Newsletter at a Glance -ECPC Update: Building a Web of Support -APA Adopts First Official Definition of an Early Career Psychologist! -Highlights of OPA Spring Convention -OPA Member Benefit Highlight: OPA Mentor Program -Three Ways that Early Career Psychologists Can Improve Their Career and Maintain Their Sanity: Lessons Learned from Chelsi Day, Psy.D. -Did You Know? How to Connect with Your Regional Psychological Association -Early Career Psychologist Spotlight: Jennifer Lamanna, Ph.D. ECPC Update: Building a Web of Support ECP NEWSLETTER Volume 1, Number 2 Welcome! We are excited to be putting out our second e-newsletter with many new contributors and lots of helpful information for you. We love having new members and are excited to have welcomed two new ECPC members since our last e- newsletter: Amy Untied, and Eric Sullivan! We have been working hard in the past few months to collaborate with other OPA committees to build a web of support for ECPs. One source of support has been to create an ECP Day at OPA Conventions. We were able to do this for the first time at the Fall OPA Convention which was very well attended by ECPs. The ECPC sponsored our first workshop on Finding Work-Life Balance as an Early Career Psychologist. ECPC members, Andrea Bischoff and Katie Golden were instrumental in developing, planning, and moderating this workshop. We were very thankful to have excellent panelists, Kathleen Ashton, Ph.D., Dr. Nicholas Doninger, Ph.D., ABPP, Angela Kuemmel, Ph.D., and Cathy McDaniels Wilson, Ph.D., ABPP who shared their experiences with finding a balance between their personal and professional lives. Not an easy thing to do! The panelists all shared that having support, taking care of oneself, maintaining boundaries, and being involved professionally were important aspects of maintaining a good balance. The ECP Day culminated with the New Licensee Dinner and Swearing In Ceremony where we celebrated and welcomed the following new psychologists into the profession: Christine Abbuhl, Ph.D., Angela Capuano, Ph.D., William Froilan, Ph.D., Conrad Gratz, Ph.D., Joyce Jadwin, Psy.D., Jennifer D. Lamanna Ph.D., Matthew Meara, Ph.D., Jonathan Shelton, Psy.D. and Janice Vidic, Ph.D. We have been able to continue to create programming around an ECP Day for the 2014 Convention on Thursday, April 24 (see the Highlights of the Convention below for much more detail!). Many ECPs in the fall came up to me with questions about loan repayment programs, so the ECPC has collaborated with OPAGS (the Ohio Psychological Association of Graduate Students) to co-sponsor a workshop at the spring convention on Managing Student Debt and Planning for Financial Growth. In addition, we received many suggestions after the 2013 Convention about how the ECP Day could be improved and are implementing them in the spring including a social hour at the Welcome Reception prior to the New Licensee Dinner and Swearing In Ceremony. We re hoping that having a little more informal time after the workshops will help ECPs connect with one another and network with other psychologists! Once again, the ECP Day will culminate with the New Licensee Dinner and Swearing In Ceremony truly not to be missed! Other initiatives to increase support for ECPs include collaborating with the OPA Professional Practice Committee on the OPA mentor program, as well as strengthening existing regional supports and creating new ones through the Peer Consultation Networks. This newsletter also includes information on how to connect with your regional psychological association. Finally, we are literally working on building a web of support through our social media efforts so that we can get helpful information and resources out to you in a timely man-
ner. This effort is currently underway and our newest member, Eric Sullivan, Ph.D., is heading a social media task force! We welcome any suggestions and assistance. If you would be interested in creating content or helping out in some other way, please contact Eric Sullivan at ericsullivan1@gmail.com. We are still a relatively new committee and love hearing from other ECPs about the challenges (and successes!) they are facing at this stage of their career. In particular, are there ways we can better support you as an ECP? Are you interesting in serving as the ECP representative on the OPA Governing Task Force or Marketing Task Force? Do you have ideas for topics that would be helpful to address in future newsletters or workshops? Would you be interested in sharing what you re passionate about as part of an ECP Spotlight? Are there resources that have you found most helpful to you as an ECP? Let us know and we can work together to build a strong ECP community in Ohio. Also, if you are interested in connecting more with ECPs and/or further developing your leadership skills, we d love to hear from you. You can contact me at khutchinson3@ gmail.com. Kati Hutchinson, Ph.D., Chair, Early Career Psychologist Committee APA Adopts First Official Definition of an