Looking Forward

Looking Forward

Gordon Cohen

Five work groups gathered during the Strategic Planning session during SW ’13 to determine our next long term goal.  Neil Makstein helped to consolidate the reactions of his group, which are reported below. 

This group focused on the question of promoting psychotherapy to the public, and unanimously decided that this issue should not become our next central goal.   While the group expressed gratitude to those members who are devoting time and energy toward this end, whether as part of the RAP Committee, or as individuals in public forums, they did not feel that AAP should elevate this issue above some of the other strategic goals which are aimed at the growth of our own organization.  

Letters to the media from our leaders and the RAP Committee have been attempted with the NY Times and elsewhere and these efforts are seen as a valuable contribution to our profession.  But, the group did not believe it would be a good expenditure of the energy of the “group as a whole” to try to influence the general public in their perceptions about psychotherapy.  

Most AAP members are also members of other professional organizations that have larger resources to devote to addressing the need for public education about psychotherapy.   So while members are encouraged to use their other organizational affiliations (state associations, national professional groups like APA or NASW, the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, etc.) to voice our concerns, this subgroup reached a consensus that AAP should focus more on the immediate internal organizational concerns.  One area, however, that might be worth exploring further is whether we could have some positive influence in graduate school training programs for future psychotherapists, particularly when the focus is on one’s own practice.

Avalanche Danger

ETHICS: In Search of Integrity and Responsibility in the Work Place

Ethics Committee Members: Jane Baxter, Tyler Beach, Damon Blank, Vivian Guze, Carole Light, Jack Mulgrew, Murray Scher, Avrum Weiss, Pat Webster, Marilyn Schwartz, Chair

Avalanche Danger – Dealing with Your Professional Licensing Board 

By Marilyn Schwartz

An alarming number of licensed mental health professionals in the state of Georgia have recently been caught either failing to renew their licenses in a timely manner or failing to submit a picture or evidence of citizenship, which is a new requirement. In the latter cases, the licensing board sometimes processed the renewal application and payment but did not actually renew the license. In a number of these cases, the mental health professional assumed his or her license had been renewed because payment had been accepted.  These therapists did not discover their error for months or sometimes even two years later when the licensing board charged them with practicing without a license.

If you discover your license has expired for six months or less, you can fairly safely call your licensing board and ask for your license to be reactivated by paying a small fine. If, however, your license has been expired for a longer time, you may need to call a lawyer first to help you deal with the licensing board. Communicating with your licensing board on your own can be perilous. Many clinicians naively assume that boards exist to help you resolve licensing questions or problems.  However, licensing boards are state regulatory agencies whose primary purpose is to enforce the laws of your state. Because they are charged with protecting the public by following the letter of the law, they may at times act counter to your interests or even your patients.

Licensing boards demonstrate that they are doing their job by identifying violators and administering penalties. Communicating directly with your board may unfortunately lead to your coming under their scrutiny. For example, if your license has expired for more than six months and you call your licensing board, you will be asked if you are still practicing. If you answer “yes,” be prepared for sanctions such as a “cease and desist” order barring you from practice, or an order to inform all your patients and their insurance companies that you have been practicing without a license, or a request for your patient records, or a heavy fine, and worst case scenario, threat of revocation of your license. 

With the exception of your initially applying for your license, you may be involved in a questionable legal situation whenever you have contact with your licensing board.  If you suspect this is the case, our best advice is first to seek counsel from a lawyer with experience in administrative law and with experience dealing with the licensing boards in your state.  

And remember: REACH OUT TO US, YOUR ETHICS COMMITTEE FOR HELP. We’ve acquired knowledge and experience dealing with licensing boards. We can advise you and we’ll support you.  

We can advise you and we’ll support you.  

The President's Column

Happy spring to everyone!  I hope all of you have at least felt intimations of spring by now.  And, if it’s spring, it’s time to register for Summer Workshop.  At the publication of this newsletter, we have 162 registrants.  I invite more of you to take another look at the brochure (on the website, if you’ve lost yours) and consider spending a few days with us in peaceful North Georgia focusing on yourself and your work with patients.  I, myself, am really looking forward to communing with horses and learning what they have to teach me about myself and how I approach relationships.  I just might learn something from humans too.

I want to welcome publicly and personally the new members voted in by EC conference call March 31^st: three student members and six full members.  Please read about them in detail elsewhere in this issue and be prepared to meet the new full members this summer.  Also, I hear from our Membership Chair that we have four more qualified applicants in the process of completing their applications who also want to come to the Summer Workshop.  You will have a chance to vet them for the required 30 days, before EC takes a vote on accepting them to membership or not.  Please give them your careful consideration as always.

It is with great sadness and appreciation that I acknowledge the death of two of our valued members, E. Mark Stern and Jerry Travers.  Each of these men made extraordinary contributions to our community during their lives and will be sorely missed by many of us.  You can read our members’ tributes to them within these pages.  Above all, I feel acutely aware of the tender fragility of us all and am grateful to be able to share this part of my life journey with each of you. 

I find that holding the office of president has given me a good look at the whole of us, some leaving and some coming in, some taking on the honor and responsibility of holding office or chairing a committee or working behind the scenes, and some watching or resting.  Your sincere caring for the Academy and our mission is most evident to me as we approach each of our national meetings.  You all warm my heart and some of you amaze me.  Giving my time and energy and heart to the Academy has come to benefit me in unanticipated, but deep and permanent ways.

