Originally published: . Volume 13, No. 7. Source pages: 5.
In a June 30 press release, Louisiana Medicaid said it it will be expanding dental care coverage for adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities
Louisiana Medicaid is expanding its comprehensive dental care to adults ages 21 and up with intellectual or developmental disabilities who are enrolled in the New Opportunities Waiver, Residential Options Waiver or the Supports Waiver.
More than 12,000 people will have access to the new dental coverage which will become effective July 1. The coverage includes diagnostic services, preventive services, restorative services, endodontics, periodontics, prosthodontics, oral and maxillofacial surgery, orthodontics, and emergency care.
The expansion is part of the Louisiana Department of Health’s (LDH) Fiscal Year 2022 Business Plan, Together: Building a Stronger LDH and a Healthier Louisiana. “Oral health is critical to our overall health, shaping our physical and mental well-being at every age. This expansion of coverage will improve the health and well-being of Louisianans with intellectual or developmental disabilities by providing routine and preventive dental care,” said LDH Secretary Dr. Courtney Phillips.
“Providing comprehensive dental services for those who are enrolled in the New Opportunities Waiver, Residential Options Waiver or the Supports Waiver will help individuals maintain good oral health and prevent serious health issues in the future.” Many states have found that investing in preventive dental care for Medicaid enrollees saves public dollars by preventing emergency department visits and expensive, complicated treatments and hospitalizations arising from neglect of oral health. In June 2021, Gov. John Bel Edwards signed the Act 450 bill into law in Louisiana which made the new expanded coverage possible.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 13, No. 7. Source pages: 7.
by Leslie Todd, LCSW Association of Family and Conciliation Courts Correspondent
According to Statistica, 6% of spouses have financial double lives: secret credit cards or hidden accounts. Few of us clinicians are specially trained to deal with money problems, but all of us will discover financial shenanigans. These may range from the client who admits to hiding expensive purchases from a partner to the naïve client who finds her husband has never paid their taxes.
Many parties will come to us with the guilt of hidden debt. Pre- marital counseling might uncover student loans or credit card balances one party was afraid to disclose to another. All clinicians will deal with clients whose addictive behaviors have caused sizeable debt. Within marriage, this kind of financial burden makes reconciliation all the more challenging. “Financial infidelity” occurs when one spouse knowingly hides their financial ineptitude– or outright scams– from the other.
Mental health professionals may be more comfortable asking about clients’ sex lives than their financial habits. We need to know how to look for red flags and when to refer to financial experts. This is why your referral list should include forensic accountants.
In cases of intimate partner abuse, financial skills may mean the difference between life and death. We may need to teach a victim of domestic violence how to access money to prepare for an escape. In this case, “stashing cash” is an act of self-protection, not financial infidelity.
A “friendly” divorce case will entail serious discussions about assets, property division, and future income. We must listen carefully to our clients’ financial concerns for their future and their children’s well-being. Forensic accountants can assist in determining income for child support and interim spousal support and advice about what is taxable. (Child support and interim spousal support are not taxable to the spouse receiving the funds.)
Forensic accountants can help the parties understand the status of the community assets and liabilities, including discussion of any prenuptial agreement and a general understanding of the lifestyle of the parties. They can analyze family businesses and consult on the value of the company and “personal goodwill,” a factor in valuation.
Divorce may complicate tax issues. Forensic accountants can advise on how to file returns and the benefits of claiming dependents. They also educate a non-financially astute spouse on realities such as financial outlook, the need for a budget or a job, how to file a return, and whether one can afford to keep the family home once the divorce is finalized. Accessing health-care coverage is another important consideration for many women and children post-divorce.
A forensic accountant will follow the money trail when one party has malicious intent. This is often needed in cases of high- conflict divorce. One spouse’s inheritance or family-owned business may be conned, or your client could be an innocent spouse in income tax fraud.
A forensic accountant knows what documents to look for to trace how the money was taken and where it has been secreted.
Your client may come in with a confession or suspicions about the partner’s behavior and intentions. You need to have some basic understanding of the family income and lifestyle from the beginning. Once you suspect a discrepancy between reported income and lifestyle, it's a red flag. Here are common techniques for hiding money. Some of these may be used for good or ill; others are downright criminal.
