Naloxone Publication

Recent article published on work my colleagues and I are doing to educate providers in order to increase their rates of naloxone prescriptions in a Primary Care setting.

Medical providers' knowledge and concerns about opioid overdose education and take-home naloxone rescue kits within Veterans Affairs health care medical treatment settings: (2017). Medical providers' knowledge and concerns about opioid overdose education and take-home naloxone rescue kits within Veterans Affairs health care medical treatment settings. Substance Abuse: Vol. 38, From Education to Practice: Addressing Opioid Misuse through Healthcare Provider Training, pp. 135-140. doi: 10.1080/08897077.2017.1303424

Migrating to our New Website

To all the followers of this blog, please be advised that the blog will be permanently migrating to MOPA's new website at www.mopaonline.org.  The blog will be embedded within the website  under the "News" section.  http://www.mopaonline.org/news-blog.html All of the old posts with the exception of the advertisements have also been migrated to our new site.  Thank you for your interest and I hope you will take advantage of our amazing new website.

Richard P. Martielli, Ph.D., ABPP
MOPA President

MOPA was well represented at the 2012 APA State Leadership Conference in Washington, DC.  Our delegation consisted of (L-R), Denise Bike (Student Rep), Ellen McLean (Executive Director), Richard Martielli (President), and Liz Grodsky (Federal Advocacy Coordinator).  We made Hill visits on Tuesday, March 13th.  The 3 issues covered were:

• Replacing the SGR with a system that values cost-efficient psychological services. 
• Adding psychologists to the Medicare “physician” definition
• Making psychologists eligible for the HITECH Act incentives.

We met with staffers from the offices of Sen. McCaskill, Sen. Blunt, Rep. Long, Rep. Clay and Rep. Emerson.

CAPP Grant

Click here for the CAPP Organizational Development Grant acceptance letter. This provides major funding for the ongoing operations of MOPA.

March Update

This was sent out as an email to all MOPA members:
Dear fellow psychologists,

I'm writing to keep you up to date on the activity of MOPA over the past month. 

• We successfully have amended HB1032 to include psychologists as qualified professionals who can conduct adoption evaluations. We should have been included from the beginning, however, this is one of those situations where having a lobbyist who continually tracks legislation of interest and fights for our profession pays off.  Without our member dues, we couldn't afford our lobbyist and without our lobbyist, pieces of legislation such as this would go unnoticed much too often.
• MOPA has officially offered its support via testimony and written letter of support for both SB742 and HB1490 - both of which require insurance companies to respond to applications for credentialing by providers within 60 days.  This ensures that insurance companies don't just "sit" on psychologists applications indefinitely while they await a decision and patients go untreated.   
• On Februry 29th MOPA's APA Council Representative Brick Johnstone, MOPA's Medicaid Task Force Chair John Howell, and our lobbyist met with representatives from MOHealthNet (Medicaid) to discuss including Health and Behavior Codes as reimbursable codes under Medicaid and negotiating the parameters of the current cap (150 hours) on billable hours per calendar month under Medicaid. Medicaid was receptive to our ideas and everyone left the meeting feeling optimistic.  
• HB1509 would mandate insurance carriers to cover services related to Eating Disorders.  This bill has great potential for expanding opportunities for practice of psychologists, but there are also a lot of concerns from our perspective as well as a lot of kinks that would need to be worked out for this bill to pass both House and Senate.  Right now we are focusing our efforts on making sure that psychologists are recognized as providers that offer evidence-based treatments that are considered "best practices" to patients with EDs.  Right now the bill is using APA's (American Psychiatric not American Psychological) practice guidelines (click here) as their main reference.  Despite this, even within APA's PG, psychologists are mentioned throughout, oftentimes as providing the most effective type of treatment (CBT for example).  I have spoken with Dr. Jillon VanderWal, an ED researcher at SLU this week about this bill and she has offered great insights into what our best plan of attack should be. I'm also planning on talking with Dr. David Garner, founder of the River Centre Clinic in Ohio (an ED Clinic) who has published extensively in the field on EDs and more importantly has worked with legislators in Ohio to pass similar legislation.  
• HB1082 is back (giving LPCs authority to diagnose), but our lobbyist is on it and has at the ready our detailed rebuttal to why this would be a bad idea. So far this should be enough to keep the bill in check, as the sponsors don't want to pursue it if there is opposition from other parties. 
• Next weekend I, and many others from MOPA are headed to the APA State Leadership Conference in Washington, DC where we will connect with other STPAs and learn valuable insights from APA leaders from the Practice Organization and Practice Directorate on how to best advocate for our profession at the state level.  We will also have a Hill visit where we will meet with Senators and Representatives to discuss issues affecting psychologists nationwide.  
• Lastly, I wanted to put in my regular plug for our Annual Convention which is just a few short weeks away (March 23-24).  Chuck Hollister, our President-elect has done a great job planning this event and it will truly have something to offer everyone - students, ECPs, as well as seasoned psychologists. Click here for more details.

