From:
Vinodha Joly, LMFT
Psychotherapy and Consultation
3015 Hopyard Rd, Suite M
Pleasanton, CA 94588
Email: Vinodha.Joly@gmail.com
August 18, 2019
To:
Rosie Phillips Davis, PhD, ABPP
President, American Psychological Association
750 First Street, NE
Washington, DC 20002-4242
Jared L. Skillings, PhD, ABPP
Chief of Professional Practice, American Psychological Association
750 First Street, NE
Washington, DC 20002-4242
Dear Dr. Davis and Dr. Skillings :
Re: Request to Treat Lyra Health’s Misleading Claims of “Evidence-Based Psychotherapy” as False Advertising and Discriminatory against Relationship-Oriented Clinicians
I recently wrote to the California Department of Insurance about misleading claims of “evidence-based” psychotherapy by Lyra Health, a startup mental health company. Please find attached a copy of the letter. A copy of the letter can also be found online at https://www.vinodhatherapy.com/blogs/false-advertising-by-lyrahealth
I was redirected to your organization, the American Psychological Association, as the authority on this issue. Lyra Health cites the APA Clinical Guidelines in its advertising for providing “evidence-based” psychotherapy exclusively, as well as in its selection criteria that explicitly excludes attachment-oriented clinicians as providers on its panels. Their policies mislead the consumers of mental health services and restrict their choices, and adversely affect the professionals in this field who work from an attachment oriented relationship framework by delegitimizing their practice.
I kindly request the American Psychological Association and the other professional organizations copied in this letter to look into this matter, and to make a clear stand against Lyra Health’s misleading and discriminatory practices and its misuse and misunderstanding of the APA Clinical Guidelines, as their policies ultimately hurt the consumers of mental health services.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Vinodha Joly, LMFT
CC:
Timothy F. Dwyer
President, American Association of Marriage and Family Therapists
112 South Alfred Street
Alexandria, VA 22314-3061
Laura Groshong, MSW, LICSW
Director of Policy and Practice, Clinical Social Work Association
4026 NE 55th Street #C
Seattle, Washington 98105
Saul Levin, MD, MPA
Chief Executive Officer, American Psychiatric Association
800 Maine Avenue, S.W., Suite 900
Washington, DC 20024
Kathryn Conley Wehrmann, PhD, MSW, LCSW
President, National Association of Social Workers
750 First Street, NE Suite 800
Washington, DC 20002