Originally published: . Volume 13, No. 1. Source pages: 1.
Once again, it was no small feat to have kept the home fires burning through the second year of Covid.. Our winners had unusual perseverance to keep moving through a society that was stuck in anxiety, change, and confusion. We scanned the year's news and activities and found shinning examples of creativity, courage, and leadership. For our Community Awards we focus on these special people, some new and some regulars, who pushed for excellence to make our community better and to improve the lives of others. We thank these leaders for their vision, perseverance and dedication, despite the obstacles of 2021.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 13, No. 1. Source pages: 8.
Dr. Amanda Raines, Clinical Investigator at Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System and Assistant Professor at LSU, once again deserves the community's recognition for continuing to tackle one of the most serious problems in health and mental health, the science–practice gap, a divide between research literature and applied interventions. In 2021, Dr. Raines continued reducing that gap with her community connections and involvement efforts. A distinguished scientist herself, she directed training programs through the Louisiana Psychological Association "Science Cafe," connecting practitioners with research scientists from across the state. Well done!
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 13, No. 1. Source pages: 10.
Dr. Charles Figley, Professor and Distinguished Chair in Disaster Mental Health at Tulane, continues his exemplary contributions to society and proves himself a leader once again in developing messages that can make a difference. This time he and Mark Russell took on the military establishment in their book about the psychological impact of war, Psychiatric Casualties: How and Why the Military Ignores the Full Cost of War. It takes courage to tell it like it is. We are impressed with Dr. Figley and his lifelong dedication to helping all those suffering from trauma and trauma–related disorders.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 12, No. 12. Source pages: 13.
What Motivates Getting Things Done by Mary Lamia
Bill McCown, PhD Professor, Associate Dean ULM; College of Business and Social Sciences Coauthored the first research-based book on chronic procrastination
As the psychological science literature shows, procrastination is universal and very common. Some people naively think it is humorous. However, its mental health and financial impact can be serious, extreme, even life- crippling.
Typically chronic procrastination defies a person's best intentions and stymies possibilities. Treatments are difficult, slow, and, at best, may only be modestly successful. In Dr. Mary Lamia's book What Motivates Getting Things Done: Procrastination, Emotions, and Success (2017), the author, a noted therapist, author, and graduate professor, explores the complex behavior of people who fail to complete their goals in a timely fashion. She does so from an individual differences perspective that should resonate with psychologists. Unlike typical approaches that emphasize time management, Lamia argues that effective intervention for procrastination depends on addressing a client's motivation style. Task-driven people (including most psychologists, by the way) are organized, perhaps naïve, perfectionistic, and often become motivated by finishing a project to the exclusion of other necessary activities. Deadline-driven people are more pragmatic, flexible, and motivated primarily by immediate time pressures. Neither approach is "right" or more successful. People from both groups may have problems procrastinating, though in different ways and over different tasks. Optimal treatment must be tailored to these styles, mindful of a client's developmental history, anxiety, and experiences with shame. Exceptionally written, science-based, scholarly yet remarkably reader-friendly, What Motivates Getting Things Done: Procrastination, Emotions, and Success advance theory and treatment. Like her previous writings, Lamia's work illustrates one example of where a one-size-fits-all treatment is not the best. The book is the most important on this topic in many years.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 12, No. 12. Source pages: 13.
The Fantastic Flying Books of Morris Lessmoree by William joyce
Kim E. VanGeffen, PhD Neuropsychologist LPA Past President 2015 Distinguished Psychologist
I would recommend The Fantastic Flying Books of Morris Lessmore by William Joyce. This book was also an Oscar winning short film made in Shreveport. It tells the tale of Morris Lessmore who loses his book collection to a storm reminiscent of Hurricane Katrina. This book has been described as a “book about books” but also as a “deeper story of love, loss and healing.”
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 12, No. 12. Source pages: 15.
LPA Holds Fall/Winter Workshop This Week, Friday, December 3
The Louisiana Psychological Association will host a blended in-person/virtual LPA 2021 Fall/Winter Workshop for Friday, December 3rd from 8 am to 4:15 pm at the Sheraton Metairie Galleria. The event will provide 7-1/2 hours of continuing education including two hours in ethics.
