Leading Stories, Articles
Outreach program assists children exposed to trauma
By Catherine Robertson Souter
Realizing that more must be done to reach out to children who have witnessed traumatic events, representatives from several agencies joined in Manchester NH to craft a unique outreach program. Launched two years ago, ACERT, or the Adverse Childhood Experiences Response Team, has experienced some amazing results. Several times each week, a member of the Manchester Police Department, a crisis service advocate from the Manchester YWCA and a community health worker from the Manchester Community Health Center (MCHC) head out to knock on doors of homes where children were exposed to trauma. The plan, said program founding partner Lara Quiroga, [More]
Tags: children, trauma, sexual assault, New Hampshire, suicide, drug use, traumatic events, ACERT, domestic incidents, overdose
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Forensic psychologists bring psychological science to court
By Phyllis Hanlon
Television shows give the impression that forensics involves allure and excitement while specially trained professionals unravel subtle clues to track down serial killers. But those who are in the field of forensic psychology tell a different story. Shannon Bader, Ph.D, ABPP, chief of forensic evaluations for the state of New Hampshire, dismissed the notion of “glamour” in relation to forensic psychology; rather she noted that she occasionally gives testimony in court, but spends a significant amount of time reading, interviewing, and writing reports. Bader said that her religious background, in part, led her to this particular field where prisoners and [More]
Tags: mental illness, Forensic psychologists, psychological science, criminal court, Shannon Bader, prisoners, psychological assessment, trauma psychology
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Debate over effectiveness of skin shocks continues
By Janine Weisman
When the Food and Drug Administration will finally issue its final ban on electrical stimulation devices for treating self-injurious and aggressive behaviors is anyone’s guess. But there is no doubt about how firmly a Massachusetts school embraces using a device to deliver either 15.25 or 44 millilamps of electric current to the arms or legs of individuals with intellectual disability and autism, many of whom also have psychiatric disorders. Skin shocks — not to be confused with the voluntary depression treatment known as electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) — are designed to make a patient stop an undesirable behavior by causing them [More]
Tags: skin shocks, GED shock treatment, aversion therapy, stop behavior, pain association, aggressive behaviors, Judge Rotenberg Educational Center
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Connecticut ranks high on study of psychopathy by location
By Susan Gonsalves
Washington D.C. has the highest number of psychopaths, according to a nation-wide study. But Connecticut ranked second overall and first per capita. The research, conducted by Ryan Murphy, Ph.D., research assistant professor at Southern Methodist University, also showed the states with the most psychopaths were clustered in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions. Murphy said that he expanded on research that argued in favor of mapping psychopathy to the Big Five personality traits (extraversion, neuroticism, agreeableness, conscientiousness and openness to experience). His study “Psychopathy by U.S. State” used a sample of 1.6 million people across the country and calculated how frequently [More]
Tags: Connecticut, psychopaths, extraversion, neuroticism, agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness to experience, nation-wide study
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Networking still relies on personal interaction
By Catherine Robertson Souter
Networking once meant going golfing with the sales team or chatting with local bank executives at a Chamber of Commerce event. But how has it changed in the technological age? In many ways, it hasn’t. While there are countless options for on-line networking through apps like “Linked-In,” a good old-fashioned handshake and shared lunch should never be overlooked. “I think maybe early career psychologists and graduate students especially are missing out on going to conferences and networking events in person,” said Jacquelyn M. Reinert, Psy.D., LMHC, member-at-large for the New Hampshire Psychological Association Board of Directors. “A lot of people [More]
Tags: networking, personal interaction, social media, meeting face-to-face, building relationships, professional identity, linked in, handshake
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Market conduct review leads to new fund to supplement behavioral health care system in RI
By Janine Weisman
Blue Cross Blue Shield Rhode Island stopped requiring prior approval for in-network mental health or substance use disorder services on Aug. 1, a move the state’s largest health insurer said was part of a larger focus on improving access to care. Out-of-network services will still be subject to what’s known as utilization review for behavioral health services. But left out of the BCBSRI news release when this policy change was initially announced last May was the fact that the discontinuation of the process known as utilization review came about during discussions with state regulators. That’s after examiners from the Rhode [More]
Tags: prescription drugs, behavioral health, Blue Cross Blue Shield Rhode Island, BCBSRI, prior authorization, state regulators, substance use disorder services, Out-of-network services, deficiencies, reviews of coverage
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UNICEF report: Peer-to-peer violence in schools is pervasive around the world
By Janine Weisman
School is a safe place — but only for half of the world’s students. A new UNICEF analysis finds that half of students aged 13 to 15 globally report experiencing peer-to-peer violence in and around school. That’s about 150 million teens, according to the report “An Everyday Lesson: #ENDviolence in Schools,” which outlines a variety of ways students face violence in and around the classroom. The report measures peer-to-peer violence as the number of children who report having been bullied in the previous month or having been involved in a physical fight. And, the report’s data shows the prevalence of [More]
Tags: children, students, UNICEF analysis, peer-to-peer violence, bullying, physical fights, school, shootings, toxic stress, exposure to violence, healthy brain development, antisocial behaviors, substance abuse, risky sexual behavior, criminal activity
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In the #METoo era, psychologists adopt various strategies to assist victims of sexual abuse
By Phyllis Hanlon
The #MeToo movement opened a floodgate, giving a voice to victims of sexual abuse and harassment. While public revelations have empowered some women, others are reliving past sexual abuse incidents, leading to recurrence of psychological issues. In recent years, stigma surrounding sexual abuse has decreased somewhat, according to New York psychologist Julia Vigna Bosson, Ph.D. “It’s not completely gone, but as more come forward, it seems to break down barriers and give survivors courage to seek help,” she said. On the other hand, watching a woman talk about her story could be a trigger. “This doesn’t mean the person should [More]
Tags: therapy, psychologists, sexual harassment, empathy, support, avoidance, #metoo, sexual abuse, trauma survivors, sensory motor psychotherapy, CBT, self-regulation, meditation, journaling
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Avoidance of triggers may have negative consequences
By Catherine Robertson Souter
With the public testimony and accusations around sexual assault in the national spotlight in recent months, there has been increased attention paid to how these reports may be triggering psychological responses in the general public. Reportedly, reading about or hearing testimony from Christine Ford Blasey, Ph.D, a professor of clinical psychology at Palo Alto University and a research psychologist at the Stanford University School of Medicine, has led women and men around the country to experience their own emotional and physiological responses. Ford testified about her accusations of sexual assault perpetrated during their teen years by Judge Brett Kavanaugh. It [More]
Tags: PTSD, Brett Kavanaugh, traumatic situation, triggers, Christine Ford Blasey, Psychological triggers, sensory input, smell, touch, sound, exposure therapy, avoidance
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Despite lack of attention, cults continue on
By Catherine Robertson Souter
Texting and driving, opioids, vaping: these are the dangers facing young people that rule the media today. But take a look at a newspaper from 30 years ago and you’ll find a different danger constantly in front of parents’ faces – the prevalence and peril of cults. These stories don’t seem to grip the nation like they once did. While we still hear of occasional groups, such as one in New York that has been branding young women, are cults still as rampant? Yes, they are, according to Eric Sweitzer, M.T.S., Ph.D, a clinical psychologist and director of the Charis [More]
Tags: relationships, cults, Eric Sweitzer, International Cultic Studies Association, ideological organization, religion, cult leader, therapist
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