Board of Psychology approves sunset report after discussion of enforcement, telehealth and research psychoanalysts

The California Board of Psychology voted to approve its sunset report for submission to the Legislature after reviewing edits, public comment and staff clarifications at its Dec. 20 meeting.

The board’s report, prepared for the legislature’s sunset review, summarizes the board’s structure, fiscal data, licensing procedures, enforcement statistics and a set of proposed statutory changes and new issues to raise with legislative committees. John Burke, the board’s interim executive officer, told members the copy being reviewed included minor tracked changes and that staff would finalize wordsmithing before the report is sent to the Department of Consumer Affairs and legislative offices to meet the early-January printing deadline.

Why it matters: the sunset report is the board’s core written explanation to lawmakers about how it regulates psychologists, what problems it sees and what statutory changes it recommends. Approval starts a sequence of committee questions, staff responses and a formal sunset hearing. The approved report also documents the board’s plans on enforcement practice, telehealth policy, foreign-degree evaluation and the newly transferred research psychoanalyst registrants.

Board discussion and staff clarifications Board Chair and sunset committee chair Dr. Steven Phillips and interim executive officer John Burke walked members section-by-section through the report, with staff noting a small number of remaining edits. Members asked for clarifications and a few factual corrections. For example, board member Seiran Fu asked staff to correct one attendance record in Table 1 after confirming that she had been present for the July 9–10, 2020 meeting. Burke confirmed staff would update errors reported during the meeting.

Members also asked staff…