Originally published: . Volume 4, No. 7. Source pages: 8.
Dr. Alician Pellegrin noted to the Times last week that a representative from the state Department of Health and Hospitals indicated to her that an error had been corrected in the Magellan reimbursement schedule. According to their plan, medical psychologists were to receive slightly higher reimbursement for psychological testing compared to other psychologists. Pellegrin said this had now been corrected by the department, although no explanation was given for how the mistake happened. Both psychologists and medical psychologists are reimbursed at 80 percent of that of a physician, based on information from Magellan, Pellegrin said. (See February issue of the Times for background.)
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. 7. Source pages: 15.
The psychology board will hold an open meeting March 14, 2012, at Louisiana Municipality Administration Building, 700 North 10th Street, in Baton Rouge.
Executive Director, Ms. Kelly Parker said that she is expecting a large group to attend, with past board members Drs. Tony Young, Janet Matthews, Joe Comaty, and others, and that the board is hoping to engage with psychologists on important issues. She said that two main issues will be discussion about changes to the continuing education rules and also the multi-level licensing. She said that she expects these two items to come early in the day.
In a previous interview, she told the Times, “We really want to hear what the psychology community has to say about these issues. We want to reach out and get their opinions to guide the decision-making.” She explained that in 2012 the board put together a multilevel licensure survey to gather information about key topics in the overall psychology community.
LSBEP board members Dr. Darla Burnett and Chair Dr. Lee Matthews work on office procedure details, such as Kinko’s copying costs, at a whole day work session last year.
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. 7. Source pages: 8.
Fo Through testimony from school counselors, counselors, Louisiana Association of Principals, Louisiana State Superintendents, and others, the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) decided against removing language from a regulation that maintains a ratio of one school counselor for every 450 students at a January meeting of BESE.
Members of the Louisiana School Counseling Association along with members of the Louisiana Counseling Association urged the board to maintain levels of counselors in the schools. BESE member Lottie Beebe, objected to the reduction saying it was ill advised at a time with serious concerns about bullying, student mental health, and safety.
A memo email from leaders of the counselors’ groups said, “Positive messages that focused on students to BESE members, newspaper editorials, and to Superintendent John White, are largely responsible for preventing the proposed changes.”
However, an amendment was offered with would allow some schools to bypass the required ratio if they are “capable of providing academic guidance, postsecondary counseling, and personal developmental support through alternate means.” The amended statement is required to go out for public comment.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Dr. Courtland Chaney and Dr. Kerry Sauley, industrial-organizational psychology instructors, will present “Developing Your Managerial Effectiveness,” a program offered by LSU Continuing Education Management & Leadership Institute, on March 20 – 21, from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm. The program is a two-day event, and will be presented again in June. This is a follow-up course to the popular course taught by the I/O psychologists, “Fundamentals of Supervision.” “Developing Your Managerial Effectiveness” provides a chance for participants to build their leadership and interpersonal skills, and add to practical management skills. Topics covered include understanding workforce motivation, managing conflict, understanding your personality type, and managing up and down the organizational hierarchy. Participants will learn how to identify organizational problems and motivation-related issues, problems with interpersonal conflict, leadership styles, and to learn more about one’s own personality.
On March 19, Dr. Chaney will also conduct a new program, “Managing Organizational Change & Culture.” This is a one-day seminar at the Institute, designed to address key elements for organizational change, dynamics, and procedures related to successful organizational change. Chaney will address psych-ological issues underlying change implementation, obstacles, and key elements. He will include information on the creation of an ideal organizational culture. The Change & Culture seminar will benefit supervisors, managers, and human resource professionals.
Courtland Chaney, PhD, SPHR is President of Human Resource Management Associates in Baton Rouge, and served as an instructor in the Department of Management at LSU for 28 years. He is a licensed IO psychologist.
Dr. Kerry Sauley, PhD, is an instructor in the department of Management at LSU. His doctorate is in IO psychology and he is an active management consultant.
For more information about these and other courses at LSU CE, contact Lisa Verma lverma@outreach.lsu.edu
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. 7. Source pages: 8.
Three candidates are offering to serve on the psychology board, to fill an unexpired term caused by Dr. John Courtney’s resignation in December 2012.
