No. 3

Dear Division 42 Colleagues and Friends,

Please note the two important announcements below as well as the practice resources that may be of help to you.

APA Presidential Election
Your APA presidential election ballot is in the mail. Division 42 urges you to vote for Gerry Koocher #1, Katherine Nordal #2, and then Setphen Ragusea and Lawrence Ritt in the order of your preference. All are experienced practitioners and APA leaders and we need you to vote in this election. This election is very important. The APA President has significant influence over how APA utilizes it’s resources and what issues APA focuses on. The President is leads the Board of the APA Practice Organization. We must have a solid practitioner in this position to ensure that practitioner needs and interests are not overlooked.

Our top candidate, Gerry Koocher is a practitioner, an accomplished researcher, and author of several well-regarded professional books. He has served as APA Treasurer and a member of the Committee for the Advancement of Professional Practice for the past 10 years. In addition to receiving the endorsement of Division 42’s Board, he has been endorsed by more than 500 leading psychologists, including eight former APA Presidents. You can view his background information, platform, and list of endorsers at www.koocher.com . Gerry Koocher is an experienced leader who will be a great APA President for all psychologists and all psychology.

Please be sure to vote in this election. Every vote counts. Don’t throw that ballot away. Vote today and help ensure that APA supports and is responsive to our needs and interests. APA is a very large and complex organization; and we want it run well. Gerry is the kind of leader who truly cares about the really important issues and will represent us well.

APA Apportionment Ballot
All Division 42 members will also be receiving their APA Apportionment Ballot mailing shortly. This is also of vital importance to us all. The results of this balloting determine how many seats on APA’s Council of Representative Division 42 will have next year. APA has an annual budget of over $90 million. APA’s Council of Representatives determines how this money is spent and sets the agenda for the Association. APA Council is the governing body of APA. To ensure we have the most representation possible please cast ALL 10 VOTES for Division 42.

We need every Division 42 member participating in this. Last year less than 25% of our members even voted. Imagine the number of seats we could have on APA Council, and the influence we could have over APA’s agenda and focus, if all Division 42 members voted. So often we complain that APA doesn’t represent our needs and issues. We complain that APA isn’t responsive and doesn’t focus on the things that are really important to our practices and our professional lives. Well, this is our chance. APA Council is APA. Our APA Council reps are historically top leaders of the profession who are experienced and know how to get things done in APA. But, the number of votes we have really matters. We need as many Council reps as possible. So, please don’t throw the Apportionment Ballot away. Please vote today and VOTE 10 FOR 42!

Practice Tips
This is from our Associate Editor of the Independent Practitioner, Frank Froman. Recently, on the Division 42 listserv Frank shared these activities that contributed to helping him establish and be successful in practice.

1. Early on, I accepted (and solicited) lots of speaking engagements in front of nearly anyone who would have me. PTA's, service organizations and others. Found out that people won't come to you if they don't know you.

2. Met with some docs and lawyers. Brazenly took them out for lunch. There is such a thing as a free lunch. It was free for them.

3. Did a newspaper column weekly.

4. Made some friends in our broadcast industry. Was on Radio and TV a lot. Radio for an hour's show once a month, TV news when something happened that needed a psychologist.

5. Started working with social security, DCFS, and DORS doing their psychologicals.

6. On doing a court testimony, invariably found a way to compliment the other side after the proceedings. Amazing how many of those people became referrers. "That was great X-examination".

7. Got a nice office with full time secretary in a convenient section of town with parking at the door.

8. Got on as a psych tester/consultant at our local hospital.

9. Got on a bunch of panels.

10. Started consulting at local homes for DD adults.

11. Got nice quality paper for my reports; really good stuff. Blue, too. Easy to read, less glare than white, and people can find it when it's stuck in a big folder of documentation about someone. They like that.

12. Hired a part timer to work evenings, so we're covered 9-9.

13. Yellow page ads in local and surrounding books.

14. Show up at community events and be seen. Join the Chamber of Commerce.

See? Nothing to it. You'll have a full practice in no time. It's a broad based practice. If something falls out of one area, there's others to replace it. The variety is what keeps me going.

If you have other ideas to share with our members that have helped you in your practice please e-mail them to me directly at drjbarnett1@comcast.net . I can compile them and share them in a subsequent column. And, as always, please contact me if you have any ideas, questions, concerns, or suggestions about our Division. I look forward to your active input and to working together toward our shared goals of success in independent practice. Best regards to all -

Jeff
Jeffrey E. Barnett, Psy.D.
2005 President