Article archive / September 1, 2014
Originally published: . Volume 5, No. 13. Source pages: 1, 6.
Dr. Patterson to Chair
The Louisiana Psychological Association (LPA) and the Association for Psychological Science have teamed up to support the Academic/Research membership of LPA, aimed at helping renew the connections between practitioners and psychological scientists in the state.
Dr. Constance Patterson will facilitate the group within LPA with the help of co-facilitator, Dr. Paul Frick. Dr. Patterson is a Tulane Professor and Frick is Chair of Psychology at the University of New Orleans.
LPA established eight honorary memberships aimed to help connect with psychological scientists and professors of psychology across the state.
They are working with Dr. Alan Kraut, Executive Director of the Association for Psychological Science (APS) on the joint effort.
Dr. Kraut, on behalf of APS, granted complimentary memberships to support this effort. “The Association for Psychological Science (APS) and the Louisiana Psychological Association (LPA) share the common goals of advancing the science of psychology, as well as using that science as a vital tool for improving human welfare,” Kraut wrote.
Kraut said that the complimentary memberships were to recognize these shared interests.
Participants so far include Dr. Mitzi Desselles for industrial-organizational psychology from LaTech, Dr. Lore Dickey for counseling psychology from LaTech.
Dr. Elliott Beaton, for neuroscience, stress, and cognition science, from the University of New Orleans, Dr. Paul Frick, for developmental and psychopathology science and Chair from University of New Orleans are also included.
Dr. Constance Patterson, Professor of Practice and in school psychology from Tulane, and Dr. Michael Cunningham, adolescent development, African and African Diaspora Studies, and Associate Provost Center for Engaged Learning and Teaching, will join from Tulane.
Dr. Bryan Gros, LPA Director and Membership Chair, and former President of LPA, said, “In the past, LPA has offered little for academic and research psychologists. I am excited about this group,” he told the Times. “LPA is very much looking forward to their guidance in making LPA a home for academic and research psychologists.”
“The evidence is that mainstream clinical psychology has gotten further and further away from its roots in research and science,” Gros said. “This hasn't helped either psychologists or those we serve.”
“With this effort, and other efforts, LPA is working to correct this problem and provide the interpersonal and scientific connections that sustain our unique contribution within the field of mental health, and also other areas of services.”
“This is a win-win-win, in my view,” Gros said.
Dr. Gros also noted that the idea meshes well with the organizational mission of LPA. He noted that the mission is “… To support and advance psychology as a science, as a profession, and as a means of promoting health, education, and human welfare.”
The research-academic psychologists’ group will be looking at how mutual goals might best be met by the state association, and what areas could help the larger society within the state.
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