APTC
NEWSLETTER
June 2010
Editor: Phyllis
Terry Friedman
Associate Editors: Don Morgan, Vic Pantesco
Web Master: Michael Taylor
Eric Sauer, Ph.D.
Eric
Sauer, APTC’s new president, outlines his vision for APTC. The fact that he was
inaugurated within a stone’s throw of Mickey Mouse does not, in any way,
diminish this vision.
New Name, New URL
Our new
domain, aptc.org, is now up and running. Our old URL (adptc.org) is or will
soon be defunct. The next step will be to change the http to https, for added
security, but we’d been holding off on that until we were able to make this
switch. Soon…hopefully before the next dues are to be collected, so that
everyone can make online payments with added protection.
Clinic Profile: Clinica Viktor
Frankl
Universidad Francisco Marroquin
Phyllis Terry Friedman, Ph.D.
This is
the first of a 2 part series about consultation at the Clinica Victor Frankl in
Guatemala City, Guatemala. Part I describes the clinic and the
educational model used to train psychologists. Part II (November 2010)
discusses the consultation experience. And I barely speak Spanish.
The Briar Patch: Thorny
“Minor” Challenges for Directors
Getting Shredded in
the Corporatization Grinder
Vic Pantesco, Ph.D.
If you
have been detecting some subtle or not-so-subtle pressures “from the top,” it
may be that a national trend in universities has come to your door.
Colleen Byrne, Ph.D.
Minutes
from the 2010 APTC Business Meeting held Thursday, February 11th, 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. at
the Hilton Walt Disney World, Orlando, FL.
Bill Rae, Ph.D.
Bill
stays on his horse and keeps us roped in (see picture in New Officers
section). APTC in the black again.
Tony Cellucci, Ph.D., ABPP
Hear
what other training groups are doing.
Come
meet the new people who make up the Executive Committee. (We begged Bill to not
use his formal getup for the pix.)
A
vintage Bob Hatcher interview, reflecting on historical and current connections
with the Council of Chairs of Training Councils and APTC’s shared history of
late. We also see Bob and celebrate his new Directorship.
Research in the Training Clinic: A Proposal
Jennifer
Callahan & Eric Sauer invite us into a new research enterprise and APTC’s
emerging leadership voice in it. Climb aboard.
Don Morgan, Psy.D.
(Sneak Peek: you have to read about
Melody Gardot)
______________________________________________________________________________
President’s Column
Eric Sauer, Ph.D.
My term as APTC president, started with a bang last February at
the 2010 Joint Conference of Training Councils in Psychology at Walt Disney
World. I am, however, trying not to attach too much meaning to starting
my tenure in the shadows of Mickey Mouse! Although the unseasonably frigid
temperatures sent many of us rushing out to buy warmer, highly overpriced
Disney logo gear, the meeting was wonderfully enriching. APTC was instrumental
in planning this meeting and several of our members also presented papers and
symposia at the conference. This historic conference provided rich
opportunities for our members to interact with educators from all areas of
professional psychology across all levels of training.
APTC is a vibrant and healthy organization. Thus, it seems
that my main job is to keep us going on this same path. Our growth in the last
10 years has been remarkable and we have now become central players in national
discussion about issues such as competency benchmarks, assessing competencies,
and model licensing laws. Despite this growth, we have not lost our basic
mission, which is to support and represent our member directors and their
clinics. I honestly think any of us would be hard-pressed to find a more
collegial, supportive and sharing organization than ours.
In terms of vision, I have previously outlined several areas
that I will focus on during my time as president. I will not reiterate
these here but wanted to underscore an exciting development. By now, all of you
have received an invitation from Dr. Jennifer Callahan and me join our
collaborative research project titled Improving
Mental Health Services in Psychology Training Clinics.
This project, which we plan to launch this fall, marks the beginning of a
collaborative research network for psychology training clinics. In this study,
we will examine critical factors relevant to training clinics such as premature
termination, pre-treatment client education, and recovery rates.
