July 16th, 2020
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?…
Tags: psychologists, rage, violence, research, protesters, George Floyd, rioting, looting, mob mentality
Posted in Leading Stories, Articles | No Comments »
July 14th, 2020
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 for those having mental health conditions, but who are not in crisis, and wish to connect with certified individuals who can provide peer support, according to Pollard.…
Tags: racism, Mental health, stress, COVID-19, panedemic, economy, psychological well-being
Posted in Leading Stories, Articles | No Comments »
July 14th, 2020
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, or housing inequalities, gaps in social resources, or the fact that people of color are disproportionately working in higher risk occupations plays the greatest role in these disparities.…
Tags: race, coronavirus, COVID-19, pandemic, racial disparity, ethnic, blacks, hispanics
Posted in Leading Stories, Articles | No Comments »
July 14th, 2020
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 percent of their minority therapy client test subjects.…
Tags: therapy, psychologists, cultural diversity, race, oppression, people of color, African-Americans, white therapist, racial background
Posted in General, Leading Stories, Articles | No Comments »
May 8th, 2020
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 symptoms, their personal interactions tell a bigger story.…
Tags: research, hallucinations, UMass Amherst, shizophrenia, social interaction, social distancing, delusions
Posted in General, Leading Stories | No Comments »
May 7th, 2020
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 on HIPAA-compliance, insurance coding, inter-state laws, and the optimal conferencing platforms.…
Tags: telehealth, COVID-19, pandemic, online therapy, conferencing platforms, video conference
Posted in Leading Stories, Articles | No Comments »
May 6th, 2020
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 autism.
…
Tags: children, kids, coronavirus, COVID-19, pandemic, autistic, structure, routine
Posted in Leading Stories, Articles | No Comments »
April 19th, 2020
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 health care system,” said Senator Cindy F.…
Tags: Massachusetts, legislation, mental health bill, Mental Health ABC Act: Addressing Barriers to Care, access, psychiatric emergency
Posted in Leading Stories, Articles | No Comments »
April 18th, 2020
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 several national and international professional sports teams, including the New England Patriots.
…
Tags: regulate emotions, Sport psychology, practitioner, educator, researcher, goals, personal development, dialectical behavior therapy, athletes, mind-body connection
Posted in Leading Stories, Articles | No Comments »
March 26th, 2020
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, it launched a virtual Partial Hospital Program on Monday, March 23.…
Tags: Mental health, telehealth, coronavirus, pandemic, Boston Child Study Center, temporary closure
Posted in Leading Stories, Interviews | No Comments »
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.
Prep work required for clinicians to deliver remote treatment effectively, founder says