Leading Stories, Articles
Psychologists study what inspires protestors
By Eileen Weber
The most recent Black deaths at the hands of police have fueled protests across the country. But for some psychologists, their interests lie not in what they are protesting, but why they protest in the first place. And when they protest, why does it sometimes turn violent? As we have seen from a few of the recent George Floyd protests, there has been some rioting and looting. A 2018 collaborative study between the University of South Carolina, Stanford University, and the University of Toronto, posed that question: does violent protest backfire? In it, the researchers theorized that when things become [More]
Tags: psychologists, rage, violence, research, protesters, George Floyd, rioting, looting, mob mentality
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States look at mental health beyond the pandemic
By Phyllis Hanlon
To date, the COVID-19 virus has exacted a tremendous toll on the nation’s economy, uncovered serious flaws in the health care systems, brought long-standing systemic racism to the forefront, and disrupted everyday life. Of paramount importance are the potential long-term effects on psychological well-being. The New England states are taking measures to help ameliorate any adverse effects once the pandemic begins to wane. According to Jessica Pollard, Ph.D, director of Maine’s Office of Behavioral Health, her state has operated a number of crisis phone lines for several years. In response to COVID-19 , Maine set up a “Warmline,” a resource [More]
Tags: racism, Mental health, stress, COVID-19, panedemic, economy, psychological well-being
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Research examines link between COVID-19 & racial disparity
By Eileen Weber
A number of studies have shown a disturbing trend in this pandemic: more people of color have contracted and died from coronavirus than other demographics. In May, a study conducted by Yale School of Medicine parsed the available data on race and ethnicity to show a disparity among people who contract coronavirus. Based on their findings, Blacks were 3.57 times more likely to die from the disease and Hispanics were nearly 1.9 times more likely than whites. Cary Gross, MD, professor of medicine at Yale and co-author of the study, said it’s impossible to determine whether access to health care, [More]
Tags: race, coronavirus, COVID-19, pandemic, racial disparity, ethnic, blacks, hispanics
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Working with clients of color requires training, more listening
By Catherine Robertson Souter
In a perfect world, the color of one’s skin should not affect a therapeutic relationship. However, this is America 2020 and it apparently does. For instance, studies have shown that therapy dropout rates are significantly higher for Blacks than for whites when they work with white therapists. “In general, African-Americans tend to have higher drop-out rates because therapy has historically been considered an institutional privilege,” said Martin Pierre, Ph.D, the president-elect of the Massachusetts Psychological Association (MPA). In a 2014 study by the Trauma Research Institute, at Alliant International University, San Diego, CA, researchers found communication problems cited by 82 [More]
Tags: therapy, psychologists, cultural diversity, race, oppression, people of color, African-Americans, white therapist, racial background
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Researchers at UMass Amherst create device to understand schizophrenia
By Eileen Weber
What if there is a way to better understand schizophrenia just by having patients wear a device? Two researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst are in the process of finding out. With the help of a $1.15 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, the wireless device is likely to reveal how often a patient interacts socially—how many people they talk to, how close they stand, their breathing and other movements—and that may determine whether medication is working or if other treatments are necessary. Because patients with schizophrenia tend to maintain physical distance from others because of their [More]
Tags: research, hallucinations, UMass Amherst, shizophrenia, social interaction, social distancing, delusions
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How to best present yourself while delivering telehealth
By Catherine Robertson Souter
Across the country, as we deal with the fall-out from the COVID-19 pandemic, therapists are turning to video platforms for delivering care. For some, it’s an extension of what they were already doing, but for others this is a whole new world. “Therapists are quickly shifting their practices online,” said Rachel McCrickard, LMFT, CEO & founder of Motivo, a video platform that provides clinical supervision. “Many have formal training and/or extensive experience in the delivery of telehealth, and many do not.” By this point, you have probably made the decision whether to do on-line therapy and have done the research [More]
Tags: telehealth, COVID-19, pandemic, online therapy, conferencing platforms, video conference
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Pandemic affects everyone, especially autistic kids
By Eileen Weber
Coronavirus, or COVID-19 , has ground most of daily life to a halt for weeks. Small businesses are shut down. Children aren’t going to school. People are confined to their homes clinging tightly to toilet paper and hand sanitizer. Globally, there are more than two million cases of the virus with tens of thousands of deaths. The United States has hundreds of thousands of cases with hotspots in areas of New York and Massachusetts and growing pockets in the South and Midwest. But when it comes to issues surrounding the coronavirus, there is one thing that’s been largely overlooked: kids [More]
Tags: children, kids, coronavirus, COVID-19, pandemic, autistic, structure, routine
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Bill aims to improve access and boost workforce
By Catherine Robertson Souter
In a unanimous vote, the Massachusetts Senate recently passed a mental health-focused bill designed to bring sweeping changes to the way care is delivered across the state. Known as the Mental Health ABC Act: Addressing Barriers to Care, the bill outlines new approaches to mental health parity, access to care and to improving, supporting and increasing the mental health workforce. The bill is being touted as a breakthrough in creating a system designed to better meet the mental health care needs of the state’s 6.9 million residents. “For far too long, mental health has been a forgotten component of our [More]
Tags: Massachusetts, legislation, mental health bill, Mental Health ABC Act: Addressing Barriers to Care, access, psychiatric emergency
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Sport psychology: Promoting performance & protecting health
By Phyllis Hanlon
The study of sports psychology can be traced to 1925 when Coleman Griffith founded the first American sports laboratory at the University of Illinois, which operated until 1932. Since those early days, the specialty of sport psychology has evolved, involving a significant amount of research, theoretical study, and specialized knowledge. According to John P. Sullivan, Psy.D, a sport psychologist embraces three important roles: practitioner, educator, and researcher. “All three inform each other and increase sensitivity to how to intervene in an effective way,” he said. As a sports scientist and clinical psychologist, Sullivan has worked with Olympic national teams and [More]
Tags: regulate emotions, Sport psychology, practitioner, educator, researcher, goals, personal development, dialectical behavior therapy, athletes, mind-body connection
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Boston Child Study Center had head start in rapid shift to 100% telehealth
By Janine Weisman
Prep work required for clinicians to deliver remote treatment effectively, founder says The coronavirus pandemic forced the temporary closure of many mental health treatment programs for high risk youth, leaving them without the structure, social interaction, and emotional support essential to recovery. The Boston Child Study Center was in a good position to bridge this gap. In January, 40 percent of patients served by its offices on Boylston Street and in Natick, Massachusetts, saw a therapist virtually and 60 percent of patients served by its Los Angeles office did. As part of the center’s shift to 100 percent telehealth delivery, [More]
Tags: Mental health, telehealth, coronavirus, pandemic, Boston Child Study Center, temporary closure
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