on Access to Second Generation Antipsychotic Medications.
• 4.B.21.: Revised Position Statement on the Neuroscience-Based Nomenclature (NbN) Project.
• 4.B.22.: Retirement of the Position Statement on HIV Risk Reduction.
• 4.B.23.: Retirement of the Position Statement on Antiretroviral-Based Therapy for HIV Prevention.
• 4.B.24.: Revised Position Statement on Ensuring Access to Psychiatric Services for Older Adults.

The following Position Statements were approved by the assembly by floor vote after discussion:

• 4.B.10.: Revised Position Statement on The Impact of Cannabis on Children and Adolescents.
• 4.B.16.: Revised Position Statement on Gender Affirming Care for Transgender Youth.
• 4.B.23.: Revised Position Statement on Carve Outs.
• 4.B.24.: Revised Position Statement on Medical Necessity.

Action Papers approved during this meeting on the consent calendar included:

• 12.B.: Neuroscience-Based Nomenclature for Psychiatric Medications.
• 12.C.: Pharmacogenetic Testing in Psychiatry: Evidence-Based Guidance.
• 12.D.: Advocating for the Availability of Naloxone at Public Schools to Reverse Opioid Overdoses.
• 12.G.: Supporting and Expanding Child Psychiatry Access Programs (CPAP’s) to Address a Child in Adolescent Mental Health Crisis.
• 12.I.: Trauma-Informed Approaches to Gynecologic Exams.
• 12.J.: Addressing Plastic Pollution as a Public Mental Health Issue.
• 12.K.: APA Support of Evidence-Based Prescription of Buprenorphine-Containing Products.
• 12.M.: Evaluating the Greenhouse Gas Pollution from Specific Psychiatric Practices.
• 12.N.: Improving Clarity and Feasibility of the ABPN Maintenance of Certification (MOC) Process.
• 12.P.: Protecting Freedom of Speech, Scientific and Historical Integrity, and Access to Culturally, Structurally Competent Clinical Care.
• 12.R.: APA to Address Effects of Social Isolation and Loneliness on Mental Health Through Provision of Resource Documents and the Creation of a Position Statement.
• 12.U.: Ensuring Equitable Representation of All Seven M/UR Caucuses in APA Special Groups and Task Forces.
• 12.V.: Enacting the Previously Passed Action Paper “Bringing to Fruition the Commitment of the APA to its Prior Action Paper: “Towards Making the Carbon Footprint of the APA Annual Meeting Carbon Neutral.”

Action Papers approved by floor vote after discussion included:

• 12.E.: APA Support of a Holistic Approach in the Diagnosis, Management, and Patient Counseling of Obesity.
• 12.H.: APA Supports and Endorses Board Certification Pathways in Reproductive Psychiatry Through the North American Board of Reproductive Psychiatry.
• 12.L.: Recognition and Awareness of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS).
• 12.O.: Who is Treating Me? Title Misrepresentation and Erosion of Informed Consent.
• 12.Q.: Advocating for the Elimination of Hospital Facility Fees in Outpatient Psychiatric Care.
• 12.T.: Action Towards APA-Facilitated Toolkits to Implement Recommendations on Policies and Practices Affecting Immigrant and Refugee Children and Adolescents’ Mental Health and Development.
• 12.W.: Implementing Voluntary Carbon Offsets for the APA Annual Meeting Attendees.
• 12.A.: Development of a Resource Document Regarding the Assessment and Management of Mild Neurocognitive Disorders and Mild Behavioral Impairment.

You can view all of the above referenced documents on the APA website.

As always, Adam Kaul, Sherin Moideon, and I are available, as your APA assembly representatives, to address your concerns and recommendations within the assembly structure.