May 10th, 2018
By Eileen Weber
For a number of years, New Hampshire Hospital, the only psychiatric hospital in the state, has been massively overcrowded with too many patients and not enough beds. Patients had little choice but to leave the hospital only to find themselves living on the streets or seeking treatment in already crowded emergency rooms. “There needs to be an array of treatment that used to exist,” said Ken Norton, M.D., executive director of the New Hampshire chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness. “Right now, when patients are discharged, there’s very little step-down.” That’s starting to change. Legislation was recently passed [More]
Tags: patients, mental illness, New Hampshire, Transitional housing, emergency rooms, psychiatric hospital, treatments, legislations, Harbor Homes
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February 11th, 2018
By John Grohol, Psy.D.
Life is all about transitions. It’s what keeps things interesting and challenges our complacency. I’m honored to take over the reins of New England Psychologist, an independent voice that began life as Massachusetts Psychologist in 1993 by Denise Yocum, Psy.D., expanding to all of New England in 2002. Dr. Yocum approached me at the beginning of October to discuss the possibility of purchasing the publication after deciding the time was ripe for retirement. Following a few discussions, it became clear we were aligned in both interests and beliefs. I want to take a moment to thank Dr. Yocum for her [More]
Tags: life transitions, Psych Central, mental health education, psychology education website, New England Psychologist, mental health professionals, psychologists, Dr. Yocum, Dr. Grohol
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January 1st, 2016
By Phyllis Hanlon
According to the 2012 Yoga in America study, approximately 20.4 million Americans practice yoga for a variety of reasons including increased flexibility, general conditioning, physical fitness, overall health benefits and stress relief. Recent research has demonstrated yoga can be an effective complementary therapy to psychological intervention. Thirteen years ago, David Emerson, E-RYT, director of Yoga Services at The Trauma Center at the Justice Resource Institute (JRI), created trauma sensitive yoga (TSY) as an adjunctive treatment for those who have suffered chronic childhood physical and/or sexual abuse and neglect. He explained that parts of the brain that connect awareness to the [More]
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February 7th, 2018
By Catherine Robertson Souter
When a television producer first asked Jessica Griffin, PsyD, if she would consider taking an on-air consultant role on an upcoming reality show, she scoffed at the idea. An associate professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics at UMass Medical School and executive director of UMASS Medical School’s Child Trauma Training Center with a private clinical practice in the Worcester area, Griffin did not see herself as the reality-show type. Still, with some prodding from Hollywood and much discussion with colleagues, friends and family, Griffin decided to jump in. She first served as a consulting psychologist on the show, “Seven Year Switch,” [More]
Tags: Jessica Griffin PsyD, Linked Kids, Married at First Sight, Lifetime, Catherine Robertson Souter, trauma, traumatization, resilience, psychological training, communication skills
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August 18th, 2017
By Kerry Morrison, Psy.D
“Trauma-Informed Treatment & Prevention of Intimate Partner Violence.” By Casey T. Taft, Christopher M. Murphy, and Suzannah K. Creech American Psychological Association Washington, D.C., 2016 Book examines the impact of trauma Reviewed by Kerry Morrison, Psy.D. Trauma, especially childhood trauma, is life altering. It has pervasive effects on all spheres of functioning and relationship development. Trauma also can hinder therapeutic relationships that attempt to treat interpersonal violence. Models of treatment for intimate partner violence must be trauma-informed and recognize the multitude of ways trauma impacts behavioral change. Trauma-informed care has recently been recognized as essential for treatment of survivors of [More]
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February 1st, 2012
By Alan Bodnar Ph.D.
Words written in the first week of January meant to be read a month later stand on the threshold of the unknown, always a mystery, but more consciously so at the beginning of a new year. As the last scraps of confetti from last night’s New Year’s Eve celebrations are swept up and carted away to wherever such things are taken, the sun is already shining in a cold blue sky on the sharp outlines of a snowless winter landscape. We are but a grand parade and a few more bowl games away from the official end of the holiday [More]
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November 1st, 2016
By Alan Bodnar Ph.D.
I thought I knew all the benefits of travel but a recent trip to England introduced me to one I had yet to consider, travel as an act of faith. In its theological meaning, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen. When I said good-bye to my checked baggage in Boston, the substance of my hope was simply that we would meet again in London the next morning. Between now and then, both of us would travel on the same two airplanes, my wife and I in a pressurized cabin, our baggage out of [More]
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May 1st, 2013
By Phyllis Hanlon
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) reports that approximately 5.6 to 8 million Americans 65 and older have mental health or substance use disorders; those figures are expected to double in the next 15 years, precipitating a tremendous burden on an already overburdened health care system. Although community-based care is preferred, inpatient care still remains important as a line of defense in stabilizing individuals and creating long-term solutions. McLean Hospital in Belmont, Mass. has two separate geriatric psychiatry units, one serving individuals with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease and the other for patients with non-dementia related psychiatric diagnoses, according to Don Davidoff, [More]
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May 29th, 2019
By Phyllis Hanlon
Individuals across the spectrum require care from a rehabilitation psychologist. Tim Belliveau, Ph.D., ABPP, director of postdoctoral training & research at the Hospital for Special Care in New Britain, Connecticut said pediatric patients with pervasive mental disabilities, individuals who suffered traumatic brain injuries, stroke or spinal cord injuries, and athletes with torn muscles are among those who may seek help. Elderly patients with age-related physical and/or cognitive decline also could require the services of a rehab psychologist “…to help maximize overall health and encourage a sense of personal choice and independence.” Established in 1958, Division 22, Rehabilitation Psychology, was one [More]
Tags: rehabilitation psychology, treating mind and body, Anthony Podraza, mental disabilities, injured athletes, traumatic brain injuries, stroke, spinal cord injuries
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July 1st, 2014
By Phyllis Hanlon
The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence reports that an estimated 1.3 million women are victims of physical assault by an intimate partner every year; boys who witness the violence are twice as likely to abuse their partners when they become adults. Although significant research has been done, no clear answer to resolving the problem of domestic violence has emerged. During 30 years of studying male behavior, William S. Pollack, Ph.D., ABPP, associate clinical professor of psychology in the department of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and senior clinical consultant on the mental health of men, adolescent males and boys at [More]
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