General, Leading Stories
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 with [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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Struggle to find affordable, in-network mental health treatment is real
By Janine Weisman
Health insurers are failing to comply with mental health parity laws for Americans with employer-sponsored health coverage and their families, according to a recent report. As a result, there are increasing disparities in access to behavioral health services for employees and their dependents who end up having to seek care from out-of-network providers at higher out-of-pocket costs. The report “Addiction and Mental Health vs. Physical Health: Widening disparities in network use and provider reimbursement” outlines problems with access to affordable in-network care for mental illness and substance use disorders. The report by the independent actuarial and research institution consulting firm [More]
Tags: behavioral health, mental health care, health coverage, higher out of pocket costs, out of network providers, Mental Health Treatment and Research Institute
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Are more psychologists serving only self-pay patients? Difficulties with insurance companies highlighted
By Catherine Robertson Souter
The complaints documented in a 2019 survey released by the Connecticut Psychological Association (CPA) illustrate the on-going difficulties that psychologists have with insurance companies. From understanding administrative requirements, to filing claims, following up on reimbursements, submitting further documentation, waiting on telephone hold, and accepting low reimbursement rates, the range of complaints covers just about every step of the process. It would be no wonder if, as recent news and opinion articles posit, fewer and fewer psychologists are agreeing to join insurance panels, leaving patients with nowhere to turn. While it is difficult to ascertain just how many psychologists currently accept [More]
Tags: psychologist, mental health treatment, therapists, self-pay patients, insurance companies, in network
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Opioid crisis escalates need for foster care
By Eileen Weber
It’s no secret that the opioid crisis has taken a toll in this country. But according to the CDC’s National Center for Health statistics, the New England states have been hit hardest. Fentanyl was the leading cause of overdose deaths in the country in 2017. In New England alone, there were 22.5 fentanyl overdoses per 100,000 people. And of the New England states, New Hampshire has one of the highest rates of opioid-related overdose deaths nation-wide. But those suffering from addiction aren’t the only ones impacted; so are their children. More than 400,000 kids in the United States are in [More]
Tags: New Hampshire, fentanyl, kids, opioid crisis, addiction, foster care, overdose deaths
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Survey: Mass shootings, healthcare among top stressors
By Susan Gonsalves
Healthcare, mass shootings and the 2020 election are among the top stressors for Americans according to a survey by the American Psychological Association. Between August 1 and Sept. 2, 2019, the poll asked 3,617 adults to rate their level of stress as well as identify a variety of potential sources. Concerns about healthcare significantly affect about seven in 10 adults. More than half (64 percent) acknowledge that healthcare is stressing them out as least “sometimes.” Individuals with private insurance (71 percent) are more likely than those with public insurance (53 percent) to cite it as a stressor. Additionally, 55 percent [More]
Tags: psychologists, healthcare, mass shootings, stressors for Americans, 2020 election, tips for staying healthy, managing responses, reducing distress
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