My family has been enjoying the rituals of the year ending. We bake familiar holiday treats, mark the season of long nights by lighting candles at meals, and sort the daily mail into piles of yearly letters from friends and piles of requests for end-of-year giving. Somehow, this sets me in a nostalgic mood, just in time for the writing of my final blog post as IPA President. 

Serving in this role was not something I initially pursued or even imagined for myself at this stage in my career. I think, in retrospect, that this comes in part from my own misunderstanding of what it would mean to serve as part of the Presidential Triad for three years. (In the first year, I served as President-Elect, learning the norms, policies and history of IPA. In the second year, I’ve served as President, taking the lead in meetings and signing important documents on IPA’s behalf. Next year I’ll serve as Past-President, bringing experience and context to our leadership team.) Perhaps the title was misleading – a “president” carries so much responsibility and brings expertise to leadership, right? I wasn’t up for that.  

In reality, however, working in any leadership role in IPA is simply taking a seat at a big table alongside a skilled executive director and many capable and diverse psychologists from around the state. We make difficult decisions together, and we do our best to work for the good of all psychologists working in Iowa, not just for IPA members. I discovered that IPA leaders often do the heavy lifting together, and that it was safe to ask for help. 

As I shift out of this role, I’d like to express many thanks to all the superb colleagues in our professional community who encouraged and supported me in the past year. If you are up for a new challenge, please consider joining a committee or work group, attend a social in your area, or buy a drink for a colleague whose work you admire. While such a commitment will likely also mean a few more emails to answer and a virtual meeting or two that wasn’t previously on your schedule, you’ll be well compensated for your service in relationship and adventure. I hope to see you in an IPA space soon! 

Sometimes it feels like there aren’t very many places left where I can have an unexpected real-life encounter with someone holding a view of the world that is different from mine. Maybe it’s the nostalgia talking, or this busy phase of life with young kids and full-time work, but I get the feeling that I’ve over-simplified my daily rhythms in the name of efficiency and balance. We’ve all seen the research on the narrowing effects of living in an ideological echo chamber. It’s good for me to be surprised and challenged out of this rut I’ve created for myself.

For example, I’ve learned that playgrounds and birthday parties hosted by my children’s friends can be full of surprising interactions. That our children are friends at school means that we have proximity in common, but potentially little else. From those sometimes awkward and fumbling conversations, I’ve heard stories about the finer points of brewing beer, what it’s like to apply for refugee status in the US, and how we might tell the difference between a mental health disorder and demon possession. See? I just never know what’s waiting for me when I leave efficiency and balance behind and spend some time with someone who shares one identity with me – being a parent of an elementary-aged child – while also seeing the world in a different way than I do. 

This might surprise you, but IPA is another space that is rich with potential for connections that can disrupt and transform our view of the world. We all share a history of grueling years in graduate school earning a doctoral degree, but don’t let that fool you. We are also actors, immigrants, elders, DIYers, activists, chefs, athletes, travelers, inventors, writers…and so much more. 

As a community of psychologists at IPA, we influence state and federal policy, act to strengthen our workforce, advocate for consumers of mental health services in our state, add our efforts with others in responding to disasters, and provide a network of consultation and training. But we are also, at our core, a diverse community. To engage with service to IPA is to open ourselves up to the messy, transformative, relational work of being in community. 

As I check in with psychologists around the state, I hear over and over that we are working at and beyond our capacity. There is too much to do and too little time in which to do it all. But consider making an investment in service and community with your colleagues at IPA that is not just about taking on more work. Join a committee. Attend a social. Reach out to a colleague sending a message on the e-list. Present your research at the Spring Conference. You’ll meet some interesting people along the way, who’ll help broaden your understanding of yourself, our world, and our work as a community of psychologists at this moment in time. I look forward to seeing you there!

