Article archive / April 2019

Originally published: April 2019. Volume 10, No. 4. Source pages: 7.

From Thursday, January 10, 2019, posted March 27

1. Chapter 3 Training and Credentials: Applied Health Service Provider (HSP)/General Applied Psychology (GAP) – Dr. Gormanous presented on this topic including a history, LSBEP’s current model and model options for moving forward in this endeavor. The members discussed this topic in depth and will continue to move forward looking at states that have implemented the Health Service Provider designation.

2. Developmental Training Programs including but not limited to University of New Orleans – Dr. Boggs presented this discussion, history and issues related to programs that are not currently accredited by the American Psychological Association, from which we frequently receive applicants for licensure, in order to ensure that an applicant’s training and credentials meet the statutory and regulatory requirements for licensure in Louisiana. The Board determined that the Developmental Psychology Program at the University of New Orleans (UNO) meets the criteria for this review. Ms. Monic was directed to follow up on the invitation to UNO […]

4. Proposed Rules: Continuing Education Requirements, Exemptions and Fees (LAC 46:LXIII.) 601, 603, 803, 805, 811, 905 and 4001) – Dr. Crouch presented a newly revised draft following review of the November 30, 2018 oral comments as well as the written comments received with regard to Section 805 of the proposed rules; which revisions were further discussed and approved for amendment at the December 14, 2018 Regular Meeting of the LSBEP. The board thoroughly reviewed the revisions, Dr. Gormanous moved in favor of the changes and requested Attorney Newton provide a legal review of the revisions prior to filing. The motion passed unanimously.

7. Policies and Procedures – The board discussed the ensuing requirement to hold a public hearing related to its rules as well as the previous public hearings for oral comments held by the LSBEP. In an effort to provide consistency and fairness, Dr. Gormanous moved in favor of establishing hearing procedures by policy. The motion passed unanimously.

From Friday, February 8, 2019, posted March 27 Executive Director Report

• The 2018 Audit has not been initiated due to short staffed;

• No Update in the matter: Nineteenth Judicial District; Parish of East Baton Rouge, State Of Louisiana, Division D, No.: 643,369: Glenn W. Ahava, Ph.D. v. LSBEP, on Appeal From September 18, 2015, Opinion and Order of the Louisiana State Board of Examiners of Psychologists;

• In the Matter Eric Cerwonka vs. Louisiana State Board of Examiners of Psychologists: On February 4, 2019 Judge Caldwell rendered his decision to deny Cerwonka’s petition for review and affirm the February 10, 2017 Opinion and Order of the LSBEP in the matter P15-16-03C, which order resulted in the revocation of the license of Eric Cerwonka to practice psychology in Louisiana.

• Ms. Monic requested the board affirm her attendance at the next ASPPB meeting is in Santa Fe, NM April 11-14, 2019 and confirm that no other representatives of the LSBEP would be in attendance.

• Ms. Monic reported on her attendance at FARB 1/24/19 – 1/27/19 stating that it was very educational and there were valuable materials and “take-aways” from the experience including guidelines for assessing good moral character, guidance on ensuring consistency across rotating boards and developing rules and policies, our need to develop and work on an “elevator speech” when we have an opportunity or need to educate the public and/or legislators; and balancing anti- competitive regulations with the need to ensure competence and public protection;

Liaison to Professional Organizations and Boards – Dr. Gormanous also reported on his attendance at FARB, independent of the board and served on a panel of presenters at FARB “Three E’s and a Fee: Education, Examination, Experience” Dr. Gormanous reiterated what a valuable experience he thought the conference was for both Ms. Monic and board members.

1. ASPPB, Board Nomination; Fellow Nomination and Ming Fisher Award Nomination – Ms. Monic advised the board of the call for nominations from ASPPB. Dr. Gormanous recommended that Ms. Monic take a look at the candidates eligible to be nominated for the Ming Fisher Award for consideration by the LSBEP for nomination. The board discussed the matter and agreed to review her recommendations for consideration at their next regularly scheduled meeting.

4. Inquiry from Aimee Elrod @ CredentialMed RE Medical Psychologists – The board reviewed and discussed this inquiry from Ms. Elrod regarding conflicting statements regarding the licensure of Medical Psychologists on LSBEP’s Online Verification page vs. LSBME’s Online Verifications page. The Board reviewed the issue and by motion of Dr. Gormanous, unanimously agreed in favor of sending a letter to LSBME requesting their requirements for a Medical Psychologist to retain their license with the LSBEP for the renewal of their license to practice medical psychology with LSBME. The board further approved Drs. Boggs and Gormanous to facilitate the letter.

5. Proposed Rules: Continuing Education Requirements, Exemptions and Fees (LAC 46:LXIII.) 601, 603, 803, 805, 811, 905 and 4001) – Dr. Crouch again presented this matter and reported on her work with Ms. Monic and Ms. Newton, provided correspondence with the Louisiana Psychological Association on their recommendations for revisions, and suggested other options for facilitating the provision for the board review of continuing professional development. The board thoroughly discussed this matter and affirmed their desire to continue to work on revising Chapter 8 to facilitate this provision. Attorney Newton was directed to work with Dr. Crouch on a new draft for board review.

