Here on the last day of 2024, as my term as IPA President comes to a close, it is time to consider what we have accomplished in 2024 (or at least tried to accomplish), as well as things we may look forward to in 2025.

Among our many accomplishments, perhaps most notable at this moment is the most recent, the progression with the Marketing and Rebranding efforts that started in 2023. The new IPA logo was unveiled at the Spring Conference, and the new website just went live this week. While there are content updates that are still needed, it updates and renews our public face. And it looks fantastic. In the coming year, we will also see the materials in letterhead, brochures, and other communications.

To my mind, perhaps the second most notable accomplishment has been the result of the Burton v. West Bend lawsuit. You may recall that a psychologist in the state was being compelled by a lower court to provide raw test materials and raw test results to legal counsel attempting to undermine his report. In a very short period of time, IPA mobilized by hiring legal counsel to write an amicus brief supporting 1) the Iowa Code as written (that materials can only be released to another psychologist), 2) Psychologist Ethics, and 3) test publisher contracts to resist that lower court decision. We convinced Pearson to also write an additional amicus brief from the publisher’s perspective. We coordinated with APA, who provided considerable technical, legal, ethical, and editorial support for the brief. Moreover, based on Iowa’s efforts, APA eventually agreed to reimburse IPA (and the Iowa Psychological Foundation who also provided financial support) for the full cost of the amicus brief effort. Moreover, our plight has encouraged APA to address the lack of policy in the area so as to be able to take a stronger stand in the future. (Those issues should be addressed by APA in 2025.) For anyone interested, the case will be heard by the Iowa Supreme Court on 1/21/25 at 1:30. Feel free to join in person or see it live streamed (I’ll provide a link when I find it).

Earlier this year, one of the things we worked hard on, but did not accomplish, was opposing the consolidation of the behavioral health boards into one. I’ve sat in on a couple of meetings thus far. The difficulties of the consolidation are readily apparent, as members of one profession do not appear to understand in detail the workings of the other professions. Even though it is not (yet) a fight we won, it does still demonstrate the importance of advocacy at the state level to address the needs of psychology specifically as well as mental health more generally. In the upcoming year, we anticipate there are likely to be several additional concerns we will need to address, including the recurring issues of test security (which may depend in part on the Iowa Supreme Court decision) and PsyPact. 

On a more detailed level, during the year we have made revisions to IPA’s by-laws and Policy and Procedures manual. There have also been revisions to the strategic plan. Many of the revisions were meant to clarify language and simplify how we operate. Perhaps not a lot of pizzazz, but certainly important. We have offered both a spring conference (on OCD) and a fall conference (on the MMPI-3), as well as numerous smaller conferences (including topics addressing ketamine treatment, psychopharmacology, and several offerings in diversity, equity, and inclusion). IPA’s training program has advanced with increasing post-doctoral fellowships and continued growth in the Cy-Hawk pre-doctoral training program, which is moving toward hopeful APA accreditation. One of our advocacy goals for the coming year is to improve funding for those programs. In the past year we also lent support to the efforts of other states to resist the mandatory implementation of EPPP2, which has since been tabled for further discussion and development. 

In addition, I want to take the opportunity to thank outgoing IPA Past President Nic Holmberg. She has presided over difficult times, and her guidance and mentorship to both myself and the overall organization have been invaluable. I am not sure how I would have managed this year without her support. I am also thankful that David VanHorn agreed to step into the IPA President Elect position. Even though we seem to have perennial problems finding volunteers for the triad position, we do seem to continually find excellent psychologists to help carry the profession forward. 

In thinking about my own history of volunteering, I note that I have volunteered in some capacity every year since my senior year in high school, some years volunteering in 4 or 5 organizations at a time (for those counting, that is 40-some consecutive years). Some of those have been relatively small and time limited (e.g., helping Joppa in Des Moines clean up homeless camps for 1 day in the spring), while others have been much more time intensive (Boys Scouts for 10 years). I have volunteered for my church and with several community and professional organizations. Service is one of those values that provides “direction” in my life, contributing to a sense of meaning and community. I encourage everyone to give of themselves in acts of service, which seems to me inherent in being a psychologist, while noting that leadership positions are notably not a prestigious act we do for self-aggrandizement but rather an act of service to others. This year, we had several people respond to our calls for assistance, filling roles as IPA President Elect, IPA State Advocacy Chair, Early Career Psychologist Co-chair, and roles on the State Behavioral Health Licensing Board and the related Psychology Advisory Subcommittee of that board. If you have time and are so inclined, IPA is always looking for volunteers to improve our organization. Currently, we have open positions for Executive Council Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Liaison and the Diversity and Social Justice committee co-chair. We also need to submit to APA a second name for the Iowa APA Representative. In addition, the IPA standing committees always welcome new members, including those who might volunteer to be a co-chair to ease the lift of our volunteers. And, of course, we will be looking for a new person to take on IPA President Elect for the fall elections. But aside from IPA, I encourage you to volunteer in whatever is meaningful to you. The world seems to need more good people in key positions.

