Early Career Psychologists (ECP)

Helpful Links for Working during the CoVID-19 Crisis
by the Early Career Psychologists Committee

(1) statute authorizing the provision of health care services through telemedicine and telehealth (NJ P.L.2017, c.117):https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2016/Bills/PL17/117_.HTM

(2) forthcoming BoPE telehealth regulations (51 N.J.R. 931(a)) that correspond to NJ P.L.2017, c.117: https://www.njconsumeraffairs.gov/Proposals/Pages/psychb-06172019-proposal.aspx

(3) statute concerning the use of telemedicine and telehealth to respond to coronavirus disease 2019 (P.L. 2020, ch. 3): https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2020/Bills/AL20/3_.PDF

(4) statute concerning health insurance and Medicaid coverage and coronavirus disease 2019 (P.L. 2020, ch. 7): https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2020/Bills/AL20/7_.PDF

A useful summary is provided by the State of New Jersey Department of Human Services Division of Medical Assistance & Health Services:
https://nj.gov/humanservices/library/slides/Temporary%20Telehealth%20Medicaid%20Newsletter%20FINAL.pdf

In addition, there's several federal notification and announcements that have been issued by the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) pertaining to HIPAA in the COVID-19 era: https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/special-topics/hipaa-covid19/index.html

Here is a NJ Healthcare Professional Call to Serve that you might sign up for if interested in potentially volunteering your skill set upon request: https://covid19.nj.gov/forms/volunteer

Articles, resources, summaries of third party websites, and forms found on the NJPA website are not intended as legal advice and also not a substitute for advice directly from the New Jersey Board of Psychological Examiners. The information should not be used as a substitute for obtaining personal legal advice and consultation or as a substitute for advice directly from the New Jersey Board of Psychological Examiners prior to making decisions regarding individual circumstances. Please take the time to review the third party websites for more details.

About the ECP Committee ECP Committee Officers Contact Us ECP Resources

Member-Only ECP Resources Page

About the ECP Committee

The ECP Committee is an NJPA committee consisting of early career psychologists (ECPs), including permit holders. The purpose of the committee is to:

Promote the needs of permit holders and ECPs
Strengthen the representation of permit holders and ECPs in NJPA
Support and expand resources for permit holders and ECPs within New Jersey
Foster leadership for permit holders and ECPs within NJPA and the New Jersey community, and
Raise the consciousness of NJPA members and New Jersey psychologists about issues of diversity that specifically impact permit holders and ECPs.

ECPs are defined as those psychologists who received their doctoral degree within the past 10 years. These include non-health service psychologists. Permit holders are defined as psychologists, usually health service providers, who completed their doctoral degree, but are not yet licensed. They are either in the process of applying for or have already received a temporary permit in order to work under the supervision of a licensed psychologist. Permit holders fall under the umbrella of ECP, so long as they have received their doctoral degree within the past 10 years.

Current efforts of the ECP Committee include the following:

Change NJ legislation so that all supervised predoctoral clinical hours can count towards licensure requirements, making it easier for psychologists to become licensed after graduation
Increase the transparency of the licensure process by providing educational information to ECPs through this website and through didactics
Create a directory of postdoctoral employment opportunities for researchers and clinicians in NJ
Provide networking and mentorship opportunities for ECPs
Create a community of ECPs to support each other
Foster a leadership pipeline to increase ECP representation in NJPA

You can view a list of identified ECP needs that the committee aims to address here.

ECP Committee Officers

Melany Rivera-Maldonado, PhD, Chair

Melany Rivera-Maldonado, PhD, is the chair-elect for the NJPA ECP Committee. She is a licensed bilingual-Spanish psychologist in New Jersey and New York. Dr. Rivera-Maldonado is currently an Assistant Professor at Felician University, where she serves as the Director of Clinical Training for the PsyD Program. In addition, she has a part-time private practice in Jersey City and collaborates with non-profit organizations in Hudson, Essex and Union counties. Connected with the community and committed with social justice initiatives, she participates in the Immigration Emergency Action Group (NJPA), and the Undocumented Immigrant Collaborative Special Interest Group of the National Latinx Psychological Association (NLPA). In the past, she served as a Member-at-Large for the Latinx Mental Health Association of New Jersey, and as a reviewer for several conferences. Her work integrates multicultural issues, attachment theories, and impact of early relationships across lifespan.

Christopher King, JD, PhD, Past-Chair

Christopher King, JD, PhD, is the chair for the NJPA ECP Committee (representing NJPA ECPs as a voting member of the NJPA Executive Board). He is a licensed psychologist in New Jersey (having obtained some of his practicum and all of his internship and postdoctoral hours in New Jersey) and a licensed attorney in Pennsylvania (although he does not practice law). Dr. King works as an assistant professor of psychology at Montclair State University, where he serves as the associate director of clinical training for the PhD and MA programs in clinical psychology. He also directs the forensic psychology concentration for the MA program in clinical psychology. In addition to his academic position, Dr. King works part-time at a private practice in Morristown that focuses on Dialectical Behavior Therapy and forensic and police and public safety psychology (where he especially enjoys training practicum students). Besides academic service activities for the profession (e.g., various reviewer and editor roles), he is very pleased to have several current service positions that focus on advancing his ECP colleagues.

