Dr. Kathryn Steele recently returned from Havana, Cuba, where she helps train counselors in her role as Director and Professor of Counseling Professors Training Program for the Baptist Seminary there since 2009. The bilingual, associate professor from the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, brings a diverse background and multi- cultural focus to all her duties, developed in part from over 20 years of missionary work in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Panama.
“We started out with about 40 students,” she told the Times, “and completed about two years of course work with them.” From these, 21 will go on to become trainers and teachers. “These are the students that will actually be teaching in the seminary to prepare counselors,” Steele explained. “Their work has included an intern setting.”
“The students have a variety of backgrounds … some are pastors, there are four psychologists, two psychiatrists, and three medical doctors,” she noted. “Seven different individuals have served as professors for this program,” she noted. “Five of us are Spanish speakers or bilingual and teach in Spanish, and two use translators.” Dr. Steele told the Times that one of the most rewarding aspects of this work has been to watch how the students grow and develop in their ability to help others who are hurting.
“… these students take every little bit of information we bring to them, learn it, and work at putting it into practice,” she said. “This July we will graduate 40 students from this program!”
Steele and colleagues travel to Cuba on a visa, requested by the seminary from the Cuban government, which precisely outlines their activities while in the country. “We have not had any problems while there, but we are always careful to follow all the rules for our visit.”
The work is not without its headaches. “The greatest challenge is finding materials to use for teaching,” Steele said, “since not all texts are in Spanish.” The professors try to take materials in a digital format, she explained, because of the cost and weight of printed materials, which can mount up. “We have week long intensives four or five times a year.”
“Another challenge,” she said, “is doing quality supervision of their clinical work. We purchased Flip cameras to distribute to the students so they could video their sessions and we could at least see a part of what they are doing to help with supervision. Most students there do not have access to the internet, which greatly restricts what they have available to study and research.”
Steele’s work to help and train others abroad is not a new effort for her. She and her husband, Dr. Ed Steele, were missionaries for 20 years, serving the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. Their work included Central American countries of Costa Rica and Nicaragua, and they spend ten years in Panama.
“All the time I was overseas I never stopped reading,” she said. “I did tons of reading. And I did a lot of work, especially with those who had experience childhood sexual abuse.” But due to lack of funds, she was not able to afford to go back to school. She told the Times, “I said, ‘Okay God, if you want this to happen, you’re going to have to make it happen.’ ”
So when Ed felt called to finish his DMA in musical arts, the couple came to New Orleans. Ed taught at the seminary and completed his work in Worship Leadership and Hymnology, and Kathy was offered a part-time job in the church.
“It opened the door for me to go to school. I found myself enrolled in the seminary in 1999,” she explained. “I started getting hours under my belt for my clinical training.” She began regular studies and in 2001 received her Masters in family and Marriage Counseling. “I felt I was getting the knowledge to help people that I was previously unable to help.”
In 2002 Steele completed her Masters of Theology, and in 2004 earned her doctoral degree in Psychology and Counseling. “It has been a tremendous joy to have the tools to get to help people, when they get stuck and don’t know what to do.”
During this time she also taught at the Seminary, beginning as an Adjunct Professor in 2001, her courses including, “Social and Multicultural Issues in Counseling,” “Marriage and Family Issues,” and “Ethical and Professional Issues in Counseling.”
In 2005 Dr. Steele became an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology and Counseling and by 2010 was the Director of Clinical Training for the NOBTS (New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary’s Counseling Program.
Some of the courses she currently teaching on a regular basis include: “Family Systems: Theories and Therapies,” “Clinical Assessment in Marriages and Families,” “The Bible in the Professional Counselor,” “Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Marriages and Family,” and “Contemporary Approaches in Premarital and Marital Therapy.” She currently occupies the James H. and Susan E. Brown Christian Counseling Chair and previously occupied the Baptist Community Ministries’ Chair of Pastoral Counseling, at the Seminary.
“We have master of arts in marriage and family therapy and a master of divinity in counseling,” she said. “Both of these degrees fulfill the required areas for LPC [Licensed Professional Counselor]. Since we are a seminary, training for ministry, students are required to take courses in Biblical and ministerial courses. All our courses are taught from a Biblical worldview,” she explained.
“Our program is extremely skills-based,” she said. “We push for them to be skilled counselors, and we push faculty members to be actively practicing counseling, which keeps our feet to the fire.”
Dr. Steele follows this approach herself, as owner and founder of Life Solutions Counseling, LLC, her counseling service in Metairie. The center is largely focused on Spanish speaking and lower income persons.
“I have chosen to focus on Spanish speaking clients primarily because they are an underserved group due to the language barriers,” she said. “I think about 75% of my practice is with Spanish speakers. Many of them are low income families, which requires a no-fee or low-fee service.”
“I love working with this group because they are typically very open to receiving help and thank- ful for whatever you can do for them,” she noted. “I think there are cultural differences that are important when working with Latinos. For example, they have a much stronger community orientation, which is quite different than the typical North American who thinks in very individualistic terms.”
“It is also very important,” she noted, “to take into consideration any issues related to trauma they may have experienced before immigrating.”
And, “ … the challenges of acculturation here in the USA can have a huge impact on their mental and relational health. One of the challenges is that Latinos often are struggling with immigration issues –visas– and with socio-economic issues such as poverty.”
Dr. Steele sometimes helps train interns at her Life Solutions firm, supervising from one and up to five interns at a given time.
Dr. Steele, was recently appointed to the state counselors’ board by the governor, and has attended her first two meeting. “Since I just started, I am still learning what it is like to serve on the LPC Board,” she told the Times. “But I am looking forward to the experience, and feel privileged to have the opportunity. So far I have really enjoyed it.”
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The U.S. Chapter of the World Council on Psycho- therapy (WCP) held a sym- posium featuring Thomas Doherty, PsyD, ecopsycholo- gist, as part of the it’s annual meeting, March 22, 2013, in Baton Rouge. Dr. Darlyne Nemeth and Dr. Kelly Ray organized the training experience that focused on environmental trauma.
