Summer 2008
No. 43
Counseling for Health
Newsletter of Division 17’s Health Psychology Section
From the Chair: Cyndy McRae
Welcome to the Summer newsletter of the Counseling Health Psychology Section of the Society
of Counseling Psychology! This particular issue is packed with information related to student
awards, officers who will be assuming new roles and responsibilities at APA, a synopsis of some of
our exciting activities at the ICPC gathering in Chicago in March, an interesting column
describing “A Day in the Life” of a Counseling Health Psychologist, and a schedule of some of
the Section activities at APA. In addition, incoming Chair of the Section, Don Nicholas, will inform
you of some of his great plans for the Section.
In This Issue
2
From the Chair-Elect:
Section Goals
3
Report on the ICPC
Pre-Conference
4
A Day in the Life of a
Counseling Health
Psychologist
6
Who’s Who on the
Section Board
7
Student Poster Session
at APA
Student Research Award
The winner of the 2008 Student Research Award is Errol Philip from the University of Notre Dame.
Errol’s paper, Measurement accuracy in assessing patients’ quality of life: To weight or not to
weight domains of quality of life, was selected as the winner of the APA Division 17, Section on
Health Psychology’s Student Research Award. Errol’s paper was nominated by Dr. Tom Merluzzi,
whose nominees have now won the last two Student Research Awards. Congratulations to both
Errol Philip and Dr. Tom Merluzzi!
APA Activities
The following Section activities have been scheduled for the Hospitality Suite in the Renaissance
Waterfront Hotel in Boston:
Saturday, Aug. 16
9 to 9:50 General Section meeting
10 to 10:50 Student Tips for Getting Health Psychology Internships
1 to 1:50 “Health Disparities” conversation with SERD. We had such a great
time with our co-sponsored event at ICPC that we wanted to continue our
collaboration. Please join us!
One of the most exciting events for the Section at APA is the presentation by Col. Larry C.
James, Ph.D., recipient of the Dorothy Booz Black Award for Outstanding Achievement in Health
Psychology. His presentation, entitled “Health Psychology Innovations in the Department of
Defense,” is scheduled for Saturday, August 16 from 12 to 12:50 in Meeting Room 258A at the
Boston Convention Center. The Booz Black Award was established in 2000 to honor a person
who has done exceptional work in Health Psychology over a number of years. Dr. James retired
from the US Army in May, 2008 after serving as a psychologist in the military for more than 20
years. He will begin his new career as Dean of the School of Professional Psychology at Wright
State University on August 1, 2008.
Signing Off
As Chair of the Section who will soon become Past-Chair, I want to say how much I’ve enjoyed
participation and involvement in our Section. It’s been a wonderful opportunity to meet new
folks and to work with some really committed, dedicated people who have made this job a real
joy. I would encourage those of you who are interested to get involved in the Section. There is
always room for new ideas, enthusiasm, and the desire to work together to accomplish
meaningful goals. We can make a difference, and we have lots to offer. As we learned during
the Working Group at ICPC, Counseling Health Psychologists bring some unique perspectives
and contributions to a variety of settings. Our professional identity can be strengthened through
the encouragement and support of one another.
We hope many of you are planning to come to APA in Boston in August. Please attend some of
the Section activities—we’d love to see you there!!
PAGE 2
From the Chair-Elect
Section Goals
Don Nicholas
On Saturday, August 16, 2008 I will become the Chair of this Section, taking over from Cyndy McRae as she becomes
Past-Chair. I am pleased to serve in this role and have been thinking about some of my goals for the Section over the
next two years. I would like to share some of these ideas here, in the newsletter, and encourage all of you to attend
our General Meeting at APA on Saturday, August 16 9:00 – 9:50 am in the Division 17 Hospitality Suite (Renaissance
Boston Waterfront Hotel) where these goals and other issues will be discussed.
Primary Goal for the Section

To enhance the visibility and recognition of the Section via the development of substantive projects for both
academics and practitioners.
First and foremost, I think our Section needs to be involved in what I am referring to as substantive projects that
advance the field of Counseling Health Psychology. Over the years of this Section there are many administrative
tasks and important roles that serve to maintain the Section. These include things like membership, dues, newsletter,
award nominations, maintaining the listserve and website, reviewing papers for the APA poster session and Student
Research Award and so on. These are vitally important to the Section, but they provide few professional rewards for
those who have been willing to serve. Whether we are academics, practitioners, students, early career psychologists
or late career psychologists, I believe it is much more rewarding to invest time and effort into projects that capture
your attention and energy because you find them stimulating, important and professionally rewarding. I will try to
identify and provide opportunities for our Section to be involved in projects of professional substance. When asked to
participate, please consider doing so.
