Leading Stories, Articles
Psychologist advocates for psychological testing coverage
By Catherine Robertson Souter
What happens when a child is referred for psychological testing but his insurance does not cover even half of the cost? What about when this child has needs far greater than what a school’s counseling department can diagnose? Who will help him? Over the past 30 years, these questions and others have plagued Jerold Pollak, Ph.D., ABPP, ABN. A forensic psychologist with the Portsmouth, N.H.-based Seacoast Mental Health Center for the past 12 years, Pollak has seen countless adolescents and children for diagnostic testing. Pollak has seen how difficult it is for families to get proper testing for their children, [More]
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Violence: balancing treatment efficacy with provider safety
By Phyllis Hanlon
Last October, shock waves rippled through the mental health community when a patient at the bipolar clinic at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) stabbed his psychiatrist. While such events – although rare – grab media attention, they serve as reminders to providers of the importance of awareness and preparation. According to Steve Nisenbaum, Ph.D., J.D., past president of Division 18 (Psychologists in Public Service), Division 18’s public policy liaison to the American Psychological Association, and 30-year staff member at MGH, these violent episodes create a conflict between the efficacy of treatment and the safety of the provider. “This is a key [More]
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Jobless have increased mental health woes
By Pamela Berard
A national study shows Americans affected by the economic downturn displaying symptoms of severe mental illness at a much greater rate than those who haven’t been affected. Unemployed Americans are four times as likely as those with jobs to report symptoms consistent with severe mental illness and twice as likely to report concern with their mental health, according to a September survey conducted for Mental Health America and the National Alliance on Mental Illness in collaboration with the Depression is Real Coalition. Additionally – workers who are employed full-time but faced involuntary changes in their employment status – such as [More]
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Name change for day program reflects services
By Jennifer E Chase
What’s in a name? To the Massachusetts organization formerly known as Handi Kids., everything. For one thing, this vocational and life skills program for clients ages three to-22 with wide-ranging disabilities, Handi Kids no longer serves just “kids” … especially with its popular therapeutic riding program that attracts a number of adult participants. But aside from issues of accuracy, aesthetics (there’s a bridge on the property) and location (Bridgewater, Mass.), the board of directors learned that the organization’s name was sending a subliminal message it wanted to stop. “We’d heard that some families chose not to look at our program [More]
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Health care quality progress slowed in ‘08
By Nan Shnitzler
A report released this past October by the private, non-profit National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) finds that the overall quality of health care delivered through both commercial and public health plans was static in 2008. “This breaks a 12-year run of significant progress. While it could be a one-year blip, I fear it may be the beginning of a troubling trend,” writes Margaret E. O’Kane, NCQA president, in the annual “State of Health Care Quality” report. NCQA estimates that if every health plan performed as well as those ranked in the top 10 percent, up to 115,000 lives and [More]
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Report reveals alarming child death statistics
By Phyllis Hanlon
On October, the Every Child Matters Education Fund (ECMEF) released eyebrow-raising findings, based on data obtained from the Department of Health and Human Services: 10,440 children died between 2001 to 2007 from abuse and neglect. Approximately 75% of those children were under age four. Even more alarming than this report are other studies that indicate this statistic may fall short of the actual number of child deaths. Michael Petit, president of Every Child Matters and former commissioner of Maine’s department of health and human services, notes that inattention to this serious issue prompted the report. “There were unchecked news accounts [More]
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Study shows Americans are sleep deprived
By Catherine Robertson Souter
Some say that Americans are less productive than their counterparts in other developed countries, are far too overweight, don’t exercise enough and now, to top it off, don’t sleep enough. A recent study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, found that 41 percent of Americans report that they have not had sufficient sleep for nearly half of the past month. Worse, up to 11 percent claim they have not slept enough for any of the past 30 days. Only one-third of adults claim they are getting enough sleep every night. This lack of sleep, say experts, can [More]
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Westborough State Hospital to close ahead of schedule
By Elinor Nelson
In a money saving plan expected to help meet the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health’s $14 million shortfall entering fiscal year 2010, the state will be closing Westborough State Hospital in April, two months ahead of schedule. The plan to close the hospital and build a new state-of-the-art facility on the campus of Worcester State Hospital has been in the works for about eight years, and the new hospital is expected to open in 2012. At the moment, the Department of Mental Health is “in the middle of transition and discharge plans for [Westborough State’s] patients” until patients can be [More]
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McLean’s coaching program offers new opportunity for psychologists
By Jennifer E Chase
Institute of Coaching at McLean Hospital in Massachusetts opened in early 2009 and is quickly becoming a reliable resource for psychologists wanting to add the skills of life coaching to their professional toolbox. Its 1,200 plus member listserv was largely created by Internet information seekers looking for more data. Thanks to a $2 million gift from Ruth Ann Harnisch, a certified professional coach and founder of the Harnisch Foundation, McLean launched the IoC – a first-of-its-kind center for coaching-related research, practice and education – to advance excellence in research and practice within the growing field of coaching, a practice that [More]
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Stress impacting teens too
By Pamela Berard
The dismal economy has not only affected American adults – teens and tweens are feeling the pressure, too. Stress related to family finances has grown among youth in the past year, according to a new survey released by the American Psychological Association (APA). Youth are also stressed about school and other issues and their parents are underestimating the toll such pressures are having on them. Nearly half (45 percent) of teens ages 13-17 surveyed said that they worried more this year than last year, but only 28 percent of parents reported that they think their teen’s stress increased. Additionally, 26 [More]
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