8. Health Service Provider and General Applied Psychologist designations – Dr. Boggs reported on her research and status in developing revisions to the Louisiana licensing requirements. The board discussed the matter. Dr. Boggs recommended that the board continue to revise the process in light of recent judicial opinions, to avoid anti-trust issues, and to ensure compliance with statutory requirements. Dr. Henke moved in favor of proceeding as recommended. The motion passed without objection.

University of New Orleans – Laura Scaramella, Ph.D. Chair, Dept. of Psychology and Elliott Beaton, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Graduate Coordinator and Diretor of the Stress, Cognition and Affective Neuroscience (SCAN) Laboratory presented at 10:00 a.m. to discuss the Developmental Psychology Program at the University of New Orleans (UNO).

By motion of Dr. Boggs, the board unanimously approved and directed Ms. Monic to put out a call for interested psychologists to be vetted for inclusion on a board approved evaluator list. Specifically noting a need for psychologists with proficiencies in evaluating: psychological, neuropsychological, forensic, substance abuse, fitness for duty and psychosexual issues.

Dr. Jesse Lambert is the outgoing member on the state psychology board, finishing his five-year term this June. Here he speaks with Executive Director Jaime Monic at a board meeting.

This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.

Article archive / April 2019

Originally published: April 2019. Volume 10, No. 4. Source pages: 9.

The Professional Counselors (LPC) Board of Examiners has published a new Rule for "Telehealth" that establishes minimum standards for the delivery of mental health counseling, psychotherapy, and marriage and family therapy services using technology-assisted media. The Board notes that "Teletherapy references the provision of counseling and psychotherapy services from a distance which is consistent with the same standards of practice as in-person counseling settings."

The Rule notes that Teletherapy is "… a method of delivering mental health counseling, psychotherapy, and marriage and family therapy services as prescribed by R.S. 37:1101 and R.S. 37:1116 using interactive technology-assisted media to facilitate prevention, assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of mental, emotional, behavioral, relational, and addiction disorders to individuals, groups, organizations, or the general public that enables a licensee and a client(s) separated by distance to interact via synchronous video and audio transmission.

"The board recognizes that safe and effective practices in teletherapy require specific training, skills, and techniques and has set forth the following regulatory standards to ensure competence and safety. This Rule shall not be construed to alter the scope of practice of any licensee or authorize the delivery of services in a setting, or in a manner, not otherwise authorized by law. Nothing in this Section shall preclude a client from receiving in-person counseling, psychotherapy, and marriage and family therapy services after agreeing to receive services via telemental health.

The Board specifies that "Teletherapy shall be delivered in real- time (synchronous) using technology-assisted media such as telephonic and videoconferencing through computers and mobile devices. The use of asynchronous modalities (e-mail, chatting, texting, and fax) is not appropriate and shall not be used for teletherapy, except in a crisis to ensure the client’s safety and stability. Licensees shall provide services consistent with the jurisdictional licensing laws and rules in both the jurisdiction in which licensee is physically located and where the client is physically located. Licensees providing teletherapy services to clients outside of Louisiana must comply with the regulations in the state in which the client is located at the time of service. The licensee shall contact the licensing board in the state where the client is located and document all relevant regulations regarding teletherapy. […]

This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.

Article archive / April 2019

Originally published: April 2019. Volume 10, No. 4. Source pages: 11.

[Editor's Note: We reported on researchers in our March issue and this article continues that report.]

Louisiana researchers are presenting at the Southwestern Psychological Association (SWPA) conference on April 5–7 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. They will join in the conference theme of, "Psychology: From the Lab to the Labyrinth: Bridging the gap between the highly controlled conditions of the laboratory and the uncontrolled conditions of the real world."

Excerpts from researchers' abstracts are included below.

The Lake Charles Research Group is also presenting several projects. This group includes Burton Ashworth, Lacy Hitt, and Grishma Poudel from the University of Louisiana Monroe.

Also in the Lakes Charles research group are Lawrence Dilks, Kimberly Hutchinson, and Billie Myers from Lake Charles Memorial Hospital, Sandra Viggiani from Lake Charles Clinical Trials, and Reshmi Maharjan.

Their presentations included the following:

"A Pilot Study to Augment Decision Making Process in Choosing an Academic Major." The purpose of this study was to examine whether engagement with an advisor reduces student discomfort when choosing an academic major for higher education. One hundred thirty high school students from Northeast (NE) and Southwest (SW) Louisiana public schools participated in the project.

The effect sizes found in students from both SW and NE High Schools suggest that the impact of advising is an important factor in assisting students with determining an academic major when moving into higher education.

The researchers from the group are also presenting, "Discriminant Validity of Attention & Concentration Exercises."

Cognitive rehabilitation is defined as a systematic and functionally oriented service of therapeutic activities and therapy focuses on regaining the independence of the individual’s physical and mental status.

The researchers design of this study was to assess the convergent validity between four different attention and concentration exercises and existing validated instruments. Researchers conducted Factor Analyses to assess the internal consistency of attention and concentration exercises, administered one week apart.

The results suggest the four exercises may have a positive influence on patients undergoing cognitive rehabilitation.

A final presentation will be, "Assessment for the Reliability of Attention and Concentration Exercise." Cognition refers to our ability to make sense of the environment. Cognitive processes depend on attention and concentration factors. Attention operates by modulating information processing in a goal-consistent manner. Concentration is a sustained performance task with the purpose of achieving a desired level of focus. There is a direct relationship between attention, concentration and cognitive rehabilitation.

