OVER 60 YEARS & COUNTING:
The History of IPA
In the mid 1950’s, an Idaho Psychological Association existed with "headquarters” centered at State Hospital South. The organization made at least one effort to obtain enactment of a state licensing law, but failed. Because of personnel changes and other factors, the organization ceased to exist.
In 1958-59, Frank Jacobson and John Cambareri initiated a series of informal “get-togethers” of the six to eight psychologists in the Boise-Nampa-Caldwell area. From these informal meetings, usually held in homes, came increasing recognition of the need for a more formal organization.
In 1960, Dr. Jacobson, then of the Idaho State Board of Health, was convention chairman of the Rocky Mountain Psychological Association (RMPA). At the Sun Valley meeting of the RMPA, he called an informal meeting of Idaho psychologists. John Darley, Executive Secretary of the American Psychological Association, encouraged the re-activation of the moribund IPA.
In May, 1960, in a rump session held in Boise, the Association was formalized and officers were elected: Frank Jacobson as President, John Phillips (Boise Junior College) as President-Elect, and John Cambareri (Ada County Mental Health Center) as Secretary-Treasurer. Subsequent presidents have been John Phillips, C. Larry Hagen (College of Idaho), James R. Barclay (Idaho State University), and currently Eugene Giles (University of Idaho).
In September 1960, a state meeting was called by Jacobson. Twenty persons representing two state hospitals, the universities, three colleges, and the community mental health services attended the meeting. This statewide representation considerably strengthened the Association.
By 1961 membership had risen to 37. In 1962, Eugene Giles became membership chairman and under his leadership 76 were listed.
In the summer of 1962, a significant joint effort by the IPA and the Idaho State Board of Education resulted in the creation of Standards for School Psychologists in the state of Idaho.
As the year 1962 ended, IPA once again became involved in an attempt to get legislation for psychologists. A concerted joint effort by all members of the Association resulted in the enactment, by the 1963 Legislature, of the so-called Psychologist Board of Examiners Law (House Bill 195). This law has been commended by officials of the APA as a “model” law, and presently is being studied by state associations in Wyoming, Montana, Alaska, Nebraska and Pennsylvania.
Under this law, the IPA as an Association has achieved quasi-legal status. In that the law provides that the President of IPA shall submit, to the Governor, a list of potential members of the Idaho State Board of Psychologists Examiners. Under this law, as of February 1, 1966, 21 psychologists had been licensed. Of these, 17 are current members of IPA, two are not members, and two have left the State.
At the 1963 annual meeting in Pocatello, an improved constitution was adopted. The office of Secretary-Treasurer was divided into two offices; a new membership classification was adopted with three categories of membership instead of the previous two. These steps emphasized both the growth and the stability of the Association.
The May 1-2, 1964, annual meeting at Moscow was the first two-day meeting held by IPA, and the first at which papers were read and symposia held. It was decided to hold such program meetings biennially, at the institution of the then current President. If possible, with alternate year meetings limited to routine business.
In 1964, IPA truly seems to be more and more successfully fulfilling its purpose: to advance psychology as a science, as a profession, and as a means of promoting human welfare.
Membership as represented by the Directory shows 70 names, categorized by membership status as follows:
Fellows . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Members . . . . . . . . . . 25
Associates . . . . . . . . . 19
TOTAL . . . . . . 70
Members of the American Psychological Association . . . . . . . 21
Licensed under Idaho law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
The second two-day meeting was held at the College of Idaho, Caldwell, April 22-23, 1966, with Dr. E.C. Beck of the University of Utah as special guest lecturer. This general pattern of annual meetings continued until recently when the Association decided to assume a more activist role. An example of this at the 1975 annual meeting in McCall was a concern for Idaho legislation regarding “freedom of choice” to select psychologists as health care practitioners. During the business meeting a motion was passed making this a top priority for the Executive Committee during the next year.
Another recent decision was for the Association to appeal to a wider audience in respect to interest topics and areas. The annual meeting in McCall in 1975 also included two presentations by Dr. Robert Howell of Brigham Young University. Dr. Howell is an active clinician and an authority on forensic psychology. His visit at the 1975 annual meeting was arranged through the Visiting Psychologist Program of the American Psychological Association. There were a variety of papers on delivery of psychological services as well as papers more academic or theoretical. Presentations of papers had tended to become an annual event in recent years. McCall, a resort community in a beautiful setting of mountains, lakes, and forests, has apparently become the favorite site for the annual meetings held in early March.