Dr. Jessica Brown, Dr. Thomas Fain, and Dr. Beverly Stubblefield are included on a ballot that was due in yesterday.
According to nomination information Brown has worked for the Department of Health and Hospitals in Behavioral Health, as Director of Planning and Policy. She is in transition to the Neuromedical Center, in Baton Rouge, as a staff psychologist. She received her degree in 2001 in clinical psychology.
Dr. Fain, is a clinical and medical psychologist, is in private practice in Baton Rouge. He is licensed to practice in Louisiana and Texas. He has served twice as president of the Louisiana Psychological Association and Treasurer twice.
Dr. Stubblefield is a clinical psychologist from Slidell, Louisiana, who been licensed in Louisiana since 1987 and Mississippi since 1989. She has served previously on the LSBEP, as investigator and supervisor of impaired psychologists for the board.
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. 7. Source pages: 15.
The New Orleans-Birmingham Psychoanalytic Center will offer a training event for its 2012-2013 Film Series, Mourning and Melancholia.
Dale Firestone, LCSW, will present the training event for the film, The Fisher King, on Saturday, March 9, 2013, from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm. General admission is $5.00 and $15.00 for Continuing Medical Education for members and $25.00 for non- members. The presentation will be held at the institute, 3624 Coliseum Street, New Orleans. The Film Series is organized by Travis Tanner, PhD. According to information for the Center’s website notes the story of the Fisher King is:
“A talk-radio host becomes depressed after his insensitive comments drive a listener to murder innocent people. On the verge of suicide, the radio host meets the husband of one of the victims who helps him work-through his feelings and start living again. Jeff Bridges and Robin Williams star in this Academy Award nominated film directed by Terry Gilliam.”
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. 7. Source pages: 8.
In a February 21, 2013, letter to Governor Bobby Jinal, President of the Louisiana Psychological Association, Dr. Bryan Gros, submitted the top two names of the recent election for the board. The names were Dr. Phil Griffin and Dr. Joe Comaty. Gros also asked that the Governor to appoint the person with the top number of votes, in this case Dr. Griffin, according to a copy of the letter obtained by the Times. Gros wrote that the psychology community supports the Governor’s goals of transparency and accountability and, “We need your help in creating a more democratic and transparent theme for us as well.”
Some in the psychology community are concerned that appointments to the psychology board are too political.
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. 7. Source pages: 16.
The 4th Annual Mindfulness Day will be held this coming April in Baton Rouge. Presenters Thay Dao Quang, M.Ed., John W. Pickering, Ph.D., David T. Weibel, Ph.D., and W. Sumner Davis, M.S., will offer a workshop for mental health professionals Saturday, April 6, 2013, from 8 am to 5 pm. The workshop, “Integrating Mindfulness Practices into your Psychotherapy: A Day of Mindfulness for Mental Health Professionals,” will be held at the Tam Bao Meditation Hall, 975 Monterrey Blvd, in Baton Rouge.
The cost is $75 for the day-long workshop, which includes lunch. Sessions include Introduction to Meditation and Mindfulness, Mindfulness, Buddha and Psychotherapy, and Integrating Mindfulness Practices into Your Therapy: Some specifics. The training is available for continuing education for Licensed Professional Counselors, Psychologists, and Social Workers.
Throughout the day attendees will be able to participate in guided sitting meditation. Toward the end of the day, the workshop concludes with group discussions. Lunch experience will include Nobel Silence and Mindfulness Eating.
Organizers note: “Mindfulness,” a concept arising out of more than two millennia of Buddhist psychology, has become an increasingly popular concept in psychotherapy and counseling literature over the past two decades, as more and more mental health professionals have become aware of it and incorporated meditation and mindfulness approaches into their therapeutic repertoires. Research during this period has revealed mindfulness and meditation to be effective in addressing a variety of physical problems, from high blood pressure, to stroke and heart attack risk, to chronic pain management. Research has also shown such interventions to be effective in the treatment of a wide variety of mental health disorders, including anxiety, depression, substance abuse disorders, and borderline personality disorders. A number of evidence-based therapies now utilize these approaches as either primary or ancillary aspects of treatment.
