MPSD School Board President Stacey Soeldner
Back in early February, the State of Wisconsin officially passed Senator Andre Jacque and Assemblyman Paul Tittl’s PSYPACT Bill, which will help fix the shortage of mental health professionals in our state.
We spoke with Psychologist Stacy Soeldner, who was a major supporter of the bill.
She said that she couldn’t be happier with Wisconsin’s inclusion in the pact.
“I can now de virtual appoints with someone that is also a member of PSYPACT,” she explained. “So I don’t have to get a license in every single state in order to provide services across state lines.”
The law will also give patients the opportunity to see other specialists, that offer a variety of services.
“One of what I think is the best treatments out there right now is cognitive behavioral therapy,” she said. “There’s some really great professionals out in California that specialize in a lot of those treatments, and we don’t maybe have someone that is trained in that in the state of Wisconsin.”
The Psychologist at Manitowoc’s Riverhill Psychological Associates says that while this is a great first step, the battle is far from over.
“The other thing that is going on is we are having a hard time getting people licensed,” she explained. “New licenses, but also people to get their license renewed. They are completely backed up at the state.”
In fact, the Wisconsin Psychological Association has called on mental health professionals to contact their state representatives to get the state legislature to “work with Secretary Crim to increase the number of staff positions to the appropriate level.”
