2008 Commencement-Commencement Address

I asked Dr. Claire Fialkov to introduce our Commencement Speaker, Rep. Ruth Balser. True to Claire, she said, I would like to have a cup of coffee and to really meet her. True to Ruth, she said to Claire, “So great, you want to make a Hamish introduction!” and the two met last week and found that they had a lot in common including the fact that Ruth’s father was a principal of Claire’s school as a child.

Let me ask Dr. Claire Fialkov to introduce our Commencement Speaker.

—Nicholas Covino, PsyD

In my concluding remarks to the 4th year students in my advanced clinical seminar class, I remind students that while they are embarking on a career that will offer inspiration about the power of change and human potential, they will also encounter much uncertainty. The steps they choose to take must continually be learned along the way. That is why it is so important to be mindful, to attend, and to respond, because even in uncertainty, you will be responsible for your steps.

Fortunately, there will be leaders along the way that will help guide and support you. Ruth Balser, our commencement speaker, is a living example of responsibility in action. She has been responsible for helping to resolve ambiguity, define meaning and gain clarity in the uncertain and often times mystifying world of social justice and healthcare legislation.

Representative Balser is the State Representative for the 12th Middlesex District. She is a clinical psychologist who earned her doctoral degree from New York University, and she is currently serving her 5th term in the Massachusetts Legislature, where she is the first psychologist to serve. She currently serves as the House Chair of the Joint Committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse.

The Boston Globe (2005) has said that "Balser has become known as a fierce, persistent debater, but she also has gained a reputation for being calm and compassionate, a listener." Her training and skill as a psychologist facilitates her being a good listener, but she also provides a voice for those who are marginalized and silenced, and she is inspirational in her defense of those most in need of services. Some examples:

She was the leading proponent for the Mental Health Parity Act which passed in 2000 - and she is currently working on an expansion of this Act which would eliminate the distinction between biologically-baseddisorders and other mental health & substance abuse disorders, so that these individuals would be covered for treatment just as all other medical conditions are covered. This is more than a healthcare issue, Representative Balser has courageously declared that this is a civil rights issue.

Representative Balser has also been instrumental in furthering gender equality. Act Relative to Equitable Coverage for Annuity Policies is legislation she has filed this session requiring that state regulated annuity policies must be gender-neutral in all the terms and conditions of the contract, including premiums and benefits.

She has been a tireless advocate for children's rights. The Children's Mental Health Bill will enhance children's access to prevention services, fund mental health treatment in early child care settings and ensure that youth in state care and the juvenile justice system have access to community-based mental health services.

Creating change in the State Legislature of Massachusetts is a daunting task. Yet when I spoke with Ruth a few days ago, I was struck by her engagement in this process and in her capacity to stay the course. I asked her, "how do you do it"? And she said, "Well, you have to listen, you have to have hope, and then you have to make it happen". The MSPP community thanks you for making it happen for all of us.

—Dr. Claire Fialkov

Ruth B. Balser, PhD

It is with great pleasure that I address this wonderful community of graduates, their families, and so many of my friends and colleagues.

I am particularly pleased to share the stage today with several friends.

Steve Grossman is someone with whom I have worked closely and for whom I have the greatest respect and affection. He is a leader in business, in politics, and in philanthropy. All his efforts are guided by a deep sense of justice. I have worked with Steve in the Jewish community, in state and national politics, and we even work together to build community in our beloved hometown of Newton, Massachusetts. It has made today even more special to share an honor with such a dear friend.

Josh Eagle is someone I met before he began MSPP. He consulted with me about his career and we discussed how to integrate psychology with advocacy. I am proud that he joins me today as a graduation speaker.

Tom Cottle is someone who has made psychology real to so many people, and for that I want to express my deep appreciation.

I am thrilled to receive an honorary degree today. It is more special, Dr. Covino, than you would have guessed when you invited me to receive this honor, because I am actually receiving this degree in person. The fact is I did not attend my last 2 graduations. In 1969, I received my bachelors degree after having spent much of my college years doing two things – studying psychology, and protesting the war in Southeast Asia. My school had invited as commencement speaker the president of another university who had made national headlines by expelling student anti-war protesters. Out of solidarity with our fellow peace activists, and to protest the role our own university was playing in the war effort, several of us chose not to attend the graduation ceremony.

In 1980, when I completed my doctorate in clinical psychology at New York University, I was not only a new Ph.D. but also a new mother, and so I remained in Newton with my infant, and received my diploma by mail. While preventing me from attending official ceremonies, my life as a political activist and mother have shaped and enriched my life and no doubt made me a far better psychologist than I would have otherwise been.