Ongoing Substantive Projects
At present, we have a few of these in progress. One involves continuation of the ICPC Working Group on the unique
competencies of counseling health psychologists. Those of us involved in this working group at ICPC in Chicago
began an important process of identifying those roles we feel are unique to counseling health psychology. We need
to continue to discuss and collaborate on this project with the eventual goal of communicating our work. This work
needs to be communicated to the Council for Clinical Health Psychology Training Programs (CCHPTP) as our
contribution to the ongoing discussion of competencies in clinical health psychology.
A second project involves ongoing collaboration with the SCP Section on Ethnic and Racial Diversity (SERD). Our
initial collaboration began at ICPC where Nicole Borges and Earlise Ward worked together to plan an excellent
preconference on Health Disparities. We had a large group in attendance and the enthusiasm from the excellent
presentations by Carolyn Tucker and Cyndy McRae (on behalf of Dr. Paschal Kabura from Uganda, who could not
be with us) led to interest in continued collaboration. Toward that end we have a meeting scheduled on Saturday,
August 16 at 1:00 – 1:50 p.m. in the Division 17 Hospitality Suite to continue these discussions. Please put that on your
calendar.
A third potential project involves an opportunity for our Section to collaborate with Microtraining Associates
www.cmicrotraining.com in the production of training videos in counseling health psychology. I have had some
very preliminary discussion with Allen Ivey and others at Microtraining and they are interested in our ideas and
involvement. Please think about becoming involved by considering the following question “in what specific clinical
procedure(s) are you an expert?” For example, I have expertise in doing psychosocial assessment interviews for adult
cancer patients. I think there is value in demonstrating how to do this particular type of clinical interview and that
others would benefit from seeing it on video. What are your areas of expertise? Please consider this seriously and let
me know what you have to offer to this project.
These are few examples of some of the ongoing substantive projects and I am sure there are others that I have
missed or am unaware. Please let me know of your thoughts on these ideas and please stay in touch.
dnichola@bsu.edu
PAGE 3
Report on the ICPC Pre-Conference
The Counseling Health Psychology Section and the Section on Ethnic and Racial Diversity (SERD)
co-sponsored a half-day conference on "Health Disparities" on Thursday, March 6, from 1:30-4:30
pm. Our event featured guest speaker was Dr. Carolyn Tucker, a counseling psychologist at the
University of Florida. She addressed mental health disparities in the United States in her talk
“Addressing Health Disparities: With an Ear for the Beat of Different Hearts”.
Dr. Tucker’s research areas include (a) patient-centered culturally sensitive health care
assessment and intervention, (b) health and wellness promotion and obesity/overweight
modification interventions for racial/ethnic minority and low income children, adolescents,
families, and communities, and (c) children’s problem behaviors and academic performance.
She recently published articles on health disparities in the Fall 2007 edition of The Counseling
Psychologist.
Dr. Paschal Kabura was our invited guest from Africa and he was to address mental health
disparities from an African perspective in his talk “Trauma, AIDS, and Witch Doctors: Challenges
of Psychology in Uganda”. Dr. Kabura is CEO and Counseling Psychologist at Virika Hospital in
Uganda, where he established a clinic and counselor training institute. Unfortunately, shortly
before the preconference he was unable to obtain a visa and could not come to the United
States. He is committed to training counselors to address the overwhelming mental health needs
in Uganda, a country where citizens are rebuilding their lives following many years of social and
political instability.
PAGE 4
A Day in the Life of a Counseling Health Psychologist
Matt Bitsko
Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center
The following is a day in my life as a pediatric psychologist at VCU Medical Center in Richmond,
VA. I currently split my time between two divisions within the Department of Pediatrics – Pediatric
Endocrinology and Pediatric Hematology / Oncology. I hold a joint appointment between the
medical campus of VCU and the Department of Psychology on VCU’s Monroe Park campus.
Thus, my days are definitely varied. I have only been licensed for about two years now and
have been in this position that entire time. Even as I write these words I can’t believe it’s been
less than two years that I’ve been here – I feel a sense of being more seasoned and weathered
along the way!!
I would be remiss not to outline my position and how I got here. I am the first, and still the only,
psychologist hired within Virginia Commonwealth University’s (VCU’s) Medical Center’s
Department of Pediatrics. To have the opportunity to start and develop a clinical practice from
the ground up in such an environment has been a truly wonderful experience. As a doctoral
student in VCU’s Counseling Psychology program, I trained under Marilyn Stern, PhD, and gained
both clinical and research experience with pediatric cancer. Marilyn’s experience in the
medical and academic areas of psychology broadened my horizons and enabled me to find
my current career path.