Thomas Joseph Doherty is a clinical psychologist from Portland, Oregon, and founder and co-director of the Ecopsychology in Counseling Certificate Program at the Lewis & Clark Graduate School and the editor of the peer-reviewed journal Ecopsychology. He is president-elect of the American Psychological Association’s Division 34, The Society for Environmental, Population and Conservation Psychology.
According to an announcement from the WCP, Doherty emphasized that the term ecopsychology was coined in the 1990s when people began to explore their connection to the environment. And, that while indigenous peoples understood this connection, people in the Western societies have lost track of this connection. However, it is very important in psychotherapy. Doherty noted that climate change issues, global warming issues, etc., have underlying social justice components and emotional issues, which people do not want to address.
The conference included participants and discussants, Dr. Robert Hamilton, ecologist, Dr. Robert Muller, climatologists, Scott Nesbit, leader of an ecopsychologist project in Louisiana, and Dr. Donald Nemeth, geologist.
Dr. Nemeth currently serves as the Co- Secretary General, World Council for Psychotherapy. Dr. Ray serves as Vice President of U.S. Chapter, World Council for Psychotherapy.
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“Did you get the message from the frog?”
Dr. Susan Dardard, using her new media name, Susie Marie PhD, presented “Mother Nature’s Musical Messages®” to a group of youngsters at Grace Episcopal Church in St. Francisville, Louisiana, on Wednesday, April 24.
The presentation, “A Special Event for Grace Episcopal Church Mice,” was held at Bishop Jackson Hall.
The topic was the musical messages of frogs, including a little biology, a little Bible, and some demonstration of sounds and sound measurement. “But the frogs were the stars of the show,” said Susie.
Frogs in spring communicate to one another in complex ways, with the males often using the lower frequencies and the females tuning into the males’ higher frequencies, explained Susie to the Times. Some of the newest advances in hearing aids came from the science behind how frogs are able to block out irrelevant sounds, and tune into just one frequency, she said.
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The Counseling Psychology Doctoral Student Organization (CPDSO) of Louisiana Tech University hosted a conference April 26 and 27, named the North Louisiana Behavioral & Social Sciences Conference.
The conference took place at University Hall located on the Louisiana Tech University campus, in Ruston, and was designed by CPDSO for all students, faculty, professionals, and interested members of the community. The activities included conference workshops, including “Multicultural Diversity,” which was presented by Dr. Latoya Pierce and Dr. Lou’uan Gollop-Brown. Also “Global Changes to the DSM-5,” was presented by Dr. Alicia Ford.
“… our Counseling Psychology doctoral students took a tiny seed of an idea and ran with it,” said LaTech Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Chair Dr. Donna Thomas. “They plan to continue it annually and make it bigger and better each year.”
“They had paper and poster presentations by faculty and students from several universities including University of Arkansas, Texas State University, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Nicholls State University, LSU-Shreveport, and, of course, Louisiana Tech University. Additionally, there were very informative workshops covering multicultural models and an overview of the coming changes in the DSM-5.”
The afternoon meetings included paper presentations, graduate student panels, and poster presentations. One of the two graduate student panels focused on the internship match process. The other graduate panel addressed getting into and surviving graduate school. Both undergraduate and graduate students attended the panels. An awards ceremony was held at the end of the day.
“We are so proud of our students for providing a regional venue to highlight the knowledge base and research opportunities in Louisiana and nearby states,” Dr. Thomas said.
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Tamia Randolph-Alvarez, a University of New Orleans doctoral student in the UNO College of Education and Human Development’s Counselor Education Graduate program, has been named a 2013 Minority Fellow by the National Board for Certified Counselors. The honor is connected to a $20,000 award. Only 24 doctoral students across the nation will be granted this honor.
According to the UNO news article, Randolph- Alvarez is also a fellow in the UNO College of Business Administration’s new business accelerator program. The program helps students develop plans for successfully going into business.
The national board received its first Minority Fellowship Program grant award in August 2012 from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. SAMHSA offered its first fellowships in 1973 with an aim of increasing the number of "qualified behavioral healthcare providers who truly understand the language of the ethnic and racial minorities they serve," according to the agency and the UNO reports.
This year's grant allocation to National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC) marks an expansion of programs to include professional counselors under the SAMHSA grants. A congressional change in 2012 supported the grants being made available to professional counselors.
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Behavior Analyst Bill, Mental Health Courts, and DHH License Go Forward
Sen Mills Offers Resolution Commending LA Coalition for Violence Prevention
The Louisiana State Legislature is about halfway through its efforts to determine which of the 900 plus bills should go into law for the 2013 law-making season. The Times is watching some of the bills that affect those in the psychology, counseling, and mental health community. Below we report on some of the recent outcomes, which have a way of shifting and changing in a matter of days. Citizens can watch bills at the state legislative website.
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The Louisiana Psychological Association will host its annual convention on Thursday and Friday, May 30 and 31, to be held at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Baton Rouge.
Speakers will present educational sessions on Mindfulness in Working with Children, Music in Therapy, LGBTQ, ICD-10, Bullying, Exposure Therapy in PTSD, Psychoanalytic Topics in Therapy, Issues in Disability Evaluation, and Violence Risk Assessment.
Dr. Jana Martin, CEO of the APA Insurance Trust, will present on “Entrust Our Profession to the Future.” There is no question about whether or not our profession will experience change in the future,” the presenter explains. For those of us who have been in practice for years, we’ve seen many changes already. Key questions of importance are what changes are ahead, when will they take effect, how will they impact practice and our profession, and how can we be proactive rather than reactive? Participants will be able to identify drivers of change for the profession of psychology and be able to identify ways to ensure the relevance of our profession and their practices for a changing future.
