Alan D. Entin, Ph.D., ABPP
2000 Fellows Chair

Louis Perrott, PhD, is the Division’s newest "Initial" ("New") Fellow, having been nominated by the Division’s Board of Directors and recommended for Fellow status by the APA Membership Committee, affirmed by the APA Board of Directors and elected for APA "Initial Fellow" by the Council of Representatives in the August meeting. This is a very long, arduous multi-step process. Election to Fellow status is, thus, an honor bestowed upon members who have made an "unusual and outstanding contribution or performance in the field of psychology."

The career of Dr. Louis Perrott, demonstrates his commitment to advancing the independent practice of psychology, and, more importantly, the achievement of significant and lasting contributions to the field, which have had a national impact on the independent practice of psychology.

After achieving his doctoral degree, Dr. Perrott joined the staff of a community mental health center, one of the first to be funded by the NIMH, to provide comprehensive mental health services. His interests in the training and education of psychologists led him to design, initiate and become the first director of the clinical psychology internship-training program in Davenport, IA.

After relocating several years later to Roanoke, VA, he became director of psychology at a private psychiatric hospital and was responsible for more than doubling the size of the psychology staff from 3 – 8 independent practitioners.

Dr. Perrott left that practice to develop an independent practice that is quite unique: it focuses on business issues with local companies. It is now one of the largest multidisciplinary outpatient practice groups in southwest Virginia and maintains its activities in the areas of business issues, such as personnel selection, work conflicts, manager training and team building. These ideas have been very innovative and used for a model by the Virginia Academy of Clinical Psychologists, co - funded by CAPP, which became known as the Virginia Marketing Study.

His experiences in this arena led Dr. Perrott to expand his ideas into the field of corporate consultations, and he became a "business psychologist." This is a significant shift: applying his clinical skills and knowledge in a business setting, applying his people skills for hospitals and clinics to the corporate setting. In doing so, Dr. Perrott developed a new niche for independent practitioners, and a new term, "business psychologist" to refer to those skills and practices. He has written articles on this for Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, The Independent Practitioner and The Virginia Psychologist. His experiences led to the publication of his pioneering work in the highly acclaimed book Reinventing Your Practice as a Business Psychologist. It is an important contribution because it describes how independent practitioners can transition from a health care model and reliance on managed care to a corporate practice to survive and flourish. It is a "best practice" model that is gaining acceptance across the nation.

An important aspect of Dr. Perrott’s career has been his political advocacy and leadership in the state psychological association governance. In 1995 he received the Virginia Psychological Association’s Federal Advocacy Award for his years of lobbying state and national legislative officials. He has served as the President of the Virginia Psychological Association and is currently Treasurer of its Academy of Clinical Psychologists. He has also been the Virginia representative to the Practice Directorate’s Business of Practice Network, evidence of his national leadership in the newly emerging niche marketplace he has helped establish.

At the national level, Dr. Perrot is active in the Psychologists in Independent Practice and is the current membership chair. In the Division of Media Psychology, he has been the co-chair of the State and Provincial Psychological Association Liaison Committee, surveying the media needs of the states and designing and implementing strategies to help the division help the states, and he is the current Treasurer.

It is clear from these highlights of Dr. Louis Perrott’s career that he has dedicated himself to the goals of the Division, especially the furtherance of high-quality, innovative psychological services. His development and conceptualization of a "business psychologist" is recognized as a "best practice model," of professional practice in a newly emerging niche marketplace for independent practitioners. At a time when many independent practitioners are either ratcheting down their practices due to the effects of the industrialization of healthcare, or even leaving the field, Dr. Perrott’s conceptualizations have enabled them to retool themselves, use the clinical skills they already possess, in order to not merely survive, but to flourish. His contributions to the field of independent practice, through his state and national leadership, are outstanding and have had a significant and enduring national impact. In recognition of his contributions to psychology, Dr. Perrott has also been elected a Distinguished Practitioner in the National Academies of Practice.

In addition to the election of an initial fellow, 15 members were elected to "Current Fellow" ("Old Fellow") status in the Division. The difference is that Current Fellows are already Fellows of an APA Division and have already met the rather strict criteria imposed by the nominating Division and APA. Thus, it is up to the Division to elect Current Fellows who meet the Division’s fellowship criteria, and they do not have to again go before the APA Membership Committee again.

