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By Dexter Van Zile
A growing number of psychologists in New Hampshire are depending
on their state's psychological association to look out for their
political interests and to provide the information they need to
respond to a changing regulatory environment. The growing dependence
is demonstrated by an increase in the New Hampshire Psychological
Association's (NHPA) membership, which jumped from 301 in July 2001
to 385 members in October 2002.
The 27 percent increase was prompted, in part, by a series of phone
calls to licensed psychologists by the group's existing members,
says Kirsten Singleton, executive director. The phone campaign,
led by the group's president and membership chair Allan Lurvey,
Th.D. was started with the goal of convincing all of New Hampshire's
600 licensed psychologists to join the association.
"His goal was 100 percent membership," Singleton says. "Obviously
we knew that wasn't going to happen, but it was a nice goal to try
for."
The recruiting campaign's success was a function of two factors
- concern over a new set of regulations issued by the state's Omnibus
Board requiring that a patient bill of rights be posted in each
practice and a desire for representation at the state legislature.
The new rules issued by the Omnibus Board, the agency that regulates
the mental health professionals in the state, were far reaching
and had a broad impact on practices, Singleton says. "The new rules
were 80 pages long and we were one of the major informational sources
people used to sort out what they needed to do," she says.
On the political front, the group has been effectively lobbying
state legislators to ensure that mental health diagnoses are given
the same level of coverage by insurance companies as medical diagnoses.
The group is currently lobbying to give psychologists the right
to prescribe psychotropic medication.
"I think [the growth in membership] is due to the combination of
the fact that we're active with both legislative issues and continuing
education programs," Singleton says.
Lurvey says the NHPA's membership increase has little to do with
his leadership, but is the result of Singleton's work and the efforts
of others in the organization. "She gets plaudits from anyone who
relates to her," he says of the director. "I think she's a good
ambassador for us. We've had a strong board for a number of years…The
organization is well run and there's a good feeling among the people
in it. They work well together."
Other New England groups are in the midst of similar recruiting
drives.
Betty Ann Foy, administrative director for the Connecticut Psychological
Association says her group's membership has hovered around 700 in
the past several years, but will likely increase as the group recruits
students, ethnic minorities and members of the academic community.
The goal is to increase membership by three percent, Foy says.
One challenge facing the group, Foy says is that many psychologists
belong to other organizations related to their field of practice
such as school psychology, family therapy, marriage counseling or
divorce mediation.
Jack Hutson, executive director of the Rhode Island Psychological
Association agrees that competition from other professional organizations
offers a challenge to state associations, but argues that state
groups are the best forum for psychologists to achieve political
representation. Hutson, whose group has a "couple of hundred" members
representing about half of Rhode Island's licensed psychologists,
says people who join RIPA recognize the need for political advocacy.
"If you don't have somebody pushing back at the State House, you
can get run over and it'll be to the detriment of the profession.
Not all psychologists recognize that, but it's an absolute reality,"
he says.
People need to realize that specialized professional groups don't
typically do much political advocacy work, says Elena Eisman, Ed.D.,
executive director of the Massachusetts Psychological Association.
The MPA, however, belongs to a lot of health care coalitions that
fight on behalf of the profession and the patients it helps.
"They [other professional groups] do provide professional forums
and training, but they are not at the table when negotiating with
lawmakers," she says.
The group is always trying to increase membership, Eisman says,
but so far, no recruiting targets have been set. The MPA currently
has 2,200 members, making it the eighth largest state psychological
association in North America.
Sheila Comerford, executive director of the Maine Psychological
Association (MEPA), which has approximately 235 members, says her
group comprises about 50 percent of the licensed psychologists in
the state. Members who join MEPA, which experienced a growth rate
of 5.4 percent in the past year, are initially motivated by a desire
to make contact with other professionals, but quickly become convinced
of the need for advocacy by the organization. Comerford says it
takes some work to convince new members, but eventually they understand
the value of a group fighting on their behalf.
"I don't mean to sound glib, but we beat them over the heads with
it," Comerford says. "We've established a political action committee
and we really drill how important it is for psychologists to be
involved in local elections."
The need for advocacy was underscored this year when Maine lawmakers
passed a bill requiring the same level of coverage for mental illness
as physical illnesses, only to have it vetoed by Gov. Angus King,
who will leave office in January 2003. "We'll put it back in next
session and see who the governor is," Comerford says.
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