FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 13, 2007 Contact: Andrew Boucher
Phone: 202-783-7663
Email: andrew@nationalregister.org

HAWAI‘I STATE-LICENSED PSYCHOLOGIST RECEIVES NATIONAL AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE

June 13, 2007. Washington, D.C. - The National Register of Health Service Providers in Psychology (National Register) Board of Directors today announced the winner of its new award for early career psychologists. Joseph Keawe’Aimoku Kaholokula, Ph.D., of Honolulu, Hawai‘I, was named winner of the 2007 Judy E. Hall, Ph.D. Award. The award is named for the National Register's current executive officer, Judy E. Hall, Ph.D., and recognizes excellence in a nationally credentialed psychologist with less than ten years of postdoctoral experience. Dr. Hall is presenting the early career psychologist award to Dr. Kaholokula in August at the American Psychological Association (APA) Convention in San Francisco, CA.

According to Dr. Hall, "Dr. Kaholokula epitomizes the future for credentialed psychologists. He demonstrated leadership in developing and implementing innovative methods of treatment. He is dedicated to serving a rural population, and is committed to training future psychologists. We are delighted to present this prestigious award to such a deserving early career psychologist."

Dr. Kaholokula received his Ph.D. in psychology in December of 2003 from the University of Hawai‘i and currently hold a faculty position with the Department of Native Hawai‘i an Health (DNHH), John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM), University of Hawai‘i (UH) at Mānoa. Dr. Kaholokula plans to start a clinical health psychology practice via JABSOMs faculty practice organization (University Clinical, Education, & Research Associates). Dr. Kaholokula has been credentialed by the National Register since April, 2007.

Dr. Kaholokula said of the award: “the monetary gift will be used to provide direct support for the psychology interns of the I Ola Lāhui: Rural Hawai‘i Behavioral Health Program. It will defray the cost of traveling expenses as our interns move between islands and may also allow us to purchase necessary psychological assessment instruments. This first year of I Ola Lāhui is a pilot program for what we hope will be a sustainable program. We believe that the I Ola Lāhui will make a significant positive impact on rural health in Hawai‘i and on primary care psychology and our sustainability will depend on how well we do our first year. All of the psychologists of I Ola Lāhui will be providing clinical supervision with no additional salary support because of our commitment to improving the health of underserved populations here in Hawai‘i.”

About The National Register

The National Register is the largest credentialing organization for psychologists. The independent, non-profit organization was created in 1974 with the help of the American Psychological Association and the American Board of Professional Psychology. Today, the National Register is the leading source of information on nationally credentialed psychologists in health care. Psychologists who are awarded national registrant status have achieved the highest educational and professional standards in health care. Early career psychologists can accumulate the necessary credentials during their training so that when they apply for a license to practice, they also are ready to become registrants of the National Register. It is the only independent, credentialing body with a national level standard for verifying education and training qualifications, licensing, and ethical standards with more than 12,000 doctoral level psychologists in its database. The National Register is relied upon by the health care industry, state and provincial licensing boards, and consumers. National Register also provides this valuable information to consumers as a free referral service to top quality psychologists at www.findapsychologist.org.

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