Texas Academy of Psychiatry

about TAP

The Texas Academy of Psychiatry was established in 2004 to provide psychiatrists with a choice of membership in organized psychiatry without a requirement of a dual membership in a national organization.

The objectives of TAP are as follows:

A. to promote the common professional interests of its members;

B. to improve the treatment, rehabilitation, and care of the mentally ill, the mentally retarded, and the emotionally disturbed;

C. to advance the standards of all psychiatric services and facilities;

D. to promote research, professional education in psychiatry and allied fields, and the prevention of psychiatric disabilities;

E. to foster the cooperation of all who are concerned with the medical, psychological, social and legal aspects of mental health and illness;

F. to make psychiatric knowledge available to other practitioners of medicine, to scientists, and to the public;

G. to promote the best interests of patients and those actually or potentially making use of mental health services;

H. to coordinate and work in concert with other state professional psychiatric associations on joint public and professional education projects and public policy advocacy; and,

I. to advocate for its members.


THE ACADEMY IS GOVERNED BY A BOARD OF TRUSTEES. THE BOARD FOR FY 2023-24 INCLUDES:

President – Melissa Eshelman, MD, Austin

President-Elect – Ken Hopper, MD

Secretary-Treasurer – Phillip Balfanz, MD, Kerrville

Past President (22-23) – Michael Arambula, MD, PharmD, San Antonio

Past President (21-22) – Daniel Pearson, III, MD, Dallas

Past President (19-21) – Daryl K. Knox, MD, Houston


TAP Past Presidents:

Past President (18-19) – Debra Atkisson, MD, Fort Worth

Past President (16-17) –  Lynda Parker, MD, Georgetown

Past President (15-16) – Gary Etter, MD

Past President (14-15) – Conway McDanald, MD, Dallas

Past President (12-13) – Martha Leatherman, MD, San Antonio

Past President (11-12) – J. Clay Sawyer, Waco

Past President (05-07) – R. Sanford Kiser, MD, Fruita, CO

Join TAP

The Texas Academy of Psychiatry was formed in 2004 to provide additional membership options for Texas psychiatrists. Texas psychiatrists may become members of the Academy without the mandated dual membership requirement of APA/TSPP. Academy members will receive benefits comparable to those offered by TSPP, except for APA benefits. The Academy and TSPP are independent organizations, with their own respective governing bodies.

TAP Member Classes

Member-in-Training: For physicians in a psychiatric residency training program approved by the Residency Review Committee for Psychiatry of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada or the American Osteopathic Association. Annual Dues: $0

General Membership:  For physicians who have completed acceptable psychiatry training (as approved by the Residency Review Committee for Psychiatry of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education or the American Osteopathic Association) and hold a valid license to practice medicine or an academic, research or governmental position that does not require licensure. Annual Dues: $250 first year, $430 thereafter.

Fellow: For physicians who have received the designation of Fellow or Distinguished Fellow from the American Psychiatric Association (APA). Annual Dues: $250 first year, $430 thereafter.

Retired: For physicians who are fully retired from the practice of medicine. Annual Dues: $95 first year, $150 thereafter.

Associate Membership: Physicians who are currently a member in good standing with the Texas Society of Psychiatric Physicians (TSPP), a District Branch of the American Psychiatric Association and/or the Texas Society of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (TSCAP) a Regional Council of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.  Annual Dues: $50.00.

For a copy of the Academy membership application form, click here.