Originally published: . Volume 4, No. 8. Source pages: 9.
HB 79, HB 155, HB 326 and HB 212 have to do with various aspects of school safety. HB 79 “Provides relative to the preparation, content, rehearsal, review, revision, and approval of school crisis management and response plans.” HB 155 “Provides relative to school emergency plans and to the definition, preparation, content, review, revision, and provision of copies thereof; requires in-service training, applicable to all public schools, including charter schools.”
HB 326 “Provides relative to the preparation, content, rehearsal, review, revision, and approval of school crisis management and response plans; requires school boards to provide for school resource officers at public schools and that such officers be armed.”
And HB 212 “Authorizes the creation of a statewide planning and mapping system for nonpublic schools, proprietary schools, and nonpublic colleges and universities to assist first responders in a disaster or emergency.”
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: 16.
Professional Training Resources and Dr. John Simoneaux will present “DSM-5 Overview: Making the Transition” on May 3 in Baton Rouge at the Marriot Hotel. He will present the workshop also in Lafayette, at the Holiday Inn, on May 17, and again in Shreveport, at the Holiday Inn, on May 24.
The workshop is designed to help mental health professionals to analyze the history of the diagnostic manual and to describe the major new differences in DSM-5 structure, diagnostic criteria, and in other features. The workshop will include a review of the new diagnostic classifications that have been altered since DSM-IV and a look at major revisions in personality disorders. A discussion of controversial issues is included. The workshop runs from 8 am to 4. Contact PTR for additional information on go online at www.professionaltrainingresourcesinc.com.
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: 5.
Psych Board Okays New Cont’ Ed Topics Removes restrictions about percentages
After almost two years of discussions about possible changes in the continuing education rules, the state psychology board appears to be getting closure on changes for continuing development for licensed psychologists.
At their Long-Range Planning meeting on March 14, and after review of some of the public comments received last year, and discussion with those attending, the board members indicated that they would remove the percentages from the new options outlined in the rules they proposed in August 2012.
From the recent discussion, the board will retain their original plan to increase CE hours from 30 to 40 for the two-year reporting period. They also decided to retain the new types of training options, outlined in their Notice of Intent last year. These include new activities such as peer consultation, client monitoring, and publications.
However, board members decided to drop the requirements for certain percentages in each type of activity, and instead will only require that licensees submit at least two different types of continuing development.
The need for at least two categories emerged in the discussion with Vice Chair Dr. Rita Culross who noted that some psychologists obtained all their continuing education from home study. Culross said that this seemed likely to limit the value of the training. Dr. Janet Matthews, who was in attendance, agreed. Matthews commented that she felt it was often the interaction with colleagues during conferences that could be of the most value.
Board member Dr. Darla Burnet noted her concern that in some of the new categories for development, a person could receive 100 percent of their credits from serving on a board.
In discussing exactly how to determine the number of continuing education units, to be called continuing professional development units, the board members struggled with how they would to set the limits on which types of training. This led to the suggestion that they remove all the limitations and require a minimum of two methods.
Public attendee Dr. Darlyne Nemeth voiced the concern that many others had voiced, about any restrictions to traditional training at conferences. Nemeth said to the group, “I strongly disagree with limiting the traditional training.” When Dr. Burnett asked her how much was acceptable, Nemeth said, “I want 100 percent.”
Executive Director Kelly Parker told the Times last week that the ideas expressed at the planning session were going forward. “Dr. Culross is working on the wording and there were no other changes following the decisions at the Long- Range Planning meeting,” Parker said.
Psychology board Vice Chair Dr. Rita Culross and Chair Dr. Lee Matthews at the recent long-range planning meeting. The board invited the public to give ideas and feedback on several topics of importance.
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: 9.
Dr. Bonnie Nastasi, Full Professor in the school psychology program at Tulane University, received the 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Louisiana School Psychological Association, awarded at the annual conference last fall. The award highlights distinguished service and dedication to the school psychologists in Louisiana.
Nastasi is an Associate of the International Institute of Child Rights & Development, Centre for Global Studies, University of Victoria, British Columbia. She has served as president of APA Division of School Psychology and is currently a member of the APA committee on International Relations in Psychology.
