Columnists, Articles
Counting what we do and doing what counts
By Alan Bodnar Ph.D.
These days, we count everything in the hospital. On Tuesdays, an email comes to remind me to submit my weekly encounter form by 10 o’clock the next morning. That’s where we count how many patients we’ve seen and how many minutes we spent seeing them. Risk assessments ask us how many times a patient has been arrested, charged with violent crimes, convicted, hospitalized, restrained and secluded. We need to know how many times they’ve run away from home, tortured animals, set fires, skipped school, bullied classmates, sassed teachers, got suspended, expelled or expunged from the rolls of the good and [More]
Telepsychology guidelines worth examination
By Edward Stern J.D.
The American Psychological Association has begun planning for the future. In July of 2013, the APA approved Guidelines for the Practice of Telepsychology. Rather than repeat the text and history for these guidelines here, those interested may proceed to the Web site www.apa.org/practice/guidelines/telepsychology.aspx The site reports that the Telepsychology Task Force that put together the guidelines were focused on two issues: the psychologist’s own knowledge of and competence in the provision of telepsychology; and the need to ensure that the client/patient has a full understanding of the potential increased risks to loss of security and confidentiality when using technologies. In [More]
Recovery thoughts for the day
By Alan Bodnar Ph.D.
There are new faces everywhere in the hospital and I am not just talking about new patients or staff. Just the other day, I ran into Jimmy Carter in the chapel and a colleague swears she caught a glimpse of Audrey Hepburn in the beauty salon. Larry Bird and Michael Jordan were into a fierce one on one match up in the gym while coach John Wooden smiled serenely from the sidelines. These are just a few of the celebrities who have been spending time with us over the past several months as part of a new recovery initiative spearheaded [More]
At the turning of the year
By Alan Bodnar Ph.D.
A gentle rain is falling outside the upstairs window as I write these words at the turning of another year. The holiday season is upon us with Thanksgiving, Hanukah, Christmas and New Year’s Day stacked up on the runway poised to take off, one after another, until the tarmac stands empty except perhaps for the snow. The season prompts gratitude and hope, gratitude for the many good things that have happened to us over the past year, hope that we will find the good we seek in whatever the new year brings. It is easy to overlook our everyday blessings [More]
It’s all happening at the dump
By Alan Bodnar Ph.D.
It’s not every day I get a chance to attend a world premiere, so when my neighbor Joe sent me the invitation, I promptly accepted. Never mind that it wasn’t exactly Hollywood. A student documentary about our town’s recycling center, affectionately known as “the dump,” complete with pre-screening hors d’oeuvres in the company of friends and neighbors was reason enough to break out the black tie and tails or a least put a fresh shine on my old wing-tips. Of course, since the subject matter was the dump, none of that is necessary. I went on a lark and returned [More]
It’s a big world after all
By Alan Bodnar Ph.D.
If dreams, as Freud famously wrote, are the royal road to the unconscious, then perception must surely be at least a serviceable two-lane highway to our understanding of reality. After cataract surgery gave one of my eyes a very different focal point than the other, I find myself in a strange no-man’s land where I can literally choose between two views of reality. The world I see through my left, now less nearsighted eye, is noticeably bigger than the smaller world to which I have become accustomed and which I still see through my extremely nearsighted right eye. The effect [More]
Test data access examined
By Edward Stern J.D.
Are clients/patients entitled to test data as part of their records if they request a copy of their records or request their records be forwarded to others? In 2002, the American Psychological Association changed its Ethics Code to include “test data” as part of a client/patient’s records. Standard 9.04 defines test data as “raw and scaled scores, client/patient responses to test questions or stimuli, and psychologists’ notes and recordings concerning client/patient statements and behavior during an examination.” Notice that “test data” does not include “test material.” Test material is the actual test administered to the client/patient. Test data, however, is [More]
Remembering two voices of hope
By Alan Bodnar Ph.D.
Confronted by the many faces of depression and despair that we see in our offices, we listen and speak, choosing our silences as carefully as we choose our words, never forgetting the power of the right word at the right time. This year on the last three days of August, as we searched for words of hope to offer our patients, the world took notice of hope filled words of two of our greatest inspirational leaders, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Seamus Heaney. August 28th marked the 50th anniversary of Reverend King’s “I Have a Dream” speech delivered on the [More]
Finding happiness in the psychology aisle
By Alan Bodnar Ph.D.
Don’t Roll Your Eyes when you see what’s coming but every nine years or so, I use this column to report on a visit to my local bookstore to peruse the current psychology offerings. On my recent visit, I got in the back door shortly before closing time and sidled unobtrusively into the psychology aisle just as a celebrity chef was winding up a book signing. There were three people there before me, the Quiet man, The Dude and the Zen Master. The quiet man held a banner proclaiming Introvert Power and, when I asked what was going on, he [More]
Should 17-year-olds be prosecuted in adult criminal court?
By Edward Stern J.D.
It appears to be time for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to raise the age for juvenile court jurisdiction to 18 to become compatible with federal juvenile law and other legal areas. Presently in Massachusetts, children who have reached their 17th birthday are prosecuted as adults in criminal court. There is now and shall remain a youthful offenders’ concept in which juveniles age 14 and older may be prosecuted in adult court for certain crimes (such as murder) and under certain other conditions. Presently, nine other states prosecute 17-year-olds in adult criminal court: N.H., Mass., S.C., Ga, La., Texas, Mo., Wis. [More]