Deborah C. Baker, J.D. is the Director of Legal & Regulatory Policy in the Office of Legal & Regulatory Affairs of the American Psychological Association's Practice Directorate. Since joining APA in 2004, she has worked with state psychological associations, APA leadership and members, and regulatory bodies on a variety of issues involving scope of practice/licensure, testing, telehealth, prescriptive authority as well as other legal and regulatory issues.
Ms. Baker works with APA governance groups, such as the Committee for the Advancement of Professional Practice (CAPP) and the Board of Professional Affairs (BPA) on legal/regulatory issues affecting professional practice. She has also provided support to several APA task forces, including the joint APA-ASPPB-The Trust Task Force on Telepsychology, which developed the APA Guidelines on the Practice of Telepsychology as well as task forces established to review and revise APA policies on prescriptive authority and designation of psychopharmacology training programs. She represents APA Practice in several outside organizations, including the Coalition for Patients' Rights and the American Telemedicine Association.
Prior to joining APA, Ms. Baker was in private practice working the areas of commercial litigation, corporate, health care, and surety law. She received her bachelor's degree in English/Modern Studies interdisciplinary program from the University of Virginia and her law degree from the University of Richmond's TC Williams School of Law. After graduating from college, she spent two years in Japan as part of the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program sponsored by Japan's Ministry of Education.