Author Archives: Susan

Dr. Erin Reuther Honored for Service

Leave a reply

The Louisiana Psychological Association (LPA) has named Dr. Erin Reuther, PhD, ABPP,
recipient of the 2020 Distinguished Service Award, announced at a recent meeting.

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, noted to the officials.

The Awards Committee recognized Dr. Reuther for her dedication and leadership in
legislative issues and as special task team leader for matters related to Covid-19, as well as for her accomplishments in the role of President-Elect.

“In her leadership of the Legislative Affairs Committee, Dr. Reuther has created an active work group of psychologists who have been monitoring legislation which affects mental health issues in Louisiana. She is also leading LPA’s efforts to gather and disseminate information on COVID-19 during a time of crisis for psychologists in the state.

“Through her work on these committees, Dr. Reuther has demonstrated the abilities of a true leader who is able to bring together psychologists of different backgrounds and to shape them into an effective work group,” said the Committee. “In her role as President-Elect of LPA, Dr. Reuther has also provided outstanding leadership to the
Executive Council.”

Dr. Reuther is a licensed and board-certified clinical psychologist. She works at Children’s Hospital New Orleans, providing patient care to children and adolescents with pediatric illness in both inpatient and outpatient health/pediatric psychology.

Dr. Buckner Named LSU Distinguished Faculty

Leave a reply

Julie Buckner, PhD, Professor of Psychology and Director of Clinical Training, has been
awarded the 2020 LSU Distinguished Faculty Award. This award recognizes faculty
members with sustained records of excellence in teaching, research, and/or service.

Dr. Buckner is a Professor and Director of Clinical Training in the Department of
Psychology at Louisiana State University and the Director of LSU’s Anxiety and
Addictive Behaviors Laboratory & Clinic. She is also a Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at LSU-Health Sciences Center and a Visiting Professor at the
London South Bank University School of Applied Sciences. She is also a licensed clinical psychologist.

Dr. Buckner’s program of research primarily focuses on: (1) delineation of causal and
maintaining factors implicated in substance use disorders, especially the role of affect-related vulnerability factors; and (2) development and evaluation of empirically-informed treatment and prevention protocols for substance use disorders, including treatment for cooccurring anxiety-substance use disorders.

Dr. Buckner has had over 150 publications and has been involved in several NIH grants. Earlier this year, Dr. Julie Buckner was named the G. Alan Marlatt Mid-Career Research Award winner for 2020, announced at this year’s annual meeting of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT) Addictive Behaviors & Anxiety Disorders Special Interest Group.

Could More Police Psychology Help?

Leave a reply

“Start to finish, in that nine minutes you see a murder in progress,” Tom Fuentes, former FBI Assistant Director and vice president at Morris & McDaniel, told Channel 11 of Pittsburgh. George Floyd’s death was the worst case of police brutality he’s seen in more than 30 years of law enforcement, Fuentes told the reporter. The officer, Derek
Chauvin, should never have been hired, he said.

Morris & McDaniel, with Dr. David Morris, a Louisiana licensed industrial-organizational
psychologist, as founder, conducts psychological testing for police applicants around the world. Dr. Lana Whitlow directs the New Orleans Regional Office, where she and Morris focus on using multiple procedures to screen candidates in order to reduce
problems from individuals hired or promoted.

Fuentes told the reporter that Chauvin exhibited sociopathic behavior and that this tendency, while seven percent in the general population, jumps up to more than 40 percent in applicants for law enforcement, Fuentes said. Dr. Morris and his colleagues been assisting public sector law enforcement organizations in designing and implementing screening instruments to help deal with these issues for over three decades. Morris is both a psychologist and attorney, and studied the concept of natural justice at the World Court in The Hague to better understand of how to test fairly.

Dr. Mkay Bonner, an industrialorganizational psychologist in Monroe, 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 of 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 ridealongs –at midnight, experience some of their training classes. We must understand them, how to talk to them, the best methods for them to learn…”.

Dr. Bonner 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-forduty, and officer-involved shootings.

Dr. Bonner and her husband, police Sgt. 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.

Dr. Charles Burchell has also worked in this area for decades. While he currently has cut
back on his independent practice, and does not render police psychological services on
an ongoing basis, he maintains professional connections, such as his membership in the Society of Police and Criminal Psychology.

“Police Psychologists continue to address two law enforcement agency concerns–
negligent hiring and negligent retention–through specialized services such as psychological pre-employment screening,” said Dr. Burchell, “rendering of clinical
support services to sworn officers and other personnel, fitness for duty evaluations,
consultation to law enforcement management, training on behavioral issues that are pertinent to law enforcement, and provision of services that may be peculiar to
law enforcement operations …”.

Negligent hiring and negligent retention may be relevant to the Minneapolis tragedy, where Mr. Floyd was killed. Personnel records cited widely now in the media report that Chavin had numerous complaints.

Minneapolis had had problems. In 2017, APM Reports found that four of the five psychological tests had been eliminated, dropping below national standards. As
recent as October 2019, City Pages reported that Minneapolis activists were pushing for mental health screenings and reforms in how officers were hired, assigned, and disciplined. One proposal called for the officers to be subject to screenings every three years.

Responding to public criticism, the Minneapolis police department hired a new psychologist in 2018 to improve screening procedures. However, officials’ choice for
the contract came under criticism when it was found that they hired a psychologist
with limited experience in police psychology.

Not many psychologists have worked to build the comprehensive networks related
to policing and developing trust with various segments of the community, as Dr.
Bonner.

“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.”

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

“Psychologists can be key to helping the current crisis in the U.S., Dr. Bonner said. “We can especially help with law enforcement research and training. But, it is critical that
we remember our educational and professional training. We need scientific research to
guide decisions – not just based on emotions or what we think but what we can prove. We need to know what will help and what will be a waste of time, resources, or actually be detrimental.”

Bonner follows this model with intensive involvement with all aspects of the law enforcement community systems. As Co-Coordinator and the Co-Lead Instructor for the Northeast Delta Crisis Intervention Team, spanning 12 parishes in the northeast part of the state, she has extensively worked with and trained law enforcement and public safety personnel throughout Louisiana, as well as the nation.

Dr. Bonner and Sgt. Johnson serve on the Advisory Council and help achieve the
overarching goals of the CIT, goals that also address the larger community, to promote
safety for everyone by providing law enforcement individuals with the training needed to effectively respond when encountering a person with a mental illness or in mental
distress.

Their mission statement includes the following:

The Northeast Delta CIT Program promotes officer safety and understanding when
dealing with persons in a crisis. We emphasize safety to all concerned – consumers, the
communities, and law enforcement.

…We are grounded on the principles of dignity, kindness, and hope for persons with a
mental illness. Our endeavors are only possible through the collaborative efforts between persons with a mental illness, family members, advocates, government and elected leaders, community professionals, mental health providers, and law enforcement professionals.

We cannot succeed alone. The Northeast Delta CIT goes beyond a crisis intervention
team. We are truly a “Community Intervention Team.”

The effort has been very successful. “We have received recognition for our work,” said
Dr. Bonner, who has presented information about the innovative program at the CIT International Conference. The group has also been awarded the Louisiana Peace Officer’s Standards and Training accreditation, called POST. This, “… is a really big deal,”
Dr. Bonner said.

“We have also conducted CIT Train-The-Trainer for agencies throughout Louisiana and
published about the work in an international journal,” she said, which extended the benefits greatly across the state. They have found that CIT skills, including verbal de-escalation, were used in over 80% of the CIT officer reports.

Officers learning the crisis-management skills have praised the training. “One of the
best and most relevant classes I have ever taken for law enforcement.” And, “I will use
these skills every day,” and “Every officer, really everybody, needs to take this class.”

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.

She 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 Multijurisdictional 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.

Bonner is a regular in the Society for Police and Criminal Psychology (SPCP), 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.

Another organization of police psychologist is the Consortium of Police Psychology Services (COPPS). In 2011, Dr. Penelope (Penny) Dralle and colleague Dr. Charles
Burchell met with colleagues in New Orleans where Dr. Dralle served as President for
the Consortium.

Dr. Dralle, a clinical and consulting psychologist, has served as Consulting Psychologist for the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD), as associate professor for the Louisiana State University School of Medicine (retired), and member of the Blue Ribbon
Committee on NOPD Police Recruiting (now Consortium of Selection and Recruitment
for NOPD). She coordinated and supervised pre-screening operations for the hiring of
officers for the city.

Dralle has been in the middle of the reforms in the field for over 40 years. “Testing for police officers started before the ’60s,” Dralle noted. “In 1967, a Presidential commission
recognized the importance of assessment. The goal was that by 1975 every law enforcement agency would be using some sort of standardized test to determine the emotional stability of law enforcement candidates.”

In 1976, the FBI and the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA) of the Department of Justice sponsored the National Working Conference on the Selection of Law Enforcement Officers at the FBI Academy in Quantico, VA. The first conference of the LEAA, was held at Quantico, Va., in 1979. The meeting attracted professionals from all over the country. In 1984, at another later informal meeting at the FBI, Gabriel Rodriguez, of Louisiana, helped organize COPPS.

“I started working with the city in the mid 1970s, with Dr. Arthur J. Gallese,” Dralle said, “who moved to New Orleans after leaving a position as Research Coordinator at the Dept. of Public Welfare in St. Paul, Minn. He had trained at University of Minnesota and
was an expert in the use of the MMPI when he joined the faculty at LSUMS.”

Over the years the standards of practice for screening and assessment of law enforcement have become more codified with guidelines published by the Psychological Services Section of the International Association of Chief of Police and the Society for Police and Criminal Psychology, looking at what is acceptable for how a department goes about assessing candidates.

Dralle was asked to take over preemployment selection work for the NOPD after Hurricane Katrina, and she offered the Police and Civil Service Departments of New Orleans a standardized approach to the selection and evaluation of their candidates, enlisting other experienced professionals in the community to participate.

She has worked to share information with others in conference presentations such
as “Developing a Partnership to Enhance the Police Recruitment and Retention in
New Orleans: A Case Presentation,” “Critical Incident Response for Louisiana Law Enforcement Personnel and their Families: A Journey in Crisis Intervention for the Unrecognized Victims of Crime,” and “Ethical Issues in the Psychiatric/Psychological Evaluations of Police Recruits.”

“The commonly used tests have been ‘normed’ and ‘renormed,'” Dralle notes, “and new tests have been developed to address specific problems. For example, the Matrix-Predictive Uniform Law Enforcement Selection Evaluation Inventory was published in 2008 by Drs. Robert Davis and Cary Rostow of Baton Rouge.”

The late Dr. Robert Davis, founder of Matrix, Inc., a Police Psychological Services Corporation, was senior author of the M-PULSE™ ––the MatrixPredictive Uniform Law Enforcement Selection Evaluation Inventory, as well as the comprehensive post-offer
evaluation methods.

Dr. Davis was one of Louisiana’s examples of a psychologist closely involved with the police. He served as Chief Police Psychologist for the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office, and as Police Psychologist for the Louisiana State Police in Baton Rouge. He was
trained at the Law Enforcement Training Program, Louisiana State University, 147th Basic Training Academy.

Board certified in Police Psychology and Forensic Psychology, he was nationally known for the development of inferential statistical models for the actuarial prediction of discrete liabilities in law enforcement and other public safety professions.

