Robert Sternberg

About the author: Robert Sternberg is the president of the American Psychological Association. He is also a professor of psychology and education at Yale University and director of the university's Pace Center for Child Development. He is the author of Off Track and Our Labeled Children.

Legislation to grant properly trained psychologists the right to prescribe medication should be passed. Psychologists are committed to providing the best treatment they can and need to have the option of prescribing drugs as a supplemental therapy to patients who will benefit from them. Most psychotropic medicines are prescribed by physicians with little training in psychology. Patients who are treated by such physicians lose the benefit of working with a psychologist who can offer psychological therapy to complement the drug treatment.

As an academic...