Originally published: . Volume 2, No. 9. Source pages: 3, 4.
On April 26, Chair of the psychology board, Dr. Joe Comaty, emailed Louisiana psychologists about SB 226, encouraging them to contact their home district Senator if that Senator serves on the Senate Health & Welfare Committee. He suggested that psychologists “express grave concerns about the bill.”
He attached an April 21 letter he wrote to members of the Commerce Committee. In it he described his views on why SB 226 is flawed, noting, “I have a responsibility to bring to your attention fundamental flaws in the proposed legislation…”
In the letter to the Senators, Dr. Comaty noted that appointing three lay people who “would have no pertinent professional knowledge or experience in either the practice of psychology or in licensed professional counseling,” as tie-breaking members is “not sound public policy.”
He explained that composite boards have been tried in other states and in “all cases but one or two” the practice of psychology has been returned to an independent board.
He also noted the serious problem that comes from trying to combine two “…markedly different disciplines, with markedly different educational and training standards, differing scopes of practice, and differing ethical principles.”
And he wrote, “Sound public policy, though, requires individuals who have specialized professional knowledge, training, and experience be the ones who make the profession’s regulatory decisions, not those who lack the pertinent professional knowledge and expertise.” He pointed out that not only is the training for psychology different than LPCs, “it is significantly more extensive.” Dr. Comaty also pointed out that while “state law provides for ‘one’ psychology license, psychologists work in an array of settings and client populations. The proposed board has only three psychologists and cannot provide the expertise needed to “span the specialty areas.” Comaty concluded that the consolidation would “…weaken, not strengthen public protection.” In his email to licensed psychologists, he wrote “If the bill passes out of committee to the floor of the Senate, we will again notify you to contact your Senator.”
Links to Help You Find Information http://www.legis.state.la.us/
http://senate.legis.state.la.us/co mmittees/default.asp
www.grpla.com
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.