Over the years, Davis and colleague Dr. Cary Rostow published numerous articles about employee selection for law enforcement professionals, most notably the M-PULSE Inventory: Matrix Predictive Uniform Law Enforcement Selection Evaluation Inventory,
published in 2008 by MHS, Inc., Toronto.

Rostow and Davis also wrote Fitness for Duty Evaluations for Law Enforcement Officers: A Guide for Law Enforcement Executives and Police Psychologists, by Haworth Press in 2004.

Their many scientific publications included, “Psychological Police Officer Selection” for Law Enforcement Executive Forum, “An Investigation of Biographical Information as a Predictor of Employment Termination among Law Enforcement Officers” in Journal of
Police and Criminal Psychology, and “Group Differences in Detected Counterproductivity among Law Enforcement Personnel: Implications for Organizational Diversity,” in Quaderni Di Psicologia Lavoro, with S. Dilchert, and Denise Ones.

Davis and Rostow, along with colleagues, also published “Compulsive Traits and Police Officer Performance,” in J. of Police and Criminal Psychology, and “Law Enforcement Officer Seniority and PAI Variables in Psychological Fitness for Duty Examinations,” in J. of Police and Criminal Psychology, and “Psychological Screening,” in Law and Order.

In 2010 Drs. Davis and Rostow provided chapters, “Issues in Law Enforcement Fitness-For- Duty Evaluation,” and “The Use of the M-PULSE Inventory in Law Enforcement Selection,” for Personality Assessment in Police Psychology: A 21st Century Perspective.

Dr. Davis worked closely with many colleagues in the Louisiana community including Dr. Ivory Toldson, a leader in the Black community. Along with Dr. Rostow, Drs. Davis and Toldson worked together on a grant awarded by the National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, and produced, “Profiling Police: Evaluating the predictive and structural validity of an actuarial method for screening civil liabilities among police officer candidates.” The three presented together at the 2004 Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association in Hawaii and also at the Annual Meeting of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences in 2004.

Today, Matrix is led by Dr. Wm. Drew Gouvier and Dr. Joseph Comaty.

Dr. Gouvier has been practicing in neuropsychology and clinical psychology for 30 years and currently holds the rank of Professor Emeritus in the Department of Psychology at Louisiana State University, and remains active there in research and graduate training, where he also served as the Department’s Director of Public Service.

“In homage to Paul Meehl,” said Dr. Gouvier, “it is all about having science behind the
selection, and that absolutely requires a database of actual officer feedback over time
to establish the validity of the evaluation. The data collection needs to be an integral
and ongoing part of the evaluation system,” he said.

“There is not a single Good Cop profile to serve as a match to sample criterion. Rather,
empirical prediction is actuary based, and not subject to the simple Daubert Challenge
that is directed at decisions based–even in part–on clinical decision making,” Dr.
Gouvier explained.

“Practice models must favor a risk management mentality much more than the
traditional clinical service model. Tests must be validated for their purpose, and test
batteries need to be validated as a whole. Even with a selection of valid measures, the
use of clinical judgment to combine and differentially weigh discordant test results
make the decision open to the Daubert Challenge as well.”

The M-PULSE Inventory is a screening instrument designed for law enforcement
officer selection. It can be used either pre-offer to identify candidates’ liability potential,
or post-offer as part of a total assessment battery that includes historical, interview,
and observational data, notes the company.

The assessment produces results which help predict officer misconduct, and
gauges attitudes, values, and beliefs and facets of personality that are of importance
to police work. Examples include:

• Interpersonal Difficulties – At risk for problems with personal relationships.
• Chemical Abuse/Dependency – At risk for problems associated with chemical
abuse/dependency.
• Inappropriate Use of Weapon – At risk for inappropriate use of a weapon.
• Unprofessional Conduct – At risk for conduct that is inappropriate for an officer
while on duty (e.g., verbal abusiveness, aggressiveness, rudeness, ethical
violations).
• Excessive Force – At risk for use of excessive force or aggressive behaviors that are inappropriate.
• Sexually Offensive Conduct – At risk for violation of sexual boundaries.
• Criminal Conduct – At risk of being arrested, charged, detained, or convicted of criminal activity or corruption.
• Racially Offensive Conduct – At risk for racially inappropriate behavior (e.g., racism
or targeting a particular race in law enforcement).

Dr. Charles Burchell, a Black psychologist, believes that the public is calling for change. “The increasing scrutiny of law enforcement by the general public with regard to racially differential employment of overly aggressive, violent, and in many cases illegal behavior of police–see Black Lives Matter movement–appears to be calling for a fundamental change in policing in America,” he said. Examples include some calls for defunding of police department or overhaul of police operations and functions, Dr. Burchell said.

“Beyond continuing deployment of police psychological services […], I feel that psychology’s role in this public health crisis is limited because psychologists function in
an advisory capacity and do not have authority to mandate any of our professional recommendations,” he said. “I do think structural changes are needed in primarily municipal law enforcement. Even where federal monitoring is in place, changes can be significant but slow and incomplete.

“For example, in 2011, the New Orleans Police Department was placed under a federal consent decree and many recommendations have been implemented, but a recent news report said that NOPD task force officers routinely stop people on questionable
legal grounds, engage in unsafe practices, and operate with insufficient supervision, and that almost identical problems were identified nine years ago,” Dr. Burchell said.

“The City of Baltimore, MD is also under federal supervision, has also made changes, but serious problems remain. One area that I believe that the role of psychologists can be strengthened is increased research in a variety of areas. But here again, what is the willingness of departments to deploy such evidence-based recommendations?” he said.

“I think that going forward, psychologists––clinical/counseling, industrial-organizational, social––can be valuable resources in helping to design new law enforcement and criminal justice delivery systems that hopefully can serve and protect all citizens in an
equitable and trustworthy fashion. We will see.”

Dr. Dralle is also concerned. “There are serious problems in policing today and
there is a need to address long-standing and widespread implicit racism. After the
publication of the guidelines for screening and evaluation by the Police Psychology Services Section (PPSS) of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) and participation in the training programs for PPSS, our screening program continued to evolve to meet the new standards,” she said.

“Over the years the research associates from the Department of Civil Service and
I have assessed the psychological screening process for disparate impact and we have never noted any violations of the four-fifths rule used to assess racial or sex discrimination. […] Psychologists have also been involved in the training and ongoing assessment of police recruits.

“During the recent Department of Justice (DOJ) consent decree, a member of the consent decree monitoring team strongly suggested that we should use a test
based on Australian applicants to screen our applicants. In addition, the DOJ
monitoring team wanted more information about applicants’ psychological history and suitability of recruits to be exchanged with them, with NOPD, and with the citizen police
monitors.

“In 2017, I decided not to renew my contract with the city for consultation with the NOPD. It was based on differences of opinion with some of the suggestions made by the DOJ consultants. In addition, I was dealing with professional concerns about my ability to select candidates who could respond to the needs of community policing and who could handle the societal shifts in support and attitude towards policing. As policing has become the last social program with adequate funding and facilities to handle persons who are outside the acceptable norms, their scope of responsibility has become excessively broad and possibly overwhelming,” Dralle said.

Dr. Courtland Chaney has been involved in discussions regarding civil rights/racism and policing from his professional perspective of an I-O psychology practice. He also is Public Affairs co-chair for the Louisiana Psychological Association.

In late 2016, after the death of Alton Sterling, Chaney began advocating for the development of a behavioral sciences training series for police in Louisiana.

“In order to facilitate this advocacy,” Chaney said, “I involved LSU Digital and Continuing Education and other individuals, including Mkay Bonner, who had done police training for some years.

“These efforts culminated in a pilot training session on July 25, 2018 in which we provided an overview of the kinds of topics we thought would help the police and briefly presented some substantive behavioral science information. Upon the conclusion of the session, participants said they would discuss it further among themselves, though there was so much mandated training now, it would be unlikely that more training could be required,” Chaney said.

“Police Psychology,” said Dr. Bonner, “has a much longer history than most psychologists realize. Many decades of work have occurred to help psychologists do a good job with preemployment evaluations, law enforcement training, stress counseling, etc. This is not a new field of study.”

… there is another important area that is not my area of expertise,” Bonner said, “counseling with the families of the LE [law enforcement] officer and/or the officers themselves. Right now they are needing emotional support. Psychologists can help,” she said. “… it will be most effective if the psychologist is well-versed in the LE culture and environment.

Dr. Dralle said, “Prior to the end of my work with NOPD, it seemed to me that the job of effectively selecting police officers was becoming very confusing. If we selected officers who were invested in community policing, how would these individuals handle the
negativity and lack of support from the community or the policing culture. As the job of police officer became less desirable and the applicant pool became smaller the job of policing also became more negative and less respected.

“The criteria for success were also harder to define. I chose to back away from this work and hope that a new generation of police psychologists might be better able to handle the issues and questions that were confronting me,” Dralle said.

“Personally, I know there are many more good police officers than bad ones. In addition, I cannot imagine safety if there are no officers available to protect the older and physically weaker citizens. There has to be some equitable and effective way to work this out that does not require taking sides for or against policing.”

Beanpole

Leave a reply

A Review

by Alvin G. Burstein

This is a brilliant, daring 2019 Russian film directed by Katimir
Balagov. It takes the American viewer to a place that many of
us have never been, one in which survival is an open
question. The circumstance of its actors being unknown to us
makes them more real, gives their anguish more bite. The
trials of their lives, grinding poverty, agonizing shame,
crippling post-war injuries, are not familiar to many of us, but
the central question posed by the film is stark and existential:
what makes life worthwhile?

The question is not glib. Its answer is not a given. Not in this
film.

The setting is 1945 Leningrad. World War II is over, but the
city is in shambles. Food is scarce and many buildings
remain in ruins. We see a hospital staffed by overworked
nurses and doctors with only primitive and limited resources
at their disposal struggling to care for injured soldiers not yet
recovered from their battlefield injuries.

The film’s central characters are Ilya, nicknamed Beanpole
because of her slenderness and height, now working as a
nurse in the hospital, and Masha, her battlefield companion in
the past, who has just left the military and is returning to
Leningrad to join her former colleague as a nurse at the
hospital.

The two veterans, intimate friends, contrast strongly in their
appearance and behavior. Ilya is blonde and pale-eyed, her
height intensifying her fragility, Masha is short, red-haired,
dark-eyed, vibrating with tension and purpose. Ilya suffers
from what the subtitles call “post-concussion syndrome” but
seems a form of catatonia. She experiences seizures, during
which she becomes mute and unresponsive, though not
unconscious, lasting for minutes. Masha had left a physically
challenged young son in Ilya’s care, but Ilya had suffered a
seizure during which the child died. Only when she arrives in
Leningrad will Masha learn that her only child is dead, and
that her wartime injuries have made her unable to bear
another.

This intensely tragic situation has a counterpart. Stephan is a
veteran whose injuries have left him quadriplegic, completely
paralyzed from the neck down, with no chance of recovery.
His wife comes to the hospital to see him and learns for the
first time of his hopeless condition. They talk about what this
means to them and their children. Given their economic
situation, they recognize that he cannot be cared for at home.
He thinks of a transfer to a nursing home as a dark and
humiliating slide into death. They find the courage to ask his
doctor, Nikolay Ivanovitch, if euthanasia, a mercy killing,
could be arranged. Nikolay, concerned about the risk to his
career, arranges for Ilya surreptitiously to give Stephan the
fatal injection.

