Columnists, Articles
A funny thing happened on the way …
By Alan Bodnar Ph.D.
Funny things can happen on the way to anywhere and if your life is anything like mine, it’s important not to miss them when they do. It is raining hard in the morning on my way to the hospital, one of those heavy downpours where the sheer volume of water would obscure visibility even without the low clouds that seem to have come down like a curtain over the road ahead. I can just make out the red light at the next intersection or maybe I only know it’s there because I have driven this road so often. A small [More]
A walk to remember
By Alan Bodnar Ph.D.
We all love a good story. Outside of the office, I have found the best storytellers among fellow passengers on long distance train trips. The train ride offers long stretches of time in a confined space with complete strangers and nothing better to do than look out the window at the passing scenery. I could not have imagined a better place for storytelling, at least not until a walk I recently took down a city street that I had known for a long time but seldom visited in recent years. With our plans for a longer day trip scuttled by [More]
What can be done to prevent horrendous acts?
By Edward Stern J.D.
On Dec. 14, 2012, a 20-year-old male shot and killed his mother in their home and then killed 20 children and six adults at a Connecticut elementary school The perpetrator reportedly broke into a locked school by shooting his way through a glass door, carrying a Bushmaster XM-16 rifle, a 10mm Glock 20SF handgun and a 9mm SIG Sauer handgun. A shotgun, allegedly owned by his mother, was also found in his car. He allegedly killed his mother with a .22 Marlin rifle which was left at her home and there was also a .45 Henry repeating rifle and a [More]
The first 20 years
By Alan Bodnar Ph.D.
Last month marked the twentieth anniversary of New England Psychologist. This month is the twentieth anniversary of this column. It started with a telephone call from the publisher and an invitation to write a column about the day-to-day experiences of a psychologist and the reflections to which these experiences gave rise. And so we called the column, In Person. In all that I have written, I have always intended and hoped that my experiences would reflect yours as we journeyed together through our changing personal and professional lives. If you are reading these words in the later stages of your [More]
All around the world
By Alan Bodnar Ph.D.
One of the great pleasures of being a hospital psychologist is the opportunity to carry on conversations with patients that go beyond the 50-minute hour to other settings where staff and patients regularly come together. The conversation can start anywhere about anything but once a good idea has been set free, it can bounce around the building and come back to you when you least expect it. This one started in our Wednesday morning community meeting and re-surfaced in the first therapy group of the day. I don’t know where it went from there because my own work took me [More]
Gender Identity Disorder Case could set precedent
By Edward Stern J.D.
n September 2012, U.S. District Court Judge Mark L. Wolf determined that sex-reassignment surgery was the ‘only adequate treatment’ for Michelle Kosilek, who was previously known as Robert (Kosilek). The basis of this finding appears to be a diagnosis of ‘Gender Identity Disorder.’ Kosilek has been incarcerated in an all-male prison, serving a life sentence without parole for murdering his wife in 1990. From its inception, this case has raised sharp division. The act itself destroyed the framework of a family. Children lose both parents when one parent kills another as one dies and the other goes to jail. It [More]
What I didn’t get for the holidays
By Alan Bodnar Ph.D.
This is a story that began 40 years ago. When I was just starting out in psychology, it all seemed so complicated that I was never quite sure I knew what I was doing. Then one night an old man appeared to me in a dream. He held a large diamond-shaped crystal which he described as the crystal of wisdom. So I did what any resourceful but insecure beginner would do in that kind of situation. I asked him to give me the crystal. That’s exactly what I need. May I have it? Not so fast, the old man replied, [More]
Are “three strikes” laws the solution?
By Edward Stern J.D.
Ensuring the safety of its citizens is one of society’s most important functions. However, everyone does not agree on how to achieve this outcome. One school of thought is based on the concept of deterrence. There are two types: general and specific. Both types are based on the idea that if punishment is severe enough, a person will not want to be caught and punished for committing a crime and therefore will be deterred from doing the crime. Another argument in favor of lengthy punishment is that the punishment (incarceration) will isolate the perpetrator from law-abiding citizens, thereby protecting society. [More]
Seeing the invisible community
By Alan Bodnar Ph.D.
There is nothing like misfortune to focus our attention on the importance of community. In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, we are hearing stories about the way the hardest hit communities have been coming together in their shared sense of loss to support one another emotionally and in more practical ways. From mutual expressions of grief and resolutions to re-build destroyed homes and public facilities to small acts of charity like providing charging stations for cell phones, citizens are finding ways to help one another get through the kind of natural disaster that turns normal life on its end. The [More]
Getting your bearings with difficult clients
By Mitch Abblett Ph.D.
Valuing instead of evaluating your work I was in graduate school when I happened upon a flier for a literary panel discussion featuring some lions of the literary world – among them, novelist Kurt Vonnegut (one of my absolute favorites). At the end of the talk, I sat in the auditorium and listened as the moderator invited people with questions to approach microphones set up in the aisles. An awkward-looking English department grad student walked up to the microphone. “I have a question for you, Mr. Vonnegut,” he stammered, clearly nervous. “I’ve admired your writing for years and I also [More]