As Co-Chairs of the Membership Committee, we were recently forwarded correspondence by Dr. Bethe Lonning, IPA’s Director of Professional Affairs, that she received from Dr. Lawrence Perlman, Member at Large for APA’s Division 31 (Division for State, Provincial, and Territorial Psychological Association Affairs). Dr. Perlman requested updated information regarding IPA’s membership numbers. In the message, Dr. Perlman stated that his research of state associations found Iowa to have notably high success for recruiting and retaining members with a budget of our size, which he labeled a “remarkable achievement.” He intended to highlight IPA’s accomplishments in a Division 31 presentation at APA’s annual convention.  Dr. Doobay provided the following totals for each membership type to Dr. Perlman, as of August 1, 2022: 

Full Member: 147
Academic:     9
Advocacy-Exempt:     9
Early Career Psychologist:   18
Student Member:   39
Lifetime/retired:   44
Out-of-State:   10
Associate:     6
Total IPA Members: 282

July 11-17 is Nonbinary Awareness Week, celebrating and awareness building surrounding nonbinary and gender nonconforming people. This week focuses on the nonbinary community as well as the vast gender spectrum. 

Nonbinary gender is “a term used to refer to genders that are viewed as somewhere between or beyond the gender “binary” of man and woman, as well as genders that incorporate elements of both man and woman.” (Hegarty et al., 2018)

The Iowa Psychological Association has been working hard to serve its members, the field of psychology, and Iowans who benefit from our services. As we pass the midpoint of another productive year, this update serves to highlight a number of recent efforts that have successfully targeted IPA’s Strategic Plan Themes:

1. Education and Training
2. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
3. Building Connections and Community
4. Advocacy
5. Financial Stability

You are encouraged to read the full Strategic Plan, which is available on our website: https://www.iowapsychology.org/assets/Strategic%20plan%20Final%20edited%2003.27.2022.pdf.

• Disaster Distress Helpline (SAMHSA): 

• The Disaster Distress Helpline, 1-800-985-5990, is a 24/7, 365-day-a-year, national hotline dedicated to providing immediate crisis counseling for people who are experiencing emotional distress related to any natural or human-caused disaster.

Iowa is pleased to have three conditional prescribing psychologists! This status means they have completed their MSCP, passed the PEP, completed their clinical contacts and their 400/100 practicum and are prescribing with supervision. During this period of supervision, if they want to prescribe to special populations (defined in our law as under the age of 18, older than 65, pregnant, etc.) this is the time when they would acquire supervision specific to those populations. A fourth candidate is just waiting for his application to be approved before being granted his certificate so Iowa may have four by the time this is published—and, he just did succeed! There are two other candidates diligently working on their clinical assessment and practicum hours (Iowa law still uses the previous designation language as it wasn’t updated until after our law was passed) and hopefully will have their certificate(s) by the end of this year.

We continue to assess the climate of our legislature to determine when it might be a good time to look at altering some of the original language of our law. As with most states, we were unable to get the law to read exactly how we wanted it and now are hoping to be able to fine tune some language in the future. Iowa’s legislative session for 2022 will come to a close by the end of April at the latest so we’re looking at legislative session 2023 at the earliest.

Although Spring hasn’t quite sprung yet in Iowa, we are in a season of change for the IPA blog! In response to feedback from our members, we’ve made a couple changes.

Having to take that extra step to log in was prohibitive in accessing our content. As of today, the blog is now available without having to log in. This will make it easier to go directly to the posts that interest you and will make it easier to share links to posts. Please note, this also makes blog posts visible on search engines and to the public.

The annual awards ceremony occurred on April 5, 2022, in conjunction with the IPA Spring Conference in Des Moines. 

The IPA Phil Laughlin Meritorious Achievement Award is intended to honor an IPA member for outstanding service to the association. All IPA members are eligible to be considered for this award except those currently serving on the IPA Executive Council. The 2022 award was presented to Dr. Kevin Krumvieda, who was nominated by Dr. Karen Nelson:  

When Dr. Kopp asked me to write about working with LGBTQ-identified clients (waaaay back in September…or was it August?), I happily agreed. As many of you know, working with queer folks like me is my jam. But when I sat down to write, I wasn’t quite sure what to say. Should I write a “LGBTQ 101” kind of post? Should I focus on a particular issue within the LGBTQ community such as housing insecurity or bi-erasure? As a recovering perfectionist, I was gripped with decision paralysis. Then November rolled around. Transgender Awareness Week and Transgender Day of Remembrance are in November, so writing about gender minority-related topics seemed like a timely topic for my painfully belated post.

