AVAPL Executive Committee
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PRESIDENT Dr. Mary Morgan Levenson (The Ohio State University, 1982) is Assistant Chief of Mental Health & Behavioral Sciences and the Lead Psychologist at Bay Pines VA Healthcare System (BP VAHCS). She currently serves on the National Psychology Professional Standards Board and was a trainer in the initial roll out of medical center Professional Standards Boards. Dr. Levenson currently supervises a staff of 36 doctoral psychologists, and maintains programmatic oversight for the Domiciliary, the Homeless Programs (GPD, HUD/VASH, Safe Haven) and Vocational Rehabilitation services. She chairs the facility Prevention and Management of Disruptive Behavior Committee, and is an immediate responder on the Crisis Intervention Team. Dr. Levenson has an avid interest in training and worked closely with the APA Accredited Psychology Internship Program at Bay Pines VAMC, serving as the Training Director (1988-1995 and 2008-2009). She also assisted with development of the post-doctoral program and just initiated the first Psychology Practicum Program at Bay Pines. Prior to her current role, Dr. Levenson was the Acting Associate Chief of Staff/Education for BP VAHCS. Committee assignments are numerous and varied reflecting most major areas of the medical center over the course of her career. Dr. Levenson received the Diplomate and Fellow designation by the American Board of Professional Psychology in Clinical Health Psychology in 1997. She pursued advanced leadership training with successful completion of the VA Management Development Program (2002), Leadership VA (2003), HealthCare Leadership Institute (2004) and the Executive Career Field Development Program (2003a). She has also been a Fellow in the Association of Healthcare Executives (FACHE) since 2008. Dr. Levenson is actively involved and committed to the professional development of psychologists within her station, VISN and VA.
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President-Elect
Dr. John Klocek is the Core Chief for the Treatment Development and Treatment Outcomes Core and acting Deputy Director at the VISN 17 Center of Excellence for Research on Returning War Veterans (CoE) located on the Waco, TX campus of Central Texas Veterans Health Care System (CTVHCS). He is currently responsible for the administrative oversight of the Treatment Outcomes Core, as well as the development, implementation, and dissemination of clinical outcomes effectiveness research primarily focused on improving functional outcomes for Veterans with co-occurring conditions. Prior to joining the CoE, he was the Supervisory Psychologist for the Waco VAMC campus of CTVHCS. He began his VA career as a Behavioral Medicine staff psychologist at the Temple VAMC where he helped lay the groundwork for Primary Care Mental Health integration in CTVHCS. Dr. Klocek has served on the CTVHCS IRB since joining the VA in 2005 and has been the Chair of the IRB for 5 of those 7 years. He served on the CTVHCS Internship Training Committee and is currently a member of the VISN 17 CoE Education and Training Committee. He has been an active clinical and research supervisor to practicum students, interns, and post-doctoral fellows at CTVHCS and the VISN 17 CoE. Dr. Klocek has also served as a LEAD mentor. Prior to joining the VA, Dr. Klocek was an Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Montana – Missoula. During that time, he served as a Regional Coordinator for Region 8 of APA’s Federal Education Advocacy program. He was appointed to the Montana State Board of Psychologists and was a member of the Board of Directors for the Montana Psychological Association. He was also fortunate to be a civilian member of the Montana National Guard’s Partnership for Peace program with the National Guard Kyrgyzstan. Dr. Klocek is currently serving on the CE Committee of ABCT and also served as chair of that committee. Dr. Klocek is currently the Membership Chair for AVAPL. |
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Past President Pamela Fischer is currently Director of the Primary Care Mental Health Integration Program in the Oklahoma City VA and Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at the Oklahoma University Health Science Center. She is on the State Board of Examiners of Psychology and Member at Large of Division 18 as well as Secretary of the VA Section of Division 18. She has served as President of the Oklahoma Psychological Association, Secretary and Secretary-Treasurer of AVAPL, and Oklahoma's BOPN representative to the Healthy Workplace. She has served on a number of APA task forces and committees and currently serves on the Integrated Primary Care subcommittee of Division 38. She is integrally involved in development and training on Integrated Care at the local, national and VISN level.
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Secretary
Dr. Stephen Cavicchia started his VA career as an intern at the Coatesville VA Medical Center. He came on staff shortly thereafter and became Assistant Chief in 1987 then Chief, Psychology Service in 1991. With the changes in VHA in the 90's and the movement to patient care services, he was appointed the ACOS, Mental Health in 1997. He was President of the Association of VA Chief Psychologists in 1996 (now AVAPL). During his tenure the Association changed its name to AVAPL to reflect the broadening roles of psychologists in leadership positions as well as the decrease in traditional Psychology Services. He served as Editor of the AVAPL Newsletter from 1997-2000. In 1997 he worked with a community provider to establish a VA Homeless Grant and Per Diem program on the grounds of the Coatesville VAMC. This was the first program which made use of the new sharing agreement legislation permitting utilization of vacant buildings on Federal property. He worked with the same provider to establish the first funded Drop-In Center for Homeless under the VA Homeless Grant and Per Diem Program. A VA CBOC was co-located on the grounds of the Drop-In Center. Subsequently, he worked to establish one of the largest residential programs for women veterans, a 30-bed program also funded under VA Homeless Grant and Per Diem called Walker House. He was appointed the VISN 4 MH Clinical Lead from 2002-2004 and was Co-Chair of the Committee on Care of Veterans with SMI from 2003-2007. Among its accomplishments, the Committee recommended that VHA commit to creating and implementing a Mental Health Strategic Plan which it did in July of 2004. In 2007 he resumed his role as Chief, Psychology Service at the Coatesville VAMC. |
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Treasurer
Dr. Ann Landes earned a Ph.D. in Psychology from Georgia State University in 2007. At the South Texas Veterans Health Care System in San Antonio, Texas, she completed a Geropsychology Internship and a Palliative Care Postdoctoral Fellowship, with specialization in Primary Care Psychology and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Currently, Dr. Landes is a Primary Care Psychologist at the Malcom Randall VAMC in Gainesville, Florida. Dr. Landes is actively engaged in the field of primary care psychology, with an emphasis on issues pertaining to training and development of psychologists, management of chronic medical conditions, and program development. Additionally, Dr. Landes remains dedicated to the area of posttraumtic stress disorder by continuing to develop innovative programs for veterans with PTSD and their families.
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