I want to write about thriving, not just surviving, as we move into our 3rd year of a global pandemic. I will be honest: when I learned that both Marcia Wood, PhD and Colleen Parker, PhD were retiring both from practice and the Confidential Peer Support Committee, I had a moment of panic. The panic shifted, as it will, but swelled again when the committee asked me to take on the role of Chair. It wasn’t just the thought of stepping into such established shoes as Dr. Wood’s, who led our committee for the last 6 years with wisdom, grace, and kindness.  It was also the thought of taking on one more thing. It has been a consistent refrain from colleague check ins, to listserv contributions, to national news-We are all on overload! 

I started to think about the both sides of the continuum:  Thriving and Flourishing versus Burn-out and Impairment. I don’t have room for one more thing that is depleting in my schedule, but I absolutely have time for something that is energizing and connecting. 

The Confidential Peer Support Committee was created to offer support to psychologists who were struggling with a personal issue, a practice dilemma, a board complaint, a challenging client.  In essence, we were created to assist with problems. It was our model at the time. We didn’t think about the other side of the continuum-nobody did! We are evolving. We have a model now that encourages us to look to the other side of the continuum-to thriving and flourishing, excelling and creating, and most of all connecting. In honor of this new paradigm our committee is shifting to address the whole of the continuum. We will absolutely continue to offer that confidential ear for the challenging and the depleting and we will celebrate the positive because that will move us toward thriving. Dr. Rebecca Martin-Gerhards will be spearheading a campaign to recognize and honor the retirees in our community. We will be soliciting news from the community about your retiring colleagues so that we can honor them and celebrate their work. We will also be working on virtual and eventually in- person open houses that will offer opportunities to connect, share, and celebrate each other. A small group community-care offering is in the works so stay tuned and register because spots will be limited. We will of course continue to participate in OPA conferences, post the occasional article or comic to our webpage, and contribute to the quarterly newsletter. 

Flourishing takes community and our committee needs you! We are losing two of our established members and are actively recruiting new membership. We do have some criteria and applying is a process, but is it well worth the time in that you will become a part of a competence constellation and a community of support, wisdom, and recognition. We offer one student spot, so if you know of an interested graduate student in their 3rd year of training, please send them our way! We are also recruiting new members to our provider panel, a vetted list of psychologists well versed in working with psychologist clients. If you are interested, reach out and we will send you that application. 

Contact and communication are critical and we recently learned that our webpage had two different emails listed, including one that was defunct! If you tried to reach us and didn’t get through we apologize. Please make sure you are using opa.cpsc@gmail.com. You are also welcome to reach out to me directly at maura@drmaurasullivan.com or drmaurasullivan@gmail.com. 

I want to take a moment to recognize and thank Marcia Wood, PhD and Colleen Parker, PhD for their dedicated service to OPA and the CPSC. I am so honored to have had the privilege to know and work with these compassionate and skilled psychologists. They will both be missed and we wish them a happy and fulfilling retirement! I also want to thank Rebecca Martin-Gerhards, PhD, Jennifer Huwe, PsyD, and Charity Benham, EdD for their ongoing passion, contributions, and commitment to this committee and the thriving of all psychologists. You are appreciated. 

Respectfully submitted, 

Maura D. Sullivan, PsyD
Chair, OPA Confidential Peer Support Committee