The effect sizes suggest cognitive therapists serve the patient better by administering difficult exercises. While both exercises, the easy and difficult elicit favorable results, difficult components seem to exert a higher therapeutic effect on the traumatized brain.

While it may seem more appropriate to use very easy tasks with persons experiencing traumatic brain injury, to maximize return to baseline, it may be wise to administer difficult tasks in smaller increments to reduce anxiety or frustration.

Yong Dai, Professor and Chair at Louisiana State University Shreveport, and Qing Zeng from U. of Texas, will present, "Self-esteem of High School Seniors: A National Survey."

Using a national survey of students in 12th- Grade, this study examined the self-esteem of high school seniors. With the sample being large, current, and nationally representative of the population, the conclusions drawn from this study should help us to obtain a current picture of the situation concerning the self-esteem of American high school seniors.

The most interesting finding of this study is that compared to gender and race, religious involvement appears to have the largest impact on how adolescents evaluate themselves. The more religiously involved, the more likely the adolescents tend to evaluate themselves in a positive way.

This finding seems to point out that most religious institutions teach people to have positive images of themselves, and such positive teaching may help to increase adolescents' self-esteem.

Kevin Yaudes, Assistant Professor at McNeese State University, and Haden Cooley from McNeese State University are presenting "What Traits Predict Individual and Team Performance?: A Pilot Study."

To date, few studies have examined a wide range of traits as possible predictors of success in athletes. The purpose of this pilot study is to investigate which psychological traits predict success in a competitive individual or team environment.

Traits under investigation are Organizational Citizenship Behavior, task and ego orientation, defined as a predisposition to judge success by norm referenced values and/or self-referenced values respectively, and achievement goal orientation. Participants will complete a competitive task as individuals and as a team.

This pilot data will provide valuable information regarding the impact of these specific traits on performance in an individual and team setting. The results of this research will inform the direction of planned research regarding these traits in a sport setting. These traits will be examined as predictors of athletic success across a number of sports, as defined by statistics commonly used to assess success in each sport.

Dr. Paula Varnado-Sullivan, Professor and Graduate Program Coordinator, Psychology Department at Southeastern Louisiana University, shared this poster of their presentation having to do with fake news. She and her team used a neutral article and changed the masthead to reflect FOX News, CNN, and NPR. Dr. Varnado-Sullivan said she was struck by the number of students who were ambivalent about the concepts.

This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.

Article archive / April 2019

Originally published: April 2019. Volume 10, No. 4. Source pages: 12.

Dr. Paula Zeanah, licensed psychologist an Endowed Chair in Nursing at the College of Nursing and Allied Health Professions, and Dr. Hung-Chu Lin, Professor of Psychology, both at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette worked to organize the first summit of its kind in Louisiana, the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Summit.

The summit took place March 28-29, 2019, at the River Oaks Conference Center in Lafayette, Louisiana.

The summit was funded through the Louisiana Children's Trust Fund and co-sponsored by the statewide ACE Initiative, ULL's College of Nursing and Allied Health Professions, Department of Psychology, and the Picard Center.

The theme was "Promoting a Culture of CARE (Collaboration, Advocacy, Research, Education) for Preventing Child Abuse and Neglect in Louisiana."

Goals for the attendees included to:

• Understand the impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACES) in Louisiana;

• Describe the current status of efforts to educate professionals and communities;

• Identify opportunities for collaboration among established, emerging, and future community-based efforts to build resilience and prevent child abuse and neglect;

• Recognize evidence-based strategies to identify and intervene with children who have experienced trauma, abuse and neglect.

Dr. Zeanah presented, "State of ACEs in Louisiana," with Anna Bales, MPH, Bureau of Family Health.

"ACEs Basics: Understanding the Impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences," was presented by Lisa Donze – Jacobs, LCSW, from Mercy Family Center, and Cynthia Suire DNP, MSN, RN UL Lafayette.

Invited speakers included Chandra Ghosh Ippen, Associate Director of the Child Trauma Research Program at the University of California, San Francisco and the Director of Dissemination for Child-Parent Psychotherapy, and Colleen A. Kraft, MD, FAAP, current president of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Dr. Paula Zeanah (above) and Dr. Hung-Chu Lin at ULL organized the first ACE Summit.

This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.

Article archive / April 2019

Originally published: April 2019. Volume 10, No. 4. Source pages: 15.

The annual Mindfulness workshop will be held Saturday, April 13 from 8 am to 5 pm at the Tam Bao Meditation Hall, in Baton Rouge.

This year's topic is "Practical Approaches to Mindfulness-Based Interventions, A Day of Mindfulness for Mental Health Professionals."

According to workshop organizer, Dr. John Pickering, the focus of this year's workshop will be on the practical implementation of mindfulness. Local clinicians with years of experience in mindfulness interventions will discuss how they have a directly applied these therapeutic techniques to mental health and substance abuse disorders. Opportunities will be provided for meditation practice.

In this workshop, participants will become familiar with the basic contents of a mindfulness program including the use of meditation and body scan. They will also become familiar with recent research on the use of mindfulness in treating substance abuse disorders and be able to define psychological flexibility from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy perspective and how mindfulness-based interventions affect psychological flexibility. Attendees will be guided through several periods of medication to help develop and deepen their own meditative practice.

