President’s Message

NJPA President

Lucy Sant’Anna Takagi, PsyD, LLC

Welcome to 2020 at NJPA! I indicated that I would work on communication, transparency, and inclusion in 2020. I am proud to say that during 2019, working together with NJPA’s Executive Director, Keira BoertzelSmith, JD; 2019 Past-President, Stephanie Coyne, PhD; 2019 President Morgan Murray, PhD; incoming 2020 PresidentElect Daniel Lee, PhD; and with the entire NJPA executive board, there were significant and positive changes approved in 2019 to fulfill NJPA’s mission, as well as to move towards my candidacy goals. Yet, there is still much to be done, but the work we completed in 2019 has set the stage for what I want to accomplish in 2020! As we are in February, I would like to report a few significant events from 2019 that will help orient you to where we are now.

The year 2019 was challenging for NJPA, as it involved a move and much anxiety regarding our budget. With the diligent work of our executive director, Treasurer, Daniel DaSilva, PhD and the NJPA staff, the move was successful and kept us within budget. NJPA explored renting offices in a more centralized geographic area. That search indicated that locations in other counties were not only more expensive for the space needed, but also did not offer parking and/or spaces for meetings and CE events. We were able to secure our new office at 354 Eisenhower Parkway in Livingston, NJ, plenty of free parking, and a low-cost space for continuing education programs. If you have not yet visited our new office, please consider doing so. The office is decorated with beautiful paintings on the walls made by our Executive Director, Keira Boertzel-Smith and her daughter, who are gifted artists.

Increasing the communication between leadership and NJPA members is one of my primary goals. However, discussing NJPA business on the NJPA listserv is a violation of listserv rules. The listserv is a limited members-only forum and not a formal means of communication for NJPA business. In 2019, the NJPA board decided that leaders should be allowed to share important announcements on the listserv. For instance, updates on the status of the NJPA proposed amendment to the Licensure Legislature (Bill A-5307) will now be allowed to be posted on the NJPA listserv. This bill amends the Licensure Act, allowing for the 1,750 post-doctoral hours requirement to also be completed predoctorally. In 2020, we will continue to work towards presenting this bill to the full assembly, the senate, and the governor in order to increase access to psychological services for NJ residents. Additionally, NJPA will continue to work through its affiliate organizations, by inviting legislators to affiliate events, such as the very informative meeting that NJPA leaders and the Essex and Union County Association of Psychologists (EUCAP) members had with Assemblywoman Mila Jasey in 2019.

Other changes will also increase transparency and inclusion in NJPA. The NJPA executive board approved (1) an updated and more transparent confidentiality agreement for the Committee on Legislative Affairs (COLA) that will allow for a more timely flow of information to our members about our current legislative interests; (2) a mechanism to allow for NJPA committees, including the Committee on Diversity and Inclusion (CODI)’s Subcommittee (Immigration Emergency Action Group-IEAG), to engage in board approved collaborations with other groups or agencies; (3) a change for COLA to recommend legislative actions to the executive board instead of deciding on legislative positions for NJPA; and (4) a change for the NJPA president-elect to also become COLA co-chair in order to increase the communication about legislative information between COLA, the executive board, and NJPA members.

The 2020 Mental Health Awareness campaign theme is “Compassionate Communities.” The campaign will run from February through July 2020. We will host a video contest in February and March; April is Minority Health Month; May is Mental Health Month; June is Pride Month; and July is Minority Mental Health Month. NJPA and its eight NJPA affiliates are disseminating this campaign through multiple platforms. Inclusion of all New Jersey’s diverse populations is a top priority of this campaign. If you are interested in contributing to this campaign in any way, please call Central Office at (973) 2439800. We can use everyone’s help!

Lastly, as a result of the Listserv reaction regarding the RxP survey dissemination in 2019, we will use a Town Hall model as a second data point (the first data point was the survey) to learn about the history of RxP in NJPA, to increase understanding among members of the challenges that will be encountered by any NJPA position regarding RxP (pro and con), and to obtain members’ opinions about which, if any, position might be in the best interest of NJPA, its members, and the public at large. I am truly hopeful you will attend this Town Hall. I am also hopeful this model would help increase communication, transparency, and inclusion of all constituencies within NJPA.

I would like to highlight the collaborative work that NJPA has been doing through the Inter-Mental Health and Psychological Associations Coalition (IMPAC). IMPAC is formed by leaders of the New Jersey chapter of the Association of Black Psychologists (NJABPsi), the Latino Mental Health Association of New Jersey (formerly the Latino Psychological Association of New Jersey), LMHANJ, and the New Jersey Psychological Association (NJPA). IMPAC is the result of the work of many devoted past NJPA leaders to promote equality in mental health care and to advocate for the mental health needs for underserved populations. On April 3, 2020, IMPAC will sponsor a keynote presentation with Luz Garcini, PhD, titled One Scar, Too Many: Addressing the Mental Health Needs of Undocumented Immigrants in the Face of Trauma. Dr. Garcini presented her research and experience, as a MexicanAmerican psychologist, at the APA Council of Representatives in August, 2019, and it was incredibly well received. Her research is the first to quantify trauma among the undocumented immigrants on the US-