July 2008

President's Message

By Junell Silver, Ph.D.
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Welcome to MBPA’s first electronic newsletter! Great thanks go to Dr. Jenny Kaupp and the design services of Charlie Kaupp and Carol Leyba for their enormous efforts to get it launched. Moving from paper to digital not only saves us money, but is key to the Board’s strategy of communicating more effectively with the membership and the public. We are just getting started. The newsletter is still “evolving,” and we need your input. To learn more, please see the Newsletter editor’s column.

One of our goals for this year was to begin to offer several dinner/speaker events with CEUs, a request that came from our 2007 membership survey. The membership wanted more opportunities to socialize while hearing interesting speakers. So we give our thanks to Dr. Jim Beckett, who produced a very successful event with Dr. Helena Young from the Palo Alto Veterans’ Hospital. Dr. Young’s presentation was titled “Turning Ghosts into Ancestors: What the Vietnam Narrative Can Teach Us about the War in Iraq,” and included a discussion about PTSD issues with our current veterans.

Now for news of the 2008-2010 MBPA directory: Thanks to the untold hours put in by the directory committee, which includes Dr. Ann Bolger, Dr. Jenny Kaupp, Dr. Jim Beckett and myself, assisted by the technical services of Charlie Kaupp and Leslie Ward, it is now completed!

The MBPA BOD has decided to charge $20 per directory copy (plus $5 for mailing) to defray the cost of distributing directories to the community at large, as we have done in the past, as well as developing expanded directory capabilities online. While we dislike having to charge members for things that have previously been covered by membership fees, it is necessary in this case. Our membership fees are very low and our ability to raise money though training programs has been diminished. You will soon be receiving an email announcement with instructions about how to order your directory.

This is the last time the the MBPA Directory will be available in paper form, and we have already replicated the information in an online directory on our MBPA website (www.mbpsych.org). While the paper directory has always been valuable in helping readers find an appropriate psychologist or therapist based on clinical focus and location, now that capacity has been greatly expanded in the excellent and exciting online “Find a Therapist” function on the MBPA website. But the best part about having the directory on the website is our ability to maintain accurate member data. While the paper directory is current as of June 2008, membership data on the website is dynamic and serves as the central database for membership information. In the past, member information has been kept in many different files, difficult to keep in sync and nearly impossible to maintain with current accurate data.

Now that both the paper and website editions of the directory have been completed, the Board is focused on adding content to our website infrastructure. We intend the website to be “the place to automatically go” for information about our chapter, upcoming events, and advertising. Our committee chairs will not only be putting their current reports on the website, but it will also include basic information about that committee charter and important links and resources. Your suggestions and feedback are very important in moving forward and in making our chapter and website relevant to you, the membership. If you have ideas, please send them to Dr. Jenny Kaupp ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ) or to me at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

I want acknowledge the dedication and leadership of Dr. Diane Bridgeman in the recent set of wildfires in our area. Her long-term efforts to build a strong collaborative disaster mental health team have proved especially valuable in our local crisis. Thanks also to the many MBPA members who made heroic efforts both during and after these disasters. Please see the Disaster Response report for more information about our local mental health response.

Finally, I’m saddened to report that early this month, our community lost Dr. Faith Robinson. Her colleagues and friends mourn her passing and will miss her. (For an In Memoriam notice, click here.)

Junell Silver, Ph.D.