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: 5.
In the early edition of the March issue story, “U.S. Senator Coburn Takes Science’s Flag to Social Security Administration,” we wrote that Dr. Chafetz: “He holds multiple board certifications at both the state and national levels.” Dr. Chafetz immediately contacted us to say he did not consider his state licenses as board certifications and felt the statement could be misleading. The publisher agreed to clarify the sentence as, “He is licensed in two states and board certified in clinical neuropsychology.” This is how it appears in later editions that day.
The Times regrets any confusion we may have caused.
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: 10.
Because of the Easter vacation and spring breaks happening all over the state, I’m going to have to write the Gumbo column all by myself this month. (There was of course some lack of planning ahead on my part, also. “Easter is when?!”)
But this gives me an opportunity to pound on the desk about a topic near and dear to my heart: Conflict.
I’m generally comfortable with conflict under most conditions, and so I’m a supporter of collaborating (not the same as compromising) and I also find that my temperament is poorly suited to any situation where conflict is to be glossed over.
So when I see an article validating my position I jump on it.
• “Conflict Cultures in Organizations: How Leaders Shape Conflict Cultures and Their Organizational-Level Consequences” – Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol 97, No. 6 2012.
Gelfand and others provide a fine offering when they look at leaders and employees in 92 branches of a large bank. They identified the three “conflict cultures” that correspond to what we know are individual conflict styles: collaborative, dominating, and avoidant. They build on Lewin, Lippitt and White’s 1939 work and find that leaders’ conflict styles influence their groups, creating a “conflict culture.”
Probably what is more important, Gelfand’s results show that conflict cultures have implications for organizational results.
“Another contribution of this research is that we uncovered relation- ships between distinct conflict cultures, on the one hand, and indicators of organizational viability and effectiveness, on the other. Avoidant cultures negatively related to branch-level creativity, whereas dominating cultures negatively associated with customer service and cohesion. Reversely, collaborative conflict cultures positively related to organizational viability— cohesion and potency—and lower levels of burnout.”
The authors also found some interesting convergent/divergent validity with climate variables:
Collaborative Dominating Avoidant
Psychological safety .56** –.57** –.20*
Distributive justice .42** –.34** –.57**
Procedural justice .41** –.20* –.07
Interpersonal justice .31** –.33** –.06
Learning orientation .64** –.33** –.32**
Performance orientation .03 .11 –.08
* <.05, ** <.01
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: 6.
Members of the Marriage and Family Therapy Advisory Committee (MFTAC) moved to have the new supervisory handbook placed on the LPC board’s website, at their March 15 meeting in Baton Rouge. This step confirms a January decision to adopt the language of the handbook, as a main resource for supervisors of interns in marriage and family therapy.
“We just had a big rule change,” said Chair Mark Reynaud. In the marriage and family tradition, just having a course in supervision does not qualify you to be a supervisor,” he told the Times.
The supervisor's handbook outlines the interlocking roles and responsibilities of the three components of the supervisory system: the Board, the supervisor, and the intern therapist. In clarifying these interlocking roles and responsibilities, the MFTAC believes its primary function of protection of the public is better served, Reynaud explained.
“We view supervision as a specific skill, just as other specific therapeutic skills,” he said.
At the March Committee meeting, members discussed the need for additional guidelines for supervisors of therapists. “We found that supervisors were not always aware of the rules,” he told committee members, “and so, we created a handbook.”
The board requires that supervisors take an orientation course, and then retake the course again when they renew to be a supervisor.
Reynaud explained to the Times that the Marriage and Family Therapy tradition places particular emphasis on looking at the social context in which the problems brought into the therapy room are occurring. "The MFT profession has always been multidisciplinary, including psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, and counselors,” he said. “What binds us as a profession is how we view problem formation and resolution. We start by looking at the context in which problems are occurring. That context must be taken into account in any intervention used."
Because of this approach, the supervisory relationship is also viewed from the social systems perspective, he explained. “We are attempting to define the various relationships in the supervisory system,” Reynaud said. “ ‘What is the board’s responsibility to the supervisor and to the therapist?’ ‘What is the supervisor’s responsibility to the board and the intern?’ ‘What are the intern's responsibilities?’ – are some of the questions stemming from this perspective," he said.