I hope to see many of you at the APA conference this summer in
San Diego. The weather promises to be far better than Orlando. Several of
our members will be presenting at APA and APTC is planning a social hour and
planning breakfast – the details of all of these will be posted on our website
and listerv soon.
Eric
______________________________________________________________________________
New Officers
Meet
the new people who make up the Executive Committee.
![colleenAPTCphoto[1].JPG](image003.jpg)
Eric Sauer, President,
relaxing in Napa. Colleen Byrne, President-Elect, on her way
to/from
working for APTC.
Erica Weiss, Past
President, at the
edge of the
Glenn Askenazi, Member-At-Large.
Daintree Rainforest in
North
Australia.
Glenn is the one on the left.
Karen Saules,(center),
Member-At-Large, with students.
Don Morgan, Secretary, in Antigua, Guatemala.
Bill Rae, Treasurer,
in the great state of
Texas
______________________________________________________________________________
Clinic Profile:
Clinica Viktor Frankl
Universidad Francisco Marroquin, Guatemala City
Phyllis Terry Friedman
I’m at the museum Popol Vol on campus at the Universidad
Francisco Marroquin where I spent two weeks consulting at la Clinica
Viktor Frankl, the training clinic where clinical psychology students at
receive their practical training. For proof, go to:
http://noticias.ufm.edu/index.php/Phyllis_Friedman%2C_en_la_Cl%C3%ADnica_V%C3%ADktor_Frankl
Model
of Training
Professional education and training in Guatemala, as well as
India, Mexico, Central and South America, begins right after high school.
Instead of 4 years of undergraduate education followed by graduate school, as
in the United States, students in psychology, law, medicine, and other
professions go directly from high school to university where they begin
professional training. At the end of a 5 year program, clinical
psychology students in Guatemala receive a Licenciatura, an academic degree
conferring full independence to practice psychology. After receiving the
Licenciatura students work in schools, at clinics, or in private practice.
Students take 6-7 courses for 20 week semesters for 4 years, then work in the
clinic in their 5th year
while still taking 4-5 courses per each semester. Some courses are
general, such as philosophy, literature or math, but most are geared toward
professional training. At UFM course work includes 2 semesters of
cognitive testing, 2 semesters of projective (although the Rorschach is not
taught), 2 semesters of Research Methods, 4 semesters of psychotherapy
interventions, and 4 semesters of psychopathology, as examples. Some
courses are equivalent of an undergraduate course in the U.S. For
example, one of the semesters of Psychopathology is equivalent to an
undergraduate Abnormal Psychology taught in the U. S. Students elect to
train as clinical psychologists, much as U. S. student selects a major: it is
the student’s choice, rather than the program’s.
Practicum
Practicum training in the clinic takes place in the 5th year and is concurrent with classes such as Child Therapy.
Students are required to have 300 hours of face-to-face practice. Fifty
of these hours are for psychological assessments. Students, supervisors,
the clinic director and the Dean all agree that practical training is too
limited.
At
present, supervisors provide approximately ½ hour of supervision per week, and
students may carry 7 or 8 clients. Whether supervision is group or individual
is at the discretion of the supervisor. Most supervisors, including child
psychologists, are psychoanalytic, specifically Lacanian. Others identify
themselves as humanistic, integrative or cognitive-behavioral.
Clients are from the community and are typically referred by other
clients. Most clients are children, with learning problems or experience
of abuse, family violence and/or trauma (from kidnappings, for example).
Adults come to the clinic for treatment for violence, trauma, anxiety,
depression and divorce, and for parent education. The clinic
operates on a sliding fee basis, but income is considered a very private matter
and an insult to ask about. Consequently the therapist asks indirect
questions (“Do you have a car?”) to determine the fee.
Challenges
The profession of psychology in Guatemala is in it’s
infancy. Approximately 1% of Guatemalans go to University, and there are
few Ph.D.s in the country, primarily because the Licenciatura is the necessary
degree for practice. A psychological association was established only a
few years ago, with hopes of developing psychology in the country.
