Psychology Professor Named President of the New England Psychological Association

Assumption Psychology Professor Leonard Doerfler, Ph.D.,  has been named President of New England Psychological Association (NEPA). In his new role as president, Prof. Doerfler will chair the steering committee that organizes the annual conference and collaborate with his colleagues to review papers and posters that are submitted for presentation at the annual conference.

Prof. Doerfler’s clinical and research interests include cognitive-behavioral and interpersonal models of mood disorders, predictors of psychiatric hospitalization, psychotherapy outcome assessment, psychosocial adjustment to life-threatening illness, and assessment of depression and posttraumatic stress disorder in heart attack survivors.  He is a clinical psychologist.

“With respect to my work at Assumption, my activity with NEPA has expanded my circle of professional colleagues, and I have learned about the research of other psychologists at colleges and universities in the New England Region,“ said Prof. Doerfler. “My goals are to increase the membership in the organization and to raise the visibility of the annual conference to highlight the scholarship of psychologists and psychology students in the New England Region.“

Professor Leonard Doerfler holds a doctorate in clinical psychology and master’s degree in clinical psychology from the University of Missouri at Columbia, and a Bachelor of Science from the University of Pittsburgh. His expertise has been recognized by a number of organizations including the Association for Behavioral and Cognative Therapies (Fellow); Bridge of Central massachusetts (Trustee of the Year); Assumption (President’s Award for Excellence in Scholarship).

According to NEPA, the organization is dedicated to the advancement of psychology as a science, as a profession, and as a means of promoting human welfare; hosts presentations by invited speakers, symposia, workshops, papers and posters at annual autumn meetings held in the six New England states, usually on a college campus; encourages students to enter the field of psychology, through its Honorary Undergraduate Fellow program and its co-sponsorship of Psi Chi and Psi Beta activities; and provides an opportunity at the Annual Meeting for officers of the psychological associations of the six New England states to meet and confer on current professional issues.