Prescriptive Authority for Psychologists examines the struggle of psychologists to acquire the authority to prescribe psychotropic medications. The chapter authors, all psychologists at the forefront of the movement for prescriptive authority, recount the academic, political, and organizational issues that must be addressed to make this expansion of psychological practice a reality. The book compares the history of the efforts of psychologists to acquire prescriptive authority with that of other healthcare professions, such as medical doctors, who at the beginning of the 20th century, competed with nurses and pharmacists for the right to prescribe. Authors provide details on the structure of existing prescriptive training programs as well as political strategies that advocates have used to advance legislation. The book examines the future of prescriptive authority and how psychologists can integrate it into their treatment armamentarium to achieve the goal of becoming primary providers of behavioral healthcare services. This volume is both an exciting history and a powerful piece of advocacy that bequeaths a vision of the future of psychological practice. Table of Contents The Politics and Pragmatics of Prescriptive Authority
—Morgan T. Sammons Early Efforts by Psychologists to Obtain
Prescriptive Authority
—Ronald E. Fox
Doubts About Prescribing
—Laura S. Brown Evolving Structures and Efforts in APA
—Ruth U. Paige and Elizabeth A. Robinson The Department of Defense Experiment:
The Psychopharmacology Demonstration Project
—Gregory B. Laskow and Dennis J. Grill Experiences of a DoD Prescribing
Psychologist: A Personal Account
—Debra Lina Dunivin Modern Training Programs
—Ronald F. Levant, Judith E. N. Albino, Anita B. Brown, Samuel A. Feldman, Raymond A. Folen, Peggy Kaczmarek, Elaine S. Levine, Robert McGrath, Gloria D. Pickar, A. Eugene Shapiro, Steven R. Tulkin, and Cal VanderPlate The Struggle in the States
—Tommy T. Stigall, Raymond A. Folen, Charles A. Faltz, and Cal VanderPlate Alliances With Consumers and Other
Groups
—Pat Gardner, and Linda Campbell Psychopharmacology Examination for
Psychologists Developed by the APA Practice Organization's College of Professional Psychology
—Patricia M. Bricklin, and Janet Ciuccio Prescribing Psychologists: The Future
—Morgan T. Sammons, Ruth Ullmann Paige, and Ronald F. Levant
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