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Dr. Stewart Champions the Whole Person Approach for Female Athletes

Pennington Professor and psychologist Dr. Tiffany Stewart is leading two new studies that will reveal more connections between physical resilience and psychological health in female athletes.

“Female athletes face a unique mix of stresses to their mental, physical, hormonal and immune health during training and competition,” said Dr. Stewart to Pennington news. Stewart is the Director of the Behavior Technology Laboratory at Pennington Biomedical Research Center. “For too long, sports have focused solely on the results – wins, losses, faster times, and higher scores – while ignoring athletes’ mental health. But mental resilience and emotional well-being are every bit as important to succeeding in athletic endeavors or life overall.”

Dr. Stewart’s Behavior Technology Laboratory at LSU’s Pennington Biomedical Research Center is dedicated to Translational Science. She and her team take health behavior change programs and the accompanying technologies from laboratory settings and transform them into programs that everyone can use. The Lab has pioneered the development and testing of e- health technologies in order to bring health behavior tools to those who need it most wherever they are in the world, reported 225 Magazine.

The new research is supported by two awards from the Wu Tsai Human Performance Alliance, whose founding members are Stanford University, Boston Children’s Hospital, UC San Diego, the University of Kansas, the University of Oregon, and the Salk Institute.

According to Stewart, one project will recruit 500 female athletes and assess overall mental health and resilience. Included will be measures of mood, anxiety, body image, social support,
excessive training, sleep, and injury at four points during a 12-month period.

The second study, will focus on 50 of LSU’s female athletes. Scientists will measure mental, physical, hormonal and immune resilience factors during periods of normal, moderate and high stress.

“It’s time we looked at our athletes from a person-centered focus, not solely a performance- centered focus,” Dr. Stewart said. “We need a core paradigm shift that includes health and well-being for the long-term. We need to hand our athletes mental health and resilience skills, and we also need to look at a shift in athletics’ culture and environment,” she said.

Why is it important that the paradigm shift include mental health? “We are still very much a performance based sport environment,” Dr. Stewart said. “I think mental health as a key piece of the whole athlete has been missing from not only helping our athletes be the best they can be on the playing field but in life- thriving in and out of sport,” she said.

“Our model all along has been a ‘push through no matter what’ model–with expectations that in athlete will persevere physical and mental ailments to get the job done. But in seeing what has happened through Covid and what happened in the Olympics–world class athletes leaving the floor due to mental health struggle, for example, Simone Biles–we have come to an impasse on the push through model,” she said.

“It’s an organic moment to address the health and well-being of the whole athlete for the good of performance but also for the good of the life of the athlete outside of sport. Some of our work to come is also focusing on athlete transition out of sport–into life,” Dr. Stewart said.

Why are these research projects so exciting? “These projects are so exciting and important because while research has steadily increased and improved to investigate how to help athletes perform better, there has been little research on psychological performance, mental health, and resilience in athletes and even Dr. Stewart Champions the Whole Person Approach for Female Athletes, continued further- women are underrepresented in these studies,” said Dr. Stewart.

These two studies were funded specifically to study female athletes. Little research has been done on resilience-based strategies for athletes, especially for female athletes. These projects are the first step towards developing skills training for athletes to better cope with stress, especially chronic stress. And- the ability to bounce back from tough things, e.g. injury, tough life events, etc.,” Dr. Stewart said.

225 Magazine noted that for the past 20 years, Dr. Stewart’s team has worked with high performance populations such as U.S. Army Soldiers and NCAA female athletes, in an effort to optimize their health and performance.

“Athletes are not immune to struggles with mental health,” Dr. Stewart said. “The pressure to perform at all costs is more intense than ever. This leaves athletes at risk for consequences such as less than optimal eating habits, exercise, sleep, as well as more serious mental health outcomes, including depression, anxiety, and even suicidality. These difficulties can last a lifetime if not addressed. Proactive, mental health skills training specific to athletes is needed in order to build positive mental coping and resilience skills.”

Dr. Stewart’s team has worked with female collegiate athletes over the years in an NIH-funded trial with a program called the Female Athlete Body Project, according to the report in 225 Magazine. The next phase of work will include the final development and testing of the S.C.O.R.E. (Sport Carried Forward for Resilience and Enrichment) Program- a digital platform and smartphone application to assist athletes in mental and physical thriving.

“The aim is to provide tools and evidence-based coaching to help athletes at all stages of their career to bounce back from difficult challenges and optimize their lives, mentally and physically, moving forward.”

Dr. Stewart has explained that research suggests that disordered eating among female athletes is prevalent, and is especially dangerous in female athletes because it increases risk for the Female Athlete Triad––low energy availability/disordered eating, menstrual disorders, and decreased bone mineral density/ osteoporosis and subsequent injury.

Dr. Stewart’s work has also attracted multimillion dollar funding from the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Defense to understand and help soldiers. She develops programs and technologies to improve nutrition, fitness, and sleep of U.S. Army Soldiers and their family members.

In 2018, the Pennington Biomedical Research Foundation honored their 30-year relationship with the U.S. Defense Department, by hosting a special Scientific Dinner. Dr. Stewart joined with leaders of the Louisiana National Guard to celebrate the 140 studies and 100 papers that have come as a result of joint projects and efforts to improve the health of military warfighters.

“Every day, soldiers and their families make sacrifices for our freedoms,” Dr. Stewart said. “At Pennington Biomedical, we are looking at the health of the whole soldier. We want our men and
women in uniform to be ready for whatever they may face during their service, and that means optimization of physical and mental health and resilience, as well as the families that support them.”

According to Pennington, they are one of the Defense Department’s top nutrition research contributors. “With 30 years of collaboration and $80 million in DOD funding to date, Pennington Biomedical has improved and continues to advance warfighter nutrition, fitness, sleep, technology, body weight, body fat and metabolism.”

Stewart’s Healthy Eating, Activity, and Lifestyle Training Headquarters or H.E.A.L.T.H., is part of the Weight Measurements and Standards for Soldiers Project.

The work is an ongoing, collaborative effort between Pennington and the Department of Defense, designed to aid Soldiers in maintaining healthy weight status, fitness status, combat readiness, and Warfighter performance.

H.E.A.L.T.H. includes programs to aid soldiers’ family members in reaching overall health and fitness goals and incorporates cutting edge interactive technology such as with the Internet and Smartphones, so soldiers and their family members can use it wherever they are in the world. The project is considered a population health program, used and tested in two projects, at Ft. Bragg, NC, and New England Reserves, and is being tested in the Louisiana Army National Guard, according to Pennington.

The program is disseminated Army-wide as part of the U.S. Army Surgeon General’s Performance Triad Initiative to improve nutrition, fitness, sleep, overall health, and resilience for our technologically advanced fighting force and their families.

Dr. Stewart and her team work to distribute information in the broader community. In 2019 she applied her innovations for a community health program at the Knock Knock Children’s Museum, in Baton Rouge. The program was a collaborative effort between the Baton Rouge Mayor’s Healthy BR Initiative, the Museum, Pennington, and other community organizations, noted officials.

Dr. Stewart and her team provided the program called “Sisu & You: Healthy Kids and Healthy Family Workshop.” Sisu is the Finnish word for resilience. “How we view our bodies is a key component of successful health behaviors and significantly affects our quality of life,” said the developers.

Dr. Stewart is also an inventor and entrepreneur, and named 2015 Woman of Excellence by the Louisiana Legislative Women’s Caucus Foundation. She was also commended by the Louisiana Legislature in a House Concurrent Resolution for her work and research, and for “spearheading unique, large, multi-site prevention studies that have included the development and deployment of novel approaches for health behavior change, …”.

In the private sector, Stewart was a Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Body Evolution Technologies Inc., a venture capital-funded entrepreneurial project dedicated to taking e-health assessment, prevention, and treatment programs and technologies from the lab to those who would benefit most, “… especially among young women as they face enormous pressures concerning body-image, weight, eating behavior, and self-esteem.”

In an interview with Huffington Post Healthy Living in 2012, Dr. Stewart said, “I’m a scientist first and foremost, as well as a clinical psychologist, Now I find myself an entrepreneur. My mission is to bring scientific tools to the people who need them most. So many things are developed in science that get great results but stay in the academic realm, like programs for the prevention of eating disorders,” she said. “The work I do is dedicated to translating scientific tools into popular formats that can engage young people to change their health behaviors — their eating, exercise, body image and self-worth.”

Stewart said that the majority of the general population struggles with body image and it is critical to health.

“Even in the scientific literature, body image is thought about as an appearance-based thing,” Stewart explained. “No one has ever talked about body image in the context of health. But it certainly affects our health, influencing our eating, our fitness and social habits. With everything we’re doing, we’re looking for a place where appearance and health can meet and basically be happy together.”

Dr. Dickson Honored for Distinguished Service

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Dr. Amy Dickson has been named recipient of the 2022 Award for Distinguished Service in Psychology by the Louisiana Psychological Association, announced at the spring convention. Dr. Dickson is Assistant Professor at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, (LSUHSC), Department of Psychiatry, New Orleans, Louisiana. She is a license Clinical Psychologist, Infant Team Director, and Psychology Section Deputy Chief.

“This award is given to an individual who has made significant contributions to the professional field of psychology in Louisiana and beyond by their professional service, particularly in the area of diversity, or demonstrated community involvement in support of less privileged or oppressed groups,” said Dr. Amanda Raines, spokesperson for the Association.

“Dr. Dickson works to support some of the most vulnerable populations in our community,” said Dr. Raines. “She works with the Department of Child and Family Services where she provides services to families involved in the court due to suspected abuse and neglect of children. In her previous role as Director of the Victims Assistance Program for the Department of Psychiatry at LSUHSC, Dr. Dickson managed a crisis hot line to assist families in the New Orleans area impacted by violence. In addition, she has worked as the co-director for the Harris Infant Mental Health program at LSUHSC for the past 17 years where she has trained social work interns, psychiatry fellows, and psychology interns to have a deeper understanding for the mental health needs of young children,” said Dr. Raines.

Dr. Dickson is the Psychology Section Deputy Chief and the Child Coordinator of the Psychology Internship Training Program at LSUHSC. She is a Child-Parent Psychotherapy trainer and she is the Director of the Orleans Parish Infant Team which treats children ages 0-5 years in the foster care system. She is part of a Safe Baby Court and trains around the country on infant mental health and court team work.

Dr. Dickson also consults to local child protection agencies, and sees clients at the Behavioral Sciences Center and at a federally qualified health clinic Dr. Dickson considers the training of others to be one of her important contributions. “Training the police to respond to incidents of violence involving children was incredible work,” said Dr. Dickson. “I was able to ride along on shifts with police officers, often at night and attend their daily staffings. I got to know many officers on a personal level and could hear the stress of their job and their helplessness, at times, when confronted with various scenarios. The officers truly wanted to help the families and often did not know how. Getting to work with these families, who would not have come to the attention of mental health professionals, was immensely rewarding,” she said.

Dr, Dickson co-directs the Harris Infant Mental Health training with Dr. Joy Osofsky. According to their website, the LSUHSC Department of Psychiatry began the Harris Center for Infant Mental Health over a decade ago. The Center offers training to predoctoral psychology interns (through an APA approved infant-child internship), child psychiatrists (as a required part of their residency training program), post-doctoral psychologists, social workers, and other professionals seeking infant mental health specialization.

The officials note that the program is multidisciplinary and unique in fulfilling requirements for psychology and child psychiatry training programs, being the first predoctoral internship in infant mental health recognized and approved by both the American Psychological Association (APA) and Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers (APPIC). The child psychiatry rotation began as a six-month experience, explained officials. However after learning how much residents were benefitting from the rotation, the child psychiatry faculty at LSUHSC made it a mandatory part of training. All trainees, from all disciplines, consistently rank their experience in the Harris Center for Infant Mental Health a top part of their training, according to
officials.

Dr. Dickson noted her role after Hurricane Katrina. “The police reached out to our team as they were so traumatized during and after the hurricane and they had built trust in us after working together for so many years. They let us come and hear their stories and provide support. That is a tough group to get to open up and we all felt honored to join those brave individuals on their healing journey,” she said.

For the Orleans Parish Permanency Infant and Preschool Program, Dr. Dickson has conducted extensive relationship-based evaluations to assess whether parental rights should be terminated, or children ages 0-5 years should be reunited with their biological parents as part of a state funded multidisciplinary team. She also conducted out-patient relationship-based family therapy with all available caregivers and their infants, individual therapy with the young children and their parents, psychological evaluations with the caregivers, and/or developmental evaluations with the children if needed. Her services include providing court testimony as an expert witness as needed and supervising the trainees. She presents to local child protection agency staff on a variety of mental health topics. Dr. Dickson has been a provider to Zero to Three funded Court Team since 2007. She has been the Program coordinator since July 2002 and Director since March 2004.

“I was able to provide evaluations when I saw undiagnosed learning disabilities or disorders,” said Dr. Dickson, “work with the children’s teachers to help them understand that the child’s response was often due to their trauma versus oppositional behavior, and helped change the way each family functioned as they understood the impact of their life events on them and could treat each other in a more compassionate and supportive manner. The program enabled me to build connections with so many people who never would have connected to someone like me before.

Due to our grants, we were able to see people free of charge. I still keep in touch with some of my earliest clients as they call to tell me about their own children now and they have referred friends and family members. It’s so wonderful to hear from them.”

In her work at the Harris Infant Mental Health Program, Dr. Dickson has been co-director since 2010. Her services include conducting out-patient family therapy with parents and their infants. She assists in the coordination and teaching of a weekly didactic seminar on infant mental health to a yearly group of fellows. She supervises trainees and has been part of the Harris Professional Development Network since 2008. She has also been part of the Child Welfare Professional Development Network within the Harris network and the Fatherhood Engagement Committee.

“I enjoy watching people make substantial, positive changes in their lives and seeing the ripple effects of those changes as ensuing generations and family members and friends benefit from the clients’ greater emotional health and positive functioning,” she said. “Learning from each other, we all benefit.”

“My work in child protection is also immensely rewarding,” Dr. Dickson said. “These caregivers rarely have a supportive person in their life and many later thank the team for all they have learned. It is always hard to see a child injured, but it is also hard to see a parent who was not protected themselves. Child abuse work is hard, and all the professionals who choose to work in this area truly want to help. Building shared knowledge, learning from one another, and providing emotional support not just to my team and the families- both biological and foster- but also my foster care caseworkers and the attorneys has made us all better at our jobs and better able to find new ways to keep families together or connected to one another in healthier ways.”

