- Joined
- Nov 25, 2005
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Marital & Family Therapists Approved As VA Practitioners
And our field continues to get flushed down the toilet...
When there is a shortage of psychiatrists, they increase their pay to $200-$300k, offer to fly them in by helicopter, offer 7+ weeks vacation, etc.
When there is a (rare) shortage of psychologists (in the VA, thanks to the Iraq war), what happens? Do you increase pay or benefits to lure psychologists? No! Instead, MFTs are given an expanded scope of practice so they can do a psychologist's job "cheaply."
I have no problem with MFTs as solo or collaborative practitioners, as long as they do what their license was originally intended for them do: practice MARRIAGE and FAMILY therapy with non-clinically-diagnosable clients. Instead, over the past two decades, they have shrewdly become a cheap version of a psychologist, and taken our place in treating a broad array of DSM-Diagnosable mental illnesses (along with MSWs, LCSWs, LPCs, MHCs, and the other alphabet soup of degrees not intended for a broad array of practice).
I'm glad Veterans will have increased access to care, but there's no real shortage of psychologists. There's a shortage of psychologists willing to work with that population at that price. If VA offered even 50% of a psychiatrist's salary, psychologists would be falling over each other to fill those positions...
I would be more upset at Congress, but really, its the APA's own fault. They've done a piss-poor job of protecting the interests of the field as a clinical profession... and we have to deal with the consequences.
Here's an excerpt from the Sept. 2007 NACPPP Newsletter:
"On December 9th during the last hours of
the 109th Session, Congress passed a
sweeping Veterans Affairs (VA) package
making Marriage and Family Therapists
(MFTs) eligible providers of mental health
services under the VA. This MFT inclusion
is another in a long march of professional
counselors (called LPCs in some
states) and other master's prepared therapists
to seek statutory permission to diagnose
and treat mental disorders...
Recently, the American Counseling
Association (ACA) has posted statements
indication their belief that masters level
counselors can do most of the work of psychologists,
and much more cheaply. These
clearly guild and anti-psychology efforts
continue while the American Psychological
Association accredits programs in
counseling and other specialties in psychology
that fill seats by turning out masters
practitioners. In this sense we are our
worst enemy and confuse psychologists
and legislators alike about whether we
really mean that "a psychologist" (and by
implication, those who are trained in psychology)
is a doctorate trained individual.
The problem is that masters level guild
associations are much more aggressive
than most psychological associations and
state associations. They are often much
more political savvy and have the unanticipated
ally of our training programs turning
out members for them that swell their
numbers. APA can't deal with this problem
because it is so diverse that its' academics
would be very upset if APA took a
stand against accredited programs turning
out masters level practitioners. Many faculty
at APA approved doctorate programs
are members and even leaders of ACA and
other associations dedicated to filling the
field of psychotherapy with masters level
providers and moving psychotherapy to a
masters level profession. Even Dr. Canfield,
President of ACA is licensed as a
psychologist."
And our field continues to get flushed down the toilet...
When there is a shortage of psychiatrists, they increase their pay to $200-$300k, offer to fly them in by helicopter, offer 7+ weeks vacation, etc.
When there is a (rare) shortage of psychologists (in the VA, thanks to the Iraq war), what happens? Do you increase pay or benefits to lure psychologists? No! Instead, MFTs are given an expanded scope of practice so they can do a psychologist's job "cheaply."
I have no problem with MFTs as solo or collaborative practitioners, as long as they do what their license was originally intended for them do: practice MARRIAGE and FAMILY therapy with non-clinically-diagnosable clients. Instead, over the past two decades, they have shrewdly become a cheap version of a psychologist, and taken our place in treating a broad array of DSM-Diagnosable mental illnesses (along with MSWs, LCSWs, LPCs, MHCs, and the other alphabet soup of degrees not intended for a broad array of practice).
I'm glad Veterans will have increased access to care, but there's no real shortage of psychologists. There's a shortage of psychologists willing to work with that population at that price. If VA offered even 50% of a psychiatrist's salary, psychologists would be falling over each other to fill those positions...
I would be more upset at Congress, but really, its the APA's own fault. They've done a piss-poor job of protecting the interests of the field as a clinical profession... and we have to deal with the consequences.
Here's an excerpt from the Sept. 2007 NACPPP Newsletter:
"On December 9th during the last hours of
the 109th Session, Congress passed a
sweeping Veterans Affairs (VA) package
making Marriage and Family Therapists
(MFTs) eligible providers of mental health
services under the VA. This MFT inclusion
is another in a long march of professional
counselors (called LPCs in some
states) and other master's prepared therapists
to seek statutory permission to diagnose
and treat mental disorders...
Recently, the American Counseling
Association (ACA) has posted statements
indication their belief that masters level
counselors can do most of the work of psychologists,
and much more cheaply. These
clearly guild and anti-psychology efforts
continue while the American Psychological
Association accredits programs in
counseling and other specialties in psychology
that fill seats by turning out masters
practitioners. In this sense we are our
worst enemy and confuse psychologists
and legislators alike about whether we
really mean that "a psychologist" (and by
implication, those who are trained in psychology)
is a doctorate trained individual.
The problem is that masters level guild
associations are much more aggressive
than most psychological associations and
state associations. They are often much
more political savvy and have the unanticipated
ally of our training programs turning
out members for them that swell their
numbers. APA can't deal with this problem
because it is so diverse that its' academics
would be very upset if APA took a
stand against accredited programs turning
out masters level practitioners. Many faculty
at APA approved doctorate programs
are members and even leaders of ACA and
other associations dedicated to filling the
field of psychotherapy with masters level
providers and moving psychotherapy to a
masters level profession. Even Dr. Canfield,
President of ACA is licensed as a
psychologist."