"Mindfulness, a practice associated with 2 1/2 millennia of Buddhist psychology, has become an increasingly popular concept in psychotherapy and counseling literature over the past three decades as more and more professionals have become aware of it and incorporated meditation and mindfulness approaches into their personal lives and therapeutic repertoires. Several empirically supported therapies, such as Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBRT), Dialectic Behavior Therapy (DBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) have included a significant mindfulness component as part of their therapeutic regime."

Dr. John Pickering, psychologist, has been one of the organizers for this yearly event for many years and has explained in other articles about the program.

“Previous workshops have included topics about use of mindfulness interventions in psychotherapy, introduction to various evidence– supported therapies based on mindfulness, neuropsychological mechanisms involved in mindfulness, and the use of meditation to enhance therapists’ attention, presence and empathy.”

The popularity of Mindfulness as a therapy method and technique has grown in recent years, as evidence for its effectiveness and research findings have been helped understanding, explained Pickering. There are several short periods of guided meditation led by a Zen Buddhist monk throughout the day.

Contact Dr. Pickering for information and registration through the Meditation Hall or at 7510 Highland Road in Baton Rouge, 70808.

Quyen Ho (Thich Dao Quang) is the Zen Buddhist monk who teaches at the Mindfulness Day.

This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.

Article archive / March 2019

Originally published: March 2019. Volume 10, No. 3. Source pages: 7.

In a February 21 memo to licensed psychologists, the state psychology board said it is looking for psychologists to add to its Approved Evaluator list, a referral source of psychologists who may be called on by a licensee who has been requested by the board to submit an evaluation regarding his or her ability to deliver services competently.

According to the licensing law, La. R.S. 37:2356.H, "… the board may request that the person submit to a physical examination by a medical doctor approved by the board and/or submit to a mental health examination by a psychologist and/or psychiatrist approved by the board."

According to the memo, by Executive Director, Jaime Monic, the the board is specifically interested in psychologists to have the ability to provide evaluations for "Psychological Evaluation, Neuropsychological Evaluation, Forensic Evaluation, Substance Abuse Evaluation, Fitness for Duty Evaluation, Psychosexual Evaluation."

Ms. Monic wrote, "This list will be used as a referral source and provided to psychologists and applicants for licensure who are remanded by the Board under La. R.S. 37:2356.H. or other agreement, to submit to an independent evaluation in order to determine their ability to safely provide psychological services to clients/patients. The psychologist or applicant for licensure who is the subject of the evaluation will select their preferred evaluator from this pre-approved list, conflicts of interest will be vetted, disclosure agreements between the Board and the psychologist or applicant for licensure will be provided to the evaluator from the Board, and payment for services will be the responsibility of the psychologist or applicant for licensure."

This move may be related to other aspects of reform to the psychology board's complaints and discipline process. Over the last 18 months the board members, along with representatives from the professional community, have been working on reforms to the Policies & Procedures for the complaints subcommittee, resulting in more psychologists being engaged as Complaints Coordinators and other changes.

This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.

Article archive / March 2019

Originally published: March 2019. Volume 10, No. 3. Source pages: 7.

$445,402 in attorney's fees State Medical Board Charges Licensee $461,980 for Disciplinary Hearing Fees

In a letter dated December 20, 2018, the state medical board charged a physician, $461,980.60 for costs related to a board disciplinary hearing. The letter listed $445,402.36 in attorney fees, $4783.74 for expert witness fees, $1200.00 for the board members per diem, and $5594.50 for court reporter's fees and a $5000 administrative fine.

According to a hearing document, hearing dates were April 11- 13, 2016. The board ruled a two-year suspension of the physician's license due to improper use of assistants, not meeting standards, falsifying documents and related matters.

In a related story, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last month that excessive fines and seizure of property is a violation of the 8th Amendment.

This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.

Article archive / March 2019

Originally published: March 2019. Volume 10, No. 3. Source pages: 8, 9, 14.

Researchers at SEPA & SWPA in March & April

The Southeastern Psychological Association will hold its 2019 conference March 20-23, 2019 in Jacksonville, Florida, and the the Southwestern Psychological Association will hold its conference April 5–7 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Presenters at Southeastern Psychological Association (SEPA) include Niels Dickson, Daniella Cash, & Megan Papesh, from Louisiana State University who will present "Remembering and Rejecting: Not Just Two Sides of the Same Coin."

"College Students’ True and False Memories at Three Time Intervals," will be presented by Theodore Smith and Lauren Short, of University of Louisiana at Lafayette, and "Examination of Facial Emotions Before, During, and After a Texting Demand while Driving," will also be presented by Theodore Smith, along with Ashifur Rahman, Colten Dore, Xiaoduan Sun, and Lauren Short, all of University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

Oanh Nguyen and Erin Dupuis, both from Loyola University in New Orleans, will present, "The Relation Between Ambivalent Sexism and Attitudes Toward Sexual Street Harassment."

"The Influence of Mentor Stress on Personal Stress," will be presented by Mark Graffagnini, Sally Merritt, and Janet Ruscher, from Tulane University.

Louisiana researchers at Southwestern Psychological Association (SWPA) conference in April will join in the conference theme of, "Psychology: From the Lab to the Labyrinth: Bridging the gap between the highly controlled conditions of the laboratory and the uncontrolled conditions of the real world." Excerpts from researchers' abstracts are included below.

