Article archive / September 1, 2013
Originally published: . Volume 5, No. 1. Source pages: 1, 3.
The psychology board received 186 responses from licensed psychologists and school specialists for a community survey about opinions regarding multi-level licensing for the specialist in school psychology, board Executive Director Kelly Parker told the Times last week.
“This is the largest response we've ever seen in a survey,” Parker said, “at least for as long as I've been here.”
The survey was developed by the School Specialist Task Force, a group formed following the 2013 Long-Range Planning meeting in March, 2013. The task force, led by school psychologist and psychology board chair, Dr. Rita Culross, is addressing the issues of multi-level licensing for the school specialist in psychology.
So far, Parker explained, 58 percent of the responses to the survey are from non-licensed individuals and 42 percent are from individuals with a license in psychology. The survey was sent to nearly 300 school specialists and over 650 licensed psychologists around the state.
“This first survey,” said Parker, “was to generate discussion and feedback to guide our thinking.” She explained that the task force is exploring ideas and opinions from the community, and that at the time of the survey the team was not at the point where issues of scope of practice were being developed. Parker noted that the scope of practice will be discussed at the coming meeting of the task force, scheduled for September 6.
Parker said that from task force discussions and survey feedback that two of the possible reasons that school specialists might favor the new type of credential under the psychology board could involve reimbursement for services and the opportunity to increase services in rural, underserved areas.
The Times recently spoke with Dr. Alan Coulter, Director for Educational Innovations at the LSU Health Sciences Services Human Development Center. Coulter is a licensed school psychologist and a leader in the school psychology and school specialist community. “This is a positive move symbolically,” he said. But, he explained, he was not sure what the incentives for another certification or license would be for the school specialist. He explained that currently the school specialist pays $25 for their credential through the state, valid for five years.
Parker told the Times that some of the school specialists surveyed noted that they would use the credential to help them contract with schools or to contract with licensed psychologists.
While members of the Louisiana Psychological Association have been silent about the matter on their listserv, sources say that some members of the Louisiana Academy of Medical Psychologists (LAMP) have been critical of the move and stating some negative feedback on their listserv. One LAMP member told the Times that there was some “grumbling” going on.
LSBEP Executive Director Parker told the Times that she had heard about some of the complaints, and they appeared to stem from the idea that newly credentialed school specialists would be in direct competition with licensed psychologists. Also, there appeared to be concerns that specialists would provide the same services as licensed school psychologists, she said.
There were also comments about master’s level professionals holding a position at the board level.
Parker explained that there is no plan for the sub-doctoral specialist to have a seat on the LSBEP, but that possibly a licensed school psychologist might be included as a permanent board position. In reference to the school specialists, she said, “It is my understanding that the group would be perfectly happy with the panel.” This is in contrast to the merged-board arrangement that was proposed by the LSBEP for the behavioral analysts, a controversy during the last legislative session.
Also, she explained that school specialists, have additional training over and above the master’s training level.
If the LSBEP goes forward with the multilevel credentialing, Parker told the Times, the license would be optional. “We would never make this mandatory,” she said. And, “The license would be as a school specialist, not a licensed psychologist, obviously.”
In a forthright statement on the LAMP listserv, provided to the Times, Dr. Bruce McCormick, licensed school psychologist and medical psychologist, challenged some of the criticisms from his colleagues. “Doomsday notions such as an SSP as chair of the LSBEP or unbridled, unregulated clinical services by anyone with an MA in psychology are foolish, uninformed, provocative, and I would suggest counterproductive. Much of the difficulty we have today comes from an arrogant history of Louisiana psychology dismissing intelligent, well educated, sub- doctoral personnel.”
McCormick noted that it has been that type of climate that has created the high number of “poorly trained” providers in the state.
“I am convinced that licensed psychology has already lost the battles of psychotherapy— which will be a predominately masters level activity within a decade, and psychological and psychoeducational testing, which (except for forensic activities) will also be dominate[d] by masters or specialist level personnel.”
“We have been a narcissistic, self- aggrandizing profession for too long. […]” He warned colleagues that if they could not “… find a way to bring sub- doctoral folks into the fold in an appropriate way and at an appropriate level, their services will remain largely unregulated and their scope of practice will expand. To simply dismiss the issue as unacceptable is the strategy of an ostrich. A soon to be extinct ostrich.”
The LSBEP task force came into being at the March long-range planning meeting of the state psychology board. At that meeting, Dr. Steven Welch spoke to members about the need for correction in a trend toward the “old model.” He explained that this meant that people were coming in and doing testing without a broader understanding of theory and practice of psychology. He also noted problems with access to school psychology services in the state and problems with Medicaid reimbursement and benefits to both schools and students, as well as psychologists, if changes could be made in this area.
Welsh also noted that it was the first time in 30 years that the Louisiana school psychological Association had been officially asked to talk to the psychology board.
Dr. Broussard (L) and Dr. Patterson. Dr. Conni Patterson, Tulane Professor and member of the School Specialist Task Team preparing for her presentation at the 2012 Louisiana School Psychological Association. Dr. Kevin Jones, head of the school specialist program at LSU-Shreveport, is assisting.
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