College - Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology
College - Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology
College - Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology
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President’s Message | Nicholas Covino<br />
A <strong>School</strong> <strong>of</strong> Pr<strong>of</strong>essional <strong>Psychology</strong> has a social responsibility to train the<br />
best practitioners to meet the mental health needs <strong>of</strong> our country. With your<br />
help and that <strong>of</strong> our students, alumni, administration, faculty and trustees,<br />
MSPP launches new programs this year that will make a difference in <strong>School</strong><br />
<strong>Psychology</strong> and Latino Mental Health.<br />
The Surgeon General reports that we have sufficient knowledge about effective psycho-<br />
logical treatments for children. What is missing, he concludes, is a sufficient number<br />
<strong>of</strong> providers. Even in the “Athens <strong>of</strong> America,” mental health services for children are<br />
difficult to access. As time and economic factors challenge family resources, appropriate<br />
child mental health care dramatically declines. Research indicates that school-based<br />
mental health programs significantly improve educational performance and access to<br />
therapy. A <strong>School</strong> <strong>Psychology</strong> Specialist Program with roots in mental health, rather<br />
than education, <strong>of</strong>fers the assessment and consultation pr<strong>of</strong>iciencies required by school<br />
systems, but it also provides the skills needed to increase school performance and<br />
improve child mental health. This new MSPP degree will be accompanied by legislative<br />
and public policy activity to facilitate the evolving role <strong>of</strong> school psychologist as school-<br />
based mental health provider.<br />
With less than two percent <strong>of</strong> psychologists able to competently provide mental health<br />
care to Spanish speakers who will soon comprise 20 percent <strong>of</strong> our population, the<br />
Lucero Latino Mental Health Training Program is sorely needed. Latino patients<br />
commonly attend only one visit with traditionally trained psychologists, allowing this<br />
ground breaking program an immediate contribution to mental health care in the<br />
United States. MSPP has made a proposal to the Commonwealth <strong>of</strong> <strong>Massachusetts</strong> and<br />
several funding sources to make this a pilot program for training culturally competent<br />
mental health providers.<br />
I am very pleased that as we grow, you will see our academic and financial performance<br />
at MSPP continuing to make significant progress. With renewed trustee stewardship,<br />
several hundred new donors, the addition <strong>of</strong> legacy funds, faculty mentorship, alumni<br />
investment and administrative and student leadership, our <strong>College</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Psychology</strong> is<br />
making a difference in education and mental health care.<br />
On behalf <strong>of</strong> our community, I am very proud to share this Annual Report with<br />
you, and thank you for your interest and investment in our excellent school.<br />
Nicholas A. Covino, PsyD<br />
President<br />
Academics | A Message from the Deans<br />
With the New Beginnings initiative defined at the inauguration <strong>of</strong> President Covino in 2003 came a strengthening<br />
<strong>of</strong> the MSPP core principles <strong>of</strong> integrative programming in the service <strong>of</strong> pr<strong>of</strong>essional training. Through this initiative,<br />
opportunities for students in the Doctoral Clinical Program have expanded through institutional growth, through a<br />
contemporary and ever-broadening curriculum, through increased service and training possibilities, through associated<br />
programming, and through expanded student services.<br />
Doctoral training in psychology—partic-<br />
ularly in applied psychology—remains,<br />
perhaps, the most rigorous and thorough<br />
training available for creating a depth <strong>of</strong><br />
understanding <strong>of</strong> human experience and<br />
a breadth <strong>of</strong> awareness <strong>of</strong> our potential<br />
for effecting personal or systemic change,<br />
where change will make a difference.<br />
The Doctoral Program thrives within<br />
this expanded institutional vision.<br />
As Programs <strong>of</strong> Advanced Graduate<br />
Study have emerged throughout MSPP,<br />
new curricular opportunities for doctoral<br />
students have expanded, along with<br />
career opportunities for graduate<br />
students in other specialized areas. The<br />
<strong>School</strong> <strong>Psychology</strong> Specialist Program<br />
<strong>of</strong>fering the Master <strong>of</strong> Arts in Pr<strong>of</strong>essional<br />
<strong>Psychology</strong> and the Certificate <strong>of</strong> Advanced<br />
Graduate Study in <strong>School</strong> <strong>Psychology</strong> will<br />
enroll its first class in September 2006.<br />
The Master <strong>of</strong> Science in Clinical<br />
Psychopharmacology is innovative in its<br />
multidisciplinary inclusion <strong>of</strong> colleagues<br />
in nursing, science, justice, and other<br />
allied pr<strong>of</strong>essions. The Pr<strong>of</strong>essional<br />
Executive Coaching Certificate<br />
Program, the Center for Mental<br />
Health and Aging and the Center for<br />
the Study <strong>of</strong> <strong>Psychology</strong> and Divorce<br />
expand our vistas as do our unique<br />
Community Service and Training<br />
Programs. The Lucero Latino Mental<br />
Health Training Program significantly<br />
redefines pr<strong>of</strong>essional training as students<br />
meet a demonstrable community need.<br />
Continuing Education has built new<br />
strategic partnerships with the Massa-<br />
chusetts Mental Health Center, Harvard<br />
Medical <strong>School</strong> Department <strong>of</strong> Psychiatry<br />
at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center,<br />
and the Boston Psychoanalytic Society<br />
and Institute. An annual child mental<br />
health program with The May Institute,<br />
our continued training collaboration<br />
with Fenway Community Health Center,<br />
an innovative Summer in the City program<br />
are among many growing CE initiatives.<br />
With expanded programming, an ever<br />
growing, talented, and multi-focused<br />
student body, an outstanding faculty,<br />
and an institutional commitment to<br />
bring psychological knowledge as well as<br />
service to areas <strong>of</strong> need, Student Services<br />
and attention to student life activities<br />
have expanded as well. The Dean <strong>of</strong> Stu-<br />
dents Office continues to sustain a focus<br />
on the primacy <strong>of</strong> MSPP community life<br />
throughout all domains <strong>of</strong> MSPP.<br />
These collaborative and integrated efforts<br />
at MSPP sustain our excellence as an<br />
increasingly diversified pr<strong>of</strong>essional<br />
training program and energize our<br />
capacity to “make a difference.”<br />
Alan Dodge Beck, PhD<br />
Dean <strong>of</strong> the Doctoral Program<br />
Stanley J. Berman, PhD<br />
Dean <strong>of</strong> Advanced Graduate Programs<br />
Frances V. Mervyn, PhD<br />
Dean <strong>of</strong> Students<br />
2 | <strong>Massachusetts</strong> <strong>School</strong> <strong>of</strong> Pr<strong>of</strong>essional <strong>Psychology</strong> Annual Report 2005 |