Paula Varnado-Sullivan, Frank Mons and Kayli Alphonso Coleman, all from Southeastern Louisiana University, will present, "So is it Fake News? Part 2: The Impact of Political Orientation and Source on Ratings of a Neutral Article." Researchers are interested in exploring attitudes about various news sources. The purpose of their study is to determine if undergraduates will perceive the same news article as biased, important, or accurate and how identifying the source of the article may impact those ratings. Participants were asked to provide attitudes concerning a news article with one of four possible randomly selected news headers: a header from FOX news, CNN, NPR or a generic, non-affiliated news header. Preliminary results indicated that for coded ratings of orientation, a main effect was found for political orientation. Follow up analyses indicated that liberal respondents were more likely to read online news sources and neutral respondents considered themselves less political and interested in the news. However, when self- selected political orientation was examined, significant main effects were found for political orientation.

Varnado-Sullivan, Mons and Coleman will also present, "Does Weight Impact the Stigmatization of Anorexia Nervosa?" Numerous studies have indicated that psychological disorders and physical conditions, such as obesity, are stigmatized. The purpose of the study is to determine the impact of weight on the stigmatization of Anorexia Nervosa. Only initial findings are available. Preliminary results suggest the psychological disorder conditions were stigmatized more than the control with no differences for weight. However, the major depression condition was rated as less driven than Anorexia Nervosa and the Normal control.

Frank Mons will present, "Prevalence of Maladaptive Daydreaming: Replication of a Random Sample," with co-authors, Paula Varnado-Sullivan, Cory Fulks, Chelsea Mayor, Brittaney Snyder, Danielle Eliser, and Madison Rigdon. Researchers note: There is increasing number of reports regarding a set of specific symptoms termed "Maladaptive Daydreaming" and some exhibit difficulty in stopping these behaviors. The purpose of this study was to estimate a prevalence of distressing daydreaming behaviors in the general population, as well as replicate the findings from previous research. Only initial findings are available. Preliminary results have found significant associations of dysfunctional daydreaming behavior with depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, stress, ADHD symptoms, and OCD symptoms. At this point, 13% of the sample were maladaptive daydreamers. Independent samples t-tests found significant differences between scores of maladaptive daydreamers and non- maladaptive daydreamers on the OCD, ADHD, Depression and Anxiety scales.

First author Seth Tackett, University of Louisiana at Monroe, with Krista Nelson, Southern Arkansas University, and Janelle McDaniel, University of Louisiana at Monroe, will present, "The Impact of Positive and Negative Emotions on Impostor Phenomenon."

This study examined the relationship of Impostor Phenomenon and various positive and negative emotions, such as Subjective Happiness, Depression, Worriedness, and Satisfaction with Life. A multiple linear regression was calculated to predict Impostor Phenomenon based on their emotions such as Happiness, Subjective Happiness, Feelings of Worriedness, Depression, and Satisfaction with Life. A significant regression equation was found with an R2 of .522. Depression, Worriedness, Subjective Happiness, and Satisfaction with Life were significant predictors of Impostor Phenomenon scores.

Theresa Wozencraft and Coby D. Menard of University of Louisiana at Lafayette will present, "Coping Styles, Hassles, and Uplifts in Emergency Medical Technicians." Stress in relation to hassles experienced by emergency responders has been studied but few studies have examined hassles and uplifts in Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT), and none have examined whether coping styles may be related to hassles or uplifts in this population. Participants completed the Coping in Stressful Situations (CISS) and Combined Hassles and Uplifts (CHU) Scale. Those with a Task coping of 1 SD above versus below the mean had a significant difference in their Uplifts total score, with those higher in Task coping reporting more uplifts. Participants with high Emotion-Focused coping had significantly higher hassles total scores than the low Emotion- Focused group. There were no significant differences in Hassles or Uplifts total scores between low and high Avoidance/Distraction/Social Diversion coping groups.

For a SWPA Talk Session: Community, Thomas Cain, Theresa Wozencraft and Manyu Li, all from University of Louisiana at Lafayette, will present, "An Exploratory Study of Natural Disaster Victims in the Gulf Coast Region," a phenomenology study aimed at understanding the described experiences of Gulf Coast victims of natural disasters, such as floods and hurricanes. Preliminary results based upon 5 interviews showed that victims were distressed not only by the damages and their losses, but also the hassles of restoring lives to normal. In addition, the lack of social support or family support could also lead to high distress.

Brittany Milton and David Perkins, both of University of Louisiana at Lafayette, will present, "Evaluating the effectiveness of a university alcohol intervention program." Researchers will: (1) identify the factors that moderate student alcohol use, (2) evaluate the effectiveness of the alcohol intervention program used by a mid-sized university in the south, and (3) determine how and if the factors that moderate student alcohol use also impact the effectiveness of the university’s alcohol intervention program.

Valanne MacGyvers and Taylor Hebert from University of Louisiana at Lafayette will present, "A Measure of Cognitive Frustration for research in Traumatic Brain Injury." Having to struggle in cognitive tasks that were perhaps simple before the onset of TBI becomes frustrating, and this frustration presents a problem in individuals with TBI as it impacts family, job, and social interactions, and self-esteem. Unfortunately, no good measure exists to assess cognitive frustration. Researchers have developed a self-report measure of cognitive frustration and are administering it to several hundred individuals in order to assess its internal consistency and distributional properties. The cognitive frustration measure has 15 items and a preliminary Cronbach’s alpha of 0.869.