So, what do I do on a daily basis? My time is split between the three foci found in most
academic medical centers: clinical work, education, and research. Clinically, I spend about 2225 hours a week doing outpatient psychotherapy. My primary clientele are adolescents with
cancer, type-one diabetes, or sickle cell disease and their families. I often do therapy sessions in
medical treatment rooms located at three separate sites – one of which is on our satellite
campus 10 miles outside of town. Approximately 5-8 hours each week is spent on our inpatient
units (standard, progressive care, and Pediatric Intensive Care or PICU) initiating services with
new patients or consulting with established patients and families. Obviously, I work in a
multidisciplinary setting (i.e. including social work, educational consultants, chaplains, child life,
medical doctors, nurses, etc.). In addition, as part of my collaboration with VCU’s Department of
Psychology, I supervise three doctoral students who complete practicum experiences. These
students assist me in providing services to patients and their families in the pediatric
hematology/oncology clinic, cystic fibrosis clinic, and the PICU. Supervision has been one of the
greatest thrills and challenges of my young career!!
I have also greatly enjoyed the opportunities my role offers to provide education and outreach
services. These include presenting guest lectures and conference talks (usually about 10 per
year) to my colleagues at VCU (e.g., psychology students, medical residents, nurses, etc.) and to
a host of local, state, and national organizations. I have spoken on a range of topics, including
adolescent and family adjustment to acute and chronic illnesses, treatment adherence, identity
development, pediatric palliative care, and pediatric overweight treatment. Finally, my position
has included research opportunities. These opportunities include collaborative research with
large groups of professionals from many different disciplines in the hospital setting (e.g., projects
within Pediatric Endocrinology and collaborating in a multi-specialty pediatric overweight
outpatient program, to name only a few). I also conduct some primary research, and serve on
dissertation committees.
As you can see from this brief overview, my days are hectic and never the same. I have
accomplished my goal of finding a job where I am able to “wear many hats.” My present
experiences are the result of wonderful relationships and mentoring from the likes of Marilyn Stern
PAGE 5
and countless other colleagues I have consulted multiple times as I have initiated this practice of
pediatric psychology at VCU Medical Center. My future goals are to establish and expand the
practice of pediatric psychology here at VCU. It is, perhaps, only mildly exaggerating to say that
I walk the line of justifying my existence on a daily basis as a new service in a large hospital and
being the central advocate for expansion within a natural bureaucracy that is often slow to
change and grow. Such challenges, along with the energy and collaboration that they require,
are another “set of hats” that I enjoy wearing as I go about my day.
What’s your story? Tell us about your day as a Counseling Health
Psychologist. Email: semazzeo@vcu.edu
Editor’s Note
I would love to receive any feedback you might have about the newsletter and am particularly interested
in any ideas you have about other features we could include. Please consider writing a brief article about
an issue, your “typical day” as a counseling health psychologist, a book review, or a feature on a
substantive topic of interest.
Counseling for Health is published two times per year.
The next Deadline for submissions is Oct 1
Send Your Comments and Submissions
to: Counseling for Health
Suzanne E. Mazzeo
Email: semazzeo@vcu.edu
The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent the policies of APA, the
Division of Counseling Psychology, or its Sections.
PAGE 6
Who’s Who on the Section Board?
With all the upcoming changes on the Section Executive Board, we thought it would be helpful
to give everyone a brief opportunity to learn more about our new Chair, Chair-Elect, and
Secretary/Treasurer. Each of them will begin his/her position at APA in August.
Chair: Don Nicholas. Dr. Nicholas is a Professor of Counseling Psychology within the Department
of Counseling Psychology at Ball State University. He coordinates the cognate in health psychology
for the PhD program and supervises doctoral students in a practicum placement in psycho-oncology
at Ball Memorial Hospital. Over the past many years he has held a variety of roles in the Health
Psychology Section. He has served as the newsletter editor, the coordinator of the Student
Research Award, a Member At Large and the current Chair Elect. He has been active in
presentations at APA highlighting the activities of the section and recently organized a Working
Group at the International Counseling Psychology Conference in Chicago on “Defining Unique
Competencies in Counseling Health Psychology.” His areas of research include psychosocial
adaptation of adult cancer patients, men and cancer, and in 2002 collaborated with two doctoral
graduates on a book titled “Cancer and the Family Lifecycle.” Since 2000 he has served on the PDQ
Palliative and Supportive Care editorial board at the National Cancer Institute.