Her many accomplishments and recognitions include:

Featured Poster Presentation at the Annual ISTSS

Conference: Childhood Maltreatment and Developmental Delay in Miami, Florida November 6, 2014

One of New Orleans City Business’ Power Generation for 2003 YLC: Volunteer of the Year 2002

Project Leader of the Year 2001

Project (NRP) of the Year 2000

Commendation from Total Community Action for work with local Head Starts

Commendation from CASA for volunteer teaching to incoming classes

Commendation from NCTSN for work given on published materials

Dr. Dickson’s publications include:

Zeanah, P., Larrieu, J., Osofsky, J., Dickson, A., & Zeanah, C.H. (2021). Enhancing Developmental Trajectories: The Critical Importance of Increasing & Supporting Evidence-Based Services for Louisiana’s Most Vulnerable Citizens.

Hines, E.N., Thompson, S.L., Moore, M.B., Dickson, A.B., & Callahan, K.L. (2020). Parent-child separation due to incarceration: Assessment, diagnosis, and treatment considerations. Zero to Three, 40(4), 22-29.

Family Time Resources: A Series of Publications for Foster Care Workers, Foster Parents, CASAs, Judges, Parents, and Attorneys- in collaboration with the Harris Professional Development Network committee members, October 2020.

Hines, E., Thompson, S., Moore, M., Dickson, A. & Callahan, K. (2020) Parent-child separation due to incarceration: Assessment, diagnosis & treatment considerations. Zero to Three Journal, 40 (4), 22-29.

Dr. Dickson said she is grateful to the many people who have trained her over the years, but she is most thankful for Dr. Joy Osofsky.

“I have been taught by many fabulous people who are so good at what they do,” Dr. Dickson said. “I have had the incredibly good fortune of being mentored by Dr. Joy Osofsky who has exposed me to so many wonderful learning opportunities and provided the grants and vehicles to be able to do such meaningful work. LSUHSC is involved in great community work, and I feel so grateful to have landed here to be exposed to such wonderful opportunities and people who
keep the work challenging and interesting and relevant to society.”

Dr. Dickson believes you should never stop training. “Listen to the community members,” she said. “Learn that despite your advanced training, we can always learn from others. Our team has never entered a system thinking we know the answers. Even when called into help, we learn the most from listening and observing and then partnering with others to see what will be beneficial. We co-create wonderful interventions together when we do this. I have definitely learned more from my clients and colleagues than they have learned from me,” Dr. Dickson said.

Dr. Dickson said, “I love going to work each day. My colleagues and trainees are awesome, and you never know what will happen that day. Kids, in particular, are so unpredictable and can bring such joy. I love to watch people heal from their traumas and fully engage again and find joy, meaning and happiness. It is a humbling experience to be a part of someone’s journey and I feel grateful every day that I get to do the work I do.”

Dr. Lin Named 2022 Janet Matthews, PhD, Outstanding Psychology Mentor

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Dr. Hung-Chu Lin, Professor of Psychology at the University of Louisiana Lafayette, has been named by the Louisiana Psychological Association as the 2022 Janet R. Matthews, PhD, Outstanding Psychology Mentor.

“This award recognizes and honors Dr. Janet R. Matthews for her lifetime of mentoring work and the impact she had on psychologists in Louisiana,” said Dr. Amanda Raines, spokesperson for the Louisiana Psychological Association, at the group’s spring convention.

Dr. Raines announced that the Association was honoring Dr. Lin for 2022. “Her dedication to supporting, encouraging, and guiding undergraduate and master’s level psychology students is truly remarkable,” said Dr. Raines.

“Each semester, she mentors an average of 15 undergraduate and graduate students in her lab,” said Raines. “Students not only learn critical thinking skills but how to design sound research studies, test hypotheses, and communicate findings. In the classroom, Dr. Lin creates a space that is welcoming and accessible for those with learning disabilities and/or non- conforming identities. She further assists students who are facing financial hardships or experiencing psychological distress. In summary, she provides essential, foundational experiences, through her research and teaching, to facilitate the growth and development of her students.”

As well as a professor at University of Louisiana Lafayette (ULL) Dr. Lin is also the Chair of the Institutional Review Board and she holds the endowed SLEMCO/LEQSF Regents Professor in Liberal Arts.

Her research focus includes the development of emotions, parenting, attachment relationships, and developmental disabilities. She runs the Developmental Science Laboratory (DSL), which takes an interdisciplinary approach to examine the complexity of adjusted and maladjusted developmental processes.

She is a Sponsored Collaborator with The Developmental Risk and Cultural Resilience Laboratory at Pediatric Newborn Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School. Among her other collaborators are the Cecil J. Picard Center for Child Development and Lifelong Learning, College of Behavioral, Social, and Health Sciences, Clemson University, and the Cognitive Science of Language & Education Lab, Department of Psychological Science, the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.

Dr. Lin earned her doctorate in developmental psychology from the University of Connecticut and it is a board certified specialist of academic pediatric dentistry in Taiwan and holds a DDS degree from the school of dentistry in the national Taiwan University.

Also this year the ULL Graduate School selected Dr. Lin as the recipient of the 2022 Outstanding Master’s Mentor Award.

In ULL News, Dr. Amy Brown, department head for Psychology, said, “She is very supportive of the professional development of her master’s students: encouraging them to apply for grants and awards, and to present research at conferences. In interacting with graduate students, Dr. Lin is warm and supportive, but also holds high standards—she expects hard work and improvement, and creates an environment where students feel empowered to work hard and succeed.”

Dr. Lin directs the Developmental Science Laboratory (DSL) where interested faculty and students take an interdisciplinary approach to studying The complexity of adjusted and maladjusted developmental processes. The DSL projects include:

•The long-term physical and mental sequelae of adverse childhood experiences.
•The relation between adverse childhood experiences and sexual self-esteem.
•Mindfulness and resilience as protective factors for individuals with childhood trauma.
•Social stigma (explicit and implicit) towards individuals with developmental disabilities/LGBTQ populations.
•Perceived parental behaviors, relational identity, and internal working models.
•The development of empathy and understanding of theory of mind.
•Using simulation paradigms to observe emotional responses and physiological arousal.
•Interpersonal problems, emotional regulation, and anxiety disorders.

Dr. Lin said to ULL News, “No words can express how rewarding and fulfilling it is to grow along with my research children academically, professionally, and personally,” Lin said. “I’m grateful to play a role in these students’ lives as they pursue their academic and personal development.

“As a mentor, I constantly question and examine my preconceived assumptions and beliefs about mentees and strive for bias-free mentoring. By actively listening and discerning, I convey my unconditional respect and emphatic care with affirmation, understanding, and acceptance.”

What does she believe are the most important characteristics that have supported her in being such a successful mentor?

“Being grateful to play a role in these students’ lives as they pursue their academic and personal development,” said Dr. Lin. “Being unconditionally respectful to individual differences in students’ competencies, learning styles, communication patterns, and personality qualities. Being clear when setting goals and expectations for their works while maintaining flexibility to tackle with unexpected events.”

What are some of the most enjoyable experiences she has had as a mentor to her students? “To grow academically and personally together with them,” Lin said.

Dr. Lin sets out her methods and philosophy in her Mentorship Statement, including:

“Unconditional respect for individual differences. Mentees come from various racial/ethnic and sociocultural backgrounds. Every one of them displays distinctive approaches to learning and dispositional characteristics when tackling challenges or stressful situations. As a mentor, I constantly question and examine my preconceived assumptions and beliefs about mentees and strive for bias-free mentoring. By actively listening and discerning, I convey my unconditional respect and empathic care with affirmation, understanding, and acceptance. At the core, each mentee is a unique individual; thus, my mentoring is tailored to the uniqueness of the individual’s needs to maximize the mentee’s academic progress and personal growth.

“Mentoring is like parenting. It was at the end of a departmental award ceremony a couple of years ago when one of my mentees (who was recognized as the outstanding graduate for that academic term) introduced me to her mother, ‘Mom, I’d like you to meet my research momma!’ Feeling tremendously touched and proud, I regarded this title of research momma beautifully represented my relationships with my mentees.”

UUL News reported that Madeline Jones, master’s candidate in psychology, describes Dr. Lin as “an amazing mentor” who “has given me strength and confidence throughout my time in this program. I would describe my relationship with Dr. Lin as one filled with mutual respect, kindness, communication, support, and positivity. I attribute my success as a graduate student to her qualities as a mentor, especially her resourcefulness, efficiency, and determination.”

Five of Dr. Lin’s researchers have been accepted to various doctoral programs around the country. Madison Holmes has been accepted to the PsyD program at Mercer University. Maddison Knott has been accepted to the doctoral program in clinical psychology at Southern Mississippi University. Lindsey Held has been accepted to the doctoral program in experimental psychology with a concentration on developmental psychology at the University of Alabama. Kylie Garger has been accepted to the doctoral program in developmental psychology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Michelle Grisham has been accepted to the doctoral program in developmental psychology at the Northern Illinois University.

Reviewed publications with student coauthors include:

Lin, H.-C., & Janice, J. (2020). Disengagement is as revealing as prosocial action for young children’s responding to strangers in distress: How personal distress and empathic concern come into play. International Journal of Behavioral Development;

Flynn, N. S., Harrington, J. H., Knott, K. M., & Lin, H.-C. (2020). Job satisfaction in direct support professionals: Associations with self-efficacy and perspective-taking. Societies;

Lin, H.-C., Bourque, J., Zeanah, P., & McFatter, R. (2018). Perceptions of stress and enrichment in caregivers of children with autism spectrum disorder: Implications for community support. Societies.;

Conference Presentations with Student Coauthors (All Peer Reviewed) include:

Lin, H.-C., Held, L., & Malley, K. The Associations between adverse childhood experiences, emotion regulation, and adult distress symptoms. Poster proposal accepted to be presented at the 2019 International Convention of Psychological Science, March, 7-9, 2019, Paris, France.

Lin, H.-C., McDermott, M., Zeanah, P., & Held, L. (2019, March). Posttraumatic stress disorder in the association between childhood trauma and somatic symptoms. Poster proposal accepted to
be presented at the 2019 SRCD Biennial Meeting, March 21-23, 2019, in Baltimore, Maryland, USA.

Lin, H.-C., Knott, M., LaHaye, L., Flynn, S., Stringfellow, S. Latiolais, B., & Holmes, M. (2019, May). Difficulty in emotion regulation exacerbates the association of adverse childhood experiences with depressive symptoms. Poster proposal accepted to the 31st Convention of the Association for Psychological Science, May 23-26, 2019, Washington D.C., USA.

Lin, H.-C., Hughes, A., Held, L., Malley, K., Kinsland, M., & Barker, N. (2019, May). The role of difficulty in emotion regulation in the association of adverse childhood experiences with attachment insecurity. Poster proposal accepted to the 31st Convention of the Association for Psychological Science, May 23-26, 2019, Washington D.C., USA.

How did she make the shift from dentistry to psychology?

“Indeed, I have a degree in Doctor of Dental science (DDS). My certified specialty is Pediatric Dentistry. I had worked at the National Taiwan University Hospital for 10 years,” Dr. Lin said. “A large part of my work as a pediatric dentist involved behavioral management to help my child patients comply to and gain positive experiences from dental procedures. I also observed many teenagers suffering from myofascial pain dysfunction syndrome. I became increasingly interested in behavioral sciences and the intricate connections between mind and body to an extent that I made a big career change and came to the US to study developmental psychology. I miss practicing in dentistry (I enjoyed it so much), but I also have been extremely happy with what I am doing now as a researcher and a teacher. Psychology is such an exciting field that keeps amazing me,” Dr. Lin said.

Dr. Cohen’s Newest Research in Clinical Psychological Science

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Dr. Alex Cohen, clinical psychologist and professor at Louisiana State University (LSU), continues his efforts to adapt behavioral technologies for investigating a wide range of clinical issues, including suicidality, depression, psychosis, mania, and anxiety. His newest publication is “High Predictive Accuracy of Negative Schizotypy with Acoustic Measures,” published recently in the flagship clinical journal, Clinical Psychological Science. He is widely recognized for his work using automated computerized analysis of behavior and has been featured in top psychology and psychiatry journals.

In an interview with the Times, Dr. Cohen said, “I think we are pushing the boundaries of what clinical science can do in measuring symptoms of serious mental illness.

“Psychology has not sufficiently addressed many areas of human suffering, and innovation is needed. I believe that Psychology can’t fulfill its potential alone, and will require cooperation between other academic disciplines, and also community partners, big tech, advocacy and political groups, business, government regulators, law enforcement and above all, people from the communities we are serving,” he said.

“Finding ways to cooperate and overcome the inevitable ‘tower of babel’ problem between these groups, in my opinion, is essential to solving many of the big problems that we face right now. Who else is trained so effectively in bringing people together? I think psychology can occupy a central role in coordinating these efforts.”

What does he think are the major and most important findings of this new study? “We were trying to use objective vocal data to predict personality traits associated with psychosis risk,” Dr. Cohen said. “Given the nature of our data, we used supervised machine learning. Our models were highly accurate, generally 85% or so in classifying people with versus without the traits.

“More importantly, we were exploring how this kind of model building should be done, and this problem extends well beyond psychosis risk research. Our models didn’t actually predict personality traits or psychosis risk, but rather, people’s report on ‘gold-standard’ self-report scales. Predicting psychosis risk and predicting scores from a gold-standard measure are not the same, and our secondary analyses speak to this.

“Generally speaking, ‘gold standard’ measures are good enough for many purposes in psychology. If the goal is highly accurate prediction using objective data however, our measures are often inadequate. This is an unrecognized obstacle to implementing predictive analytics into psychology,” Dr. Cohen said.

This most recent work was a collaboration with the LSU Department of Psychology, the LSU Center for Computation and Technology, the Department of Psychiatry at University of Utah, and Department of Psychology at University of Central Florida.

Dr. Cohen worked with Dr. Christopher Cox on this project, an Assistant Professor of Psychology at LSU. Dr. Cox is involved in various research endeavors, including focusing on experimental machine learning tools, exploring the context sensitivity of semantic knowledge, building computational models of reading.

What was it like collaborating with Dr. Cox? “Dr. Cox is one of the most thoughtful people I have had the pleasure to work with,” said Dr. Cohen. “He is extremely bright and methodical, and cares deeply about students and learning. He seems to operate on a higher level of consciousness than most, and it wouldn’t surprise me if he sees the world in streams of binary data like Neo from the Matrix movies.”