This workshop will introduce attendees to the principles and concepts underlying the use of mindfulness and meditation in psychotherapy, and present concrete and specific ideas on how to use and integrate empirically supported mindfulness interventions into an established therapeutic practice.”
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. 7. Source pages: 8.
At the recent meeting of the Executive Council of the Louisiana School Psychological Association (LSPA), the gavel was ceremonially passed from outgoing President, Yael Banai, PhD, NCSP (Nationally Certified School Psychologist), to the current and new President, Francoise Parr, Specialist, School Psychology (SSP). Ms. Parr is also a nationally certified school psychologist (NCSP).
Candace Dozier, SSP, NCSP will serve this year as President-Elect.
Banai has been a school psychologist in Ascension Parish for the last 28 years and has served in various leadership capacities in LSPA since 2005. “It has been a pleasure to serve the state association this past year”, Banai said. “School psychologists perform valuable and critically needed services to school children and staff throughout this state and nationwide. School psychologists have been leaders at the school and state level in promoting technologies to boost student performance, particularly those of our lowest performing students.”
Parr has worked in St. Tammany Parish for the last 8 years and previously worked at the Yale Child Study Center in New Haven. When asked what her primary goals for LSPA were for the coming year, Parr said that she would direct the formulation of a strategic plan for LSPA and work with the Executive Council to modernize some of the organization’s policies and procedures to reflect the high-tech world in which we live.
Dozier is also employed by St. Tammany. She stated that her interest is in improving discipline procedures at the school level to foster healthier behavioral performance among students who are difficult to manage.
Dr. Yael Banai, outgoing president of the Louisiana School Psychological Association greets new president Francoise Parr, SSP, NCSP, at a recent meeting of the association’s council. (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. 7. Source pages: 9.
Making national headlines in NY Times, Huffington Post and Fox News is a company that provides an objective, physiologically based measure using EEG results and norms to help doctors and nurses choose the right medications for their patients.
The method is called the Psychiatric EEG Evaluation Registry, or PEER Report, and it compares features of the patient’s EEG patterns to a database of others with known characteristics, and then provides a complex quantitative analysis to guide the clinician. The online database, developed by physicians, allows medical professionals to exchange objective, statistical neurophysiology-based data on individual patient medication response and outcomes. Physicians use the information to aid treatment of anxiety, ADD, depression, bipolar, addiction and other behavioral disorders. It gives clinicians a heads-up about specific medications for certain patients.
In a number of recent retrospective studies the PEER Report was shown to be of value in identifying medications that caused adverse events for a patient.
The Times spoke with Dr. David Thomason, a medical prescriber practicing in Monroe, Louisiana, who is part of the network of providers trying out this new technology, and the only person listed in Louisiana by the company, CNS Response, Inc.
“This is a data-referenced tool,” Dr. Thomason explained. “I haven’t used it that much, but it looks at data from an individual’s EEG to help predict responses to medications. The developers analyze the EEG and they send back a report with recommend- ations that can help guide the use of medications.” Thomason also said he uses other tests also to help guide his decisions regarding medications with his patients. Finding the exact right medication and dose can be one of the most difficult issues for the healthcare professional and the patient, explained George Carpenter, CEO of CNS Response, the company who provides the analytical tool for clinicians and researchers.
“There is no denying that today's mental health care treatments are producing poor results. In fact, only 12.7% of Americans receive ‘minimally effective’ treatment according to government studies,” Carpenter wrote in Huffington Post this last December. “We must do better. We can't afford to accept treatment failure in mental health any longer. While civic leaders look for solutions, they should also accelerate new technologies that are offering promising answers to help those with mental disorders get the right medications.”
There are more than 130 drugs for those with behavioral and psychological problems, and because medications affect different people differently, there is a real and ongoing problem of which approach is best. The most common result has been that doctors try drugs in a trial-and-error process, which is not only ineffective and frustrating for the client, but often dangerous. Patients are often misdiagnosed and/or prescribed a drug to which they are treatment-resistant or that worsens the condition.
