President’s Blog - April 2017

Dear SBSM Members,

I have the pleasure of updating you on recent board elections, naming of awards recipients, and results of a BSM certification bylaws change vote.

But before I do that, I want to take a moment to thank all of our members who are contributing time and effort as committee/task force members and chairs. Our SBSM committees have been very productive this past year working to advance training, practice and educational opportunities, lay the groundwork for resumption of BSM certification, and increase our capacity to reach out to each other and the public through enhanced web and communication strategies.

Board of Director Elections

I am pleased to inform you that Donna Arand, PhD has been elected President-Elect. Dr. Arand will complete her currently three year term as a board member and transition into that role in June.

I am also pleased to announce that Kenny Lichstein, PhD, has been elected to fill the open board of director position with Karlyn Vatthauer filling the student representative seat.

Awards Recipients

I am thrilled to announce the recipients of our 2017 achievement awards to be presented at our SBSM program and reception to be held on Sunday, June 4 during the APSS annual meeting in Boston.

This year, the SBSM will be honoring Kenny Lichstein with the Peter Hauri Career Distinguished Achievement Award for his tremendous contributions to the field of behavioral sleep medicine. Michael Nadorff, PhD has been named the recipient of the Art Spielman Early Career Distinguished Achievement Award and Jennifer Cowie, MA selected to receive the Student Dissertation and Thesis Award.

Congratulation to all awards recipients their contributions to our field!

BSM Certification Update

In more good news, SBSM members voted overwhelmingly to approve bylaws changes to support and advance the re-establishment of BSM certification.

We hope to establish the board-approved standing Credentials Committee by June to begin work on a BSM exam. The Credentials Committee will be broadly charged with making credentialing recommendations to the board of directors. Planning is underway for the formation of an independent non-profit board that will administer the multidiscipline certification process and exam. As a professional society we are also laying the groundwork to support BSM certification by developing an education strategy to support training and eligibility and promote the availability of clinical consultation for those seeking certification.

Next month I’ll have more information about our expanded programming during the APSS annual conference, our newly launched virtual journal club, and great program coming together for our annual BSM course in Minneapolis.

Best regards,
Mike

Michael Schmitz, PsyD, CBSM
SBSM President