Illinois Association of Prescribing Psychologists

The first governmental entity to pass Prescriptive Authority legislation was the United States territory of Guam, in 1999. New Mexico, the first prescribing state, passed its legislation in 2002. Louisiana passed its prescriptive authority legislation in 2004. It took 10 years for another state to pass Prescriptive Authority. When I was President of the Illinois Psychological Association (2011-2012, 2013-2014), I was able to lead a statewide team of hundreds of psychologists to legislative victory in May 2014. In quicker succession, then, other states followed: Iowa (2016), Idaho (2017), Colorado (2023), Utah (2024). Today, psychologists in at least 20 additional states, including: Vermont, New York, Connecticut, Virginia, Florida, Oklahoma, Texas, Nevada, Arizona, California, and Washington State, are all actively pursuing prescriptive authority legislation by organizing state-wide coalitions of psychologists and third-party stakeholders. Together, they represent a meaningful cross-section of the country and reflect a shared commitment to improving access to mental-health care.

The Ontario Psychological Association, on September 17, 2025, received the news that the Ontario Government is seeking to increase the scope of practice of several regulated healthcare professionals in Ontario, including psychologists, who will be given the authority to “prescribe psychotropic medications and to order appropriate lab tests.” Ontario will soon be the first jurisdiction outside the United States to grant this expansion in scope of practice. Since Ontario has a population of 16.2 million, it surpasses the state of Illinois, with a population of 12.8 million, therefore making it the most populous governmental entity that will have Prescriptive Authority. Dr. Diana Velikonja and Dr. Beth Rom-Rymer will be speaking about the Ontario Prescriptive Authority legislation and the international Prescriptive Authority Movement at the Canadian Psychological Association Convention in Montreal in early June 2026.

In addition to Guam, our 7 states, Ontario, and the U.S. military, prescribing psychologists can also prescribe on native lands overseen by the Indian Health Service and can prescribe on lands controlled by the U.S. Public Health Service and in the U.S. Coast Guard.

In 2010, I had conversations about the competence of prescribing psychologists and how they might be able to serve the needs of indigenous peoples for comprehensive mental health care, with then-Chief Psychologist of the Indian Health Service, Dr. Rose Weahkee. After her consultation with then-IHS Director, Dr. Yvette Roubideaux, M.D., M.P.H., Dr. Weahkee wrote a proclamation, giving prescriptive authority to licensed prescribing psychologists on native lands, overseen by the Indian Health Service within the United States.

Beyond Canada, we have burgeoning or robust Prescriptive Authority Movements in other parts of the world. Because of the tremendous professional opportunities and interpersonal growth inherent in international partnership, I have always cultivated a global perspective as the foundation for the future of psychology and for those we serve and teach.

Elaine LeVine had worked, extensively, in the international arena, with Marlin Hoover and Elaine Foster, when she invited psychologists from the Netherlands to participate in the psychopharmacology training that she was conducting at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, in the early 2000’s. Elaine and her colleagues spent several years, partnering with their Dutch colleagues, both in Las Cruces and in The Netherlands.

Beginning in 2019, international collaborations continued with psychologist colleagues in a growing number of countries, including: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Croatia, India, Jamaica, Jordan, the United Kingdom, Nigeria, Norway, Poland, Singapore, South Africa, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom. Across these regions, psychologists are exploring new ways to expand their scope of practice and to most effectively serve vulnerable communities.

In October of 2022, I spent a week in South Africa, with my South African psychologist colleagues, Dr. Joachim Mureriwa and Dr. Thabiso Rapapali. We, along with Dr. Judi Steinman, presented a panel on Prescriptive Authority for the 26th Annual South African Psychology Congress in Johannesburg, attended by an SRO crowd of over 100. After 3 days at the Conference, my colleagues took me to their homes, where I stayed for another four days and visited with their friends and families. To be welcomed as a member of my colleagues’ families gave me an extraordinary perspective into the African culture, rich in history, tradition, having made tremendous contributions to thousands of years of civilization!
Next to Canada, South Africa has made the most headway in organizing psychologists around the prescribing psychologists’ advocacy agenda that must be approved by the Minister of Health. Drs. Mureriwa and Rapapali (both of whom earned their MSCP) and Dr. Thabani Sibanda, created the South African organization, PASACP (Pharmacology Association for South African Clinical Psychologists), expressly to advocate for psychologists’ prescriptive authority. Currently, Drs. Mureriwa and Rapapali are preparing a one-year training program, billed as an “Introduction to Clinical Psychopharmacology,” for more than one hundred South African colleagues, with the support of a South African University and its Department of Psychopharmacology. Dr. Sibanda has recently (2025) published an article detailing the legal challenges facing the Prescriptive Authority Movement in South Africa.

Croatia, Poland, and Australia are building momentum in their Prescriptive Authority Movements. Dr. Ivan Zecevic (ZEH cheh vich), a Croatian psychologist, collected information, in 2018 and 2019, from his Croatian colleagues, on their attitudes toward Prescriptive Authority in their country. A majority of the respondents supported prescriptive authority for psychologists and most reported that they would like to be “educated to prescribe psychotropic medications.” I have initiated correspondence with Dr. Zecevic and I look forward to meeting with him, soon, through video conference.

In Poland, research by Dr. Jolanta Banasiewicz; New Mexico prescribing psychologist, Dr. Monika Kos y Gonzales; and other colleagues found that approximately twenty percent of surveyed psychologists are open to expanding their competencies to include prescribing, and most respondents approach this possibility with thoughtful balance and professional responsibility. Drs. Banasiewicz, Dr. Kos y Gonzales, their co-authors, and another Polish-American colleague, Anna Wegierek, an Illinois prescribing psychologist, are continuing to highlight, in Poland, the courageous, meticulous work of prescribing psychologists in other parts of the world.

In Australia, Dr. Judi Steinman has been working with psychologist, Dr. Daniel Sullivan, as he is preparing to assess national attitudes toward prescriptive authority. Drs. Steinman, Rom-Rymer, Mureriwa, Rapapali, and other international leaders will be meeting to discuss the Australian RxP Movement on December 17th.

I am also beginning to explore, with Israeli psychologists, their interest in pursuing prescriptive authority and how we might support their efforts over the coming six to nine months.

I believe that it is critical to approach our numerous international partnerships with an attitude of collaborative science, flexibility, and honesty, with a commitment to reciprocity and respect and a desire to learn from them, as well as to contribute. I envision our global perspective as including opportunities and support for clinical services expansion, serving those most in need.