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.

In preparing for my last Presidential Blog, I have spent some time thinking about the past year and looking forward to new adventures and initiatives in the new year. 

An historic event occurred for IPA this past year when we elected Dr. Nicole Holmberg as our 2022 President Elect, resulting in what will be the first all women Presidential Triad in the history of IPA! Looking forward, 2022 looks to be an amazing year with the continuation of many initiative started this past year, and many more new initiatives on board for next year!

In looking back, 2021 was a very busy year with lots of learning and growing within IPA. I estimate IPA held an average of 4.5 zoom meetings per week, including committee and leadership meetings, conferences and learning opportunities, legislative events, townhalls, and social hours. Over this past year, we have continued to adapt very well to the challenges COVID has presented. Using online platforms, we have increased our ability to interact with each other, presenting more opportunities for growth and involvement within IPA, increasing outreach to members and non-members across the state.  

We have had multiple opportunities for IPA sponsored trainings throughout the year on a wide variety of topics including trauma, pain, diversity, working with individuals from agricultural communities, CMS, psychopharmacology, ethics, and legal issues relating to practice. Next year we will add to our broad range of training opportunities by offering several trainings focusing on parenting and children. 

This was the inaugural year for our IPA Director of Professional Affairs (DPA) position. Dr. Bethe Lonning, our first DPA, has been a tremendous help to IPA members. Dr. Lonning, Dr. JoAnna Romero Cartaya, Dr. Paul Ascheman, Dr. Matt Cooper, and IPA lobbyist Amy Campbell,  comprise our Advocacy Team. They all have continued to help keep us informed of larger national and state issues that impact IPA, and continue to advocate for IPA at the state and national level. There have been many challenges and opportunities this past year they have helped IPA navigate. 

This was also the inaugural year for our first elected Diversity Liaison (DL). Dr. Joy Goins-Fernandez has done a fabulous job serving IPA in that role, first as our interim DL, and this year in her first year as our elected DL. She has brought increased awareness of diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice (DEISJ) issues as they impact IPA members and the people with whom we work. This past year training was offered on awareness of implicit bias to all members. As part of our inaugural initiative to hold yearly DEISJ this training was offered free to all members.  On January 14, 2022, training will be offered on clinical competencies in working with LGBTQ+ populations. All EC members are required to attend this training, which will be offered to them free of charge. All IPA members are strongly encouraged to attend this training. 

This year we finalized and began to implement our IPA’s Strategic Plan, under the excellent leadership of, Dr. Benjamin Tallman, the chair of the Strategic Plan committee and 2021 Past President. The Strategic Plan has helped IPA achieve more transparency and clarity for IPA leaders and members, guiding IPA as we work toward goals and initiatives that keep IPA growing healthy and strong. 

Speaking of growth, this year our member numbers increased by 41 members! We now have a total of 284 IPA members. Much of our success in increasing student membership this past year has been due to our new program sponsoring student members. Membership committee co-chairs Dr. Alissa Doobay and Dr. Nicole Keedy (our 2022 IPA President!) came up with the wonderful idea of having IPA members volunteer to cover the cost of a year-long membership for a student ($50), and our new mentoring program, matching current full members with student members. If you are interested in sponsoring or mentoring a student member please reach out to Dr. Doobay or Dr. Keedy.

Like you, I could continue to name the many successes IPA has experienced this past year! It has been such a full and amazing year!!

As the year comes to a close, I look back on my year as IPA President with gratitude. My path was made much easier by the support provided by so many of you. In particular, I simply can’t express how much the support of my fellow Presidential Triad members has meant to me.  

I am so thankful for Dr. Benjamin Tallman, our Past President. He provided much needed guidance in times of doubt. His many years of experience were invaluable to me as I tried to follow in his footsteps. His long history within the leadership of IPA is taking a hiatus next year, but all he has done over his past 10 years in leadership will have a positive impact on IPA for many years to come. 

I am also so thankful to Dr. Warren Phillips and Dr. Nicole Keedy, whose wisdom guided me as I attempted to navigate in my leadership roles over the past 2 years. Their perspectives and insights were always so helpful. 

I am grateful to Ms. Suzanne Hull, our ever constant and unshakeable Executive Director, who kindly and expertly helped me find my way through the many administrative duties entailed my Presidential role. 

Many thanks, as well, to the Executive Council members who helped provide guidance during our EC meetings, particularly in navigating Robert’s Rules!! This small group of committed leaders are the movers and shakers of IPA. Executive Council members vote on initiatives, pass IPA bylaws and procedure manual changes, and work hard to support and represent IPA members. Members of the Executive Council reach out in a variety of ways to connect with APA and with the 59 other State, Provincial, or Territorial Associations (SPTAs) of APA; both to represent IPA and to explore ways IPA can grow. The Executive Council is comprised of an amazing group of people serving IPA. I humbled to have been chosen to lead this group as our President over the past year. 

Last, but not least, I extend my gratitude to all of the members of IPA. Without you we could not exist. It is your dedication and commitment to psychology that makes this all possible. 

I look forward to continuing my role in leadership next year, as Past President. Dr. Tallman and Dr. Phillips have been amazing mentors to me as I have watched them lean into this role!

A hearty congratulations to Dr. Nicole Keedy, who will do an amazing job as IPA President, and a warm welcome to Dr. Nicole Holmberg, who is going to be a fabulous President Elect! I look forward to working together with them in the 2022 Presidential Triad, along with all of the other IPA leadership and members! 

A heartfelt wish to you all for a happy and healthy New Year! 

What a glorious beginning to another fall season in Iowa! As a transplant to Iowa from California, I never tire of leaves changing, the weather turning colder, a new school year underway, and the football games, homecoming parades, and community events that are come to life in the college community where I live.

