London Regional

Psychological Association

London, Ontario, Canada

Abstract

This is an institutional history of the London Regional Psychological Association. (LRPA). LRPA has been functioning as a professional organization for psychologists in the London area for the past 20 years. Material for the study was gathered from the organization's existing archives, interviews with its members and other psychologists in the area. The organization is discussed in terms of what existed prior to LRPA, the factors leading to its inception, its main functions, its memberships, changes in its role, and considerations for the future. Other than a shift in membership to a more practitioner-oriented make-up LRPA currently reflects much of the same objectives, functions and structure of the original organization of 1975.

Introduction

In January of 1995 the London Regional Psychological Association (LRPA) will celebrate its twentieth anniversary. Unlike other similar regional associations, LRPA has stayed in continual operation and has had a consistently healthy membership over the past twenty years. To what can we attribute the success of this association? One way to answer this question is to conduct an institutional history of LRPA's workings and membership over the past two decades. The institutional study will show how for the most part LRPA has maintained the original characteristics and functions present at its inception, but that not all aspects have remained constant throughout its operation.

The justification for studying LRPA comes from among other things, the continued viability the organization has displayed. The viability is evident in many forms, for instance; LRPA's twenty years of existence, with a membership continually above 70 members demonstrates the internal strength of the organization. The number of LRPA members who have been President of the Ontario Psychological Association (OPA) illustrates how the individual members of LRPA are valued in the provincial society. Finally, the success the association has had in organizing local psychologists and presenting a unified stance towards the various governmental legislations which have affected their practice offers further evidence of the strength of LRPA.

Fortunately, LRPA is still a young organization and still has many early members available. The early members are valuable sources of information which cannot be communicated through archives. Especially when describing the origins and initial aims of an organization, the information from its membership is important for an institutional history. The current availability of LRPA's early members constitutes another reason why it is timely to undertake an institutional history of the organization.

Another justification for doing an institutional study on LRPA is the most practical in nature, the LRPA executive requested one. The executive of LRPA requested one because they saw the need to organize their past archives and to improve upon their organization's effectiveness through learning about its past. The most useful way to satisfy both of the above requirements was to construct an institutional history. An institutional history provides a lasting record of the organization's past as well as offering some insightful views on how it was formed, developed and became what it is today.

Method of Study

A different approach to research is required in an institutional history. The majority of the material comes from archival data which have not been previously published. In this case, Dr. Eizzi, the current President at the time of this study, provided all of LRPA's archival data to Dr. Nancy Innis, whom he approached about doing this study. LRPA's archival data included: records of executive meeting minutes, some periodic membership lists, annual dinner meeting itineraries, and research on legislations related to the organization.

From these original LRPA documents it was possible to construct a partial list of past executives. A complete executive list was formed by complementing the existing information with that from interviews with members. Based on the assumption that members of the executive are quite often the most involved in an organization, several key executive members of LRPA were identified as sources of information. The executive members who were identified as 'key' had either been long-time members, large contributors to activities or on the executive at a point in time when more information was needed. Supplementary to the list of executives, other significant contributors and sources were added as well. In total 36 contacts were sent letters explaining the study and soliciting their participation in it. Accompanying the letter was a questionnaire with a few brief questions about the individual and their views on LRPA. Of the 36 mailings, 19 questionnaires were returned.

Eleven of the 19 respondents were approached for interviews. Eleven interviews were subsequently held at various locations; eight interviews were conducted in person and recorded on audio tape; three interviews were conducted by telephone. Any information provided in the interviews which could be substantiated through traditional research means was investigated. Other information was corroborated in subsequent interviews. All of this information with LRPA was combined with any other available sources to form the basis for the conclusions of this study.

Alternatives Prior to LRPA

If LRPA has proven to be such a viable, strong and useful institution for its members, we must ask what existed prior to LRPA's inception? The consensus of the majority of original members was that there was no alternative. However, Margaret Howe, a long-time practising psychologist in the area, offers an interesting insight into this question. Mrs. Howe recalls that LRPA was not the first organization to unite research psychologists from the University of Western Ontario with those engaged in practical work (Howe 1995). Margaret Howe says that in her early days of practice in the 1950's, while she was working at Westminster Hospital as Chief Psychologist, it was the Psychology Club at the University of Western Ontario (UWO) that began connecting research psychology with the practical psychology of the time. The Psychology Club at UWO began in 1947, it was made up of psychology students, and had the support of the faculty. This group organized guest speakers from around the community and often invited practitioners from the field to address the academic audience on developments in the practical applications of psychology. The Psychology Club was functioning as an organised link connecting practising psychologists with the academic field in the late 1940's and early 1950's.

This link between the practical and academic streams of psychology has been noted as one of the original objectives of LRPA although not as frequently as some of the other objectives. In the 1970's as the practical applications of psychology in London began to expand and surpass the number of academics in London the two groups saw the need to forge an organization which represented both sectors of the profession equally. Given this theory, the evolution of psychology in the area necessitated the founding of a new organization to serve the function of linking practitioners and academics, similar to what the Psychology Club had done earlier.

© 1995 Michael C. Schaab

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