Articles
End-of-life care offers challenges to clinicians
By Phyllis Hanlon
Until recently, talk of death and dying was a subject often avoided. However, medical professionals and some segments of the general population have come to understand the value of hospice, palliative, and end-of-life care. According to Karen M. Fasciano, Psy.D, director of the young adult program at Dana Farber/Brigham & Women’s Cancer Center, in the last few decades, society has seen a cultural shift when it comes to end-of-life care. Offering this care can help relieve physical and mental suffering at end of life as well as during bereavement, by providing psychological, social, and spiritual support. Fasciano indicated that the [More]
Tags: support, therapist, death, end-of-life care, dying, palliative care, hospice, bereavement
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How can therapists become more culturally competent?
By Catherine Robertson Souter
As our nation struggles toward building a better society for all races, therapists may find themselves doing some self-reflection on how they handle diversity in their own practices. Cultural competence has become a key phrase within the field. But how does one become culturally “competent?” In its “Guidelines for Providers of Psychological Services to Ethnic, Linguistic, and Culturally Diverse Populations,” the American Psychological Association explains that providers should have a “sociocultural framework” that will help them use a systematic approach to working with a “diversity of values, interactional styles, and cultural expectations.” The organization recommends that psychologists become knowledgeable and [More]
Tags: marginalized groups, therapist, cultural competence, handling diversity, multicultural assessment
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Despite lack of attention, cults continue on
By Catherine Robertson Souter
Texting and driving, opioids, vaping: these are the dangers facing young people that rule the media today. But take a look at a newspaper from 30 years ago and you’ll find a different danger constantly in front of parents’ faces – the prevalence and peril of cults. These stories don’t seem to grip the nation like they once did. While we still hear of occasional groups, such as one in New York that has been branding young women, are cults still as rampant? Yes, they are, according to Eric Sweitzer, M.T.S., Ph.D, a clinical psychologist and director of the Charis [More]
Tags: relationships, cults, Eric Sweitzer, International Cultic Studies Association, ideological organization, religion, cult leader, therapist
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