OCASP Newsletter Fall 2009

in the lives of students with special needs. That, in my opinion, says a lot about how important we are in schools. That is excit-ing! At a time where lim-ited resources can seem disheartening, do not let it hinder our pursuit for bet-ter education. Rather, it is a time to be creative, proactive, and rise up to the challenge!

Vhenus BelisleVhenus BelisleVhenus BelisleVhenus Belisle

Hello…OC!! Orange County School Psycholo-gists, that is! It is amazing that the 2009 school year has just started a couple of months ago and already, the holidays are a few weeks out and 2010 is just around the cor-ner. As the 2009-2010 OCASP President, I’m ex-cited about the journey ahead. Yes, the California budget seems dim, but as most know me, I like to look ahead and focus on the good to come. At a leadership advance for my district this summer, we discussed our leadership role in our schools and how to respond to adver-sity. As School Psycholo-

gists, we are change agents, correct? So, my advice is to assess the resources we already have at our schools and look for ways to maxi-

mize the potential for bet-ter academic and behav-ioral interventions. We can make positive changes happen especially

Congratulations to the

elected 2009-2010

OCASP Board of Di-

rectors. On the first

few pages, we intro-

duce our new board.

You can also learn

more about the board

on the OCASP web-

site. We want to thank

them for their contri-

butions to our organi-

zation, commitment,

hard work, and advo-

cacy in the field of

school psychology and

education.

“Adapt, Preserve, Overcome…”

Words of wisdom borrowed

from my district’s Leadership Advance.

A Message from the President

I N S I D E TH I S

I S S UE :

Board of Directors 2-3

Time Management

as a Doctoral

Student

4-5

A School Psycholo-

gist Out of the

Norm

5

Happy, Healthy

Strong

6-7

Conner’s

Workshop Info

8

Everything CASP &

NASP

9

CA Ed Code for

School Psycholo-

gists

10

APA-MLA Model Act Update

10

OCASP Tentative Workshops

10

OCASP Resources 11

OC Events 12

Welcome 2009-2010 Board of Directors

The OC Psych Report F A L L 2 0 0 9 V O L U M E V I V , I S S U E 1

SPEC IAL

PO INTS OF IN -

TEREST :

• OCASP November

Workshop (11/20)

• Upcoming OCASP

workshops

• School Psych Week

• APA-MLA Update

• CASP Updates

P A G E 2

Past President and CASP Region IX Rep. Pedro Olvera, PsyD, LEP

2009-2010 OCASP President Vhenus Belisle, M.A., Ed.S

Elect, Derek Ihori M.S., LEP, NCSP

to students with special

needs with a CAC

Award from her SELPA.

On a personal note, she

welcomed a son, Jacques,

on March 29, 2009. In her

spare time, she enjoys an

active lifestyle with her

family. This past sum-

mer, Vhenus competed

in one 5k and three 10ks

benefiting different

causes. In October 2009,

she finished her first half

marathon.

cational Psychology from

Alliant University. Dr.

Olvera is the Director of

the School Psychology

program at APU where

he also holds a professor-

ship position. Dr. Olvera

holds a part-time private

Dr. Pedro Olvera has

been a school psycholo-

gist for the past 8 years at

SAUSD. He received his

Master's degree in Edu-

cation, School Psychol-

ogy from APU and his

Doctorate degree in Edu-

practice as a Licensed

Educational Psychologist

in the Newport Beach

area. On a personal note,

he and his wife wel-

comed their first child,

Isaac, on March 9, 2009.

on to earn his M.S. de-

gree in Counseling with

a Specialization in School

Psychology from the

California State Univer-

sity, Northridge

(CSUN). Derek is cur-

rently a doctoral student

at the University of

Southern California

(USC). His areas of inter-

est include Response to

Intervention (RTI), be-

havioral assessment/

interventions, and case

law.

Derek is a LEP and a

NCSP who is currently

employed by the Los

Alamitos Unified School

District. He earned his

B.A. in Psychology and

Social Behavior from the

University of California,

Irvine (UCI) with a minor

in Education. He went

T H E O C P S Y C H R E P O R T

Vhenus has been a mem-

ber of OCASP for over 5

years. She works in the

Los Alamitos Unified

School District (LAUSD).