Researchers reporting results of a retrospective analysis of patients using the PEER results, published a June 2012, article in Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment article. “A large body of the recent psychiatric literature is questioning the empirical value of current prescribing habits,” write the researchers, “as well as the psychiatrists’ choice of medication selection as increasing amounts of polypharmacy and risk of medications creep into patients’ regimes. Without better evidence- based research, often medication choices are made by trial and error, leading to significant delays to effective treatment.” And the authors noted, “There is little empirical evidence supporting the benefits of polypharmacy, and continuing a trial-and-error approach to the implementation of psychotropic medications.”
Considering that the majority of patients with mental health issues show no response, partial response, or temporary response to pharmacotherapy, a better approach has been long overdue, say the PEER developers. Trial and error prescribing is costly and most of all it can be harmful. Better matching of patient with medication can save time and money and avoid patient suffering.
The company notes that the technology has demonstrated good success with clinical outcomes 2 to 3 times better than the current trial and error treatment. Walter Reed National Military Medical Center begins using the technology in a 2,000 soldier pilot program in early 2013, according the company spokes person, George Carpenter.
Some reviewers feel the approach to be especially helpful with treatment resistant individuals.
Studies have also indicated that third party payer outcomes improved also, with a shorter time for the patient to stabilize and significantly fewer required office visits. CNS Response’s Psychiatric EEG Evaluation Registry, or PEER Online is a cloud-based platform, which allows doctors to exchange outcome data referenced to their patients’ neurophysiology. The advantages included cautions against using certain medications with potentially adverse events for a given patient, and a quicker path to recommending those medications that have shown positive results with those patients with similar brainwave patterns. For more information, go to www.cnsresponse.com <http://www.cnsresponse.com>
Dr. David Thomason Example of QEEG images of brain maps. The different colors indicate abnormality in different areas of the brain. The new, data-referenced method helps to predict patients’ response to medications, cutting down on trial-and-error approaches.
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. 7. Source pages: 9.
APA news release WASHINGTON—When it comes to stress management and wellness, there is a gap between what Americans want from their health care system and what they actually get, according to a new survey released today by the American Psychological Association. Findings from Stress in America™: Missing the Health Care Connection, which was conducted online by Harris Interactive among 2,020 U.S. adults in August of 2012, suggest that people are not receiving what they need from their health care providers to manage stress and address lifestyle and behavior changes to improve their health.
While Americans think it is important that health care focuses on issues related to stress and living healthier lifestyles, their experiences do not seem to match up with what they value. For example, though 32 percent of Americans say it is very/extremely important to talk with their health care providers about stress management, only 17 percent report that these conversations are happening often or always.
See full report at: http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/index.aspx
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. 7. Source pages: 10.
This month I’m delighted to have experts from the community comment, spanning from a study on neuroscience, to stress, to religious beliefs, to an unusual study on placebo. I wanted to add my 2¢ to this with a brief note about vocational interests, and benefits of related to job-person-environment match.
• “Vocational Interests and Performance: A Quantitative Summary of Over 60 Years of Research” – Perspectives on Psychological Science, July, 2012.
This is a comforting review of the literature about vocational interest and its value to predicting certain outcomes for occupation and academic work. The bottom line is, yes, vocational match is an important characteristic and the authors give us correlations of .30 and above for showing that interest, and also match (congruence), is as useful a predictor as many other traits. Authors conclude that interests are related to performance and persistence for work or academic context. Taking the Holland’s model, with interests of Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional, and developing the congruence score, they show us corrections mostly without problems in race or gender. Whoopee. We found this also in our research. One application is in teams and task matching. While the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is good, it makes sense to drill down a little more, so that teams don’t have to waste time trying to fit round pegs into square holes.
• “Short Report: Changes in Anterior Cingulate and Amygdala After Cognitive Behavior Therapy of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder” – Psychological Science, February 2007.
“Although PTSD patients show increased orbitofrontal and medial prefrontal activity following treatment with serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs;[…]), no studies have investigated neural networks before and after exposure-based treatment of PTSD. We report on the first study.” Felmingham, and other found that “successful exposure therapy for PTSD is associated with increased rACC and reduced amygdala activation during fear processing.”
COMMENT: Kelley S. Pears, PhD, Psychologist, PTSD/SUD Specialist, Alexandria VA Hospital, VA Health Care System.