It has been a privilege to serve as IPA President for 2024. I stepped into the role with the goal to both help maintain the organization and to move it forward, without tripping too badly. I was truly anxious about moving into that role without a “training year” as President Elect after the health-related resignation of the prior President Elect. It has been a challenge, I hope for the most part successfully navigated. But it has also been rewarding. I am excited for the continued growth of our organization. And I look forward to our continued interactions in the years to come. 

Time is interesting. I checked my IPA profile recently, and it seems I joined IPA on 5/1/1991. That was 33 years ago. It does not seem that long ago that I was green to IPA. Other (more notable) events that year included the first US-Iraqi war (Desert Storm), the beating of Rodney King, and the dissolution of the Soviet Union. While it seems those things are a long time ago, sadly they seem to have an ongoing echo today. And yet time passes, and it seems inconceivable that I am slipping into the old guard. Given that time seems to compress as we age (at least as long as we are “with it” enough to perceive time), so perhaps I can use that as my explanation for why my first blog post is appearing in April rather than in
February or March. Or not. 

Let me introduce myself. I am an Iowan born and raised, leaving for stints for undergraduate school at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana and internship at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Minneapolis. I attended graduate school at Iowa State University, where interestingly I had also lived from ages 2-5 when my father was in school there. I joined IPA while on internship and looking for employment opportunities to return to Iowa. While I typically prefer to vacation elsewhere, Iowa is clearly my home. 

Home is such an important concept. It is where we feel safe, connected, contented. In the Compassion Focused Therapy model, it resides in the “soothing system” part of the emotional regulation system. It corresponds to the affiliative aspects of ourselves. We generally consider our family, our house, and our neighborhood to be home, but in many respects other systems, large and small, can also be home. As I said, for me Iowa is home. I have always strived to have the places I work feel like home also, growing connections with others I respect, enjoy, and trust. And I have always seen IPA as a professional home as well. Over the years, I have met colleagues that have turned into friends, and experienced places not
only of learning but also of safety. This is what I hope IPA can be to all its members. Not simply a place to gain CEUs and learn what is afoot in psychology, but a place to genuinely be. At this year’s spring conference, Dr. Benge Tallman, after being awarded the Phil Laughlin Meritorious Achievement Award, exemplified in the spirit of his response a clear sense of home among his fellow state psychologists. I wish for everyone the ability to find in IPA what is most needed in a professional organization.

To that end, I want to echo the many calls to step into leadership in whatever ways seem to fit. I have been in and out of leadership a couple of times in IPA. I put off the presidency until I was older, for my own reasons. Others are relatively new to the field when they step into that role. Some people serve by taking leadership positions in the executive council, others join committees, or take a role in special projects. Whatever seems to fit your expertise and interest, there is a role for you at the time you are ready to fill it. I encourage you to get involved. Let us all be home to one another. We need volunteers to fill many needs. Currently, we are looking to fill the roles of IPA President-Elect, State Advocacy Coordinator, Treasurer, and IPA Representative for next year. And nearly every committee has room for additional members to assist with furthering their goals.

Thus far this year, we have had several things happen. We have already had our Spring Conference (and the accompanying annual business meeting). This year’s spring conference taught us the nuances of OCD and its treatment. The presenters were excellent, and the facility was quite good as well. We’ve already had 2 online/virtual presentations (on Cultural Humility and Ketamine treatment). The year isn’t even half over and there has already been the opportunity for 15 CEUs. Dr. David Drustrup will present an online conference, “Addressing Whiteness in Psychotherapy Clinical & System Approaches,” on June 7. The Fall Conference will also be online this year. On September 27, Dr. Yossef Ben-Porath will present on the MMPI-3. And of course there are the ongoing online psychopharmacology trainings by NMSU.

For those who were not at the spring conference, Dr. Jenna Paternostro did the big reveal for IPA’s new logo. It will be put into use in the near future. She and other members of the rebranding workgroup are collaborating with consultants for the final pieces to accompany the logo redesign. In addition, we will be redesigning the IPA webpage. Hopefully, it will be both more up-to-date looking and more user-friendly. Look for more to come on those topics in the near future.

Perhaps less interesting, on the “nuts and bolts” side of the organization, there has been ongoing work to shape the strategic goals of the organization for the coming year, and there is some ongoing work on the policies and procedures of the association as well. This year, we were awarded $15,000 from the APA’s Small State Operational Grant to support the salary of our Executive Director and our ongoing efforts to improve our mission. And on the disappointing side of things, despite considerable efforts by the organization, we were unable to stop the Governor’s plan to combine the mental health licensing boards. We will now be overseen by a board comprised of psychologists, social workers, licensed mental
health therapists, licensed marriage & family therapists, and an Applied Behavioral Analyst.

So, finally, back to the age thing. I don’t actually feel as old as some people seem to think I am. But I am older than the grandparents of some of the teenagers with whom I work. One called me a relic not long ago (I responded I hoped I was the sacred kind). Yet, my own kids are just in the getting-ready-to-launch stage. Time is said to provide us with perspective, but our perspectives at any time of our life are inherently valuable no matter the age. Interestingly, though my perspective on IPA has become more nuanced (and deep) over time, it remains largely unchanged. I hope it can be, and remain, home for all of you as well.