Aspen Practice, P.C.
At the root of integrated change and development...
Aspen Practice, P.C. At the root of integrated change and development...
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Publications - Presentations
| NEWS AT ASPEN PRACTICERecent Events...Aspen Practice is dedicated to providing excellence in clinical services by applying time-honored practices and introducing new well-grounded innovations. In keeping with this approach, our web site will be updated continuously as we continue to solidify services in the Billings area, and move forward with providing our other services such as conferences, consultation and publications. Winter into 2010
Aspen Practice, P.C. will continue to offer the same array of services as it has traditionally offered, but with what has become a steady refrain throughout the work in the past five years: At the root of integrated change and development... Since the fall, the practice itself has been the focus with a high demand for services and complex cases that have required our attention.  We also wish to support the excellent conference coming our way in Billings, Montana from April 16th through the 17th, and offered by the Montana Psychological Association. The conference brings two national experts to the Billings area, one on Attachment Theory with an emphasis on the role of development, relationships and these dynamics mindful of therapeutic interventions and on the second day an appropriately complex treatment of the issue of psychopharmacology for children and adolescents. The presenters include Dr. Bob Marvin, the Director of the Mary D. Ainsworth Child-Parent Attachment Clinic in Virginia; and Dr. Mario Marquez, a Prescribing Psychologist from New Mexico and Specialist in working with Children and Adolescents, the First Civilian Prescribing Psychologist in the United States. For more information, see: http://www.montanapsychologicalassociation.org/ Summer into Fall of 2009
Late February Early March 2009
After much consideration the Montana Psychological Association chose to step forward and help. The first concern was safety, and there was no literature to suggest that the practice would be unsafe. In fact just the opposite, very safe, since there has not been a case of malpractice or a complaint filed against a prescribing psychologist after fifteen years of practice in the military, Louisiana and New Mexico. But, the ultimate question became, once determining safety and the demonstration of appropriate qualifications, "Could we just sit back and do nothing?" The answer in 2007 was flatly no, and we moved to support Senator Weinberg's effort. Since 2007, Montana Psychological Association had done a great deal of work to follow-through on its promise, recruiting a training organization and working with many to ensure that the practice was well thought out. But now, Montana had the highest suicide rate per capita in the nation! And, prescriptive authority for psychologists could serve as just one more tool to help as they did in New Mexico; a state that use to have the highest suicide rate in the nation and now they are fourth. The suicide rate is not just a crisis providers were dealing with, it is an epidemic that is taking the lives of one Montanan every-other-day on average. The debate over this matter was thorough at the Public Health, Welfare and Safety Committee in the Senate on the 28th of January, and even though challenged to provide one shred of evidence that the practice was unsafe - the opponents simply offered the idea of fear without any data to support their contentions. Here is a link to listen in on the debate, simply go to the committee title and click on the date. http://leg.mt.gov/css/Committees/Session/Minutes/09minwrittenaudio.asp?Chamber=Senate#13 The bill, SB 233, had been tabled on a vote of 4-3; even with the urgent crisis before us and no evidence that the practice was unsafe. Hence the article by Dr. Bütz, and you can read it and inform yourself about this important matter. http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2009/02/18/opinion/guest/40-prescriptive.txt Strangely in the legislature at this time, the need for behavioral health services are not arguable by any logical and reasonable measure. Yet, they are not being served. And, despite the need, qualifications are also critically important to demonstrate to ensure public safety as well. Here at Aspen Practice, P.C., we encourage each of you to consider this in what matters are before the legislature, and what discussions you have with these officials. Winter 2008-2009 A lot has been happening around Aspen Practice over the winter months, for one Dr. Bütz has been called to Helena several times in the past few months, and the months to come, in his role with Montana Psychological Association (MPA) as not only their Legislative Chair, but also the association's President-Elect. He has been called upon to comment on proposed legislation, and his views and at times advocacy for initiatives that meet sorely needed public needs. You can get a sense of MPA's orientation on serving the public's interests and needs as well as to protect the public in his most recent legislative article, Intervention With a Capital "I" by clicking on the title. In March, he will also be attending the American Psychological Association's State Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C. as part of his leadership role with MPA.
Several years ago, Dr. Bütz began working on re-conceptualizing the diagnoses Munchhausen's Syndrome By Proxy, Factitious Disorder By Proxy and Fabricated and/or Induced Illness in Children due to his concerns about the existing literature on these diagnoses and the detrimental effects and unclear understanding of these diagnoses produced in care providers and children. That is, despite provider's best intentions in addressing these diagnoses. In February, Professional Psychology: Research and Practice published the final product of Dr. Bütz collaborative work with F. Barton Evans, Ph.D. and Rebecca Webber-Dereszynski, LCPC on this topic, A Practitioner's Complaint and Proposed Direction: Munchhausen's Syndrome By Proxy, Factitious Disorder By Proxy and Fabricated and/or Induced Illness in Children.