Dr. Cohen is also an adjunct professor at Pennington Biomedical Research Center and LSU Health Sciences, where he manages a team of doctoral students and graduate assistants. His current research projects focus on understanding and helping those with severe mental illness, notably schizophrenia, and those at risk of developing various psychotic-spectrum disorders.

Dr. Cohen’s current research projects are multi-tiered. He is currently working on a project that involves adapting biobehavioral technologies for use in assessing mental well-being. This project involves a highly constructed collaboration between industry and academia and uses “Big Data” methods to measure and predict cognitive, affective, and behavioral states in those with serious mental illness.

A few years ago, LSU helped Dr. Cohen and some of his colleagues to commercialize his technologies for “digital phenotyping.”

“Digital phenotyping involves quantifying aspects of mental health using complex, objective data streams,” he said. “In our case, these data are from automated language, facial, vocal, location and movement analysis from a smart phone. Since then, we have created an app using these technologies to support clinical trials. We are starting to explore digital phenotyping to support clinical management of patients with serious mental illness, and I am proud to have community partners in Baton Rouge for this. The methods used in our clinical psychological science paper were central in advancing these technologies.”

Dr. Cohen is in collaboration with an international consortium involved in researching the links between disturbances in natural speech and symptoms of mental illness and genomics. Pattern recognition and advanced machine learning are being utilized in this research. In addition to these projects, he facilitates research investigating how emotion, cognition, motivation, and social functions in those predisposed for developing serious mental illness and those already combating serious mental illness. This project uses “small data” and basic psychological science methods are used, including self-report, behavioral and electrophysiological measures, and performance measures.

Dr. Cohen has been working for nearly 20 years on these innovations, and explains that with the help of many colleagues, “… we are getting closer – though this process has been anything but time efficient.”

“What I have found is that digital data and symptoms ratings rarely agree,” he said. “Using machine learning, one can engineer solutions that show impressive agreement in one setting, but they don’t generalize. What is considered flat and unresponsive speech in one setting by one group of people is considered unremarkable in another setting for other people. That is one major thing we found in the CPS paper, and have replicated in a number of other studies.”

“Why don’t they agree? Are clinicians wrong? Are digital technologies missing a critical human element? The answer is, of course, both. So we are trying to develop methods for optimizing and evaluating these digital technologies. This field is huge right now, but I am afraid many of the solutions being proposed are superficial and will fade quickly. I think my colleagues and I are in a unique position to advance this field.”

Some of Dr. Cohen’s recent work helps to explain these complexities. • Cohen, A. S., Rodriguez, Zachary Warren, K. K., Cowan, T. M., Masucci, M. M., Granrud, Ole Edvard Holmlund, Terje B Chandler, C., Foltz, P. W., & Strauss, Gregory, P. (2022). Natural Language Processing and Psychosis: On The Need for Comprehensive Psychometric Evaluation. Schizophrenia Bulletin, In Press.

“Evaluation of digital measures falls far short of what is expected of most psychological tests,” Dr. Cohen said. “This is part of a themed issue Brita Elvevåg and I are finalizing for the journal Schizophrenia Bulletin.”

• Cohen, A. S., Cox, C. R., Tucker, R. P., Mitchell, K. R., Schwartz, E. K., Le, T. P., Foltz, P. W., Holmlund, T. B., & Elvevåg, B. (2021). Validating Biobehavioral Technologies for Use in Clinical Psychiatry. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.503323

“In this paper,” he said, “we compare evaluation of objective measures in other areas of science (e.g., physics, computer sciences, engineering) to that of psychology. There are some critical differences, particularly surrounding how ‘resolution’ is handled. The upshot is that psychology should do a better job of defining exactly when, where and how a phenomenon is occurring. . . at least with respect to validating objective measures.”

• Cohen, A. S., Schwartz, E., Le, T. P., Cowan, T., Kirkpatrick, B., Raugh, I. M., & Strauss, G. P. (2021). Digital phenotyping of negative symptoms: the relationship to clinician ratings. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 47(1), 44-53. https://doi.org/10.1093/schbul/sbaa065

“In this paper, we demonstrate how objective technologies often disagree with what a clinician says. We attempt to unpack why that is – with the idea that neither is inherently wrong. Rather, they are looking a different phenomenon,” he said.

• Cohen, A. S., Cowan, T., Le, T. P., Schwartz, E. K., Kirkpatrick, B., Raugh, I. M., Chapman, H. C., & Strauss, G. P. (2020). Ambulatory digital phenotyping of blunted affect and alogia using objective facial and vocal analysis: Proof of concept. Schizophrenia Research, 220, 141–146. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.schres.2020.03.043

“In this paper, we evaluate a method of evaluating aspects of psychosis using smart phone technologies. We are currently trying to implement these technologies with Capitol Area Human Services District ––though, in early stages.”

Besides pushing the boundaries of what clinical science can do in measuring symptoms of serious mental illness, what was the most enjoyable thing for about the work for Dr. Cohen?

“This is a necessarily multidisciplinary endeavor, and I really enjoy being challenged by my students and colleagues. When trying to objectify aspects of mental illness, we need to be very mindful of the role that demographics, culture and other individual differences play. I am blessed to have a network of colleagues from a variety of walks of life that can help challenge us to create culturally appropriate, and ultimately better, measures.”

Dr. Slaton Named 2022 Distinguished Psychologist by LPA

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Dr. Karen Slaton, who has been at the forefront of psychology’s transition to integrated health care for most if not all of her career, and engaged in practice, research, and teaching, has been named the 2022 Distinguished Psychologist by the Louisiana Psychological Association.

Dr. Slaton is the Program Manager of Behavioral Medicine/Health Psychology/Primary Care Mental Health Integration at the Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System. She developed and manages the Primary Care Mental Health Integration Program at the Care System. She implements the Veterans Administration mandated effort to fully integrate behavioral health as part of the extended Patient Aligned Care Team. This team consists of psychiatry, social work, nursing and psychology, and is essential in assuring veteran access to same-day care.

Dr. Slaton also coordinates behavioral medicine services, such as services for pain, palliative care, cardiology, physical medicine & rehabilitation, and integrated health services (including yoga and hypnosis).

Dr. Slaton also serves in additional roles including Health Behavior Coordinator, Pain Psychologist, Complimentary Integrated Health VISN lead and Lead Tobacco Cessation Clinician. She provides health promotion and disease prevention services to veterans such as tobacco cessation and weight loss coaching.

She trains other clinicians in the Interdisciplinary Pain Program, Bariatric Treatment Team, and Controlled Substances Oversite Board. She collaborates in other teams and committees including Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Committee, Women’s Health Committee, Employee Wellness Committee, and the Opioid Safety Initiative.

Dr. Slaton is Clinical Assistant Professor of Behavioral Sciences at Tulane University School of Medicine and Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine. She provides invited lectures to trainees in the Tulane School of Medicine Clinical Psychology Internship Training Program and the LSU School of Medicine Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Residency Program.

Dr. Slaton is an APA accredited clinical psychology internship and postdoctoral fellowship Training Committee Member, providing didactic training and supervision to interns and post- doctoral fellows in the areas of primary care mental health and behavioral medicine.

Dr. Slaton is a nationally Approved Consultant in Clinical Hypnosis and a Registered Yoga teacher.

Dr. Slaton has also owned and operated her own private practice through Northshore Psychological Services, LLC, Covington, and the Center for Wellness and Peak Performance, LLC, Covington. She provides a wide range of psychological services including psychotherapy, assessment and evaluation, consultation, and professional training. Her areas include posttraumatic stress disorder, marriage, couples and relationship counseling, food, weight and body image issues including eating disorders and bariatric psychology, depression, anxiety, sport and performance psychology, clinical and sports hypnosis, personal growth and development and counseling patients with medical illness.

Dr. Amanda Raines announced the award in April, at the annual meeting of the Louisiana Psychological Association. “This award is given to an individual who has made significant contributions to psychology research, practice, or both, during the course of their career,” said Raines. “This year we are recognizing Dr. Karen Slaton. Dr. Slaton currently serves as the Program Manager for Primary-Care Mental Health Integration and the Health Behavior coordinator at the New Orleans VA. She is actively involved in more local and regional committees within the VA than I can count,” Raines said.

“She maintains academic appointments at Tulane and LSU and actively stays involved in both training and research related endeavors. Dr. Slaton is certified by the American College of Sports Medicine as an Exercise Physiologist and by the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis. She is also a certified & registered yoga teacher and somehow manages to incorporate all of these skills into her integrative practice at the New Orleans VA.”

Dr. Slaton’s research includes:

Slaton, K. (2000). An investigation of the relationship between parental bonding and body image disturbance among male and female college students. Dissertation.

Slaton, K. & Lyddon, W. (2000). Cognitive-experiential reprocessing and rape: A case study. Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy, 14, 189-200.

Slaton, K. & Westphal, J. (1999). The Slaton-Westphal functional assessment inventory for adults with serious mental illness: Development of an instrument to measure functional status and psychiatric rehabilitation outcome. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, 23, 119-126

Raines, A. M., Primeaux, S. J., Ennis, C. R., Walton, J. L., Slaton, K. D., Vigil, J. O., Allan, N. P., Zvolensky, M. J., Schmidt, N. B., & Franklin, C. L. (2021). Posttraumatic stress disorder and pain
in veterans: Indirect association through anxiety sensitivity. Manuscript submitted for publication.

Vigil, J.O., Slaton, K.D., Raines, A.M., & Franklin, C.L. (2018, September). Examining the Effects of a Comprehensive Pain Rehabilitation Program among Veterans. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Southern Pain Society, Atlanta, GA.

Lyddon, W., & Slaton, K. (2001). Promoting healthy body image and the prevention of eating disorders among adolescent women. In C. Juntunen & D. Atkinson (Eds.), Counseling strategies for developmental concerns. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Her training lectures are numerous, and include: Use of Hypnotic Language in Non-hypnosis Clinical Encounters. Presented at 6th Dabney Ewin, MD FACS Hypnosis Lecture. 2022 Tulane Brain and Behavior Conference.

Primary Care Psychology. Presented to Psychology Interns at Tulane University School of Medicine and Southeast Louisiana Veteran Health Care System.

Motivational Interviewing: Effective Communication with Veterans. Presented at the Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System 2020 Fall Women’s Health Summit.

Motivational Interviewing Skills for Dealing with Challenging Patient Encounters. Presented at LSUMC PM&R Pain Conference.

Behavioral Intervention for Chronic Pain. Presented at LSUMC Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Resident Didactic Lecture.

Motivational Interviewing. Presented to the LEND program staff at Louisiana State University School of Medicine.

Motivational Interviewing Skills for Dealing with Challenging Patient Encounters. Presented at LSUMC PM&R Pain Conference.

“My career as occurred in phases,” Dr. Slaton said, “I started in academic medicine at Tulane School of Medicine and like many of my Tulane colleagues, left after hurricane Katrina for private practice. I enjoyed a thriving practice in Covington for almost a decade before joining the New Orleans VA 10 years ago. I always say I have the best job ever! I work as a clinical health psychologist in various medicine services and have the privilege of serving Veterans in honor of my grandfather who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his service in WWII,” she said.

“I’m lucky to be able to provide clinical hypnosis to Veterans and to teach hypnosis at the National level for the VA, teach a weekly yoga class to Veterans, lead the Primary Care Mental Health Integration team, and serve the facility as a consultant for patient education. However, my favorite part of all is training the next generations of psychologists in our APA accredited internship and fellowship programs,” Dr. Slaton said

Experts Point to Alarming Trend of Increased Opioid Related Overdose Fatalities

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A new report warns of soaring overdose deaths from the opioid crisis. Authors from the Lancet’s, “Responding to the Opioid Crisis in North America and Beyond: Recommendations of the Stanford-Lancet Commission,” published in February, said that in the USA and Canada, 2020 was the worst year on record for fatal opioid overdoses. The US overdoses rose 37%.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that provisional data analysis estimates for the 12 months ending in May 2021, there were 75,387 deaths from opioid toxicity.

Opioids—mainly synthetic opioids (other than methadone)—are currently the main driver of drug overdose deaths, said the CDC, with 72.9% of opioid-involved overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids. And, overdose deaths involving psychostimulants such as methamphetamine are increasing with and without synthetic opioid involvement.

Also in February, Medscape reported a surge in the rate of Black Americans dying from a combination of opioids and cocaine, an increase of 575%. The rate for White Americans increased by 184%.

A recent analysis in the American Journal of Epidemiology, found that in the South, deaths from cocaine and opioids increased 26% per year among Black people, 27% per year among Latinx people, and 12% per year among non-Hispanic Whites.

Dr. Marc Zimmermann is a neuropsychologist and medical psychologist in Baton Rouge, with over 30 years experience. He is noted for his work in forensic psychology having testified in multiple states and jurisdictions, and he has been a consultant to many chemical dependency programs such as the Serenity Center and Lane Recovery Solutions. He is also a staff member at PTI in Baton Rouge.

Dr. Zimmermann said that according to the Louisiana Department of Health, the bulk of all recorded opioid overdose deaths occurred in the parishes of Southeast Louisiana. St. Tammany Parish experienced an average of over 47 opioid overdoses a year and Jefferson Parish averaged over 71 opioid overdoses a year.

While their age-adjusted rates are not as high as St. Tammany and Jefferson Parishes, Orleans and East Baton Rouge Parish experienced high average numbers of deaths from opioid overdoses during the same time period.

Dr. Tiffany Jennings is a Louisiana native who is the Rural Health Coordinator for the Louisiana Psychological Association and in full time private practice. Dr. Jennings has worked in a variety of settings, including outpatient, inpatient, state and Federal agencies. She was previously an Assistant Professor, Department of Neurology, at Ochsner LSU Health Shreveport and a Neuropsychologist at Overton Brooks VAMC in Shreveport, and for the US Army’s Traumatic Brain Injury Clinic at Fort Polk in Leesville.

How serious does she feel the opioid crisis is in rural settings for Louisiana? “The opioid crisis continues to be a serious crisis that has not shown any signs of abating,” Dr. Jennings said.

“The COIVD-19 may have exacerbated the crisis. The Louisiana Dept of Health’s website notes an increase in fatal and nonfatal opioid overdoses as people are ‘cut off from services and disconnected from support systems, have made it difficult for individuals to seek help.’

“The Louisiana Opioid Surveillance Program has noted an increase in deaths from overdose,” she said. “This was noted to be in part due to availability of synthetic opioid drugs, which are much more powerful than morphine. This results in a higher chance of death from use –– such as fentanyl.”