The Membership Committee strives to increase member participation in activities that promote the IPA mission and Strategic Plan. A primary Membership Committee objective is to assist IPA’s standing committees in reaching their desired capacities. Over the past year, our Finance, Psychopharmacology, and Diversity and Social Justice committees have benefitted from the participation of some of the newest IPA members, including student members. This effort has been greatly appreciated. Meanwhile, the majority of IPA committees continue to seek members.

The success of IPA requires each of us to consider how we can best contribute to the association. Prior to serving initially as Co-Chair of the Membership Committee and now, additionally, as President-Elect of IPA, I recall declining repeated requests to increase participation in the association, explaining that my time was too limited. Upon reflection, however, I recognized that IPA only functions as an association due to the volunteerism of a number of dedicated members who ensure that we are able to successfully organize and advocate for the profession of psychology and the well-being of the Iowans we serve.

As I reflect on the first three months of my Presidential year for IPA, I could not be more impressed by the energy and growth I have observed among our members and leaders. This association’s Executive Council Members, Committee Chairs and Co-Chairs, Committee Members, and Liaisons commit countless hours of volunteered time to IPA in addition to their active work and home lives. Additionally, IPA is fortunate to have devoted individuals serving in contracted positions (i.e., Executive Director, Director of Professional Affairs, Lobbyist, Training Director, Bookkeeper) who consistently exceed expectations in fulfilling their responsibilities to serve IPA members and to support the Executive Council. I appreciate this opportunity to highlight only a few of the many initiatives and accomplishments of these outstanding psychologists and professionals.

IPA’s Executive Council (EC) consists of 12 members who conduct the foundational business of the association through six Council meetings per year and numerous additional communications. I have been honored and grateful to serve with this group of thoughtful and committed psychologists whose overarching goal is to promote the needs and desires of membership and, ultimately, the individuals we serve. Each EC member dedicates seemingly tireless energy to their efforts to ensure IPA is serving its membership as effectively as possible. This amazing group of individuals deserves a wealth of gratitude for their volunteered time and leadership.

The Iowa Psychological Association is pleased to announce that we have again been awarded a Small State Operational Grant from APA services in the amount of $10,000 to help fund our lobbyist services. The grant will be used to go toward offsetting the lobbyist expense to help support IPA’s 2022 legislative agenda:

1. Continue to advocate for parity in telehealth for services provided by psychologists.

I was a nontraditional student at my undergraduate and graduate schools. In fact, I sought out psychology to answer specific personal questions as well as questions that I’d encountered in my work as a Franciscan nun. To summarize the content of my wondering mind I’d say at a personal level I wanted to know the following: a) who am I? b) why am I here? c) where do I go after I’m no longer here? From my work with young women in Cameroon I wanted to find out how to heal invisible wounds that manifest as struggles in interpersonal relationships especially in communal living situations. At the time I was thinking that most people can do okay within their families but if you have to interact with others who don’t know you the way family does, you need more.

School was extremely hard because every class that wasn’t directly responding to one or the other of these questions was like torture to me. Additionally, I’m a sensitive action-oriented individual who likes to get things done the easiest way possible and with high efficiency. I like seeing things done and assessing outcomes and making changes. I don’t know how true this happens in real life but I’m fiercely dedicated to this way of living which leaves makes me not so fun to be around if you don’t like change or take your time to digest life before you move on. I’d love to be that way naturally but it’s not my default but I’m making progress as I gain more wisdom with time. Challenges with graduate school and a desire to know myself better led me to seek out my first therapist.

January is often a time of reflection, prioritization, and rededication to what brings the most value and meaning to our lives. We all have finite time, energy, and resources, and we know the importance of being intentional about how we expend those. Throughout the year, it is easy to get caught up in a multitude of tasks, engagements, and responsibilities, some of which may drain rather than replenish us. This January, I am recommitting to tasks, activities, organizations, and relationships that match my personal values and bring joy and meaning to my life, and I invite you to do the same. 