The tragedies ratchet up. Masha has an intense, almost
monomaniacal, need to have a replacement child. Because
her injuries foreclose that, she pleads with Ilya to become the
surrogate mother and wants Nilkolay to be the father. Both
are shocked, and in different ways, repelled by the notion.
With manipulative cunning, Masha, having learned of the
doctor’s complicity in Stephan’s death, threatens him with
exposure, and taxes Ilya with guilt for having permitted the
death of Masha’s son, pressuring the couple to carry out her
design. Ilya agrees, finally, but with a stipulation. Masha must
be in the bed when she and Nikolay have sex. They comply.

There is more to the film. Masha’s frail son. Her feckless
suitor. His mother’s privileged elegance.

The movie ends with a flicker of hope, but those questions
nag: What is a life worth? When is it worthwhile?

Stress Solutions

Leave a reply

Sleep – More Important
Than Ever

Research says the average American misses 200-300 hours of needed
sleep each year. This is known as a sleep debt.

Studies suggest that healthy adults have a basal sleep need of seven to
eight hours every night. Where things get complicated is the interaction
between the basal need and sleep debt. For instance, you might meet
your basal sleep need on any single night or a few nights in a row, but
still have an unresolved sleep debt that may make you feel more sleepy
and less alert at times, particularly in conjunction with circadian dips,
those times in the 24-hour cycle when we are biologically programmed
to be more sleepy and less alert, such as overnight hours and midafternoon.

What do obesity, chronic high stress, heart disease, diabetes,
hypertension, and depression have in common? If you guessed sleep
deprivation, my hat’s off to you.

While there is no “magic number” of hours that we should sleep, it is
now firmly established that you cannot lose weight if you do not sleep a
solid 7-8 hours a night.

Cortisol is not the only factor that inhibits weight loss but it is a big one.
Some physicians are willing to flatly state that you cannot lose weight if
you do not get to bed early and get a solid 7 or 8 hours.

What getting a good night’s sleep can do for you:

  1. A good night’s sleep has a positive effect on your blood pressure,
    meaning that for most of us it goes down at night. If your hours of sleep
    are interrupted or too short, your blood pressure may never fall low
    enough.
  2. Insulin resistance is reduced by good sleep. Dr. Michael Breus, a
    psychologist and sleep specialist, emphasizes the fact that even short-term sleep loss (being awake for approximately 36 hours) can cause
    blood glucose levels to be higher than normal.
  3. A routine schedule for sleeping will help your body keep its internal
    biological clock running smoothly. You will be more alert, with good
    reaction time and physical ability, in other words, less accident-prone.

How psychologists can help
Many psychologists are focusing on sleep habits in the patients they are
treating. A study in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, looking at
adults with insomnia, found that more than 85% of the study sample
who completed 3 or more sleep-focused treatment sessions were able to
nod off faster and stay asleep longer. A 6-month follow-up revealed that
those patients who had 3 or more sessions spent significantly less
money on health care and had fewer doctor visits – compared to the 6
months before their therapy sessions focused on sleep habits. The
weekly therapy sessions included relaxation exercises and education on
topics such as activities to avoid doing 2 hours before bedtime (like
exercise, heavy meals, and smoking).

Stress Solutions

Leave a reply

More on The Tapping Solution:
A Basis in Ancient Chinese Medicine

Tapping evolved out of work that Dr. Roger Callahan, a psychologist treating a
woman with a severe water phobia, developed in 1979. Dr. Callahan had been
studying meridian points at the time he was treating this woman. Since he had
been making no progress with her, he hit upon an idea of tapping on the
endpoint of the stomach meridian as the client said that whenever she thought
about water, she got a “terrible feeling in the pit of her stomach.”

Meridians are the basis of the Chinese medicine system of acupuncture. They
are defined as energy channels that run thru the body and carry the “qi” energy
to the organs and other systems. Each meridian is associated with a different
organ system. The map of the meridians is known and easy to find even though
no one has ever actually measured or proven the existence of them as far as I
know. Nonetheless, the meridian system is hundreds of years old and to this
date Chinese medicine relies on it. The meridians are mostly named for the
organ system they feed or energize, like the Stomach Meridian, the Gall Bladder
Meridian, and so on. The Stomach Meridian ends at a point just below the eye.
Dr. Callahan asked his client to tap on that spot with her fingertips and after a
few minutes, her horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach was gone and the
story is that it never came back.

Dr. Callahan had a student named Gary Craig who worked out a way of making
tapping easier. Craig created a single sequence of tapping which became
known as EFT, Emotional Freedom Techniques. The EFT sequence was
designed to hit all major meridian endpoints and thus was more of a general
solution to whatever was the problem. The EFT sequence starts tapping on the
hand, moves to the eyebrow, under the eye, under the nose, the chin, the
collarbone and the side of the rib cage. It ends at the top of the head.

Since stress and its near-relation, anxiety, affect our organs and many aspects
of our nervous system, it stands to reason that it would reduce stress and
anxiety. One thing about a system like the Tapping Solution that may put some
therapists off is that it seems on first look to be fairly mechanistic. However, that
may not be fair. The current evolution of the Tapping Solution has grown
substantially and now there is a large literature including studies which deserve
a review.

In short, research over the past 10 to 20 years has shown that one can
measurably decrease limbic system (amygdala, hippocampus) activity by
stimulating selected meridian acupoints. PET and fMRI brain scans show the
amygdala calming when acupoints are stimulated. Studies have also shown
reduced cortisol levels when tapping is done during a stress response. In fact,
the level of cortisol reduction has been labeled “dramatic and unprecedented.”

The growth of this technique among others is now in an area of psychology
called, Energy Psychology. Evidence is coming from many countries now that
suggests that Tapping is not only fast and effective, but also the effects are
lasting. The discussion of this technique is broaching on a concept that is
making a lot of news: you CAN change Your brain.

J. Fang et al. “The Salient Characteristics of the Central Effects of Acupuncture Needling: LimbicParalimbic-Neocortical Network Modulation.” Human Brain Mapping 30, no. 4 (April 2009): 1196-
1206.

Legislature Calls Special 30-Day Session for Budget, Virus Fallout

Leave a reply

The regular legislative session ended on June 1 at 6 p.m. and the special 30-day session began one minute later at 6:01. The regular session was fragmented say observers, adjourning one week after it began due to the coronavirus and picking up only again on May 4. Some estimate that up to two-thirds of the bills introduced were dropped.  

The special session will address the states budget, not dealt with in the first session. According to the Proclamation to convene, only 41 items will be addressed. These include operating expenses of the state government and measures to appropriate funds. Other items include the Coronavirus Aide and Economic Security Act, the emergency unemployment compensation filed by persons impacted Covid19, and licensure of medical professionals during a declared public health emergency. Insurance dispute resolution for healthcare services, coverage for home health services, extension of filing for state and local tax returns, and expansion of broadband coverage, are also among the 41 topics.  

Senate Bill 458, initiated by the Louisiana State Board of Examiners of Psychologists (LSBEP) and authored by Senator Luneau from Alexandria, was not heard in committee. The measure set out ambitious changes to the Psychology Practice Act, but was put on hold after officers from the Louisiana Psychological Association (LPA) raised objections. Dr. Greg Gormanous, Chair of Legislative Affairs for LSBEP, established an Ad Hoc Legislative Collaborative Committee composed of community members who have been studying the issues. 

Some bills did make it through the chaotic session. These include the following (excerpts are from the digests): 

HB 317 by Thompson establishes an autism spectrum disorder designation for a person’s driver’s license. The new law authorizes an applicant for a driver’s license who has autism spectrum disorder to request a designation and requires the designation to be placed on his driver’s license. The new law requires the applicant to provide a sworn statement from a qualified medical or mental health professional licensed in La. or any U.S. state or territory verifying his disability and prohibits any additional fee for the designation. The new law requires a driver who has autism spectrum disorder to provide a statement from a qualified medical or mental health professional […] authorized to diagnose autism spectrum disorder.  

The new law requires the Dept. of Public Safety and Corrections, public safety services, to establish and implement a law enforcement training course relative to law enforcement officers’ interactions with persons who have autism spectrum disorder, in addition to the requirements of present law. And it requires the course to instruct law enforcement officers on sensitivity and awareness to ensure equitable treatment and how to effectively communicate and interact with persons who have autism spectrum disorder.  

HB 449 by Echols also passed. In present law, the Louisiana Telehealth Access Act (R.S. 40:1223.1 et seq.), defines “telehealth”, in pertinent part, as a mode of delivering healthcare services that utilizes information and communication technologies to enable the diagnosis, consultation, treatment, education, care management, and self-management of patients at a distance from healthcare providers. The new law amends this definition to provide that healthcare services delivered via telehealth include behavioral health services. Stipulates that, for purposes of proposed law, “behavioral health services” means those services as defined in present law that are appropriate for the patient and delivered by a licensed mental health professional, acting within the scope of applicable state laws and his professional license for services identified by the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH), to treat mental illness or substance use.  

Present law, the Behavioral Health Services Provider Licensing Law (R.S. 40:2151 et seq.), authorizes the provision of behavioral health services in residential settings, clinic settings on an outpatient basis, and in home or community settings. The new law amends present law to authorize the provision of behavioral health services through telehealth, and stipulates that the provision of behavioral health services in any authorized setting shall be subject to rules and regulations of LDH. 

The present law known as the Behavioral Health Law (R.S. 28:1 et seq.) authorizes psychiatrists to conduct via telemedicine a required examination of a person with a behavioral health condition who is subject to admission by emergency certificate to a treatment facility. […] The new law retains present law and authorizes psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners to perform these examinations, and to do so via telemedicine as present law authorizes for psychiatrists. 

HB 819 by Bagley authorizes the recommendation of medical marijuana by physicians for treating additional conditions and authorizes any state-licensed physician to recommend medical marijuana. New law retains present law and adds all of the following to the list of debilitating medical conditions which qualify a patient for treatment with medical marijuana: (1) Alzheimer’s disease. (2) Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. (3) Huntington’s disease. (4) Lewy body dementia. (5) Motor neuron disease. (6) Spinal muscular atrophy. (7) Chronic pain associated with fibromyalgia. (8) Chronic pain associated with sickle cell disease. (9) Any condition for which a patient is receiving hospice care or palliative care. (10) Any condition not otherwise specified in present law or proposed law that a physician, in his medical opinion, considers debilitating to an individual patient and is qualified through his medical education and training to treat. 

HB 871 by Marino redefines “dyslexia” for the purposes of testing and providing remediation to students. Present law provides different definitions of “dyslexia” for different purposes. New law retains present law purposes but provides a uniform definition of the term as follows: (1) Present law requires the State Bd. of Elementary and Secondary Education to adopt a program for testing students for dyslexia and related disorders and requires school boards to provide remediation for dyslexic students in accordance with the program; defines “dyslexia” for this purpose as a language processing disorder which may be manifested by difficulty processing expressive or receptive, oral or written language despite adequate intelligence, educational exposure, and cultural opportunity. (2) Present law requires every child in public school in grades K-3 to be screened at least once for the existence of certain impediments, including dyslexia; defines “dyslexia” for this purpose as in (1) above. (3) Present law requires, upon the request of a parent, student, or school personnel who has reason to believe that a student has a need to be tested for dyslexia, that a student be referred for testing; defines “dyslexia” for this purpose as difficulty with the alphabet, reading, reading comprehension, writing, and spelling in spite of adequate intelligence, exposure, and cultural opportunity. 