Presidents of the Association in chronological order have been: Frank Jacobson, John Phillips, Jr., C. Larry Hagen, James R. Barclay, Eugene Giles, William W. Nish, Marvin Fifield, Victor E. Montgomery, Gail Ison, Elianora Brassard, and currently C. Dene Simpson. The President-Elect is D. Whit Jones, elected to this office at the 1975 McCall annual meeting. Whit will accede to the presidency at the 1977 annual meeting.
Now – in 1982 – with benefit of history, it can be reported that Whit was IPA ‘78-’79 President. Martin Seidenfeld followed Whit. Martin decided to travel to Greece, which quickened the pace and brought Wylla Barsness in as the change of the decade President. Hank Robb was the ‘81-’82 President. Gary Payne is the current President-Elect.
Members in IPA are often employed in predominately one of four areas; i.e., academics, school, state, or in private practice. Of these, the most growth has been in private practice psychologists. This area has influenced IPA. The program of the annual IPA meeting has come to accent a topic area. IPA was the recipient of a Visiting Psychologist through that program of APA. Experts have been heard in “Community Psychology,” “Forensic Psychology,” “Biofeedback,” “Hypnosis” and “Sex.”
No one would have predicted that growth in the early ‘60’s. Old-timers can still hear Bill Nish protest at one point – “I thought last year was our year to deal with the nitty-gritty.” By that he meant straying from academics and talking about social problems.
The non-campus site for IPA meetings has become entrenched. Earlier IPA groups went to college campuses because they wanted undergraduate students in for the discussions. In the late ‘70’s and early ‘80’s McCall’s Shore Lodge has become a favorite. IPA went to Ketchum in ’78 and Coeur d’Alene in ’79, before a string in McCall in ’80, ’81, ’82 and probably ’83.
John wrote earlier about IPA and Idaho Psychologist licensing. That law’s final passage started with DickLake in Blackfoot. He went to his senator with a bill some thought hastily written. John Cambareri heard about Dick’s bill and wrote to APA. Then John went to his Senator (Edith M. Kline) and before long, and after spending two to three dollars, the bill turned into law.
That kind of interest has prevailed at IPA. Many communities have been formed. They ask about Ethics. They prepare reports for legislation and issues such as the Insanity/Defense, Counselor Licensing, Medicaid, Sunset, Freedom of Choice and more. The Idaho Licensing Board often meets at the IPA site and answers questions about licensing procedures. Some psychologists have been with IPA the 22 years from 1960-1982. John Cambareri, Dick Lake and Bill Bronson have missed a few meetings lately. But there is one that has been to most everything with IPA. Let this history record that John Phillips is the Idaho Psychological Association marathon man. He clearly has lead in longevity over Ison, Montgomery, McGee, Webb, Simpson, Hartman, Loudermilk, and Sterling.
Several themes describe this lengthy period of IPA history.
The structure of our organization was qualitatively enhanced in the 1980s. Sue Hayden Sherlock was the first president to obtain an APA grant that provided funding for the hiring of the association’s first executive director, Connie Searles, in 1987. A central office was established in Boise, providing a central phone, address, filing system, accounting system, and a friendly voice to coordinate the growing operations of the association. IPA’s first lobbyist at the Idaho Legislature, Bill Roden, was funded in 1989, giving the association a voice and a monitor of legislation winding its way through the statehouse. One of the first issues addressed was language regarding the ability to diagnose. IPA was able to afford Mr. Roden’s legislative services because he was the cousin of Craig Beaver, IPA’s President at the time. That was the beginning of IPA organizing to monitor legislative issues; the formation of an Advocacy Committee came much latter. On a couple of occasions, IPA sent out special requests for voluntary assessments to continue retaining a legislative lobbyist, until the CAPP grant began to help support that program. Behind the enhancements of IPA was the financial support of the APA Practice Directorate. Dollars flowing into APA via the new "special assessment" levied at clinicians, flowed back to IPA in the form of CAPP grants (the Council for the Advancement of Professional Psychology).
All IPA presidents in the 80’s and 90’s quickly discovered that IPA dues were insufficient to maintain funding an executive director and lobbyist, both of whom are essential to the vitality of the organization. The Practice Directorate also provided us with support, a mid-winter State Leadership Conference, and a training component within the APA Convention for our executive director and association officers. Education, support, and exposure to national issues rendered IPA leadership more effective, then and now. IPA had gone national!