All supervisors must currently take a course in supervision for marriage and family therapists, consisting of a 15-hour didactic component and a 15-hour interactive component. Also, supervisors must complete 36 hours of ‘supervision of supervision.’
The MFTAC conducted its first supervisor's orientation course at the Louisiana Association of Marriage and Family Therapy Annual Conference in Baton Rouge this past February.
The new handbook will be available on the LPC Board’s website in the near future.
Chair of the Marriage and Family Therapy Advisory Committee, Mark Reynaud, MA, LPC, LMFT, and Vice Chair Penny Millhollon, MA, LPC, LMFT, look over information at a recent meeting of the advisory committee. Both are also members of the LPC board and Ms. Millhollon is the LPC Board Secretary.
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: 10.
Dr. Jack Palmer began serving as the chair of the psychology program at the University of Louisiana at Monroe (ULM) during the summer of 2012. One of his goals as chair has been to increase the scope of the ULM psychology graduate program. Toward that end, he promoted the development of a fully online curriculum for the master’s degree in psychology, which recently received state approval. ULM students pursuing a master’s degree with a concentration in forensic psychology can now complete all of their coursework via internet access.
Over the past few years, Dr. Palmer has developed many of the online courses for the undergraduate psychology program. Students can earn a bachelor’s degree in psychology from ULM completely online.
In addition to his administrative duties, Dr. Palmer continues teaching Positive Psychology, Physiological Psychology, Neurophysiology, and Evolutionary Psychology. Now in his 23rd year of serving ULM, his research and teaching continue to be dedicated to helping others understand the complexities of scientific psychology and the ways in which humanity can optimize its potential through this knowledge. He has both a personal and professional interest in the effects of belief and lifestyle on physical and psychological health. Currently he is investigating several aspects of human behavior including the underlying basis of altruistic tendencies, the influence of context on logical reasoning, and the personality characteristics of those who have a heightened ability for detecting lies in others.
Most recently, Dr. Palmer has developed a survey instrument that examines different categories of human altruistic behavior – the Costly Signals Questionnaire (CSQ). He and his co-investigators gave the CSQ to over 200 participants to determine the relative strength of commitment elicited by different categories of altruism, i.e., kin-based, reciprocal, group, or ideal. Participants also completed the Moral Foundations Questionnaire (MFQ). Dr. Palmer and his co- researchers are examining the association between altruistic tendencies and moral beliefs and preparing a journal manuscript titled “The Dominant Role of Kinship in Human Altruistic Behavior.”
See “Bookshelf” this issue for a review of co-authored book, Science, Wisdom, and the Future.
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: 6.
The Medical Psychology Advisory Committee met on March 7, 2013, at the Neuromedical Center on Park Rowe Avenue in Baton Rouge.
According to the posted agenda, the group was scheduled to discuss an Advisory Opinion regarding “Single System Psychiatric Exam by Medical Psychologists.”
Although no one could be reached for explanation, online discussions about changes in coding involves 90862, pharmacologic management. This code no longer exists and practitioners are advised by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) to familiarize themselves with evaluation and management codes such as 99212 or 99213. Unlike psychotherapy codes, these are not timed. These codes are “generally chosen based on the complexity of the presenting problem, the intensity of the examination required, and the difficulty of the medical decision making …” noted the APA in an online publication.
The Advisory Committee was also scheduled to review the final report of the Behavior Analysts Licensure and Regulation Commission.
The group also listed on their agenda that they would approve the minutes of their last meeting, which was held July 27, 2012. And they attended to new business and identified those for Certificates of Advanced Practice.
Jim Quillin, PhD, MP, is Chair and Glenn Ally, PhD, MP, is secretary treasurer. Also serving is Warren Lowe, PhD, MP, John Bolter, PhD, MP, and James Blackburn, MD. Robert Marier, MD and executive director of the state medical board is a member.
No one on the committee could be reached for comment.