As you can see, there is a lot going on behind the scenes of MOPA and we are hard at work advocating for the best interests of Missouri psychologists. Please feel free to email me with any thoughts, suggestions or concerns.   

Yours in service,
Richard P. Martielli, Ph.D., ABPP
MOPA President
Website: MOPAPresident.blogspot.com
Twitter: @DrRichMartielli
Facebook Page: Missouri Early Carerr Psychologists

Men’s Sexual Health Group

Men’s Sexual Health Group
Develop Healthier More Fulfilling Relationships

This group is a safe environment for open and honest dialogue
regarding sexual health and relationship concerns such as:
- Sexual Compulsivity and Addiction
- Intimacy and Relationship Concerns
- Values Conflicts and Fidelity Issues
- Sexual Trauma and Acting Out Behaviors
- Infatuation, Pornography, and Perfectionism
- Performance Anxiety and Attraction Changes
- Sexual and Gender Identity Concerns

Facilitated by Jeff Lubsen, LGBT-Affirmative Therapists Guild
(under supervision of T. Michael Henderson, LPC, LCPC)

Wednesday Nights 7:00pm-8:30pm
Good Samaritan Project
3030 Walnut, Kansas City, MO
(beginning March 14th, 2012)

Seating is Limited - Pre-Registration Required:
http://www.jefflubsen.com/group1.html

More Information at: jeff@jefflubsen.com or 816-912-8945
Click here for flyer.

Vote for Board Members!

It is time to vote for MOPA Board members. This year we are electing a new Treasurer and our next President-elect-elect.  The nominees are:

President-elect-elect
Board Nominee: Keisha Ross, Ph.D.
Petition Nominee: Mark Bradford, Psy.D.

Treasurer
Board Nominee: David Black, Psy.D.

As of Saturday, only 6% of the membership had voted, so please make your voice heard and participate!

Go to the MOPA Homepage and click MOPA 2012 ELECTIONS: Vote HERE!

Free CEUs!

One in three U.S. Service Members returning from Iraq or Afghanistan experiences signs of combat stress, depression, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or symptoms of a traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Only 50% receive their health care through the VA. Other vets and their families will seek care in community settings. Primary care, community mental health clinicians and other providers want to be prepared.

The Red Sox Foundation and Massachusetts General Hospital Home Base Program, in collaboration with the VA’s National Center for PTSD, is providing this free, CME/CE-certified educational series of 14 one-hour sessions to help you prepare. It’s our turn to serve those who served us.

Listen and interact with clinical experts who share research, knowledge and experience to help you:

•  Diagnose and treat PTSD and TBI with traditional and complimentary evidence-based therapy
• Recognize and address emotional stresses in spouses, parents, and children of veterans with PTSD or TBI
• Support the needs of military families

Event Details 
Dates: Every Thursday at 11:30 AM ET beginning February 23, 2012
Location: Online; participate in any or all of the 14 sessions, which are also available for on-demand viewing after the live event
Tuition: Free Credits: Up to 1 CME/CE credit per session

Click below to register:

CONTACT Email: mghcme@partners.org

Travel Awards for ECPs attending the 2012 APA Convention

American Psychological Association
2012 APA Convention Travel Awards
for Early Career Professionals

The Committee on Early Career Psychologists is pleased to announce the travel award program for early career members from all areas of psychology (education, practice, public interest and science) to attend the 2012 APA Annual Convention in Orlando, Florida, August 2-5, at the Orange County Convention Center.

Twenty award recipients will receive $750 to be applied toward their 2012 APA convention expenses.  The program is designed to encourage attendance and increase representation of early career members at this year’s APA convention.

All early career APA members (within seven years receipt of their doctorate) are encouraged to apply. Preference will be given to applicants who are first-time attendees, or whose primary work is in basic psychological science or those who will be presenting at the 2012 convention. The submission package must include the following information:

1.    Brief statement (maximum one page) about your interest in attending the convention and how you will use this award to support your attendance. Please highlight any significant achievements in your career as well as any leadership positions you have held as an early career psychologists (within APA, other related scholarly or professional organizations such as state and local psychological associations) and indicate how you believe you would benefit from attending the convention.  Also, please include in your statement if your primary work is in basic psychological science, if the 2012 convention will be your first APA convention and if you will be receiving other funding to help cover your expenses.

2.    If you are presenting at the 2012 APA convention, please include an abstract of your presentation along with the title and the names of co-presenters. Please note that you do not need to be a presenter to be eligible for this travel award.

3.    Include your Curriculum Vitae (the year you were awarded a doctorate in psychology should be clearly stated).

Electronic submission instructions:  Please submit all materials in a single Word document.  Put your name and the name of the award in the subject line (e.g. Jane Smith, Early Career Travel Award).