A second theme of the 80’s and 90’s was the formalization and subsequent retrenchment of our self-regulatory efforts in professional ethics. IPA had always been involved in managing complaints and solving problems regarding its membership, but on an ad-hoc basis. In April of 1986 the IPA Board of Directors approved Rules and Procedures for the IPA Ethics Committee formulated by the existent committee: Jim Gordon (chair), Linda Hatzenbuehler, and Robert Jacobs. The new rules, modeled on the APA system, outlined rules of evidence and strict sequential processes that guided the committee, the complainant and complainee to eventual resolution. IPA had begun the formal investigation and adjudication of complaints against our members. The tone for ethics chairs was established by Dave Sanford, who led the association’s beginning efforts. As society became increasingly litigious, however, concerns with IPA’s investigative processes emerged. Our ethics committee lacked the training, budgetary support, and time to adhere precisely to complicated procedures. One serious legal challenge to an ethic’s committee decision would have overwhelmed the association’s annual budget. So, like so many other small state associations across the nation, we too discontinued formal investigations, leaving that task to the Board of Psychologist Examiners. However, the Ethics committee has continued and enhanced its education and consultative function.
At the annual meeting in Sun Valley in 1988, members from Idaho State University raised the issue of supporting a graduate program in clinical psychology in Idaho. Idaho was one of only two states in the nation not offering a clinical doctorate. A needs assessment was authorized by the association, conducted, and brought back to IPA at the annual meeting of 1989. John Farley, our president at the time, forwarded IPA’s formal endorsement of doctoral training in clinical psychology to the State Board of Education. In 1991, Idaho State University gained approval from the State Board to implement a program. The first students were admitted in 1995, and the program gained APA accreditation in 2001. As the first Director of Clinical Training at Idaho State University, I can recognize and appreciate the incredible efforts by countless individuals and organizations that made this significant accomplishment possible. And it all started with IPA.
Prescription privileges for clinical psychologists emerged as a national theme during the late 1980s, and gained momentum in the mid 1990s. We invited Elizabeth Cullen, a Practice Directorate staff member, to present the APA view at our annual convention in 1995. APA, then and now, strongly supported the initiative, with both money and expertise at proposing the necessary legislation. In 1996 Steve Hayes was invited to provide our membership with the arguments against adding medications to our therapeutic options. Both Cullen and Hayes found support from some of the membership. Our Board of Directors authorized a survey of the membership on the issue and discovered empirically what our informal conversations indicated. Namely, that the membership was almost evenly divided at that time. Consequently, no formal position of the association emerged.
Behind the transitions in organizational structure, ethics, education, and prescription privileges were the stories of many individuals moving in and out of leadership positions: Gary Payne, Susan Hayden Sherlock, Craig Beaver, John Farley, Linda Hatzenbuehler, Candice Crow, Maria Krasnec, Dave Sanford, Mark Roberts, Joan Pulakos, and Clay Ward. Each played important roles in the identification, pursuit, and resolution of the themes described above and others not mentioned. Three are now deceased. Allow me to pay tribute to Susan Hayden, John Farley, and Maria Krasnec, whose contributions to IPA were enormous. Their untimely deaths saddened us all.
This decade of IPA history has profited by the excellent guidance of our Executive Director, Deborah Katz. APA has continued awarding CAPP grants that have made her services possible. Membership has been relatively stable at over 100 to 120 psychologists during this period.
Our presidents, in chronological order, have been Jack Oakwright (aka Wright), Karen Luque, Tony Cellucci, James Bruce, Bill Arnold, Yvette Ward, Beth Hudnall Stamm, Jack Wright, and Mack Stephenson. We adopted a six-year presidential cycle in 2005; as a result, Wright and Stephenson each served for two years as president.
We continue to have three divisions: Academic, Private, and Public. Three regional meetings are held each year. Additionally, Boise (SW Region) and Coeur d’Alene (Northern Region) have hosted local consultation meetings. Bill Green, who has served many years as our private sector representative, maintained a case conference group in the North with discussions of challenging situations involving ethics. Most of our annual meetings have been at Sun Valley; during the Stamm years, we partnered with the Idaho Rural Health Association. In 2005 and again in 2009, IPA joined with Montana and Washington to host Tri-State Psychological Association Conventions. These conventions took place in Coeur d’Alene; which turned out to be a great location, especially for members in eastern Washington, western Montana and northern Idaho. These joint conventions have been very well received and valued by participants. A number of APA Presidents have spoken at IPA’s conventions including Ron Levant, Gerald Koocher, and James Bray.
The budget has been tight during this period, but because of profits from recent Continuing Education events, we have only had modest increases in dues. Particularly noteworthy, Sue Farber, a long time member of IPA, forged an alliance with the Idaho medical community through the Epilepsy Foundation of Idaho. As a result, we co-sponsored two very successful conferences on epilepsy and other neurological diseases, each with presentations by national leaders in the field. Amy Walters and Kathy Morris each served IPA as treasurer for a number of years and helped the association get on a more solid financial foundation. During this period, we prioritized saving and were able to increase our reserves. We also created a sustaining member category where members are able to make additional contributions to their annual dues. A number of our members have become sustaining members. In July 2008, IPA dues were equated across academic, private and public sectors eliminating the special assessment on private practitioners and making all dues the same. Additionally, we approved a retired/disability status.