Fall is the time of national and state elections that determine much of what will come in the years ahead. The same is true for IPA! I am excited at the beginning of this fall season to have our IPA elections completed and look forward to some new faces on the IPA Executive Council. 

For the first time in the nearly 75-year history of IPA, the 2022 presidential triad will be comprised of all women! Dr. Nicole Keedy will be our new president, Dr. Nicole Holmberg will be our new president-elect, and I will move into the role of past-president. Though both men and women in IPA have been amazing presidential leaders, this upcoming year reflects the changing face of psychology over time. It is my hope that as an organization we continue to reflect changes in the larger community, inviting more diversity by creating more opportunities for leadership for psychologists in IPA and in the state of Iowa. 

IPA has grown, both in membership and in engagement, at the local, state, and national level. IPA has done a superb job supporting psychologists in Iowa by offering multiple training and CEU opportunities, by offering mentoring to students and new professionals, and by developing opportunities for early, mid, and later career psychologists to make a home in Iowa. We have made every effort to invite psychologists to both train AND remain in the state of Iowa, growing the profession of psychology in the state where Fields of Opportunities is our slogan!

Before running for president-elect 2 years ago, I had volunteered in IPA in a variety of ways over the years. IPA has evolved as we, and those with whom we work, have met multiple challenges. As an organization we have met the challenge of serving others through the insidious advance of COVID-19 (including the new Delta variant) that has ravaged our communities and families, the attempts by insurance companies to undermine payment for our services, the destruction of homes and offices of many during the derecho and flooding in various parts of the state, and many other economic, health, and safety challenges. Through it all, psychologists in the state of Iowa have continued to provide excellent care of patients, fabulous teaching in our universities and colleges, and have provided leadership in a variety of ways and in many roles. Even in the midst of all of these challenges, IPA is succeeding!

One of the ways IPA leadership has continued to thrive has been to maintain a commitment to change and grow. Towards this end, it has been one of my goals as president to have IPA revise the By-Laws and Policy and Procedures Manuals. These out-of-date documents have become unhelpful as individuals on the Executive Council tried to understand their roles and responsibilities to the organization. Earlier this year, I appointed IPA past-president Dr. Benjamin Tallman to lead this important and colossal effort as chair of the committee charged with the task to evaluate, update, and re-write these important documents needed for the proper running of our organization. 

Dr. Tallman has successfully leading this committee to examine every position in IPA leadership, every committee, and every contractor who works for IPA. We are reviewing every process and procedure with the hope of clarifying, defining, and providing guidance to others who will follow in these roles in the future. We meet as a group twice per month to work on creating a new and user-friendly document that will be easier to revise as roles grow and change. We want to provide both transparency and clarity for our future IPA leaders. With the help of leaders currently in these positions we have successfully started this process, though the task continues to grow as we recognize the many gaps in our current manuals. We hope to be done with this task in the next 12-24 months!

Please let me clarify that being involved in IPA leadership is more than just commitment and facing challenges. It also a source of friendship, collegiality, synergism, affinity, much joy and laughter, and sometimes wonderful shared meals! Though I spend hours in IPA meetings every month, I leave each one with a sense of wellbeing and greater purpose; a sense of being part of something bigger than myself. 

So, though being involved in IPA leadership is time consuming, it’s also lots of fun! Here is a photo from a recent IPA working retreat we had on my family farm. (Yes, a former southern California gal who had wanted to be a marine biologist now lives on a farm in a state with no ocean in site!) 

 IPA leadership is committed to doing our best and to lead with excellence, AND we also have a lot of fun! I encourage you to become involved! You belong here, make yourself at home! IPA wouldn’t survive with you!

Happy Summer!

This can be a busy time of year, full of transitions for many of us; swimming lessons and summer activities for kids, potentially the first travel many of have done for over a year as we head out on vacation, late nights and early mornings as days with longer sunlight allow time for time in the garden, long walks, and barbeques.

During this time of year, IPA leadership begins to think about recruiting our next group of leaders. Starting with this post, and over the next couple of weeks, we are encouraging members to think about volunteering to run for open positions in IPA leadership next year.

The positions we will be voting for this year are will be: Treasurer, IPA Representative, President Elect, Federal Advocacy Coordinator, and State Advocacy Coordinator. 

Each of these positions vary in time commitment, ranging on average from about 4 hours per month to 4 hours per week. Time in each position varies depending on what is happening during the year.

Though the time commitment may appear daunting, the rewards are great. You will get to work with some amazing folks in IPA, and have the opportunity to be at the heart of all that happens in the organization, helping to direct our growth and respond to the needs of our members, other psychologists in the state, and potentially become involved at a national level with APA and related to federal advocacy.

The Policy and Procedures Manual, found on the Member Resource page of IPA website, has a description of each of these positions, however we are in the process of making updates and revisions to each of these. Please feel free to reach out to me, Dr. Benge Tallman, or Dr. Nicole Keedy if you are wanting more information about these positions. 

If you are interested in running, please let one of the abovementioned Presidential Triad know over the next few weeks. We will post the ballot sometime during the second week of August, and voting ends 30 days later.

On a personal level, I would like to share that being in leadership has been one of the highlights of my personal and professional career. I’ve deepened relationships that were already important to me, and established new friendships and working relationships with others in leadership. As part of the leadership team, I have loved exploring and developing learning opportunities for psychologists, creating and promoting IPA initiatives, advocating for the profession of psychology on a state and federal level, and looking for ways to support and enhance training for doctoral and postdoctoral psychology students. These are only some of the things that stand out in my mind from my time as part of the Presidential Triad during these past 18 months.

IPA has a long and amazing history of service by some truly outstanding individuals. You are invited to become part of that history by volunteering to run for one of these positions.  I hope you will consider doing so!