From MPA's President Robin McLeod, Ph.D., L.P.: MPA Psychologists Are Making it Happen in 2016!

When people ask me where I am from originally or where I grew up, my answer typically is that I am from the Army.  Yes, I grew up as an Army brat, which is a term of endearment in my world.  In the military, when a leader begins a new position, there is a formal change of command ceremony.  In the Minnesota Psychological Association, not so much.  We all just wake up on January 1, and a new President of our association is leading the charge.  Welcome to 2016!

This first month of 2016 has started much more calmly and slowly than we saw last year at this time.  Do not let that fool you.  The Minnesota Psychological Association has much on the horizon.  Volunteers serving on MPA’s Legislative Committee are initiating legislation designed to correct the Duty to Warn oversight in our psychology practice act.  We have retained an attorney to assist MPA in presenting an amicus brief before the Minnesota Supreme Court on this same issue.  Hopefully you will join other psychologists for Mental Health Day on the Hill (March 31, 2016) as MPA volunteers join with other professional associations including the Minnesota Medical Association to oppose efforts to rescind the upcoming sunset of the Provider Tax.  Finally, MPA psychologists have entered into talks with the Minnesota Department of Human Services to work toward modifying documentation requirements for psychologists practicing in integrated health care settings.  I hope you will make 2016 the year that you join other MPA psychologists who are volunteering to make things happen for psychologists in our state.

On the continuing education front, MPA volunteers are hard at work planning an Annual Convention (April 15-16, 2016) that will be hard to beat.  Click here and take a few minutes to read the convention committee summary of what is in store for you when you take time out of your busy schedules to network with colleagues while earning some of the most valuable CEU’s available in Minnesota.  We encourage you to make this year’s annual convention a stay-cation – you won’t regret it!

Later in 2016, your association will be holding the first ever Minnesota Summit on Psychology Practice Innovation.  At this year’s President’s Conference, the focus will be on showcasing the broad array of new and refined practice opportunities available to psychologists in our state.  This one-day gathering will bring together Minnesota psychologists and medical professionals to talk about alternative behavioral health practice models in the era of health care transformation.  You will learn about fostering competitive collaboration as psychologists provide valuable information on business models that support traditional psychology practices in staying viable and relevant in today’s health care marketplace.  Minnesota psychologists will discuss the nuts and bolts of co-locating and integrating with varying medical systems.  And you will hear from behavioral health leaders in the insurance industry talking about trends in reimbursement as integration advances in our state.  There are so many exciting opportunities that have opened for psychologists!  Do not miss this year’s President’s Conference on August 12!!

If that was not exciting enough, in the fall of 2016, volunteers working on the Education & Training Committee are planning two workshops focused on the business of psychology.  Because of the huge success of MPA’s 2015 members-only practice workshop for psychologists in the early stages of building a private practice, a repeat members-only workshop in 2016 will focus on strategies unique to those psychologists who have been in practice for a while.  Additionally, MPA has invited Dr. Pauline Wallin, a psychologist who co-founded The Practice Institute (http://thepracticeinstitute.com/), to present a full-day workshop, open to all behavioral health professionals, with a focus on how to survive and thrive in the business of Private Practice.  Keep your eyes out for the finalized dates for these must-attend workshops.

For several years now, I have watched our professional association grow, drawing in more and more psychologists in Minnesota who are investing in our mission — to connect psychologists with each other, to protect the practice of psychology, and to help us all grow professionally.  The diversity of our organization is as broad as there are unique professionals practicing psychology in Minnesota.  And, our very active listservs are the place to be to stay up on the latest news on what is happening in our industry right where we live.  Psychologists who practice in solo or group private practices have found that belonging to MPA’s Private Practice Division listserv or Doctoral Level Professional Practice listserv is a valuable benefit of MPA membership because of how very much vital information is shared among colleagues.  Not only do we have Divisions within the Minnesota Psychological Association that are specifically for psychologists in private practice, we have a newly formed division for psychologists who practice in Health Care Organizations!  If you are a psychologist who has put off joining MPA because you thought MPA only met the needs of those in private practice, you are wrong!  MPA exists to serve all psychologists, and is only as strong as its membership.  Because MPA is made up of psychologists who like to make things happen in Minnesota, we are convinced that this newly formed division and its listserv will become THE PLACE TO BE if you practice psychology in health care settings.

Can you tell how proud I am to be a Minnesota psychologist?  And, to be serving as President of the Minnesota Psychological Association in 2016?  MPA is the place to be if you practice psychology in Minnesota.  This is where psychologists are making things happen.  MPA is where psychologists are initiating innovative practice models that not only will survive, but thrive into the future.  MPA is where you can find like-minded colleagues everywhere you turn.  MPA is the professional association of psychologists who are committed to Connection, Protection and Growth.  I hope you will grab a colleague or two, and join the efforts of other MPA volunteers to make it happen here – in 2016 — in Minnesota!

Robin McLeod, Ph.D., L.P., is the 2016 MPA President. She founded and owns a small private practice behavioral health specialty clinic with two locations: Woodbury & St. Paul.  You may email her at [email protected].  Her websites are:  http://www.cpwmn.com and http://www.cpspmn.com

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