Newly Evolving Horizons: Over the past several years, Ruth Paige, Rod Baker, and I have been exploring what our senior colleagues are doing with their lives after decades of active involvement within psychology – including hosting an intriguing symposium at APA. Kris Ludwigsen was recently interviewed by the national media on this topic, reflecting upon her own experiences and those of other colleagues. Kris has concluded that psychologists have more options for validation in retirement than many other professions as losing one's professional identity does not seem to be a major issue. "Becoming a psychologist opened the doors to an exciting career that encompassed teaching, research, psychotherapy, consultation, program development, supervision, coaching, advocacy (even prescription privileges), and a military career. Now boomers and beyond are facing the challenges of retirement. Some want to work up to the very end; some choose to go part-time, perhaps in a different venue; and others opt for a new life. So retirement requires a realignment of one's priorities and values after due consideration. For some, family, creativity, hobbies and travel become paramount. Others find volunteering a natural extension of the desire to be of service. There may be a period of floundering before finding new fulfillment and a new mission; but psychologists are fortunate in having a rich diversity of roles that we can return to, tailored to our time and energy now."
Mike Sullivan represents a non-work related success. "Coming Full Circle: I've had many experiences in life where my interests and enthusiasms have come full circle. But I've found the circle to be more of an ascending spiral – the later evolutions build on earlier experiences in new and surprising ways. For example, I've done volunteer work out of enjoyment that has morphed into professional careers.
"Another example involves my longstanding enjoyment of women's basketball, for its cerebral play and pure teamwork. While working at APA, I attended college games at George Washington University and professional games of the WNBA Washington Mystics. (My good friend, APA's Randy Phelps and I were season ticket holders for five years.) One of the stars I saw in both college and pro venues was Dawn Staley. She was head coach of women's basketball at Temple University while playing in the WNBA for the Charlotte and Houston teams. She was unique in doing both at the same time, achieving great success as both player and coach.
"Fast forward several years and my wife and I decided to move to Columbia, South Carolina. I knew there was a women's basketball program at the University of South Carolina that I could follow. Lo and behold, the year we arrived was the same year South Carolina made a big-time hire to bring in Dawn Staley to coach their women's basketball team. This turned out to be a stroke of genius.
"Coach Staley has transformed a last place team that she inherited into a national powerhouse currently ranked #2 in the country. This has been a fan's dream come true. I've attended every game and have become a super fan in my support of the program. Dawn Staley is known for her community work and charitable foundations, as well as being a member of both the women's and men's basketball Halls of Fame. I've had the good fortune to get to know her, and I follow her inspiring work closely. It has led me to become a resource for her on Twitter (@mikesullivan08) and to manage my own fan email list. It's been a huge thrill that keeps me feeling vibrant. Go Gamecocks!" Mike is also passionately engaged with his local Meals on Wheels program, recently finishing second in a national volunteer recognition contest.
Anne Petersen personifies the different professional venue to which Kris alluded. Currently Research Professor at the Center for Human Growth and Development, University of Michigan, Anne formally served as Senior Vice President for Programs at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and prior to that, as Deputy Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF). She is a Fellow of the APA, APS, and AAAS. Anne chaired a committee for the Institute of Medicine (IOM) Board on Children, Youth, and Families, directed by psychologist Kimber Bogard, which conducted a study culminating in an updated version of the 1993 National Research Council (NRC) publication entitled Understanding Child Abuse and Neglect. This updated consensus report, New Directions in Child Abuse and Neglect Research, provides recommendations for allocating existing research funds and further suggests funding mechanisms and topic areas to which new resources could be allocated or enhanced resources could be redirected.
The committee's vision included: * Building on the review of literature and findings from the evaluation of research on child abuse and neglect; * Identifying research that provides knowledge relevant to the programmatic, research, and policy fields; and * Recommending research priorities for the next decade, including new areas of research that should be funded by public and private agencies and providing suggestions regarding fields that are no longer a priority for funding. Four particularly pertinent areas focused upon the development of a coordinated research enterprise in child abuse and neglect which would be relevant to the programs, policies, and practices that influence children and their caregivers. These were: * Development of a national strategic research plan that is focused on priority topics identified by the committee and that delineates implementation and accountability steps across federal agencies; * Creation of a national surveillance system; * Development of the structures necessary to train cohorts of high-quality researchers to conduct child abuse and neglect research; and * Creation of mechanisms for conducting policy-relevant research. In September, 2013 the IOM/NRC hosted a public release event for the report resulting in widespread coverage across the nation. Copies of the full report and dissemination materials are available on the IOM web.
An Exciting and Expanding Agenda: "Since we passed our prescriptive authority bill on May 30th of this year, and Governor Pat Quinn signed the bill into law on June 25th, we at the Illinois Psychological Association (IPA) have been very busy working on implementation. I have realized that while bill passage was one big mountain to climb, implementation gives us, yet, a higher peak to reach. Because our law was passed by a consensus of IPA; the American Nurses Association, Illinois Chapter; the Illinois Society for Advanced Practice Nursing, the Illinois Medical Society, and the Illinois Psychiatric Society, we have the advantage of the full support of our state healthcare medical providers as we explore training venues in hospitals and medical centers. Our first step has been to draft our rules and regulations for our law. That process is ongoing. Simultaneously, we are pursuing the additional steps of meeting with hospital and medical center administrators and signing on those facilities that agree to take prescribing psychologist trainees. We have encountered many successes and continue to travel around the state to meet with hospital administrators.
Other facets of this journey include: 1) Meeting with graduate psychology directors of training and discussing their initiating the curriculum in Clinical Psychopharmacology for our prescribing psychologist trainees. 2) Meeting with undergraduate advisers in psychology and undergraduate students who are pre-med, pre-vet, nursing, biology, chemistry, and/or psychology majors and talking to them about opportunities for students to become prescribing psychologists with a strong undergraduate foundation in the hard sciences as well as a foundation in psychology courses. 3) Meeting with executives, including chief psychologists, in various Illinois governmental departments and agencies who have a tremendous need for prescribing mental health providers and discussing the options for their staff psychologists to become trained as prescribing psychologists for their special populations. We are encountering palpable excitement in our meetings from all of our constituent groups: undergraduate students, graduate students, agency administrators, university administrators and faculty, and practicing psychologists. There is certainly a feeling that there is change in the air and that psychology is leading this charge. And, beyond what we are doing in Illinois, more than 10 states are re-igniting their RxP initiatives or are quickly gearing up from ground zero. As I travel around the country, meeting with various state leaders, there is evidence of tangible progress and elevated expectations of success. Nice to connect with Arlo Guthrie in these moments: 'And, friends, they may think it's a Movement'" (Beth Rom-Rymer). To The Place I Belong. Aloha,
Pat DeLeon, former APA President – Division 18 – November, 2014