A particular memory and milestone was the development of IPA’s first Five-Year (Plus) Strategic Plan developed at Albertson College’s (rustic) retreat center in Stanley, ID. The Plan included: increasing membership, parity, independent practice under Medicaid, identifying and creating psychopharmacology learning opportunities, and creating a sustainable legislative structure. All of these goals have been challenging but ongoing efforts and progress have followed.
We also supported a Public Education Campaign on the value of psychology, thanks to the work of Karen Luque, with IPA sponsoring TV and other promotions. Roger Olson developed and implemented the “Shrink Tank” speaker’s bureau. We also participated in APA’s Psychologically Healthy Workplace Award Program, through the efforts of James Bruce and initially Jima Rice, who provided her expertise to the program in the early years. In addition, IPA established a student sector representative on the IPA Board, with Kristie Sellers of Idaho State University the first student to serve in this position. Several Idaho psychologists (most recently Page Haviland) have served as Idaho’s Disaster Response Network Coordinator. Page has successfully connected IPA to the Red Cross Disaster Relief program.
As a result of a compromise representation plan at APA, even small states obtained their own voting representative to APA Council in 2003. Tony Cellucci was honored to serve as Idaho’s first voting representative for two terms, followed by Gary Payne. During several of these years, APA Council struggled with the role of psychologists at Guantanamo.
IPA also participated in the federal advocacy network with Candice Crow being our federal advocacy representative for many years. Many of our leaders went to Washington, D.C. for APA State Leadership Conference. There they met with Idaho’s Congressional delegation and/or their representatives who were cordial if not always responsive to the national psychology agenda. Our Advocacy members also worked hard in Boise. Bill Arnold contributed early on organizing advocacy training in Boise (2003) where Mike Sullivan from the APA Practice Directorate spoke. We’ve retained a part-time legislative monitor (Molly Steckel replaced Gary Gould) to keep us informed on issues important to psychology in Idaho. Candice and Gary Payne have work particularly hard following legislative issues, along with many others including Dave Sanford, Amy Walters, and Yvette Ward. More recently, Dennis Woody and Brad Levitt have contributed.
Many of us wrote articles advocating for parity during this time period. The Idaho legislature initiated limited parity for state employees. Federal legislation, the Paul Wellstone and Peter Domenici Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act, passed in 2008. We also all survived HIPAA with IPA sponsoring an initial training workshop.
The shift in the focus of the Ethics Committee started by Mark Roberts toward providing education and consultation was refined with new guidelines for ethics consultations. We have provided this service throughout the period and partnered with WashingtonState’s ethics committee at the 2009 Tri-State Convention at which APA Ethics Director, Stephen Behnke, spoke to the combined committees. In addition, Diana Menchaca served as IPA’s first Diversity Representative beginning in 2005.
In the latter part of 2007, IPA leadership voted to support prescription privileges for those psychologists wishing to pursue training in this area. A survey conducted at the beginning of this period indicated Idaho psychologists held attitudes mirroring those of psychologists nationally. Morgan Sammons, the first recipient of Department of Defense prescriptive authority, spoke at an IPA Sun Valley convention. Gary Payne and others put renewed energy into educating Idaho psychologists about this issue. One strategy was to invite E. Mario Marquez, a prescribing school psychologist from New Mexico to speak throughout the state. Although progress has been slow, training for psychologists interested in pursuing prescription privileges has been offered through distance learning. Glena Andrews and Jamie Champion were the first Idaho psychologists to obtain training in psychopharmacology. There has also been work and some progress with the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare regarding psychologists signing their own Medicaid treatment plans for clinical and psychosocial services. Jack Wright and John Christensen have headed up this effort.
This decade saw the emergence of astonishing technology and IPA was affected along with other organizations. We started with a listserv in 1999-2000. This increased member communication across the state and allowed us to link with psychologists practicing in rural areas of the state in a way not done before. We also redesigned our website several times to include public and member sections and to support on-line voting and dues collection. Our newsletter and Referral Directory went electronic as well.
The John Cambareri Award for Excellence in Psychology was awarded six times in this decade. Recipients were Gary Payne (2000), Mark Roberts (2001), Patricia Kempthorne (Former First Lady of Idaho-2003), Tony Cellucci (2007), Jack Wright (2008), and James M. Read III (2009). This year’s annual convention will celebrate our fiftieth year as an official state psychological association. It will be held April 30th-May 1st in Sun Valley. The program will both celebrate our history and look forward to issues facing Idaho psychology in the future.
