Total Credits: 1 APA
Since 2016 APA has been seeking to transform professional psychology into a “two-tiered” profession by endorsing educating and licensing people with master’s degrees in health service psychology. APA is now revising the Model License Act seeking to include a section for master’s practice. Dr. Oppenheimer will discuss the status of the master’s profession in psychology and APA’s efforts to create a “two-tiered” profession. He will also discuss how the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards is addressing master’s level licensing, and he will discuss the implications of this proposed change for professional psychology and the APA.
| Model Licensing Act (1.2 MB) | Available after Registration | ||
Dr. Peter Oppenheimer has been the Director of Professional Affairs for the Rhode Island Psychological Association since 2018. He has led RIPA’s legislative and policy advocacy since 1998. He has served two terms as the association’s President and two terms as their Council Representative. At APA, Dr. Oppenheimer is a Past President of Division 42. He served on the Committee for the Advancement of Professional Practice and as Division 31’s Council Representative. He is a fellow of Divisions 31 and 42; and a member of the Massachusetts Psychological Association, and Divisions 55 and 56.
Dr. Oppenheimer served as a member of the BPA/BEA Task Force on Master’s Title and Scope of Practice, and as a member of the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Board’s Potential Regulatory Implications of Master’s Licensure Task Force. He currently serves as a liaison to APA’s Model Licensing Act Task Force.
Dr. Oppenheimer has served on the Rhode Island Board of Psychology since 2004 and as Chair since 2005. He is Rhode Island’s Commissioner and State Administrator for the Psychology Interjurisdictional Compact (PSYPACT).
Dr. Oppenheimer has been in independent practice since 1987. He is the owner of a group practice in Barrington that he founded in 1994. He focuses his clinical practice on children and families. Dr. Oppenheimer has been a leader in community efforts to develop collaborative relationships between behavioral health practices and primary care physicians, and to enhance the role of psychologists in integrated care settings.
Dr. Oppenheimer graduated from the School/Clinical Child Psychology Program at the Institute of Clinical Psychology at the University of Virginia in 1986. He interned at the SUNY Upstate Medical Center in 1983-1984. He is licensed in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, and he holds a PSYPACT APIT.
By the end of this program, participants will be able to