President's Message

Welcome to 2021!

We made it! I don’t have to tell you how challenging, tumultuous, and uncertain 2020 was, but as I write to you today, I am encouraged, excited, and hopeful. One of our members, Dr. Kelly Moore, was quoted in an article about parenting in the age of COVID-19 and one of my takeaways from her comments was the idea that managing uncertainty is a skill that can be learned, and I would extend that one can actually thrive during times of uncertainty.

As I think about my experience in leadership, I reflect on Past-President, Morgan Murray’s pre-COVID-19 experience, Past-President, Lucy Sant’Anna Takagi’s leadership response during the onset of the pandemic, and how my time, as a NJPA leader, is emerging during a continued period of uncertainty around us. The pandemic is still raging, vaccines are being distributed, all the while as mental health, stress, and wellness are becoming regular talking points in the media and in our everyday lives. All of us are functioning dually as wellness professionals, but also as individuals who are susceptible to the multiple impacts of the pandemic. I wonder, how many of us are leading or participating in mindfulness activities prior to beginning meetings? In this moment, I am reminded what I do well. One of the reasons I chose to be a psychologist is my skill in creating structure in ambiguous situations. As a consulting psychologist, when I work with systems or when working with a client or writing an assessment for someone seeking clarity about their mental health status, my ability to create clarity and operationalize a focused vision has been greatly beneficial for all involved. So, I want to lean in on this strength during my term as your president.

First, I want to institutionalize our shared leadership model, communication plan, and culture of transparency, which was elevated under Lucy’s term. Leadership will continue to be proactive and work to communicate with membership about relevant issues and decisions that impact our association and our work in the field. Additionally, I want to continue to de-centralize the leadership model and engage board members and members-at-large to become more active in association business in order to accomplish more and cover more ground during this season. NJPA needs to make sure our roles as psychologists are not only secure, but available for opportunities to expand our practice in the future.

Second, I want to help members understand the association and how we can collectively support one another from the view of our executive director, Keira Boertzel-Smith. Keira has frequently described the four pillars of the association as membership, advocacy, continuing education, and communication. These are the essential activities that make NJPA

The Five Pillars of the Association

Membership:

• Support our plan to recruit 300 new NJPA members • Support our plan to grow NJPA Affiliate membership • Support our plan to cultivate a culture that honors and celebrates our current members

Advocacy:

• Support our plan to reformulate the insurance committee as an advocacy tool • Support our plan to secure the role of psychologists in the integrated care arena • Support our plan to continue the conversation about RxP

Continuing Education:

• Support our plan to increase the number of training offerings we provide to NJ Psychologists • Support our plan to develop a pain management training project • Support our plan to create continuing education home study video library for members

Communication:

• Support our plan to create and share relevant articles in our journals • Support our plan to market our Mental Health Awareness Events • Support our plan to promote social justice and racial equity as resources for change • Support our plan to re-invigorate our listserv community

Association Administrative Business:

• Support our Strategic Planning Process

vital and relevant to the field. These areas need our attention and collectively, our active support. Recently, in our conversations, a fifth pillar was added, association administrative business. This was a focal point last year because we had to maintain the financial health of the organization, but has now evolved into revisiting our strategic plan, which sunsets in December 2022. Again, I want to stress that these five pillars need our collective attention and I want to ask for your support as NJPA embarks on the following tasks and activities this year.

Lastly, please be on the lookout for announcements to join the Pain Management Training Task Force, and your invitation to join committees that you expressed interest in. You may also want to join a call to participate in one of our leadership development projects or the Parliamentarian Bench that was formulated under Morgan’s term. Let’s stay active and involved!

In closing, I hope you have received the central point of this message…simply stated, we are stronger together and are a force for good when we collectively support each other, our association, and our communities.

I am excited and optimistic about our future. Please join me in spreading that hope!

NJPA President Daniel Lee, PsyD