Chair-Elect: Nicole Borges. Dr. Borges is an Associate Professor in the Department of Community
Health and Director, Medical Education Research in the Office of Academic Affairs at the
Boonshoft School of Medicine at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. She was Assistant
Professor of behavioral sciences at Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine from 20012006. Dr. Borges received her PhD in counseling psychology from Indiana State University. She
interned at the VA Hospital in Danville, IL and completed a fellowship in health psychology at
Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine. She is a licensed psychologist.
Dr. Borges has been involved with the Health Psychology Section since 2000 and served as
Treasurer/Secretary from 2002-2004. Since that time, she has served as Member-at-Large. In
addition, she coordinated the review process for the Division 17 Counseling Health Psychology
Section Student Poster Session for 2002 and 2007. She served as Coordinator for the PreConference Meeting on Health Disparities this past March for the International Counseling
Psychology Conference in Chicago. In addition to her work with the Health Psychology Section, she
is active in medical education and serves on the board of the Association for the Behavioral
Sciences and Medical Education. Her research interests include personality and medical specialty
choice, physician career development, and noncognitive factors contributing to student success.
Secretary/Treasurer: Brian Lewis. Dr. Lewis is the Director of Training in the Counseling
Psychology Program at the University of Miami and he also functions as the Director of the
program’s training clinic, the Institute for Individual and Family Counseling. He is a past president
of the Association of Directors of Psychology Training Clinics (ADPTC) and he has a particular
interest in developing practicum training opportunities for students interested in health psychology,
either through specialty clinics located within training centers or community-based health
intervention programs. Dr. Lewis has specialized in the practice of health psychology for over 25
years and he is currently a diplomate in Clinical Health Psychology through the American Board of
Professional Psychology. After completing the research for his dissertation at Children’s Hospital in
Boston, focusing on families of children with cystic fibrosis, he worked for a number of years in
various clinical settings specializing in health psychology practice. His earlier clinical work included
PAGE 7
developing a community-based psychoeducational program for cancer patients in rural Vermont,
establishing a pain-management consultation service for physical rehabilitation centers, and setting
up a behavioral medicine service for cardiac rehabilitation and pre-surgical preparation within a
mid-sized rural hospital. Prior to coming to the University of Miami in 2002, Dr. Lewis was the Chief
of the Psychology Department at Pitt County Memorial Hospital in North Carolina where he also
functioned as the Clinical Director of a multidisciplinary pain management program. Dr. Lewis’
current research is focused on the qualitative investigation of barriers to accessing primary
healthcare services as perceived by residents of underserved communities in the Miami area.
We’re looking forward to an exciting year—congratulations to Don, Nicole, & Brian!
Student Poster Session at APA Social Hour
By Jim Donnelly
This year Division 17 students responded very strongly to the call for poster proposals; 92
submissions were received across all 13 sections of Division 17. Our section was the 3 rd most active
with eight submissions. Space limitations were partially responsible for a relatively low acceptance
rate of about one third of a generally excellent set of studies. Two independent blind reviews were
conducted for all proposals with generally strong agreement in the reviews. All students received
reviewer comments on their submissions. Our section was able to accept the three highest rated
proposals, which are listed below:



From the University of Florida: Paul Perrin and colleagues: “Identifying At-Risk Caregivers
for Psychotherapy: Caregiver Psychosocial Functioning at One, Six, and Twelve Months PostStroke”
From Iowa State University: Robyn Howarth and colleagues: “Expectations of Benefit
Finding among Partners and Non-Partners of Cancer Patients: Implications for Clinical
Interventions”
From the University at Buffalo: Wendy Guyker and colleagues: “Veterans with War-related
Traumatic Brain Injuries: A Complex Mental Health Picture”
Thanks to all students who submitted proposals and congratulations to those selected for
presentation. Our section will be very well represented at the poster session!
PAGE 8
JOIN US!
American Psychological Association Division 17:
Society of Counseling Psychology (SCP)
HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY SECTION
Initiation Fee (one-time only membership fee)
$10 SCP Members
Members
$5 Affiliates (APA Member/Fellow but not SCP member ) & Student
The membership form is available on our website: http://counseling.indstate.edu/hlthpsy/
Mail to:
Melissa L. Briggs-Phillips, Ph.D.
The Ohio State University
College of Medicine and Public Health
248 Meiling Hall
370 West Ninth Avenue
Columbus, Ohio 43210
(614)292-4660
briggs-phillips.1@osu.edu