The year 2011 is past and in the rearview mirror it represents a year of growth and accomplishments for the IPAA. 

We started out with triumphant participation in mobilizing the Iranian-Americans in the Stand up and Be Counted project of the Census Bureau which resulted in multiple positive nods from the government leaderships including a certificate of appreciation from the Mayor of Los Angeles.

Throughout the year we cemented our relationship with leading psychological organizations including APA, CPA, LACPA and of course the Board of Psychology. We also, successfully campaigned for the election of the Donald Bersoff, Ph.D., J.D., a very dedicated pro clinician, to the position of President Elect of the APA.  

Our Continuing education Committee brought a fine lineup of skilled professionals ranging from the present or past leaders of the Board of Psychology, CPA, and LACPA  to well known speakers and scholars in the field of psychology and related sciences.

In our continuous efforts to improve IPAA several changes in the Bylaws were proposed by the Boards of Trustee and the Directors in order to bring the organizational structure of the IPAA closer to those of CPA and LACPA and ensure more flexibility and diversity. Thus, the Board of Trustees decided to continue the present Board of Directors for another term in order to finalize and implement the structural changes and start the new elections in the new format in 2012.

Meanwhile, we have had several changes in IPAA leadership circle that started with the departure of Dr. Marmar Mehrpouyan the Chair of the Membership Committee due to personal engagements. Marmar made great contributions to the Membership Committee, recruited many new members and always worked hard alongside our leadership team. Her departure was followed by the resignation of our longtime dear secretary Dr. Sherri Nader who had her share of personal and professional responsibilities. Fortunately, soon our dear hardworking Niaz became Dr. Niaz Khani, a licensed psychologist, and took over as the Acting Secretary of the Board. She has been a great asset to our organization for the past few years.

Soon thereafter we all realized that our Treasury Department was also in need of a new leader. As many of our membership knows, since Dr. Nowparast took over as the Treasurer, his beloved, very intelligent wife Loabat became the behind the scenes acting Treasurer as she took over all the financial accounting of the IPAA. Being the organized and tidy person that she is, Mrs. Nowparast helped organize our books and lower our costs greatly. Moreover, despite the heavy load of personal and professional responsibilities she always performed her IPAA duties with great effort and care and drove from Orange County to L.A. faithfully every month. IPAA is proud of the of Dr. and Mrs. Nowparast’s commitments and contributions to our organization. Dr. Nader Nowparast, of course, will continue with us as a member of the Board of Trustees.

To fill the position of the treasurer we turned to our very dear Peyman who had already completed his doctoral project and became Dr. Peyman Raoofi. He had been a tremendous asset to the IPAA for the past four years. As for the Membership Committee, Dr. Vahideh Gudeman has temporarily taken over until we find a new leader for this very important division of the IPAA. Finally, the last change was in the Students Committee which was vacated by Dr. Raoofi. Our active student Nazanin Moali was assumed the position of chair of the Committee and our student members can get in touch with her to discuss students' participations and needs.

The IPAA Tea Affair in August was another successful event that was attended by many of our members. It was held at the residence of Maryam Dalili, LMFT our very dear member that together with her husband Majid Hassani provided a very hospitable and welcoming ambience complemented by music entertainments by our talented Planning Committee member Sheava Rahimi.

Thus, we begin the 7th year of the IPAA existence with more dedications and visions for more accomplishments. Our very dear member and Chair of the Community Development and Funding Committee, Dr. Farah Naz Khaleghi is working on getting grants for the IPAA that will enable us to implement more public charity programs and to conduct research projects according to the needs of the membership and the community.

At our first continuing education class of the 2012, Steve Wolf, Ph.D. will present Taming Your Anger and Emotional Intelligence. Dr. Wolf is very well skilled and specialized in the area of anger and emotional control.  I wish you all a very Happy and Prosperous Year.

January 2012