March 1st, 2015
By Catherine Robertson Souter
Is there an unseen epidemic in our society? Jonice Webb, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist with a private practice in Lexington, Mass., believes there is. In practice for more than 20 years, Webb started to recognize that many of her clients were suffering from a particular set of struggles, a sense of being on the outside, being less happy than they should be or of feeling empty inside. These were struggles that did not stem from any specific trauma or diagnosable psychological condition. Webb found that, for each of these people, it was not so much as an event or troubling [More]
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March 1st, 2015
By Alan Bodnar Ph.D.
The interviews are over, the rankings have been submitted, and the cloud has delivered the names of our interns for the next training year. All of that is done but I am still thinking about an answer one of our applicants gave to my standard question about how he imagined his unique strengths and challenges would influence his performance in our program. After explaining what made him the ideal candidate for the position, he said simply that he was still learning to trust the process. He was talking about the process of psychotherapy but I am thinking about that and [More]
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March 1st, 2015
By Paul Efthim PhD
“Masquerading Symptoms: Uncovering Physical Illnesses that Present as Psychological Problems” By Barbara Schildkrout John Wiley & Sons Hoboken, N.J., 2014 Reference work comprehensive and readable Reviewed by Paul Efthim, Ph.D. Consider the diseases commonly encountered in clinical psychology practice: sleep disorders, dementia, hypo- or hyperthyroidism, Lyme disease, neurological disorders. Quite frequently, the first signs of these and other illnesses may emerge as behavioral or mental status changes. For the majority of mental health professionals who are not medically trained, how do we recognize hidden medical problems that may be lurking underneath psychological symptoms? To address this tricky problem, Boston [More]
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March 1st, 2015
By James K Luiselli EdD ABPP BCBA-D
“Educational Evaluations of Children with Special Needs: Clinical and Forensic Considerations” By David Breiger, Kristen Bishop, and G. Andrew H. Benjamin American Psychological Association Washington, D.C., 2014 Instructive book highly recommended Reviewed by James K. Luiselli, Ed.D., ABPP, BCBA-D Special education litigation represents a fertile area for psychologists functioning as evaluators, consultants and legal advisers. Unfortunately, graduate school training rarely touches on this topic, there are few continuing education opportunities available for practicing clinicians and most interested practitioners have to learn “on the job.” Furthermore, you must look far and wide to locate relevant publications, of which there [More]
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February 1st, 2015
By Phyllis Hanlon
Consider all the songs, poems, magazine articles and novels that focus on romance and it would appear that nearly everyone is looking for love. Sometimes finding Mr. or Ms. Right may be relatively easy, but establishing a romantic relationship typically involves some distinct behavioral patterns and maintaining that relationship requires nurturing. “When trying to form a relationship, you are on your best behavior,” said Margaret S. Clark, Ph.D., professor of psychology at Yale University, adding that three processes are important to relationship initiation: strategic self-presentation, partner evaluation and self-protection. “You must present yourself to a partner in a manner that [More]
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February 1st, 2015
By Janine Weisman
The Riverview Psychiatric Center in Augusta, Maine, last year became the Riverview Psychiatric Recovery Center, an indication of the state-run mental hospital’s commitment to regaining the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) accreditation it lost in 2013 – and the $20 million in federal funding that went with it. Gone are the correctional officers whose use of stun guns on patients contributed to deficiencies cited by federal inspectors who de-certified the hospital. Inspectors also found problems with patient care and a lack of staff training. The 92-bed facility is slowly recovering from negative news reports about patients attacking mental [More]
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February 1st, 2015
By Howard Newman
As of May 7, the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology will be officially known as William James College. This change will not affect the school’s course offerings, its philosophy, size or location. The Newton, Mass., school will continue to offer 11 graduate programs in psychology and embrace the concept of experiential education. So why the change? The new name is a better way of communicating what the school offers, what it stands for and how it’s different from many other graduate intuitions. According to MSPP President Nicholas Covino, Psy.D., the term “school of” linked to a geographic area was hardly [More]
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February 1st, 2015
By Susan Gonsalves
The tragic Newtown, Conn. shootings in 2013 turned the spotlight on mental health issues and prompted attempts to rebuild the system with additional funding and initiatives. But that upsurge did not continue in 2014, according to a report by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). The report, entitled, “State Mental Health Legislation 2014,” showed that 29 states and the District of Columbia increased funding for services last year but all states are still struggling to recover from budget cuts from 2009-2012. Lead author Sita Diehl, MSSW, NAMI’s state policy and advocacy director, said that the gains made surrounding certain [More]
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February 1st, 2015
By Rivkela Brodsky
Of Rhode Island’s more than 3,000 prison population, approximately 500 are living with a serious mental illness, said Susan Jacobsen, MA, LMHC, executive director of the Mental Health Association of Rhode Island. That figure is calculated by taking the incidence of mental illness in the general prison population (14-17 percent) and multiplying it by the Rhode Island prison population, Jacobsen said. “It certainly is the case in many communities in Rhode Island that local [jails] are the largest mental health providers de facto,” she said. “They can’t turn anybody away.” She added that the state hospital has fewer than 140 [More]
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February 1st, 2015
By Pamela Berard
An initiative in New Haven, Conn., aims to strengthen the integration and collaboration between physical and mental health services and increase early interventions and access to services in the city’s Dwight neighborhood. The goal is to duplicate the efforts throughout the state. The state Department of Children and Families, with support from the Department of Public Health, is receiving a $4 million, five-year federal grant to promote the wellness of young children from birth to age 8 in New Haven. The Elm City Project Launch will address the physical, social, emotional, cognitive and behavioral aspects of child development, using a [More]
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