Stashing cash. This is most easily done by using a debit card for everyday purchases such as groceries or gas and getting a little cash back every time. One can also have a friend or relative hold cash or other assets unbeknownst to the spouse.
Having secret bank accounts. These can range from local to off-shore. People with dual citizenship or family in other countries may rely on this method.
Siphoning off money from new raises. One can arrange at work to have an increase in pay deposited to a hidden account.
Overpaying taxes and having the refunds sent to a separate address.
Using a family-owned business in various shady ways: under-reporting income, paying salaries to (unemployed) family members, running non-business expenses through the company, making a relative or friend part-owner hide assets, etc.
Embezzling from an employee and keeping that money secret from the spouse.
[Leslie Todd, LCSW, served as President of the Louisiana Chapter of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts at its founding and again in 2018-2020. She is the 2022 recipient of the international organization’s Tim Salius President’s Award for her contributions. Learn more about the La. Chapter at www.afccla.org.]
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 13, No. 7. Source pages: 13.
The LSU Lakes
Dr. Tom Stigall – Photography
Editors Note: For our July 4th holiday issue we decided to share again the photography of Dr. Tom Stigall.
He embraced photography in his retirement and he also served as the president of the Louisiana Photographic Society and a photographic artist. He had work accepted for a national competition hosted at LSU.
“My work is eclectic as to subject matter,” he said. “It is the product of a desire to preserve images that will be experienced by the viewer as meaningful: esthetically pleasing, sympathetic and nurturing, awe-inspiring or arresting.”
These are delightful views of the Louisiana State University Lakes and the interesting inhabitants in our state.
All photos by Dr. Tom Stigall.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 13, No. 6. Source pages: 6.
HB 784 by Rep. Duplessis passed by a Senate vote of 35 yeas and 0 nays, and returned to the House, on June 17. On June 19, the House vote was yeas 95, nays 0, Senate amendments concurred in. On June 24 it was sent to the Governor for executive approval. The measure establishes the Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders Act to improve awareness, screening, and treatment of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders. The proposed law provides for awareness of all hospitals and birthing centers that provide labor and delivery services. Proposed law requires screening from healthcare providers who are providing postnatal care to women up to twelve months following the birth. Proposed law requires the La. Dept. of Health office of behavioral health, in collaboration with the Bureau of Family Health, to develop and disseminate a database of providers who treat or provide support for maternal mood and anxiety disorders and substance use disorders.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 13, No. 6. Source pages: 6.
The Governor has signed SB 61 which creates the "Mental Health" special prestige license plate. The new law requires the secretary of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections to issue the special prestige license plates, provided there is a minimum of 1,000 applicants for the plate. The proposed law provides the design of the plate shall include the words "Mental Health" and directs the department to collect an annual royalty fee and forward certain percentages to the NAMI Louisiana and the Louisiana Rural Mental Health Alliance.
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Originally published: . Volume 13, No. 6. Source pages: 7.
HB 582 by Rep. Stagni adds Louisiana to the Licensed Professional Counselor Interstate Compact. The measure has passed both Houses and been signed by the Speaker and goes to the Gov. The proposed law allows Louisiana to join the Licensed Professional Counselor Interstate Compact. Louisiana, as a participating state, to adopt the same uniform professional counseling licensure requirements as the states in the Licensed Professional Counselor Interstate Compact.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 13, No. 6. Source pages: 7.
Representative Marino's measure which adds dyslexia education to list of qualifications and requirements for teacher education programs, HB 136, was read in the Senate committee on May 26 and amended. It has been recommitted to the committee on Finance. The proposed new law requires that teacher education programs include at least three credit hours on teaching students with dyslexia and specifies content of such coursework. Proposed law applies to the 2024-2025 school year and thereafter.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 13, No. 6. Source pages: 7.
SB 213 was reported with amendments from committee with a 10 to 0 vote on June 17. The measure was referred to the Legislative Bureau and then reported without Legislative Bureau amendments. It is pending House final passage. The present law provides that an individual rendering any CPST services for a licensed and accredited provider agency shall hold a minimum of a bachelor's degree from an accredited university or college in the field of counseling, social work, psychology, or sociology. Sen. Luneau's proposed law changes present law to require an individual rendering the assessment and treatment planning components of CPST services to be a fully licensed mental health professional. Proposed law further provides that an individual rendering all other components of CPST services shall be a fully licensed mental health professional, a provisionally licensed professional counselor, a provisionally licensed marriage and family therapist, a licensed master social worker, a certified social worker, or a psychology intern from an American Psychological Association approved internship program.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 13, No. 6. Source pages: 7.