The new law redefines “dyslexia” for all present law purposes as an unexpected difficulty in reading for an individual who has the intelligence to be a much better reader, most commonly caused by a difficulty in phonological processing, which affects the ability of an individual to speak, read, and spell; provides that “phonological processing” means the appreciation of the individual sou unds of spoken and written language. SCR 62 by Milligan requests the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, through the state Department of Education, to develop and implement a traumatic injury response program to ensure that each city, parish, or other local public school in the state is prepared to respond in a traumatic injury emergency. 

The Times asked Dr. Erin Reuther, Chair of the Legislative & Governmental Affairs Committee, and President-Elect for the Louisiana Psychological Association (LPA) about the session. 

“When the legislative session reconvened, LPA remained active in engaging with legislators on several bills of interest,” Dr. Reuther said. “Namely, we monitored language in HB 449 and HB 530 to ensure that psychologists are included in definition of telehealth providers and our services are covered. We worked with stakeholders and legislators on HB 871 (formerly HB 391) and HB 542 regarding dyslexia with the goal of ensuring that legal definitions and practices in the state are consistent with evidence and best practices. This included a call to action of our members, which was helping in advocating for psychology and bringing us into meaningful discussions,” she said. 

“LPA also worked to support and amend HB 317, which creates an optional designation of autism spectrum disorder on drivers licenses for individuals who decide to opt in. It also calls for training of officers in working with individuals with ASD,” Dr. Reuther said. 

“LPA plans to continue monitoring legislation in the special session to continue our goals of bringing psychological science to policy and advancing the field of psychology in Louisiana,” she explained. 

Dr. Reuther is a licensed and board-certified clinical psychologist and works at Children’s Hospital New Orleans, providing patient care to children and adolescents with pediatric illness in both inpatient and outpatient health/pediatric psychology. 

Special: Coping with the Coronavirus Pandemic

Leave a reply

Is This a Good Time to Help Your Client Change Jobs? Two Experts Talk Shop…

“The job market just went from great to awful, but there may be some opportunities for those that want to make a wholesale switch,” write Olson and Swift, from Korn Ferry career counselors. Forbes‘ Jack Kelley notes that the unemployment rates caused by coronavirus economic havoc could reach 30%. “And yet,” he says, “for anyone thinking about switching careers,” he says, “now might not be as bad of a time as it may seem.”  

We talked with two local career and business experts, Dr. William Costelloe and Mr. Jim Stood, and ask them about adapting to the job market churn going on in the country.  

William Costelloe, PhD, is a licensed I-O psychologist and owner of Costelloe & Associates, Inc. For over 40 years, he has consulted with both public corporations and family-owned businesses across the country, specializing in interpersonal communication, team building, pre-employment assessments, organizational surveys, and career counseling.  

Jim Stood, M.S., owner of JT Stodd & Associates, has provided consulting services to a diverse mix of clients including those in the healthcare, manufacturing, technology, construction, professional services, finance, government, and education. He also teaches classes in Organizational Leadership and Human Resource Management at Louisiana State University, and serves as the principal instructor for the Human Capital Management Certificate Program at the University of New Orleans.  

We asked Mr. Stodd what are some of the changes he sees for the future and careers? While he warned us that he was speculating, he thinks much of this will be influenced by the upcoming national election.  

“If the republicans win, we will continue to see more ‘domestication’ of our economy with the USA establishing more independence and self-sufficiency. The big winners will be oil and gas, manufacturing, distribution/logistics, and all the jobs associated with those.  

“If the democrats win, he said, “we will likely see a return to ‘globalization’ with more concern for being good citizens within the global economy. It will include a return to offshoring many manufacturing jobs, tech jobs, and a lot of associated logistics/distribution.  

“Irrespective of which party wins, we are likely to see continued growth in demand for STEM workers across all sectors–not necessarily degrees, but ‘credentials’– as well as healthcare, technology and logistics/transportation, particularly as retail establishments, including food services, shrink/disappear and home/office delivery continues to grow. The COVID-19 pandemic will simply add to what has already been a significant trend.”  

What does he think are the most likely new job areas, or those that could boom?  

“Right now both political parties seem to be in agreement that the national infrastructure needs revitalization,” Stodd said. “This will likely be a huge effort. So we should expect that jobs in heavy construction– roads, bridges, airports, big buildings, etc.– including jobs in architecture, engineering, materials manufacturing, construction supplies and equipment, and other related industries will grow– dramatically!” he said. “Also growing will be the business services necessary to support these efforts.”  

With these changes, we asked Dr. William Costelloe what are the signs that it might be time for a person to shift jobs or industries?  

“The current research on employee engagement in the workplace indicates that only 25 percent of the employees are fully engaged in their jobs, 59 percent of employees are ambivalent/disengaged, and 16 percent are actively disengaged. If someone senses that they are becoming less and less engaged in their work, then it is a time for concern,” said Costelloe.  

“The term I like to use is ‘passion.’ If an individual begins to sense that they are feeling more disengaged from their work, then they are losing their passion.  

“We are all going through a shock right now and employees are in a situation where they are seeing furloughs and complete layoffs of their coworkers and unfortunately in many cases even themselves. This situation is causing employees to question their level of job security regarding their current career path. Their level of engagement is by definition decreasing and they are wondering if they should begin to look for a different line of work given the situation we are all facing now,” Costelloe said.  

“At the same time, employees must guard against a kneejerk reaction and not jump into a new career or job just because they are scared. They should not overreact but rather think their situation through seriously with a high level of self-review and introspection.”  

“This is a very difficult question to answer,” Stodd agrees. “The decision to change careers is a very personal decision that must be made based upon factors unique to each individual, their circumstances and what they would like to accomplish in life. As such, it is very difficult to speak generally about the signs that might be important to any given individual. However, what we can talk about rather conclusively is why most people change jobs, and some of these factors are likely to ring-abell with any selected individual.”  

Stodd explained some of the research findings and the main reasons people change their jobs. ” 

Pay is by far the #1 reason folks leave a job, or an industry, for another,” he said. “It is also listed as the #1 reason people decide to stay put in their current job.”  

But employees are also want respectful treatment, he explained. “Employees list ‘respectful treatment’ as the factor most important to their overall job satisfaction,” he said. He pointed out that only 38% are satisfied with the amount of respect they receive.  

Stodd also said factors such as trust and the opportunity to grow are important, as is job security, is a factor in these current conditions. “Okay…Maslow was right! Research shows that people do want to feel reasonably safe and secure in their occupation, and they are likely to move to another opportunity when they feel insecure. Hospitality, entertainment, dining, and gaming have been hit really hard during the pandemic. Because of this it is likely that many employers in these industries will struggle for some time just to hire back the folks they furloughed or laid-off. After all, why go back if there is a better, safer opportunity?”  

Dr. Costello points out that before addressing issues such as job skills and job match, other questions may be more important.  

“The first step is to ask the question ‘What if?’,” said Costelloe.  

“What would happen if I took the time to seriously do some introspective thinking about what I could really do with the rest of my life? If I could determine what it is that I am really passionate about?  

“There is a story about Michelangelo and the process he went through before he built a huge stained glass window in a church in Italy. He spent weeks and weeks gazing at the space in the church where he was going to build the window. The Medeci family, who had commissioned him to build the window, became more and more frustrated as he delayed his start. Finally, they confronted him and inquired about why it was taking him so long to begin. Michelangelo responded that he was imagining in his mind where each and every tiny piece of stained glass would go into the window. In his time stained glass was very rare and he wanted to be very, very sure that he would have all the pieces he needed in the right colors in order to complete the window once he started.  

“Stated somewhat differently, Michelangelo was planning his plan. It has been my experience with my clients that many have not invested the time nor the right amount of mental energy required to plan their plan,” Cotelloe said. Special: Coping with the Coronavirus Pandemic Is This a Good Time to Help Your Client Change Jobs?  

“In order to answer the question ‘What if,’ a great deal of mental energy and introspection is required in order to arrive at a clear answer or vision of what it would be like to change your life and do something that you are truly passionate about. Dreaming alone will not answer the question, ‘What if?’  

“Once an individual has answered that question, the next step is to focus mental energy in order to answer the question, ‘What would I need to do in order to re-invent myself for the future?’ The final question that needs to be answered is, ‘How can I proceed forward so that I will enjoy and engage myself in the process of moving my career forward?’  

“Once the steps listed above have been started, a simultaneous process can begin in order to determine an individual’s knowledge, skills and abilities, which industrial organizational-psychologists refer to as KSAs. These can be determined by referring to national job databases,” he said.  

“In our career consulting practice, we think that it is important for an individual to be aware of the competencies that they could bring to a given job. Therefore, we administer proprietary assessments that determine these unique competencies.”  

“Recent studies have determined that once a student enters college, they will probably change their college major between two and five times before they graduate. Nowadays, because of the frequent switches of one’s college major, it often requires an extra year or more for a student to fulfill the full course requirements necessary to graduate, because they have switched their major so many times.  

“I’ve been contacted by two different nursing schools in the last few years who have found themselves caught in a very serious situation. Today, there is a shortage of nurses coming out of nursing schools. Both of these nursing schools admit around 30 students to their program each year. The problem is that each year a significant number of the students drop out of the program because they come to learn that nursing, as a career, is not what they thought it would be. In other words, the students who have entered and were accepted into their programs did not have a realistic understanding of what being a nurse would involve in the real world.  

“Industrial-organizational psychologists call this a ‘realistic job preview.’ The problem the nursing schools are facing is that by the end of the four-year nursing program only around 50 percent of the entering students graduate. Because of this high dropout rate the nursing schools can only provide half of the nurses needed in the job market.  

“I recall having a conversation with Dr. Ed Timmons who was one of my professors at LSU years ago when he predicted that this situation would occur. He said to me, ‘These kids have no idea what they really want to do once they get out of college. There is just too much ‘fish flopping behavior.’ I had to ask him, ‘What is fish flopping behavior?’ He said, ‘You know, it’s like when you catch a fish and you put it on the dock, it flips and flops and flips and flops until it finally flips off the dock back into the water.’ Today, there Is very little structured planning done before students choose their college major.  

“We also need to remember that things in the world of work are different today than they used to be. Generally speaking, in the old days, people would enter a job and stay with that job until they received a watch from the company upon retirement. Nowadays, studies indicate that after graduating from college the average person will switch the company they work with between three and five times during their career,” Dr. Costelloe said.  

The entire situation has become more complex with the coronavirus crisis. One of the changes is a potential move to remote work and in particular working from home. Researchers have long noted that working from home can provide benefits for workers and employees. Telecommuting can save employers and employees time, stress, money, and in many cases increase productivity by reducing stress associated with commuting and now a lower exposure to the virus. But many opportunities maybe available. Libby Wells of Bank Rate reports that the top jobs for working from home include web developer, computer support specialist, virtual assistant, and social media specialist for examples. for example, web developers have only a medium preparation requirement and yet average wages approach $70,000 a year.  