“The results of the study make perfect sense. It’s nice to have some confirmation of those hypotheses. However, when it comes to treatment, it does not change what we are doing at this point. PE works! CPT works! These therapies work because they help the individual suffering with PTSD to process the emotions associated with the traumatic event. PE and CPT just take different routes to achieve the same effect. “
• “Control of Gene Activity Altered by Acute Stress,” reviewed in Medical New Today, Translational Psychiatry. August 2012.
“Acute stress alters the methylation of the DNA and thus the activity of certain genes. This is reported by researchers at the Ruhr- Universitat Bochum together with colleagues from Basel, Trier and London for the first time in the journal Translational Psychiatry.”
COMMENT: Susan Andrews, Ph.D. Licensed clinical neuropsychologist and consulting neuropsychologist, assistant professor, and author of Stress Solutions for Pregnant Moms.
“The ‘psychosomatic’ argument that raged in medicine and psychology only a few short generations ago is finally being answered by brilliant biochemical research, such as this study published in Translational Psychiatry. Are the diseases that we know to be associated with stress really “all in our minds,” as we were once taught? Or, has the missing link been found?
According to an interdisciplinary team of German, British and Swiss scientists, the missing link may well be epigenetic processes. Stress alters parts of our DNA molecules within the first 10 minutes of normal, acute stress (such as having to solve math problems while others watch.)
Stress does not affect all genes but already we know it reduces some gene expression that is critical to the human ability to cope with stress. Research has already demonstrated that chronic stress increases the risk of physical and mental illness. Now, a link has been established between acute stress and changes in the body’s ability to regulate.
It is my hope that this information will motivate us to become more mindful of managing our daily stress. Young people who thought themselves immune to the effects of stress may need to rethink this opinion.”
• “Mind-Set Matters,” in Psychological Science, July, 2007.
Authors Alia Crum and Ellen Langer from Harvard describe their study testing whether the relationship between exercise and health is moderated by one’s mind-set, 84 female hotel room attendants were either given health feedback or not, suggesting they were benefitting from exercise. Compared to the control, those given the information lost more weight.
COMMENT: Phillip J. Brantley, PhD, John S. McIlhenny Professor, Associate Executive Director for Education, Pennington Biomedical Research Center
“An entertaining and clever study implicating the power of suggestion in altering important health risk factors. Study investigators apparently did a good job of convincing a group of 44 hotel maids that their jobs provide them with a healthy level of physical activity. Baseline and 4 week follow-up measures of perceived exercise, weight, body composition and blood pressure were taken and the group was compared to another group of 40 hotel maids who are not told their jobs provide them a health level of physical activity. This minimal intervention was reported to be associated with changes in weight (almost 2 lbs average weight loss) , percentage of body fat , hip-to-waist ratio, and blood pressure (10 mm reduction in systolic blood pressure) after 4 weeks. Given my experience conducting large multi-site clinical trials using intensive diet and exercise programs to reduce weight and blood pressure I find these results highly inconsistent. Even the authors are at a loss to explain how the suggestion of one having healthy levels of physical activity can achieve the reported changes in health risk factors. I certainly value the power of suggestion for enhancing motivation to make changes in diet and physical activity but “no behavior change, no health gain.” I vote for measurement error e.g., did they rest the participants for at least 15 minutes and take the average of three separate measurements to determine blood pressure, but the paper lacks sufficient procedural detail to test this hypothesis.
• “Religion Replenishes Self-Control,” in Psychological Science, May, 2012
Authors Rounding, Lee, Jacobson, and Li-Jun Ji look at the idea that regions is a cultural adaptation for self-control, and in four experiments they found that when religion themes are made implicitly salient, people exhibited great self-control.
COMMENT: Susan Dardard, PhD, Media Consultant, President, Sound Psychology, Inc., a non-profit educational media production corporation
“Here we have a timely topic for this Lenten season of the Christian calendar. Secular psychology scholars, including those writing this article, consider hypotheses on the creation and impact of religion on civilization. These authors review the literature on the emergence of religion as an adaptation that enhanced the advancement of civilization through promotion of prosocial behavior, and propose instead that "religion enhances self-control, which, in turn, promotes prosocial behavior." The researchers found that religious-primed subjects endured discomfort, delayed gratification, and ego-depletion significantly better than those who received a neutral prime. As a believer, I assume the eternal existence of God, and experience, on a personal level, that the power of faith does indeed provide the self-control that empowers me to ignore all ice cream everywhere until I finally feast on an ice cream Easter Sunday sundae. Happily, my personal practice and this scientific investigation unite to bolster my determination to abstain, making this an article well worth reading in this season of self-denial.”