Has she seen any changes over the last couple of years? “There’s been several high-profile lawsuits against drug manufacturers for their alleged role in the opioid crisis,” Dr. Jennings said. “I believe there currently four US companies in the process of settling, to the tune of approximately $26 billion. This has certainly brought attention to the extent of the current opioid epidemic.

“Many insurance agencies, including Medicaid, expanded telehealth access due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, I have not seen much change with regard to access to service for rural health settings in Louisiana. There continues to be a wait list to see Medicaid providers. Reimbursement remains an issue. Also, those in rural areas may not have the technology to fully utilize telehealth services,” Dr. Jennings said.

The Lancet Commission Report pointed to the lack of accessible, high-quality, non-stigmatising, integrated health and social care services for people with opioid use disorder in the USA. The authors recommended reforming public and private health insurance systems to address this issue, including cutting off funding for care that is likely to be harmful.

Dr. Geralyn Datz is a licensed Clinical Health and Medical Psychologist and a national educator of healthcare providers, attorneys and the public. Dr. Datz is licensed in Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi, and specializes in pain psychology, forensic assessments, and public speaking. She is President and Clinical Director of Southern Behavioral Medicine Associates PLLC, in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, a group specialty practice devoted to treating patients with chronic pain, She is a past president of the Southern Pain Society, and previously with New Orleans Veteran Affairs Medical Center and Pennington Biomedical Research Center

We asked Dr. Datz if there is adequate treatment available? “No there is not,” she said. “The treatment of opioid use disorder is a very large, systems based issue that right now is in dire straits and vastly underfunded. The short answer is that we need more insurance reimbursed programs, and the treatment needs to extend well beyond ‘rehab’ as it is traditionally defined. Private treatment centers are one component of treatment, but cannot meet the needs of this diverse population, which often has serious mental health issues and/or comorbid pain conditions. There are effective treatment models like Pain Rehabiliation Programs, that help
people with medical conditions come off of opioids, but sadly these are no longer reimbursed by insurance.

In addition, the treatment of opioid misuse is ideally multidisciplinary and requires medical and mental health follow up, which frequently does not occur. The Commissions comment on using the Chronic Disease Model for treatment, and in healthcare, is exactly on point.”

Is treatment covered by funding such as insurance for those who need help? “.Again…no. There are wide ranges in what insurance will and will not cover in treating opioid overuse and addiction. Often, comorbidities, such as pain or severe or even mild mental illness, are left untreated. In addition, there are variations between what private addiction centers will accept which insurances if any at all. As a result, care ends up being parsed out for opioid-dependent individuals and not as effective. Furthermore, many individuals do not have insurance coverage at all, further complicating the problem,” Dr. Datz said.

“The 2008 Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act was designed to make treatment of mental health and substance abuse conditions as easily and fairly reimbursed as medical conditions. This Act was a step in the right direction but is still not fully realized. A recent report showed that many insurances are non compliant, and showed wide disparities between behavioral health care and medical/ surgical healthcare. Mental health parity needs increased attention, and enforcement, in order to address the public health needs that we are now facing.”

Dr. Jennings agrees. “Given the number of deaths from opioid overdose, I would say there is not nearly enough treatment, recovery and support systems in place for this population. This is especially true of those in rural settings,” she said.

“The state has enacted laws in an attempt to better regulate prescriptions and to reduce the chance of ‘doctor shopping’ for those addicted or who have developed a tolerance to their pain medication. Government agencies on federal and state levels are holding providers accountable for illegal prescriptions for opioids,” said Dr. Jennings.

“Louisiana is expecting to receive approximately $325 million from a national settlement of opioid lawsuits. The intention is to divide monies into addiction treatment, response and recovery services. The goal is to send the monies–divided up over a 20-year period–to local agencies that directly work with those suffering from opioid addiction,” she said.

“For some patients, education into the nature of chronic pain and their ability to manage pain can be helpful. There are evidence based psychotherapy treatments (such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Chronic Pain) that can be used to help a patient manage pain. For patients in need of an increase in structure or level of care, there is certainly a need for agencies that provide this care. Again, insurance and location can often be a barrier to treatment.”

Pain costs society up to $635 billion annually, according to the CDC, and is the number one reason for disability. Pain is becoming better understood as a multifaceted phenomenon with psychological factors.

In 2016, CDC authors published Guidelines and said that there was no evidence for a long-term benefit of opioid pain medications. The authors found strong evidence for serious risks, including overdose, opioid use disorder, and motor vehicle injuries. The CDC said that other treatments, including psychological approaches, had long-term benefits, without the high risks of opioids.

“It is now widely accepted that pain is a biopsychosocial phenomenon,” Dr. Datz, told the Times in a previous interview. “The Guidelines are really exciting because they explicitly state that physicians should be using nonpharmacological strategies including cognitive behavioral therapy as well as exercise for patients with pain,” Datz said.

“This is a departure from the traditional belief that pain was primarily physical, and to be only treated by medical means, which was the biomedical model,” Datz said.

“The benefits of pain psychology are that the person experiencing chronic pain ultimately has more control over their pain process, their reaction to it, and their life,” Datz said. “This is accomplished by teaching patients about how their expectations, their attention, and their stress levels interact with chronic pain and can greatly exacerbated.”

“A large body of research,” said Datz, “has shown that use of structured cognitive behavioral therapy, and in particular cognitive behavioral therapy combined with physical therapy, as happens in functional restoration programs, are extremely effective ways of dramatically improving physical function, mental health, and overall well-being in patients with chronic pain,” she said.

“Unfortunately, these methods have been sorely underused, partly due to insurance coverage issues. With the advent of the ACA however, this is getting a lot better. Also, I think providers and patients are more open to these ideas now that the opioid epidemic has become such a hot topic nationally,” she said. Among the key messages of the Lancet Commission report, the authors noted that “The profit motives of actors inside and outside the health-care system will continue to generate harmful over-provision of addictive pharmaceuticals unless regulatory systems are fundamentally reformed.”

Dr. Datz will be presenting “Forced Opioid Tapers and the Culture of the Opioid Crisis: Time to revisit pain psychology” at the American Academy of Pain Medicine in Scottsdale Arizona on March 19. She will speak about how the approach of using pain psychology during opioid therapy is not new, but is enjoying a renewed urgency in the context of rising rates of opioid tapers and the safety issues surrounding preventable side effect from forced opioid tapers.

Lancet Commission authors warned that pharmaceutical companies based in the USA are actively expanding opioid prescribing worldwide, and are using fraudulent and corrupting tactics that have now been banned domestically.

Dr. Thomas Takes Top Position at Louisiana Tech

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Dr. Donna Thomas has been appointed Chief Academic Director for Partnerships at Louisiana Tech University, reporting to the Provost, Dr. Terry McConathy.

Dr. Thomas has served as chair of the Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Department at LaTech for almost 10 years and is the George and Jean Baldwin Endowed Professor.

In the announcement, Dr. McConathy said, “Dr. Thomas will be responsible for the oversight and direction of development and implementation of academic programs that support Louisiana Tech University’s mission, vision, and strategic objectives. “As Chief Academic Director for Partnerships, Dr. Thomas will manage academic partnerships with external stakeholders and funding efforts for academic partnerships and curricula design; enhance and implement non-traditional student engagement opportunities; organize and support faculty expertise for curricular delivery in emerging program areas; and organize programmatic approvals and accreditation of transdisciplinary programs,” Dr. McConathy said.

“The Chief Academic Director for Partnerships will collaborate with division leaders, deans, associate deans, unit heads, and faculty to identify extension, dual enrollment, online and remote programs, and academic pathways that explore, develop, implement, and integrate programs supporting the University’s mission,” he said.

Dr. Thomas has served as the Department Chair of the Psychology and Behavioral Sciences from 2012. In this position, she managed and coordinated all the activities of the department including instruction, research, services, and administrative activities. She was also the Director of Training for the counseling psychology doctoral program from 2006 to 2012. She has chaired and participated as a committee member for numerous dissertations, and has taught psychology at the undergraduate and graduate level.

Since 2014 she has also served as the NCAA Faculty Athletics Representative. In this position she represented Louisiana Tech University and its faculty in the relationship between the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), Conference USA (CUSA), and the campus. She represents LaTech as the voting delegate to NCAA and C-USA meetings and serves on NCAA councils, cabinets, and committees as appointed. She has assisted with interpretation of NCAA and C-USA legislation and policies.

In this role, Dr. Thomas reports to the faculty and administration on the academic well-being of student- athletes. And she ensures, either directly or indirectly, that student-athletes meet all NCAA, conference, and LaTech requirements for eligibility to practice, financial aid, and intercollegiate competition.

Dr. Thomas also monitors the student-athlete experience and is involved in the personal and academic welfare of the student-athletes. She works with the athletic director and senior staff to educate student-athletes about NCAA rules, and devise and implement compliance programs within the athletics department. She meets regularly with the Director of Athletics and serves as the Senior Faculty Advisor on athletics to the university president. She is a liaison between the faculty and administration and the intercollegiate athletics program. She also provides periodic reports to the President’s Athletics Council relating to matters of academic integrity, performance of student-athletes, rules compliance or violations, and other matters related to the athletics program.

Dr. Thomas meets with the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and serves as Dr. Donna Thomas Takes Top Position, Chief Academic Director for Partnerships, at Louisiana Tech continued chair of the President’s Athletics Council. She was a member of the council beginning in 2007. The Council reviews intercollegiate athletic programs and activities and makes recommendations to the President for his consideration. Athletics Council members are appointed by the President. She has also served on the Student Athlete Welfare Committee.

In her duties for the psychology department, Dr. Thomas has participated in funding and grants including Increasing Diversity in the Doctoral Student Populations at Louisiana Tech University, BoR/SREB Doctoral Fellowships to Promote Diversity, and Third Judicial District Drug Court Treatment.

Her collaborative publications include, “Psychological effects of intensive and comprehensive training centers on blind and visually impaired adults. Journal of Blindness Innovation and Research, “Facebook and Romantic Relationships: Intimacy and Couple Satisfaction Associated with Online Social Network Use,” Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, Measuring students’ perceptions of faculty competence in professional psychology: Development of the Perceived Faculty Competence Inventory. Training and Education in Professional Psychology.”

Dr. Thomas’s professional service includes serving as Member of Editorial Board for the Journal of Rural Mental Health, published by the American Psychological Association; Regional Advisory Committee member for MacArthur Models for Change (Louisiana) grant; Ad hoc reviewer for Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking; Reviewer, proposals for annual convention, American Psychological Association, Division 17; Executive Board Member, Council of Counseling Psychology Training Programs; LaTech College of Education Administrative Council, Special Initiatives Committee, Committee on Recruitment, Diversity, and Global Issues.

She has been affiliated with the American Psychological Association, Council of Graduate Departments of Psychology, Council of Counseling Psychology Training Programs, Louisiana Psychological Association, Louisiana Counseling Association APA Division 17–Counseling Psychology.

She has received the Outstanding Service Award, College of Education, and the Outstanding Service Award, Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences numerous times, including the Special Award of Merit for Outstanding Service.

In the past, Dr. Thomas also served as clinical associate for the Counseling and Psychology Clinic in Monroe, and as administrator and owner for Rehabilitation Services of Louisiana LLC.

Dr. Thomas earned her master’s degree in experimental psychology from the University of Louisiana Monroe, and her doctorate in counseling psychology from Louisiana Tech.

New Facts Point to Discrimination in National Exam, Selection Programs at State Boards

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The debate over an additional exam for those applying for a state psychology license has shined the light on a nest of scientific problems originating at the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards (ASPPB).

The debate has unearthed new facts and a jaw dropping irony––the psychology profession, a discipline that preaches anti-discrimination to others, and that sets the bar for selection-testing, has been promoting racism at state licensing boards, and by all accounts doing it for the money.

These problems might start with the ASPPB, but legally and morally they land at the doorstep of every state psychology board. The situation hits Louisiana particularly hard. While only 4% of licensed psychologists nationwide are African-Americans, Louisiana has a 34% Black population, a group chronically underserved by mental health professionals. Louisiana is specifically in need of psychologists who understand the Black experience.

For this report we look at current facts, core problems and underlying causes of how organized psychology is failing its students, the public, and its own goal of fighting systemic racism.

“Adverse Impact” found in psychology license examination program

The psychologist license exam is called the Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology or EPPP. After finding racial differences in the New York state pass–fail rate on the EPPP scores, Dr. Brian Sharpless has now found similar problems in Connecticut.

Dr. Sharpless studied 642 applicants to the Connecticut State Board of Examiners of Psychologists. In his article, “Pass Rates on the Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology (EPPP) According to Demographic Variables: A Partial Replication,” he reported significant differences in failure rates based on ethnicity.

Whites had a 5.75% failure rate, Blacks had a 23.33% failure rate, and Hispanics had a 18.6% failure rate.

In a much larger study in New York, Dr. Sharpless discovered an even greater impact by race. He reported his findings in “Are Demographic Variables Associated with Performance on the Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology (EPPP)?”

Dr. Sharpless gathered data on 4,892 New York applicants and first-time EPPP takers. He obtained records of all doctoral-level psychology licensure applicants from the past 25 years and looked at their EPPP scores.

He found that Blacks had a failure rate of 38.50% and Hispanics had a failure rate of 35.60%. Whereas, Whites had a failure rate of 14.07%.

“Adverse impact” is the term used to describe differences in scores. An exam has adverse impact if minority candidates fail to pass at at least 80% of the majority race candidates’ rate. The results in New York classify as adverse impact and the Connecticut results clear the bar only by a hair.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 makes it illegal to discriminate against someone on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, or sex. When state psychology boards deny a license based only the EPPP scores, they must prove that the test is being used in a fair and
unbiased manner.

Selection–testing and design of selection programs is most often a subspecialty in industrial– organizational and business psychology. State boards primarily deal with healthcare practitioners, and are composed of clinicians. So, expertise in selection testing is unlikely to be involved in all or most states.

“If two states have found adverse impact, it is probable that all or most states will also find adverse impact. It is typical for knowledge tests to have adverse impact anyway, and this must be handled in the overall selection program,” said one expert.

One Black candidate told the Times, “We’ve known for a long time that the test discriminates–we learned it in graduate school. But there’s nothing we, as students, can do about it.”

According to one source at the Louisiana State Board of Examiners of Psychologists (LSBEP), the board makes no effort to study their procedures for adverse impact.

Critics of the national exam have gained momentum, fueled by the ASPPB’s effort to install yet another, second examination, called the EPPP2.

Dr. Jennifer Callahan sounded the alarm as lead author in her article, “The enhanced examination for professional practice in psychology: A viable approach?” published in the flagship journal for psychologists, American Psychologist.

