These are extraordinary times, which call for visionary leadership from our state psychological associations. Steve Ragusea shared a colleague’s view that, for many, the most important event of the past weeks, and highly relevant to our profession, is the Black Lives Matter movement: “I am most appreciative of our current President Sandy Shullman who addresses injustice fearlessly and head on.”
Cliff Swensen, who was my major professor at Purdue University, and who now resides at the university’s retirement community, reflected upon the immediacy of the COVID-19 pandemic for an increasing number of us in the high-risk (i.e., senior) category, “With 800,000 viruses in animals that are potentially communicable to humans and the integration of the world, we are going to have to learn how to live with repeated episodes of pandemics. It’s getting harder and harder to dodge.”
Perhaps, most significantly, there is the importance of successfully transitioning into the new technological era—including embracing telepsychology and distance learning with their own unique challenges and opportunities during these “new normal” times.
PSYPACT
Alex Siegel, director of Professional Affairs for the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards (ASPPB), emphasizes: “As the states begin to open back up for business, as they currently definitely seem to be doing, those emergency Executive Orders and federal actions which allowed for interjurisdictional psychology practice will begin to expire or be withdrawn. The net result will either be to return those laws and regulations to pre-COVID-19 times or hopefully to encourage legislatures to turn these emergency temporary actions into normal everyday use.”
For those who appreciate the importance of telepsychology to address the behavioral health needs of historically underserved populations, including those in rural America and among the elderly, the enactment of PSYPACT (the interjurisdictional compact) is the best long-term solution to being able to continue providing interjurisdictional psychological treatment to patients. As of July 1, practitioners will be able to apply to the PSYPACT Commission for Authorization and receive an E.Passport or IPC. It is expected that PSYPACT will become operational around the APA convention time this August. Is your state one of those that have enacted or are working on this critical legislation?
An innovative approach
Femina Varghese, along with her interdisciplinary colleagues Nick Zaller and Ben Udochi, are the principle investigators on a project funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJ) to understand strengths and challenges in providing telehealth counseling to parolees who live in rural Arkansas. Given the current pandemic, telehealth is increasingly being used for counseling to a variety of populations. However, parolees face unique barriers in accessing such services due to financial hardship and not being able to afford computers, internet, or even a smartphone. Client motivation and knowledge in using such means of counseling can also be a barrier. During this pandemic, challenges are even greater as facilities that provided access to such equipment in telehealth may be closed due to social distancing. Their study should be informative to help overcome barriers so that parolees can continue behavioral health treatment, even during pandemics. Parolees, administrators, and counselors will also be interviewed to gain multiple front-line perspectives. RWJ has also recently entered into a multiyear agreement with the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) to deepen understanding, mobilize evidence, and identify strategies to create and sustain conditions that support equitable good health for all Americans; that is, effectively addressing the fundamental issue of health disparities in the United States. “We’re all brothers and we’re only passing through” (Pete Seeger, Passing Through). Aloha