New England Psychologist
New England Psychologist is home to independent journalism focused on psychologists and psychotherapists in the New England region. We publish new content every month. Subscribe to our free monthly newsletter to receive updates, or sign-up for a one-year paid subscription now in order to access all of our great content.
May Institute marks 70th year serving individuals with autism
By Catherine Robertson Souter
In 1955, after Marie Ann May and her husband, Jacques May, M.D., realized that autism treatment for their seven-year-old twin sons was nonexistent beyond lifelong institutionalization, they set out to provide a new option, founding a small, community-based school in Chatham, Mass. At the time, autism was considered a rare disease. The term had been coined in 1911, but the disorder was formally identified in 1943. Little was known of the causes, and treatment was based on behavior modification and,… Read more »
Leading Stories
May Institute marks 70th year serving individuals with autism
Mental health screenings key in ME’s ‘yellow flag’ approach to gun violence prevention
Trevor Project research highlights LGBTQ+ youth challenges by region
Vermont considers mental health licensure reform
Five Mass. cities designated as `sanctuaries,’ for transgender population
Medicare telehealth waiver extended again
Psychological first aid available following traumatic events
Study finds unequal reimbursement rates in CT’s mental healthcare
Advice given for treating immigrant population
Mental health disorders on the rise in pregnant, post-partum women
Campaign aims to de-stigmatize mental health issues among youth
A new champion in the world of trauma treatment
Report: Majority of mass violence not linked to mental health
Vermont survey: Student mental health is ‘not good’
Practical Practice
The doctor will ‘see’ you now. Or text, talk, or chat if you would rather
By Catherine Robertson Souter
Before 2020, telehealth therapy had barely infiltrated the profession, covering about 9-11% of all outpatient visits, according to the American Psychological Association (APA.) Then along came COVID-19 and everything changed. According to the APA, which began annual “pulse” surveys during the pandemic, the number of clinicians using telehealth with at least some patients grew from 33% in 2020 to 50% in 2021 and then to 88% in 2024. “The most recent APA survey data show that therapists are overwhelmingly using… Read more »
Training artificial intelligence therapists
By Ellen Anderson, Ph.D
This month, my electronic medical record platform introduced an artificial intelligence tool to improve documentation of progress notes. Naturally skeptical, I felt certain it would be clunky but tried it out immediately. The practitioner writes two or three sentences to summarize the session in addition to completing the mental status, risk assessment, intervention techniques, and symptoms. The algorithm integrates information from these sentences with the discrete fields of diagnosis, procedure code, mental status, intervention checklist, risk assessment, and treatment objectives.… Read more »
Older Practical Practice Columns...
Psychotherapy Business & Marketing
Do therapists need an elevator pitch?
By Liz Varney, LICSW
The ‘Elevator Pitch’ tends to conjure up an image of a high-pressure moment where you have “one shot” to make a good impression with someone who can help launch your career. Having to make the most out of a time-limited interaction with a powerful person is unlikely to occur to the average psychotherapist. You might not consider “pitching” your services to others at all, yet the concept of an elevator pitch does hold value for a private practitioner. In fact,… Read more »
Learning to receive: The key to prosperity in business
By Liz Varney, LICSW
Many of you have read, or have at least heard of, the 2006 book entitled, “The Secret,” by Rhonda Bryne. The book was the wildly popular new age approach to manifesting the life you want. I watched Oprah Winfrey enthusiastically advocate for this approach, and I was swayed by her insistence that “The Secret” held the keys to financial success. I promptly read the book and then set myself up to create the abundance I so desperately needed. At the… Read more »
Older Psychotherapy Business and Marketing articles...
Interview of the Month
Q&A: Machine learning, mathematical modeling used as tools to predict suicide ideation
By Catherine Robertson Souter
Modern psychology may be about to experience a sea change. While the practice has certainly evolved over the past 100 years, the introduction of machine learning, a form of artificial intelligence that uses large data sets to look at human behavior, may vastly alter the way mental illness is understood and treated. At Yale University, Shirley Wang, Ph.D., who joined the psychology department in July as an assistant professor, is using machine learning and mathematical modeling to attempt to predict… Read more »
Older Interviews...
In Person with Alan Bodnar, Ph.D.
Reading Vonnegut in the playroom
Visiting the grandkids is always a special treat and we make the day-long drive as often as we can. As the years roll on, our visits change from participating in the routines of one baby to playing with the toddler she becomes and then sharing our attention with another baby. Now they are six and three, two active little girls. They greet us with big smiles and warm hugs. A guided tour of their rooms usually follows, and we are… Read more »
The president and the poet
It had snowed heavily the night before, and the day dawned with a frigid wind and blinding sunlight that glinted off the blanket of white spread out in all directions where the shovelers had left it undisturbed. The area around the speaker’s platform and the stands had been cleared, but the reflected light from surrounding snow cover was intense. The poet, an old man of 86, approached the podium and began to read from the manuscript he carried. He wore… Read more »