Dr. Michelle Moore will present “The Benefits of Incorporating Mindfulness-Based Treatment in a School Setting,” with colleague Kate Cuno, M.A. “When mindfulness is practiced regularly, remarkable changes can occur even in children,” note the presenters. “Research has found that children who engage in mindfulness-based treatment can improve their concentration, increase their self-esteem, decrease their problem behaviors and develop greater empathy for others.”
Dr. Susan Andrews, author of Stress Solutions for Pregnant Moms: How Breaking Free from Stress Can boost Your Baby’s Potential, will present “How Music Plays Out in the Brain.”
The workshop will review the most current research on the use of music as therapy, the intentional use of music for growth and medicine, and musical training and neural plasticity. Different forms of music therapy or “soundwork” will be described with samples, demonstrations, and group participation. Andrews will explore different areas of application of music along with supportive research references. Dr. Andrews is a clinical neuropsychologist whose career has been dedicated to assisting children and their parents to improve their quality of life.
Participants will be able to describe the current state of the field of the intentional use of music for growth and as medicine, and leave will a better understanding of how to use music in their practice and in their daily lives.
Dr. Sherry Desselle will present, “LGBTQ 101: Providing Culturally Competent Therapy with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer or Questioning Clients.” This is an introductory workshop designed to educate clinicians about the diversity of sexual and gender orientation and expression. Participants will become familiar with the appropriate terminology when working with LGBTO clients and the unique challenges that LGBTQ families, couples, and individuals face.
Dr. K. Dayle Jones will present “Diagnosis with DSM-V an ICD.” Jones will provide an oerview of the DSM-V, including its development process, changes to the organizational structure, major revisions to existing diagnoses, and the addition of new disorders. Participants will also learn about the International Classification of Diseases (ICD), its designation as HIPPAA’s official codebook for diagnosing mental disorders, and its relationship to DSM-V.
On Friday, Dr. Bryan Gros will present, “Bullying: A Brief Review and Strategies for Treatment.” He will discuss bullying and its effects on children and adolescents, and also strategies for addressing this wide- ranging problem. Forms of bullying will be discussed and a review of signs and effects, including depression, anxiety, academic problems, and even suicide. Participants will be able to identify and understand the different types of bullying, the effects on victims, and issues for treatment.
Popular presenters Dr. Kelley Pears and Dr. Leslie Drew from the Alexandria Veterans Administration Medical Center, return. They will present, “Treating PTSD with Prolonged Exposure Therapy.” The presenters will help attendees understand how to use Prolonged Exposure Therapy (PE) to treat Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Participants will learn the rationale for PE as well as an in depth, session-by- session breakdown of how to implement the therapy. The vast majority of the workshop will be spent on using Prolonged Exposure Therapy with very little time on the diagnosis.
Dr. Carolyn Weyand, will present, “Contemporary Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy: The Four Psychologies and Implications for Technique.” Weyand, who serves on the faculty of the New Orleans–Birmingham Psychoanalytic Institute, will review Sigmund Freud's classical theory, which rests on the basic assumption that drives motivate human behavior, notes Weyand. Anna Freud explained defenses and refocused psychotherapy onto building adaptive function in her Ego Psychology. Melanie Klein established theoretical emphasis on Object Relations, the connection to other humans, being our primary motivator. From Object Relations, we get Attachment Theory. Heinz Kohut postulated self esteem regulation to be the primary human motivator in his theory, Self Psychology. Dr. Weyand will cover these four psychologies and implications for treatment.
Dr. Michael Chafetz, whose work is gaining increased attention around the country, will present, “Disability: A Practical and Ethical Guide for Psychologists.”
He explains that public disability programs arose in the 1950s from a desire to provide a social safety net when the primary wage-earner in families could not work due to illness or injury. In both public and private disability evaluations for mental or cognitive impairments, psychologists have a distinct and powerful role to play, Chafetz notes. The role should be unbiased, with the psychologist not acting as a doctor for a patient, or as a tool for the insurance company or government. The goal of this talk is to show how the role of the psychologist is exercised in careful assessment that answers the referral questions in disability examinations.
“Dangerousness in Clinical Practice Post Sandy Hook,” will be presented by Dr. Jesse Lambert, Dr. R. Stokes, Dr. Robert Storer, and Dr. Carolyn Weyand. This session will review what we know about school shootings over the past several years, current measures and methods of dangerousness assessment, and specifically discuss what can be done when a clinical patient appears to be dangerous. Participants will become familiar with common factors in recent school shootings and discuss how these might present in clinical practice. Also participants will become familiar with available measures and methods for dangerousness assessment and discuss options for how to ethically respond to and protect a clinical patient and the public.
Kevin Hayes, JD, will present a legislative update on Friday afternoon. He will address bills related to mental health and describe how legislation affects the practice of psychology.
A Casino Night will be sponsored by LPA Political Action Committee for a fun evening, including a raffle for a week in Costa Rica.
For information on how to register, go to http://www.louisianapsychologist.org/
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While Senate Bill 134 for the creation of a new, independent board for behavioral analysts needed tweaking to the tune of 37 amendments, most minor, it was passed favorably out of committee and easily passed the full Senate on Monday with a vote of 30 to 1.
Janice Huber, Certified Behavior Analyst and Secretary for the Louisiana Behavior Analysis Association (LaBAA), told the Times, “We endorse SB 134 as is currently written and are encouraged by it's legislative support and progress.”
The bill will create an independent board for behavior analysts and also regulate assistant behavior analysts and technicians, who will register with the board. Of the 37 amendments, many were minor. Included is “to provide for injunctive proceedings;” and substitution of “client” for “patient.” Also, “… counseling as treatment modalities” was changed to mental health counseling.”
A more detailed description of criminal background checking was added and also a section describing injunctive proceedings.