Greetings, Iowa psychologists! Here we are in March and it is well past time for me to introduce myself as your current Iowa Psychological Association President. I am relatively new to the IPA community, so I’ll start by sharing a bit about myself. I’m an early career psychologist, having graduated from the counseling psychology program at the University of Iowa in 2020. I was invited back into the IPA community by joining Dr. Matt Cooper’s postdoc consultation group (Dr. Cooper is IPA’s Training Director) and by the hospitality of the Early Career Psychologist Committee. I learned quickly how important this professional community would be for me and am honored to take my turn serving as a leader for the association. My family and I live in Iowa City, and life these days is full of playgrounds, board games and general chaos. As a psychologist, I provide supervision to doctoral students as clinical staff in the University of Iowa counseling psychology program, and run my own solo practice providing psychotherapy to adults. 

I recently attended the annual meeting for state psychological association leaders hosted by the American Psychological Association in Washington, D.C. In many ways, our gathering was a microcosm of the dynamics of our own psychological community in Iowa – a coalition of psychologists with a range of perspectives on the work and future of our profession, caught up in a larger cultural moment of uncertainty and disruption. 

The most useful message for me, and one I want to share with you all, was the reminder to invest in relationships as we advocate for the health and wellbeing of all humans. A system of polarized politics prioritizes the performance of virtue over honoring the humanity of others of difference. Virtue performance (as embodied by any political ilk) is rigid and precarious, while real relationships are ambiguous and contextual. Our work may be to resist – as we are safely able – the larger trend toward simplified and ahistorical frameworks for understanding each other.  And we have more work to do in discovering how to better articulate the ways in which systems of oppression and marginalization contribute to negative health outcomes in disproportionate ways for some members of our communities. Even finding the language for these conversations can feel fraught. 

As advocates for our clients, communities and profession, we must act quickly and slowly – quickly to leverage opportunities as they arise, and slowly in sustaining the social capital that anchors change over time. Finding that balance can feel impossible, (perhaps better described as tension than balance), especially in a moment of rapid change and loss of human rights for many already marginalized people. During the past year, I prioritized hearing from psychologists across the state and I consistently heard a similar message: we are at (or beyond) capacity in our work, scrambling to address the mental health needs of our communities. Many of us don’t have any extra hours to give to anything else, much less care for ourselves. Attending to relationships, especially across differences, can be slow, messy and inefficient. But here we are. 

The good news is that we are already working at navigating this tension, this balance, in IPA! Our members and leaders are actively engaged in building connections between each other and with community leaders. If you are a psychologist in our community, I invite you to consider becoming more actively involved in even one small way in this shared work. If you’re a licensed psychologist, reach out to a student in your network, or send a text or note to a colleague. Introduce yourself to your state legislators as a constituent and offer to speak to questions they may have about mental health or psychological concerns. If you’re a student, reach out to peers or someone already working in your field of interest. Remember that Dr. Bethe Lonning, our Director of Professional Affairs, is available to answer any practice-related questions you might have. Consider joining an IPA committee working in your areas of interest (like disaster response, ethics, psychopharmacology, diversity and social justice…and many more). We all need to find fast and slow ways to promote the wellbeing of all people in our communities. And we don’t need to do this work in isolation.

I’m grateful to be part of this community of psychologists with you all. Don’t hesitate to reach out to me – I’ll make time for a conversation with you over zoom, email or coffee. We’re in this together.

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.

The year’s end is rapidly approaching, and what a year it’s been for IPA! You can read my updates from spring and summer here and here.

I think one of the most exciting things this year is that IPA created a Marketing Consultant Workgroup, headed by early career psychologist Dr. Jenna Paternostro. This workgroup’s task is to complete a rebranding and website redesign project! IPA wants to position itself as Iowa’s leader in mental and behavioral health. The Executive Council (EC) believes this project will attract new members and frame IPA and its members as the experts in psychological science to better serve the public. This is a stepwise project, and the first step of logo redesign is already underway. The workgroup is collaborating with SuperWink Studio, an Iowa-based design firm, to enhance IPA’s recognition among members and the public. We are on track and projected to launch the new logo in early spring. The second step in the process will be the website redesign, and we hope to have a contract for this work signed by the end of the year. The website redesign is intended to improve user experience, enhance IPA’s visibility and inclusivity, and increase accessibility of our public education resources. As a nerd for all things design, I could not be more excited about this project and how it will benefit IPA!

