Psychologist Sees Current Law as Burden to Patient

              Psychologist Sees Current Law as Burden to Patient
By LESLIE HURST
Bossier Metro Writer
Psychologists in the state of Louisiana need
more latitude in the application of their trade, an
area psychologist told members of the Bossier
Pachyderm Club Wednesday.
Warren Lowe — a staff psychologist at the
Shreveport Veterans Administration Hospital and
assistant professor in the Department of
Psychiatry at LSU Medical Center — said current
state statutes which limit the ability of
psychologists to treat patients is# an economic
burden on patients seeking help for emotional
problems.
Section 2365 of the psychologists' licensing bill
reads, "A psychologist who engages in
psychotherapy shall, in order to make provision
for the diagnoses and treatment of mental illness,
do so onto in consultation with a physician licensed
by the Louisiana State Board of Medical Ex-aminers
and who assumes responsibility for the
total health of the patient."
However, some licensed psychologists in the
state of Louisiana, wish to have that section which
requires mandatory dual referral repealed.
"There have been several legislative efforts to
remove that section from the psychologists,'
licensing bill which says before a psychologist can
begin treatment of a patient, he must be in
consultation and collaboration with a physician,"
Lowe said.
Currently. "Before the consumer can get
psychological treatment, he must have a physical
from a physican. The consumer is faced with
having to pay two health care professionals,"
Lowe emphasized.
Lowe concedes that a medical doctor or other
health care professionals may be necessary in
certain instances. "Psychologists are ethically
bound to send patients to other professionals when
necessary," he said.
The primary practice of both the psychology
and psychiatry professions is psychotherapy. "We
are in competitive practices," Lowe said. But,
psychiatrists are trained in the use of drugs while
psychologists are expert in the field of diagnostic
psychological testing, he added.
Other differences in the two fields, Lowe said,
are the level and type of education. To become
licensed, a psychiatrist must be a medical doctor
with a three-to-four year residency. He also must
take state examinations in order to practice in the
state. Psychologists also take both oral and writ-ten
state examinations, Lowe said. In addition
psychologists' training includes undergraduate
work and six or seven years of graduate work,
including a doctoral program. "The program is
very structured in the behavior sciences," Lowe
said.
The bill favored by Lowe and opposed by some
members of the medical profession, which — if
passed — will permit psychologists licensed in
Louisiana to diagnose and treat mental illness
without consultation with a physician is often
referred to as "freedom of choice legislation," he
said. "It gives the consumer the freedom of choice
to consult whichever professional they choose," he
added.
Lowe said he hopes the bill — which has been in
the Legislature at various times for five years —
is pushed through the next session. The most
recent effort to pass the bill was defeated by a
narrow margin and "we were successful only
because of an intense last minute lobbying effort
on the part of our membership." wrote Wallace
Tomlinson in a recent issue of the Louisiana
Psychiatric Association magazine.
This time Lowe hopes the narrow margin is on
his side. "Once we get this issue behind us we can
get to the business of treating patients," he said.