From the Minutes Selected Items from Jan. 2022 Minutes of the Louisiana State Board of Examiners of Psychologists (LSBEP)
January 20-21, 2022 –Posted: May 18, 2022
Supervision by Medical Psychologists – Ms. Lowe and Dr. Gibson summarized the meetings between LSBEP, La. State Board of Medical Examiners (and LSBME’s Medical Psychology Advisory Committee), La. Association of Medical Psychologists, La. School Psychology Association) held on January 5, 2022 and January 18, 2022. Dr. Ally and Dr. Comaty were present at those meetings and also actively participated in this discussion. Specific concerns of LSBEP were revisited including: • LSBEP’s authority to vet credentials and issue a license to practice psychology to individuals who become medical psychologists and who do not intend to renew their license to practice psychology. • LSBME uses an advisory committee not authorized to determine the lawful practice of psychology, which is the authority of the LSBEP. • If LSBEP receives a complaint on an MP, LSBEP has no ability to share that private information with LSBME and vice versa. • There is a void in public protection when LSBEP cannot regulate the supervision of the practice of psychology, by psychology applicants and trainees when LSBEP has no regulatory authority over the MP. • Impacts on applicants, licensees and the public • Consideration of Anti-trust implications in regulation and rulemaking. •Consideration of collaborative options. Multicultural Competence/Awareness – The Board discussed their ongoing goals of promoting multicultural awareness and competence in initial licensure through the incorporation of oral examination questions focusing on APA’s Multicultural Guidelines and case vignettes focusing on diverse populations; and also through the Board CPD offered to all licensed psychologists focusing on Multicultural and Ethical Issues in Psychology workshop presented by Antonio E. Puente, Ph.D. Additional considerations for developing Jurisprudence Examination questions to assess multicultural competence and awareness was also discussed. Finance Committee – […]Contract Labor – $26,597.63 (amount) $139,232 (budgeted) We have expended 19.1% of the budgeted amount (total contracted amounts). This category is less predictable depending on complaint matters. Although considering risks associated with potential hearings, category is currently stable. Additionally, the Board will be posting for a Complaints Coordinator III. […] Salaries and Benefits $74,155.10 (amount) $195,887 (budgeted) This category was amended on 11/12/2021 due to the vacant Compliance Officer position and proposed establishment of an Operations position. There was also an increase to the Clerical Assistant position that is currently filled by a student worker. The Board intends to redirect funds, from Contract Labor to Salaries and Benefits, in the event that a qualified individual is found to fill the In- house Attorney position. 3. Licensed Specialist in School Psychology Committee Report – Dr. Hebert, Dr. Chenier and Ms. Pursell appeared and collectively presented a report to the LSBEP on the productivity of the LSSP Committee. […] The Committee’s work over the prior year involved revisions to the LSSP Reference form to follow the model of the revised Psychologist Reference form, conducted a review of the Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostics and Treatment Health Services (EPSDT) Medicaid Services Manual to provide guidance to the Board in responding to LSPA’s inquiry related to changes impacting LSSP’s; meeting with Sarah Broome, La Department of Education (LDOE), to investigate and report to the LSBEP regarding responding to LDOE’s request in understanding LSSP scope of practice and actual services, including crisis intervention services, provided within a school system, including identifying CPT billing codes that may be used in a school setting; Discussions 1. ASPPB’s PLUS Application – Ms. Monic reported that ASPPB is phasing out the PLUS Application and will no longer process PLUS applications for Louisiana after January 31, 2022. 2. Contract Update – Consideration for Amendment: Taylor, Porter, Brooks and Phillips – WHEREAS the funding for the current contract has been exhausted due to utilization of General Counsel for legal counsel including litigation in the matter of Richard A. Marksbury, Ph.D. vs. Louisiana State Board of Examiners of Psychologists; THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the terms of payment in Board’s contract for legal services with the firm of Taylor, Porter, Brooks & Phillips, LLP, be increased from $45,000 to an amount not to exceed $55,000 to cover the remaining period of the contract which ends on June 30, 2022.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 13, No. 6. Source pages: 1.