A change was made in the exemption for psychologists, so that now language includes those acting under the psychologist: "(9) An individual licensed to practice psychology within the state, so long as the applied behavior analysis services provided by the licensed psychologist are within the licensed psychologist's education, training and expertise. This includes individuals acting under the extended authority and direction of licensed psychologists. Licensed psychologists and those acting under their extended authority are prohibited from representing themselves as behavior analysts, licensed behavior analysts, assistant behavior analysts, or state certified assistant behavior analysts without being duly licensed or state certified."
An attached note from the Legislative Fiscal Office, suggests that the new board, the Licensed Behavior Analyst Board, will be helped by DHH. “… an unknown amount in startup expenditures for LBAB will have to be borne by DHH since LBAB will have to develop licensure and education requirements in rule before it can collect fees.”
And the Office also notes, “It is unclear if there is an impact on Medicaid expenditures as a result of this legislation. Behavior Analysts are not currently eligible for Medicaid reimbursement under the LBHP, and it is unclear if licensing will make them newly eligible for reimbursement for applied behavior analysis (ABA) or the other services they provide.”
Senate Bill 134 had its origins last year through a controversial effort on the part of the state psychology board to create a regulatory committee under psychology for the behavior analysts. The move was strongly opposed by many in autism support groups and in the behavior analyst community, especially the leaders of the LaBAA.
Senator J.P. Morrell emerged as a leader of this opposition which ended in a study commission created by Morrell’s resolution. Over six months from July to December last year the commission members thrashed out a decision for the behavior analysts to merge with the state counselors (LPC) board.
But then in late February, 2013, negotiations reached an impasse regarding language about an “equivalent” for the national certification.
This impasse required that a fallback option to be worked out by Senator J. P. Morrell’s office and wife Catherine Morrell, who served as Vice Chair for the Commission.
The fallback option was to merge the BAs with the psychology board. However, the Louisiana Psychological Association objected to members of another profession sitting on the psychology board. This left only an independent board, which may have been the preferred option of the LaBAA leaders all along.
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Originally published: . Volume 4, No. 9. Source pages: 16.
I'd like to introduce myself. You may recognize my picture, and think you know me by name. I've had a growing-up maiden name, an early adulthood married name, and now true-love married name, in my personal and professional life, all of which are irrelevant in my public life, my life in front of a camera, a microphone, an audience. So please, feel free to forget any and all of those names because, for my upcoming broadcast productions, including my new television show, South River Stories®, I am marketing a brand new name, a new brand name, Susie Marie PhD.
I invite you to join me, through this column, on my media journey. I will take you with me as I secure my brand, establish a business plan, assemble the crew, design a logo, create a website, obtain my sponsors, build an audience, construct the set, develop a product line, write the segments, produce the show, and enter the public arena as Susie Marie PhD.
I like that my new name rhymes, which suits my corny self. I like that my name has no title, which helps me avoid the "doctor" image trap. I like that my on-air name has evolved over the years to the name that suits me best as I entertain, inform, and inspire, through stories, lessons, and songs about my rural life, as Susie Marie PhD.
You may find yourself wanting to walk this road with me. If you decide to leave the private confines of your office and take up life in the public arena, I will be here to welcome, support and guide you. In doing so, I will be paying forward the mentoring gifts of those who saw me through various shows over the years, who helped me arrive at this happy place of becoming Susie Marie PhD.
Thank you for your interest and for giving me a chance, once again, to say hello.
I'm Susie Marie PhD.
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Researchers from around the state will present their work in poster sessions at the Association for Psychological Science 25th Annual Convention, to be held May 23 to 26, in Washington, DC. Undergraduates, graduate students, and professors in psychology from Centenary, LaTech, Loyola, Tulane, U. of Louisiana–Lafayette, U. of New Orleans, and Xavier University will demonstrate their research skill and contributions for what is becoming the premier scientific organization for those in psychology.
The Times talked with Dr. Donna Thomas, Chair at Louisiana Tech about the many presentations the department has this year at APS. “I am thrilled to see the Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences making such a strong showing at APS,” she said. “We usually have a number of researchers who present there and this year we have more than held our own. We appreciate their strong emphasis on science that does not necessarily have to inform clinical practice.”
“Although our department has applied psychology graduate programs, we recognize the need to do research for research's sake. On a more practical note, APS is at a very accessible location this year!”
This year’s APS presentations include a variety of topics. Below we outline the work and include some comments from a number of the researchers.
Centenary College
Jonathan Westfall from Centenary College teamed up with researchers from Columbia University to look at the how activating the concept of a choice mindset leads people to search for relevant information for making their decisions. The presentation, “On What Basis Should I Make a Choice?” Influence of a Choice Mindset on Decision Making,” includes four studies showing that priming the issue of “choice” causes people to look longer at various pieces of information and to base their decisions on this information.
Louisiana Tech University
A team of seven researchers from LaTech will present their findings in “Attitudes Towards Same-Sex Marriage and Religiosity.” LaTech researchers Jay Middleton, Deborah Simpson, Rose Niles, Laura Harris, John Tracy, Sean Lajaunie, and Alicia Ford explored attitudes toward same- sex marriage and motivations for religiosity, finding that gender differences emerged only when exploring the influence of extrinsic motivations. Those who are intrinsically motivated are more likely to hold negative attitudes towards same-sex marriage.
LaTech’s Jordan O’Briant, Mary M. Livingston, and Alice Carter (now retired) will present “Career Interest as Related to Perception of Math Involvement and Math Anxiety.”
Professor Livingston told the Times, “The purpose of this study was to explore relationships between math anxiety, perception of math in careers, level of career interest, beliefs on the nature of intelligence –a malleable property or a static entity–, and academic subject identification as related to a predisposition to a career,” she said.
As expected, “ … careers which were perceived to involve less math had higher interest ratings. Math anxiety correlated with less interest in technical fields. While math anxiety and beliefs of math involvement in a career played a large role in level of interest expressed in various careers, the pattern of results indicated that seeking occupations that do not involve math may be related to factors beyond math anxiety.”