In 2008, she was awarded

outstanding service from

the Board of Education

and Administration in

the LAUSD. Last year,

she was also nominated

and honored for her sup-

port as well as dedication

P A G E 3 V O L U M E V I V , I S S U E 1

Secretary, Vivien Phan, PsyD, LEP

Dr.Vivien Phan

has been work-

ing with SAUSD

for the last 10

years as a school

psychologist.

Prior to this, she was a spe-

cial education teacher for

severely handicapped stu-

dents at the intermediate

level. She is also a LEP with

specialization in bilingual

assessments (Vietnamese)

and adolescent self-injury.

Treasurer, Christine Mars-

den, M.A., Ed.S, LEP

Christine Mars-den has been a school psy-chologist for the past 8 years. She currently works part-time for

PYUSD. Christine was awarded Outstanding School Psychologist by her col-leagues in 2007. Christine holds a part-time private practice as a Licensed Educa-tional Psychologist.

Membership, Jennifer Feeser,

M.A.

Jennifer Feeser has worked as a school psycholo-gist at a private Christian high school in Irvine for the past 3

years. Prior to being a school psychologist, Jennifer worked as a school counselor for 3 years for various dis-tricts in Orange County.

Behavioral Analysis (BCBA)

exam. On a personal note,

Eby and her husband are

planning to welcome a new

family member on December

12, 2009.

University Rep-

resentative,

Kate McClain

Kate is currently

in her third year

at Chapman

Community Outreach Coor-

dinator, Eby Kent, M.S., LEP

Eby Kent has

been a School

Psychologist for

the past 5

years. Cur-

rently, she is

working in the Newport-

Mesa Unified School Dis-

trict. She has completed her

coursework and is preparing

to sit for the Board Certified

University and com-

pleting her intern-

ship at Los Alamitos

Unified School Dis-

trict. For the last

two years she has

been working as an

instructional aide

for students who are

severely handi-

capped at

HBUHSD.

getting licensed. Although not a school psychologist, she is excited to be a part of OCASP.

Event Coordinator, Libby Barnish, M.A., Ed.S Libby is excited to work for

Green Dot Pub-lic Schools. At the NASP An-nual Conven-tion in Boston, Libby pre-sented research

on resiliency in low-income

students alongside Chapman professor, Dr. Michael Hass. As the NASP Student Leader for Chapman, Libby estab-lished the first ever Chap-man University Association of School Psychologists. Libby has also gained excel-lent experience in ABA both from working as a Behavior Therapist and a Behavior Consultant. In her spare time, Libby plays soccer and lacrosse, and enjoys coaching a middle school girls’ la-crosse team.

Webmaster, Veronica Olvera, PsyD.

Dr. Veronica Olvera gradu-ated from the Clinical Psychol-ogy program at

Azusa Pacific University. She went on to complete a post-doctoral fellowship at Har-bor-UCLA Medical Center in Adult Clinical Neuropsy-chology. She held a profes-sorship position at APU be-fore becoming a mom. She is currently a stay-at-home mom and is working toward

Lead

by

example

P A G E 4

“Without hard

work, nothing

grows but weeds.”

Gordon B.

Hinckley

Article Written

By Derek Ihori

Time Management: Balancing Work and Being a Doctoral Student

Entering a doctoral pro-

gram in any field can be

an anxiety provoking

experience. The diffi-

culty of making the tran-

sition back to being a

student is compounded

when one is concurrently

employed as a school

psychologist. When one

already has a multitude

of meetings before and

after school in addition to

drafting psycho-

educational assessment

reports, adding the addi-

tional workload of a full-

time doctoral program

can seem overwhelming.

However, with planning

and a structured time

management system, the

move toward a terminal

degree can become far

less daunting.

Below are some helpful

hints if you are consider-

ing returning to school to

complete a doctorate de-

gree:

class. This will give you some “buffer-space” in case you have a large number of assessment referrals coming to you at once while at work.

• Look closely at the syllabus as soon as it is available, hopefully several weeks before the class starts.

• Do what you can to-day. You never know whether you’ll have time tomorrow.