But I always felt a little sad that I missed those graduations. It feels wonderful to be here today finally to receive a degree in person. It feels right that this is the graduation I am attending because the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology is an institution whose goals and perspective closely match my own. MSPP understands the critical need to marry psychology and social responsibility. I believe that I have been asked to address you today because I understand and try to live that link.

It was not always clear to me how to integrate what I experienced as two separate passions. Psychology and politics. In fact, I used to feel isolated because when I was with psychologists, I missed politics. And with political colleagues, I missed psychology.

My clinical training was in the psychodynamic tradition. I value that perspective to this day as it shapes a keen appreciation for the inner world of each individual. I cherish the psychotherapeutic relationship. A very special intimacy develops when an individual in pain reaches out to a stranger and entrusts in that stranger one’s most precious thoughts, emotions, and memories. A sacred trust develops. I am proud to be a psychologist, a member of a profession founded on a profound respect for the integrity of each individual.

But I became convinced that attending to the intrapsychic world of the individual should never be an excuse for ignoring the social context in which each of us lives. Poverty, racism, sexism, homophobia, and war shape experience. Traditional psychoanalytic interpretations are insufficient.

While practicing psychotherapy, I was also working for political solutions to larger problems. In the early years of my work in mental health, I often felt alone as many in the field seemed hesitant to move from an introspective stance to a more public one. While practicing psychology, I followed my passion for politics into elected office. I was elected to the Newton Board of Aldermen and then the Massachusetts House of Representatives. As a new legislator, I was dismayed by a lack of appreciation for the psychological dimension. There were legislators who teased me about being a psychologist, and there were some who in debate on the floor of the House ridiculed a stereotypical psychological attitude. I was frustrated by criminal justice policies that ignored any understanding of the conditions, both psychological and social, that determine much of criminal behavior. I was horrified by an attack on our special education laws that revealed a lack of understanding of the different ways children learn. I realized that my being a psychologist was shaping my views of public policy. The most important way in which that is true is that I never forget that our policy decisions are ultimately experienced by an individual human being.

Much has changed in the years that I have struggled with integrating these two passions of mine. More and more, psychologists and other mental health professionals are involved in advocacy. Mental health professionals have worked closely with consumers and advocates for mental health parity in this state and across the nation. I work closely with the Massachusetts Psychological Association on legislation that would improve practice for psychologists, and improve access to quality care for the mentally ill. Today, on the American Psychological Association website, psychology is described as “the discipline that embraces all aspects of the human experience – from the functions of the brain to the actions of nations.”

And the legislature has changed, too. Under the leadership of my good friend, House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi, a joint committee on mental health and substance abuse was established, and amazingly, a clinical psychologist was appointed to chair it! With a growing respect for the perspective, psychological concepts have entered the political discourse. When the legislature was holding its historic debate on same-sex marriage, I challenged the view that children would be harmed by citing psychological studies that found no differences in children’s adjustment in gay families as compared to straight families. When the House was considering the Governor’s proposal to introduce casinos to Massachusetts, I added the issue of gambling addiction to a debate that was being framed as one about economic development and on that basis, I helped defeat the proposal. With public hearings, I have raised the issue of the prevalence of mental illness and addictions in our prisons and jails. And mental health parity legislation that I have filed is on the calendar for a vote in the House this week and I am optimistic that the House, Senate, and Governor will approve it before the end of this session!

When I was asked by Dr. Covino to deliver the commencement address, I decided I would talk with you about integrating advocacy with psychology. I decided I would deliver a call to action! You graduate today having received excellent training in how to develop a healing and transformative relationship with your clients. There are so many people out there waiting for your help. But I urge you – do not restrict your view of how to help your clients to what you will do in the privacy of that special relationship. Please do not forget, they also need you to fight for them and alongside them in the public realm.

I know that you have heard that call before. Today, you are receiving a degree from an institution that recognizes that mental health care has to be culturally and linguistically sensitive. You are receiving a degree from an institution that is unique in its focus on under-served populations. You have been prepared to enter the public sector. This institution takes pride in the fact that it values diversity, leadership, and social responsibility. When I attended graduate school, training was offered for psychoanalytic psychologists, and behaviorist psychologists, even existential psychologists. Today I call upon you to become activist psychologists. I am confident that you are prepared for that role. Congratulations on your achievement.  

Updated 6/13/08