The EPPP2 has not been evaluated for its intended purpose, Callahan said. “For jurisdictions implementing the EPPP Part 2, failure to gather and report the evidence required for use of a test in a forensic context may also open the door for legal challenges.”

Dr. Sharpless had also been pointing to legal risks. “… given the ethnic performance discrepancies and limited validity evidence, […] it will remain open to charges of being a potentially arbitrary barrier in an already protracted path to professional independence…”.

Industrial-organizational psychologist Dr. William Costelloe, who works in the private sector, agrees. There is no other choice these days, he told the Times, “… predictive validation studies must be conducted.”

Another business psychologist said that in the private sector the ASPPB’s approach would not be accepted. “Business owners would not take the risk of having adverse impact. We would be adjusting cutoffs and adding unbiased tests to the overall selection program, so that our clients could avoid adverse impact.”

Criticisms have been mostly dismissed by officials at the ASPPB. In an answer to Callahan, also published in the American Psychologist, Drs. Matthew Turner, John Hunsley and Emil Rodolfa defended their decisions. “The standards emphasize that licensure/credentialing examinations are built from a content validation framework, and this framework is used for licensure examinations across professions,” they said.

Dr. Turner is employed by ASPPB and in charge of the exam services. He was previously employed by the Georgia school systems. Both Hunsley and Rodolfa have also worked with and provided consulting services for the ASPPB examinations.

Callahan and coauthors replied, “…Turner et al. remain narrowly focused on defense of content validity and a reliance on outdated standards that fail to meet contemporary expectations for assessment of health care professionals. […] ASPPB’s methods demonstrably foster linguistic biases and systemic racism that constricts licensure of diverse individuals as psychologists.”

Callahan urged ASPPB to take “drastic corrective action.”

Experts point to serious issues with how states use cutoff scores on the national test, especially since there is no criterion related research to help set the cutoff.

“A 50th percentile cutoff score, that automatically fails the bottom half of a sample, all who are highly qualified already, does not make sense,” said one business psychologist. “This is exactly the way you drive up adverse impact. You’re basically having a bunch of PhDs compete against each other and then flunking half of them. Is your hypothesis really that half are incompetent?”

Sharpless had earlier noted problems with the cut off scores, typically set at the 50th percentile by state boards. “Additional empirical attention should be devoted to the cut score…” he said. “…the determination of the ‘passing’ score is one of the most important, yet difficult, psychometric tasks in testing …”

ASPPB acknowledges the exam limitations. On their webpage officials state, “There is no suggestion that people who do better on the EPPP will be better practitioners.”

The connection between test score and job performance would require predictive validity research, which ASPPB does not conduct.

Dr. Costelloe, explained “… predictive validation studies must be conducted.” For instance, “… you infer that a candidate with a high Extroversion score will make more sales than a candidate who has a high Introversion score,” Costelloe said. With a predictive study, “… you realize that your inference was not only completely wrong but backwards. Why? The sales personnel are interacting with mechanical engineers who must make the decision to switch over these new valves. They don’t want to relate. They want specific engineering facts and data and they are introverts.”

Michael Cunningham, PhD, Professor of Psychology, Africana Studies and Associate Provost at Tulane, points to potential problems with item development.

“Like all standardized exams, people with the highest pass rates tend to very similar in racial and ethnic backgrounds as the test developers,” he said. “For many standardized tests, experts examine items for bias when there is an adverse impact of a question for males or females. In these cases, when bias still exists after an item analysis, the question is excluded. I don’t think similar considerations are done for racial/ethnic or SES backgrounds.”

ASPPB seems unconcerned with the scientific criticisms and standards. In April 2018, then SPPB CEO, Dr. Stephen DeMers, met with members of the Louisiana State Board of Examiners of Psychologists and representatives of Louisiana Psychological Association (LPA).

About the meeting, Dr. Kim VanGeffen, Chair of LPA Professional Affairs, said, “Dr. DeMers acknowledged that, currently, there is not really any research on the validity of the EPPP-2. There do not seem to be any plans to obtain predictive validity nor does the EPPP2 committee believe that establishing this type of validity is necessary,” she said.

Dr. Marc Zimmermann, past LSBEP board member, also attended. “He [Dr. DeMers] stated that there is no predictive validity,” said Zimmermann. “He also threw in that none of the national tests had predictive validity. He reported that content validity was the accepted standard because a test with predictive validity could not be constructed,” said Dr. Zimmermann. “… DeMers had the temerity to try to sell us something that does not meet the standard that psychological tests being published are expected to have.”

Is more regulation needed? Safety estimates for psychologists are very good

One of the arguments that critics mention is the consistently high safety ratings for psychologists, based on the low number of disciplinary actions nationwide.

“There is no evidence that the public is facing some sort of previously unheard of crisis in terms of safety from currently practicing psychologists,” said Dr. Amy Henke, who spearheaded a Resolution opposing the EPPP2 while serving as a director for the LPA.

“Trainees are already held to high standards through a variety of benchmarks,” Dr. Henke wrote in the Resolution, “… including but not limited to: APA approval of doctoral programs, multiple practicums where competency is repeatedly assessed, completion of formal internship training (also approved and regulated by APA and APPIC), and supervised post-doctoral hours obtained prior to licensure.”

However, Dr. Emil Rodolfa, then a program developer at ASPPB, questioned if these standards are enough, saying that supervisors have “… difficulty providing accurate evaluations of their supervisees to others who may have to evaluate the supervisee’s competency.”

The facts are on Dr. Henke’s side. Data from their own ASPPB Disciplinary Data System: Historical Discipline Report show rates of disciplinary actions for psychologists to be consistently low. For an estimated 125,000 psychologists in the US and Canada, the disciplinary rates remain around 1–2 per 1,000.

For 2016–2020, the total reported disciplinary actions across the U.S. and Canada ranged from 139 to 186.

Using a conservative estimate of 10 clients per psychologist per year, this translates to a safety problem of one or two per 10,000 service events.

Louisiana’s rate is similar to the national average. For the year 2019–2020 there was one disciplinary action, for 2018–2019 there were two, for 2017–2018 there were also two, for 2016– 2017 there were three, in 2015–2016 there was one, and in 2014–2015 there was also one.

ASPPB’s plans for doubling the size and cost of licensing exam

Several sources suggest that profit motives may be the main reason for the cutoff and the extra test. The current EPPP costs candidates $600 plus administration fees. The test contains 225 items, with a four-hour time limit. To compare, physicians pay $605 for an eight-hour exam and social worker candidates pay about $250 for a 170-item exam. The EPPP2 would increase cost from $600 to $1200.

Some years ago, ASPPB appears to have embraced a more aggressive corporate strategy. An insider told the Times, “In 2010 or somewhere around that time they [ASPPB] were in New Orleans and they implied that they would be making a lot of money on the new test.”

In 2012, ASPPB acquired the rights to the exam, taking over from Professional Examination Service (PES). In 2013 ASPPB wrote the boards that their contracts with PES were being “…
replaced with a contract between your jurisdiction and the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards.”

In that letter, ASPPB officials said, “ASPPB and PES have agreed that it would be simpler and more appropriate for ASPPB to contract directly with the 64 psychology regulatory agencies that are members of ASPPB.”

ASPPB said the change would be “…mutually beneficial because ASPPB can now provide a simplified agreement that is more specific to the needs of psychology licensure boards. In addition, the renewal of contracts is expected to be more efficient…” At the same time, ASPPB increased candidates’ exam fees from $450 to $600.

One insider thinks the corporate objective for ASPPB is to be a central source for regulation of psychologists. “They want to ultimately do all the licensing and regulating for psychology,” said the insider. “They want to regulate all the telepsychology.” And, “They want to be the Walmart.”

In 2013 ASPPB officials were instrumental in conducting and designing the 5th International Congress on Licensure, Certification, and Credentialing of Psychologists, held in Stockhom. The invitation-only conference was primarily funded by ASPPB. Dr. Emil Rodolfa, Chair of the Implementation Task Force for the EPPP 2, facilitated at the Congress.

ASPPB officials have gone through several roll-out efforts for the EPPP2, first to persuade member jurisdictions to accept the new test, and then to force the new exam on states.

In 2016 the firm announced the EPPP2 and told its members, licensing boards across the United States and Canada, that the use of the new test would be “optional.”

However, after criticisms mounted, ASPPB did an about face in late 2017 and announced in a surprise move that the new exam would be mandatory after all, and combined with the tests. And, the price would increase from $600 to $1200.

In July 2018, Dr. Amy Henke, then serving on the Louisiana State Board of Examiners of Psychologists (LSBEP), and LSBEP members sent a blistering letter to the ASPPB Board of Directors, to the ASPPB members, and to the administrators of state psychology boards across the US and Canada.

Following this, in August 2018, ASPPB President Sharon Lightfoot, PhD, announced that the ASPPB Board of Directors voted to rescind the mandate.

However, shortly after that, ASPPB decided to use a carrot and stick approach. According to an October 24, 2018 letter from Lightfoot, if Louisiana, or other jurisdictions, chose to decline the use of the new additional test, then student candidates in those jurisdictions would be prohibited from taking the test. Sources at the Louisiana state board considered this to be punitive, because many students wished to prepare for licenses in other states, which might require the second test.

Dr. Henke said that at a recent meeting of the member jurisdictions, representatives voted 100% to allow qualified candidates from any jurisdiction to take the EPPP2.

“Unfortunately,” Henke told the Times, “the ASPPB Board and staff have pushed back on both the vote and the formal request. For instance, despite this unanimous vote, ASPPB’s Board has not acted on the clear wishes of the member jurisdictions. Instead, they have decided to individually poll each jurisdiction with a survey that I felt was misleading and biased.”

ASPPB’s non-profit & financial status

The ASPPB is a private, non-profit, 501(c) 6, tax-exempt corporation located in Tyrone, Georgia.

The IRS notes that the 501(c) 6 “… may not be organized for profit to engage in an activity ordinarily carried on for profit (even if the business is operated on a cooperative basis or produces only enough income to be self-sustaining).”

The corporate mission is to “Facilitate communication among member jurisdictions about licensure, certification, and mobility of professional psychologists.” The “members” are the 64 or so regulatory boards from across the United States and Canada.

These boards pay dues to ASPPB. LSBEP records note they paid $2,660 in 2020 for annual ASPPB dues.

ASPPB’s net assets for 2018 (the most recent year available due to delays from Covid) totaled $9,137,930. GuideStar estimates their assets at $11,013,348.

Total revenue for 2018 was $6,505,651. Revenue for 2017 was $6,645,731 and $5,933,473 for 2016.

ASPPB’s main income producing product is the national exam. The exam and related services generated $6,137,348 in 2018. This accounted for 94% of the Association’s 2018 income. Exam income was $5,378,524 in 2017, and $4,916,406 in 2016.

While they paid $1,302,603 to Pierson Vue Minneapolis for exam administration in 2018, most other expenses claimed on their tax reports are for employees and employee related expenses.

They report a total of $2,278,482 for compensation of key employees, other salaries and wages, contributions to pension plans, employee benefits and payroll taxes.

In 2018, the CEO, M. Burnetti-Atwell, received pay and benefits of $255,936. In 2017, Dr. Steven DeMers, then CEO, received $270,784.

Assn Executive Officer Dr. Matthew Turner received pay and benefits of $$171,174 in 2018. He has four employees reporting to him for exam services.

Assn Executive Officer Janet Orwig received pay and benefits of $158,142 in 2018. Ms. Orwig has 12 employees reporting to her for member services.

The ASPPB website lists other staff, including a business manager, financial officer, two directors of professional affairs, and an administrative associate.

“With a lot of cash sitting on the balance sheet, the strategy is to maximize expenses,” said an MBA in reviewing the information for the Times. “The extra profits are likely to go into perks rather than price cuts,” he said.

Examples of this appear to include items like travel, which includes travel for spouses or companions. The organization spent $949,483 on travel in 2018 and $1,169,743 on travel in
2017.

Other examples are $336,175 on “technology,” $188,256 on conventions, $123,053 for “item writers and exam consultants,” $144,000 on bank fees, $60,610 on advertising, and $55,946 on dues and subscriptions.

It is not clear how oversight is established at ASPPB. The Times asked one CPA to look over the information and he said, “Of course there is influence and COI (Conflict of Interest).”

Conclusions

ASPPB appears unable to constructively answer the criticisms and mounting evidence that their exam program, marketed to the captive customers through state boards, is scientifically deficient and discriminatory.

The state boards have bought into a mess, but do not appear able to deal with the bureaucracy at ASPPB. Since state boards are typically composed of clinicians, and rarely have the hands-on experience needed for high-stakes selection testing, they may lack the knowledge to fight the problem.

Ignorance does not fly as an excuse for discriminatory practices in the private sector, so it’s ironic that it is found in the public and quasi–governmental agencies of psychology.

ASPPB appears too busy feeding off of the exam revenues, and building their bureaucracy on the backs of psychology license candidates, perhaps especially racial minorities, to wake up. State psychology boards must not ignore the problem any longer. Callahan’s call for “drastic corrective action” is on point. But it is the members of ASPPB who need to take action, with or without ASPPB bureaucrats.

In September 2020, the American Psychological Association (APA) called for “… true systematic change in US culture.” Zara Abrams reported in a Monitor article, APA “… is working to dismantle institutional racism over the long term, including within APA and psychology.”

Before preaching anti-discrimination to others, APA needs to start in their own backyard.

Dr. Charles Figley Named Distinguished Psychologist for 2021

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Dr. Charles Figley, the Paul Henry Kurzweg Distinguished Chair in Disaster Mental Health, Professor and Associate Dean for Research in the Tulane School of Social Work, and Director of the Tulane’s award-winning Traumatology Institute, has been named the 2021 Distinguished Psychologist by the Louisiana Psychological Association (LPA).

LPA Awards Chair, Dr. Laurel Franklin noted that Dr. Figley has exhibited “…exemplary contributions to Psychology. We were especially impressed with the breath of your mentorship, clinical, and research endeavors in the area of trauma and trauma-related disorders.”

Dr. Figley has served as co-founder of two graduate programs at Tulane. He served as Founding Program Director of Tulane’s Master of Science degree in Disaster Resilience Leadership Program and as Founding Program Director of the City, Culture, and Community PhD Program.

“I was shocked and delighted to be named Distinguished Psychologist by the State Association,” said Dr. Figley. “Thank you so much. This is among the most welcomed and prized awards I have received. I am too old to cry but never too old to scream with delight!”

