1991  Victoria DiCicco, Ph.D.

To jog my memory, I looked back at old Newsletters from that time.  On a world wide and national scene, the Persian Gulf War had just begun in January, 1991; the CHAMPUS Reform Initiative was in full swing and the Academy's CHAMPUS Committee was very actively involved with other local mental health professional Associations and healthcare institutions in trying to impact that system; Managed Care was gaining ground and much to our dismay effecting our practices more; the CAPP V. Rank decision regarding psychologist's hospital practice had been won six months earlier; and psychologists' inclusion in MediCare had finally been achieved in 1990 after a twenty-five year struggle.

At the start of the year, we were still the Academy of San Diego Psychologists with Barbara Severance as Executive Director operating the business of the organization from a bedroom/study in her home without the benefit of computers.  By the end of my term, a name change to the San Diego Psychological Association had been suggested and wheels were in motion to officially make the change. Barbara Severance had tendered her resignation and would be retiring as my term was ending.  The search for a new Administrator had been accomplished and Heather Joie was about to begin that position; an office was rented, furniture and equipment were being purchased and donated, and plans were in the works to purchase a computer system for the organization. The Board, which had consisted of seven members for many years, began to take the necessary steps to increase its size to nine by making the roles of Representatives to the CPA Board of Directors members of the Academy Board.

Some of the other activities of the organization that year included:

1. A call for volunteers was made among the membership to help the community deal with the trauma and stress of the Persian Gulf War and to offer help to organizations such as the Military Family Service Center and the Red Cross.  This was never really utilized because of the rapid resolution of the war.  During 1991 however, the long evolving effort to create a Disaster Response Committee of volunteers who would be utilized by the community in times of disaster took a giant step forward by forming, a formal relationship with the American Red Cross of San Diego and becoming recognized as their Disaster Mental Health Response team.

2. At the encouragement of CPA, the Board made the decision to cease the investigation of ethics complaints as a function of the Academy's Ethics and Standards Committee and limit the chapter's role to education and consultation.  Ethics complaints were to be referred to the Ethics Committee of CPA, APA, or the Board of Psychology as appropriate.

3. The organization sponsored a Book Drive of psychology textbooks for Romanian Psychologists, which was very successful.  We also gave a small grant to help fund one of our associate members going as part of a volunteer team to assess the orphans of Romania.

4. A Managed Health Care Directory researched and created by the Academy's Managed Care Committee was a big seller and actually made some money for this organization.  This was an attempt to help the membership at that time make some sense of the new, very confusing world of Managed Care.

With a membership of 595 and over 20 committees and task forces, many other interesting and worthwhile activities and projects occurred that year as well.