______________________________________________________________________________
The Briar Patch: Thorny “Minor”
Challenges for Directors
Vic Pantesco, Ph.D.
The Thorn: Getting Shredded in the Corporatization
Grinder
The
energies producing and sustaining “corporatization” dynamics in universities
will not leave Directors of Clinics immune. They may arrive with abrupt
speed and immobilize us, much like we might freeze at the sudden appearance of
a mugger on the street. Driven typically and predictably by a money
motive, these are powerful and symptomatic of the current cultural and economic
milieu affecting universities. Recent conversations with both colleague
Directors and various university faculty acquaintances suggest these are not
just local anomalies but more reflective of national activity.
What form might these take? Decisions made without consultation; invisible
decisions regarding budget and resource reduction; attitudinal disregard for a
history of good work and stature among colleagues; clear, perplexing rewarding
of political maneuverers; blaming or putting responsibility for harsh measures
on a Board of Governors or some other "them," "national
trends," etc.; startlingly rapid decay of culture of compassion and
respect; proliferation of initiatives, evaluation measures, or forms, for
example.
The arena most activated of course is that of budgets. Many things can be
justified in the name of saving money, or, its twin, generating more
income. Can one argue against anything done in the name of these
sacreds?
Within that context, many things may alter or suffer within the culture.
Sense of value, including professional, programmatic, and personal, may all get
worked over. One’s orientation also gets challenged in terms of the
“rules” having changed, and very quickly. Certain language begins to gain
traction, with particular phrases and initiatives assuming canonical stature:
to challenge or violate them is to risk excommunication (sometimes literally
from the job or institution).
To Dull the Pain
I found
myself talking to friends and colleagues in Orlando in February. As
usual, this wonderful group candidly and sensitively shared their experiences
of these things during the past couple of years. I was both comforted and
disturbed that such respected friends with national stature were not immune to
these dynamics. The comfort lay in the peace afforded by communal
awareness.
A second anodyne is a reliable compass in distress and disorientation:
reading. I found Gaye Tuchman’s excellent sociological book: Wannabe
U., and Cary Nelson’s No University is an Island.
The political and economic forces mobilized in the University position
Directors, I think, as particularly vulnerable. My friends and books also stir
within me a desire for some action amidst the clearer evolving picture of money
and power. I am not sure what it can or will be, but just thinking about
it makes me feel better. To the degree clinics and departments are under
siege by these described corporatization dynamics, the feeder systems of the
profession may be at risk.
Vic getting some much-needed therapy from his rock troll
therapist on Block Island, RI.
______________________________________________________________________________
CCTC: MAKING HISTORY
Friday, February 12, 2010
Hilton Hotel, Walt Disney World
http://www.psychtrainingcouncils.org
Seven hundred members
from eleven psychology training councils, including internship directors,
directors of clinical training, school psychology programs, counseling
psychology programs, professional schools, and the VA training council, came
together in Orlando, Florida, to discuss the future of psychology
training. Competency, core knowledge and skills needed to prepare
trainees for careers in professional psychology were central issues of the
joint conference.
The following is an interview with Bob Hatcher, left, who
chaired the conference. Bob is currently director of the Wellness Center at the
Graduate Center of the City University of New York.
Phyllis Terry Friedman: Congratulations on your new position as director or the Wellness
Center at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York!
Bob Hatcher: Yes,
after 22 years at the University of Michigan, it’s quite a change.
PTF:APA has talked about this meeting as the opportunity for
different training councils to discuss shared vision and interests,
particularly around the area of competencies. But what do you think it
accomplished for APTC?
Bob: It raised awareness in the broader
training community about our organization and what we do. Relative to
other groups, we had a higher percentage of presentations by our group, and
presented a wide mix of approaches to clinical training. We were right
there for people to see – the energy and vitality of our group. We
impressed people with who we are and what we do.
