Monitor on Psychology - December 2011 - (Page 22)

VA mental health chief Antonette Zeiss is transforming mental health care for veterans and promoting more interdisciplinary mental health services. B Y B E T H A ZAR Psychologist named O n Aug. 1, Antonette Zeiss, PhD, made history at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA): She became the first psychologist, the first woman and the first nonphysician to head the department’s mental health policy office. Zeiss, whose official title is chief consultant for mental health for VA nationally, is based at the Central Office of the Department of Veterans Affairs in Washington, D.C. Her appointment has been greeted by warm messages of support and good will from psychologists and other mental health professionals throughout the system, underscoring the VA’s commitment to support leadership in providing the best possible mental health care to veterans across the country. Though her appointment is a milestone, it shouldn’t be surprising. It fits perfectly with the VA’s philosophy of interdisciplinary care and its emphasis on bringing all the mental health professions — psychiatry, psychology, social work, mental health nursing and counseling — to the table, says Zeiss. “Hiring me is a statement about VA’s commitment to mental health as an interdisciplinary component of health care,” says Zeiss, who has spent much of the last 30 years both at the Palo Alto, Calif., VA and the VA Central Office helping create a culture of interdisciplinary care. Monitor on psychology • DeceMber 2011 22

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Monitor on Psychology - December 2011

Monitor on Psychology - December 2011
Letters
President’s Column
Contents
From the CEO
Willpower Pioneer Wins $100,000 Grawemeyer Prize
Single-Sex Schooling Called Into Question by Prominent Researchers
Maternal Depression Stunts Childhood Growth, Research Suggests
For Boys, Sharing May Seem Like a Waste of Time
Good News for Postdoc Applicants
In Brief
Treatment Guideline Development Now Under Way
Government Relations Update
Psychologist Named Va Mental Health Chief
The Limits of Eyewitness Testimony
Judicial Notebook
Random Sample
Time Capsule
Deconstructing Suicide
Questionnaire
A Focus on Interdisciplinarity
A Time of ‘Enormous Change’
The Science Behind Team Science
Good Science Requires Good Conflict
A New Paradigm of Care
Speaking of Education
Science Directions
New Labels, New Attitudes?
Psychologist Profile
Early Career Psychology
Unintended Consequences
Better Options for Troubled Teens
Saving Lives, One Organ at a Time
New Journal Editors
APA News
Division Spotlight
Guidelines for the Conduct of President-Elect Nominations and Elections
American Psychological Foundation
Personalities

Monitor on Psychology - December 2011