January 1st, 2012
By Phyllis Hanlon
On Nov. 1, Milestone Foundation, a detoxification program for alcoholics and substance abusers in Portland, Maine, faced possible closure because of perceived non-compliance with the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) requirements. Mental health advocates appealed to the Department of Health and Human Services, as well as to Senators Olympia Snowe-R and Susan Collins-R, fearing that homeless individuals and those with alcohol and substance abuse problems would be left on the streets. In what appeared to be a last minute reprieve, the facility’s doors remained open. Guy R. Cousins, LCSW, LADC, CCS, director of the Office of Substance Abuse [More]
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January 1st, 2012
By Catherine Robertson Souter
Ask anyone if they get enough sleep at night and most will say, “No way.” Then ask why not. Full schedules, demanding jobs, social media, television…it all gets in the way of a good night’s sleep. No matter how often Americans hear that even minor sleep deprivation has been linked to everything from injury to chronic diseases like diabetes, obesity and depression, it’s still a rampant problem in this country. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than a third of American adults sleep less than the recommended minimum of seven hours per night. Amy Wolfson, Ph.D., [More]
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January 1st, 2012
By Paul Efthim PhD
“Doing Therapy with Children and Adolescents with Asperger Syndrome” By Richard Bromfield John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Hoboken, N.J. 2010 Use of case material impressive Reviewed By Paul Efthim, Ph.D. The blurb on the dust jacket says it all: “This should become the primary text for psychotherapists working with children and adolescents with Asperger’s.” The blurb writer? No less than Tony Attwood, the renowned authority on the subject. He’s absolutely correct. Boston-area psychologist Richard Bromfield’s latest book draws on his extensive work in clinics and private practice to offer a supremely accessible yet nuanced guide to therapy with children and [More]
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January 1st, 2012
By James K Luiselli EdD ABPP BCBA-D
“The Mind-Body Mood Solution: The Breakthrough Drug-Free Program for Lasting Relief from Depression” By Jeffrey Rossman Rodale Books New York, N.Y. 2011 Author’s view will resonate with readers Reviewed By James K. Luiselli, Ed.D., ABPP, BCBA-D According to psychologist Jeffrey Rossman, “We are living in an age of depression.” Indeed, mental health statistics suggest that approximately 25 percent of Americans will experience depression in their lives. The annual cost of treating depression is billions of dollars with heavy emphasis on medication as a primary therapeutic modality. And yet, there is controversy about the actual effectiveness of antidepressant pharmacology and its [More]
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January 1st, 2012
By Alan Bodnar Ph.D.
January reminds us that there is only one inexorable thing and that is the passage of time. The proactive response to this realization is the New Year’s resolution or what we psychologists might view as a behavioral short-term goal or collection of goals, affirming our determination to make the most of the time we have left. This year, before I start making promises to myself that I probably won’t be able to keep, I resolve to give a bit more thought to the challenges that the passage of time brings and what it takes to meet them head on. When [More]
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December 1st, 2011
By Phyllis Hanlon
The Halloween decorations no sooner come down before retailers begin a full-blown campaign to lure consumers into the stores with cash, check or credit card in hand for special holiday sales. Radio and television ads, newspaper flyers and discount coupons by the dozen entice the public to “Hurry In, Buy Now, Supply Limited!” How can a person resist these bargains? Those who find it challenging to control the impulse to “shop until you drop” may find themselves immersed in a sea of credit card debt, family strife or worse. A 2006 study published in the journal Psychiatry indicates that [More]
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December 1st, 2011
By Nan Shnitzler
Disease is typically described in human terms such as diagnosis, prevalence and mortality. But the World Economic Forum took a fiscal approach in a report released this past September that says the global economic burden of five major non-communicable diseases – cancer, diabetes, heart disease, respiratory illness and mental illness – could approach $47 trillion over the next 20 years, with mental illness accounting for $16 trillion. The total represents four percent of annual global gross domestic product (GDP) over that time span, or considered in 2010 alone, a whopping 75 percent of global GDP. Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) kill 36 [More]
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December 1st, 2011
By Nan Shnitzler
The city of East Providence, R.I., owes Bradley Hospital $4.5 million for in-district special education, a debt that has jeopardized the program and called attention to the school district’s $7 million budget deficit that could further erode special education services and staffing as well as send the city into receivership. In a letter dated Sept. 9 and in an Oct. 24 appearance before the E. Providence school committee, Bradley President and CEO Daniel Wall threatened to end the Bradley Partnership program if a payment plan wasn’t forthcoming. According to the letter, printed in published reports, the last payment the city [More]
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December 1st, 2011
By Jennifer E Chase
The results are in: You can easily enhance how you treat your patients’ depression at the holidays – or any time of year, for that matter – with this simple prescription: live healthfully. A new study about to begin through Butler Hospital’s Psychosocial Research Dept. is delving into the science behind how daily huffing and puffing through exercise, stretching through yoga or amping up one’s healthy foods quotient can increase patient’s response to depression therapy. The study is being led by Lisa A. Uebelacker, Ph.D., assistant professor (research) of psychiatry and human development, and family medicine at the Alpert Medical [More]
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December 1st, 2011
By Phyllis Hanlon
The concept of advance directives was born in 1991 when the federal government introduced the Patient Self-Determination Act, which required all healthcare facilities that receive Medicare and Medicaid funding to introduce patients to and educate health care professionals about these instruments. Shortly after, mental health advocates, drawing upon some of the elements in the advance directive, created a legal document specifically for those with serious mental illness. According to the National Resource Center on Psychiatric Advance Directives 25 states currently have psychiatric advance directives (PADs); Maine is the only New England state to implement a PAD statute. According to David [More]
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