The Medical Psychology Advisory Committee met last month in Baton Rouge. Above, members attend a previous meeting in 2012. (L to R) Dr. James Quillin, Dr. Robert Marier, Dr. Glenn Ally, and Dr. Warren Lowe.
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: 10.
Dr. Joseph Tramontana, recently elected President of the New Orleans Society for Clinical Hypnosis, again served on the faculty for the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis (ASCH) at its annual convention held in Louisville, KY, March 15-19.
Tramontana co-presented an advanced workshop, "Peak Performance Enhancement in Sports and Life through Hypnosis and Self-hypnosis Training,” with Mitch Smith, LCSW. Smith has a clinical practice in Baltimore, MD and specializes in peak performance training. The two have presented this topic for both the Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis (SCEH) international meeting in New Orleans in 2011and the national ASCH annual meeting in 2012. Dr. Tramontana is the author of Sports Hypnosis in Practice: Scripts, Strategies, and Case Examples, 2011.
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.
HB 71 by Broom: “Proposed law authorizes mental health court treatment programs in Louisiana.”
“Provides findings relative to the impact of mental illness and substance abuse issues on the criminal justice system.
“Proposed law provides definitions for terms related to mental health court treatment programs, including mental health court program, mental health court professional, both pre- and post-adjudicatory mental health court programs, combination programs, and co- occurring mental illness and substance abuse issues.
“Proposed law provides relative to eligibility for mental health court programs.
“Proposed law provides criteria for exclusion from mental health court programs, including enumerated crimes which require such exclusion: (1) First and second degree murder (2) Aggravated or criminal sexual assault (including sexual assault of a child). (3) Armed robbery (4) Arson (5) Stalking (6) Any offense involving discharge of a firearm.
“Proposed law provides procedures to be utilized in operating a mental health court treatment program, including a regimen of graduated requirements, rewards, and sanctions.
“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.”
From the bill: " ‘Mental health court’ or ‘mental health court program’ means a structured judicial intervention process for mental health treatment of eligible criminal defendants that includes mental health court professionals, local social programs, and intensive judicial monitoring in support of such defendants.
“ ‘Mental health court professional’ means a member of the mental health court team, including but not limited to a judge, prosecutor, defense attorney, probation officer, coordinator, treatment provider, or peer recovery.
“The Legislature of Louisiana recognizes that a significant percentage of criminal defendants have a diagnosable mental illness. B. The legislature further recognizes that such mental illnesses tend to have a negative effect on the criminal justice system in the state of Louisiana. C. The legislature further recognizes that mental illness and substance abuse issues co-occur in a substantial percentage of criminal defendants. D. The legislature further recognizes the critical need for a program within the criminal justice system designed to reduce the number of defendants with either mental illness issues or co-occurring mental illness and substance issues. E. Such programs would also seek to address recidivism percentages among criminal defendants dealing with both mental illness and co-occurring mental illness and substance abuse issues thus reducing the incidence of crimes committed as a result of mental illness and co-occurring mental illness and substance abuse issues. F. It is therefore the intent of the Legislature of Louisiana to provide for the creation of specialized mental health courts with the necessary flexibility to address the issues of criminal defendants with either mental illness or co- occurring mental illness and substance abuse difficulties.”
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Science, Wisdom, and the Future Humanity’s Quest for a Flourishing Earth Edited by Cheryl Genet, Jack Palmer, Linda Gibler, Linda Palmer, Russell Genet, & Vera Wallen Collins Foundation Press, 2012
Science, Wisdom, and the Future: Humanity’s Quest for a Flourishing Earth is a collection of essays emerging from participants at a 2009 conference in California, organized by the Collins Educational Foundation. Collins’ mission is to provide leadership in “humanity’s efforts to live sustainably on Earth.”
The essays take the reader on a journey through the practical, scientific, and philosophical perspectives, as the authors lay out their ideas in an interdisciplinary frame. The important and sometimes a little frightening message is: human beings keep outpacing their own level of wisdom in the burgeoning technologies they create and because of this the survival of all living things on our planet is in doubt.
The text provides a clarion call to wake up about the quickly approaching environmental cliff, while pushing for awareness and action. The contributors give some fascinating reasons why we can’t seem to function logically when it comes to the environment and lay out ideas for solutions.