• Consider what your career aspirations are when deciding whether you want to pursue a Ph.D., a Psy.D., or an Ed.D. If you are intending to pursue clinical psy-chology, wish to con-duct research, or hope to teach at a research-oriented university, a Ph.D. may suit you best. A Psy.D. may be of greater interest if

you are interested in practitioner-based training more than theory/research. If you are interested in moving up the admin-istrative ladder within the school setting, an Ed.D. may best suit your needs.

• Plan ahead. If you know that your as-sessment caseload increases exponen-tially after parent con-ferences or after spring break, make sure that you have already begun the doctoral papers that will be due around that time.

• Be prepared to read vast amounts of peer-reviewed studies. As you read, think ahead about how the articles can be used in the pa-per that you will have to write.

• Choose your program wisely. Many Ph.D. programs are true full-time programs during which you may be unable to con-tinue to work. In con-trast, many Ed.D. Ph.D., and Psy.D. pro-grams are full-time but are designed to work around the schedule of the work-ing professional (for example, classes that meet only on week-ends). Also consider how returning to school will impact the

amount of time you spend with your family.

• Get started on your reading ASAP! It will be difficult to accom-plish, but try to stay at least a week ahead of the reading due for the upcoming



• As you read articles, try to think about how you can implement the knowledge that you gain into your practice. This will help to make the information

more meaningful to you and will better assist in synthesizing and memo-rizing the main points of the studies.

• Accept that you will be losing personal time dur-ing the course of your doctoral studies. You can not allow yourself to slip in your practice (after all, that’s where the kids are counting on you) and as a result there will have to be some personal sacrifice in order to obtain per-sonal and professional growth. However, do

your best to maintain bal-ance between the various aspects of your life. Just because you’re a psy-chologist doesn’t mean that you’re immune to burnout!

tions when working for a progressive district. Along with that accountability is a great amount of support. For example, many school psy-chologists in traditional school districts are currently finding it difficult to get ap-proval from their districts to attend professional develop-ment workshops and confer-ences. It is even more diffi-cult to ask them to support their attendance by granting them paid time off and even sponsoring part of the con-ference. Because account-ability and professional de-velopment are highly valued in public charter school dis-tricts, many psychologists are being both encouraged and supported to attend these conferences.

Depending on the district, many school psychologists working for public charter schools have the opportunity to design and implement new programs, develop in-terventions, and set prece-dence for what school psy-chologists do and for future growth of the company. If you are up for the challenge, participating in the develop-ment of what our ‘practice’ looks like is a very exciting and rare opportunity.

As a new School Psycholo-gist working in a public char-ter school district, it is an exciting experience. There are many things to get used to including the fact that the district runs more like a busi-ness than a school district. This means asking for ap-proval for things and ‘salary steps’ are not guaranteed but run more like a proposal and bonus system, respectively. Things like, who to report to, are different under charter schools, but “different” isn’t bad. There are high expectations of accountability for all em-ployees including teachers, administrators, and school psychologists. Because of this, people are eager to chal-lenge and better themselves. These are considered expecta-

Being a School Psychologist Out of the Norm Article Written

by

Libby Barnish

Time Management...

P A G E 6

“The higher your

energy level, the more

efficient your body.

The more efficient

your body, the better

you feel and the more

you will use your

talent to produce

outstanding results.”

Anthony Robbins

Article Written by

Vhenus Belisle

Happy, Healthy, & Strong

OCASP has added a

new section in our

newsletter that is

geared towards ad-

vocating emotional,

physical, and mental

wellness into our

professional lives.

Too often as busy

mental health profes-

sionals we forget

about our responsi-

bility to make sure

that we eat healthy,

exercise, and make

healthy lifestyle

choices. In this issue,

we share some sim-

ple strategies to stay

healthy and feel

good.

pneumonia and res-piratory failure.

Proper Prevention

•Take everyday actions to stay healthy.

∗ Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tis-sue in the trash after you use it.

∗ Wash your hands of-ten with soap and wa-ter. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand rub.

∗ Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth. Germs spread that way.

∗ Stay home if you get sick. CDC recom-mends that you stay home from work or

school and limit contact with others to keep from infecting them.

•Consider the H1N1 vaccination.