Professors Mary M. Livingston and Alice Carter teamed up with Margaret Hindman (now at LSU) to compare the Ten Item Personality Inventory (TIPI) and the widely used International Personality Item Pool (IPIP) using an ethnically diverse sample of college students. For this presentation, “Comparing Two Personality Measures, the TIPI and the IPIP,” they will show that results where the shorter TIPI compares favorably with the much longer IPIP, and that the online survey results were consistent with previous paper and pencil results.
Livingston explained, “As researchers we all know that generally speaking lengthier instruments tend to be psychometrically more sound, However, limits of time space and research participant perseverance lead on a quest to find acceptable brief instruments.”
“Gosling, Rentfrow and Swann developed their Ten Item version of the IPIP to solve this problem. As a result it is the most downloaded/cited from the Journal of Research in Personality. Researchers such as Buchanan have questioned the automatic assumption that paper and pencil measures can be automatically translated to an online environment,” she noted. “Our paper confirms that when a short instrument is needed TIPI can work as an adequate substitute for the IPIP, and functions as well online as a shorter substitute as it does in the paper and pencil format.”
For their presentation, “Emotional Labor and Counseling Professionals,” LaTech researchers Kevin Mahoney, Brandon Dennis, Victoria Smoak, Ida Chauvin, and Walter Buboltz studied emotional labor, emotional exhaustion, and work engagement in an overlooked population of counselors. They will explain that emotional labor is a form of emotional regulation where workers are expected to display certain emotions as part of their jobs. This and previous research by this LaTech group has found that emotional labor impacts both emotional exhaustion and work engagement.
“Exploring Employee Well- Being: Combining the Job Demand-Control and Job Demand-Resource Models,” will examine employees who must deal with heavy work demands but have little control and few resources, leading to greater job strain and decreased well- being. In there work, researchers John Buckner, Gwendylen Dykstra-Long, and James DeLeon, the team examines controls and resources as distinct predictors of employee well-being. While most research looks at controls and resources in separate studies or in combined concepts under the same umbrella, this study looked at the issue from both models.
The research team of Devin Merritt, Victoria Felix, Rebecca Granda, Walter Buboltz, and Janelle McDaniel will present “Morningness – Eveningness Preferences and Academic Factors as Predictors of Healthy Sleep Practices.” The group’s goal was to examine morning and evening type preferences and other academic factors that impact healthy sleep practices in college students. The researches found that that a number of factors, including morning-evening attitudes, self- efficacy, emotional exhaustion, and sleep hygiene, are significant predictors.
“Personal Living Space Attributes and Personality,” is by researchers Margaret Hindman (now at LSU), Mary M. Livingston, and Alice Carter (now retired).
Dr. Livingston explained, “We are interested in the relationship between personality and perception of living spaces.” Using Gosling’s Personal Living Space Cue Inventory (PLSCI) the team looked at people and their living spaces (PLS).
“Our study employs PLSCI ratings, but in a different way than in Gosling’s work,” noted Livingston. “Gosling had three raters evaluate living spaces of various student participants and indicate whether they thought the rooms’ inhabitant possessed the psychological quality of openness. In the current study participants rated their own PLS using the PLSCI, and their openness score on the IPIP big-five personality measure was correlated with the various PLS ratings. The raters’ personality influence their ratings,” she said. “Our findings were clearly different from Gosling’s and seem to reflect the inhabitants’ rather disparaging view of their rooms.”
“My presentations are with a 2nd year Counseling Psychology doctoral student, Rosie Niles, and an alumnus, Dr. Matthew Hand,” Dr. Donna Thomas told the Times. “We are interested in what motivates people's use of social networking sites, specifically Facebook and Twitter. Preliminary results indicate that emotional connectedness to both sites was perhaps intrinsically motivated. Hopefully, our follow-up work can tell us more about that.”
LaTech’s Rose Niles and Matthew Hand from Texas Wesleyan University, teamed up with La Tech Psychology Chair Donna Thomas for two interesting and related studies. In the APS presentation, “Relationships among situational motivation and Facebook usage,” first author Niles and colleagues looked at the relationships among aspects of situational motivation and Facebook usage. The results indicated that emotional connection to Facebook was positively related to intrinsic motivation, and that online social networking is related to higher levels of self- determination.
The same research team, this time with Hand as first author, examined the relationships among situational motivation and Twitter usage, to be presented in “Relationships among situational motivation and Twitter usage.” The team found that emotional connectedness to Twitter was related to intrinsic motivation, and that time spent on Twitter was related to external regulation.
Loyola Univeristy
Samaneh Khoshini from Loyola University in New Orleans teamed up with professor Kendall Eskine to look at how bodily experiences affect psychological process in “Enclothed Cognition: Effects of Clothing Style on Creativity and Sexual Attitude.” The team studied the influence of different clothing on both cognitive and sexual attitudes. They found that higher body coverage correlated with sexually conservative attitudes and will present information on the possible links between clothing, cognition, and sexual attitudes.
Dr. Kendall Eskine, along with researchers Ashley Novreske and Michelle Richards, all representing Loyola, will present the social psychology topic, “Moral Contagion is Significantly Influenced by Disgust Sensitivity.” The findings from two experiments show that after participants came into physical contact with a transgressor, they experienced more state guilt. This effect was moderated by disgust sensitivity. That is, the researchers found that individuals with high-disgust sensitivity indicated more guilt that those with low-disgust sensitivity.
Tulane University
Stefanie Simon and Laurie O’Brien will present their research, “Increasing Perceptions of Institution Sexism,” at the upcoming APS convention. In two studies, the researchers explored perceptions of individual and institutional sexism, finding that men and women did not differ in their perceptions of individual sexism, but women perceived more institutional sexism that men. In the second study, the researchers found that perspective-taking and education strategies successfully increased perceptions of institutional sexism.
Simon explained to the Times that she has been working on this research in collaboration with Dr. Laurie O’Brien, who is her PhD advisor, and also professor Dr. Carrie Wyland, as well as a former Tulane undergraduate student, Melanie Soilleux.
