General, Articles
Hearing raises issue of parity, insurance rates
By Catherine Robertson Souter
As required by state law, the New Hampshire Insurance Department (NHID) hosts a public hearing each year to talk about health care costs and trends. The 2019 hearing, held in October, focused on the number of residents covered by insurance and the state’s progress on mental health parity. Eireann Sibley NHID communications director noted that the hearings are for the public and regular attendees include insurance company representatives, providers, academics, health care advocates, and legislators. According to published reports culled from data submitted by health insurance companies, the uninsured rate in New Hampshire did not change drastically in 2018 from [More]
Can you gig it?
By Janine Weisman
It depends on the state where a psychologist lives Make your own hours. Choose your own patients. Keep records the way you want to. The advantage of being an independent contractor is maintaining control over the work you do. That’s why the California Psychological Association declared victory when psychologists in that state were exempted from a new law making it more difficult for employers to classify workers as independent contractors instead of traditional employees who receive Internal Revenue Service W2 statements from their employers. Physicians, podiatrists, and dentists are also exempt from the law set to take effect January 1, [More]
Study identifies resiliency strategies for family members of violent patients
By Susan Gonsalves
Family members of people with severe mental illness and violent tendencies often feel confused and isolated. Mental health professionals can help them by increasing their knowledge of mental illness and introducing them to strategies to ease the burden. That conclusion came from research led by Karyn Sporer, Ph.D., assistant professor of sociology at the University of Maine. She and her team used in-depth, ethnographic interviews with 42 parents and siblings of violent children with severe mental illness to generate data and identify coping methods. Her results, published in the Journal of Family Issues, highlighted ways that families said they are [More]
Lawsuit against Harvard intensifies focus on role of college mental health services
By Janine Weisman
One in four members of Harvard University’s Class of 2023 is Asian-American, according to demographic statistics on the university’s website. So, a recent report by the New England Center for Investigative Reporting that found six of at least nine Harvard undergraduates who died by suicide between the years 2007 and 2017 were of Asian descent should raise an alarm for college mental health services. One of those suicides was Luke Tang, who took his own life in a campus residence hall at the start of his sophomore year in September 2015. Tang’s father Wendell Tang, M.D., filed a lawsuit against [More]
Evidence doesn’t support claim linking mental illness, mass shooters
By Janine Weisman
The evidence suggests mass shootings perpetrated by individuals with mental illness account for less than one percent of gun-related homicides. But you wouldn’t know it from President Donald Trump’s comments after a pair of mass shootings during the first weekend in August killed more than 30 people in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio. Among Trump’s widely reported quotes: “Mental illness and hatred pull the trigger, not the gun.” “The president is poorly informed about the research on gun violence generally and mass gun violence in particular,” said Robert Kinscherff, Ph.D., JD, a professor in the doctoral program in clinical [More]
Different theories examine causes of pedophilia
By New England Psychologist Staff
According to the DSM-5, the criteria to diagnose Pedophilia (Pedophilic Disorder) is defined as recurrent experiences of intense sexual arousal, fantasies, sexual urges or behaviors involving sexual activity with a prepubescent child or children, usually under the age of 14. The person has acted on these sexual urges or these sexual urges or fantasies cause the person distress or problems in interpersonal relationships. In order to be classified with this disorder, the person must be at least 16 years of age and five years older than the child or children for whom he has these feelings that are possibly acted [More]
Kurn Hattin celebrates an historical milestone
By Phyllis Hanlon
In 1849, when Boston clergyman Charles Albert Dickinson started Kurn Hattin on a pristine Vermont hillside overlooking the Connecticut River Valley, the school consisted of two students, one teacher and two house parents. Fast-forward to 2019 and approximately 85 students are now enrolled and staff has increased as the school celebrates its 125th anniversary. In those early days, Kurn Hattin served as a safe haven for children living in dysregulated homes. Today, the school continues to provide a secure, nurturing environment for children who would otherwise be living in households with social, financial and other challenges. Steve Harrison, executive director, [More]
Wayside launches new program for children impacted by opioid crisis
By Margarita Tartakovsky, MS
In response to the devastating effects of the opioid crisis on kids’ mental health, the non-profit service agency Wayside Youth & Family Support Network recently launched the Children Impacted by Substances (CIS) program. The program is part of Wayside’s Trauma Intervention Services in Milford. The CIS program serves clients in Middlesex, Norfolk, and Worcester counties, which includes 26 surrounding towns. According to Massachusetts Department of Public Health data, between 2010 and 2018, Middlesex had the highest number of opioid-related deaths. Worcester had the third highest. The CIS program can serve youth between ages five and 18 who’ve been affected by [More]
Connecticut organization runs work-based learning program for teens
By Eileen Weber
This summer, Waterbury high school students got a chance at real-life skill building and resume development thanks to grants from the American Savings Foundation, the Frederick W. Marzahl Memorial Fund and other in-kind contributions given to the Connecticut Junior Republic (CJR). The organization’s combined programs annually serve approximately 1,500 boys and girls. In their summer program, at-risk and disadvantaged teens developed work experience that could help them land a future dream job. Just ask Victor Marcial. A recent University of Hartford graduate, he pursued a degree in visual communications all because of the CJR program. He started with their after-school [More]