ABSTRACT
By now it should be no surprise to any practicing psychologist that the mental health care
field has changed enormously since the 1980s. Of course, these changes affecting
professional psychology are just a part of the overall revamping of the American health
care system. In the late 1980s, Zimet (1989) warned psychology of the coming changes in
health care and urged psychologists to alter their perspective. He wrote, “The sooner we
psychologists put aside our thinking that magically the situation will reverse itself and
return to the free choice system that has been the standard for many years, the sooner we
can deal in an adaptive manner with the radical changes that are occurring” (p. 705). He
also urged psychologists to “take some control of managed health programs” (p. 707). At
that time, he also lamented the fact that organized professional psychology had taken a
position in opposition to managed care rather than try to make a place for psychologists
in the managed care market.