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. 7. Source pages: 11.
If you ask the average person on the street about Industrial Organizational (I/O) psychology, you will likely be met with a blank stare or confused expression. Yet across the state, seemingly right under our noses, lies a hotbed of I/O research waiting to be discovered.
The Times recently sat down with two of Louisiana’s leading academic I/Os, Dr. Tilman Sheets of Louisiana Tech and Dr. Tracey Rizzuto of LSU, to learn more about the work going on across the state. As it turns out, I/O psychologists are becoming one of Louisiana’s most valuable resources that few know about.
For those familiar, Industrial and Organizational Psychologists are some of the leading researchers in applied psychology across the country. Whether they are housed in academic programs or in private consulting firms, these applied scientists continue to make strides in organizational research.
The I/O psychology program at Louisiana Tech, although in its infancy, has already become a fast growing, internationally recognized, applied research program. In only its 4th year, La Tech currently has 4 full-time faculty and 15 graduate students, with 4 to 5 new students expected in the fall.
“I’m getting that question a lot,” said Dr. Sheets when asked if he has seen an increase in the overall number of applicants. “… I would say we are certainly getting an increase in applicants. I think more importantly, we seem to be getting an increase in quality people.”
Dr. Sheets is not only seeing a spike in the quality of applicants, research within the program is thriving as well. When asked about some of the current projects, Dr. Sheets told the Times, “We always stay pretty deep into some interesting things…we have projects that come through our AROS consultancy, which is Applied Research for Organizational Solutions,” he said. “We’ve gone international, with an engineering firm doing a cultural analysis for companies in South Africa.”
But not all of the research at Louisiana Tech is applied. “We’re very much an applied program, but we have a lot of cool academic research going on as well,” Dr. Sheets told the Times. He noted that two of the faculty members, Drs. Frank Igou and Mitzi Desselles, even won a top poster award at last year’s SIOP conference in San Diego.
Yet, in Louisiana, Dr. Sheets faces the same barriers as most when trying to work in and around the state.
“It has always been a really tough market in Louisiana. I think that the vast majority of Louisiana doesn’t understand what I/O is,” he said. “Most of the large companies in metropolitan areas understand it [I/O], they know and appreciate what I/O psychology does, but right now, it’s a tough sell in Louisiana.”
Across the state, Dr. Tracey Rizzuto is also familiar with the problems facing I/O psychologists in Louisiana. With the future of the I/O program uncertain within the Department of Psychology, Dr. Rizzuto has quickly established herself, and her research, within the Department of Human Resource Education and Workforce Development (HRE).
When asked about the status of I/O psychology at LSU, Dr. Rizzuto told the Times, “Training and opportunities in I/O psychology at LSU are very strong and very vibrant.” Indeed, some exciting new developments not only in terms of research, but from an academic standpoint are currently being implemented, she explained.
“At the undergraduate level, HRE now features an I/O concentration,” Dr. Rizzuto explained. “We see these students ultimately going into I/O doctoral programs after graduation.” On the graduate level, HRE is now offering I/O coursework and training such as new courses in Advanced Level I/O Psychology and Training and Development.
In terms of research, Dr. Rizzuto has numerous projects that are active. She recently received funding to work with the Baton Rouge Area Violence Elimination (BRAVE) initiative that focuses on I/O related research in mentorship and networking. “I’m doing work that is interdisciplinary that’s looking at organizational structure and organization science in conjunction with criminologists and social workers.”
In addition, Dr. Rizzuto has now partnered with Dr. Reid Bates, also in the HRE Department, to establish an in-house consultancy firm. The goal is to provide industry awareness and services, and bridge the gap between I/O and industry that academics may not properly communicate.