"Parenting measures: A comparison of three widely used measures," will be presented by Valanne MacGyvers and Kristine Melancon, both of University of Louisiana at Lafayette. There are three popular measures of parenting style, that all loosely attempt to capture Diana Baumrind’s (1966) dimensions of parental behavior. The three measures are the Parental Authority Questionnaire, the Parental Bonding Instrument, and the Steinberg parenting measure). In their factor analysis research found that some measures appear to be tapping into different constructs.

Kevin Yaudes and Sattaria Dilks, both from McNeese State University, will present a workshop, "An Interprofessional Education Collaborative Simulation Exercise." According to the description: The purpose of this annual collaborative effort, write the authors, is an exercise in Interprofessional Education utilizing a simulation environment. The faculty from the departments of graduate studies in nursing, psychology, and dietetics from MSU developed an Interprofessional Education Team. The team also had actors from the graduate departments on the planning team. An unfolding case study for training healthcare professionals in a simulated environment was developed collaboratively. "This ongoing study provides valuable information regarding the education of future clinicians from multiple health care disciplines to better prepare them for work on collaborative teams. It provides insight on strategies to prepare these clinicians with the necessary skills to work effectively and overcome potential barriers in collaborative client care."

Kevin Yaudes and Logan Guillory, also both from McNeese, will present their research, "Interacting with People Diagnosed with Mental Health Disorders: Does Individuality Matter?"

They are looking the impact of stigma toward individuals with mental health disorders which is well documented but examined only from certain perspectives. Their " research, which will be conducted entirely online, will examine the impact of individuality (as a proxy for perceived variability) on social distance. There will be three versions of both of the mental health disorders that will vary based on the source of information about the disorders (individual, group, group-individual). The primary hypothesis is that differences in willingness to interact will be observed for the two mental health disorders when individuality is increased." The researchers plan to complete an analysis of variance to analyze the data and they predict that participants’ willingness to interact will be impacted by increased individuality. Efforts will provide valuable information regarding the impact of "identifying out-group members as individuals on willingness to interact with those who have features of a mental illness." This research should demonstrate that when an out-group member consists of those who have features of a mental illness, then increasing the individuality of members results in increased willingness to interact with members of the out-group, by members of the in-group.

[ Editor's Note: More of the SWPA researchers will be reviewed in our April issue.]

(L to R) Dr. Elliot Beaton from UNO, Dr. T. Scott Smith from ULL, Dr. Christopher Harshaw (back), Dr. Valanne MacGyvers from ULL, and Dr. Charles Taylor, from ULL, participated in a 2017 Science Café. Drs. Smith and MacGyvers are presenting research at SEPA and SWPA this month and next.

This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.

Article archive / March 2019

Originally published: March 2019. Volume 10, No. 3. Source pages: 14.

Annual Mindfulness Day April 13 in BR

The annual Mindfulness workshop will be held Saturday, April 13 from 8am to 5pm at the Tam Bao Meditation Hall, in Baton Rouge. This year's topic is "Practical Approaches to Mindfulness-Based Interventions, A Day of Mindfulness for Mental Health Professionals."

According to workshop organizer, Dr. John Pickering, the focus of this year's workshop will be on the practical implementation of mindfulness. Local clinicians with years of experience in mindfulness interventions will discuss how they have a directly applied these therapeutic techniques to mental health and substance abuse disorders. Opportunities will be provided for meditation practice. Contact Dr. Pickering for information and registration through the Meditation Hall.

This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.

Article archive / March 2019

Originally published: March 2019. Volume 10, No. 3. Source pages: 2.

by Times publisher, J. Nelson Ten years ago this month my father died his natural death. Those who knew him well understood him to be a challenging, charismatic, and intelligent man. He expressed compassion for the less fortunate, cared little for wealth, and had no problem disrupting a corrupt status quo. He loved classics and quoted Shakespeare for fun or to rub someone's nose in it––"Out, damned spot."

My father chose newspapering as a livelihood when he returned from WWII, met my mother at LSU (she had always known she wanted to be a journalist), and settled in Red River Parish to run The Coushatta Citizen. While raising a family, they built the Citizen into a publication of journalistic excellence and social conscience.

So, I grew up in a newspaper family. At age seven I “stuffed papers," because hand assembly was how my parents' small weekly newspaper, on a shoestring budget, managed to get the second section of the paper into the first. I worked in the “back shop” where lead was melted for the “Linotype” to produce the mold or “type slug” for printing. After technology came along with photographic images of type, I worked in “paste-up,” putting news, photos, or ads on the page. As a teenager I performed as photographer, sent scurrying around town to find something–anything–to shoot to fill a page right before deadline. I loved it all.

During the 1960s Civil Rights era when the Ku Klux Klan attempted to organize a Klavern in the parish, the Citizen was thrust into the national spotlight by my father's provocative, anti-Klan editorial titled, "Against The Fall of Night." He told the Klan that there was no role for them to fill and to "Get the hell out of Red River Parish."

