July 6th, 2018
By Catherine Robertson Souter
As part of an effort to combat the drug overdose epidemic, a new law, known as the CARE Act, currently in the Massachusetts legislature would allow certain medical professionals to hospitalize people addicted to drugs for up to 72 hours while waiting for a court order. The law would give physicians, psychiatric nurses, qualified licensed psychologists or clinical social workers the right to judge if a patient’s addiction poses an immediate danger to themselves or to others. The law would allow this involuntary commitment on the basis of the facts and circumstances even if the patient refuses to be examined. [More]
Tags: drug overdose, CARE Act, addiction, involuntary commitment, court order, recovery treatment, Massachusetts legislature
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March 4th, 2018
By New England Psychologist Staff
I’ll never forget my first lesson in the meaning of disenfranchised grief. While interning, I was assigned to a young woman who had been referred by her doctor for depression. In our first session, I heard her story. She had miscarried her first pregnancy only a few months before. “Everyone tells me to get over it,” she said. “When I was crying in the hospital, a nurse told me that miscarriage is nature’s way to end pregnancies that aren’t quite right and that I’m young so I will have other babies. But I wanted this baby I had already named. [More]
Tags: disenfranchised grief, mourning, misunderstood, shameful, disallowed, grieving, miscarriage, drug overdose, loss of a pet, death of ex spouse, LGBT spouse, difficult family member, abuser
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