Included among his many accomplishments, Dr. Figley has served on the American Psychological Association (APA) Council of Representatives and on the Executive Council of APA’s Division on Trauma Psychology.

He has served on numerous editorial boards including for Family, Systems, and Health, Journal of Family Psychology, and Traumatology. He is founding editor of the Journal of Traumatic Stress, the Journal of Family Psychotherapy, and the international journal, Traumatology. He is also Founding Editor of the Book Series Death and Trauma, Innovations in Psychology, and continues to as Editor of the Psychosocial Stress Book Series.

He has published more 160 refereed journal articles and 25 books as pioneer trauma scholar and practitioner.

His Encyclopedia of Trauma was named as an Outstanding Academic Title for the 2013-2014 Academic year by Choice, a publication of the American Library Association. The work is an interdisciplinary guide, bringing together concepts from the humanities, all of the social sciences, and most of the professional fields, for understanding human responses to traumatic events.

His newest book is Psychiatric Casualties: How and Why the Military Ignores the Full Cost of War, co-authored with Mark C. Russell and published by Columbia University Press.

The authors write, “The psychological toll of war is vast, and the social costs of war’s psychiatric casualties extend even further.

Yet military mental health care suffers from extensive waiting lists, organizational scandals, spikes in veteran suicide, narcotic over-prescription, shortages of mental health professionals, and inadequate treatment. The prevalence of conditions such as post–traumatic stress disorder is often underestimated, and there remains entrenched stigma and fear of being diagnosed. Even more alarming is how the military dismisses or conceals the significance and extent of the mental health crisis.”

Dr. Figley’s Encyclopedia was one of the sources for Tulane’s “MOOC,” one of Figley’s many innovations at Tulane. An MOOC, sor Massive Open Online Course, is a trend in higher education that allows for online enrollment extending to other states and even other nations. Figley’s training invention was the first free course in the world about trauma, and the first MOOC for Tulane.

“It’s the first of its kind anywhere,” said Dr. Figley in a previous interview. “The original MOOC model was flawed. MOOCs were simply the traditional classroom structure…” They were often only videotaped lectures moved online and free. But, “They were boring, rigid, and rather inflexible,” he explained. “We chose to invent a new platform that would make it easier and more fun for students to use all platforms––ipad, smartphones, computers––to access all course material, when they wanted it, where they wanted it, and we made it much more interactive and engaging,” he said.

Dr. Figley has made training others a key element of his vision. He has regularly presented at the American Psychological Association and regional associations topics such as, “First Do No Self-Harm––Self-Care Strategies for Psychologists Working with Trauma Survivors,” “Compassion Fatigue and Promoting Regeneration in Psychologists” and “Stress Management skills and Developing a Self-Care Plan.”

“Burnout, compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma, and secondary traumatic stress reactions are frequently found among psychologists and others who deliver humane human services,” said Figley. “These problems are an indication of low resilience that can be corrected with proper training for workers and their supervisors. I love helping in this way,” he told the Times.

Dr. Figley enjoys, “A sense of satisfaction of informing psychology and helping psychologists. Also, I learn lots from practitioners struggling with critical issues never addressed by researchers,” he explained.

Figley’s book First Do No SELF Harm has garnered high praise, “… because it addresses–– finally––the high prices physicians and medical students pay in managing work-related stress,” he explained.

His work he has had far-reaching influence. In 2018 Dr. Figley and Reggie Ferreir, Director of the Disaster Resilience Leadership Academy, visited Puerto Rico to assess the status of the area after one year following landfall of the Category 4 hurricane, Maria. Reported by Tulane magazine, the two were working with the Foundation for Puerto Rico, a nonprofit organization, to promote economic and social development.

Figley and Ferreira helped assess the area’s needs in disaster recovery and mental health services, and also trained organizational leaders in disaster resilience and leadership for recovery.

He is a former professor at both Purdue University (1974-1989) and Florida State University (1989-2008) and former Fulbright Fellow and Visiting Distinguished Professor at the Kuwait University (2003-2004). In 2014 Dr. Figley received the John Jay College of Criminal Justice honorary degree of doctor of letters, honoris causa.

Dr. Figley notes on his website that he has many passions, among these is social justice with special focus on those overlooked: “This passion emerged in high school, continued during his service in the US Marine Corps, especially his war service in Vietnam where he worked with his high school in Springboro, Ohio to collect and ship several tons of school and hygiene supplies to his Marine unit in Da Nang for distribution to the children at the Catholic orphanage and school.

After graduation he spent considerable time as a volunteer and as a scholar to help war veterans cope with their mental health, disaster survivors, secondary trauma survivors, and others who experienced traumatic stress injuries. He continues his humanitarian efforts today, focusing inequities in the treatment of Native Americans, torture trauma survivors, and the elimination of on trauma stigma.”

Dr. Figley and wife Dr. Kathy Regan Figley own and operate the Figley Institute, a professional training company.

New Trend of Remote Work Relies on Psychological Science

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One of the most frequently noted 2021 trends is the move to at-home work, already common among digital workers but catapulted forward for many others by the pandemic.

Completely in psychology’s wheelhouse, successful home and remote work calls for a complex blending of employee self-direction, methods for coordinating with colleagues, and integration with family and family life.

Employers know that remote work can mean challenges for productivity. The adjustment requires a keen understanding of the complexity of workers’ traits,
knowledge of work environments, and types of supervisory skills.

Two psychological scientists are focusing their expertise to help employers and their employees to bridge the gap between the old and new work situations. Bill Costelloe
and Jim Stodd have founded a new consultancy, called ThriveRemote, LLC. Their new firm is dedicated to applying and sharing expertise about the psychology of remote work scenarios. Costelloe’s and Stodd’s goal is to facilitate remote work solutions for the benefit of client organizations and their employees, as well as mitigate some of the predictable difficulties often associated with the transition to remote work.

The two consultants and their team members at ThriveRemote bring a range range of services to help solve a variety of problems encountered by both employers and employees. These include employee selection, development, engagement, leadership training, retention strategies, performance management, compensation programs, and in particular reward methods for remote workers.

Both Costelloe and Stodd, with advanced degrees in industrial-organizational psychology, bring a rich background of seasoned experience in organizational
leadership and human resource management to the task.

As well as his association with ThriveRemote, Dr. Costelloe serves as President of Costelloe and Associates, Inc., located in Metairie, Louisiana, a firm he has maintained for over 30 years specializing in the industrial application of psychological assessments,
candidate selection, career planning & development, and employee morale surveys.

During the 2020 shutdowns, employers scrambled to find ways to cope and maintain some level of productivity. “As we all know,” said Stodd, “the pandemic has forced us to accept new circumstances, terms, conditions, and situations that most of us would not have wished for.

Included in that has been the necessity for millions of people to work from home,” he said.

“While most business leaders and their employees were extremely reluctant to embrace remote work as a norm, the pandemic just has not given us much of a choice. Yet, as more data comes in regarding this once unwelcome circumstance, it’s not looking all that bad, at least for most,” Stodd said. “In fact, this forced change may end up being one of the few silver linings to come out of all this disruption, tribulation, and
suffering with many believing that remote work is here to stay.

Jim Stodd is the Principal of JT Stodd & Associates, located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and specializes in compensation and rewards, organization planning, change
management, and general human resource management.

Costelloe and Stodd note that others are debating the relative merits of remote work. However, they choose to simply acknowledge that remote work is likely here to stay.

“It is a new norm for much of our industrial society, at least in ways and numbers that were just not foreseeable prior to the pandemic,” Costelloe said.

“We believe that remote work should become a greater focus for applied behavioral scientists––such as ourselves––and that we can continue to better understand, shape, and influence the factors and circumstances that contribute to individuals thriving in remote work situations versus languishing, coping or just getting by,” said Costelloe.

Psychological scientists are trying to keep pace with the urgent needs to understand and help people adjust to the pandemic environment.

“While a lot has yet to be learned regarding these factors and circumstances, amazingly a lot has been learned in a fairly short period of time,” said Stodd.

“Much has been written on this topic over the last several years, but science-based evidence regarding what makes remote work productive and sustainable has been limited. We want to share what is already known about the predictors of remote worker
success,” said Stodd, “so that business leaders can use that knowledge to better predict who is most likely to thrive within a remote work circumstance, understand why they thrive, and use that knowledge to better design, situate, and manage their remote work programs for the mutual benefit of both the worker and the organization.”

Costelloe and Stodd describe findings from one science-based study, a recent investigation undertaken by psychologists associated with the Universities of Georgia and South Florida.

The researchers described “remote work effectiveness” in terms of three areas:
Overall Adjustment (to the remote work situation); Stress Level (during performance of remote work); and Job Performance (relative to pre-pandemic/normal-office performance levels).

The researchers looked at 62 possible predictors of remote work effectiveness and found eight strong predictors.

The first three of these eight predictors had an inverse or negative relationship to
one’s ability to thrive in a remote work situation. And, these three all pertain to
the internal characteristics––for example, personality traits, competency or skills, or
habits of the worker, Stodd notes.

These factors were: 1) Feelings of Social Isolation; 2) Stress Levels Before Engaging in Remote Work; and 3) General Proneness to Anxiety.

Stodd explained one example, saying, “Feelings of social isolation were found to
hurt a person’s overall ability to thrive in a remote situation, including their overall
adjustment to remote work, stress levels during remote work, and job performance,”

Stodd said. “The negative impact of social isolation may even be greater based upon one’s personality. For instance, folks that are extremely extraverted, and normally energized by frequent social contact, or those with strong affiliation needs, may be even
more negatively impacted by the social isolation that frequently comes with remote work.”

The next five factors were found to be positively associated to remote work effectiveness. These five pertain to situational factors exterior to the person
that an employer can influence directly and rather significantly.

These were: 4) Sleep Quality During Periods of Remote Work; 5) Organization’s Support During and After the Transition to Remote Work; 6) Workspace that is Comfortable, Well-Equipped & Conducive to Productivity; 7) Technology that Facilitates Productivity, Communication and Social Interaction; and 8) Job Design and the Variety of Tasks Involved in the Job.

“It was found that characteristics of the work itself mattered, including how demanding the job is, having increased task variety, and job-related information exchange,” Costelloe explained. “Also found to be important are situational factors including, family interruptions of work, spousal/family respect of boundaries, and the proportion of
childcare the worker is doing during remote work relative to a partner.”

Costelloe and Stodd are in agreement about the importance of individual differences, which has lead them to closely examine other characteristics that may influence an
employee’s productivity or success at remote work.

They point out another example, a study related to important characteristics for success in remote work, where researchers measured characteristics with the 16PF, a well-established personality assessment tool supported by decades of academic and applied scientific support.

In this study, researchers concluded that “employers need to consider the individual differences in remote workers’ personalities and identify how to best support and
development them to realize their potential as remote workers.”

The researchers identified three core competency areas which are important for individuals to “thrive” as remote workers.

The three are: Agility – How people respond to change and handle challenges independently; Achievement – How people adapt their work practices to drive action and ensure accountability; and Affiliation – How people deal with the absence of having other people in the same physical space to support them.

“The researchers found that remote workers need to possess a mix of Agility, Achievement and Affiliation to be highly effective in a remote work environment,” said Stodd.

“That is, while these characteristics may be important for many if not most jobs, they become even more important for thriving in remote work scenarios given remote work
frequently presents specific challenges around social interaction, communication, and work style.”

Another element of how successful employers and employees will be in adapting to remote work is the relationship to supervision and management.

“Research and professional practice draw attention to the importance of effective supervision and management in the support of remote worker success,” said Costelloe.

“Studies confirm the criticality of effective leadership and supervision in creating reasonable expectations and goal clarity, providing organizational support, ensuring
resource availability, maintaining work-life balance and the effective management of stress levels, nurturing employee growth & development, facilitating necessary
social interaction and support, and conveying the trust necessary to create a true sense of belonging,” he said.

“Of course that’s a lot of stuff,” Stodd said, “which has led researchers to conclude that remote managers also need to possess special competencies in the areas of Agility,
Achievement, and Affiliation, including the ability to coach and develop others, extend individual concern and compassion, and build & maintain effective teams.”

Overall, helping companies and employees adjust to the new normal is exciting for the two consultants, an area that combines their talents and psychological science to
help others deal with the consequences of the pandemic.

“The ability to thrive in remote work involves a complex set of factors, some of which are innate to the individual, some of which are situational, combined with the need for
leadership that is well-honed to the remote work circumstance,” said Stodd.

“While complex, employers who want to do well need to develop an appreciable understanding of all these factors as well as establish programs, processes and procedures that will maximize the benefits of remote work – of which there are many –for both the organization and its remote workforce,” said Costelloe.

The two intend to continue educating their clients and the public about the possibilities for adjusting to changes and challenges in the new work environment. More information can be found at their website.

Dr. Sonia Blauvelt Helps Lead Suicide Prevention Project for Southeast La

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The Mental Health Association for Greater Baton Rouge is implementing a
COVID-19 Emergency Response for Suicide Prevention Project in southeast Louisiana to help contain the expected increase in mental health problems for Louisiana citizens. The project includes several components and Baton Rouge psychologist, Dr. Sonia Blauvelt, is leading the suicide prevention program.

The announcement from the Association noted that: Socially and financially disadvantaged families are more vulnerable to stresses and traumas, and the risk
for mental health problems and domestic violence increases after families face
extreme adversity, such as those related to COVID-19 disruptions and trauma.

Blauvelt explained, “We identified these areas of southeast Louisiana as
having high rates of COVID19 infection and deaths, high rates of intimate partner violence, and poor health outcomes overall,” she said. “These factors leave individuals even more vulnerable to deterioration in mental health in addition to having limited resources.”

The project is funded by Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and managed through the Louisiana Department of Health, Office of Behavioral Health.

There is a great need for community based services for people with suicidal thoughts
and behaviors,” said Blauvelt, “and we hope this program will reduce the high level of
hospitalizations and inpatient stays for people who experience higher risk of suicide.”

In her role, Blauvelt helps case managers implement the suicide case management program and she will provide clinical supervision and intervention when necessary. “I also work to partner with general hospitals and mental health hospitals in the regions
we are serving to identify individuals who may need suicide prevention services so that we can get referrals to our program,” she said.

Dr. Blauvelt is a licensed clinical psychologist in private practice in Baton Rouge. Her PhD is from Louisiana State University and she interned at the Charlie Norwood VA/Medical College of Georgia in Augusta, Georgia where she specialized in treating
Veterans with military sexual trauma. She currently treats PTSD, trauma-related disorders, and anxiety disorders, with special attention to cultural factors related to mental health.

