Virtually everywhere the modern clinician turns nowadays, information abounds. Workshops sponsored by every conceivable group proliferate as do the number of publications of all kinds. Those of our readers who use Internet browsers seem to have an especially infinite amount of content available to them.
In the evolving mental health consulting field, however, which of these sources is actually helpful? Perhaps more importantly to the professional, which have the greatest information value in terms of application to real-world problems?
It is to address these questions that our Division 42 President Dr. Carol Goodheart established the PICK 42 Task Force within the Division of Independent Practice. Our mission is to help practitioners by providing them with information that has been substantively evaluated as most relevant and helpful for practicing clinicians.
What is the work product?
We have developed a template for authors in various fields of psychology, designed to provide a summary and overview of each of a number of niche areas in clinical practice. These articles will then be collected into a practitioner notebook which we will be marketing at Cost to members of Division 42, as well as other interested psychologists. The expandable and reusable notebooks will then be available for practitioner use in practice enhancement, and improvement of service quality.
What are the topics?
We have selected a series of topics, several of which we think are compatible with the results of consumer focus groups conducted by marketing survey firms. Some of these were originally conducted under the auspices of the APA Practice Directorate. In addition to the topics of Health and Family Psychology, we have also added Forensic issues, Workplace applications, Special Populations (adolescents, aging, ethnic minorities), Substance Abuse, and finally, data concerning specific clinical conditions, such as Attention Deficit Disorder, Affective Disorders, and the like.
What are the aims of PICK 42?
In general, we are trying to help clinicians develop niche practices in an ethical and competent fashion. Thus we want to help clinicians expand the availability of their services, while at the same time practicing within relevant ethical guidelines, which call for careful development of professional competence in new or unfamiliar applications of psychology. Our aim is to emphasize both expanded competence and expanded marketability for the practitioners of today and tomorrow.
Who are the authors?
Many of our authors are household names to psychologists generally and to practitioners especially. For example, contributors are drawn from Division 42 presentations and other practitioner division programs at past Mid-Winter and APA Convention meetings, including Robert Resnick (Attention Deficit Disorder), Linda and Mark Sobell (Substance Abuse Assessment and Chemical Dependency Treatment), Larry Beutler (Treatment Selection Strategies) and Lenore Walker (Family Violence). Several others have an explicit focus that many practitioners will welcome, such as the smoking cessation program of Gary DeNelsky, and the outcomes measurement Strategic initiative of James Shulman. Even our Task Force members will be contributing, with articles by Pat Pitta on family and marital therapy and Carol Goodheart on collaborative practice with physicians.
What is the cost?
We are trying to recover only the cost of the materials, mailing, and handling for this project. Of course, all of our authors are actually donating their time and expertise, and we most assuredly want to think them heartily for their enthusiastic embrace of these “civic” professional responsibilities. Without them, we would have no work product.
We estimate our cost for the notebooks as roughly $12.00, including a $3.00 charge for an initial set of three articles chosen from our niche list by each practitioner. A copy of our template is printed alongside this article for clarity. After the initial series of three articles, the cost we have estimated is $5.00 for each subsequent set of three articles. We hope you will take advantage of these very modest prices, and order as many of the template-written articles as you wish.
Closing Thoughts
We want to express our appreciation to each of the members of the PICK 42 Task Force, who have worked so hard to bring this effort to fruition. Participating on an adjunct basis has been our Division 42 President, Carol Goodheart. In addition, the other members of the Task Force are Pat Pitta, Michael Murphy, Michael Brickey, and Kal Heller. Our staff coordinator and liaison has been Kim Ricketts of Stategease consulting in New Jersey. A big assist on budget and money questions and on future logistics in terms of mailing efforts and the like is provided by our Central Office in the person of Executive Officer Jeannie Beaff in Phoenix, Arizona.
Ouestions about this article can be addressed either to Dick Saunders at 410/268-8188, Norma Simon at 212/288-5590, or Kim Ricketts at Strategease 732/819-0809. Any readers who think that they can produce a niche article in a specialized field can write a letter of self-nomination to the senior author at 200 Forbes Street, Suite 303, Annapolis, MD 21401. Please include a curriculum vitae and a brief outline of your proposal.
APA 1999 Convention Plans
We will look forward to seeing all of you at the APA convention in Boston, when we will be honoring all of our authors at the Division 42 Social Hour. At the convention, we will also be sponsoring a series of programs dedicated to the topical areas of Forensic (chaired by Dick Saunders), Family and Marital (co-chaired by Norma Simon and Pat Pitta), Workplace Applications (chaired by Mike Murphy) and Health Psychology (chaired by Carol Goodheart). Each of these programs will emphasize collaboration between psychologists and professionals in other fields. See you all in Beantown!
Information for Transformation
By T. Richard Saunders, Ph.D. and Norma Simon, Ed.D., co-chairs, Public Information Clearinghouse of Knowledge Task Force