PTF: And
that’s important because. . .
Bob: In the day-to-day, we can lose sight
about where we fit into the larger training world. Everybody being in one
place – meeting one another – helps APTC see ourselves as part of the broader
training world. It also raises consciousness about practicum
training.
PTF: But why
is this important for a director who’s already pulled in a thousand different
directions just trying to operate a clinic?
Bob: I don’t want to lose sight of that,
certainly. That’s our reason for being. But it’s important also not
to lose sight that we’re part of a larger community and have a role to play
because we’re part of a whole training experience.
The conference was designed to highlight the sequence of
training and each step is important for preparing student in the
profession. Practicum training is the first step, the first
experience. And first experiences are powerful. The first training
experience influences later training. We introduce students to
professional values – reflection, diversity, service to others, ethical
thinking. These are formative experiences.
PTF: Sometimes I lose sight of that in the day-to-day dealings
with budgets and HIPAA and dysfunctional web cams.
Bob: Right. My other thought
about the big picture is that APTC, is, in some way, a model for how people
from different training models can work well together. The kinds of
tensions present between different training councils – we’ve managed to deal
with this. Our membership cuts across all training models. It has
great spirit, creativity, and we’re productive and collaborative. We, in
a sense, are not a bad model for how the profession could work together more
broadly.
______________________________________________________________________________
Business Meeting Minutes
Colleen Byrne, Ph.D.
In Attendance: Arnold Ables, Glenn Askanazi, Pamela Banks,
Colleen Byrne, Jennifer Callahan, Linda Campbell, Tony Cellucci, Mary Alice
Conroy, Stephen Cook, Lee Cooper, Randall Cox, Michelle Curtain, Corey Fagan,
Leticia Flores, Karen Fondacaro, Phyllis Terry Friedman, Cindi Gliden-Tracey,
Cathi Grus, Scott Gufstafson, Louise Hartley, Bob Hatcher, Rob Heffer, Maureen
Lafferty, Brian Lewis, Kelly McDonnell, Richard Morrissey, Victor Pantesco,
Bill Rae, Don Robertson, Jennifer Robohm, Eric Sauer, Karen Saules, Brian
Sharplesss, Patricia Stankovitch, Michael Taylor, Debbie Thurneck, Jill
Waterman, Karen White, Douglas Whiteside, Erica Wise, Michael Wolf, and Mark
Zentner
1:00 –
1:05 Overview, Erica Wise
1:05 –
1:10 Friend of APTC Award, Bob
Hatcher
Bob
presented the Friend of APTC Award to Cathi Grus, expressing deep appreciation
for her “pervasive attention” to APTC. Cathi commented on APTC’s energy and
dedication to promote practicum training.
1:10 to
1:20 Friend of APTC Award, Eric
Sauer
Eric
presented the Friend of APTC award to Frank Collins. Jennifer Callahan accepted
the award on his behalf. Stephen Cook, Rob Heffer, Randy Cox, & Erica Wise
gave tributes to Frank.
1:20 to
1:25 Jean Spruill Award, Erica
Wise
Erica
presented the Jean Spruill Award to a very surprised Karen Saules and thanked her
for her tireless work over the years on APTC’s behalf.
1:25 to
1:30 Opening Remarks, Erica
Wise
Erica
thanked Mike Taylor and Karen Fondacaro for all their hard work in putting the
conference together.
1:30 to
1:35 New Executive Committee, Rob
Heffer
· Rob introduced the new
Executive Committee
o Immediate
Past President--Erica Wise
o President--Eric
Sauer
o President
Elect--Colleen Byrne
o Treasurer--Bill
Rae
o Secretary--Don
Morgan
o Members-at-large-- Glenn Ashkanazi and Karen Saules
1:35 to
1:40 Words for Erica Wise, Eric
Sauer
Eric
offered praise to Erica for her work as APTC President. He expressed
appreciation of her unique ability help members connect while simultaneously
reaching out to other organizations.