We asked Jim Stodd to describe some of the challenges coming to the career scene with remote work and he explained that the number of employees working remotely has grown from 3% at the beginning of 2020 to 64% in April.  

“Because of the pandemic, we are starting to learn a lot about remote work–good and bad–in a very compressed time-frame,” he said.  

“Furthermore, without a vaccine, employers are going to be slow in bringing remote workers back to the office simply because of the risk. As such, I believe that remote work is here to stay and will be the ‘new norm’ for those who largely do their work on computers and other digital equipment, which includes almost all professional services.  

“Yes, there will be some retraction efforts on the part of employers as things re-open, but employees are learning that there are huge benefits –at least for some people–in working remotely. A recent report issued by the Society for Human Resource Management shows that after the COVID-19 experience, 43% of the workforce wants to work remotely more of the time, compared to only 12% that want to work in the office more of the time.  

Mr. Stodd explained reasons from the research why people wanted to work remotely. These included not having to commute (55%), more flexible schedule (48%), being more productive (37%), and more time with family and friends (34%).  

“As a result,” he said, “employers are going to be pressured to provide more remote work situations and be much better prepared to lead and supervise a virtual staff. But, there are some documented challenges that employers will face in doing so.  

There will be problems ensuring consistency of treatment, such as for performance appraisals and raises, he said, and remote workers we’ll have greater difficulty separating work and home responsibilities.  

“It is much more challenging to maintain organizational continuity and consistency when the normal in-person interaction of the office is replaced by Zoom and ‘chat’ sessions,” Stodd said.  

“Progressive ‘cultural’ decay––the longer people work remotely the more difficult to maintain the desired culture. Axios has reported that 55 percent of remote workers feel less connected to the company.”  

There is concern that goodwill and harmony can breakdown without actual social interaction between colleagues, he explained. There is a lot to consider Mr. Stodd noted. And all of these are great opportunities for organizational psychologists.  

For more information and questions, Dr. Costelloe can be reached at WHCostelloe@msn.com. 

Mr. Stodd’s website is http://www.jtstodd.com. 

Dr. Raines Named 2020 Early Career Psychologist

Leave a reply

Dr. Amanda Raines, Clinical Investigator at Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System and Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Louisiana State University, has been named the 2020 Early Career Psychologist by the Louisiana Psychological Association.  

Highlighting her extensive peer-reviewed publications, development of novel interventions, ability to secure funding for the benefit of veterans in underserved areas, Awards Chair Dr. Mike Chafetz announced Dr. Raines as this year’s recipient on May 29. The Early Career Psychologist Award is given to an individual who is within 10 years of completing their doctorate in psychology and who has distinguished themselves by contributing to psychology research, practice, or both during the initial years of their career.  

“Dr. Raines has published 89 peer-reviewed manuscripts, including 29 as first author, and presented her work at local, national, and international conferences. And keep in mind,” Chafetz said, “this is the Early Career Award!  

“Dr. Raines’ research focuses on identifying and empirically examining diagnostic risk and maintenance factors, as well as the development of novel interventions that can be used to prevent and treat anxiety and related forms of pathology including suicide. Equally impressive,” he said, is “Dr. Raines’ ability to secure funding for treatment of veterans in rural and underserved areas.”  

Consistent with LPA’s mission to advance psychology as a science, explained the Awards Committee, she conducts this research using a translational framework wherein basic laboratory science is carried out with the goal of informing clinical practice. In turn, knowledge gleaned from the clinical arena reciprocally informs basic science methodologies.  

The Committee explained that Dr. Raines is not only a highly productive scholar but also an influential one. Her h-index of 24, indicates that to date, 24 of her manuscripts have been cited 24 times or more. Many of her publications have been featured in high impact journals such as the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, Journal of Psychiatric Research, and Journal of Affective Disorders. Her research has been featured on national forums including the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Suicide Prevention Fact Sheet for helping to further understanding of the relationship between Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and suicide.  

As a resident, Dr. Raines obtained pilot funding to test the acceptability, feasibility, and utility of a group-based transdiagnostic treatment delivered to veterans living in rural and underserved areas throughout Louisiana. During this time, she also obtained pilot funding to examine the effects of a brief, one-session computerized cognitive behavioral intervention delivered to veterans seeking treatment for an opioid use disorder.  

Dr. Raines has also received a New Investigator Research Award from the American Public Health Association. In addition to a monetary stipend, this award allows her to access the National Violent Death Reporting System database, which links data from vital records, coroner/medical examiners, and law enforcement agencies, to obtain comprehensive data on suicides, homicides, deaths from legal intervention, deaths of undermined intent, and unintentional firearm deaths. With this data, Dr. Raines plans to utilize network analysis as a foundation for identifying characteristics of veterans who die by self-inflicted gunshot wound versus alternative methods in hopes of identifying novel prevention and intervention targets.  

Dr. Raines has received a prestigious and highly competitive Career Development Award, which was established by the VA to attract, develop, and retain talented researchers. Dr. Raines is the first psychologist and researcher at SLVHCS to receive one of these awards since 2004 (prior to Hurricane Katrina). Her project, titled, “Examination of a Safety Aid Reduction Protocol for Treatment Resistant PTSD among Veterans,” will bring around $800,000 to the facility and is designed to adapt and extend an existing groupbased anxiety protocol for use among veterans with PTSD.  

Another of Dr. Raines’ many notable qualities is her commitment to giving back to the field of psychology. Currently, she serves as a research supervisor to trainees in the American Psychological Association accredited internship and residency program. She serves as a mentor for the VA’s Training Residents in Psychiatry Scholarship program, which aims to increase the number of psychiatry residents entering research training fellowships. Additionally, Dr. Raines serves as a member of SLVHCS Bioethics Committee, as a peer-reviewer for over 20 scientific journals, as a Director on the LPA Executive Council, and as the Co-Chair of the Convention Committee 

Lee Matthews Named 1st Recipient of the Janet R. Matthews Mentor Award

Leave a reply

To cheers, applause, and tears, the sentimental favorite, Dr. Lee Matthews, accepted the Janet R. Matthews, Ph.D. Outstanding Psychology Mentor Award for 2020, announced at the annual meeting of the Louisiana Psychological Association, held online, May 29. This is the inaugural year for the honor and Dr. Lee Matthews is the first recipient. Janet passed away in 2019.  

The award recognizes and honors Dr. Janet Matthews for her lifetime of mentoring work and the impact she had on psychologists in Louisiana, and is given to an individual who has made significant contributions in their mentoring of others in psychology. This is a legacy award developed by Dr. Laurel Franklin, who was mentored by Dr. Janet Matthews, explained Chair, Dr. Michael Chafetz. Janet passed away in 2019. 

“Dr. Lee Matthews is this year’s winner, and it is most fitting,” said Chafetz at the ceremony. “His 30-year career was marked by mentoring undergraduate students, graduate students, psychology interns, psychology post-doctoral students and individuals with degrees in psychology completing post-doctoral supervision or other post-degree supervision in a variety of capacities,” he said.  

“He mentored students and professionals at Loyola University, DePaul Hospital, and the New Orleans VA Medical Center,” said Chafetz. “He had the non-paying position as Chief Psychologist, Masters & Johnson Relational and Sexual Therapy Clinic and Sexual Trauma and Sexual Compulsivity Program for two years, to provide daily supervision, so that one of his former VA interns could have a position with that facility, until he was licensed and became the Director of Psychology.  

“He has also mentored numerous other professionals and soon-tobe professionals at considerable cost to his time and often without compensation. I was recused from the committee throughout this nomination process, as I can attest to Dr. Lee Matthews effective leadership and guidance throughout the early part of my career.”  

Dr. Matthews is in private practice at his firm in Kenner, Psychological Resources, and is a consulting psychologist to Southeast Louisiana Medical Associates at Leonard J. Chabert Medical Center, the Akula Foundation in New Orleans, St. Charles Parish Hospital, Canon Hospice, Children’s Hospital, and others.  

He holds the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP) Diplomate in Clinical Psychology and the American Board of Assessment Psychology (ABAP) Diplomate in Clinical Psychology.  

He serves as Assistant Clinical Faculty, Department of Psychiatry, LSU Medical Center School of Medicine at New Orleans, and Associate Clinical Faculty, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Tulane University Health Sciences Center Tulane University Medical Center.  

Dr. Matthews has numerous scientific and professional accomplishments. He was named the 2014 Distinguished Psychologist by the Louisiana Psychological Association, served on the Louisiana State Board of Examiners of Psychologists, served as Secretary, Society of Assessment Psychology (APA), as Secretary/Treasurer APA Div. 1, and as President, New Orleans Neuropsychological Society, among others.  

His many publications include the following examples authored with wife Janet: Diversity in Family Bereavement. In Allen, R. S., Carpenter, B. D., & Eichorst, M. K. (Eds.). Perspectives on Palliative and End of Life Care: Disease, Social and Cultural Context. Also, Influences of the Greeks and Romans. In T. G. Plante (Ed). Abnormal psychology across the ages. And, Applying for Clinical and Other Applied Positions. In P. J. Giordano, S. F. Davis, & C. A. Licht (Eds). Your graduate training in psychology: Effective strategies for success.  

He has blended practice, scholarly works, and the mentoring of students over his 30-year career, said the awards committee. For 16 years he was the supervisor and mentor for undergraduate students from Loyola University, for eight years he was the site supervisor at DePaul Hospital, an elective off-site placement for VA interns, and for seven years he was the co-coordinator of a weekly psychology assessment seminar for the interns and post-doctoral students at the VA Medical Center. For six years he was on the APA Internship Training Faculty for the Clinical Neuropsychology Internship at Tulane University Medical Center.  

“After 30 plus years of mentoring students and young psychologists, I am humbled and honored that many of them have had highly successful careers in psychology,” Dr. Matthews said. “This is not due to me, but to each of them having the ability to take what I hope I have given them as a foundation for being a professional and ethical psychologist, and then using their own talents to apply that knowledge to their chosen careers, from university professors, clinical psychologists and neuropsychologists, and administrators for professional organizations.” 

Dr. Simoneaux Honored as Distinguished Psychologist

Leave a reply

The Louisiana Psychological Association has named Dr. John Simoneaux as it’s 2020 Distinguished Psych-ologist, announced at the 72nd Annual Meeting held May 29th online. The Distinguished Psychologist Award is given to an individual who has made significant contributions to psychology research, practice, or both during the course of their career.

“He is a forensic psychologist who has consulted with lawyers, judges, and mental health professionals,” said Dr. Mike Chafetz, Chair of the Awards Committee. “Many of us have relied on his counsel numerous times. He has handled the most intense kinds of forensic cases, such as custody cases, with wisdom, grace, and due diligence for the facts. Many people in the legal profession–lawyers, judges–have a correct view of the power of psychology in the courtroom due to Dr. Simoneaux’s work.”

“He is the principal and wonderful teacher at Professional Training Resources, and likely everyone here has learned from him, as he has taught hundreds of courses.”

Dr. John Simoneaux said he was very “surprised and honored” to receive the award but, not sure that he was deserving.

Dr. Simoneaux is in private practice at his firm, Consulting Psychologists of Central Louisiana, in Pineville, Louisiana. He is fulltime private practice in Forensic Psychology and his work activities include consultation with various psychiatric hospitals, group homes, and state agencies. He conducts psychological assessments for custody, sanity, sex offenders, children’s and protective services. He also provides expert testimony for custody, sanity, sexual and physical abuse, and disability determinations.