•Follow public health advice re-garding school closures, avoiding crowds.

•Find healthy ways to deal with stress and anxiety.

•Stay informed.

According to the Center for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), like seasonal flu, symptoms of swine flu infections can include:

• fever, which is usu-ally high, but unlike seasonal flu, is some-times absent

• Cough

• Runny or stuffy nose

• Sore throat

• Body aches

• Headache

• Chills

• Fatigue or tiredness, which can be ex-treme

• Diarrhea and vomit-ing, sometime

• Signs of a more seri-ous swine flu infec-tion might include


Swine Flu

Prevention

is Key


bership, you can take advantage of their yoga classes!

Yoga can be a great op-tion to relieve stress, get lean, increase flexibility, and burn calories. Sometimes your local park and beaches offer free yoga sessions. Also, if you have a gym mem-

save money and calories. Don’t

forget, spending the time to make

your own salad burns calories!!!

Mix & Match the following ingre-

dients for a tasty lunch you won’t

regret:

Bell peppers/ zucchini/ asparagus

Onions

Spinach/Spring mix/romaine let-

tuce

Pre-packed shredded broccoli &

carrots

Fat-free cheese

Canned tuna/chicken/turkey

Fresh Strawberries/ grapes/ blue-

berries

Cucumber

Walnuts/ Almonds/ Pine nuts

Dried blueberries/cranberries/cherries

Tomatoes

Dressing:

2 tbl sp balsamic vinaigrette & olive oil

While its tempting to just buy a

premade salad from Trader Joe’s

or your school,

taking a few

minutes at night

to prepare a

salad for work

the next day can

help you put

more healthier

options in your

salad and help

Quick Tip

Quick Exercises You Can Do at Work

The Healthy Salad

Use a

pedometer and

keep track of

how many steps

you take. Aim

for 6,000 to

10,000 steps a

day.

You have to admit that ob-serving students in OT while they bounce on those jump balls seems like an activity worth trying no matter what your age. Give it a try and discover your inner child come out while also burning a few calories while you’re at it.

Some other great exercises you can easily accomplish at work are:

• Taking a brisk walk using an alternative “longer” route to your office or classroom observation.

• Facilitate a play group at recess where the students play “Red Light, Green Light” and get in the ac-tion.

• Park your car in the far-thest parking lot available. Leave something impor-tant in there so you have to run out and get it.

• Deliver docu-ments or mes-sages to co-workers in per-son rather than by email

• Arm and neck stretches are always easy to do while sit-ting at your desk.

• Be creative...you’re only limited to the limitations you place on yourself.

OCASP Hosts the Conners 3rd Edition and Conners Comprehensive Behavior Rating Scales Workshop

Date: Friday, November 20 Time: 8:30-11:30 a.m. (8:00 a.m. check-in)

Location: Azusa Pacific University, Orange Campus


Conners 3rd Edition (C3™): A revised and focused assess-ment of ADHD The well known Conners Rating Scales–Revised (CRS–R™) has been revised and expanded. Released in the spring of 2008, the Conners 3rd Edition (Conners 3™) continues the tradition of evaluating ADHD-related symptoms in chil-dren and adolescents, but also addresses executive func-tion, oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) and conduct disorder (CD) in more depth to assist in differential diag-nosis.

Assigning a diagnosis of ADHD does not always solve existing emotional, behavioral, or attention problems. This can frustrate parents and teachers who refer a child for assessment because they are looking for a solution. In this situation, the most useful tests are those that assist in identifying a child’s problems and guide treatment. This presentation will focus on the use of Conners 3 as part of the entire assessment and intervention process. New components will be fully covered and the scales and fea-tures that have been carried over from the CRS–R will be reviewed. The workshop will address the pivotal role of school psychologists in the diagnosis, treatment, inter-vention monitoring and educational management of stu-dents with behavioral and emotional issues. Differential diagnosis and the role of rating scales in identifying at-tention and behavior disorders will be reviewed. Experts will discuss challenges such as resolving discrepancies among raters, integrating objective test results with rat-ing scale results, and developing specific recommenda-tions using test results. Conners Comprehensive Behavior Rating Scales (Conners CBRS™): a new and thorough assessment of a wide range of disorders and problem behaviors in chil-dren and adolescents The Conners CBRS™, a new instrument, provides a com-prehensive picture of childhood disorders by assessing a complete spectrum of behaviors, emotions, and academic problems. Among the many features of the Conners CBRS are three validity scales, clinical indicators for fur-ther diagnoses, and global impairment items.

