Thank you for this opportunity.
One) Please describe your contributions to the independent practice of psychology, including any positions held and committee work past and/or currently you have made to Division 42.
My entire career has been spent primarily in the independent practice of psychology. A partial list of my contributions and achievements follows:
I have held the following positions in my SPTA:
- Illinois Psychological Association (IPA) President, 2004-2005; President-elect, 2003-2004; Past-President, 2004-5
- Founder and First Chair, Sexual Orientation Section, IPA, 1996-2003
- Member, Council ofRepresentatives, IPA1996-2007
- Executive Committee, IPA, 2003-2006; 2010-12
- IPA Representative to APA Council ofRepresentatives 2010-2012
- Bylaws Revision Task Force, IPA, 2014
- Member, EthicsCommittee, IPA, 2002
I advocated for the following policies and legislation in my SPTA:
- Founded a section on the IPA Council ofRepresentativesfor LGBT concerns
- EstablishedRxPasIPA’s top legislative priority; became law in 2016
- Establishedcommitmenttopursuemandatory CE for IL psychologists; became law in 2009
- Supported a voting seat for IPA Graduate Students
- As President, promoted inclusion of ethnic and racial diversity in IPA leadership
In addition, I servedasDirectorofBehavioralHealthatthe Howard Brown Health Center, Chicago, 2007-8.
At the national level in APA:
- Electedtorepresentindependentpractice on many APA governance boards and committees, includingPolicy&Planning, EthicsCommittee, The Board fortheAdvancementofPsychotherapy, and the Committee on Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity
- President, Division 44 (SOGI); 29 (Psychotherapy) – Botharepracticedivisions
- Member-at-Large, APA Board of Directors, 2008-10
- IL PA Representative to APA Council ofRepresentatives
- Co-authoredProfessional Practice Guidelines for Psychotherapy with LGB Clients, 2001, and ist revision in 2011
- ChairedtheworkinggroupthatdraftedAPA’spolicies on same-sex relationships and on same-sex families in 2004. The policiesprovdeddatafortheAPA’samicusbriefstotheCaliforniaand S. Supreme Courts
- Chaired the first international conference on LGB mental health and policy in 2001
- Longtimememberofthedefunct APP and now of the APP caucus
Contributions to Division 42
- Diversity Representative to APA Council of Representatives,
- Board Member-at-Large, 2012-2014.
- Co-chair, Task Force on Diversity, 2016-
- Chair, Senior ABPP Mentoring Program, 2010-2012;
- Awards Committee, 2010
- Committee on Cultural Diversity in Private Practices, Chair, 2005;
- Co-Chair, Task Force on Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Diversity, 2004.
Two) If APAPO no longer exists in its current form, how do you envision the role of legislative advocacy for psychologists in the future? What measures will you prioritize in order to advance, defend and protect the practice of psychology?
Three) Please state your position and how you intend to address each of these important APA governance concerns:
- The Good Governance Project, particularly the delegation of fiscal and operational responsibilities exclusively to the APA BOD
The delegation has surfaced a number of vulnerabilities in the present GGP model. That is what a trial period is for. The division of responsibilities between the BOD and the COR worked better in concept than the realities have revealed. The trial period has been complicated by the disruptions caused by the Hoffman report and the reasons for it. I do not think we have dealt sufficiently with its aftereffects. It seems to me that they still complicate the delegation. Further, we are awaiting the results of an evaluation of the trial period. I hold to the importance of making data-driven decisions on a matter as significant as this. If I were to choose today, I would recommend not institutionalizing the delegation as proposed but to constitute stakeholders of COR members present for at least four or five years of the trial periods and staff to review and make recommendations. - Accreditation of Masters programs in psychology
COR has recently approved the development of accreditation standards of masters programs. As accreditation programs develop, it will be important to consider the concerns of those who disapproved of this direction. Implicit in this item is the recognition that we in APA have let the horse out of the barn long ago and that masters level practitioners and programs that train them will multiply. It is incumbent upon us in the leadership of APA to distinguish more clearly doctoral level practice in ways the public can easily grasp, e.g., finding a term for masters level practitioners that makes the differences evident. Itmaybeworthconsideringhowtoincluderatherthanexcludemasterslevelpractitionersaspsychologists, e.g., as associate psychologists. - Development of (clinical) treatment guidelines
We are learning the importance of broader collaboration and input more representative of the many schools of psychotherapy during the development of clinical practice guidelines. Further, close attention to the patient population characteristics is critical. I support APA’s definition of evidence that embraces RCT research in the development of treatment guidelines. I also believe, based on extensive work in the development and application of professional practice guidelines, that the distinction between clinical treatment and professional guidelines be made repeatedly to reduce the likelihood of confusion or conflation among psychologists and the public. Clinical treatment guidelines are disorder based; professional practice guidelines are population-based.