Dr. Simoneaux is founder and President of Professional Training Resources, Inc., where he and his staff provide continuing education training for those in a variety of professions, primarily mental health and legal professionals.

He has served as a Consulting Psychologist to Central Louisiana State Hospital, Leesville Developmental Center, Huey P. Long Memorial Hospital and the Cane River Community Group Home in Natchitoches. He also has consulted with the Rapides Parish Office of Community Services, Vernon Parish, Catahoula Parish, Lasalle Parish, and Concordia Parish. He has been the Program Director at RiverNorth Treatment Center.

Principal among of his contributions, noted the Committee, has been his continued and ongoing efforts to bring scientific psychology to the awareness of judges, attorneys, peace officers, and others in the legal system.

Dr. Simoneaux regularly presents to an audience of Louisiana judges, attorneys, district court clerks, peace officers, legal assistants and court reporters. One example is the annual Nuts & Bolts Judicial Seminar, a three-day conference, hosted by Appellate Judge, Hon. Harmon Drew, Jr., and his research attorney wife, Jean Drew. Judge Drew is with the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeal. The Louisiana Nuts & Bolts Judicial Seminar has been in operation since 1992 and the Drews have focused on presenting important and practical training for the regularly attending 250 court Louisiana officials who travel to Destin, Florida, to attend the highly rated event.

Dr. Simoneaux presents such topics as “Medical Mimics – Medical Conditions that are often Misdiagnosed as Mental Illness,” and “Detecting Psychological Disorders in the Elderly: Is Aunt Mary a little off? Or is it Just Me?” Another example is he has presented “Registration Requirements for Louisiana Sex Offenders,” with Judge Drew facilitating.

Simoneaux noted that he has been part of the conference for over 15 years, and said, “We love coming here. I really feel like they’ve accepted me into this group.” Attendees include individuals from Louisiana’s District Courts, City Courts, Appeal Courts, Police Departments, Sheriff’s and Marshal’s Offices, the state Supreme Court, law firms and others. Dr. Simoneaux is the only psychologist who regularly helps train the court professionals, and he is a favorite of the group, said the Drews.

Another of Dr. Simoneaux’ contributions comes from his interdisciplinary training in the mental health service industry at Professional Training Resources. One examplel is his popular “Summer Symposium.”

“Several years ago we started ‘Summer Symposium,’” he explained previously. “We do three days in July and it’s designed so someone can come and have all the CEs they’d need for the year.” The program is approved for APA, but also for a number of professions, with multiple presenters, and different tracts. PRT is APA accredited for psychologists, but likewise is approved to offer CEs for Social Workers, LPCs, Rehabilitation Counselors, Substance Abuse Counselors, School Psychologists, and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists.

Professional Training Resources is a business where teaching, learning, and having fun is near and dear to Dr. Simoneaux who has “always had a love of teaching.” In graduate school he minored in higher education. His services have reached all areas and disciplines that can benefit the larger community.

The Louisiana Psychological Association Awards Committee includes Kim VanGeffen, PhD; Beth Arredondo, PhD; Brian Mizuki, PhD; C. Laurel Franklin, PhD; and Michael Chafetz, PhD (Chair)

The Plague

Leave a reply

A Review

by Alvin G. Burstein

Any recommended reading list for the COVID-19 era would
include Defoe’s A Journal of the Plague Year and Camus’
The Plague. With theatre going still interdicted because of the
virus, I checked Google for on-line movies of either.
Nothing for Defoe. A foreign language version of Camus’
work was listed., But, for some reason, it was said to be
unavailable. However, there was another, recent American
film called The Plague, said to be inspired by, though not a
translation of Camus’ work. Clive Barker’s 2006 film, The
Plague, was available on Amazon Prime. Three ninety-five
brought it to our big screen TV.

The litcrit concept of intertextuality argues that one’s
understanding of a story, its meaning to the reader, is
conditioned by the other stories known to one. Intertextuality
is central to any analysis of The Plague, because its codirectors/authors, Masonberg and Menton, invoke without ambiguity in the film’s opening scene.

The protagonist, Tom Russel, just released from prison, is on
the road, walking toward his home. Sound familiar?

As he passes the camera, we see him from behind. There is
a book sticking out of his back pocket. We see the title: The
Grapes of Wrath. Remember that in Steinbeck’s classic tale
of Oakie migrants fleeing the Dust Bowl, the book begins with
its protagonist, Tom Joad, just released from prison, on the
road, walking home.

Can there be doubt that the film’s creators want us to see a
link between their film and Steinbeck’s story? To jog our
memory, there is even a discussion of The Grapes of Wrath
in the movie. Tom Russel tells one of his friends that
Steinbeck’s book is about love and hope and family.

There is a second relevant text that the writers use to condition our
understanding of the film. Actually, a filmdom genre in its own right:
Zombie flicks. The Plague is a blatant Zombie flick.

It takes us to a fictional 1983 when, simultaneously, all the world’s
children under the age of nine fall into a catatonic state,
experiencing twice daily convulsions. We are told that the
international response to the catastrophe includes a ban on
childbirth—underscoring its calamitous nature.

In a flashback to that time, we see Tom’s brother-in-law startled
awake to discover his eight-year-old son unconscious, foaming at
the mouth. The boy’s father races to the hospital with him. He finds
the institution is overwhelmed with the influx of cases and feels
forced to take his son home to care for him.
The film then fast forwards ten years to Tom Russel’s arrival at the
house to meet his brother-in-law caring for the disabled boy, now
an eighteen-year-old.

Shortly, the boy, along with the scores of other afflicted children
who have been institutionalized simultaneously wake from their
catatonia as zombies. As dictated by the genre, they wake, and
zombie-like, are infused with hate for those that are human. Bent
on extermination, they descend on humans as a ravaging horde.

The balance of the film focuses on Tom and a coterie of humans
attempting to escape the zombie cohort. The film transitions into
horror flick replete with bloody slash and splatter.

The contrast between the grounding texts—The Grapes of Wrath
and zombie horror flicks—is enormous. Steinbeck’s novel is grittily
realistic. The Okie’s enemy is climate and rapacious capitalism.
The movie’s focus is on nightmarish horror. The zombie horde is
unreal, the stuff of nightmares. What do they have in common?

In The Grapes of Wrath Tom Joad sacrifices himself fighting to
organize the Oakies against predatory employers. He is portrayed
as a Christ-like figure sacrificing himself for others. Emphasizing
the religious motif, the book closes on a scene of Tom’s family
taking shelter against a storm. They discover an abandoned old
man dying of starvation. Tom’s sister, whose infant has just died,
Madonna-like, suckles the old man. Hope and love. Faith in a
future.

In The Plague, Tom stops fleeing the zombie horde and, inspired
by a religious text he had found, surrenders himself to them, an act
of faith and love that restores the zombies’ humanity.

The gross, gratuitous horrors of the film’s zombie component
contaminated the effort to picture Tom Russel as Christ-like.

How Have Things Changed

Leave a reply

“How Have Things Changed?” Psychologists Share Their Experiences in Dealing with the Coronavirus Pandemic

We asked a group of psychologists, “How have things changed for you in the shut-down and how are you doing at this point?” About half replied back in time for this issue. In this feature we report on how colleagues are managing the changes, mostly verbatim with some edited for length.

Dr. Gail Gillespie has been in private practice in New Orleans since 1996, specializing in evaluating and treating school-aged children and their families. “Existence in the time of a pandemic Gillespie said. “Because about 80% of my practice is face-to-face assessment, 80% of my business came to an abrupt halt. Thankfully I qualified for the Paycheck Protection Program and I am very grateful for the two months of income that will be replaced and forgiven. In the interim, I am catching up on my to-do list that I never thought I would have time to get to. This tech dinosaur has also learned how to do teletherapy and Zoom meetings, and I have finally created a weekly Zoom meeting demonstrating Emotional Freedom Technique which I am offering for free to front-line healthcare workers, gig workers, service industry folks, anyone who has lost their income, and anyone who has experienced the death or severe illness of a loved one due to Covid-19,” she said.

“In this time in which the entire earth has taken a pause – a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of forced stillness – I am afforded the opportunity to re-assess my priorities. Living in the French Quarter, I am finally able to truly appreciate the amazing architectural beauty and history in which I am surrounded. For the first time I look forward to walking down Bourbon Street – because it is clean and completely empty! I am now more cognizant of what is truly important: quality human connection, stillness and self-reflection, exuberant experiences and adventure to be created, an appreciation for nature, and prioritizing activities that boost my immune system and reduce stress! I have gained clarity in what activities in my practice feed my soul and what activities that I am ready to release. I have honestly enjoyed this pause but am looking forward to manifesting a more quality, exciting and adventurous life!”

Clinical Neuropsychologist, Dr. Matthew Holcomb, is also in private practice in the New Orleans area. “The shut-down has been hard on a professional and personal level,” Dr. Holcomb said. “Professionally I was just starting to ‘hit my stride’ and my identity as a professional was starting to finally solidify. The momentum that I had built feels like it has stalled out. It’s also been a time for reflection, in that I have been solidly career focused for the last few years and COVID-19 has forced me to stop and take stock of where I am in life and the choices I’ve been making,” he said.

“Personally, its been an adjustment having so much free time on my hands. The first few weeks was wrapping up patient evaluations. Then some time getting caught up on some manuscript writing, but after that its been rough figuring out how to ‘fill my day.’ I routinely talk to some of my elderly patients about ‘having a plan’ for their retirement. Not being sedentary and making plans. I’ve realized how important that is at all ages and stages in life. Making a plan each night of things to do around the house (no matter how small) or goals to accomplish for the next day, or in the near term have been so helpful in getting me through the shutdown,” he said.

“Finally, I have spent a lot of time reconnecting with family. Happy Hour and game nights over zoom have created some treasured memories.”

Dr. Thompson Davis III, Professor of Psychology at LSU Baton Rouge and Director of the Laboratory for Anxiety, Phobia, & Internalizing Disorder Studies has revamped his desks.

“My new ‘mobile workstation’ at the kitchen table composed of my iPad linked to my laptop via Duet for use as a seamless second monitor so I can use my laptop while I zoom/team/etc. while I also have one of my children’s room monitors on hand to be sure things aren’t getting too wild! Confidential video meetings are of course done in a separate room,” Dr. Davis said.

“I think one of the biggest changes is that my work day and work week have extended and bled together (i.e., the day is longer and I’m working even more on weekends than before) as I and my wife trade off roles as telecommuters, preschool/kindergarten teachers, parents, spouses, etc.”

Dr. Alan Coulter, a licensed psychologist in practice now for his 51st year, maintained a small number of clients as a school psychologist providing organizational development consultation, before the COVID19 sequestration.

“My work was largely face-to-face involving travel,” he said. “In this new, temporary period, I have maintained those clients at about 75% of the previous activity level. Some of past work is ‘on hold’ until schools return to typical locations. Predictably, some new work with these clients has emerged focused on adapting to closed school buildings and physical distancing. Maintaining social emotional connections with clients has become a more deliberate task as everyone learns to ‘zoom’ as a way of routine communication. I expect this new form of doing my work to continue for six to twelve months. I agree with others, ‘We’ll get through this.’ And we’ll all learn new skills that will make us more effective and helpful to our communities.”