1:40 to
1:45 Roast of Erica Wise, Bill
Rae, Rob Heffer, and Eric Sauer
In a
star-search-worthy performance, Bill, Rob, and Eric crooned and cajoled Erica
to the tune of “A, You’re Adorable (The Alphabet Song).”
1:45 to
1:50 Future Directions for APTC, Eric Sauer
· Eric will lead APTC these
next two years and hopes to focus on the following:
o Expanding
ADPTC and its membership,
o Using
the practicum competencies document and our collective experiences to promote
excellence in practicum training
o Building
strong relationships within professional psychology through active networking
and liaison work
o Promoting
science through our APA symposium series and other collaborative research
scholarship efforts
o Expanding
our co-sponsorship of the new training journal, Training
and Education and Professional Psychology
o Providing
training and mentoring to new directors
o Advocating
for highly relevant programming at our mid-year meetings, and Exploring the
best ways to infuse technology into our training clinics
Reports from other organizations
1:50 to
2:00 Report from the APA Education Directorate, Cathi
Grus
· This past year the
Education Directorate has been focusing on K-12 psychology education, quality
in practicum training, and the internship match imbalance.
· A TEPP special issue
focused on competence this year.
· The Education Directorate
is working on a Psychology Internship Development Toolkit.
· CESA, the Office of CE
Sponsor Approval, has an online application system.
· There is a movement to
credential High School teachers of psychology classes.
· APA published a new book,
“Undergraduate Education in Psychology.”
· The APA Education
Directorate has a new website.
· Regarding the Education
GRO, there is a $6 million grand to higher education for suicide prevention.
The
2010 GPE Program was increased from $2 million to $2.95 million.
2:00 to
2:10 Report from ACCTA, Maureen Lafferty
(President-Elect of ACCTA)
· Their membership is up to
158.
· The October, 2010
conference will be held in Portland, OR.
· Maureen hopes to make the
most of liaison relationships with APTC and APPIC.
· In addressing changes in
laws regarding licensure of psychologists, ACCTA will address the issue of how
to train psychologists to do supervision.
· There has been a
noticeable increase in the clinical severity and diversity on campuses
nationwide.
· Paul Castillo and
WVU will lead the Diversity Mentorship / Scholarship program.
ACCTA
is working with CCTC to address the internship match imbalance.
2:10 to
2:20 Report from APPIC, Arnold Ables
· Launch of the online
internship application has been successful; a survey of 400 applicants produced
very positive feedback.
o APPIC
solicits input from APTC regarding the online application.
o There
will be changes in the internship clearinghouse for next year.
o Online
applications will be used to create a 2nd match and result in faster fill-up.
o Approximately
300 slots are expected.
o The
supply-demand issue remains about the same with similar numbers unmatched this
year as in 2009.
Reports from the Committee Chairs
2:20 to
2:25 Newsletter,
Phyllis Terry Friedman
· The newsletter will add a
Directors Toolbox section.
o Phyllis
is asking for a volunteer to edit this section.
o There
will also be a new Directors subsection in the News section.
o Rob
Heffer will monitor the listserv for news.
Colleen
Byrne is working on an APTC page for Facebook.
2:25 to
2:30 Website/Listserv, Karen
Saules
· There will be a new
section for archiving listserv history such as PDFs of meeting minutes and
Treasurer’s and Liaison’s reports.
· The Clinic Guidelines
document will be made accessible to the public.
A
change in the URL is coming soon.
2:30 to
2:35 Treasurer’s Report, Bill
Rae
· Bill is still waiting to
learn the final costs for this meeting; current estimate is approximately
$30,000.
· There are many details to
deal with regarding the name change to APTC.
· Our non-profit status is
in question.
· Bill will serve as head
of the committee to negotiate with Pearson.
o Leticia
Flores, Karen Saules, & Colleen Byrne will join Bill on a conference call
with Pearson.
o The
committee hopes to communicate to Pearson that their current regulations on
discounts for training do not fit with us.
o The
committee will survey clinics to demonstrate that most clinics do not conform
to Pearson’s new regulations.