Dr. Blauvelt is working closely with LSU assistant professor of psychology, Dr. Raymond Tucker, who founded the LSU Mitigation of Suicidal Behavior research laboratory. He is clinical assistant professor of psychiatry at LSUHSC/OLOL, and trains medical staff/students in suicide-specific assessment and intervention protocols.

Dr. Tucker is also the co-director of the National Suicidology Training Center where he
provides training on suicide-specific interventions, including suicide safety planning,
post-vention programming, and motivational interviewing for suicide prevention.

Dr. Tucker said, “In tandem with Frank Campbell and the National Suicidology Training Center, I have helped develop the suicide case management program and train peer support providers and other staff at the Mental Health Association in this program,” he said.

“The program uses a variety of clinical and follow-up techniques that have been found to reduce risk for suicide in adults after receiving care in emergency facilities. The program particularly uses the Safety Planning Intervention and Caring Contacts to help support at-risk adults as they get setup and started with outpatient clinical services. My
own research, in collaboration with researchers at VA Puget Sound in Seattle, has investigated specific ways of using Caring Contacts after people leave acute care facilities and best practices for how to create these contact cards,” he explained.

The COVID-19 Emergency Response for Suicide Prevention Project includes four main components, according to the Mental Health Association (MHA).

Case Management for individuals who have attempted suicide or are identified as having chronic suicide ideation. This includes all of the following elements – screening,
assessment, safety planning and means restriction, discharge planning, transition care, warm hand offs to treatment or community organizations.

Another component is First Responder and other Health Care Professionals Suicide Prevention Training, partnering with the National Suicidology Training Center to provide more trainings on suicide prevention and Postvention strategies for first responders and providers across the state.

For Suicide Prevention Training for the general public, the Association is partnering with
the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Louisiana Chapter to provide statewide
suicide prevention training for the general public, including both safe Talk and ASIST
prevention training.

The fourth component is Suicide Prevention Outreach to Domestic Violence Victims. The Association is partnering with Southeastern Louisiana University, Discovery/Renew Family Resource Projects to establish an advocative role for domestic violence victims and establish a relationship with shelters and other domestic violence coalitions and resources to address trauma.

One challenge for Dr. Blauvelt and Dr. Tucker is getting the word out and networking.

“A major difficulty is networking with all the different hospitals and clinics in the area to ensure that the program is known, understood, and offered to the correct patients,” said Tucker.

“I echo Ray’s sentiments,” said Blauvelt, “about difficulty networking and ensuring that only eligible people are referred. Although we have hired and trained half of the staff needed to begin services, we continue to recruit case managers/peer support specialists to finalize our team. It is a challenge to hire the right individuals to do this critical work. We are confident we will have a full team soon,” she said.

“We are actively accepting and seeking clients in the program. MHA continues to finalize formal agreements with community partners necessary to fully implement this program. The training element of this grant is also underway. The National Suicidology Training Center has completed two first responder trainings. The National Foundation for Suicide Prevention, Louisiana Chapter has also completed two trainings to the general public,” Blauvelt explained. “MHA is also working with the Family Resource Center in Southeastern University to target victims of domestic violence who are at greater risk for suicide.”

Dr. Tucker said, “We hope a program like this is a part of growing community efforts to
prevent suicide in Louisiana.”

[For additional information contact Dr. Blauvelt at https://www.drblauvelt.com/]

Psychologist Blows Whistle on New Orleans VA Procedures

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A New Orleans psychologist was at the center of a CBS News investigative report that
aired last month finding that the New Orleans VA may not have been diagnosing enough veterans so that they could be treated adequately for traumatic brain injury (TBI), the signature wound of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

CBS investigative reporter Jim Axelrod broke the story, “Whistleblower says veteran
affairs dramatically under diagnosed traumatic brain injuries.” Louisiana
psychologist Dr. Frederic Sautter was key to the report.

Go to CBS online for the full report.

Axelrod reported on the heartbreaking story of Army Sergeant Daniel Murphy
who served five decorated combat tours in Afghanistan and Iraq. Murphy
specialized in detonating explosives and was honorably discharged in According to the
report, Murphy suffered both physically and psychologically. “He had the classic symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder –insomnia, anxiety, and a feeling that the
enemy was lurking around every corner,“ said Axelrod.

According to the CBS report, VA sources confirmed that Murphy screened positive for
traumatic brain injury (TBI) in 2017. However, he did not receive a final TBI diagnosis or treatment. Two months later he took his own life at 32 years old.

The report notes that suicide is twice as high in veterans with TBI than in those with PTSD only.

Cases like Sergeant Murphy’s haunted Dr. Sautter, said Axelrod. Dr. Sautter retired recently from the VA, but until that time he headed up the family mental health program at Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System in New Orleans. Dr. Sautter saw hundreds of vets coming home from the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts and began to become suspicious that they were not being properly assessed for TBI, said the CBS reporter.

Sautter told Axelrod that many of his patients, who were suffering from PTSD, appeared to also be presenting symptoms of traumatic brain injury. However, they had not been diagnosed or treated for the injury and this was a concern to him. So, Sautter set out to try and understand what was happening and he did his own research into the numbers.

According to Axelrod’s investigation, the VA protocol requires that all Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are screened for TBI and a positive screen then leads to further evaluation. Reporting on internal documents from the VA, Axelrod noted that most vets who receive a positive screen are ultimately diagnosed with TBI.

CBS found that 60% to 80% of patients who are positive on the screening, across all the VA hospitals, are ultimately diagnosed and receive treatment for TBI.

However, Dr. Sautter found that at the New Orleans VA this number was only 18%.

According to the report, Dr. Sautter brought his results and list of the veterans who had slipped through the cracks to colleagues at the Pain Management & Rehabilitation (PM&R) division at the VA. A nurse at the division, Priscilla Peltier, told CBS that “There was absolutely no treatment being provided to them.”

In October 2017, Peltier presented a plan to her boss, the chief of PM&R, Dr. Robert Mipro, for contacting the veterans on the list. Peltier told CBS that Dr. Mipro responded that the list was not their concern and to “lose the list.”

Dr. Sautter insisted that the VA to investigate his concerns first through the Inspector General and then through the Office of Special Counsel.

CBS said the Office of Special Counsel ordered an investigation by the VA Medical Inspector and produced a report in March 2019. CBS said that the report was not made public but confirmed the New Orleans relatively low TBI diagnosis.

However CBS then contacted a VA spokes person who said the Medical Inspector’s report had used “bad data” and that the TBI diagnosis rates in New Orleans were in line with the national average.

Dr. Sautter is not optimistic about changes at the VA. “No one on staff will convince VA to change their practice and take responsibility,” he explained to the Times last week.

“Their focus is on their image and maintaining good numbers. The current PM&R staff is quite good. The issue is prior patients not receiving evaluations need to be contacted and assessed,” he said.

“I am now retired from VA and have a private practice. There have not been negative consequences for me except the anxiety of the experience and disappointment at the total denial by the institution and alienation from the institution,” he said.

Dr. Sautter was the Manager of a Family Mental Health Program at a VA Med Center for many years, and treated hundreds of couples and individuals. He is an expert in traumatic stress and relationship problems and has treated hundreds of combat veterans to help them overcome a variety of stress problems, providing compassionate evidence-informed care to individuals that have had to endure immense emotional pain, according to Psychology Today’s provider information.

Asked how it was to work with CBS News, he said, “CBS was very professional, vetted everything with attorneys, and put a great deal of effort into it. They were impressive.”

Has he experienced retaliation? “I feel like I did the right thing and veterans have communicated appreciation,” he said. “The reaction of the institution was total denial. I would never encourage anyone to do it unless they were in the later stages of career and could accept leaving the institution (VA). The nurse who complained was retaliated against but I never felt like anyone was going to try to intimidate me.”

His thoughts for other psychologists? “If important protocols are not enacted it is
your duty to report it. Do not expect gratitude from anyone at the institution but it is very satisfying knowing that you stood up for what you believe in,” he said.

Are Money Problems Behind the Psychology Board’s Latest Legislation?

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by Julie Nelson

In the last week of February, the state psychology board surprised the community when they circulated a memo that the board would be putting forth legislation in the 2020 session. The memo cast the legislation as “housekeeping,” but the sweeping changes they wanted were anything but.

By March, Senate Bill 458 had been filed, 23-pages that detailed an ambitious set of changes to the Psychology Practice Act. The changes included expanding the board’s
own charter, creating new qualifications for serving, authorizing the board to conduct continuing education, exempting the board from Open Meetings Law in certain
situations, and redesigning the position of the Executive Director.

But the most financially significant change was the board’s goal to register psychological assistants, creating new regulations and fees that could double or even triple costs for some psychologists, especially those in small businesses.

Similar to other past legislative goals by the board, the plan was essentially kept from the public. Why the secrecy? Why bypass rulemaking? Why more legislation?

In this article, we examine the possible issues behind the odd behaviors of the Louisiana State Board of Examiners of Psychologists (LSBEP).

LSBEP’s Ongoing Financial Problems

Posted under “Performance” for 2019, LSBEP data from the Boards and Commissions website gives strong hints to the underlying reason that the board might be looking for more money from the registration of psychologists’ assistants. They noted:

“The Board is planning to engage in rule-making this FY that will impact revenue in FY2020-21 and include requiring the registration of assistants to psychologists providing
psychological services to clients under the supervision of a licensed psychologist and begin pre-approval of continuing professional development activities. A financial analysis for
the impact of these initiatives is being conducted and an amendment to the projected 2020-21 Budget is anticipated.”

The board’s financial problems are long standing, they have been running deficits since 2014.

Based on the financial tracking data, the LSBEP stayed within budget for most years and carried a “fund balance” of around $100,000. A source at the Legislative Auditor’s office said the fund was a surplus or reserve.

For 2014, the board took in $262,582 and spent $249,517. Legal services were $37,882. The fund balance had a surplus of $144,709.

In 2015, the board received $263,691 in fees and spent $275,147. Legal services increased to $56,002. The fund balance was listed at $120,188.

However, in 2016 budget tracking indicates a fund deficit of $214,818.

In a June 2016 Report, the Louisiana Legislative Auditor found the LSBEP to have inadequate controls over financial matters during the 2014–2015 period. The Auditor found a lack of business and accounting functions, and reported there were inadequate segregation of duties and lack of supporting documentation, inadequate controls over employee payroll and leave, inadequate controls over debit and credit cards, and inadequate controls over travel and meals expenses.

It is not clear from the Auditors report how the board went from a surplus to a deficit between 2015 in 2016. However, also in 2016, the board spent $336,677, while proceeds remained steady at $265,945. Legal services rose to $104,894.

In 2017, legal services shot to $149,774, and the fund balance became a deficit of $352,395. In total, the board took in $272,833 and spent $408,388.

For 2018, the board collected $299,599 and spent $307,003. Legal services dropped to $40,826. The fund balance was a deficit of $359,799.

Last year, in 2019, the board took in $310,023 and spent $212,640, with legal services at $61,182. The fund balance dropped to a deficit of $262,415.

But projections for 2020 point to new problems. Salaries are projected to go from $85,727 in 2019 to $168,787 in 2020. The board is estimated to take in $329,831 and spend $366,236. Legal services are estimated at only $57,509, but the fund balance is still a deficit at $298,820.

And, for professional services there is a category for “Others” that increases from $8,620 in 2019 to $43,499 in 2020. Salaried employees in 2019 is listed at $61,569, but increased to $93,200 for 2020.

In summary, between 2019 and 2020, expenditures are set to increase by 72%. (See figure.)

The Expensive “Complaints Committee”

The LSBEP conducts two main duties as a board––approving new licensees and administering discipline. New licenses are handled by the volunteer board members and the salaried Executive Director.

However, the complaints subcommittee is designed to conduct its affairs without board members’ oversight. This arrangement leaves volunteer board members free of any bias if they are then required to participate in a disciplinary hearing.

The Rules and the internal Policies and Procedures confirm this: “The LSBEP in accordance with the La. Admin. Code, 46:LXIII.1501.C. hereby delegates authority to a Complaints Committee which may consist of the Compliance Officer, a complaints coordinator, an investigator, legal counsel, and one or more Board members […]”.

The LSBEP has both employees and contractors. For 2020, two employees are listed: The Executive Director at $62,400.00, and the Compliance Investigator at $46,200.00. With related benefits for 2020 coming to $62,537, this brings the salaried employees to
a total $168,787 for 2020. Aside from student workers there are no clerical employees or others listed.

Contract employees include contracts for a Complaints Coordinator (approved for up to $36,000); Prosecuting Attorney ($50,056); Investigator ($12,000); and General Counsel
($45,000).

According to the Policies for the complaints subcommittee, “The Executive Director oversees the functioning of this committee and may serve on the Complaints Committee if necessary.” And, “The Executive Director or Compliance Officer is authorized and empowered to assign per case, individuals who are contracted, employed or appointed by the Governor to the LSBEP, …”

A new position, a “Compliance Officer (Investigating Officer)” appears to have been added sometime in the last two years. According to the policy manual, this person may be a full-time or part-time, may conduct investigations and/or inspections outside of the main office, conduct investigations into alleged or suspected misconduct by licensed members, applicants for licensure and/or others who may be suspected of violating state and federal ethical and agency laws, rules, and policies, may conduct surveillance and unannounced on-site monitoring/compliance visits, among other duties.

The complaints subcommittee operates without the direct supervision of any board members and is the most expensive and least transparent element of the LSBEP. But what exactly is the extent of the problem that this expensive subcommittee is solving?

Is the Extra Expense Really Necessary for Public Safety?

Considering the depth and breadth of law enforcement personnel assigned to the complaints subcommittee, an observer might think that there is a serious problem with psychologists’ products/services.

However, based on LSBEP’s statistics the number of annual disciplinary actions averages between two and three per 1000 psychologists. Since a psychologist serves an average of 30 individuals per year, this translates to around 2.5 problems in
30,000 customer experiences.

This rate is consistent across states and consistent with the national averages. Statistics published by the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards calculates the national number of disciplinary actions for the last five years to range from 181 to 229, an average of 189.4. (See figure.) For 106,000 psychologists across the nation, this is 1.8 mistakes per 1,000.

These rates are also consistent with the other psychotherapy and counseling professions. The Times compared a random sample of disciplinary outcomes for the psychology, counseling, and social work boards. We found that all of three boards have
similarly low rates of disciplinary actions, between one and three discipline events per 1,000 licensees.

In research over a sample of a five-years, we found that 75 percent of discipline actions were related in some way to forensic child custody evaluations. The remainder was split
between sexual/dual relationships and impaired psychologist issues.

