2016 MN Board of Psychology CE Conference: Examining the Mental Health Workforce Plan for Minnesota
Our Mission: The Minnesota Board of Psychology protects the public through licensure, regulation and education to promote access to safe, competent, and ethical psychological services.
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The Minnesota Board of Psychology (Board) hosted its 2016 Continuing Education Conference on Thursday, May 19, 2016. The intended audience was licensed psychologists, applicants for licensure and individuals interested in the changing landscape for the practice of psychology in Minnesota.
The concern for the ability of Minnesota’s mental health workforce to adequately meet the needs of its citizens now and in the future requires the attention and focus of those able to provide leadership, resources, and services. The implementation of the Affordable Care Act and mental health parity regulations are driving the demand for mental health care up. In light of this, Minnesota has identified that “the combined challenges of an aging mental health workforce, ongoing discrimination” and other factors risk exacerbating the demand even further.
- The current composition of the mental health and psychology workforce in Minnesota;
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The work of Minnesota’s “Mental Health Summit” which resulted in over 100 recommendations aimed at increasing the number and diversity of the mental health workforce as well as ensuring the availability, accessibility, and quality of education and training of the mental health workforce;
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What those recommendations are, what has been accomplished to date, and how those recommendations relate to your practice and the future of psychology in Minnesota.
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How you can engage in the discussion surrounding those recommendations and in future actions related to addressing issues in Minnesota’s provision of mental health services.
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The importance of responding to recommendations that impact the practice of psychology most including recommendations for the following: development of a process for cross-discipline certification of supervisors, common supervision certificates in education programs, internship hours counting toward licensure, practicum hours counting toward supervisory experience, creation of a supervision training institute that would provide free supervision training throughout Minnesota, consideration of tax incentives for mental health professionals’ training and more.
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