This presentation will provide an introduction to the Conners CBRS. New components will be fully covered and the scales and features that have been carried over from the CRS–R will be reviewed. The workshop will address the pivotal role of school psychologists in the

diagnosis, treatment, intervention monitoring and edu-cational management of students with behavioral and emotional issues. Differential diagnosis and the role of rating scales in identifying attention and behavior disor-ders will be reviewed. Participants will also learn how the Conners CBRS can be valuable when planning inter-ventions for and monitoring treatment of common childhood disorders. About the Conners 3rd Edition and Conners Comprehen-sive Behavior Rating Scales Presenter Josie Woodson, Psy.D. received her B.S. at California State University, Dominguez Hills in Biology/Microbiology & Medical Technology. She spent the 80’s and early 90’s as a Clinical Laboratory Scientist in Southern California where she trained post graduate professionals and medical interns. During the late 90’s, Dr. Woodson earned her MA in Clinical Psychology with an Emphasis in Marriage & Family Therapy at Pep-perdine University Graduate School of Education and Psychology. She is a credentialed school psychologist who has worked with preschool through young adult populations. As a school psychologist, she has trained school psychology interns and focused, developed, and provided professional development trainings that in-clude an ecological theoretical perspective for under-standing student academic and behavioral difficulties. Dr. Woodson studied at the California School of Profes-sional Psychology where she earned a Doctorate in Edu-cational Psychology. She delivers large group presenta-tions and provides professional development training with Continuing Education Credits to school districts and at state level conferences. She has recently worked as Academic Consultant for doctoral student(s) in the Graduate School of Education and School Psychology at Alliant International University. Dr. Woodson is cur-rently an educational consultant for Multi-Health Sys-tems (MHS) and supports school districts in the Western United States.

P A G E 9

CASP Winter Convention

School Psychology Week

Join CASP Have you joined

CASP yet?? The time

to do it is now.

CASP, an organiza-

tion of 3,000 strong,

is fighting on your

behalf. Membership

in CASP includes

CASP Today

(Newsletter), The

California School

Psychologist

(Journal), Legislative

& Regulatory Repre-

sentation, Continu-

ing Professional De-

velopment, Website,

Political Action for

Children (Lobby &

Advocacy) and Cali-

fornia School Psy-

chology Foundation.

Without your sup-

port, CASP will not

be able to support

our cause.

Join now at

www.casponline.org

gists do to promote the

endless possibilities for

academic and personal

success in the lives of the

students they serve.

Enlighten others about

our profession by pre-

The theme of this year’s

School Psychology

Awareness Week

(November 9-13) from

NASP is "See the possi-

bilities in you. We do!",

which focuses on shining

a light on the positive

work school psycholo-

senting at your district’s

board meeting, PTA

meeting, and staff meet-

ing.

live and lively. Work-shops will be held in Los Angeles, Sacramento and Fresno. And on your computer as live web-casts. All on Friday, De-cember 4th and Saturday the 5th, 2009. webcasts will be archived and available online by Janu-ary. All workshops will be presented by experts

in the field. Log on to http://www.casponline.org. See you there!!

The CASP 2009 Winter Convention will be offer-ing a range of workshops to keep you abreast of current trends in this dy-namic field. It is also way of supporting CASP. Some will be held in a regular classroom set-ting. Others will be held on the web. All will be


We’re in the California Ed Code

P A G E 1 0 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 1

Did you know that you can

find our profession in the

California Ed Code?

Section 49424--

School Psychologists,

Services

It states that “A school psy-chologist is a credentialed professional whose primary objective is the application of scientific principles of learning and behavior to

ameliorate school-related problems and to facilitate the learning and develop-ment of children in the public schools of Califor-nia.”

