President's Column:
Playing to Where the Puck is Going to Be

Rob Heffer
 

“A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be. ”
        Wayne Gretzky

I really do not follow hockey. I do enjoy following the Houston Astros and Aggie baseball. However, I was struck by the words of "the Great One," Wayne Gretsky. In hockey, baseball, or many other arenas of life, we can play where the action is now or anticipate where the action will be-and move the game in a purposeful and meaningful manner. I have appreciated being on the ADPTC team because we are not simply reacting to changes in the field, but are actually shaping where the field will be in the future. Now that is satisfying!

As many of you know we had considerable discussion in San Diego about the positive experiences we had as individuals and as an organization by cooperating with APPIC in our Mid-Year Meeting (and their Biennial Meeting) in April. The consensus was that we accomplished in our meetings each aspect of the ADPTC mission as stated in the By-Laws:

"ADPTC has established a multipurpose mission and specifically seeks to: (a) promote high standards of professional psychology training and practice in psychology training clinics; (b) facilitate the exchange of information and resources among psychology training clinics that provide pre-doctoral practicum training in professional psychology; and (c) interface with related professional groups and organizations to further the goals of ADPTC, including influencing the establishment of standards and guidelines on service delivery and training of future psychologists."

I am grateful to the many ADPTC members who were part of the planning and successful completion of the 2007 Mid-Year (like Randy Cox and Rick Schulte), as well as the speakers, attendees, and APPIC Board and Program Committee members. Well done! Jeff Baker and Steve McCutcheon from APPIC were especially hospitable and integral to ADPTC's success in this collaboration.

Also given considerable discussion in San Diego was a suggestion by Frank Collins, our guest from the Council of University Directors of Clinical Programs (CUDCP) for ADPTC to similarly collaborate in their annual mid-winter meeting January 17-20, 2008 in San Antonio, TX. The Council of Health Psychology Training Programs (CHPTP) will also meet during part of that time. The CUDCP meeting theme is "Practicum Training." Of course ADPTC would be open to a similar invitation to participate in meetings with organizations, such as the Council of Counseling Psychology Training Programs (CCPTP) or the Council of Directors of School Psychology Program (CDSPP). In San Diego, we discussed locations for an ADPTC Mid-Year meeting in places such as Virginia Beach, Miami, Chapel Hill, and New York City.

The consensus in San Diego was that ADPTC should continue to consider collaborations through joint and parallel meetings. In fact, our collaborations to date with APPIC-and also ACCTA-seem to be a model for the CCTC 2010 Joint Councils' Conference February 10-13, 2010. In addition, being a vital part of the discussion of how best to train counseling, school, health, and clinical psychologists allows training clinic directors to offer their unique skills set and to "have a place at the table."

After San Diego, ADPTC received an invitation from CUDCP to participate in meetings in San Antonio. Based on the ample discussion among ADPTC members in San Diego and on numerous emails exchanges among the ADPTC Executive Committee, Council of Past Presidents, and others, the Executive Committee voted to develop our 2008 Mid-Year Meeting with CUDCP to be held January 17th-20th at the Sheraton Gunter Hotel in San Antonio, TX. We have made arrangements to work with Kris Morgan of KMJ Associates, Inc. as a meeting planner (e.g., negotiating guest room rates, meeting rooms, catering, and other hotel/organizational tasks). She has planned meetings for CUDCP for several years. We have given her the structure for the meetings ADPTC requires based on our history of mid-year meetings and on the feedback received from San Diego attendees. Of course, our ADPTC Program Committee will be responsible for program content. We have a handful of ADPTC members in Texas on whom we will rely for some local planning.

I am grateful to folks like LaTrelle Jackson, Kim Fuller, Erica Wise, and Joe Scardapane who voiced willingness to host a mid-year meeting. ADPTC is blessed with creative and generous members.

Mark your calendars! We next meet in San Francisco for APA and then in San Antonio next January. The community of professional psychology doctoral trainers seems eager to interface with ADPTC. These are excellent opportunities to promote the strengths and interests of training clinic directors and to benefit from the strengths of other training organizations. Let's be wise to discern where the "puck" will be and, in fact, contribute to the direction of change in our own training clinics and the broader continuum of practicum, internship, post-doctoral fellowship, and licensure.

Rob