“Past research has shown that most people are relatively worse at recognizing more institutional forms of discrimination,” Simon noted, “meaning practices and policies that put certain groups at a disadvantage, compared to individual forms of discrimination that are perpetrated by a specific person.” This lack of recognition may be a serious issue, she explained.
“Thus, in this line of research, we've been looking at strategies to help increase people's perceptions of institutional sexism. The two strategies we’ve looked at are perspective-taking and education about institutional sexism in the US. What we’ve found thus far is that when we ask participants to take the perspective of someone who has been a target of institutional sexism and put themselves in her shoes, both men and women are better able to recognize institutional sexism compared to participants who are not asked to take the target’s perspective.”
“Interestingly, when participants are educated about institutional sexism and then are asked to take the target’s perspective, female participants recognize even more institutional sexism. For male participants on the other hand, the strategy that seems the most helpful for increasing perceptions of institutional sexism is perspective-taking. These findings have important implications for helping to remove some of the institutional barriers in the US that serve to perpetuate inequality between men and women,” Simon noted.
University of Louisiana – Lafayette
Assistant Professor Hung-Chu Lin leads a team of researchers from University of Louisiana– Lafayette for the presentation, “Changes in Empathic Concern and Personal Distress as a Function of Time: A Time Course Study of Adults’ Responses to Infant Crying.” The team includes Jessica Manuel, Joshua Landry, Claude Cech, Lauren Ashy, and Stinne Soendergaard.
Dr. Lin, explained to the Times, “We are interested in how caregivers respond to infant crying––a display of infant's distress yet sometimes an unpleasant and even aversive stimulus.”
“Under normal circumstances caregivers respond to a crying infant with empathic emotions, with concerns organized around infant's well-being. However, infant crying may also elicit distress arousal, which is often associated with egoistic concerns for caregiver's own benefits and possible consequences of neglect or mistreatment of the infant,” she said. “We attempted to describe the relations between cry perception and the two qualitatively different response emotions as a function of time. We hope to gain a better understanding of cry responding and foster sensitive parenting.”
In, “Enrichment in Parents of Children with Autism,” Dr. Hung-Chu Lin and researchers Valanne MacGyyers, Robert McFatter, and Janna Bourque will present their findings regarding both positive and negative aspects of the experience in parenting a child with autism spectrum disorder, and relate these experiences to child symptom severity and parenting competence.
“We examined not only negative aspects, as in previous research,” said Dr. Lin, “but also positive aspects of experience in parenting a child with autism and related them to child symptom severity and parenting competence,” Dr. Lin explained. “The findings indicated that experience of enrichment did not relate to child symptom severity and might potentially strengthen the negative relation between parenting efficacy and stress.”
University of New Orleans
Brandon Scott leads a group of researchers in their work, “Developmental Variation in Amygdala Volumes among Children with Posttraumatic Stress.” The research team includes Justin Russell, Ashley Sanders, and Carl Weems from UNO, and Allan Reis and Victor Carrion from Standford University School of Medicine.
“Findings point to the possibility that traumatic stress may delay structural maturation of the amygdala,” Dr. Weems told the Times. The presentation will review how theory points to links between maturation and amygdala volumes in trauma- exposed youth. In this study, results indicated a positive association between age and right-amygdala volumes for 24 young people with PTSD, while a negative association for matched controls.
UNO Assistant Professor and Undergraduate Coordinator, Dr. Monica Marsee guides two groups for upcoming APS poster presentations. Marsee’s lab is the Youth Social and Emotional Development Lab. Molly Miller and Maria Kireeva, who recently graduated with B.S. degrees in psychology, stayed on at the lab to gain experience for graduate school. Kelli Thompson and Genevieve Lapre are Dr. Marcee’s doctoral students.
In, “Group Differences in the Prediction of Psychopathy on a Dimensional Level,” UNO researchers Molly Miller, Kelli Thompson, Maria Kireeva, Monica Marsee, and Barry Burkhart from Auburn University, will present results about youth psychopathy. Their study explored the relationship between psychopathy and internalizing and exernalizing psychopathology in two different groups. The looked at juvenile sex offenders and juvenile non-sexual offenders. The researchers found evidence for significant group differences on the Affective dimension using the four-factor model of psychopathy.
Dr. Marcee explained, “This study contributes to the existing body of literature indicating that juvenile sex offenders are behaviorally and psychologically distinct from their non-sexual offending peers.” And, “Juvenile sex offenders and juvenile non- sexual offenders represent two distinct group of juvenile offenders with different treatment needs, treatment responses, and outcomes.”
This poster also recently won the Best Overall Poster Award at the InnovateUNO: Undergraduate Research, Scholarship, and Creativity Showcase.
Maria Kireeva, Genevieve Lapre, Molly Miller, and Monica Marsee will also present, “Parental Psychological Control as Mediator between Parental Psychopathology and Youth Internalizing Problems.”
The purpose of this study was to examine various parental factors and how they may interact to influence youth internalizing problems, explained Dr. Marcee. “The results support the hypothesis that psychological control mediates the association between parental psychopathology and youth internalizing problems,” explained Marcee. “… parental psychopathology may be associated with youth internalizing problems, but it is the parents’ psychologically controlling strategies that partially explain this association. The results support the broader theory that dysfunctional parenting strategies may serve as a mechanism through which parental psychopathology relates to youth psychopathology.”
UNO researchers Ashley Sanders, Angelle Pizzitolo, Brandon Scott, Rebecca Graham, Donice Banks, Justin Russell, and Carl Weems, will present “Posttraumatic Stress Exacerbates the Link between Identity and Internalizing Problems in Adolescents.” Previous research indicates that heightened levels of identity distress are linked with internalizing symptoms in adolescents. However, not much is known about what factors, such as PTSD symptoms, may exacerbate this relationship. “Results indicated that PTSD symptoms moderate this relationship and that it was only significant for youth with more self-reported PTSD symptoms.”