• Title: A Successful Transition from Practicum to In-

ternship & Helpful PRAXIS Tips

Presenter(s): Dr. Pedro Olvera & Vhenus Belisle

Date: 1/15/2010

Time: 8:30-12:30

January 2010

• Title: Executive Functioning

Presenter(s): Dr. Michael Hass, Ashley Patter

son, & Jocelyn Sukraw

Date: TBA

Time: 8:30-12:30

etc. The input is being analyzed at this time. By February, they will vote and it looks favorable to school psychologists; however, we are not out of the woods yet so we must continue to be proactive and fight for our profession! For more information

regarding the APA-MLA issue go to www.CASPonline.org.

APA-MLA Update from NASP Representative- Margaret Sedor: The public input period ended in June and 19,000 responses were calculated from the education realm, including administrators, SLPs,

APA-MLA Model Act

Upcoming OCASP Workshops

Networking with school psychologists made easy...you can now find us on Facebook!

P A G E 1 1

Stay Informed

Why Join OCASP?

Online RTI Community OCASP has an online Re-sponse to Intervention (RTI) community. The purpose of this community is to al-low school psychologists, directors, students, and professors to collaborate regarding RTI models, in-terventions, progress moni-toring measures, and to ask questions regarding RTI in general.

To sign up for the RTI community and post your thoughts, questions,

and ideas online, please e-mail [email protected].

3. Stay on top of current

trends.

4. Network with other pro-

fessionals.

Here are 4 reasons:

1. Discounts on cutting edge

workshops that also satisfy

CEUs.

2. Be part of an innovative &

dynamic professional organi-

zation.

• Calendar of

OCASP Events

• Newsletter Ar-

chives

• Membership Reg-

istration

• Upcoming Work-

shops & Registra-

tion

• List of current

Board Members

and their Contact

information

• Links to Affiliate

Organizations

Stay informed with

the latest news and

events at

www.ocasp.net.

You can find the fol-

lowing information

at our website:


Events in Orange County

P A G E 1 2 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 1

OCASP has an online Re-sponse to Intervention (RTI) community. The purpose of this community is to al-low school psychologists, directors, students, and professors to collaborate regarding RTI models, in-terventions, progress moni-toring measures, and to ask questions regarding RTI in general.

Walk Now for Autism is a family-friendly event so bring the whole family along. The fundraiser not only generates vital funds for autism research but also raises awareness about the increasing prevalence of autism and the need for increased re-search funding to combat this complex disorder. There will be activities for the children, resources for families, light refresh-ments and entertainment. Date: Saturday, November 14, 2009 Location: Angel Stadium of Anaheim

2000 Gene Autry Way Anaheim, CA 92806 Registration opens: 8:00 am Opening Ceremonies: 9:30 am Walk Begins: 10:00 am For more information go to www.walknowforautismspeaks.org

2nd Annual Holiday Surfboard Auction! More than a dozen unique surf-

boards and surf memorabilia will be auctioned off at The Ritz-Carlton, La-

guna Niguel during the Second Annual Holiday Surfboard Auction to benefit

Surfers Healing, a surf camp which introduces children with autism and their

families to the therapeutic properties of surfing.

Auction runs from November 22nd-December 31st! The bidding

closes at noon on December 31, 2009. Items will be available to

take home on Friday, January 1, 2010. Additionally, a variety of

unique surf items from local collections will be on display.

Location: Ritz Carlton - Laguna Niguel

1 Ritz-Carlton Drive

Dana Point, CA 92629

(949) 240-2000

For more information:

Go to the community calendar for California at

http://communities.autismspeaks.org/site

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Special Advertisement

MISSION STATEMENT

The Orange County Association of Psychologist

(OCASP) is an organization of credentialed school

psychologists, persons practicing in allied fields, and

graduate students in school psychology training pro-

grams. OCASP offers its members effective in-

services, newsletters to disseminate current informa-

tion on educational/psychological issues, and a chan-

nel for discussion of improvement of professional

practices within the school organization of

pupil services.

MAILING ADDRESS:

Orange County Association of

School Psychologists (OCASP)

650 N. Rose Dr. #303

Placentia, CA 92870

Visit us on the web for the latest news:

www.ocasp.net

OCASP Newsletter Fall 2009

Documents

Transcript of OCASP Newsletter Fall 2009