The deadline for submission of materials is March 23, 2012, midnight (EST). Email or fax all materials to Sonja Wiggins (swiggins@ap.org); fax # 202-216-7628.  Award winners will be notified in April 2012 and will be acknowledged during the Early Career Social Hour sponsored by the Committee on Early Career Psychologists at the APA convention on Friday, August 3, 2012 at 6PM.

Welcome New Member!

Dr. Berman is only the second certified group therapist in greater Kansas City.  He loves conducting interpersonal groups for men and women who wish to deepen their relationships. Also, he sees individuals for issues like depression, anxiety, career problems, and trauma recovery. His website is www.TalkitOutKC.com

February Update

Below is a message that was sent out to MOPA members as part of a February update:

Dear fellow psychologists,
I hope you all are enjoying the unseasonably mild temperatures right now. I'm writing to give everyone some updates about what MOPA has been doing for you.

• We are arranging a meeting with MO Health Net to discuss 1) including Health and Behavior Codes as CPT codes that psychologists can request reimbursement for, and 2) eliminating the cap on the number of billable hours per month allowed for psychologists under Medicaid.
• HB 1082 (Wells) that would grant LPC's to ability to diagnose psychological disorders still has not been assigned to committee since it was second read on January 5th. One justification LPCs give (and legislators value) is the alleged lack of psychologists in rural areas of Missouri, with this bill granting constituents easier access to services.  Of course our rebuttal is that this would mean lower quality of care and potential harm to those same constituents, but we also provided the bills' sponsor (Rep. Wells) a list of Psychologists who work in his district if one should be needed.
• We continue to monitor HB 1032 (Allen) which grants LPCs the authority to conduct a full investigation into whether an individual is suitable as an adoptive parent. Surprisingly, psychologists are not listed on the bill as a discipline that can also conduct these evaluations. We are working to at the very least add psychologists to those qualified to conduct these evaluations and possibly prevent the bill form passing altogether.  We have received feedback from psychologists who conduct these evaluations and they are complex, require specific training and experience (which we belief LPCs lack) and have significant implications on people's lives. 
• Looming over the legislature this year is the budget and Missouri's anticipated $600 million shortfall.
• We are gearing up for our convention in St. Louis at the Regional Arts Center located in the Delmar Loop on March 23-24.  It will be an exciting event filled with great speakers and lots of other events. Hope to see everyone there. More details can be found by clicking here.
• SAVE THE DATE! Our Legislative Day in Jefferson City is scheduled for Wednesday April 4th. More details will be forthcoming as we near the event, but this is our chance to make the voice of psychology in Missouri heard by our lawmakers.  Please join us to meet with state senators and representatives and make a direct impact on the psychology landscape in our state.

Yours in service,
Richard P. Martielli, Ph.D., ABPP
MOPA President
Website: MOPAPresident.blogspot.com
Twitter: @DrRichMartielli
Facebook Page: Missouri Early Carerr Psychologists

Welcome New Member

Welcome to new member, Chris Kaisher.  Ms. Kaisher is currently in graduate school with an anticipated graduation date of August 2012.  She would like to work in a Christian counseling firm in or around Columbia, MO.  When she begins begin to practice she would like to focus on women's issues, boundaries, depression and anxiety.

Division 53 Survey Results

Div 53  (Society of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology) conducted a survey of psychologists regarding their perceptions of how our field will change in the next couple of decades. The results can be found here.

Opportunity for Free CBT-I training

We have elected to participate in a National Dissemination and Implementation grant for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia. Support for this project is pending with the federal government (NIH/NHLBI). As part of the bid for funding we need to have therapists in our association complete a brief 9 item survey. If you have an interest in Insomnia and acquiring CBT skills to treat this disorder, please complete the questionnaire located at www.cbt‐i.com (Login). The Username and Password are Therapist and Survey, respectively. Please note that the survey is for research purposes and is voluntary. Additional information may be found at the above web site or by Contacting the study PI, Michael Perlis (mperlis@upenn.edu).

I have been in talks with Dr. Perlis re: this study and if we have enough therapists complete the survey and express an interest in participating, there is an opportunity to receive free supervised training as well as free manuals associated with CBT-I.  I know that in my practice insomnia is very prevalent and a recent article from the American Journal of Public Health entitled "The medicalization of sleeplessness: a public health concern" discussed how the diagnosis of insomnia has increased from 1993-2007 and how people are being overtreated with "marginally effective, expensive medications with nontrivial side effects".
Link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21680913

PLEASE NOTE THAT INVOLVEMENT IN THIS STUDY IS ONLY OPEN TO MOPA MEMBERS. 

Eliminate the Post-Doc Year?

The issue of whether or not to eliminate the requirement for a supervised postdoctoral year in order to become licensed in Missouri has been hotly debated amongst our Board as well as amongst members.  If you’d like to weigh in with your thoughts, add your comment to the discussion by clicking the "comments" link below.