[AVAPL Members] Re: How to Improve the Implementation of Evidence-Based Psychotherapy in the VA

  • From: "Bateman, Guy D." <Guy.Bateman@xxxxxx>
  • To: "Burk, Jeffrey P." <Jeff.Burk@xxxxxx>
  • Date: Wed, 11 Aug 2010 08:12:40 -0500

Jeff,

 

I appreciate your encouraging us to participate in these various activities, as 
I’ve been trying.  I have a dilemma, however.  How do I get my local management 
to support my attending meetings held in remote locations?  I could not get any 
financial support to attend this year’s VA Psychology Leadership Conference.  I 
was able to get approval for Authorized Absence to attend, but was told that if 
I used this leave for this purpose, the AA would not be available for other 
continuing education activities.  I’m sorry I missed the Conference this year, 
it sounded like it was exceptional, but I ended up using my 40 hours of AA to 
attend more local, less expensive CE activities.  I was so discouraged by 
management’s lack of support for training that I didn’t even plan to attend the 
APA Convention this year.  Any ideas on how to get management to loosen the 
purse strings to allow psychologists to attend more of these training and 
enrichment activities without further straining our personal budgets?

 

Thanks in advance.  

 

 

Guy Dean Bateman, Ph.D.

Lead Clinical Psychologist

Mental Health Service Line

VAMC St. Cloud, MN

320-252-1670 ext. 6205

 

"A man dies when he refuses to take a stand for that which is true."  Martin 
Luther King, Jr.

 

From: Burk, Jeffrey P. 
Sent: Tuesday, August 10, 2010 7:38 PM
To: Nicholson, Karen J.; Junginger, John A.; 'Joan.Zweben@xxxxxxxx'; Lemle, 
Russell
Cc: 'members1@xxxxxxxxx'; VHA Psychology Postdoctoral Training Directors; VHA 
Psychology Internship Directors; VHA National Psychology Chiefs; V21SFC 
Psychologists; Armstrong, Keith
Subject: Re: How to Improve the Implementation of Evidence-Based Psychotherapy 
in the VA

 

I'll leave it to others to debate many of the issues presented in this e-mail 
chain. But I do want to comment on the issue of transparency.

Transparency is a two-way street. VACO can do (and frankly has done) a lot to 
answer the questions raised, but all of us have to do our part to hear the 
message. Most of these questions have been asked, answered, and discussed many 
times in many forums. If you're not dialing in to the monthly Psychology 
conference call (and typically only 30-50 of us do), then you're missing a 
wonderful opportunity to hear the latest news from and interact with VACO. If 
you don't go to the annual VA Psychology Leadership Conference (and fewer than 
200 of us do) or the VACO meeting at the annual APA Convention (and typically 
fewer than 75 of us do), then you're missing out on some great opportunities. 
We really do have to be in the forest to hear the tree fall.

Jeff

-------------------------- 
Sent from my BlackBerry Wireless Handheld

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