2:35 to
2:40 Research, Eric
Sauer
· Eric feels as if the
original PRN push was too early, but the time is right now.
· The OQ analyst is
available to training clinics at a significant discount.
· The committee wishes to
connect directors who want to do research.
· There is no stimulus
money yet.
The
committee remains interested in how best to test and evaluate competencies.
2:40 to
2:45 New Director Support,
Stephen Cook and Leticia Flores
· The committee wishes to
identify what will be most useful to new directors such as the option to save
costs by rooming together at meetings.
· The practice of having
restaurant sign-up sheets will continue as it has gotten positive feedback in
the past.
· The committee solicits
feedback from members.
Louise
Hartley wants APTC to highlight how our group does things differently.
2:45 to
2:50 Liaison Report, Tony
Cellucci
· Tony worked with Sharon
Berry and Bob Hatcher to get the joint conferences to happen; he expressed his
appreciation to Mike Taylor and Karen Fondacaro for all of their hard work
(Please
refer to the Liaison report submitted by Tony for details)
2:50 to
2:55 Programming, Karen
Fondacaro and Mike Taylor
· Karen and Mike offered
thanks to all who helped with programming, specifically Erica Wise, Kris
Morgan, Bill Rae, Tony Cellucci, and Rob Heffer.
· Next year’s meeting will
be in March, most likely in the Phoenix/Scottsdale area of AZ.
· A Social Hour is planned
for APA in San Diego.
· The committee is
soliciting programming ideas from the membership.
o Phyllis
Terry Friedman would like to see us regroup with an internal focus at our next
meeting.
o Bill
Rae would like to revisit internal Clinic issues at breakfast groups.
o Tony
Cellucci would like to make the Guidelines more publically visible.
o Randy
Cox wants the Diversity Committee to have a better focus.
______________________________________________________________________________
Treasurer’s Report
February 2010
|
Income: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
9/24/09 |
Transfer from
Scardapane |
$18,000 |
|
2/9/10 |
Income from
Conference & Dues |
$29,200 |
|
2/10/1 |
Anticipated Transfer
from Scardapane |
$6,086 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
TOTAL: |
$53,286 |
|
|
|
|
|
Expenditures
(Approximate): |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
11/9/09 |
ACCTA Travel (Wise) |
$1031 |
|
11/25/09 &
1/18/10 |
APPIC
Payment-Conference |
$1275 |
|
1/15/10 |
APA (Journal Cost) |
$7740 |
|
1/19/10 |
ELC Travel (Sauer) |
$244 |
|
2/9/10 |
APA Business
(Hatcher) |
$524 |
|
2/9/10 |
Credit Card Fees
(anticipated) |
$750 |
|
2/10/10 |
Hilton Catering
Charges (anticipated) |
$11,079 |
|
2/10/10 |
Audio-Visual Charges
(anticipated) |
$513 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
TOTAL: (est.) |
$23,156 |
|
|
|
|
|
BOTTOM LINE: |
|
$30,130 |
(This
is an estimate; many additional conference expenses are anticipated.)
Additional Tasks Anticipated
for 2010-2011
Obtain new DBA for APTC
Open new Citibank account with new
organization name
Obtain new Tax ID Number
Transfer all account transactions with credit
card via Authorize.net
Explore becoming a Tax Exempt Organization
______________________________________________________________________________
APTC Liaison Committee Report
Tony Cellucci
CCTC Conference Planning Group
My own activities this year were focused on helping Bob and CCTC
Planning Group, specifically by serving on the logistics subcommittee, chaired
by Sharron Berry (APPIC). We held a number of phone conference meetings
throughout the summer and fall. As CCTC group had already made initial
commitments to Hilton organization this became a complicated process of
developing a memorandum of agreement between all groups and hiring a conference
planner. Although folks were concerned with costs and related issues, Sharron
and the larger group pulled it off!! Also, APTC formed its own internal
planning group who worked with Kris. Thank Michael for all his
efforts.