Using data of the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, which estimates the product-related injuries for various industries, psychologists compare very favorably regarding public safety. Furthermore, to compare to hospital care, where 98,000 patients die annually due to medical errors, psychologist services presents a very safe alternative to inpatient care.

Waste and Ineffectiveness in the Complaints Committee?

Do the lack of checks and balances in the complaints committee, and the heavily staffed law enforcement approach, create more problems than it solves? Have licensees, the taxpayers, been saddled with paying for unnecessary attorneys, including their mistakes?

In an interview with an MBA, he said, “Alignments and incentives are all wrong in the subcommittee. High costs and inefficiencies would be expected,” he explained.

According to several sources, beginning around 2012, the LSBEP embraced an aggressive, adversarial style for dealing with complaints. For the first time, a Prosecuting Attorney was hired in 2014. Also, a private investigator was hired. Sources
have wondered if this may have been related to the then new executive director’s background as a Fraud Analyst/Investigator in the Criminal Division of the Maryland Attorney General.

Finances and other problems began to mount. Hired in 2014 at a $15,000 contract, the first Prosecuting Attorney, Mr. Jim Raines, submitted invoices for $52,000, according to discussion between officials in December 2016. The board was still digging out of money troubles in part because Mr. Raines submitted invoices totaling $66,597 earlier that year, according to the minutes for the LSBEP.

At the same time, Mr. Raines may have contributed to an expensive escalation of legal matters when he failed to recuse himself from a complaints case against Dr. Eric Cerwonka. Mr. Raines had been previously retained by Cerwonka in Cerwonka’s own child custody dispute. Additionally, the two engaged in a fee dispute following the close of the case. Cerwonka filed a constitutional violations lawsuit alleging that the Raines had privileged information about Cerwonka that he used in the investigation.

In another example, the LSBEP contract attorneys appeared to have been confused
about time limits for investigating complaints, ignoring language in the Psychology Practice Act that limited investigations to one year.

At a 2015 hearing, demanded by the defendant psychologist to be open to the public in order to have the press attend, the time limit was to be addressed. However, General Counsel, Mr. Lloyd Lunceford, prompted the chair to have a private discussion in and executive session. When the board members emerged from the executive session, they dismissed the case. This made any discussion on time limits irrelevant. The then Complaints Coordinator, Dr. Gary Pettigrew, appeared frustrated having to dismiss the case stating that he did so, “…purely on the advice of the prosecuting attorney.”

In a side comment to the chair, overheard by the Times reporter, Mr. Lunceford appeared to confirm that the attorneys in the committee had misinterpreted the law and made an error. Two years later the board put forth legislation to change the time limit in law.

Another time limits case is still on a judge’s desk in District Court. If reversed the board
could be required to reimburse the legal fees to the defendant.

New Statutory Laws: Circumventing the Public and Solving the Wrong Problems?

Is the LSBEP solving the wrong problem when it sets out to create new law, instead of
redesigning its complaint committee? Do their legislative solutions just cost more in attorney fees? Do they circumvent the public’s involvement when they go straight to the legislature?

It appears that the board’s first foray into creating news statutes was in 2012 when they decided to craft legislation to bring behavior analysts under it’s jurisdiction. A backlash occurred, with strong animosity directed at psychology from other groups in the mental health community.

Their legislation in 2014 was less controversial, but in 2015 the LSBEP sprung Senate Bill 113 on an unsuspecting community. The bill fueled a tug-of-war between state associations over language in the Practice Act.

In both 2017 and 2020, the board first indicated they would proceed with rulemaking, which is the process for creating administrative law. However, both times they surprised the community and chose to contact a legislator.

The Times spoke to an administrative law expert who preferred to remain anonymous. The expert explained that the board is circumventing the public by putting their goals into statutes instead of using administrative law and rulemaking, which includes a process for public involvement.

“They are circumventing the public,” when they go straight to the law and ignore rulemaking, said the expert. “They are eliminating the input from the public. Administrative law is separate from the statutes, and that area of law is to be
separate. They want to put their administrative law into statutes, and that is a serious concern.”

State agencies are prohibited from taking a position or lobbying on any legislation. Emails show that the executive director took an active role in SB 113. And, the LSBEP had hired its own lobbyist, Deborah Harkins. This later prompted Sen. Fred Mills to put forth legislation to prohibit agencies from paying lobbyists.

The Times asked Senator Mills about the origins of his Act 480. “It became readily apparent to me that some of the health professional licensing boards were intentionally trying to circumvent this law by hiring a lobbyist to lobby on their behalf, either for or against legislation that the board did or did not like,” he said. “It was indisputable evidence of, for instance the board of psychology, hiring a lobbyist when the board is listed on the website as one of her clients. This was really my motivation in filing Act 480,” said the Senator.

Conclusion

Years ago the policy at the LSBEP was, “Complaints received shall be rotated between former LSBEP members appointed as investigators.” The subcommittee then appeared to have had one psychologist, Dr. Gary Pettigrew, as the Coordinator, whose contract was for 40 hours per year. Legal consultation came from the General Counsel, only as needed.

Between then and today, major changes occurred, some very expensive. The expense impacts both the licensee, who funds the board, and psychologists who have to defend themselves against a fully staffed, motivated law-enforcement unit. At the same time, the measures of public safety have remained consistently good.

One attorney said that the Baton Rouge area has become a “cottage industry” for
the legal profession due to the boards. It seems unlikely that the LSBEP can legislate it’s way out of its managerial and financial problems. Unfortunately, in trying to do so they are removing the public from it’s legitimate role––being a correcting, and perhaps helpful, influence.

Scott Lilienfeld, Advocate for Excellence in Psychological Science and Practice, Succumbs to Pancreatic Cancer

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Nationally recognized psychologist and Emory Professor, Scott Lilienfeld, died on Sept. 30 at his home in Atlanta. The cause was pancreatic cancer. He was 59.

Dr. Lilienfeld was considered by many across the nation to be a firm, resilient, and insightful voice for scientific, professional psychology. He dedicated much time and work to helping maintain awareness in the field for standards of excellence for professional psychologists.

Dr. Lilienfeld was the 2018 keynote speaker for the Louisiana Psychological Association,. He delivered the address, “Being the Essential Partner: Understanding and Overcoming
Skepticism about Scientific Psychology.”

He received the James McKeen Cattell Award for Lifetime Contributions to Applied Psychological Science, Association for Psychological Science (APS).

His work has been cited over 21,295 times. He delivered the Award Address, “Psychology’s Public Image Problem: Why Many Laypersons and Politicians Don’t
View Our Field as Scientific,” at APS.

Dr. Lilienfeld served as the Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor at Emory University, and authored numerous works, including Science and Pseudoscience in Clinical Psychology, and Psychological Science Under Scrutiny: Recent Challenges and Proposed Solutions, was Editor of Clinical Psychological Science, and a regular keynote speaker, including for APA, APS, SEPA and SWPA.

In his 2012 American Psychologist article, he wrote, “…professional organizations must continually underscore the point that trained psychologists are virtually unparalleled
among rival professions in one crucial respect: our ability to apply scientific reasoning and rigorous methodology to assessing, evaluating, and alleviating human problems, whether they be mental health difficulties, such as depression or anxiety disorders, or
broader societal difficulties, such as prejudice or blind obedience.”

Among his findings he cited that only 30% agree that “psychology attempts to understand the way people behave through scientific research” and 41% see psychological research as less rigorous than medical research.

Along with many findings he noted that an APA Presidential Task Force found that, “Despite psychology’s foundation in science and its standing as the science of human behavior, it is not fully accepted as a science by the general public.”

In 2018, Dr. Lilienfeld reviewed the common criticisms of psychology’s scientific status he discussed rebuttals of the criticisms, and gave main reasons for negative public views of psychology.

He noted that the public face of psychology is not represented by psychological scientists. “Psychologists are rarely called on by the media to comment on psychological findings; when they are, they are rarely scientific psychologists,” he said.

He pointed to “The Illusion of Understanding––We’re all ‘psychologists’ in everyday life, so psychology seems easy.” Among the problems he included the “Confusion Between Psychologists and Psychotherapists,” as an important factor.

He also said that that scientific psychology is challenged by the “scientific impotence excuse,” and that “When psychological findings conflict with our deeply held intuitions, we may resolve that cognitive dissonance by dismissing a scientific approach to the
questions at hand…”

Among the remedies, Dr. Lilienfeld said that, “Academic and practicing psychologists have not spent enough of their time disseminating science to the public, combating bad science, and correcting misconceptions of the field.”

“We must play a more active role in educating laypersons about psychology’s scientific side and confronting its nonscientific side,” he said.

Dr. Bonner Recognized for Psychology in Public Interest

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Dr. Mkay Bonner has been recognized as the 2020 recipient of the Award for Psychology in the Public Interest by the Louisiana Psychological Association,
announced last month by the association officials.

The recognition is given to an individual who has made significant scholarly or
practical contributions to the health and well-being of the general public through their
work in psychology, said officials.

Dr. Bonner is an industrial-organizational psychologist who has worked closely with the police in Northeast Louisiana for decades. She is the Public Safety Psychologist for several police, sheriff, and fire departments. For almost 20 years, she has conducted a variety of evaluations for pre-employment, fitness-for-duty, and officer-involved shootings. Dr. Bonner is also an Associate Professor at the University of Louisiana at Monroe and teaches in the Criminal Justice & Psychology Departments, is a reviewer for the Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology, and authored or co-authored many journal articles and book chapters.

Dr. Bonner and her husband, Assistant Chief of Police at University of Louisiana at Monroe, Dr. Mark Johnson, serve on the Advisory Council of the Northeast Delta Crisis Intervention Team, known as CIT, covering 12 parishes in the northeast part of the state. She and her husband have now trained over 1300 individuals, mostly in the
law enforcement field, through a combination of more than 100 classes, ranging from 4 hour continuing education classes through the 40 hour complete CIT class. Johnson recently finished his EdD in Curriculum and Instruction, specializing in Law Enforcement
training and evaluation.

The nominating psychologist said, “During the events following the tragic death of George Floyd there have been calls for radical police reform, perhaps even wholesale police abolition. Louisiana has a heritage of excessive police behavior and much to overcome. Yet some of us see this as a moment to apply the solutions that Dr. Bonner has been advocating throughout our state and beyond for a long time. We see an opportunity for hope in the midst of our current despair.

“For over 16 years Dr. Bonner has been working quietly, working intensely to provide evidence-based training to prevent police misconduct and to minimize police use of
deadly or inappropriate force. This work has occurred at an organizational and at a tactical level. At an organizational level she and her team have analyzed systemic and
institutional conflicts that result in disparate use of deadly or inappropriate behavior. They have subsequently worked to change specific dysfunctional cultures or systems associated with excessive applications of police use of force and of cultures of racism associated with citizen abuse by first responders. Interventions like this by nature do not get publicized. They are confidential. Who wants their region, their own jurisdiction, their town, most of all their police to be labeled and singled out? But change seems effective and reasonably long term, perhaps a source for a bit of optimism in the present American confusion.”

The nominating psychologist continued, “At a more tactical level Dr. Bonner and her colleagues’ work has developed theory-based training to address common situations involving crisis intervention that police and other first responders frequently encounter. Mental illness is one of these problems. Racism is another. This work is not unique, but I believe it is uniquely effective. There are numerous programs in the country for police and first responders that address race, class, and poverty. Many more attempt to train providers about general mental health issues. But the data shows that they are not particularly effective and don’t do much good over the long term. Perhaps this is because they too often teach generalities rather than train specific skills for high risk situations. They may succeed in raising awareness but do not impart lasting behavioral changes because they do not apply discrete knowledge to risky, emotionally charged situations and back it up with practice and continued training.”

Dr. Bonner is a regular participant and presenter at the Society for Police and Criminal Psychology, an eclectic professional organization that encourages the scientific study of police and criminal psychology and the application of scientific knowledge to problems in criminal justice.

Bonner has also presented at the professional conferences of the Society of Police and Criminal Psychology, the American Psychological Association, and Professional Training Resources, Inc. Examples include, A Successful Rural Mult-jurisdictional CIT Program: A
Quantitative & Qualitative 10 Year Review, presented at the 2017 APA Annual
Conference; “Recruiting and hiring minorities into policing, with international
considerations,” in International Journal of Crime, Law and Social Issues; “The Intersection between law enforcement and persons with a mental illness,” in Crime, Punishment, and the Law; and “Doing more with less: The advantage of reserve officers in law enforcement,” in Innovations in Police Volunteering.

Dr. Bonner has taught multiple courses at the North Delta Regional Police Academy, including courses such as Emotionally Disturbed Persons–Mental Illness, Deescalation, Stress Management, Cultural Diversity, and Police Survival.

The nominating psychologist said, “Dr. Bonner’s and her colleague’s work has been different because it trains police and first responders to think through these necessary specifics. She addresses unusual situations, but situations that might not be unusual to first responders.

“Evidence shows that they reduce the use of deadly and inappropriate police actions by giving participants opportunities to learn and to think through and rehearse. They do not provide miracles, but they help us come closer to where we all want to be as a society.

“She, her husband, a former detective, with a great deal of ‘street credibility,” and colleagues can reach the people, the fellow officers, the paramedics, the fire personnel, the prison guards and correction personnel, that most of us academics just cannot. They can, have, and will continue to be able to address racism, culturalism, classism, and inequalities because they have an authenticity gained through years of experience and a much-earned trust.”

In a recent Times interview about Police Psychology, Dr. Bonner said that not only do psychologists need to stick to their scientific base of facts, but to be truly helpful and comprehensive, psychologists must learn the culture and work environment law-enforcement personnel.

“We must learn and understand the culture and environment that they work in,” she
said. “We cannot leave our office, open a book, lecture to them for two hours on mental illness, and expect it to make a difference. We must spend time with them, go on ride-alongs –at midnight, experience some of their training classes. We must understand them, how to talk to them, the best methods for them to learn…” she said.

“Psychology has much to offer. However, we cannot dabble in research and training with law enforcement,” she warns. “We must be committed and remember our roots of scientific research and competencies. That is how we can make a difference. And, it is an extremely worthwhile endeavor.”
Selection for awards were made by
members of the Louisiana Psychological
Association’s awards committee composed
of Drs. Mike Chafetz, Beth Caillouet
Arredondo, Brian Mizuki, Kim VanGeffen,
and Laurel Franklin. The committee
accepts nominations from the community
at-large.

The Psychology Times

Independent Voice for Psychology in Louisiana

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