Early Career Psychologist! Before this past February, whether or not you were considered an Early Career Psychologist (ECP), and subsequently eligible for certain discounts, awards, scholarships, and leadership positions within APA may have depended on which division and/or committees you were involved with, and that s not taking into account that the definition of an ECP also differs among State Psychological Associations. The APA Committee on Early Career Psychologists (CECP) has defined an ECP as being within seven years of receipt of the doctoral degree for several years and the OPA had adopted a similar definition. So, how did the seven-year definition get out there? No one really knows, but the overall consensus has been that it was not based on hard data! However, the general feedback from ECPs has been that many feel that they are still in the beginning stages of one s career even after seven years, particularly if it took a bit longer to get licensed after graduating and/or if other life milestones delayed embarking and establishing oneself in the profession. The CECP listened to this feedback and recently sponsored an agenda item at the APA Council session in late February to create the first official APA definition of an early career psychologist as being within ten years of receipt of the doctoral degree. The new definition passed with overwhelming support! So, what does this mean for you? Maybe nothing, but it may mean that you could continue to qualify for scholarships, awards, and leadership positions within APA reserved for ECPs for up to 10 years post graduation. List of ECPC Members Kati Hutchinson, Current Chair Andrea Bischoff Justin Bunn Kim Burkhart Katie Golden Jennica Karpinski David Kotarsky Rahema Rodgers Chelsea Weyand Tiffany Porter Jennifer Lamanna Kathryn Bell *Amy Untied *Eric Sullivan * New ECPC Members! Past Contributing Members Aaron Vaughn Amy Rouse What does it mean for OPA? Right now, OPA defines an ECP as within seven years receipt of the doctorate. The Early Career Psychologist Committee will be discussing the pros and cons of maintaining the status quo with our current definition and the potential implications if we were to support potentially recommending changing the OPA definition of ECP to be consistent with APA. If you have any thoughts regarding this, please contact Kati Hutchinson, Ph.D., Chair of the OPA Early Career Psychologist Committee, at khutchinson3@gmail.com.
ECP Highlights for the 2014 OPA Convention Contributor: Katie Golden, Ph.D. OPA Early Career Psychologist Committee Member We are very excited to highlight a number of sessions that may be of particular interest to Early Career Psychologists at this year s OPA Convention! This year s convention theme is, Evolving Health Care Structures: Psychology s Place at the Table, on April 24 & 25, at the Crowne Plaza North in Columbus. 1. Workshop #4: Managing Student Debt and Planning for Financial Growth Thursday, April 24, 1:45-4 p.m. (2 CE) Terri Pelley, MA & Kathleen Hutchinson, PhD Graduate students and early career psychologists face unique financial challenges including managing educational debt, deciphering loan repayment programs, adjusting to major life changes (e.g., marriage, home ownership, family changes), and/or investing in one s financial future. This workshop, jointly sponsored by the ECPC and OPAGS, will explore and identify practical strategies for dealing with these financial challenges. Presenters will provide information on the financial issues that ECPs face nationally and in Ohio. Presenters will also moderate a panel discussion that will include a professional financial planner and psychologists who are knowledgeable on different loan repayment options (e.g., NIH Clinical Research Loan Repayment, 10-year Public Service Loan Forgiveness, etc.). 2.Welcome Reception ECP & OPAGS Social Thursday, April 24, 4-5:30 pm: Welcome Reception There will be an ECP and OPAGS Social at the Wecome Reception. The Welcome Reception is open to everyone, however we will reserve a space for ECPs and graduate students to congregate and connect with one another. Look for the ECPC poster and your fellow ECPs (they ll have ECP badges on their name tags). 3.Dinner Honoring Newly Licensed Psychologists Thursday, April 24, 5:30 p.m.: Dinner OPA is one of the few state psychological associations to have a ceremony to fully recognize the hard work and perseverance that goes into being a psychologist. Definitely not to be missed! 4.ECPC Table Come by and see us at the ECPC table! We d love to meet you! 5.Workshop #10 Psychology Law, Rules and Ethical Dilemmas: An Update and Discussion Friday, April 25th, 1:45 to 5 pm (3 CE) OPA Ethics Committee & Ron Ross, PhD Join us for what is sure to be a lively discussion on ethical issues and complete your ethics CE requirement. Learn more about Convention and register by visiting ohpsych.org. There will be a room available for nursing mothers. Just request the room in the special request field when registering.