Tony Cellucci, Ph.D.
APPIC Meeting – April, 2009
The APPIC meeting is a large and busy meeting, held in 2009 in
Portland, Oregon. I attended the APPIC board meeting as the ADPTC liaison; the
key topics for discussion were the ongoing issue of the internship match
imbalance, the new on-line AAPI, and the ASPPB Practicum Guidelines. The CCTC
had initiated a meeting of APPIC and the major training councils to work on
solutions to the internship match imbalance. A CCTC committee, headed by Clark
Campbell, has developed an “Internship Toolkit,” with information helpful to
sites that want to develop accredited internships; this based on an idea
proposed by NCSPP. Everyone agreed that this would be helpful. The on-line APPI
is now up and running as we all know. APPIC has many questions about the ASPPB
Practicum Guidelines; Emil Rodolfa, who headed the ASPPB effort on this, was
there to explain the aims of the document: protect the public, given the unevenness
of practicum training nationally; help state licensing boards develop uniform
rules so as to limit damage to licensure mobility that ASPPB has worked so hard
to develop. At the plenary sessions, Liz Klonoff talked about the future of
clinical training; Nadya Fouad presented about the Competency Benchmarks;
and Steve Behnke spoke about impaired trainees (have rules, and document
carefully).
Robert L. Hatcher, Ph.D.
CCTC Meeting – October, 2009
The Council of Chairs of Training Councils met in DC. The major
agenda items were: (1)further discussion of the internship imbalance issue,
following up on the major councils’ meeting where each group pledged to take
action steps. The goal was to keep this initiative rolling. (2) planning for
the CCTC 2010 conference; and (3) discussing the need for a national training
conference to work further on the issues of how better to organize the sequence
of training in professional psychology. The obvious disjunctures are: graduate
program-internship; practicum-graduate program; practicum-internship. The
program-internship disjunction is exacerbated by the separate accreditation of
these two elements of training.
Robert L. Hatcher, Ph.D.
ACCTA: 2009
The annual meeting of the Association of Counseling Center
Training Agencies (ACCTA) was held October 4-8, 2009 in Austen, Texas. The
formal title of the conference: Passages of ACCTA: Honoring our past,
embracing the present and looking ahead to the future, was indeed the primary
focus of the conference. There was a panel of former presidents who talked
about the early days of ACCTA and there was a lot of discussion of how far the
organization has come. A glimpse into the then-soon-to-be-present included a
detailed live demonstration of the on-line AAPI. Other workshops focused on
integrating competency evaluations into training, self-care for training
directors and supervision. I was delighted to co-present a workshop entitled
“Training interns for ethical practice: Present and future” with my colleague
Meredith Mayer from the UNC Counseling Center internship. We have many issues
in common with ACCTA and I am always struck by how much I learn at their
conference that I am able to bring back to ADPTC. As always, there was ample
time for informal networking. I am especially delighted that current ACCTA
president Maureen Lafferty will be attending as our liaison at the current
meeting.
Erica Wise, Ph.D.
Educational Leadership Conference (APA)
Eric Sauer represented APTC at APA’s Educational Leadership
Conference this year which dealt with health initiatives and psychology’s role
in our health care system.
______________________________________________________________________________
Research in the Training Clinic: A Proposal
Jennifer Callahan & Eric Sauer
For the past ten years or more APTC's research subcommittee has
been discussing the importance of forming a national research network among our
affiliated clinics. The goal has been the creation of a national repository for
client outcome data. One of the major obstacles to that goal, however, has been
financial hardship among many of our clinics. Jennifer Callahan and Eric Sauer
have pursued grant funding as a result, but have not yet been successful,
although the quest continues.
It
was suggested during the research subcommittee meeting at the mid-winter
conference in Orlando that APTC go ahead and start collaborating among clinics
that already have resources available, targeting clinics that have already
implemented routine usage of the OQ (Lambert's Outcome Questionnaire; sometimes
called the OQ45.2).