Roughly matching the sections in the text, author Russell Genet, sets out general solutions in the introduction: 1) to increase our understanding of ecology, ourselves, and cultural evolution; 2) to develop and implement plans to change our trajectory; 3) to make corporations sustainable; and 4) to raise our evolutionary consciousness through our evolutionary story.
Topics match these ideas and are organized into Part I, Understanding Ourselves and Our Cultural Evolution; Part II, Changing Our Evolutionary Trajectory; Part III, Making Corporations Sustainable; Part IV, Raising our Evolutionary Consciousness.
Dr. Jack Palmer, psychology chair at University of Louisiana–Monroe, and wife Linda Palmer, writer and author, are contributors. The pair also did the heavy lifting in getting the text edited and organized, no small effort with 41 authors. (The Palmers have authored Evolutionary Psychology together, and Linda Palmer was author and editor for the second in this series, “The Evolutionary Epic Science's Story and Humanity's Response.”)
Science, Wisdom, and the Future includes the salient theme that humans and their way of life have impacted all living systems on the planet. This focus runs throughout the book and in different authors and voices. It is both a warning and call to action.
Throughout the chapters the authors ask the question, “What is happening that we don’t wake to the larger reality?” And they try to answer, “What can be done to halt or slow the speed of environmental change and our race to the tipping point?”
Their answers include ideas from evolution, cultural evolution, and the nature of wisdom.
Students of human nature will enjoy the variety and breath of topics. From Riane Eisler (The Chalice and the Blade) in a chapter on human nature and social organization, to Linda and Jack Palmer on “The Wisdom of Virtue,” to Pauline Le Bel in “Sing Two Songs and Call Me in the Morning: Science and the Healing Power of Music,” the text provides the reader with ideas that intrigue and push the imagination. John Gowan’s “A Space-Time Map of the Universe” pushes it with bells on.
While focusing on humankind’s accelerated consumption of the earth’s resources and the issue of conscious awareness and decision-making, the book also is a collection of very individual voices, perspectives, and creative offerings.
In the introduction Russell Genet writes that human’s runaway success in evolution could likely end the same way as in all biological cases of extraordinary evolutionary success: Our species will eventually exceed the resources, “bringing on a sudden crash to oblivion.” The message comes across with some chilling discussions in “Time is Up!” by Duane Elgin and “Climate Change,” by Peter Hess.
Hess writes, “Humanity is conducting an unprecedented and possibly irreversible experiment on the gas composition of our atmosphere. Our descendants will live with the consequences of this experiment for centuries to come.” Elgin says, “Never before have so many people been called upon to make such sweeping changes in so little time.”
The need to reassess the meaning of the “good life,” is another theme woven into the essays, connecting the definition of consciousness, wisdom, and human choice. In helping find our way, say the authors, the value of science and the interconnectedness of all things are essential.
Part I, “Understanding Ourselves and Our Cultural Evolution,” includes the Palmers’ contributions as authors, “The Wisdom of Virtue.” Bringing together aspects of the field of positive psychology, evolutionary theory, and the study of virtue, they present an overview of three traits that can impact humanity and the planet: honesty/integrity, humility, and altruism/universal love.
Part I also includes Shani Robins’ “Wisdom Therapy: Developing Wisdom Sooner Rather Than Later and the Impact of the Emotions.” She points out that wisdom is positively correlated with age (although not a guarantee). Robins walks the reader through a model of wisdom: fewer cognitive distortions, increased humility, mindfulness, empathy, gratitude, compassion, and emotional intelligence.
Other offerings in this section include science mixed with philosophy by Paul Fast, “Evolution is More than Genetic Determinism,” and “A comparison of the Development of Life on Earth and the Human Embryo.”
A chapter by Jack Palmer, “Power and Restraint: The Question of Human Genetic Engineering,” takes us in a time-machine forward to when the choices will include genetic enhancements. He warns that the gap between human and artificially modified humans may become greater and greater.
The spiritual and metaphysical theme appears in chapters such as Eve Baumohl Neuhaus, “Ganesh Bab’s Cycle of Synthesis: A Blend of Ancient Wisdom and Modern Science,” and in Heather Mendel’s “Eve, God, and the Quantum Age.”