The Legislature adjourns this week after a calm session that was supported by an influx of extra funding. Additional funds included a flood of COVID-19 pandemic recovery money, corporate taxes, hurricane rehabilitation, and investments from the federal government. Because of this, public universities and college faculty are expected to receive a 3% raise. The governor pushed for 5% but Republicans drew it down. Lawmakers increased funding for organizations that provide home health care workers, facilities, and programs for people with disabilities. Increases in pay are supposed to go to employees who work directly with patients and clients. Lawmakers increased entry-level pay for prison staff and child welfare workers. Teachers and support staff will also receive annual pay increases of $1500 and $750 respectively. See more legislative news in this issue.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 13, No. 6. Source pages: 8.
Dr. Corby Martin, along with colleagues and lead author Dr. Christoph Höchsmann, who is a former postdoctoral researcher in Dr. Martin's lab, have a new article, "Association Between Weight Loss, Change In Physical Activity, and Change in Quality of Life Following a Corporately Sponsored, Online Weight Loss Program," published in the journal BMC Public Health. The research involved quality of life analysis and its correlation to corporate weight loss programs. His findings showed that quality of life, as assessed by self-report, increased with weight loss and was further enhanced by physical activity. Dr. Martin is the director of both the Ingestive Behavior, Weight Management, & Health Promotion Laboratory and the Human Phenotyping Core of Pennington Biomedical’s NIH-funded Nutrition Obesity Research Center (NORC). His work in the modification of health behaviors includes applied technology used to modify eating behaviors and has been used to develop smartphone applications to measure food intake, household food waste, portion control, and overall weight management. The study involved 26,658 participants, 79% of whom were women. After 10 weeks in the online weight loss program, a quality of life index was evaluated using logistic regression analysis. The results were conclusive and found a positive correlation between weight loss and physical activity with improved quality of life. Dr. Martin research and expertise have been used to help patients with low health literacy throughout Louisiana and to develop predictive mathematical models for weight management. He has been published in several publications for his work in obesity prevention and weight modification.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 13, No. 6. Source pages: 2.
For my 70th birthday, our son and daughter-in-law gave me a copy of “Get Back,” the nearly six-hour documentary about The Beatles, who, in 1969, launched an effort to regain their energy and creativity. The group decided to write and record an album at a breakneck pace and build toward a live performance, their first together in years. I knew the story, and remember the events well. The Beatles were breaking up after their mega success of the 60s. While most of this film is a fly-on-the-wall view of how the group produces music, the storyline of the documentary jumps when George Harrison, the introvert, walks out, collapsing the whole project. We watch the group dynamics while Paul McCartney, conscientious and structured, pushes for productivity and deadline. John Lennon is engaging and creative, but always late and with Yoko Ono persistently attached at his elbow. Ringo Starr is steady, agreeable, and flexible. The four try to work through an exhausting schedule of creating 14 new songs and prepare for a live performance.
It was fascinating to watch these young geniuses create their music, magically connecting sounds with words and words with sounds, as if from thin air. The synergy and creativity is supported by each in his own way. They move forward like sculptors, sometimes starting with pure inspiration. Sometimes starting as if with a block of granite and painstakingly carving away everything that does not fit their vision. Aside from this intimate perspective, another payoff for watching hours of these interesting men chatting, smoking cigarettes, fretting, and horsing around with each other, was the "rooftop concert." At first, mostly to appease Paul’s wish to do something different, the group agrees to perform on their rooftop in London. We watch as people emerge from offices and shops to listen, on the street below and on the other rooftops, leaning on chimneys in the blistering cold. We are told that this was the last time the Beatles would perform together in public. I knew this already but was hit by a sad nostalgia. The 60s belong to me. The Beatles exerted a bi-directional influence, both created by, and leading the 60s, as if from the rooftop, heard but not always seen, reflecting and creating a message. The sheer numbers of Boomers in their adolescence helped create the sexual revolution, women’s liberation, and dramatic changes in the music industry. The open, humanitarian ideology fueled the civil rights movement. The cultural needle was moved, a culture with the confidence to put a man on the moon. I was there when the Beatles were televised on Ed Sullivan, I was there when the KKK burned a cross on our yard, and I was there when LSU let women wear jeans instead of the mandatory skirt. Cultural boundaries oscillate naturally. They zigzag through history, open then closed, closed then open. Partly genetic, partly environmental, always complex. Only later, from the rooftop, can we more clearly see if we made good use of it.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 13, No. 6. Source pages: 8.