Michelle Pievsky, PhD, Past-Chair

Michelle Pievsky, PhD, is a clinical psychology permit holder in the state of New Jersey who practices in English and Spanish. She works as a postdoctoral fellow at the Youth Consultation Service Institute for Infant and Toddler Mental Health, where she specializes in the assessment and treatment of developmental disorders, including autism. She also works as a neuropsychology postdoctoral fellow at Mindful Assessments and Psychological Services, LLC, performing neuropsychological evaluations of children. Dr. Pievsky’s research interests focus on a neurocognitive understanding of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and she has published several articles and won numerous awards for her work in this area. Dr. Pievsky has been a member of NJPA since her first year of graduate school at Fairleigh Dickinson University and has served in leadership positions in various committees, including New Jersey Psychological Association Graduate Students, the Programming Committee (now part of the Council of Continuing Education Affairs), and the Committee on Legislative Affairs. She represents the ECP Committee as a voting member of the NJPA Executive Board.

Stacie Shivers, PsyD, Past-Chair

Stacie Shivers, PsyD is a licensed clinical psychologist in New Jersey and New York. Dr. Shivers earned her M.S. in School Psychology and PsyD in Clinical Psychology from Yeshiva University’s Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology. Dr. Shivers completed an APA-accredited internship at Rutgers University Behavioral Health Care (UBHC). Dr. Shivers has work experience as a certified school psychologist, and also works part-time in private practice with children, adolescents, and young adults. In addition, Dr. Shivers is skilled in completing psychoeducational assessment. Dr. Shivers also draws from her experience as a professional dancer and dance educator, incorporating movement and dance in treatment to increase self-awareness and creativity. When not practicing psychology, Dr. Shivers enjoys teaching and sharing her passion for dance to youth. Dr. Shivers has been a member of NJPA since her first year in graduate school. She has served in leadership positions in New Jersey Psychological Association Graduate Students, as well as a member of the Committee on Legislative Affairs and on various NJPA task forces.

Anastasia Bullock, PsyD, Secretary

Anastasia Bullock, PsyD is a licensed clinical health psychologist in New Jersey and New York and current works at Cooper University Hospital. She completed her internship at University of Miami/Jackson Health System in Medical Psychology and post-doctoral residency at VA Connecticut/Yale School of Medicine. She works in the Behavioral Medicine department providing psychological consultation-liaison services to medically admitted patients and supervises psychology graduate students and medical students. Her research interests include quality indicators for inpatient consultation-liaison psychology, as well as weight and eating concerns.

Contact Us

Christopher King, chair: [email protected]
Anastasia Bullock, secretary: [email protected]
Keira Boertzel-Smith, NJPA Executive Director: [email protected]

ECP Resources

The following resources are available for NJPA members.

Licensure Resources: This page provides a step-by-step guide to becoming licensed as a psychologist in NJ, with helpful links and other resources to make the licensure process more transparent.
Post-Doctoral Programs in NJ: This page offers a directory of NJ post-doctoral job opportunities that provide appropriate supervision for permit holders or newly graduated researchers.
Other Resources: This page provides additional resources for ECPs, including information about loan forgiveness and career development.

Member-Only ECP Resources Page

Exciting NJPA Advocacy News!

NJPA is a recipient of the 2018 Early Career Licensure Project Award! The award of $1,000 is given to support NJPA’s efforts to promote legislative change in New Jersey by using the award funding to offset cost of printing of supplies, mileage and miscellaneous costs to meet with legislators, and miscellaneous costs of the governmental affairs agent.

NJPA is working to amend the New Jersey licensure law to allow all predoctoral hours to count toward licensure requirements (that is, by elimination of the current predoctoral/postdoctoral distinction). This would allow more psychology graduates to become licensed sooner, which would incentivize them to remain in New Jersey. A more efficient road to licensure would result in Medicaid, Medicare, and insurance companies providing reimbursement for early career psychologists’ services sooner. This would be beneficial for both the public and for early career professionals. As they would be able to obtain reimbursement for services sooner, more early career psychologists would be able to work in clinics that cater to under-insured and Medicaid-only populations and make a livable salary.

NJPA made this issue a top priority for the past two years, and it remains the number one legislative priority for 2019. In 2017, a task force consisting of early career psychologists (ECPs) and psychology students was created to assess the most important needs of permit holders and ECPs. Difficulty becoming licensed in New Jersey emerged as the foremost issue for the majority of participants. The NJPA ECP Committee was re-established in 2018 with the goal of representing the many needs of New Jersey ECPs, including advocating change to the licensure process. NJPA recognizes the importance of retaining young psychologists, not only for the sake of mental health care in the state, but for the future of NJPA itself. As older generations of psychologists retire, there is a need for young psychologists to fill the void they leave. Moreover, NJPA depends on the dues of constituents and their service in leadership positions within the organization.

Thank you to Drs. Lucy Takagi and Lale Bilginer who guided the work of the ECP Task Force. A huge thank you to Drs. Michelle Pievsky, Stacie Shivers, Christopher Thompson, Anastasia Bullock, Brittany Bertani, Dina Silverman, and Mary Toolan for all of their hard work! We would also like to thank those who participated in the ECP licensure workgroup.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

NJPA recognizes the unique interests and concerns of early career psychologists — that is, those who have received their doctoral degree within the past ten years. Join the NJPA Early Career Listserv dedicated to the needs of ECPs. Call Central Office at 973-243-9800 to make sure you are on the list!