On another front, for a long time Dr. Bütz has worked with and to an extent written on his clinical work with those who have a Native American heritage; and in January, began working a few days a month with the Indian Health Board of Billings, Inc. where he will serve a a consultant clinical psychologist. This was an exciting addition to the array of services Aspen Practice has been able to offer, extending outside of the bounds of our office here.  Dr. Bütz has also been slated to present at least three times in the Spring and Summer thus far. First he will be presenting at the Spring Public Health Conference, New Frontiers for a Health Montana here in Billings, which is put on by Montana's Department of Public Health and Human Services Department. He will be presenting on The Idea of a 'Just Right' Crisis: The Ongoing Dance of Development Between Children, Their Care Providers and Their Families, and this presentation will take place on April 15th at 1:30 p.m. at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. Second, Dr. Bütz has been asked to Fall 2008  Boston, Massachusetts – August 14-17, 2008. At the American Psychological Association’s National Convention, Dr. Michael Bütz was elected as a Fellow of the American Psychological Association’s Society of Clinical Psychology (Division 12). Per the American Psychological Association’s Society of Clinical Psychology,
His nomination was carefully considered by the Society of Clinical Psychology’s Fellows Committee and the American Psychological Association’s Fellows Committee. His election was then recommended by the Board of Directors and Council of Representatives of the American Psychological Association (APA), and became effective September 1st. The society was formed between 1946 and 1954, and for more information about fellows in the society follow this link, http://www.apa.org/divisions/Div12/awards.html Summer 2008
Spring 2008 Dr. Bütz has been quite active in his role with Montana Psychological Association (MPA) this past spring, assisting with arranging/putting on the Annual Meeting in Bozeman, Montana that featured a workshop by his long-time
Fall 2007 Passes to Winter 2008
Dr. Bütz has been actively engaged in three other projects as well, a book to revise the tenets of crisis theory and revisions on a manuscript on Factitious Disorder By Proxy. Dr. Bütz has co-authored a book proposal for John Wiley & Sons with his long-time colleague, Dr. Linda Chamberlain, Transformation Through Crisis: Finding Opportunity in the Midst of Danger. The intention of the book is to revise the manner in which crises are seen and responded to at a whole variety of levels, from the individual and on to larger groups and organizations. It will be an edited book, and Dr. Bütz feels fortunate to be joined on the project by Dr. Robert Morgan and Dr. Ben Tong as well as others. The other project on Factitious Disorder By Proxy has been in the works for some time, and Dr. Bütz has been joined by his colleagues Dr. Barton Evans and Ms. Webber-Dereszynski on the manuscript, A practitioner’s complaint and proposed direction: Munchausen Syndrome By Proxy, Factitious Disorder By Proxy and Fabricated and/or Induced Illness in Children. The intent of this manuscript is to clarify the challenges with these diagnoses, and suggest a new direction that will provide the beginning elements for sound diagnostic footing for practitioners in the future. Discussions with the journal Professional Psychology: Research & Practice have continued on this manuscript, and recognizing the controversial nature of the topic.
The third project is the completion of the Mental Health Professional Person's Field Manual which will be published through the Montana Psychological Association and offered free of charge initially to all the Emergency Rooms across the state of Montana. Dr. Bütz collaborated with several state agencies, and his co-authors Dr. Davis and Dr. Rivers bring the manual to those professionals engaged in the challenging medical-legal issue of voluntary and involuntary commitments. The manual outlines, per Montana Statutes, how to walk through this process in a step-wise fashion; and offers a number of other resources and clarifications from experienced experts. To obtain one of these manuals, simply hit this link and complete your order with the Montana Psychological Association: http://www.montanapsychologicalassociation.org/mhppfieldmanual/
Activities and Literary Work
Dr. Bütz is slated for a few presentations locally and nationally and currently has several Works-In-Progress (WIP) - See Publications - Presentations Page. A number of presentations and publications are 'in the works', and this process usually takes a while but we will keep you posted on how these manuscripts fare. While producing published works is not a typical activity that behavioral health providers engage in (In fact, a very small percentage of psychologists publish after they receive their doctorate), Dr. Bütz is commitment to advancing the field of behavioral healthcare through collaborating with others on works through Aspen Practice, P.C. |
Send mail to webmaster@aspenpractice.net with questions or comments about this web site. |
Over the summer and into the fall much of Dr. 
Dr. and Mrs. Bütz provide service in a number of capacities regarding behavioral healthcare and community needs outside of the day-to-day work at Aspen Practice, P.C. Mrs. Bütz has served on the Committee that brought the Kevin Red Star Event to Parents Let's Unite for Kids (PLUK) and is a Webelos Scout Den Leader. Dr. Bütz continues his work on the Board of Directors for STEP, Inc. as the Vice President, as Legislative Chair and President-Elect for the Montana Psychological Association, and on the Ancillary Provider and Outreach Committees for Rocky Mountain Healthcare Network (you will find many of these organizations on the Links page of our web site).