College - Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology

Academics | New Programs
MSPP continues to add to its credentials as a College of Psychology. Beyond
the doctoral degree. MSPP was the first in the northeast to offer a Master
of Science in Clinical Psychopharmacology to psychologists and allied
health professionals. This year, MSPP added a School Psychology
Specialist Program, an Executive Coaching Program and a Latino
Mental Health Program to its array of training opportunities.
New School Psychology
Specialist Program to meet a
national need | “Because children
spend most of their time there, school
can have a significant positive effect
on their mental health,” says Bob
Lichtenstein, PhD, program director
of MSPP’s School Psychology
Specialist Program.
In June 2005, the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts approved MSPP’s applica-
tion to offer a Master of Arts degree in
Professional Psychology and a Certificate
of Advanced Graduate Study in School
Psychology.
Created in response to a growing
national need for child mental health
services and as another career option for
those wishing to work with children, the
new program will open its doors to the
first class in September 2006.
“This program will give prospective
school psychologists not only a
comprehensive academic foundation,
but also rich clinical field experience to
prepare them for a constantly expanding
and challenging role in today’s schools,”
says Lichtenstein. “Today, the demands
on these professionals go far beyond
evaluation of learning problems.”
The MSPP School Psychology Specialist
Program will equip future school
psychologists with the skills to provide
behavioral and mental health consulta-
tion to those involved in the life of a
child—teachers, administrators and
parents. “We want them to be able to
provide individual and family counsel-
ing when appropriate and to triage with
other specialists when needed,” adds
Lichtenstein.
“A school is a community within a com-
munity and, as a school psychologist, life
touches you in all its dimensions every-
day and in ways that wouldn’t happen in
private practice,” says Dr. Lou Cannon,
an MSPP alumna and school psycholo-
gist for the Rockport High and Middle
Schools for the past seven years. “This
is a job that is demanding of head and
heart. If you want to know you are doing
something meaningful, this is it.”
Says President Nicholas Covino: “We
believe that for recent graduates of four-
year colleges, allied health professionals
and teachers, school psychology may be
the right next challenge and MSPP the
right program.”
Professional Executive Coaching
Certificate Program has a successful
beginning | In January 2005,
MSPP officially launched its Profes-
sional Executive Coaching Certificate
Program with a class of 20 students.
One of the few programs of its kind in
the United States, the MSPP effort not
only encompasses coaching skills, it
also requires students to achieve related
competencies in psychology, businesses,
assessment, and organizational develop-
ment through class work, challenging
assignments and a supervised practicum.
Lew Stern, PhD, program director,
describes the students enrolled in the
program as a very motivated group with
great talent and commitment. “We have
attracted a high-caliber, diverse group:
MSPP doctoral students, business and
non-profit executives, psychologists and
social workers, educators, and organizational
development and HR professionals.”
Stern has received a great deal of positive
feedback from students. Mary Cornetta-
Brown is one of the organizational
development professionals who joined
the program’s first class. A former vice
president of human resources for a high
technology publishing company,
Cornetta-Brown has had her own
successful consulting practice for eight
years, and was looking for a program to
expand her skills and credentials. For
Cornetta-Brown, her first two classes
yielded benefits for her practice. “I was
immediately able to use the assessment
skills I learned through the program with
my coaching clients. I would absolutely
recommend the program to anyone who
wants to enter or advance in the field, or
build credentials, she says.”
Says Richard Rein, PhD, a clinical
psychologist specializing in family and
couples counseling and divorce preven-
tion: “My background includes work in
community mental health and a private
practice focusing on family and couples
therapy. I’ve always been interested,
though, in expanding my practice skills
to business. I would rate the MSPP
Executive Coaching program as terrific!
The classes are rigorous and lively, the
faculty is interested in presenting cutting-
edge material, and the program offers
strong supervision. In addition, my class
has a nice balance of students with busi-
ness backgrounds and those trained in
psychotherapy,” he says.
Applications for the new class of 2007
beginning in January are being accepted.
“The impact MSPP is making through
this program is significant, but not just
by teaching qualified coaches. By raising
the standards of executive coaching, we
help the leaders of corporate and non-
profit organizations around the world to
influence the success of their organiza-
tions and the quality of work-life for the
people they lead,” says Stern.
A Program that will make a
difference—The Lucero Latino
Mental Health Program | To meet
a critical need for culturally sensitive
mental health services for Latino
populations, MSPP has launched one
of the first programs in the country
designed—through immersion in
Spanish language and cultures—to train
Latino and non-Latino psychologists to
care for these underserved communities.
The program will also supplement the
training of Latino psychologists educated
| Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology Annual Report 2005 |