Being a member of IPA and serving in a leadership role in this organization are excellent ways to develop community, gain leadership and advocacy experience, serve others, and advance the psychological wellbeing of the people of Iowa. I will acknowledge that, although I have been a member of IPA for more than 15 years, it was not until I joined leadership that I really began developing relationships with other IPA members. By serving as co-chair of the Membership Committee, I have had the pleasure of getting to know so many of our fabulous members who are doing amazing work throughout the state. I am so grateful for that opportunity!

Dear IPA Members,

I hope you each are enjoying the last days of 2021 and hoping that 2022 is a safe and happy one for you, bringing you many blessings and much joy.

This blog first appeared on the PSYowa blog, a public education blog that can be shared on social media or emailed to friends and family. The link for the public post is found here. 

Holidays are often sources of joy, connection, and celebration for people all over the world. However, we sometimes forget that they can also be reminders of painful losses and loneliness. Even before the pandemic the holidays were often sources of stress for many of us. With the pandemic impacting all of our lives in many ways, holidays haven’t looked like they used to. We have had to connect with loved ones through nursing homes and hospital windows, we’ve had to Facetime friends and family when we normally would’ve joined in person, and many of us have lost friends and family members who have been an important part of our holidays. For some, the holidays will continue to be very different this year. Dealing with this ongoing disruption in the traditions we hold dear can lead to struggles with our well-being and our mental health. 

Today's blog post is a submission from one of IPA's student members. Student membership is an important part of IPA. If you'd like to mentor a student member, please contact Alissa Doobay. You can also visit the website for donation to sponsor a student here. 

Yoga For First Responders (YFFR) and Yoga Shield (YS) is programming developed via consultations with fire departments and police departments over the last 6 years by yoga instructor Olivia Mead and her staff at YFFR. It consists of tactical breathing drills and applications, physical drills, integrated cognitive declarations, as well as neuro-reset (mindfulness) exercises, all designed to process stress, build resiliency, and enhance performance related to the culture and job demands of first responders, law enforcement, and military types of work. YFFR has developed curriculum to train “in house” instructors over 6-day initial YFFR and YS approaches and then have internal training of curriculum at a specific police or fire departments, academy and now also military units with a “train the trainers” approach. I am grateful to have signed up for a recent training class and completed the Level 1 and Level 2 training program though Iowa Army Guard and Air Guard initiative in early summer 2021.  

I’m grateful for the opportunity to share my impressions and experiences from this training. I’m including references from some recommended reading by YFFR in addition to a few books I professionally find valuable. Please feel free to contact me with impressions, thoughts, or interest. 

The Iowa Psychological Association (IPA) has been working diligently on your behalf to promote and advocate for the science and practice of psychology in Iowa. In the past year we’ve made significant progress toward many of our key initiatives and we continue to work tirelessly for all licensed psychologists in our state. In this letter we will provide some updates regarding IPA’s recent advocacy work and victories, recognize IPA psychologist leaders, provide updates regarding strategic plan initiatives, and highlight upcoming continuing education opportunities.  

IPA’s advocacy efforts have been in overdrive the past 18 months. IPA’s Advocacy Team includes the State Advocacy Coordinator (Paul Ascheman, PhD), Federal Advocacy Coordinator (JoAnna Romero Cartaya, PhD), IPA Training Director (Matt Cooper, PsyD), and IPA Lobbyist (Amy Campbell). The newest member of the IPA Advocacy Team is Dr. Bethe Lonning, IPA’s Director of Professional Affairs (DPA). Dr. Lonning has done an excellent job in her unique role which includes advocating for the needs of psychologists regarding the professional practice of psychology and serving as a liaison between IPA and professional associations, governmental agencies, Managed Care Organizations (MCOs), private insurance agencies, and other institutions. Dr. Lonning has been a trailblazer during her inaugural year as DPA. She has served as an invaluable resource for many Iowa psychologists regarding issues related to insurance reimbursement, CPT codes, payer credentialing, and Medicare and telehealth guidelines. IPA is also grateful for the support of the Iowa Psychological Foundation who provided a generous grant to help fund the DPA position and Dr. Lonning’s work.