Brandon Scott, noted, “This research idea was part of a collaborative effort with two of our undergraduate/post-baccalaureate research assistants in the lab, Ashley Sanders and Angelle Pizzitolo. The findings suggest that the experience of greater PTSD symptoms may disrupt normative identity development in adolescence by exacerbating normal levels of identity distress and promoting increased internalizing symptoms. However, it will be important to test whether PTSD symptoms actually interfere with normal developmental processes by expanding the age of the sample to include younger children and adults and using a longitudinal design.”
Xavier University
David Wheatley of Xavier University teamed up with Troy Bitson of Glen Oaks College to study “Aspects of Competitiveness Associated with Masculine and Feminine Characteristics.”
The researchers had people rate themselves on measures of masculine and feminine characteristics and also goal and interpersonal competitiveness. Male masculine ratings positively correlated with both forms of competitiveness while female feminine ratings negatively correlated with interpersonal competitiveness. The presenters suggest that results relate to the psychoanalytic theory of sex role development and identification with the same sex parent.
Xavier U. researcher, Christian End, along with co-authors form Shippensburg University, will present “Die-hard Fans? CORFing Behavior in Newspaper Obituaries.” End and his colleagues analyzed the frequency with which obituaries mentioned Penn State University both before and after the Sandusky scandal. They found that the scandal it not impact the proportion of obits that noted Penn State connections.
Xaiver researchers Katherine Eskine, Tyler Hunter, and Gabrielle Gloston will present, “Making emotive music: The association of emotional intellege and musical production via sexual selection.” To investigate if music is, or has recently been, sexually selected because it is an honest signal of emotional intelligence, the research team studied 120 undergraduates. They looked at the effects of sexual and romantic arousal on the production, aptitude, and subjective ratings of music.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 4, No. 9. Source pages: 16.
Professional Training Resources has announced its May calendar of events, including its upcoming Summer Symposium to be held this year, July 24 through 26. Tune your guitars.
Diagnosing Mental Illness 5/3/13 – Baton Rouge, LA 5/17/13 – Lafayette, LA 5/24/13 – Shreveport, LA.
11th Annual Mental Health Summer Symposium July 24th – July 26th The Hilton, Lafayette, LA.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
I have often wondered how does someone with a doctorate degree in psychology, specializing in Clinical and Industrial/Organizational, become the publisher of a news periodical. After having the privilege of chatting with Dr. Julie Nelson, I now know how it all came to be.
Julie Nelson is the creator and publisher of The Psychology Times, the embodiment of a lifelong passion. Nelson is the daughter of esteemed journalists Gordon Nelson and Lynn Hunter Nelson. Dr. Nelson grew up in a family that loved all things related to journalism, freedom of speech, and newspaper writing. Some of her earliest memories are from her experiences in developing and printing newspapers with her parents.
Although Nelson did not pursue journalism as a profession, she never lost her appreciation and love of it, and what it meant to her. In September 2009 she published the first issue of the Psychology Times.
Because of her background and love for journalism, one might expect that the development of the Times would have been a natural progression and blending of her two passions. Contrary to this notion though, when asked if she had planned all along to create the Times, Nelson remarked, “The idea [to create the Times] just popped into my head one day. Because I was totally frustrated with people in power and with the groupthink. Things changing seemed really bleak,” she said. “Since I tend to be an over-functioner, I rarely have the good sense to walk away from something. So, the Times gave me an outlet and direction.”
Nelson also explained that she took a step back and looked at the psychology community as a whole and realized that “Things weren’t good. Some people didn’t seem to even understand the group dynamics” or the role of communication in productivity. At this point, she said to herself, “Whoa. This community needs a community newspaper more than any system I’ve ever seen.”
“The Times is my way of waving the flag,” she said. “I look around and I see, at all levels of our society, that certain principles are being ignored. One principle that I committed to when I chose a career in psychology was truth. Newspapers push for freedom of information and truth. So it’s a fit for me.”
The combination of journalism and psychology may not be an intuitive twosome, but Nelson commented, “I’ve seen a lot of overlap between journalism and organizational psychology since I’ve been at this. It’s been very interesting.”
Nelson explained some of what she views as the links between journalism and social psychological phenomena. “… free flow of information is probably the most clear and basic key process [in a large social group]. It relates to quality of problem-solving and problem-finding, innovation, creativity, all sorts of stuff, [including] ingroup and outgroup bias, prejudice, and so on.”
Nelson went on to explain what she sees as another link between journalism and organizational psychology, states, “Information flow is also key for engaging people and their energy,” she said.
“So all this is just a basic benefit of community newspapers, and similar to organizational development. No one ever knows where the information is going or what the impact will be, we just know it is important for open systems and self-correction.”
She also sees a link between journalism and cognitive psychology. Nelson explained that often “People can’t remember the train of events by themselves. People are outraged today, then tomorrow they aren’t. All sorts of cognitive flaws, journalists help to lessen these. The newspaper helps our slow think processes, and keep the dots connected,” she said.
Overall, the connection between psychology and journalism boils down to the notion that, according to Nelson, “Good journalism and information flow, helps counteract deception and its cousin, self- deception,” she said.
“Journalism provides a detection system that can be an antidote to fast think errors and cheating. So journalists are like community group facilitators, or psycho- therapists, they point out things that shake up the self-interested viewpoint.”
Reflective of Dr. Nelson’s efforts and vision regarding the Times and how it can bring people together and encourage discussion and the sharing of ideas, today, The Psychology Times has developed into an award winning newspaper.
Now, coming full circle, the Times, which began as an endeavor to enlighten and inform the psychology community, is not only a way to pay tribute to individuals and accomplishments reported in the Times, but also a tribute to Nelson’s parents. Nelson’s parents, a major driving force behind her love of journalism’s ideals, passed away in 2009 and 2010.
Given all this, I personally feel extremely privileged to have the opportunity to be a part of The Psychology Times and share with you, our readers, the legacy of the Nelsons and their ability to enrich our community.