OPA Member Benefit Highlight: The OPA Mentor Program Contributors: Kati Hutchinson, Ph.D. Chair, OPA ECP Committee & Courtney Zeune, Psy.D. Chair, OPA Professional Practice Committee OPA offers a mentoring program as an OPA member benefit. As an early career psychologist, you are in the unique position to really benefit as both a mentee and a mentor depending on your current needs and interests. Graduate students and new ECPs are eager to connect with you to learn about the next steps in transitioning from graduate student to professional, and you may have questions and an interest in seeking guidance for many early career issues that you are grappling with such as balancing your professional life and family, negotiating for a competitive salary, managing student loan debt, pursuing board certification, and more. Here are some of the top reasons to seek a mentor or become a mentor. A Description of What the Mentoring Relationship Is (and Isn t): A mentor relationship can encompass many things for both the mentee and the mentor. For the mentee, it is an opportunity to discuss career goals, the ins and outs of the profession (particularly those things that just aren t taught in graduate school), and a safe environment to cultivate one s development of a professional identity. For the mentor, it can be a way to give back in appreciation for all the support you received throughout one s psychology career, an opportunity to reenergize one s practice, and it offers the prospect of continuing to learn and stay connected with the latest changes in the field. Mentors and mentees can be matched based on practice setting, clinical interests, geographic location, population served, and other cultural variables if desired. It is not a therapy or supervisory Top Reasons to Seek a Mentor: You re feeling like you re the only one out there who is struggling with (passing the EPPP, finding employment, figuring out what exactly you want to do now that you re officially a psychologist, getting on insurance panels, setting up a private practice, submitting grant proposals, getting published, developing content for a new class you re teaching, etc ). You want to expand your practice, or learn skills in a new area or setting, but aren t sure where to start. You d like to get board certified and would like to talk to someone about his/her experience with ABPP. You re starting to realize that even though you learned a lot, graduate school didn t teach you everything you need to be successful! relationship. Mentoring relationships may be longer term as mentors help guide mentees throughout the long process of graduate school through licensure, or the mentoring relationships may be much more time limited as in answering a few questions a mentee may have about career options, applying for internships, taking the EPPP, finding that first job or post-doc after graduation, getting on insurance panels, setting up a private practice, or really anything! Regardless of the exact nuances of each mentoring relationship, it is guaranteed to be beneficial to both mentor and mentee, and the field of psychology as a whole. A great opportunity to serve as a one-time mentor is to join one of the monthly EPPP Info Session calls, particularly if you have passed the EPPP in the past year, and share your experience with preparing for and passing it. If you are interested in this, please contact Bobbie Celeste, Ph.D., Director of Professional Affairs, at bceleste@ohpsych.org. If you are interested in being mentored, or becoming a mentor, you can contact Courtney Zeune, Psy.D., OPA Chair of the Professional Practice Committee, at czeune@matrixpsych.com. Top Reasons To Become a Mentor Someone mentored you, so you know what a difference it makes. No one mentored you, and you know what a difference it COULD have made. Positive Psychology tells us that doing something consistent with our values leads to sustained joy! Mentoring is mutually beneficial, it advances the future of the field and keeps seasoned professionals in touch with new trends and techniques.