The keynote speaker, delivering The Janet & Lee Matthews Invited Address: "Shifting Cultural Lenses in Clinical Practice," will be Dr. Steve Lopez, professor of psychology at University of Southern California. Dr. Lopez directs the culture and mental health lab at USC Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences.
The day's training will begin with the presentations in the LPA Science Café, directed by Dr. Amanda Raines. Participants will learn about basic and applied psychological science from researchers around the state, while enjoying breakfast in person or virtually.
Following the keynote speaker, participants will break into experiential learning groups and participate in peer-based problem solving for various specialty areas in psychology, an activity called Lunch and Learn.
The day concludes with a Roundtable Discussion on "Ethical Practice Under COVID-19."
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 12, No. 12. Source pages: 2.
by J. Nelson The “supervision issue“ has resurfaced. The issue concerns a gap in Act 251, the 2009 law that moved the medical psychologists, and most importantly their practice of psychology, over to the medical board.
The debate about this particular gap is over ten years old. The problem has to do with those individuals who will be seeking a psychology license, and whether or not their supervision is provided by someone holding a state board psychology license.
The topic brings back memories. I took this issue on and reported it to the community a decade ago. I asked the board to explain the facts behind their reversal of Opinion #12. (Opinion #12 is an intriguing, political mess, and too long a story to explain here.) Anyway, I asked for the documents and I got back a command to “… submit your press credentials for board review.” I was to demonstrate that I was “… connected with a legitimate news organization.“ The board (presumably being steeped in wisdom about journalism) would review my “credentials“ and decide when and if they were willing to answer my questions.
I'd been primed a few months earlier when I asked questions at the board presentation. Joe Comaty promptly emailed me, copied all the board members, and threatened that he had “ethical concerns” about me and my questions.
Tom Hannie wrote a letter to the editor, with his signature airtight logic and scathing critique. But I was still scared witless.
It was in the very early days of me pretending to be a journalist. I was shaky. Blown off center too easily. The foundations were all there, of course they were––I was raised by two journalist parents.
A journalist needs no credentials whatsoever, because he or she is simply a common man acting as a reporter for the convenience of other common men. It was not me that was duty-bound to prove myself, but the public officials who are compelled by duty and ethics to fully and honestly answer my questions.
In one of my mom's old books, a 1940 text, The Law of Newspapers, Arthur and Crosman wrote, “The principle of the freedom of the press as it exists today in this country, and in other democracies, is the result of a long and bitter struggle between those who believed in civil rights and constituted authority which feared the exercise of those rights.”
The battle was not only over the individual’s right to speak, write, and publish his thoughts, “but primarily to provide for the people as a whole a means of protecting themselves from the tyranny of arbitrary and oppressive government. In this––the freedom to express dissatisfaction with the acts of government, and to expose improper, illegal, or corrupt acts of governmental officers––lie one of the great purposes of this principle and its tremendous value to all people who live in a democracy.”
Ten years later, thankfully, I'm not blown over by every breeze.
I and the staff at the Times wish you a Merry Christmas and happy holidays.
[Julie Nelson is a licensed psychologist, journalist, consultant, and publisher of the Times. She also holds other positions in the community. However, her opinions here are those of her own, and do not represent any group or association. She and the Times receive no compensation other than paid advertising. Email her at drj@drjulienelson.com, ––she welcomes feedback.]
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 12, No. 12. Source pages: 15.
PTR Risk Assessment Webinar This Friday
On December 3, 8:30 am to 12:45 pm, John Simoneaux, PhD, Professional Training Resources of Pineville Louisiana, will present the webinar, "Predicting Danger: Evidence Based Strategies." Cost is $95 and available for four hours of continuing education for psychologists and other professionals.
Dr. Simoneaux will explain the current evidence-based, scientific literature involving the prediction of future violence.
· He will also discuss the advantages and disadvantages of clinical data-gathering versus the use of actuarially- derived information in predicting dangerousness. He will review the range of “tests” designed to predict future violence and explain how to decide which instrument is best for specific clinical questions. · The agenda includes: What science tells us about risk assessment; Being right (and wrong) about risk assessment; How to collect data about risk – what to look for; Clinical prediction versus actuarial prediction; the Available instruments for assessing risk; Risk assessment tools – the good and the bad; Mistakes made by mental health professionals in predicting danger; and Talking to clients and other professionals about risk
Dr. Simoneaux has presented many times over the years on Risk Assessment and the Prediction of Danger. He has said that as a psychologist he feels that this is a topic that should be a professional requirement. Mental Health professionals are not statistically good at predicting danger and it is his hope that this information will be helpful in changing that, he explained.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 12, No. 12. Source pages: 4.
