Interviews
Walden’s CEO combines clinical background with business skills
By Catherine Robertson Souter
In the country’s convoluted health care system, forging a path towards recovery can be frustrating at best and a setup for failure at worst. A patchwork system, grown organically over the years as need arises or funding is available, US health care encompasses a wide variety of services, both public and private, for and not-for-profit. It can be overwhelming for individuals trying to navigate and find help for themselves or loved ones, especially for mental health services. With its whole person approach, Walden Behavioral Care, a Waltham, Massachusetts-based mental health care system that specializes in treating eating disorders, looks to [More]
Couples face challenges but long for love, security
By Catherine Robertson Souter
Healthy marriages are good for everyone involved – the couple, of course, but also the rest of the family, the community, colleagues… everyone benefits. But, with a reported 50% of marriages ending in divorce, the on-going need for couples therapists seems like a niche that will never be fully filled. Just in time for Valentine’s Day, New England Psychologist’s Catherine Robertson Souter had a chat with Robert L. Miller, Ph.D, a clinical psychologist with a practice in Cambridge and Stoneham, Massachusetts about his work with couples and how it has changed over the past several decades. A supervisor in the [More]
Long-time columnist shares insight, experiences in new book
By Catherine Robertson Souter
They say that it’s best to write what you know and let the bigger truths come from the personal ones. When Alan Bodnar, PhD, began writing for this publication’s predecessor, Massachusetts Psychologist in 1993, the plan was to shine a light on the life of a practicing psychologist and his relationships with his clients at institutions where he worked. Over the past 25 years, however, as hospitals and agencies shifted and expansion led to New England Psychologist, he discovered that his columns were helping him understand that he was talking about more than one professional’s experiences in and outside of [More]
Psychologist Ashley Warhol, Psy.D finds job at Devereux fulfilling
By Catherine Robertson Souter
As the saying goes, find a job you like and you will never work a day in your life. Psychologists, more than most people, are aware of the need to find meaning in the day to day. For some, however, finding their passion generally takes a long time. For others, it comes more quickly. For Ashley Warhol, Psy.D, finding her niche as director of clinical services and internship training at Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health flowed naturally, and quickly, from a predoctoral internship with the organization in 2012. Following the internship, she was offered a position as a staff clinician, moved [More]
Developmental trauma disorder is focus of research
By Catherine Robertson Souter
It would surprise no one that children who have been mistreated or have been subjected to another form of trauma would experience repercussions. It makes sense that trauma can result in symptoms that look like behavioral disorders, oppositional defiant disorders, anxiety, depression, or ADHD. Yet, for many children the symptoms are treated as not being related to their traumatic experiences. As part of an on-going research project, Julian D. Ford, Ph.D, A.B.P.P., professor of psychiatry and law at the University of Connecticut and director of the Center for Trauma Recovery and Juvenile Justice, and colleagues Joseph Spinazzola, Ph.D. and Bessel [More]
Researcher Nicole Overstreet, Ph.D., focuses on concerns of women, marginalized groups
By Catherine Robertson Souter
Until recently, medical and psychological research was done with a “one-size-fits-all” approach – white men around the age of 35 made up the majority of research subject pools and findings were then extrapolated to apply to women, other ethnic groups, children and the elderly. Researchers began to question standard practices as concerns rose around the over-medication of children by using much larger test subject prescriptions. Also playing a role was the realization that symptoms of the same illness may differ between men and women and that certain treatment regimens work differently for different ethnic populations. There’s been a shift towards [More]
Helping others with personal growth is at core of Randy Kamen’s career
By New England Psychologist Staff
If becoming one’s best self is what the field of psychology is all about, it should surprise no one that a psychologist would wish to continue to evolve over the course of her own career. For Randy Kamen, Ed.D., a psychologist, educator, author and speaker who has held positions at Boston University’s School of Medicine and Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, the beaten path is not always the right one. In helping others find their path, she has turned her own career from clinical psychology and education towards running online group sessions on personal growth. Kamen, who is also a guest faculty [More]
Psychologist strives to help others find ‘true’ life paths
By Catherine Robertson Souter
It’s a daunting task, trying to change the world one stressed out teen or dissatisfied adult at a time. But when it is a passion, as it is with Lisa Manzi Lentino, Ph.D, a clinical psychologist with a private practice in Sudbury, Mass., it is the only way. Lentino, who is also CEO of The Coaching Connector, an online directory of life coaches, has developed a three-phase plan for helping people to find their true path in life, the life they were destined to live. It is a plan that will help not only the individual but also society as [More]