In a July 10 press release the Governor announced that he appointed Greg Gormanous, PhD, of Alexandria, to the Louisiana State Board of Examiners of Psychologists (LSBEP).
Dr. Gormanous will fill the position opened by Dr. Phillip Griffin, who has completed his term. Vice Chair Dr. Jesse Lambert was elected to theChair at last month’s meeting and Dr. Koren Boggs will serve as Vice Chair.
Dr. Gormanous previously served on the board twice, the first time in 1981 to 1984, and then from 1986 to 1989. He is Professor Emeritus of Psychology, LSU Alexandria, and earned his PhD from the University of Southern Mississippi in General Psychology in 1976. He has been a member of Association of State & Provincial Psychology Boards (ASPPB), the Federation of Associations of Regulatory Boards, the American Psychological Association, the Society for Industrial & Organizational Psychology (APA Div. 14), the Society of Consulting Psychology Louisiana is Heading in Right Economic Direction Says Governor Edwards in July (APA Div. 13), and the Association for Psychological Science. He is also a veteran of the United States Army.
Dr. Gormanous was the sole candidate to selfnominate for the current position and was nominated by the Louisiana Psychological Association.
Dr. Gormanous noted several goals of his service. “My view for regulating psychology in Louisiana is helping the board become more effective and efficient in protecting consumers of psychological services, while simultaneously ensuring due process, irrespective of particular staff, board members, issues and personalities.”
He wants, “To proactively enhance effectiveness, collegiality and transparency with administrative, legislative, media, professional, psychological & public stakeholders in order for the LSBEP to ensure statutorily that consumers have access to qualified providers of psychological services and to ensure enforcement of ethical standards of practice to which providers are required to adhere, with appropriate over sight of the Board’s function by the state of Louisiana.
When applying to serve, he listed six specific issues:
“1. Revising the “complaint” rules, procedures and practices by focusing on two equally important objectives: protecting consumers of psychological services AND ensuring due process for all.
“2. Achieving more effective outcomes for the expenditure of legal fees – presumably underway now.
“3. Staying a pace with changes in education and training. For example, other jurisdictions will be moving toward eligibility for candidates to sit for the EPPP 1 after doctoral course work is completed.
“4. Adjusting to implementation of the competency model (EPPP 1 Knowledge and EPPP 2 Skills) by other jurisdictions and considering what is best for consumers in LA.
“5. Revisiting Generic versus Specialty Credentialing. Does the board stay with its “opportunity for registering…within a limited list of recognized specialties…” or does it implement the health service psychologist (HSP) & general applied psychologist (GAP) categories recognized by APA and ASPPB?
“6. Exploring any ramifications of implementation of the ASPPB’s PEP for LA.”
In a 2010 Times feature article (“Close-Up,” Vol. 2. No. 1.) Dr. Gormanous said that his heart was in teaching.
“Teaching is my drug of choice,” he said “I was one of those people who, in the Ericksonian sense, was late in forming my identity. I wanted to be a college professor. It was English, then math, and then I stumbled across psychology. I realized it was the field where I could discover myself, and discover my need to teach. I love to teach and help develop people, and we have students who want to learn and develop, and so it’s been a perfect fit.”
At that time, Dr. Gormanous has remained involved in his community through efforts with the Alexandria Zoo, Business Incubator, the Rapides Parish Primary Health Care Center, the Syra-Meric Club, and the Alexandria Mardi Gras Association, where he started a new parade – Classic Cars & College Cheerleaders. He also started the Krewe of Kolbi Bow-Wow with the Animal Shelter and the Alexandria Zoo. This is a dog Krewe that advocates for pet adoptions. He has been active with the Chamber of Commerce, Rotary Club of Alexandria, and the Convention and Visitors Bureau.
While his heart might be in teaching, his soul is in the blues. A special project, “Psychology of the Blues,” where he applied psychological principles to songs and singers, and how they have been molded into who they’ve become, has captured his imagination for many years.
“Psychology of the Blues” involves four musicians as he explained–Otis
Redding, Steve Cropper, Grady Gaines, and the great B.B. King.
“I’ve had the privilege of knowing, and sort of informally and unofficially traveling with B.B. King since 1983,” he said. In 1983 Dr. Gormanous attended an event memorializing the slain civil rights leader Medgar Evers. “Charles Evers and B.B. King
wanted to keep the spirit of Medgar alive,” he said.
“BB King and his band played free so that music could be the language to bring people together to overcome racism.” He realized then that music was a vehicle to change the world and it inspired him to be involved.