Medscape Medical News reported that a new study suggests that antidepressants do not significantly improve health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients battling depression. The research relied on 11 years of data using the US Medical Expenditures Panel Survey (MEPS), which tracks health service use in the U.S. The study found that, while over half of the 17.5 million adults diagnosed with depression between 2005 and 2016 were treated with antidepressants, their HRQoL was not significantly different from those who were not being treated with antidepressant medication. "We are not saying that antidepressant medications are not helpful at all; HRQoL is only one of many measures intended to assess health outcomes," Almohammed told Medscape Medical News. "Based on our research design and data, we can only say that patients who used antidepressant medications did not experience better change in terms of HRQoL compared to patients who did not use antidepressant medications," he said. Some experts note that those who receive anti- depressants tend to have a lower HRQoL than those who do not, which introduces a bias that is hard to eliminate in a naturalistic study.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 13, No. 6. Source pages: 3.
A Manifesto
In 2008, when Barak Obama was elected president of the United States, I was elated, almost giddy. I bought a copy of the New York Times headlining his election to save for my children as a memento of what I took to be an epochal event, carefully spraying the paper with preservative, and wrapping it acid free archival plastic. I was sure our country had finally exorcised the original sin of slavery. Now, our political situation terrifies me. A scant year and a half ago, a rioting mob invaded our capitol, smashing windows, assaulting peace officers and looting offices, with the stated intent of preventing congressional certification of the election of our forty-sixth president. The rioting was patently inspired by delusional claims that the newly elected candidate had somehow stolen the election. Many of the rioters sported regalia endorsing a fictitious whistle-blower, Q-Anon, who claims that leaders of the opposition party were engaging in pedophilic orgies in the basement of a pizza parlor and that a Jewish international banker was funding a plot to bring immigrants of color to our country to replace white voters. There has been an explosion of these paranoid beliefs about the “stealing” of the 2020 presidential election, most with racist implications: Jewish space lasers corrupting voting machines, fake ballots manufactured in China, and the “great replacement” plot. Like all delusions, these beliefs are not rooted in facticity or rational argument. They derive their force from their intra-psychic function. The explanation for the frankly paranoid and delusional thinking that now seems commonplace, paradoxically, lies in what I regard as socio-cultural progress. In the last few decades we have elected our first black president, nominated a woman to run for that office, we have had our first woman secretary of state, same sex marriage has been legalized, the first black woman sits on the Supreme Court, and many public figures, male and female, have come out of the closet concealing their homosexuality. All of this very rapid, recent, and to me, positive social change bespeaks the seismic collapse of an unspoken, but powerful caste system: the privileging of white, male, euro-centric status. The collapse of this caste system is profoundly disorienting to many, inducing a painful, rageful and frighteningly wide-spread quasi- psychotic confusion. Paranoia, centering on terror of being overwhelmed, is fertile ground for delusions. Delusions do not derive their power from their facticity or their rational basis. Their power resides in their intra-psychic function. They ward off the threat of weakness and confusion, offering a rigid certainty about “what’s really going on” and providing a target for the accompanying feelings of rageful grievance. That is their intra- psychic function and the source of their power. Any merit this analysis may have does not mitigate the dangers to our recent progress toward a more inclusive society. Short term financial and political benefits persuade who know better to refrain from acknowledging the frank lunacy of these conspiracy theories and the merits of abandoning an irrational caste system. Energetic diligence in defending what we know to be right and patience in permitting digestion of social change will be required. So will our stumbling along on our search for system of social value more rational than that of caste.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 13, No. 6. Source pages: 13.