The editorial became a catalyst for retaliatory actions against my father, the Citizen, and our family. The KKK burned crosses on our yard and sent death threats. J. Edgar Hoover sent two men in black suits to help ensure the safety of our family. The paper's efforts to expose the secretive activities of the Klan lead to state and national awards and even an informal Honorable Mention from the Pulitzer Prize judges. In the years that followed, our family dinner table became a think tank of journalism students from Centenary, Northwestern and LSU-S, always dropping in to the after-dinner conversation to hang on to every word my father said. The mixture of journalists, students, and friends drank and laughed and debated truths about human behavior, the role of a newspaper, and the public’s right to know. It was, for a poor, rural parish in north Louisiana, an oasis of thought and meaning about human behavior.

After my father's death in March 2009, my brother and I discovered one of dad’s many safe deposit boxes, seemingly untouched for decades.

We found only one item in this obscure box––a cassette tape with a recording of a phone conversation he and I had in 1976 while I was a young graduate student at LSU in Baton Rouge. He was enthusiastically telling me about his election edition, and the usual advertising windfall. He told me about the community, the local and state elections, who was a “good egg” and who couldn’t be trusted. Why didn't I come home? he asked. I should come home to vote. I should come home because of my roots. I should just come home because he missed me, he finally admitted.

Sometime in 1976 my father had wrapped up the audio tape in a piece of brown paper bag and scrawled across the top of it –– “1976: Julie – Forget Me Not.”

Psychology's first duty is, like that of a good journalist, to discover objective facts and truth so that our social systems can use valid information to self- correct. And it would be even better if we could quote some Shakespeare while we're doing it. "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves…"

How could I forget?

[Julie Nelson is a licensed psychologist, journalist, and organizational consultant, and publisher of the Times. She also holds other various 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.]

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Article archive / March 2019

Originally published: March 2019. Volume 10, No. 3. Source pages: 2.

Letters to the Editor

Dr. Nelson,

I have one word to describe a comment from your editorial "It's just a flesh wound" in The Psychology Times, Vol. 10, No. 2, February 2019.

Here is the comment: "It looked like the authors didn't figure out how to separate the science from the social justice goals."

Here is my one word: BRILLIANT!

But I am compelled to add I believe your comment has excellent validity and may be easily generalized to a broader range of "proclamations" put forth by those who obviously err when equating mythical thinking and science.

Steven

J. Steven Welsh, Ph.D. Licensed Psychologist Interim Dean College of Education and Behavioral Sciences Nicholls State University P.O. Box 2053 Thibodaux, LA 70310

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Article archive / March 2019

Originally published: March 2019. Volume 10, No. 3. Source pages: 3.

Gov. Edwards Says State's GDP is Highest on Record, $252 Billion

On February 26 Gov. Edwards issued a statement on Louisiana’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), $252 billion in the third quarter of 2018, which is the highest on record for the state.

“Louisiana enjoyed another quarter of economic growth, with a GDP that is higher than ever recorded. Continued growth is a sign that our economy is getting stronger and headed in the right direction, still we know there is more work to be done,” Gov. Edwards said. “We remain concerned about the impacts of tariffs on our economy and hope that our farmers and agribusinesses will see some relief soon.”

According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Louisiana’s real GDP increased by $2.3 billion from $249.7 billion in the second quarter of 2018 to $252 billion in the third quarter of 2018. Since last year, Louisiana’s GDP increased $15.5 billion, from $236.5 billion in the third quarter of 2017 to $252 billion in the third quarter of 2018.

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Article archive / March 2019

Originally published: March 2019. Volume 10, No. 3. Source pages: 5.

Louisiana Second State in Nation to Open Veterans Centers LaVetCorps Resource Centers to Open in Fall 2019

On February 13, Governor Edwards and Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs (LDVA) Secretary Joey Strickland signed a Memorandum of Understanding with higher education leaders for the development of a new statewide campus veteran center initiative, called the LaVetCorps Program. The gathering took place at Baton Rouge Community College.

The 30 new resource centers will begin opening at higher education institutions across the state in the fall of 2019. Louisiana has about 284,000 veterans.

According to a report from LDVA, the LaVetCorps mission is to empower veterans, families and campus communities to support the veterans returning home from active-duty military service and to gather resources to help them make a successful transition to college and to their local community.

“The men and women who selflessly dedicate their lives to secure the safety and freedoms of our state and nation deserve every opportunity to prepare themselves for the transition to civilian life, and I’m proud of the partnerships that will help them continue to achieve their goals,” said Gov. Edwards at the signing. “This initiative will benefit both veterans and communities and thereby our state.”

Participating in the LaVetCorps initiative are the Louisiana Board of Regents, Louisiana Community and Technical College System (LCTCS), University of Louisiana System, LSU System, and Southern University System. The initiative includes the four Louisiana public college systems and Xavier University of Louisiana.

“The Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs is committed to partnering with agencies that can help us develop innovative ways to help our veterans make a streamlined transition into college life,” said LDVA Secretary Joey Strickland. “These men and women are not your typical college students. They have seen and done things that most cannot relate to, but we at the LDVA can, and we are finding ways to help them be successful in their academic studies through these LaVetCorps vet centers.”

About 8,300 Louisiana college students are veterans.