Dr. Bill McCown is Coordinator of the Psychology Program at University of Louisiana at Monroe and Associate Dean for Research, College of Business and Social Sciences, as well as a Licensed Clinical Psychologist.

“We are working our butts off! It is just nonstop. We are not in the front line but darn, it is incredible. Most college professors are keeping unbelievable hours. From what I’ve seen in every department, all are working nonstop in ways they could not have imagined a few months ago,” Dr. McCown said.

“We do everything we did previously: we prepare lectures, grade assignments, advise students, write letters of recommendation, conduct research. But we also have to find innovative ways to teach and reach students, many of whom are stressed and vulnerable.

“Today’s highlights: ‘My grandmother died. My father tested positive last week. Can I be late on assignment five?’ and (from an Intro Psych student) ‘Do you really think this virus stuff is real or is it made up? My parents are having an argument and I have to ask someone I can trust.’

“Each student and class is different and has unique needs. Fortunately, our deans, administration, and Supervising Boards realize the need for local solutions,” he said. The key has been that we have been given the freedom to respond locally. Academics are generally pretty creative people and their heart is in their work. Like psychologists, they can usually find really good solutions if given the chance.

“There is no manual for this sudden transition, no guru, no roadmap. Faculty creativity has been exceptional. So has student commitment and effort. I’m struck by the number of students who now have unexpected obligations. Some are taking care of siblings, others of sick family members. Many have stepped up to volunteer to help their communities in any way they can. Some are also working jobsany jobs they can find- to help support their families. It’s hard for these students to maintain the academic focus they had in March. But they are really trying,” he said.

“Many students turn to Psychology faculty for objective information. They trust us and ask all kinds of questions! They know our profession is evidence-based. We answer lots of questions. We help them read data and understand the risks and models. What we don’t know we look up or refer to someone who does.

“Other students, frankly want counseling or therapy from us now, probably for similar reasons. They know us and that we are believable. We are evidence-based. What we say makes more sense to them than what they hear on social media. Psychology faculty have to be especially careful to avoid any dual relationships. But what I’ve seen they’re doing a great job in being helpful to these students while also being mindful of ethical issues. We listen and make lots of careful referrals.

“Perhaps just as importantly, we convey a sense of optimism and reasonableness. This helps combat the gut feeling that everything is out of control. Life will get better.”

Dr. Katherine Robison practices in Metairie and works evaluating youngsters. “How have things changed in the shut down? I’m a school psychologist in private practice in the New Orleans area. With regard to my practice, I’m basically shut down since I can’t test kids ‘virtually.’ I am utilizing online or ‘remote administration’ rating scales, but this is a small part of the evaluation. I have used Zoom for a few tele therapy sessions, but it’s ‘not the same’ as an in-person session since I see children. I am happy to have finally caught up on reports!,” she said.

“On a personal level, I really miss being around people! But the shut-down has been good for me in some ways. I’m spending time outdoors and enjoying bike rides through City Park.”

Dr. Charles Burchell is a licensed Clinical Psychologist who has had a largely independent practice for over 35 years, and lived and practiced in Baton Rouge, New Orleans, and Texas. “I suppose my life mirrors that of many others that you know. Back in March, on the advice of my primary care physician, I changed to working from home at one parttime position; and my consulting practice is now one-hundred percent online. Professionally, I conduct business through a combination of mostly emails and HIPPAcompliant TeleHealth services. I’ve been attending more webinars and am planning to virtually attend a Forensic Psychology conference,” he said. Dr. Kim VanGeffen is in solo private practice in New Orleans. “COVID-19 has required adapting to many changes and a lot of flexibility, neither of which are my strong suit. I have switched to doing tele psychology and phone sessions although my billed hours have drastically dropped. Before the stay-at-home orders, I did a large amount of psychological testing which is not possible now. I look forward to seeing people in my office again as I find that I prefer face-to-face work over tele psychology. I am trying to maintain my natural optimism and to find as many of the silver linings in these clouds as I can. I am using the extra free time to catch up on office paper work which had been neglected for the past several months. I am also on the Board of Directors of LPA and our Board is spending a lot of time trying to provide services to our members during these trying times. Keeping busy and productive keeps me sane. I am also keeping in touch with family, friends and colleagues by email, on line gatherings and telephone chats which is very important when we are so isolated.”

Dr. Charles Burchell is a licensed Clinical Psychologist who has had a largely independent practice for over 35 years, and lived and practiced in Baton Rouge, New Orleans, and Texas.

“I suppose my life mirrors that of many others that you know. Back in

March, on the advice of my primary care physician, I changed to working from home at one parttime position; and my consulting practice is now one-hundred percent online. Professionally, I conduct business through a combination of mostly emails and HIPPAcompliant TeleHealth services. I’ve been attending more webinars and am planning to virtually attend a Forensic Psychology conference,” he said.

“On a personal note, I stopped attending religious services even before modifications in ritual and eventual cessation of public gatherings had been announced. I stopped going into WWOZ, the community supported FM radio station in New Orleans (online at wwoz.org) for my weekly Friday show, ‘Jazz From The French Market.’ Instead, like some others, I record the shows at home instead of a live presentation. I didn’t have a problem with feeling safe at ‘OZ; I just was, and am, obeying the ‘stay at home’ government recommendations. Going to the radio station would have been a weekly 180- mile trip.

“Of course socializing in person is nonexistent, so I call, text, FaceTime, IG, Facebook, tweet, and use Messenger to maintain that very human contact. This is especially useful for staying in touch with close friends (one whom I have known since age three) and my two adult children (one who currently lives in Rome, Italy).

“Days are filled with professional tasks, and watching all kinds of TV (including participating with a small group of friends for Netflix parties who used to meet up to see movies in theaters), more reading, and cleaning (no positive correlation here between motivation for housework and increased time availability). I’m more motivated to learn Italian on my Duolingo app; before the pandemic I might have time to use it two or three times a week or lessnow I’m up to 73 days straight!”

Dr. Traci Olivier is a pediatric neuropsychologist at Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Health Development & Therapy Center. She has a part-time practice at the Neuropsychology Center of Louisiana and serves as a local expert advisor for Cogstate cognitive science research company.

“As a pediatric neuropsychologist, my practice is primarily focused on neuropsychological evaluations.,” she said. “There has been much discussion in professional circles about the feasibility, validity, and ethical considerations of using telemedicine for psychological and neuropsychological testing. After much research and contemplation about using tele-testing, I decided not to pursue this avenue of service delivery. Therefore, my time has been dedicated to completing current evaluations (e.g., providing feedback, finalizing reports) and seeing new patients for initial visits – all via telemedicine, or video visits. The use of telemedicine platforms and the quietness around the office are perhaps two of the most significant changes that I have noticed. My practicum students are on hiatus for now, which is also a change. Interestingly, this time has been a welcome period of rest and refreshing – a time to catch up, contemplate priorities, and plan for the future. I realize that there are those who have become incredibly busy over the past several weeks, and for many, this is a time of significant stress. My heart goes out to those people. I am so blessed, however, to be able to use this time to plan and invest.

Dr. Jamie Landry, is married with two, energetic, fun-loving boys. She is in the Covington, Mandeville area and notes that she loves camping and the outdoors.

“With a part time practice focused on assessment, most of my work has been put on hold during the stay at home order. Like many others, I’ve been spending more of my time with my family, keeping my kids engaged in some educational activities and having some good old fashioned family fun. I’m doing well but look forward to achieving a sense of normalcy again.

Dr. Randee Booksh is a licensed clinical and neuropsychologist. “My small private practice is split between neuropsychological/psychological evaluations and therapy patients. I work with two other neuropsychologists who do the same and we share many resources, including a testing assistant, office space, and testing materials, etc.” Dr. Booksh said.

“So what has changed? I only go to the office to pick up supplies or mail. I see patients via telemedicine, which I had never done before, except an occasional emergency phone session. Now I see my established therapy patients and a handful of new patients and conduct some brief psychological evaluations when I feel I can answer the referral question via tools I can use during a video session. I cannot conduct neuropsychological evaluations this way. I’m working much fewer paid hours, but the work is harder. Everything I do at home takes longer than if I was at the office,” she said.

“The telemedicine curve has been steep for me. I find it requires more preparation, a different kind of attention, and use of different tools. At the same time, I’m immensely grateful that it’s available and I know that I will continue to do some telemedicine indefinitely. Patients are significantly more distressed, with so many in crisis. Established patients with anxiety and trauma related disorders are really struggling and finding it difficult to maintain gains made in therapy, previously. I’m experiencing increased stress, anxiety, and fatigue too. I’m finding I need greater self-care to be prepared and able to meet the changing needs of the patients I see.

“Focus on the shared practice has shifted to when and how we will (eventually) reopen and what that will look like. We’ve developed a strategy to start low and go slow. We’ve written a safety plan, posted important safety guidelines on the wall, and removed chairs from the waiting room. We are staggering times and using alternate entrances, so patients don’t come in contact with each other. We’ve purchased lots of hand sanitizer, face shields, acrylic desk partitions, masks, Lysol wipes, etc. I cannot imagine trying to figure this out or implement it by myself. My colleagues and coworkers made it possible.

“As far as my home life, the biggest change is I spend a lot, and I mean a whole lot, of time with my husband. He’s an audiovisual technician, labor coordinator for conventions, and musician, so all of his work has cancelled for the remainder of the year. Luckily, we get along really well. Again, hooray for technology, but I’m sure getting tired of virtual family visits. I get dizzy when the grandkids run with the phone during Facetime and I can’t wait to put my hands on the bellies of my two pregnant daughters. Overall, I think I’m adapting very well. I’m extremely fortunate with many resources and it can still get overwhelming. I can’t imagine trying to do this alone.

Dr. Melissa Dufrene has worked full-time in private practice at her office in the Algiers neighborhood of New Orleans for the last 6 years. She primarily provides individual therapy, but also completes 1-2 testing cases per work. She is married with two young boys (ages 2 and almost 5).

“Since quarantine,” Dr. Dufrene said, “I have been seeing my clients via a telehealth platform (doxy.me). Fortunately, I had been using this platform as needed for several years. In that way, the transition was easy. However, I am now only working 20 hours/week because my two kids obviously are staying at home. This has required managing a strict schedule and coordination with my husband’s work, who works in an essential field,” she said. “For me, one of the greatest struggles has been the immediate shift between caring for the boys and diving right into my therapy appointments, then right back into parenting. This last week I took two days off because I felt I needed a respite from clients. I have also had to decline new clients and requests for other types of work. At the same time, I’m thankful for the strict scheduling that has been needed because it is keeping me very busy. I am also extremely thankful for the lovely weather that Louisiana has bestowed upon us in recent months. Clinically, this has been an interesting experience. My client’s responses to the current situation range from, “Nothing is going on. I’m bored and have nothing to talk about.” to significant emotional turmoil. My main points of emphasis with everyone has been empathetic support and normalization. I believe these approaches have provided immediate relief from the self-judgment that many people are battling. Quite frankly, I think one of the most important, and mutually beneficial aspects of therapy has been socialization.”

Dr. James (Pat) Thompson, is a clinical psychologist in Houston, but attended Tulane University his freshman year and maintains such a close connection to New Orleans that he is also licensed in Louisiana and is an active member of the Louisiana Psychological Association.

