New England Psychologist
Vermont establishes mental health urgent care centers as alternatives to emergency departments
By Danielle Ray
Vermont is addressing the ever-growing mental health crisis with a forward-thinking idea –mental health urgent care centers across the state, including an inaugural one in the Northeast Kingdom, an area that represents more than 2,000 square miles and a 2010 census population of 64,764 people. The idea behind the concept is that the centers provide services to people of all ages who are suffering from suicidal thought or ideations, panic attacks, and other psychiatric and mental health crises, resulting in… Read more »
Leading Stories
The doctor is in: Calling yourself a Dr.
NE states consider legalizing Psilocybin
MPA highlights legislative priorities
BCBS of Massachusetts expands network of mental health providers
Vermont aims for passage of prescriptive authority bill in 2024
Study: Vets show decrease in suicidal thoughts, behaviors during pandemic
Report: 95 percent of prison population has mental health, substance use disorders
Treatment varies for people with hoarding disorder
Flood of anti-transgender legislation takes mental health toll on population
Study: Homelessness higher in specific demographics
Practical Practice
Practical Practice: How will Artificial Intelligence disrupt the therapy industry?
By Ellen Anderson, Ph.D
I’m a late adopter of technology. I had a flip phone for an embarrassingly long time, resisted Facebook and kept a paper calendar well into the digital age. Despite this, curiosity about the open-source ChatGPT motivated me to watch a quick YouTube video and within minutes, create an online free account. With breathtaking speed, ChatGPT revised my awkwardly worded email and provided me with quotes about psychotherapy, such as, the following from Carl Rogers, “The curious paradox is that when… Read more »
What is happening to patient privacy?
By Ellen Anderson, Ph.D
Recently, I realized that my medical records are available through not one, but three health information exchanges (HIEs), CTHealthlink, CONNIE and CareEverywhere. I learned this by looking at the privacy disclosures on the website where I have received care. I then looked up the member organizations participating in each HIE. Most of the member organizations are acute care hospitals but some are mental health clinics. I investigated a bit further to find that if I were referred for cancer treatment… Read more »
Pay it forward
By Ellen Anderson, Ph.D
Why is it that no one ever calls me back? This is a statement that I hear nearly every day from people searching for mental health services. I’m in agreement. It is mystifying that phone calls from people searching for clinicians go unanswered. If psychologists could do one thing to improve public perception, it should be to assist people who ask us how to access a therapist. Full disclosure, there have been times when I have not returned phone calls… Read more »
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Interview of the Month
Wayne Dailey outlines the role of mental health action at disasters
By Catherine Robertson Souter
Between hurricanes, earthquakes, mass shootings, and deadly viruses, large scale traumatic events have spiked over the past decade. And with disasters comes trauma. Our society’s first responders, the firefighters, medics, and police officers, are always at the scene of any trauma. Now, a cadre of mental health responders often join them. Wayne Dailey, Ph.D, is a recently retired assistant professor of psychiatry at Yale University, the former deputy commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Mental Health, and a clinical psychologist.… Read more »
Older Interviews...
Publisher's Note by John M. Grohol, Psy.D.
Changing times require adaptation
Changing times require flexibility and resilience in clinical practice. The old ways of doing things are not always going to be keeping with the times and the needs of clients. Take, for instance, the rising expectations of patients to be able to communicate with you in-between sessions, whether it is through texting, a messaging app, Facetime, or email. Psychologists are taught that such between-session communications are generally frowned upon. Yet increasingly, more and more patients expect them. Rather than an… Read more »
Protect your data: Electronic health records
We’re living in digital times, but some things never change — such as the interest criminals have in making some easy money. Efficient criminals no longer rob banks – too many things that could go wrong for an unknown payout. Instead, they turn to the endless supply of opportunities available online. While that includes the obvious places – online banking and your online credit card account – some lesser known places are increasingly at risk. One of those places is… Read more »
Older Publisher's Notes...
In Person with Alan Bodnar, Ph.D.
How to elect a president
Four years go by fast, especially at my age. The last four have given us the COVID pandemic, the war in Ukraine, the emergence of artificial intelligence, record breaking heat waves, floods and other natural disasters, the launch of the Webb telescope, space ship rides for billionaires, and the increasing rancor of our political parties and partisans. And now, with some still disputing the results of the last presidential election, we are about to have another one. Can we handle… Read more »
Whistler’s son
My father was a whistler. He whistled while he waited for the bus and for the family to get ready to go wherever we were going with him. And he whistled in his hospital bed until he ran out of breath. When I was a young boy of seven or eight, leaning to whistle was a big deal. My father showed me the pucker method though he preferred using his teeth. I practiced every day and when I thought I… Read more »