APPIC EXCELLENCE IN TRAINING AWARD:

Joan M. Romano, Ph.D.

Dr. Romano is a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at University of Washington, where she served as Training Director of the APA-accredited Psychology Internship Program for ten years (2003-2013).  She continues to provide supervision for psychology interns and psychiatry residents, sharing her expertise in chronic pain and somatoform disorders.  She received her Ph.D. from University of Pittsburgh and is a licensed psychologist in Washington, where she practices as an attending psychologist at University of Washington Medical Center. In addition to her service at the departmental and university level, Dr. Romano has held multiple leadership roles in the American Pain Society over the past twenty-five years.  She has a long history of NIH funded research in the area of chronic pain with a prolific publication record.  

From the nomination letter (Dr. Myron Goldberg & Dr. Gretchen Gudmundsen): 

·         “[Her multiple roles] reflect not only her dedication to continually enhancing our program, but also her sheer enjoyment of the training process as well as a genuine focus and concern about the welfare of our interns and their professional growth.  One characteristic that sets Dr. Romano apart as an internship administrator and leader is her strong commitment to proactively monitor the effectiveness of our training program on an ongoing basis and, accordingly, make adjustments and introduce innovations to optimize the program.  Her vision is broad and comprehensive, including augmenting clinical experience, opportunities for research and professional development.”

·         “…it has been through Dr. Romano’s efforts that a “grantsmanship” program was started and has been maintained over the years.  This program has scaffolded our interns’ research development both during and beyond the internship training year, including numerous successful federal grant applications at both a postdoctoral and faculty level…It has been largely through her efforts that the program has been hugely successful and often cited by interns as one of the distinct, innovative aspects and benefits of our program.”

·          “Dr. Romano’s leadership and stewardship manifested in an exemplary manner in her pursuit of funding for our interns...[When federally supported funding sources ended] placing the stability of our program in jeopardy,  she went to the administration at the University of Washington Medical Center and, through her advocacy and persistence, obtained funding for our internship positions, an accomplishment that put our internship program on stable financial footing for years to come.”

 

APPIC EXCELLENCE IN DIVERSITY TRAINING AWARD:

Evelyn Sandeen, Ph.D., ABPP

Dr. Sandeen has served as the Director of Training for the APA-accredited Southwest Consortium Predoctoral Psychology Internship since 2002.  She received her Ph.D. from State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a licensed psychologist in New Mexico where she serves as as the Clinical Lead of the Substance Abuse, Trauma, and Rehabilitation Residence (STARR) program at the New Mexico Veteran’s Affairs Health Care System, and she is board certified in Clinical Psychology.  With respect to current national leadership roles, Dr. Sandeen is a member of the Executive Committee and Clinical Advisory Committee of the VA Psychology Training Council, is a Campus Training Representative for APA’s Federal Advocacy Initiative, serves as an APA Accreditation Site Visitor, and is Associate Editor of the APPIC Newsletter.

 From the nomination letter (SCPPI 2013-2014 Intern Class):

·         “Dr. Sandeen has used her tenure as the SCPPI Director of Training (2002-present) to create, encourage, and enhance diversity training through interns’ ongoing professional education programming, clinical opportunities, community involvement, and individual processes of self-reflection….As SCPPI Director of Training, she has spearheaded the creation of explicit benchmarks for diversity-related competence…”

·         “Dr. Sandeen emphasizes case conceptualization throughout the training year using a model she co-developed which explicitly asks psychologists to consider the influence of their own culture on their thinking at each step of the conceptualization process….This includes frequent discussion of our personal “hot, soft, and blind spots” (areas where we are over- or under-reactive to diversity-related issues, and modeling ho to deal with conflict, know our own limitations and address multicultural intersectionality within healthcare system settings.  She also stays impressively attuned to current scientific and public discourse highlighting new perspectives on diversity in relation to issues such as culture, psychology family processes, and physical health…”

·         “Dr. Sandeen also encourages her interns to integrate themselves within the diverse community of Albuquerque, New Mexico…she emails newly-matched interns a list of regionally important historical and sociaio cultural toics to read about prior to moving to Albuquerque (e.g. historical trauma such as Indian boarding schools)...Intern orientation ends with a day-long cultural tour of Albuquerque…[and] Dr. Sandeen also makes special efforts to include interns in local cultural events throughout the year, such as the annual feast day at Acoma Pueblo and the traditionally Hispanic Matanza celebration… Dr. Sandeen has had incredible success in creating a training program in which ‘diversity training’ serves not as a buzzword but as a foundational value that is expressed within both practical and theoretical frameworks.”

 

APPIC COMMITTEE SERVICE AWARD:

Karen Lese-Fowler, Ph.D.

Dr. Karen Lese-Fowler received her Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from the Virginia Commonwealth University and is currently Coordinator of Training and Senior Staff Psychologist at the University of San Diego Counseling Center.  Her areas of expertise include supervision and training, psychological trauma, eating disorders, mindfulness meditation, and general developmental/adjustment issues. Her publications and presentations have included diversity in training and practice, and interpersonal factors in group therapy. 

 

Dr. Lese-Fowler served as Chair of the APPIC Directory Committee until 2014, overseeing the arduous work of updating the directory every year, and she continues to help with the transition to a new online system.  Having accurate information in the Directory is essential for students as they decide where to apply for internship.  The number of hours Dr. Lese-Fowler has given to APPIC is impossible to count, but very greatly appreciated.

From the nomination:  “Dr. Lese-Fowler is incredibly hard-working, dedicated, and a strong leader who has given so much to APPIC and to students.  As Directory Committee Chair, she consistently demonstrated grace under pressure.  She is determined but patient, using her flexibility, creativity, and sense of humor to bring out the best in others.  She is an outstanding training director, and an equally outstanding colleague and role model.  Karen is awesome!  Thank you, Karen, for all you have done for APPIC and for the field.”

 

APPIC CONNIE HERCEY DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD:

Cynthia D. Belar, PhD, ABPP
American Psychological Association

Cynthia Belar is currently the Executive Director of the Education Directorate of the American Psychological Association and professor emerita in the Department of Clinical and Health Psychology at the University of Florida Health Science Center where she developed academic and clinical tracks in medical psychology at the doctoral, internship and postdoctoral levels. She has published extensively on psychology's role in health care, including a handbook for scientifically based clinical practice used in many doctoral programs. Dr. Belar has chaired three national conferences on education and training in psychology on topics such as internship, postdoctoral training, and the scientist-practitioner model.  She received the 1996 APA award for Distinguished Contributions to Education and Training in Psychology, the first Timothy B. Jeffrey award for Outstanding Contributions to Clinical Health Psychology, and the 2005 Alfred M. Wellner Memorial Award.

Dr. Belar has been a proponent of education and training in psychology for decades.  She was chair of APIC* 1984-1985.  In fact, she was the first woman appointed to the APIC board.  Dr. Belar is an example of professionalism that will be used for many years to come.  Her dedicated work has laid the foundation for the training and education of competent health service psychologists, andshe exemplifies how an individual can impact an entire profession.

 *APIC (Association of Psychology Internship Centers).  APIC became APPIC when the membership added Postdoctoral training programs.

THE OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION AWARD IN TRAINING AND EDUCATION IN PROFESSIONAL PSYCHOLOGY:

 Farnsworth, J. K. & Callahan, J. L. (2013). A model for addressing client-clinician value conflict. Training and Education in Professional Psychology, 7 (3), 205-214.