Dr. Beverly Stubblefield has produced another delightful book based on her experiences in animal-assisted psychotherapy and her years of running The Equestrian Therapy Center in Slidell, More Bedtime Stories from the Barn. Stubblefield again blends psychological elements, endearing characters, and faith-based approach to life and its challenges in this second offering of her series. Like the first book, More Bedtime Stories from the Barn is designed to be used with children and their parents. This new collection of tales from the barn are engaging stories, clearly written with clever dialogue between the characters, and with Stubblefield's signature psychological and moral message straightforwardly communicated. Stubblefield directly and often courageously lays out the psychological and spiritual elements of life––loss, fear, trust, disability, anger and more. Through her characters––the horses, children, and the adults–– she blends an array of psychological and spiritual topics and messages. The stories are sweet and tender. Children will find them engaging and the multi layers will have meaning to the parents. The stories can be surprising, probably because they are based on real-life events that Stubblefield encountered in her practice. What can be a little unexpected is the poignancy of many of the stories, which also likely stems from the fact that the Center involved real people in difficult times in their lives. The illustrations are beautiful and complement the text in a way that youngsters will surely embrace. From the introduction Dr. Stubblefield writes: "As in the first book of BEDTIME STORIES FROM THE BARN, the horses at the Equestrian Therapy Center continue to talk with each other about their many experiences in MORE BEDTIME STORIES FROM THE BARN. Aunt Bev, JR, Roanie, Skeeter, and the other horses talk about lessons learned from horse shows, Christmas activities, and trips to Short Oaks Farm. Aunt Bev even tells a story about daring adventure! "Parents and caretakers of children ages six to twelve are to read these stories nightly to encourage bonding and emotional security, to teach coping strategies for life, and to promote sweet dreams. Additionally, many of these stories provide psychological insights as well as Biblical truths. “ 'Just ask the animals, and they will teach you.' Job 12:7." More Bedtime Stories from the Barn is organized into three sections. The first section is Bedtime Stories from the Barn at the Horse Show. This section includes stories on “Competition,” ”Anger,“ “The Missing Saddle,“ and “The Last Show.” The next section is Stories from the Barn at Christmas. This section includes “Living Nativity,” “Christmas Decorations,“ and “A Christmas Surprise.“ The final section, Stories from the Barn at Short Oaks Farm, includes a variety of themes starting with, “The Basketball Game,“ “Surefooted,“ and concluding with “Good Friday.” Stubblefield‘s philosophy and joy in horses is always evident throughout this new addition to her children’s books. She ends the "Good Friday" story celebrating nature and life. “The beautiful births of the two foals reminded Aunt Bev of God‘s creation in Genesis 1:24: ‘Then God said, let the earth produce every sort of animal.’ And that is what happened. And God saw that it was good. ‘God gave the horse its strength and clothes its neck with a flowing mane.’ Job 39:19) “The horse is truly majestic and magnificent,” she writes. “Everyone stood in amazement watching the two mares care for their new babies in the glow of the full moon. It truly was a Good Friday.“ In all of her work, Dr. Stubblefield explains that parents are to read the stories, listen to the children’s comments and questions, explore the true meaning of the bedtime stories, and provide understanding and guidance. In addition to Scripture references, psychological principles and techniques are provided in her parents' guide to help both the adults and children learn effective coping skills to deal with today’s issues. In book 1, a glossary of “horse” words is included to better understand the horses’ world the stories tell about. The parents' guide will also be a resource for family therapists to give to their clients to facilitate the therapeutic process at home, explained Dr. Stubblefield. Inspired by the Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association, Dr. Stubblefield opened The Equestrian Therapy Center of Slidell, Louisiana, in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. Equine assisted psychotherapy helped children and their families overcome fear and anxiety resulting from the hurricane. Her innovation of using horses in the treatment of emotional and behavioral disorders won the New Orleans City Business Innovator award in 2007. “In Equine Assisted Psychotherapy,” she previously explained, “horses are used in a similar fashion as in play therapy to improve patients’ well-being and lifestyle functioning.” And she noted, “This type of therapy tends to effect behavior change more rapidly than more traditional forms of psychotherapy.” According to Dr. Stubblefield, the therapeutic mechanism includes the fact that horses are large animals and some patients may not be comfortable around them initially. “If you can control an 800-pound horse,” said Dr. Stubblefield, “you can accomplish anything!” Dr. Stubblefield received her PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Mississippi. She also holds a Diploma in Biblical Studies from Samford University. After 30 years of clinical practice, Dr. Stubblefield is now retired and living with her husband Burt Kemp in rural North Mississippi, where she continues to enjoy writing, riding horses, and playing the organ for church.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.