At the signing of the memorandum, LSU President F. King Alexander said five years ago officials concluded that LSU had about 50 former service members on campus. However, after opening a veterans center two years ago school officials realized they had many more, up to 500, ex-soldiers at LSU, reported the Advocate. "They are on our campuses," Alexander said. "They just don't have a place to go."

According to reports, the LaVetCorps will cost about $520,000 per year. Federal grants are expected to provide $320,000 and the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide $200,000.

Sullivan said about 6,000 students attending community and technical colleges served in the military, with about 1,400 graduating last year.

At each LaVetCorps veteran resource center, an LDVA- trained LaVetCorps navigator, who would also be an AmeriCorps service member, will serve as a peer mentor to student veterans in transition, work to increase student veterans’ access to their earned federal and state benefits, and work to build a vibrant on-campus veteran community. LDVA LaVetCorps navigators will provide training and support to college faculty, staff and administration to increase awareness of student veterans’ needs and veteran culture. LaVetCorps navigators will also organize community service projects benefiting both on- and off- campus veterans.

This spring, the Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs will post job these LAVetCorps navigator job opportunities on its website, www.vetaffairs.la.gov. LDVA hopes to fill these 30 positions with veterans and/or their dependents by August 2019.

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Article archive / February 2019

Originally published: February 2019. Volume 10, No. 2. Source pages: 2.

In Monty Python's comedic satire of hyper-masculinity, King Arthur (riding his invisible horse) approaches a bridge guarded by the Black Knight and politely demands to cross. The two proceed to wage a lively battle until Arthur strikes off one of the Knight's arms. Blood gushes as only it can in British comedy. "Now stand aside worthy adversary," says Arthur.

" ‘tis but a scratch," says the Black Knight.

"A scratch!?" says Arthur. "Your arm's off!"

"I’ve had worse. Come on, you pansy."

The fight continues until Arthur hacks off the Knight's other arm. "You're indeed brave Sir Knight," says Arthur, "but the fight is mine."

"Oh, had enough have you?" taunts the Knight and begins kicking Arthur.

"Look you stupid bastard, you’ve got no arms left."

"It’s just a flesh wound."

The skit continues in comedic gore until the Knight, a stump on the ground, missing all his limbs, is left yelling over his shoulder, "You yellow bastard. Come back here and I'll bite your legs off! The Black Knight never loses!"

The caricature of hyper-masculinity reminds us that the authors of the new American Psychological Association (APA) Guidelines for practice with boys and men have a point––males might need to ease up at times.

But the APA message faltered. What the authors said and how they said it came across to many in the public as an unconvincing scold–– and a demeaning view of men.

I believe there are some reasons for the negative responses we received from the public that could have been prevented.

First, the authors took on too many complicated topics. They tried to address children and adults together, two profoundly different areas of psychology. And then they tackled aspects of racial differences, differences in sexual orientation, transgender issues, socioeconomic differences, then shifted perspectives to sexism, racism, and social status and entitlement. Topics rattled around like marbles in a bucket. Rationales were muddled and arguments unconvincing.

Since authors took gender as their unifying concept (we could see this based on their definitions section which listed gender, cisgender, gender bias, gender role strain, masculine ideology, gender role conflict, oppression, privilege, and gender sensitive), the authors were then trapped into having to cobble everything to gender.

The authors noted that "disparities" between males and females are a concern, but their reasoning seemed strange. So masculinity is why men don't live as long as women? So masculinity is the reason for more cardiovascular disease in men? Masculinity is why men are incarcerated more often than women? The authors were stuck with sounding like these were causes rather than correlations.

An element that helped create a "demeaning" tone, as cited by the public, was how the authors handled base rates. For example, the idea that masculinity is somehow the cause of "violence," when the base rate for violence is very low, and most males who possess a degree of masculinity, are not violent.

Another problem was that the authors omitted important themes that could have added balance and believability to their argument. How do we in today's world discuss men's health and happiness without an in depth look at the benefit of a good marriage? A search of the text revealed not a single use of the word marriage. And what about the staggering exodus of men from the labor market?

The public noted a "pathologizing" of men that could have been soothed by including kudos for the positive masculine. Some of humanity's greatest advances have come from the masculine combined with conscientiousness.

With these and other slants on the topic, the Guidelines appear to be dragged down in scientific rigor. What should be precise, unbiased thinking on such an important, complex topic, fell short. It looked like the authors didn't figure out how to separate the science from the social justice goals.

The Guidelines do not help us with our brand or reputation. The public already doesn't trust us, as Scott Lilienfeld has shown in his work about the public’s skepticism of scientific psychology. The Guidelines may have been a good idea overall, but what we said or how we said it, just did not ring true to many in the public.

I checked this with Pennebaker's linguistic analysis and discovered the public may be right. On the Authenticity scale, 1 to 100, professional scientific writing is low, averaging 24.8. But our Guidelines come in at 2.4. The Authenticity scale relates to honesty in writing, and the absence of self-deception.

The Black Knight isn't the only one with some self-deception at work. Psychology's poor reputation in the public is more than just a flesh wound.

This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.

Article archive / February 2019

Originally published: February 2019. Volume 10, No. 2. Source pages: 2.

We typed "Pubic" rather than "Public Education" but Leslie Todd's journalism background and eagle eye spotted it fast and we corrected it in a second run. We've done this typo before, entertaining our readers

without trying. Send your corrections to:

psychologytimes@drjulienelson.com

This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.