Have you been affected by the psychology internship imbalance? Maybe you did not get the internship you wanted, or worse, you could not get one at all the first, second, or even third time you applied. Did you move far away from home to attend graduate school, to attend said hallowed internship, or to pursue a new job? Have you ever had an unhelpful or even detrimental supervision experience, or found it difficult to find a post-doctoral position and obtain licensure hours? Does your stomach still turn when you think about the Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology? If you answered yes to some or all of these questions you must be an Early Career Psychologist (ECP)! Don t despair, though, because there is hope for surmounting these common obstacles. Others have successfully navigated these problems and can teach us strategies to prevail. This article showcases a resilient ECP who was able to overcome these obstacles and land a dream job. From her we learn three strategies for turning adversity into success. Chelsi Day, Psy.D., ECP and Ohio Psychological Association (OPA) member, is not much unlike you. She faced many challenges as she pursued her career in clinical psychology. When she was an undergraduate at Miami University she dreamed of becoming a clinical psychologist. The realization of that dream began with her acceptance into the Psy.D. program at Antioch University of New England in Keene, New Hampshire. However, the honeymoon ended when she applied for internships. Dr. Day told this author that Despite all of the things I had achieved during my studies 3 Ways Early Career Psychologists can Improve Their Career & Maintain Their Sanity: Lessons Learned From Chelsi Day, Psy.D. Contributor: Eric L. Sullivan, Ph.D. Chalmers P. Wylie VA Ambulatory Care Center, Columbus, OH and the what my advisors and I thought were diverse and full clinical experiences I had, I did not attain an internship. Regardless of the deflating experience of rejection and the extra year of toil and reapplication it can sometimes portend, she maintained her spirits and carried on with finding an internship. She cold called all of the major colleges and universities in Ohio and Michigan! I ended up speaking with Oakland University who stated that they had an internship and she accepted a position in their counseling center! After completing her internship the challenges did not end. Dr. Day needed postdoctoral hours for licensure, but found it very difficult to locate quality post docs. When she found positions and applied to them, no sites selected her. Characteristic of her, she persisted; she did not give up. After five months of searching for and applying to positions, she secured a spot at a private practice in Columbus, OH where she completed her postdoctoral licensure requirement. She was licensed in March, 2013 and has since obtained a permanent position working with a company in Indiana who provides services to a geriatric population. How did Dr. Day find success after so much adversity? She cited three behaviors that contributed to her success that you too can apply, today, to improving your career. First, she was persistent. She did not give up when she did not match with an internship site or when she was rejected from a formal post doc. Second, she shared that small successes helped her to maintain and build her confidence to soldier onward toward success. As she gained clinical experience her confidence in her clinical abilities grew. Through teaching a psychology course at a career college in Columbus, Ohio, she was reminded of just how much she knew about psychology. Finally, Dr. Day cited Ohio Psychological Association membership as pivotal to hersucess. OPA
is the way I foundmy current job and has been an amazing source of support. When I needed resources or referrals, I knew that my fellow Ohio professionals were only an email away. I can t begin to express how much I gained from membership in the OPA. So, the next time you face adversity remember to persevere, build your confidence with small successes, and turn to OPA for support. If you are looking for a job, check out the job listings portal and useful career advice on the OPA Career Center web site at http://careers.ohpsych. org/, and the classifieds section of the OPA web site at http://www.ohpsych.org/visitors/ classifieds/. If you want to enhance your professional network and your curriculum vita, attend an OPA convention or event, or better yet, join the ECP committee or any of the other OPA committees, subcommittees, or task forces. As psychologists, we often have the illusion of being alone in our labs and clinics. We must remember that we are, in fact, a community and that OPA is here to help you succeed. Did You Know? There are six regional psychological associations in Ohio that provide support and resources to psychologists! Here s some information on how to connect with your regional psychological association: Akron Area Professional Psychologists: Learn more by contacting Colin Christensen, Ph.D., at 330-705-7301 or christensencd@sbcglobal.net. Central Ohio Psychological Association: Learn more by contacting Dr. Margie Kukor at mbkukor@att.net, or by going to http://www.copaonline.org/. Cincinnati Academy of Professional Psychologists: Learn more by contacting Sarah Greenwell, Psy.D., at Sarah.Greenwell@ cchmc.org, or by going to http:// www.cappnet.org/asp/index.asp. Cleveland Psychological Association (CPA): Learn more by visiting their website at clevelandpsychology.org. Dayton Area Psychological Association (DAPA): You can learn more about DAPA and read the most recent newsletter online by going to daytonpsych.org, or by contacting Marcy Gunn, Psy.D, at marcyjgpsyd@gmail.com. Toledo Area Academy of Professional Psychologists (TAPP): Learn more by contacting Mark Babula, Psy.D. at mbabula@cbhpsych.com or (419) 882-5678, or by going to taapp.info/jointaapp.htm.