If
you are at a clinic that already gathers the OQ at each session, we would like
you to consider the attached proposal. The attachment is 10 pages and provides
considerable detail as we appreciate that some might want/need to provide it to
chairs, DCTs, or other faculty to consider prior to making a decision.
If
you think your clinic might want to participate, please read the proposal
carefully. If after full consideration it is determined that your clinic would
like to participate, please contact Jennifer Callahan or Eric Sauer ASAP.
Our
plan is to begin the study with the fall semester, which means that local IRB
approval would need to be gathered this summer at each site (by you or another
person willing to serve as your site PI). We are happy to assist you as needed
with questions that may arise in the IRB approval process (e.g., providing some
standard language to common questions, helping you address idiosyncratic
questions that might arise at your clinic). Although not required for
participation, we are planning to attend APA this summer and would enjoy
informally gathering with site representatives prior to the fall launch. Once
the study launches, we would expect sites to maintain monthly contact with us
for the duration of the study so that we have a quality study experience at
each clinic and for each client.
We
are very excited about this project and hope you will join us! We would also
appreciate any feedback that you may have about this project.
______________________________________________________________________________
(One Not-So Little) Review of Cool Stuff
Don Morgan, Psy.D.
The story of vocalist Melody Gardot is a remarkable testimony to
a young woman’s spirit and strength, and also to art as a refuge and
transforming path. Born in New Jersey in 1985, she studied piano as a child and
played as a youngster around Philadelphia, influenced by jazz, folk, rock and
pop. At age 19 while a college student in Philadelphia, she was riding
her bicycle when a driver made an illegal turn and hit her, leaving her in the
street for dead. Hospitalized for months with serious head injuries, no speech
and multiple pelvic fractures, music therapy was suggested in order to help her
speak again. While in her hospital bed for nearly a year in a body cast, she
taught herself guitar and wrote and recorded songs that would become the EP, Some Lessons. Upon her eventual release from intensive
care, her cognitive powers slowly returned and since then she has made her way
back into her world of musical artistry. She is blessed with a one in a million
voice and profound insight as a songwriter that touches the soul. When
listening to her, one hears the sensibility of someone much older and
experienced than a young woman in her mid 20’s. It appears that the
suffering and pain of a life changing tragedy was also a crucible in which
something deep emerged. Gardot is now hypersensitive to light and noise,
and must wear dark glasses and use a cane to walk. On stage she requires a
special seating unit and wears a transcutaneous electrodermal nerve stimulator
to help her neuralgic pain. When she sings, her bluesy style embodies not only
her pain, but also acceptance and joy, expressed in beautiful music that is
quite original. Though touring is difficult, she has been performing in major
cities in the US and Europe. In 2009, working with producer Larry Klein
and arranger Vince Mendoza - both known for their work with Joni Mitchell,
Gardot followed up her Verve debut with My One
and Only Thrill, an album full of great songs.
Melody's debut album, Worrisome Heart, introduced,
in The Sunday Times' words: "…a remarkable talent by any measure”, with
songs of quiet, wistful poetry in arrangements that "ooze after-hours
sophistication". Yet the follow-up,My One And Only Thrill, marks a
substantial leap forward. It is an intensely creative milestone,
transcending genre distinctions of jazz and blues to offer a haunting personal
musical statement that will appeal to all music lovers. As in her acclaimed
live shows, the recording captures and holds the listener in the palm of her
hand. These eleven songs, covering a wide range of emotions, are all her
own except for an irresistible Brazilian take on “Somewhere Over The
Rainbow”. It is hard to imagine a listener being unmoved by the poignant
title track “My One And Only Thrill,” and the lush arrangement of “Our Love is
Easy” captivates us. When the album is finished, in the words of Irving
Berlin, the song is over, but the Melody lingers on.
Melody Gardot’s recordings are at Amazon.com and iTunes for
download.