IPA has continued offering continuing education opportunities for its members. The second half of the year featured two training opportunities led by IPA members! Our Fall Conference was in October at which Dr. Krista Brittain presented on Therapeutic Assessment. Later that month, Dr. Allison Momany presented on gender identity and expression in neurodiverse youth. We are excited to continue these CE offerings in 2024. The first event planned is a 2-CE training event on Cultural Humility with IPA’s own Dr. Joyce Goins-Fernandez on January 26th from 1-3pm. You can register for the event here.

Registration is also open for our 2024 Spring Conference. It will be March 22-23 and will feature two presenters from Rogers Behavioral Health discussing OCD. Day 1 will have Dr. David Jacobi presenting “Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: Current Understand and Treatment Considerations,” and Day 2 will have Dr. Chad Wetterneck presenting “A Tour Across the OCD Spectrum.” You may register for either or both days here. The Program Planning Committee is pleased to bring you continuing education on this topic, as it has been highly requested by members.

The Policies and Procedures (P&P) Manual Workgroup, a subgroup of the Strategic Plan Committee, is approaching the end of a project that has been underway since 2021. This group includes Drs. Alissa Doobay, Nicole Keedy, Valerie Keffala, and myself. Dr. Ashley Freeman has provided editorial support, and Dr. Benge Tallman played a huge role in getting us up and running. This group was tasked with updating IPA’s P&P Manual including all committee descriptions, all EC position descriptions, all policies, and all operating procedures. I don’t think any of us had any idea exactly how big of a task this was. We initially thought this would be a one-year project; however, nearly three years later, the finish line is finally in sight! The changes made have been approved by the EC. We are so proud of the work that we’ve done because the finished document will be the go-to place to find answers to all the “how do we…?” and “what is the…?” questions about IPA operations. In 2024, the P&P workgroup will be proposing some bylaws changes to the EC that, pending approval, will be brought to membership for a vote.

This was a challenging and productive year for IPA in terms of leadership recruitment. As you know, Dr. Mark Poeppe resigned from his role as 2023 President-Elect in August. I’m grateful for Dr. Dave Beeman who stepped into that role following approval from the EC. Our annual EC election was delayed until we found a candidate to run for President-Elect. I’m thrilled that early career psychologist, Dr. Isaac Hooley, agreed to run. I look forward to serving on the Triad with them in 2024 as Past-President.

Other changes in leadership include Dr. Jennifer Kauder’s election as Diversity Liaison. She and Dr. Lisa Streyffeler will be co-chairing the Diversity and Social Justice (DSJ) Committee, which has been without an official co-/chair this year. Another exciting change is that Dr. Ron Hougen will be chairing and resurrecting the Ethics Committee, which has not been operational since 2022. If you are interested in joining the DSJ or Ethics Committee (or any other committee), please let me know. In 2024, the EC will be welcoming Ashley Banta as our Student Division Representative (SDR) and Tianxin Wang as our Student Division Representative Elect. I want to thank Eric Field for his service as this year’s SDR and his initiative to formally institute, with EC approval, the role of the SDR Elect. It was an idea that will meaningfully add to succession planning and continuity of leadership.

Next year we will be recruiting for two key roles on the EC: Treasurer and IPA Member Representative. Drs. Sarah Fetter and Katie Kopp will be concluding their terms in these positions, respectively. As we do every year, we will also be recruiting for President-Elect. We continue to recruit for a State Advocacy Coordinator, as this position has been officially vacant since 2022. This is a crucial role for IPA and our ability to advocate for psychological science and safeguarding the profession is significantly limited without someone in it. If you would like to learn more about any of these leadership positions, do not hesitate to contact me or anyone one else current in leadership.