Early Career Psychologist Spotlight Contributor: Jennifer Lamanna, Ph.D., jlamanna@psycare.com I am privileged to have a position as an Early Career Psychologist (ECP) at PsyCare, Inc., a comprehensive mental health agency accredited by the Joint Commission which operates nine clinics in Mahoning, Trumbull, and Columbiana counties. It is a well-established agency, serving the greater Youngstown area since 1985. Services are provided to children and adults through individual and group psychotherapy, psychological assessment, medication management, and Community Psychiatric Supportive Treatment (CPST). PsyCare employs over 80 clinicians, six of which are early career psychologists (ECPs). I started my position at PsyCare in September, 2013 after becoming a licensed Ohio psychologist. I earned my doctoral degree in Counseling Psychology from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2012. I specialize in Health Psychology, and have had training in a variety of medical settings including Virginia Commonwealth University Health System, Children s Hospital of Richmond (Virginia), Eastern Virginia Medical School, and Akron Children s Hospital. My experience has focused on working with adult and pediatric patients with a wide variety of acute and chronic medical issues. I specialize in implementing interventions to help promote coping with chronic illness, adjustment to disability, adherence to medical treatment, behavioral management of chronic medical conditions, and achieving healthy lifestyle behaviors. In addition, I treat individuals with anxiety disorders using evidence-based, cognitive- behavioral interventions. I am fortunate to work with many talented clinicians. Here are the biographies of two of my fellow ECP colleagues: Andrea Snyder, Ph.D. earned her doctoral degree from Fordham University and completed practicum training at King s County Hospital Center, Coler-Goldwater Specialty Hospital and Nursing Facility, and in elementary school settings. She completed her pre-doctoral internship at Clayton Center Behavioral Health, a community outpatient counseling center serving Clayton County, Georgia. Her post-doctoral work included evaluation and mobile (in home) therapy to children with a variety of mental health diagnoses. She started her position at PsyCare in 2012 and provides services to children and adults. Dr. Snyder primarily uses interpersonal and cognitive-behavioral approaches, but utilizes a variety of different orientation techniques to further tailor her approach to particular patients needs, symptoms, and personalities. Tiffany Mohn-Barak, Psy.D. completed her doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology with a concentration in Child and Adolescent Psychopathology from the Florida School of Professional Psychology in 2010. She has comprehensive training across all aspects of adoption from The Sylvia Thomas Center Training Institute (Tampa, Florida). She has been licensed as a psychologist in Ohio and Florida since 2011. She specializes in assessment (BWC evaluations, Comprehensive Psychological Evaluations, Psycho-Educational Evaluations), Child and Adolescent Psychopathology, as well as individual psychotherapy for children, adolescents, and adults. In addition to her work at PsyCare, where she is a clinic director, she also does independent work providing psychological services to adults and their families in skilled nursing facilities and rehabilitation centers. Ohio Psychological Association www.ohpsych.org 614.224.0034