Dr. Rizzuto has also been busy trying to get the word out across campus. In order to strengthen the presence of I/O at LSU, Dr. Rizzuto is establishing a student organization for individuals interested in the study of human behavior at work. “This group, Tiger P@ws (People @ Work) is multidisciplinary and very inclusive,” she said. “Our hope is that any who have an interest in employment, human behavior, or workplace matters, regardless of their training background, have a home to go to at LSU that will allow them to learn about opportunities for furthering their career, their interests, and get access to both peer and faculty mentorship.”
The group will have its first campus-wide open house in April. In addition, in order to highlight both graduate and undergraduate papers that involve human behavior in the workplace, Tiger P@ws will be publishing its first ever student journal that month as well.
In terms of I/O awareness within the state, Dr. Rizzuto seemed to mirror the concerns expressed by Dr. Sheets. “It’s definitely a challenge in Louisiana. You have to do more to educate your audience on what the I/O profession really is,” she told the Times. “However, there is a tremendous place for I/O psychologists in Louisiana. My hope is that in the future, universities such as LSU and industries can come together and build partnerships so that they can address the problems facing the state.”
While it’s certain that the I/O research will continue to thrive under leaders such as Drs. Sheets and Rizzuto, the questions still remain. How can Louisiana take advantage of the resources and opportunities that I/O’s can provide? Are more awareness and education needed? Are companies simply not looking to the proper channels to address their issues and needs? It is our hope that sometime in the near future, our state will come to realize what others already know…that I/O psychologists are here, they are flourishing, and are ready to be part of the future of Louisiana.
(Shane Lowery, MS, is a graduate student in I/O at the LSU Psychology Department.)
Dr. Tilman Sheets, previously Chair of Psychology at La Tech, has taken on building the industrial-organizational psychology program at the university. He told the Times that he is finding an increase in the number and quality of applicants to the program. Here, Dr. Sheets speaks at a scientific conference in 2010.
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. 7. Source pages: 12.
The LSU School of Social Work professors Dr. Cecile Guin and Juan Barthelemy have linked up with the East Baton Rouge Parish law enforcement project, called BRAVE, along with organizational psychologist Dr. Tracey Rizutto from the School of Human Resource Education and Workforce Development, and Dr. Edward Shihadeh of the Department of Sociology, to help the Baton Rouge Police in dealing with violence and crime.
BRAVE stands for Baton Rouge Area Violence Elimination and is a law enforcement-based effort that began in 2011 to address problems with gun violence, homicide, and drug deals, noted LSU news reporter Billy Gomila recently.
According to the report, the LSU research team will help use geographic and social network information to map the actions of offenders and help predict their movements in the community.
The model is based on the work of criminologist David Kennedy of the John Jay School of Criminology, noted the report.
Dr. Tracey Rizutto, an organizational psychologist previously in the Psychology Department and who is now located in the School of Human Resource Education and Workforce Development, will help with the analysis. She will be developing diagrams that show the activity and movements of the groups, and how they are connected to others, said the report. This will help police understand where to concentrate their efforts, said the report.
The information will be automated to help the police officers see who is committing crimes and even why people are prone to the crimes they commit. The combined work between the social scientists and police will bring together theory, methods, and statistical tools to understand the criminal patterns in the community.
The new LSU College of Human Sciences & Education combines the School of Education, School of Human Resource Education and Workforce Development, School of Kinesiology, School of Library and Information Science and the University Lab School.
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. 7. Source pages: 12.
Association for Psychological Science announced in January that they would offer the November issue of Perspectives on Psychological Science to everyone, free. According to the announcement, “APA and SAGE have made the full issue freely available in order to encourage wide discussion of these important topics.”
The issue is dedicated to the topic of replicability and research practice. Topics in the issue include: Editors’ Introduction to the Special Section on Replicability in Psychological Science: A Crisis of Confidence? Replications in Psychology Research: How Often Do They Really Occur? A Vast Graveyard of Undead Theories: Publication Bias and Psychological Science’s Aversion to the Null, and Scientific Utopia: II. Restructuring Incentives and Practices to Promote Truth Over Publishability. The issue was downloaded over 215,000 times in the first three weeks online, according to APS.
To download the issue, go to http://pps.sagepub.com/content/7/6.toc
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.