US Reps Letlow and Graves Introduce The Parents Bill of Rights Act
Congresswoman Julia Letlow introduced the Parents Bill of Rights Act with a group of colleagues, including Garret Graves,
Letlow represents Louisiana’s 5th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. A native of Monroe, Julia is a mother and professional in education who has dedicated her life to promote and advocate for higher education in Louisiana.
This legislation will put practices in place that facilitate meaningful dialog between a family and their child’s school, and lead to more input throughout the learning process.The Parents Bill of Rights is built on five core principles that would apply to all schools nationwide that receive federal funding, according to the announcement.
1. Parents have the right to review their school's curriculum, reading materials, and state academic standards. 2. Parents have the right to lawfully engage with their local school board and educators. 3. Parents have the right to see a school's budget and spending, including detailed information about revenues and expenditures. 4. Parents have the right to protect their child's privacy. 5. Parents have the right to keep their child safe and be updated on any violent activity at school.
The legislation also contains numerous transparency and accountability provisions designed to increase parent involvement in schools.
“As a mom of two and a former educator, I firmly believe that the relationship between parents and schools should be collaborative, not adversarial,” Letlow said. “Education is not a job parents or schools can do by themselves, it requires us to work together. This bill contains common-sense ideas, and it also fully opens the door for those partnerships.”
Letlow served as the executive director of external affairs and strategic communications at ULM from 2018 to 2019 and prior served as the director of marketing and communications for the university. She previously served at the Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans as the director of education, director of resident patient safety and quality improvement, and a clinical instructor of anesthesiology. She has also served as an instructor and teaching associate at ULM, Tulane University, and the University of South Florida.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 12, No. 12. Source pages: 16.
LSBEP to Host Dr. Puente for Zoom Webinar on December 10
On December 10, 10:30 am to 12:30 pm, the Louisiana State
Board of Examiners of Psychologists will offer a continuing education event.
The topic is, "Multicultural and ethical issues in psychology: The example of neuropsychological assessment of Spanish speakers." The event will be held live on Zoom. The presentation will be by Antonio E. Puente, Ph.D.
Objectives include: 1. Participants will understand the demographics of both professional psychology and the United States. 2. Participants will appreciate the difficulties and their potential solutions to the emerging disparity. 3. Participants will become more understanding of how to both handle these situations and how to help prepare the field for a future that will be drastically different than psychology has prepared for.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 12, No. 12. Source pages: 4.
According to a November 29 press
release from the Louisiana Department of Health, Well-Ahead Louisiana, the chronic disease prevention and healthcare access arm of the Louisiana Department of Health, has been awarded $345,000 in federal funding through the Building Our Largest Dementia (BOLD) Infrastructure for Alzheimer’s Act.
Provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the funding will be used to implement effective Alzheimer’s interventions, including boosting early detection and diagnosis, reducing risk and preventing avoidable hospitalizations.
“This grant provides an opportunity take the foundation Well-Ahead has established in chronic disease prevention and management, as well as outreach to healthcare providers, and expand upon it to improve outcomes for Louisiana’s residents living with Alzheimer’s and other dementia diseases, as well as those who serve as their caregivers,” said Melissa R. Martin, Director of Well-Ahead Louisiana. State Rep. Malinda White (I- Boglausa) co-authored Act 73 in the 2021 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature, which calls for an increase in general education about Alzheimer’s and other dementia diseases, as well as a specific effort to educate healthcare providers on early detection, the link to chronic diseases and effective care planning.
Well-Ahead Louisiana will work with the Alzheimer’s Association and other partners, to focus on policy, system and environmental changes to promote risk reduction, early diagnosis, the prevention and management of comorbidities and avoidable hospitalizations for residents with Alzheimer’s or other dementia diseases. Funded activities will align with the Healthy Brain Initiative State and Local Public Health Partnerships to Address Dementia, which was created by the CDC and the Alzheimer’s Association to ensure Alzheimer’s and other cognitive health issues are incorporated into existing public health initiatives.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 12, No. 12. Source pages: 16.