Ideas about action and hope characterize much of the next essays, beginning with Part II, “Changing Our Evolutionary Trajectory.” “This section opens a window into the magnitude of human ingenuity and creativity,” writes Cheryl Genet. “The authors search in every corner of our understanding of the world for solutions to the challenges that humanity faces…”
Duane Elgin writes about “New Ways of Living,” outlining the need for and value of simplicity. “Vision without action is a recipe for frustration and failure,” he writes. “To transform adversity into opportunity, we must act in ways that genuinely respond to the unprecedented challenges facing humanity.” He describes that we must make a “collective shift toward simpler, more sustainable and satisfying ways of living.”
Essays include “Voluntary Simplicity: Cool Lifestyle for a Hot Planet” and “Simplicity Is Not Sacrifice.” Elgin gives specifics and points out in convincing words that sacrifice is “investing long hours doing work that is neither meaningful nor satisfying,” and “sacrifice is the stress of commuting long distances and coping with traffic” and “sacrifice is the massive extinction of plants and animals and a dramatically impoverished biosphere.”
In “A Garden of Simplicity,” he describes uncluttered simplicity, ecological simplicity, family simplicity, compassionate simplicity, soulful simplicity, business simplicity, civic simplicity, frugal simplicity.
Jack Palmer writes the short essay introduction on “Positive Psychology” and then lays out twelve specific practices, beginning with developing gratitude, focusing on good things, savoring life’s simple joys, counting one’s blessings, identifying and using personal strengths, developing strong and positive relationships with friends and family.
The science between music and song, is described in Le Bel’s chapter, “Sing Two Songs and Call Me in the Moring: Science and Healing Power of Music.”
Louis Herman points out the challenge of conscious living in “Future Primal: A Politics for Evolving Humanity.” He writes that Earth’s ecosystems are collapsing and that we are living in the greatest mass extinction since the dinosaurs of 65 millions years ago. Truth and wisdom have disappeared from universities and government, he says, and he calls for this to change.
More about changing patterns of behavior come in a chapter on plant-based diets, by Linda Palmer, Jack Palmer, and Nani Palmer, “Vision for the Future: The Wisdom of a Plant-Based Diet for Humans.” The authors point to the health benefits of a plant-based diet, including fewer heart attacks, strokes, lower blood pressure, reductions in cancer, diabetes, and obesity from less consumption of meat and greater consumption of whole foods. They also list the benefits to the environment, showing how concentrated animal feeding operations add intense demands environmentally. “The difference between the vegetarian and beef versions of the meal is about the same as driving an average car for 35 miles,” the authors point out.
Part III, “Making Corporations Sustainable,” brings the focus on the industrial aspects of modern life, with editor Genet noting in the introduction that helping corporations become more sustainable and more responsible is one of the most difficult challenges, calling on social and political awareness to develop new ethics and motivations in the corporate world.
“I am concerned that we are running out of time,” he writes. “Leading climate scientists say we have 10 to 20 years before we reach an irreversible tipping point, maybe less,” Bob Willard begins in “How to Lead a Transformation to a Sustainable Enterprise … From the Middle.”
“What is the ‘Good Life’ in a Finite World? Engaging Chinese Scholars with a Pragmatic Approach to Economics,” is Ron Nahser’s look at how better decisions may come from the moral philosophy of pragmatism.
The final section, “Raising our Evolutionary Consciousness,” lays out the idea that if humankind can fully understands its evolutionary past and the “cultural evolutionary trajectory,” then we will have the best chances for positive changes.
Duane Elgin lays out archetypes as evolutionary tools, in “The New Story for the Human Journey.” For a maturing and heroic species we need to create a new story that helps guide the global community, he writes.
Richard Trowbridge in “Wisdom: The Highest Part of the Mind” and Josefina Burgos in “The Necessary Flow of Wisdom” outline the need for awareness and collective insight.
A fascinating and different chapter, “A Space-Time Map of the Universe,” by John Gowan, casts the problems into the largest perspective conceivable. This chapter deserves (and requires) a re- reading, and to absorb what I think was the message, other than what might be as metaphor, I had to visit his website.