I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge our outgoing Past-President, Dr. Nicole Keedy. She joined the Triad in 2021, back when the pandemic was making weekly headlines, psychologists were facing professional demands like never before, and IPA was growing. She has been a steadfast support and leadership partner this year, and this year would have been so much more difficult had she not been by my side. I am grateful for her leadership, kindness, compassion, and friendship. IPA is better for having had her at the helm. Thank you for your service to us all, Nicole.

It has been a privilege to serve you as IPA President this year. My goal was to be a good steward of the association, and I worked hard while navigating leadership challenges and balancing the many other aspects of life. I am proud of what the EC and IPA committees and workgroups have accomplished this year because I believe it is for the betterment of our association, our members, and our ability to meet the mental and behavioral health needs of Iowans. I am excited to see where IPA goes in 2024. For now, though, I will sign off by wishing you a peaceful year’s end in which you spend your time doing what feels meaningful and restorative to you.

The end of 2022, and an incredibly rewarding year as IPA President, offers a sense of fulfillment, reflection, and great optimism regarding 2023. The Spring Presidential Update listed leaders and committee members in IPA who have continued to serve diligently throughout this year, to accomplish the Strategic Plan goals outlined in the Summer Update. Our leaders have dedicated time, thought, and energy into updating their Strategic Plan goals, objectives, and tactics for 2023, encompassing ambitious and meaningful aims for the approaching year. We are all fortunate to benefit from the time and talents of many IPA members whose passion and loyalty provide an astounding degree of accomplishment for a small state association. I have been honored, humbled, and gratified to serve IPA with this inspiring group of psychologists and professionals.

Highlights of 2022

For the December meeting of IPA’s Executive Council, each committee was asked to provide an annual review of their accomplishments in line with their 2022 Strategic Plan Worksheets. Reviewing these year-end reports provided a sense of overwhelming appreciation for the breadth of achievements across the association. While an exhaustive list of efforts would fill many pages, this summary offers a glimpse of IPA’s valuable activities over the course of this year. It has been a great pleasure to serve in the Presidential Triad with Dr. Nicole Holmberg and Dr. Valerie Keffala, offering an inside glimpse of the many efforts of IPA committees and Executive Council members.

Over the course of this year, the Program Planning Committee, co-chaired by Dr. Nicole Holmberg, Dr. Valerie Keffala, and myself collaborated with the IPA Executive Director, Ms. Suzanne Hull, to host two amazing conferences regarding Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions with Dr. Eli Lebowitz and Compassion-Focused Therapy with Dr. Russell Kolts. Returning to in-person conferences was exciting and uplifting after two years in which we were unable to comfortably gather. Additionally, IPA hosted nine virtual training events, contributing to a total of 36.5 CEUs available to members through IPA this year.

The Finance Committee, chaired by the IPA Treasurer, Dr. Sarah Fetter, has diligently worked to maintain the financial stability of the association. In addition to offering the opportunity for committees to obtain extra funding for special projects this year, IPA was able to completely restore the balance of its investment account. Additionally, the Finance Committee’s thoughtful oversight of the budget has allowed the Program Planning Committee to bring widely renowned speakers to Iowa.

The Disaster Response Committee, chaired by Dr. Ashley Freeman, has created key partnerships with local and national organizations regarding disaster training and resources. They disseminated information regarding available training in Psychological First Aid and resources for members to utilize and share after the tornado struck central Iowa on March 5 and following mass shootings in Uvalde, TX on May 24 and Cornerstone Church in Ames, IA on June 2. Additionally, this committee has developed a comprehensive Disaster Resources List available on the IPA website: https://iopa.memberclicks.net/disaster-response-resources.