(Suzanne Booth, MA, is an IO psychology doctoral student at LSU Baton Rouge, and an intern with Times.)
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 4, No. 9. Source pages: 2.
(Editor’s note: In our April 2013 issue, Dr. David Williams wrote regarding a letter by Dr. Tom Hannie, published in our February 2013 issue. Below, Dr. Hannie is writing in answer to Dr. Williams letter. The Times appreciates both of these gentlemen’s contributions.)
In a letter to the editor in the most recent issue of Psychology Times, David J. Williams, PhD, MP, disagreed with my previous letter in which I asserted that evolution was a concept in science and intelligent design was a concept in religion. Thus, evolution is appropriate for science classes in public schools while intelligent design is not.
In the case of Kitzmiller v. Dover, this issue was addressed in court by scientists, philosophers, and theologians. Their testimony was based on years of scholarship and critical analysis of intelligent design. The evidence showed irrefutably that intelligent design is creationism, which rests on belief in a supernatural designer. The leading proponents of intelligent design themselves have specified this. The conservative judge also recognized this and ruled accordingly. Thus Dr. Williams' statement that "Reality is either defined by an intelligent designer or it is not" is irrelevant. Given the fact that the hypothesized intelligent designer is admittedly (by those who propose this entity) a supernatural being, its existence can neither be verified nor rejected by science. Thus intelligent design does not belong in a science class; it clearly belongs in a religion class.
Another fact was brought out in court: Since the U.S. Supreme Court had ruled that creationism could not be taught in public schools because it requires belief in supernatural creation, the Discovery Institute tried to promote creationism using the substitute term "intelligent design." But they have been unable to alter the fact that intelligent design is merely a slightly updated version of creation "science." It is still a religious concept.
Intelligent Design lacks empirical support, offers no testable hypotheses, and attempts to describe nature in terms of scientifically untestable supernatural causes. In no way can it be considered to be a scientific concept. Its "scientists" have produced no original data to support any of their claims. They merely reinterpret the scientific data produced by legitimate scientists in an attempt to undermine it.
Numerous court rulings have established that the public schools have no right to teach religion as science. Therefore, the schools cannot teach intelligent design as "reality." Were they to teach a course in philosophy that would address methods for the acquisition of knowledge, they might well teach our young people how to tell the difference between science and religion, which would allow them to understand why evolution is science and intelligent design is not.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
A bill by Senator Sharon Broome of Baton Rouge passed the Senate floor with a vote of 35 to 0 and was sent to the House on Monday, April 29.
The legislation will authorize mental health court treatment programs in the state, allowing the chief judge of each judicial district to establish a mental health court. The bill defines terms related to the mental health court treatment programs, mental health court professionals, pre- and post- adjudicatory programs, combination programs, and co-occurring mental illness and substance abuse issues.
A mental health court is a structured judicial intervention process for eligible defendants that can include local social and treatment programs, and monitoring by the judges.
According to the digest, the “Proposed law provides procedures to be utilized in operating a mental health court treatment program, including a regimen of graduated requirements, rewards, and sanctions.” This may include fines, fees, costs, restitution, incarceration, individual and group therapy, medication, educational or vocational counseling, and other reasonable requirements to complete the program.
“Proposed law provides for mental health court treatment programs to maintain or collaborate with a network of programs which deal with mental illness and co- occurring mental illness and substance abuse issues. Further provides that the mental health court program may designate a court liaison to monitor the progress of defendants in their assigned treatment programs on behalf of the court.”
Certain crimes are excluded from the mental health court: first or second degree murder, aggravated or criminal sexual assault, armed robbery, arson, stalking, and any crime of violence involving discharge of a firearm.
The Fiscal Office notes that a mental health court is “a specialized court docket (like drug courts) that focuses on individuals who have been charged with a crime and also have a mental health illness. For illustrative purposes, the 22nd Judicial District Court currently has a mental health court that currently has 30 clients. The current cost of this court is approximately $50,000 for 1 client administrator and funded entirely with local funds. According to the 22nd Judicial District, the mental health services these clients receive are provided by private providers 9throught private insurance) or state clinics (state expenditures).”
They also note, “For context, the state has 48 drug courts that currently cost approximately $16 million of which $10 million is state general fund. The state’s drug courts see approximately 2,800 clients per month.”
“I’ve seen this work very well in the St. Tammany parish,” Dr. Alicia Pellegrin told the Times. “It provides a way for these people to get help. Instead of sending people to jail, their illness is seen as a mitigating factor and to be treated,” she said. Pellegrin is currently the Legislative Chair for the state psychological association. “We certainly support the concept. It is not clear how it will get funded. The devil is in the details,” she said.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 4, No. 8. Source pages: 7.
House Bill 226 by Richard “Creates the crime of prohibited sexual contact by a psychotherapist and provides for elements of the crime, definitions, exceptions, and criminal penalties for the commission of the offense.
“Proposed law provides that it shall be unlawful for any psychotherapist, or any person who fraudulently represents himself as or purports to be a psychotherapist, to engage in sexual contact with either of the following: (1) A client or patient. (2) A former client or patient, when the relationship was terminated primarily for the purpose of engaging in the sexual contact.
“When the victim is a former client or former patient, proposed law provides that the sexual contact is not prohibited if it occurs more than one year after the termination of the relationship and the psychotherapist has referred the former patient or former client to an independent and objective psychotherapist, recommended by a third-party psychotherapist, for treatment.
“Proposed law provides that the consent of the patient or client shall not be a defense.
Proposed law provides definitions for ‘psychotherapist,’ ‘sexual contact,’ and ‘therapeutic deception.’
“Proposed law provides for the following penalties: (1) Imprisonment for not more than 10 years, fined not more than $10,000, or both. (2) If the sexual contact occurs by means of ‘therapeutic deception’ – imprisonment for not more than 15 years, fined not more than $20,000, or both.”
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.