Comment on DSM-5

The comment period for the new edition of the DSM has been extended to July 15th. To visit the website and read and comment on the proposed revisions, click here.

APA Convention Meetings of interest

The following document (click here) is being circulated amongst SPTA leadership regarding sessions of interest at the upcoming APA Convention in Washington, DC from Aug 4-7 to those involved in psychology practice and advocacy efforts.  For more general information about the convention, click here.

Getting Student Members Involved

I spoke with Stacy Ogbeide, our Student Affairs coordinator, today regarding coordinating the efforts of MOPA's campus representatives in preparation for the legislative session as a means of utilizing our student base in our efforts to advocate for important issues affecting psychologists and future psychologists alike.  I also elicited very valuable feedback from Stacy regarding ways that MOPA can involve our student members more. 

MOPA Member in the news

One of MOPA's members Dr. Helen Friedman was recently intrerviewed by the Washingotn Post regarding sexual compulsion.

For the full story click here.

FREE Membership...

In an effort to boost our membership and as a way to engage early career psychologists in MOPA, the Board recently decided to offer all newly licensed psychologists one year of free membership in MOPA as a way to experience first hand all that our organization does and the great community of people we have here in Missouri.  These members will be given access to our wonderful listserve as well so that they can share in many of the legislative and professional issues that arise on a regular basis that affects the practice of psychology in our state.  After the first year, they will be asked to continue their involvement with MOPA by becoming full members.  Hopefully, this effort will bring more psychologists into our organization and will also broaden the depth and breadth of psychologists that make up our ranks.  If you have other ideas about how  to boost membership, please feel free to comment on this post.  We are always open to new ways to engage more psychologists. 

-Rich

Medicaid and Reimbursement for Neuropsychological Services

I briefly wanted to let the membership know that we are in the very early phases of working on legislation to secure reimbursement for neuropsychological assessment services by Medicaid.  This has the potential to allow those served by Medicaid to receive much needed neuropsychological services and also would allow those who perform this type of testing to be reimbursed properly for their work.  Right now similar legislation exists in a handful of other states - so it can be done - but not without grassroots support form MO psychologists. 

Again, this is in the very early stages, but something that we are working on. If you know anyone who performs neuropsychological assessments in Missouri and who is not a member of MOPA, there is now (more than ever) a direct incentive to become a dues-paying member in order to support this important legalisation.  Updates will be forthcoming on this issue as they unfold. 

Disaster Response Team

Following the disastrous tornado that struck Joplin on May 22, MOPA received calls asking if we had a Disaster Response Team.  While at one point, there was a Chair of our Disaster Response Committee, we had no formal active Chair or members of the committee to heed the call when disaster struck.  At our last Board meeting this became a priority so that we could be better equipped to handle such a situation if it arose again. I am pleased to announce that we now have a Chair of our Disaster Response Committee in Craig Shifrin, Psy.D.  We also have 3 other active MOPA members volunteer their time to the committee that bring to the table extensive experience and training in disaster response (Amongst the members they have developed programs for the UN, received Community Response Team [CERT] training, developed Red Cross training programs, served on local disaster relief committees, responded to Hurricane Katrina, certified by the International Critical Incident Response Stress Foundation in Basic Critical Incident Stress Management, and completed an advanced course in Psychotraumatology for Clinicians).  Some impressive credentials indeed.

It never ceases to amaze me that MOPA has such a wealth of talent in our membership. This is only outweighed by the amount of generosity of our members in volunteering their time and talents despite busy professional and personal lives. Thank you all so much for giving yourselves to this cause and for choosing to help your fellow Missourians in their time of need.  Kudos to Craig and the other committee members for stepping up to serve!

-Rich

Greetings!

Dear fellow psychologists,

I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself to all of the wonderful psychologists that comprise the membership of MOPA.  The gavel officially changed hands at our board meeting on 6/11/11 and I began my year-long term as President of MOPA.  I would like to applaud and commend Dr. Deborah Schlitt, our immediate Past-President for her outstanding work over the past year. She worked tirelessly to protect our practice and was a pivotal force behind many of the legislative issues affecting psychologists in Missouri.  She has certainly left some big shoes to fill.  Looking forward, there are many new and innovative initiatives on the horizon that we plan to pursue.  I hope to utilize all the amazing technology that we now have at our fingertips in order to promote more involvement from our members and to disseminate information in a timely and efficient manner. 

This blog will serve as a source of ongoing updates about the activities of MOPA. Many times these activities occur "behind the scenes" and members aren't aware of all the great projects we are working on.  Hopefully, this blog will bring about some greater transparency.  Also, others can make comments to posts on the blog and easily provide their insights into ongoing activities. 

I am excited to begin the next year and look forward to the honor of serving as MOPA President.

Sincerely,

Rich Martielli