The Diversity and Social Justice Committee, under leadership of Dr. Joyce Goins Fernandez and Dr. Nicole Holmberg (who are seeking replacement (co)chairs for 2023), arranged three of the CE events focusing on disability as an area of diversity. They posted 15 Diversity Spotlights to the E-list and hosted 4 virtual book/video discussions to foster connection and reflection regarding issues of equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI). Additionally, they addressed member questions with the launch of their “Ask the DSJ!” email service and they initiated the role of a liaison to the Advocacy Team to promote EDI consideration in IPA’s advocacy efforts.

The Membership Committee, co-chaired by Dr. Alissa Doobay and myself, demonstrated successful results with their Strategic Plan efforts, meeting their goal of a 2% increase in new full members from May 2021 to May 2022 as well as far surpassing the same goal for student members. Following the implementation of the student sponsorship and mentorship programs and active efforts to recruit students, IPA now has an astonishing total of 49 student members.  These students have been actively engaged in committees and leadership, providing foundational vitality to the organization.

The Psychopharmacology Committee, chaired by Dr. Elizabeth Lonning, has continued strong efforts to promote the ability for Iowa psychologists to serve the state as prescribing providers. With the active support of this committee, three Iowa psychologists attained the status of Conditional Prescribing Psychologist in 2022 (bringing the state’s total to 4). This committee has also provided information to students, the New Jersey Psychological Association, and IPA members regarding Iowa’s legislative process and becoming a prescribing psychologist. They have provide multiple resources for the public and for IPA members on the website: https://iopa.memberclicks.net/rxp.

The Director of Professional Affairs (DPA), Dr. Elizabeth Lonning, has made outstanding strides in connecting with insurance companies and a group of APA DPAs to facilitate advocacy and communication to assist our members in navigating various professional concerns that have arisen this year. Members have expressed immense gratitude for the direct benefit to their practices of Dr. Lonning’s expert assistance.

The Advocacy Team has communicated regarding effective ways to provide science-based information to legislators regarding social justice priorities that may affect Iowans, such as health equity. Our Federal Advocacy Coordinator, Dr. JoAnna Romero Cartaya, has facilitated advocacy efforts to promote reimbursement of trainees via Medicare, continued telehealth reimbursement, and appropriation of educational grants for psychology trainees. Our State Advocacy Coordinator, Dr. Paul Aschemann (seeking a replacement for 2023) successfully facilitated advocacy for provisional licensure of psychology interns in Iowa and rejection of a bill that would have required psychologists to provide testing materials and data to attorneys.

Our APA Representative, Dr. Sally Oakes Edman, successfully assisted in seeking a replacement for 2023 to represent IPA within APA’s Council of Representatives, Dr. Paul Aschemann. Dr. Oakes Edman has served as a voting member of IPA’s Executive Council for 16 years and her role as the APA Representative has provided valuable communication between IPA members and the APA Council of Representatives.

In addition to the above efforts, the Public Education Committee, under leadership of Dr. Valerie Keffala and Dr. Warren Phillips, initiated a revival of this committee’s efforts with outreach and support to Ukrainian refugees. The WEB Committee, co-chaired by Dr. Katie Kopp and Ms. Suzanne Hull, increased accessibility of the IPA website. The Ethics Committee, chaired by Dr. Marla Shapiro (currently seeking a new chair) assisted in the updating of a job description for the Policies and Procedures (P&P) manual and offered suggestions regarding ethical and EDI considerations to the Program Planning Committee, with hopes of increasing participation on this committee in the upcoming year. The P&P Workgroup (consisting of Dr. Alissa Doobay, Dr. Nicole Holmberg, Dr. Valerie Keffala, and myself) communicated with multiple IPA leaders, sent countless emails, and met for two day-long retreats during which they revised and updated 14 job descriptions for the P&P Manual that were approved by Executive Council in 2022. The IPA training director, Dr. Matthew Cooper, has worked to promote ongoing training via six post-doctoral sites in Iowa and he continues conversations to increase both internship and post-doctoral training opportunities in the state. The IPA Diversity Liaison, Dr. Joyce Goins-Fernandez, continues to advocate for EDI considerations on Executive Council and she organized two informative and engaging CE trainings for IPA members in 2022. Additionally, our IPA Representatives Dr. Scott Young and Dr. Katie Kopp, as well as the IPA Student Representative, Eric Field, have actively engaged in Executive Council meetings to represent our broad membership with concerns and requests that help IPA leadership serve our members thoughtfully and effectively.