For several years I have had the habit of listening to music while I take my walks and imagining myself singing many of these songs to you in the talent show.  I just recently realized that a part of that fantasy (the part that doesn’t have to do with exhibitionism) has to do with wanting to sing you love songs, songs about ecstasy and despair, about unrequited love and being steadfastly loved, about falling in and out of love, songs about how beautiful you are and sometimes how not beautiful you are.  In my dreams and in my life, you are my chosen family, for better and for worse, in sickness and in health, and, just maybe, until death do us part.

Lorrie Hallman, 

AAP President

Straight from the Horse’s Mouth

The SW conference is hosting our first ever equine therapy workshop and I am inviting you to “take the reins and join in.” For those of you who have had a fear of horses in your life, past and present, after all “horses are big, they kick and bite,” and/or anyone that is interested in examining their role in relationships in a life changing way, I am inviting you to take my workshop.

First, I would like to clarify that this is a ground working experience and there is no riding involved.

The first day of the workshop is co-led by me and a horse expert, who is bringing three of her experienced and vetted equine therapy trained horses that are used with children, adolescents and adults. The horses are mostly “rescue” horses that have had to deal with loss and traumas in their own lives and have recovered and healed. The use of the horse in relationship examination and self-awareness is based on scientific research and learning theory that helps the participant achieve a true paradigm shift that can be life altering and changing.

Second, there are safety structures in place that are used in all the ground work exercises.  

In addition to the expert and myself, there is a “safety net” person attending all that participate and are involved in any time with the horse. The horses and expert are present for the first day of the workshop and will not be present for the second day.

Third, and this is very important, this may be one of the most life altering therapeutic experiences you ever allow yourself to have.

The second day of the workshop is designed for “process.” Within this structure, I will present an opportunity to deal with the feelings and self-learning from the experience, to connect the structured equine activity to psychotherapy theory and research, and to provide a container to consolidate the learning that the horses collaboratively offered.

I invite you to come and experience this unique modality and experience what can be learned from our non-verbal equine partners.

Please feel free to call me personally and ask any questions. 404 863-0449

Maureen Martin, lifelong horse lover and receiver of equine magic

A Hospitality Inspiration: Spiced Ginger Cashews

Contributed by Sharman Colosetti

3 T. sugar

1/2 t. coarse salt

3/4 t. ground ginger

1/2 t. cayenne

1 egg white

2 1/2 c. roasted cashews

Mix sugar, salt, ginger and cayenne.

Beat egg white til frothy.

Toss nuts with egg white.

Stir in seasonings.

Spread in a single layer on a parchment-lined cookie sheet.

Bake at 300 for 30 minutes, stirring after 15 minutes.

Y O U C O U L D W I N the R A F F L E !

Beloved Academy Members, 

Frances Compton, Joanna Frederick, and Arthur Weinfeld are spearheading a unique plan to raise funds for the AAP Scholarship Program at the Summer Workshop in Georgia.  Ten dollar raffle tickets will be sold at venues throughout the workshop, and a few lucky winners will receive MONEY and/or prizes. The remaining funds will help support the next round of scholarships for twenty beginning psychotherapists, bringing them to Austin for the Academy’s 59th I&C.  This year, the two process groups for scholars will be co-led by Jack Mulgrew and Debbara Dingman, and David Pelligrini and Fern Beu.

Is this a worthy cause? See for yourself!  

Below are some quotes from the (anonymous) evaluations written by last year’s scholars:                                                     

"This experience was one of the more powerful I have ever engaged in. The group facilitation for the scholars group was amazing, and the connection between scholars was better than I had imagined..."

“I had an amazing experience as a scholar and am so grateful for the opportunity.” 

“The AAP scholars program has launched me both personally and professionally to be more confident and aware. The community that we were allowed to be part of ...was welcoming, nourishing and invigorating.” 

Buy your raffle tickets early and often! We thank you.

AAP SCHOLARSHIP COMMITTEE: Tyler Beach, Frances Compton, Susan Eig, Joanna Frederick, David Hawkins, Doris Jackson, Laurie Michaels, Lyn Sommer, Linda Tillman, and Arthur Weinfeld 

2014 Elections

The nominations committee is again pleased to announce that we have a full slate of members to run for councilor in the 2014 elections. Three of these six candidates will have the opportunity to participate in the governance of the Academy by serving on the Executive Council for the next three years.

We continue to seek nominations for both president and treasurer of the Academy.

Lorrie Hallman, our current president, will finish her term at the I&C in Austin and the office will be handed over to our president elect, Gordon Cohen.

It is an honor and a privilege to lead this multidisciplinary community of psychotherapists as president or to serve as the treasurer, reporting on our financial wellbeing. The president’s term is six years, two each as president-elect, president, and immediate past president, and the treasurer’s is four. 

We are not able to hold an election until we have candidates for all positions. If you are a seasoned member of AAP, and if the community has been your professional center for the majority of your career, it might be a time to consider running for president. If business and finance are your areas of strength, then serving as treasurer would be the right job for you.   

As most of us consider AAP our “tribe," it is an important and personally valuable experience to take your place among our leaders for the wellbeing of all of us.  Our committee is pleased to be able to offer you this experience.  Please take a moment to either decide to run yourself or offer a nomination of a full member for president or treasurer.  You may do so by contacting any of the people below.

Thank you for your consideration.

 Margaret Nichols, Chair, drmnichols@gmail.com

Ronnie Koenig, rkoenigphd@gmail.com
Nelia Rivers, neliar@bellsouth.net
Loretta Sparks, loretta@selfcarepower.com