Hello! My name is Beth Lewis and as the new editor of the Minnesota Psychologist, I would like to take a moment to introduce myself.  I am honored to have the opportunity to serve as editor.  As Tabitha mentions, I am currently an Associate Professor at the University of Minnesota.  I received my Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of North Dakota in 2001.  I completed a postdoctoral fellowship in behavioral medicine at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island and have been a licensed psychologist since 2003.  My research examines the effect of exercise on mental health.  My most recent research grant is a randomized trial examining the efficacy of home-based exercise vs. telephone-based counseling for preventing postpartum depression.   My hope is that this research will help inform clinicians about the importance of exercise during pregnancy and postpartum.

I had the opportunity to attend the Society of Behavioral Medicine conference in San Francisco this past week.  The focus of this year’s conference was the use of technology to promote healthy living.  I attended a presentation by Dr. David Mohr who discussed the efficacy of using the telephone to counsel individuals with depression.  He found that telephone-based cognitive behavioral treatment (CBT) was just as effective as in-person CBT for treating depression.   Furthermore, participants in the telephone-based CBT were more likely to adhere to the treatment than participants in the in-person CBT.  I found this information timely given the recent movement to allow for reimbursement for telephone-based services (see Dr. Sandra Sanger’s column in this issue).  Telephone-based interventions could never replace in-person therapy.  However, it could be an important adjunct to therapy or may be especially helpful for populations who have barriers to in-person visits such as individuals with young children or individuals living in rural areas where access to in-person care is low.

Beginning with this issue, the Minnesota Psychologist will be completely online.  It will continue to be distributed bi-monthly and will include the following sections:

• Legislative & Advocacy
• In Review (could include reviews of books, articles, films, etc.)
• Member Spotlight (includes recognition of fellow MPA members doing great things in or outside of MPA, and highlights of new members)
• Industry News (e.g. update on new CPT codes, marriage amendment updates, health care reform, Board of Psychology updates, APA stuff, points of interest for Retired or New Psychologists, Ethical points of interest, Disaster Response, Public Education, etc.)
• Division News (articles and information that is of interest to the specific Divisions of MPA, for example Rural and Greater Minnesota, Private Practice, NPN, Students, CPRX, Multicultural, Doctoral Level Professional Practice, Women, etc.)
• Best In Session (Reviews of excellent MPA trainings/workshops/speakers, Annual Convention reviews, or Award Winners)
• Event Recap (reviews of Friday Forums, Distinguished Scholar Lectures, Annual Convention, APAIT conference, Rural and Greater Minnesota Conference, etc.)

We are always looking for articles, so if you have an article idea, please feel free to contact me at [email protected].  I am looking forward to an exciting year!

Sincerely,

Beth Lewis, Ph.D., L.P.
Editor, Minnesota Psychologist
Associate Professor, University of Minnesota