The Current Fellows and a brief description of their contributions to independent practice are:

Marvin W Acklin, PhD, ABPP – author of over 30 refereed journals articles, his strongest contribution to independent practice has been to privatize evaluation services in the Family Court of the First Circuit in Hawaii. A second initiative has been the Co-Parenting Counseling Program to assist settlement of divorces prior to litigation.

Michael P Andronico, PhD – founder of the Somerset County Psychological Society, an affiliate of the New Jersey Psychological Association, and a leader in the field of group psychotherapy, including President of the Divisions of Group Psychotherapy and the Society for the Psychological Study of Men and Masculinity.

Allan G Barclay, PhD, ABPP - as President, and in various other governance capacities in the Missouri Psychological Association, has advocated for psychology on a number of legislative issues, such as recognition of psychologists as hospital providers and for prescription privileges. For the
Social Security Administration he convened a Task Force on the issues surrounding the definition of adaptive behavior in the determination of disability. He is a Distinguished Practitioner in the National Academies of Practice.

Robert A Brown, PhD, ABPP – served as President and Council Representative of the Maryland Psychological Association, and on the APA Board of Directors. He has been an advocate for independent practice in his careers at both a medical school and university department of psychology. He is a Distinguished Practitioner of the National Academies of Practice.

William W Deardoff, PhD, ABPP – a scientist-practitioner who specializes in clinical health psychology and the management of pain, has written four books in the area, including Back Pain Remedies for Dummies, and an active media psychologist advocating the practice of psychology.

Irene Deitch, PhD – Past President of the divisions of Family and Media Psychology, host of radio and television series, Making Connections," promoting the practice of psychology, and board member of the Division of International Psychology.

James D Guy, PhD, ABPP – has conducted extensive research on the relationship and interaction between the personal life and the professional role of the psychotherapist. He used Division 42 members in all his subject sampling. The goal is to ameliorate burnout, impairment, and disillusionment among independent practitioners.

Mark Mays, PhD, JD - chair of COLI, service on COPP, President of the Washington State Psychological Association and served on the Examining Board for Psychologists in Washington State.

Darlyne G Nemeth, PhD – A specialist in clinical and neuropsychology,
She was a member of the first Post-Doctoral Master’s degree class in Clinical Psychopharmacology in the United States, receiving her degree (PDMS) from the California School of Professional Psychology.

Ronald H Rozensky, PhD, ABPP – was active in the Illinois Psychological Association where as President he focused his activities on the lobbying for hospital practice legislation for psychologists. He served as APA’s representative to the Joint Commission on HealthCare Organization mental health accreditation standards committee, during which time the scope of psychologists practices were expanded. He is a Distinguished Practitioner in the National Academies of Practice

A Eugene Shapiro, PhD, ABPP – currently Professor and Associate Dean at Nova Southeastern University, FL, after a long and distinguished career in New Jersey where he was active in NJPA and the APA. He is a founding member of the National Register, and has made many contributions on behalf of psychology in the form of Congressional Testimony. He is a Distinguished Practitioner in the National Academies of Practice.

Ralph Turner, PhD – since 1997, Editor of Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, and initiated a mentoring program whereby the journal staff works with practitioners to help them shape their ideas into a high quality journal article, and to get researchers to think about what clinicians find interesting and important.

Melba J T Vasquez, PhD, ABPP – has worked toward the application of the knowledge of psychology to the provision of clinical services to ethnic minority populations and women. Co-authored Ethics in Counseling and Psychotherapy: A Practical Guide. She is a Distinguished Practitioner in the National Academies of Practice.

Kate Wachs, PhD - served as President of the Division of Media Psychology, promotes independent practice in her numerous media appearances, AOL’s love doctor and advice columnist and author of Dr. Kate’s Love Secrets.

Verna Wool, PhD, ABPP – founder of the Lighthouse, a counseling center that began in the 60's, and the Montgomery Area Psychological Association in Alabama.

The Fellows Committee welcomes your self-nomination or that of a colleague for Fellowship in the Division. Please contact either the Fellows Chair for 2001, Lillian Comas – Diaz, PhD, 1301 20th Street, NW, Suite 711, Washington, DC 20036 or Jeannie Beeaff at the Central Office.