Anticipated Highlights of 2023

As we anticipate another year of IPA activities, it is important to thank each and every IPA member that supports the efforts of the association through social connection, offering valuable information, providing tireless time and energy toward IPA’s Strategic Plan, and, of course, paying membership dues to support IPA’s many efforts. I am excited to transition to the skilled leadership of our incoming IPA President, Dr. Nicole Holmberg and President Elect, Dr. Mark Poeppe. A few highlights to which we may look forward for 2023 include a number of exciting training events as well as an ambitious legislative agenda. Of note, the IPA Representatives have collaborated with Executive Council, the Presidential Triad, and the Executive Director to develop a procedure to increase awareness and engagement of IPA’s membership in the activities of Executive Council, with more information coming soon.

The Program Planning Committee, in collaboration with multiple committees and leaders, is excited for the following training events for which registration is open, in addition to multiple training ideas in the planning phase for 2023.

• Webinar: “The Mind, Lives, and Motivations of Mass Attackers” presented by Dr. Peter Langman on 1/27/2023 from 1-4pm, hosted in collaboration with the Council of Executives of State and Provincial Psychological Associations.

• “How Training Psychologists in Clinical Psychopharmacology Can Improve Patient Care Across Iowa” by Dr. Judi Steinman, hosted virtually on 3/22/2023 from 12 – 1:30pm.

• IPA Spring Conference: Taking Care of Us, including “The Neuroscience of Mindfulness-Based Meditation: A Day of Practice and Science” by Dr. Fadel Ziedan on 4/28/23 from 9am – 5pm and Values, Burnout, and Finding Work-Life Integrity by Dr. Jenna LeJeune on 4/29/23 from 9am – 5:15 at Honey Creek Resort in Moravia, Iowa.

• Online 2023 Trust Workshop: “Sequence X: Perplexing Problems in Psychological Practice: Decision Science, Ethics & Risk Management” by Dr. Daniel O. Taube on  6/9/23 from 8:30-12:00pm.

• Multiple psychopharmacology topics offered via a collaborative training arrangement with New Mexico State University.

The Executive Council approved a 2023 Iowa State Advocacy Agenda including multiple issues relating to the practice of psychology:

• Adjusting laws for prescribing psychologists to reduce barriers to obtaining prescription privileges

• Doubling funding for psychology interns

• Requiring self-insured plans to self-identify

• Protecting use of the title “psychologist”

• Advancing past improvements to the system, such as expanding telehealth, to facilitate efforts to provide much-needed psychological services to Iowans

Members are also encouraged to consider joining the Iowa Capitol Legislative Breakfast hosted by the Advocacy Team on March 21, with more information to follow.

Student members will soon engage in an updated process for electing a Student Division Representative-Elect, which intends to facilitate a smooth transition between successive Student Representatives participating on Executive Council. 

The Strategic Plan Committee, which will be co-chaired by Dr. Mark Poeppe and myself, is preparing to review annual reports and updated Strategic Plan Worksheets in the upcoming month. The committee has scheduled a day-long retreat in February to compile feedback and suggestions for each committee and to create a report that will be provided to membership at the Business Meeting scheduled to take place on April 1, 2023 from 8:15-9:00am via Zoom. We anticipate another highly productive and engaging year of efforts to serve and support our membership and the Iowans we all strive to serve. Thank you all for a fantastic year and cheers to a Happy New Year for IPA!