Gowan explains the universe and our place in it, being embedded in the flow of time and space, as defined by our particular intersection of space, time, light, and matter. We mold our future with a mixture of “ ‘karmic’ influence from the past, physical contact with present matter, and free-will action embedded in the ever-moving entropic flow of time and space.”
Another must read chapter is Tom Lombardo’s “Wisdom, Enlightenment, Science, and the Future.” He blends the topics again between consciousness and the future of human life, and links it with character virtues, wisdom being central.
While at times a bit disjointed, and sometimes a bit heady, the work is a fascinating collection of big minds thinking. They are passionate visionaries who are looking into the crystal ball and pointing. They provide a compelling invitation for us to wake up and follow them. To save the planet. And to save ourselves in the process.
Science, Wisdom, and the Future can be purchased Collins Foundation Press at www.CollinsFoundationPress.org.
Authors Linda and Dr. Jack Palmer traveling in Hawaii. They have also authored Evolutionary Psychology: The Ultimate Origins of Human Behavior. (Courtesy photo)
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 281 by Simon creates a single license for behavioral health services providers. The digest notes, “Proposed law establishes the behavioral health services provider license for providers of mental health services, substance abuse/addiction treatment services, or a combination of such services.
“Proposed law requires all behavioral health services providers to be licensed.
“Proposed law requires Dept. of Health and Hospitals (DHH) to promulgate and publish rules, regulations, and licensing standards to provide for the licensure of behavioral health services providers, to provide for the health, safety, and welfare of persons receiving care and services from providers, and to provide for the safe operation and maintenance of providers. Proposed law prohibits a behavioral health services provider from operating without a license issued by DHH, authorizes DHH to seek an injunction, and establishes criminal penalties.”
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: 14.
The Times caught up with Dr. Kim VanGeffen at one of the board meetings and she happened to have handy some of her current work.
She is working on a cross-stitch piece (see photo) of New Orleans architecture. The images will characterize the houses of the city. From top row left to right are Creole Townhouse, Creole Townhouse Business-Residential, and Italiante House. From the middle row left to right are Greek Revival Shotgun, Victorial House, and Creole Cottage. And from bottom row left to right are Victorian Shotgun, Creole Cottage, Victorian Shotgun Double.
She has also been making some Easter art, including the YoYo Bunny and Chick (see photo) she and friends made for the recent International Quilting Day. She and her friends also created some Easter eggs from scraps of felt, ribbon, sequins and beads, Kim said.
Kim has greatly enjoyed making quilts and has followed the time honored tradition of quilters world wide; creating works of folk art that embrace meaning, memories and the traditions of one’s family or group, and that last through generations.
The first quilt Kim ever made was a lap quilt in various shades of blue that she gave to her mother at Christmas 1981. After her mother died, the quilt came back to Kim. She told the Times, “I am thrilled to have it.”
She has enjoyed craft activities since a young girl, starting in Brownies and Girl Scouts. “When I was in high school,” she said, “my mother and several of her friends opened a needlework shop in New Orleans. They featured crafts such as needlepoint, counted cross-stitch, knitting and quilting. I began to take classes and fell in love with all of these creative activities.” In recent years, Kim has done mostly counted cross-stitch and quilting. “I find these activities to be very relaxing because they absorb your full attention.”
Decompressing is an important task in modern life. Kim’s hobby not only provides her an outlet for creativity and a little precious solitude, but works well for putting the concerns of a busy, dedicated psychologist away for some well-deserved leisure time.
Folk artist Dr. Kim VanGeffen displays some of her current work, a piece that contains images of New Orleans architect. From top row left to right are Creole Townhouse, Creole Townhouse Business-Residential, and Italiante House. From the middle row left to right are Greek Revival Shotgun, Victorial House, and Creole Cottage. And from bottom row left to right are Victorian Shotgun, Creole Cottage, Victorian Shotgun Double.
Kim created this YoYo Bunny and Chick to celebrate International Quilting Day and Easter with some quilting friends. (Courtesy photo)
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.”
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