“These are indeed sad, weird, and frightening times for everybody and that includes psychologists. The COVID-19 crisis has changed everybody’s life,” Dr. Thompson said. “If someone had told me six months ago that I would be doing psychotherapy sessions entirely by telehealth, I would have thought they were schizophrenic.

If someone had told me six months ago that I would be frightened and wearing a mask every time I go to the grocery store, I would have thought they stopped taking their medication. If someone had told me six months ago that I would be instructing patients to avoid in vivo meetings with friends and family, I would have thought they were taking some bad drugs. If someone had told me six months ago that I would be telling patients to not attend Easter services in person, I would have thought they were off their rocker. If someone had told me six months ago that I would not be able to eat inside my favorite restaurants in Houston and/or New Orleans, I would have wondered if there was something in the water they were drinking,” he said.

“I visited my favorite place in the world, New Orleans, the weekend after Mardi Gras this year. When I arrived in New Orleans, there were no COVID-19 cases in Louisiana. On the day of my departure, while I was waiting for my plane at the Louis Armstrong Airport, the Times Picayune reported one case in Jefferson Parish which was subsequently transferred to the Southeastern Louisiana VA Medical Center. We all know what happened from there. If someone had told me six months ago that I would not be able to visit New Orleans, I would have laughed in their face.

“While I was in New Orleans in early March, I attended two public performances. I had a great time at both events. The first one was at the Fillmore and I saw the bands Sweet Crude and Rebirth Brass Band. I just learned today (4/30/2020) from an article in the Times Picayune that two of the band members of Sweet Crude were positive for COVID19. Today I also learned that rashes and blisters on the fingertips are some of the symptoms of COVID-19. About two weeks after I visited New Orleans, I developed these symptoms along with diarrhea and muscle pain. I went to my PCP and it was early in the crisis and they did not do a test for the virus. I am wondering if I was exposed and if I have antibodies. I called my PCP and she told me that tests for antibodies are not readily available.

“I have two patients who are positive for COVID-19. They are learning from me and I am learning from them.

“I am already missing New Orleans. I will miss attending the LPA convention and most likely the workshop in the fall. I missed attending the French Quarter Festival and am missing attending plays at Le Petite Theater. I will most likely miss the Tulane homecoming game and the Tulane Psychiatry conferences that I have been attending for the last few years. I cannot imagine what a season without the Astros, LSU Tigers, Tulane Green Wave, University of Houston Cougars and the Saints will be like,” he said.

“I remember the morning that Katrina was approaching New Orleans. I was gripped with fear and anticipation as I thought about what the storm might do to my favorite city. This crisis has the same feeling, but it is on a global scale.

“It is strange and awkward working with patients by telehealth. Sometimes it is difficult to hear what they are saying. Sometimes it is difficult for them to hear what I am saying. I am finding that some patients who suffer from severe problems communicating with other humans are very happy to be forced to stay at home and have no human contact. Other patients who have intact social skills are suffering deeply and report feeling like they are in prison in their own home.

“The impact on the African-American community and their rich culture, music and history in Houston and New Orleans makes me cry.

“This is a time for everyone to muddle through this crisis the best we can and to remain adaptable and cooperative. It is important to extend our help to others and reach out for help when we need it ourselves. I have opposed telehealth as a means of conducting psychotherapy for years. I am seeing its merits now and realize it has possibilities for the future after the virus has subsided. My motto now is to bend with the prevailing winds like a birch tree. We can get through this catastrophe together. United we will stand. Divided we will fall.”

Malpractice Lawsuit in Terrebonne Parish Goes Against Lafayette Psychologist

Leave a reply

In a lawsuit filed in 2017 against psychologist Dr. Eric Cerwonka, a Terrebonne Parish jury awarded $1,150,000 to a 35-year-old Houma man. The plaintiff said he suffered emotional abuse from Cerwonka, according to the news article in a March issue of The Houma Courier.

The plaintiff’s case was tried by Jerri and Maxwell Smitko of the Smitko Law firm, in Houma, Louisiana.

According to the Courier, Jerri Smitko said that some of Dr. Cerwonka’s mental abuse included forms of brainwashing.

“He wrongfully attempted to convince my client that he had been abused by family members,” Smitko told the Courier reporter, Dan Copp.

Copp reported that the legal complaint alleged that the plaintiff had been in therapy with Dr. Cerwonka in early 2017, during the time that the defendant’s license to practice had been suspended.

However, other sources indicate that while Dr. Cerwonka‘s license had been suspended following a January 2017 hearing held by the Louisiana State Board of Examiners of Psychologists, he retained his license because he immediately appealed the decision. According to state records, Cerwonka‘s license is currently in effect in both Louisiana and New York.

The Courier report notes that the Houma man’s legal complaint included the following:

• “Dr. Cerwonka‘s advice during this time reflected the obvious tumult in his practice, as he advised plaintiff to live in his car and fight his father.”

• “When plaintiff learned of Dr. Cerwonka‘s suspension he reached out to him for clarification. In retaliation, Dr. Cerwonka threatened to have the plaintiffs subject to a civil commitment.“

Dr. Cerwonka has been involved in legal matters since 2017, when the psychology board decided to remove his license. He immediately filed an appeal and alleged several due process violations.

In August 2017, he also filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court Western District of Louisiana Lafayette division. In his complaint, Cerwonka and his attorneys allege that the board acted on an interim basis before any hearing had taken place, that Cerwonka was denied a proper opportunity to defend himself against specific charges, that an emergency action was taken because he exercised his right to free speech, and that evidence was manipulated and obtained illegally.

Among these and other violations of his rights, he and his attorneys also allege that because the prosecuting attorney for the board had previously represented Cerwonka in a hotly contested custody battle, and that the attorney had information that was, allegedly, used in the prosecution, the attorney should have been removed.

The due process lawsuit is scheduled for next month and based on an unopposed motion by Ms. Jaime Monic and her attorneys, was changed from a bench trial to a jury trial.

Legislature Could Dump 66% of Bills

Leave a reply

Legislators are slowly finding their way back to the 2020 legislative session after they suspended activities the second week in March due to the coronavirus cases in the region.

Required to adjourn on June 1, lawmakers will have less than 30 days to create a budget for the state, approve 300 or so appointees, and restructure state agencies that are scheduled for sunset. Only about a third of the bills previously filed will be addressed, reports Mark Ballard of the Advocate.

Only about a third of the bills previously filed will be addressed, reports Mark Ballard of the Advocate.

Ballard noted, “Senate President Page Cortez, R-Lafayette, and House Speaker Clay Schexnayder, R-Gonzalez, asked members to prioritize the legislation each had filed for what was supposed to be an 85-day session beginning March 9. About a third of the legislation will be heard with emphasis on measures dealing with COVID-19 responses, the economy and the budget. About a third of the proposed legislation will get a hearing, Cortez and Schexnayder said.”

The lawmakers have met very little during the interim and mostly to start the process of new bills that would be focused on combating the coronavirus and other problems related to the states economy and sinking oil prices.

Senate Bill 458, the ambitious set of changes to the psychology practice law initiated by the Louisiana State Board of Examiners of Psychologists (LSBEP) is not currently on the schedule. The measure is on hold after officers from the Louisiana Psychological Association (LPA) raised objections. A task force was established to develop a consensus regarding the measure and is still deliberating.

If passed SB 458 would make sweeping changes to the psychology law including a new set of regulations and fees for assistants, expanding the charter of the board, removing certain qualifications for serving, authorizing the board to conduct continuing education, exempting the board from Open Meetings Law for investigatory meetings, and formally establishing the position and duties of the Executive Director.

Some of the bills that have made it to the calendar include:

HB 243, by Rep. Lyons, exempts persons with disabilities from fees associated with obtaining medical records.

HB 473, by Rep. Duplessis, eliminates the 12-month mandatory minimum supervision period for defendants who elect to undergo treatment while participating in a drug division probation program.

HB 498, by Rep. Emerson, requires licensing boards to waive fees to applicants who meet certain criteria and to offer payment plans. Those applicants will qualify if they are receiving public assistance and earning less than 200 percent of the federal poverty guidelines.

HB 449, by Rep. Echols, provides relative to behavioral health services delivered via telehealth and regulation of such services by the La. Department of Health. Present law, the Louisiana Telehealth Access Act (R.S. 40:1223.1 et seq.), defines “telehealth”, in pertinent part, as a mode of delivering healthcare services that utilizes information and communication technologies to enable the diagnosis, consultation, treatment, education, care management, and self-management of patients at a distance from healthcare providers. Proposed law amends this definition to provide that healthcare services delivered via telehealth include behavioral health services. Present law, the Behavioral Health Services Provider Licensing Law (R.S. 40:2151 et seq.), requires the La. Department of Health to promulgate rules and regulations for behavioral health services providers. Proposed law provides that such rules and regulations address the delivery of behavioral health services through telehealth.

Other measures that may or may not be heard include:

HB 45, HB 48, both by Rep. Miller, provides a deadline for Title 37 licensing boards reports to be submitted and shifts the receipt of reports and complaints to the legislative auditor instead of the House and Senate governmental affairs committees. HB 48 removes provisions requiring Title 37 licensing boards and commissions to give notice that complaints about actions or procedures of the boards may be submitted to the board or commission or to the House and Senate governmental affairs committees.

HB 138, by Rep. Wright, requires the use of video cameras in classrooms where special education services are provided to certain students with exceptionalities.

HB 195, by Rep. D. Miller, removes the requirement to submit proof of active hospital privileges for a new healthcare provider in a group practice who bills an insurer using the group practice’s identification number prior to credentialing.

HB 158 by Rep. Marino, authorizes the recommendation of medical marijuana to patients by physicians for treating several neurodegenerative diseases and conditions.

HB 338, by Rep. Duplessis, requires the reporting of certain physical and mental health information of an offender appearing before the committee on parole for a parole hearing. Proposed law retains present law and adds information regarding the physical, mental, or psychiatric condition of the offender, when available, to the list of information included in the report secured by the department.

HB 485, by Rep. D. Miller, provides admitting privileges to psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners for preparing and executing orders for the admission of patients to licensed psychiatric treatment facilities. Proposed law retains present law and adds psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners may admit persons with mental illness or suffering from a substance-related or addictive disorder pursuant to present law.

HB 505, by Rep. Bishop. Proposed law establishes the licensed profession of art therapist in La. Provides for licensure of art therapists by the La. State Board of Medical Examiners.

HB 663, by Rep. Hughes revises school discipline laws. Present law provides relative to student discipline. Proposed law provides a comprehensive revision of present law, applicable to all public schools, including charter schools.

SB 128, by Sen. Barrow, requires certain assessments of a student prior to suspension from school. Proposed law requires the principal, prior to suspending a student, to ensure that the student is assessed using an instrument, such as the Adverse Childhood Experiences Assessment developed by the Centers for Disease Control, that is designed to determine if the student has experienced trauma, and whether the student’s behavior may be better addressed in a manner other than through suspension.

SB 170, by Sen. F. Mills, provides relative to health care emergency visit alternative treatment reimbursement. Proposed law establishes an enhanced Medicaid reimbursement rate for hospitals that triage nonemergency Medicaid recipients presenting at the hospital emergency department to a hospital primary care clinic when such transition is appropriate.