During the decade from 2010 to 2020, IPA emerged as a resonant voice both within the state and nationwide. Within the state, we favorably resolved the independent practice issue under Medicaid and made strides on parity. IPA members Lyn McArthur and Dennis Woody and others sat on insurance company committees. The affordable care act passed in 2010 and by 2020 Idaho had endorsed Medicaid expansion.
The Idaho Psychology Internship Consortium (ID-PIC) was created in 2018 through the efforts of many psychologists dedicated to creating a high-quality, APA-accredited psychology internship training consortium across the state of Idaho. The ID-PIC faculty has worked diligently to develop an internship program that meets the behavioral health needs of the population of Idaho. The first internship cohort of ID-PIC began in 2019. APA contingency status was awarded in May 2019. ID-PIC is awaiting an APA site visit for full accreditation. The faculty of ID-PIC are comprised of psychologists from the Family Medicine Residency of Idaho, Idaho State University Family Medicine Residency, State Hospital South, Pearl Health Clinic and Boise State University Counseling Services. The APA accredited internships in Idaho currently include the Veteran’s Administration Medical Center in Boise and the University of Idaho Counseling & Testing Center in Moscow.
In 2015, Idaho became the fifth state in the nation to pass legislation that allowed psychologists with psychopharmacology training to prescribe medication. The legislative success was forged after strenuous negotiations with the Idaho Psychiatric Association and followed exemplary advocacy with the legislature. There were only two nay votes in both houses combined. The legislative success was crowned by the legislature allocating over $600,000 to start a psychopharmacology program at the Meridian campus of ISU. Many members of IPA contributed to the success of this endeavor. A core group consisted of Kris Ellis, our lobbyist, Susan Farber, Bill Green, Page Haviland, Michael Tilus and Deborah Katz, executive director. Dennis Woody worked within Optum to support the endeavor in many ways, including being a national leader in formulating procedure codes. Page Haviland and Susan Farber were presented with APA Heiser awards for their work.
As of 2020, there were two full -time students and other students matriculating part-time. The Board of Psychologist Examiners certified our first two prescribing psychologists, Mike Tilus and Jennifer Darakjy.
IPA became recognized in the state legislature and began the process of becoming the go-to organization for information on mental health issues. The same process was unfolding at a national level with many members of IPA being placed on APA committees in numbers far exceeding our past representation. Lyn McArthur served on the Committee on Rural Health and became the chair-elect for 2021. She also served on the Healthcare Financing Advisory Group. Kendra Westerhaus was elected to the Committee of State Leaders (2018-2020) and the Board of Professional Affairs. Barney Greenspan was on the APA Ethics Committee, the CE Committee, the Fellows Committee for Division 53 and, was appointed to serve on an editorial board of Division 53’s journal, Evidence-Based Practice in Child & Adolescent Mental Health.
Other IPA members were asked to give talks and participate in podcasts at a national level. APA raised significant sums of money for one of our US senators. Our federal advocates have been received with courtesy and warmth. With consistent discussion, headway has been made in altering the “physician definition” of Medicare to make us peers with other healthcare providers.
After a significant drop at the end of the recession, our membership has been growing gradually. It hovered around 130-150 near the end of this decade, even though, nationally, APA membership declined after heated debate about psychology’s role in military interrogations and a controversy over practice assessments. IPA presidents during this period were: Debra Larsen, Bill Green (last to serve 2-yr term), Susan Farber, Christopher Edwards, V. Page Haviland, Kendra Westerhaus, Barney Greenspan and John Christensen.
The Cambareri Award is the highest recognition IPA can offer. Recipients during this decade were: William Green (2014), Amy Walters (2014), Barney Greenspan (2014), Susan Farber (2015), M. Kathryn Morris (2016), Christine Pickford (2016), Deborah Katz (2018), Laura Asbell (2018)* rec’d in Fall 2019, and Linda Hatzenbuehler (2019).
In early 2020, the COVID-19 virus appeared and IPA members, along with other healthcare workers, were forced into a rapid transition into telehealth. Our adoption was so successful that many in our state advocate for it continuing after the pandemic ends. Our state CE programs went virtual and we had an entire virtual 2020 convention under the leadership of Deborah Katz and Wally Campbell. Deb even managed to figure out how to give door prizes in an online trivia contest! It has yet to be determined how the pandemic will impact our membership numbers.
We end the decade with money in the bank, a positive reputation at state and national levels, and, most importantly, a cohesive and collegial membership.