AFCC-LA State Conference to be Held Friday, March 18th in Baton Rouge
The AFCC-LA State Conference will be held Friday, March 18th at the Baton Rouge Embassy Suites. The all-day conference will offer CEUs for Family Court-related issues such as the use (and misuse) of technology and risk management for working with professionals working with DV cases.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 12, No. 12. Source pages: 5.
Gov. Edwards Congratulates Marcus Jones as Northwestern State University's President
On Nov. 8, Gov. John Bel Edwards issued a statement congratulating the newly-selected president of Northwestern State University Marcus Jones. Since July 2021, Jones has served as the interim president of the university and permanently took on the role starting November 15.
"Congratulations to the new president of Northwestern State University Marcus Jones, who is making history today as the first Black president of the university. Earning his undergraduate degree at Northwestern, his master's degree at Grambling, and his law degree at Southern, Mr. Jones is a testament to Louisiana's higher education institutions. Mr. Jones has served the NSU community for many years, and I have no doubt he will continue to succeed in his new role," Gov. Edwards said.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 12, No. 12. Source pages: 16.
C.G. Jung Society to Present "Spirit of the Future," February 1
The C.G. Jung Society will present "Spirit of the Future: Reclaiming the Value and Meaning of the Individual in Times of Collective Upheaval," February 1 at 7:30 pm. The event is to be held online.
Presenter is Elizabeth Colistra, PhD. Colistra is a certified Jungian analyst and Licensed Professional Counselor with a private practice in the French Quarter in New Orleans.
She trained at the C.G. Jung Institute of New York and the Jungian Psychoanalytic Association while completing her doctorate from Pacifica Graduate Institute. She is a faculty member of the New Orleans Jungian Seminar and an analyst member of the Inter-Regional Society of Jungian Analysts.
"We will explore Jung’s notion that 'If the whole is to change, the individual must change himself.' The cultural, societal, and national crises that are taking place across the world, and especially here in the United States, challenge us to critically think about and question Jung’s premise.
"Is individual change enough? Is personal analysis and a commitment to one’s individuation process really enough?"
For additional information go to www.jungneworleans.org
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 12, No. 12. Source pages: 5.
Gov. Edwards Announces $1.5M Federal Grant to Address Human Trafficking in Louisiana
On Nov. 16, Gov. Edwards announced that Louisiana has been awarded a $1.5 million grant by the United States Department of Justice Office for Victims of Crime that will be used to improve outcomes for child and youth victims of human trafficking. The grant is a multi-year award that will be administered by the newly established Louisiana Governor's Office of Human Trafficking Prevention and will help fund the Louisiana Child and Youth Trafficking Collaborative Accessibility Initiative. This is the second time Louisiana has been selected for the award.
"I am proud that the Department of Justice recognizes the hard work we are doing in Louisiana to combat human trafficking and grateful that they saw fit to once again single out Louisiana for this grant," said Gov. Edwards. "Although we have made great progress, we know that our work is not yet done. This funding will greatly assist our state in implementing programs and practices that will promote greater healing and recovery for victims and survivors. This wouldn't be possible without the collective efforts of key agencies and trained professionals who have made it their mission to end this horrific crime. I am also extremely thankful of the leadership of my wife Donna who has worked hard over the last several years to raise awareness at both the state and national levels."
Louisiana was one of two states selected for the 2021 Improving Outcomes for Child and Youth Victims of Human Trafficking grant award. In 2019, Louisiana was the only state to receive a similar $1.2 million grant. Since then, more than a thousand professionals have been trained to utilize best practices and improve victim identification, hundreds of victims have been served, and human trafficking specific multi-disciplinary teams have been established in every region of the state.
"I am so proud to be a leading voice in this fight against human trafficking," said First Lady Donna Edwards. "The people of Louisiana deserve it and our children deserve it. I believe strongly that we all have a role to play. […]"
This year, Gov. Edwards signed into law a bill creating the Office of Human Trafficking Prevention, which was a key part of the Governor's legislative agenda. Gov. Edwards appointed Dr. Dana Hunter as executive director.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.