Originally published: . Volume 7, No. 11. Source pages: 7.
Dr. Katie Cherry to Speak at Environment & Health Conference
Dr. Katie Cherry, Louisiana State University (LSU) psychology professor, and executive director of the LSU Life Course and Aging Center, will present at the Environment & Health Conference in November, on issues of Alzheimer’s and dementia.
The Environment and Health Council of Louisiana is partnering with Alzheimer’s Services of the Capital Area, and Pennington Biomedical Research Center will host a half- day conference on November 10, 2016, at the Pennington Conference Center in Baton Rouge. The conference is 8 am to 2 pm, free and open to the public, but registration is required.
“An Update on Alzheimer’s and Other Forms of Dementia: The State We Are In” is the theme and will feature experts in understanding these diseases, treatment and services for those affected. Topics will include understanding dementia, caregiver challenges, elder law issues, detection and treatment options, and lifestyle choices and resources.
Other featured speakers will include Dr. Patrick Gahan of Pennington Biomedical Research Center; Hugh Eley, formerly of Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals; and Linda Melancon, JD, with the Legacy Center of Louisiana, LLC. Additionally, Fit NOLA will provide a presentation on healthy meals during the lunch break.
The Environment and Health Council of Louisiana is a nonprofit organization founded in 1983 to facilitate independent, balanced and factual assessment of health issues related to the environmental and economic wellbeing of Louisiana by providing a forum for developing perspectives on health and environmental issues and assisting the public in understanding those issues.
A volunteer board of directors runs the EHCL. Phillip J. Brantley, PhD, from the Pennington Biomedical Research Center is one of the several board members for E&HCLA. More information at www.ehcla.org
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 7, No. 11. Source pages: 7.
Two nonprofit organizations, Education’s Next Horizon and Orleans Public Education Network (OPEN), that work to improve outcomes in Louisiana public schools, have released a report, Top 10 Education Issues in Louisiana. The group hopes to help guide policy and practices to improve quality of life in La. The top ten are:
1) Expanding Access and Quality in Early Childhood; 2) The Meaning of Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA); 3) Filling the Workforce Gap; 4) From Common Core to Louisiana Student Standards; 5) The Rise of Afterschool Programs; 6) Teacher Preparation and Effectiveness: 7) The State of Choice; 8) School Discipline; 9) School Funding and the Changing Demography of Public Education; and 10) Higher Education and Postsecondary Education Funding
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 7, No. 11. Source pages: 8.
Dr. William Daigle and Dr. Brenda Dawson are lending their expertise to the LD community. They are working to educate colleagues and the public about the mental health issues for those who struggle with learning disabilities, an often over looked connection that has major consequences for children, parents, and many adults.
Daigle and Dawson are board members of the Greater Baton Rouge Learning Disability Coalition whose mission is to educate, support and facilitate information between parents, teachers and helping professionals about the signs and symptoms of learning disabilities, diagnosis and treatments. The group also helps connect those in need with resources available in the Greater Baton Rouge area.
The issues addressed include dyslexia, ADHD, autism and the mental health issues that often coincide with learning problems.
The Coalition is a fairly new organization, Dr. Dawson said, and founded by Georgann Mire, president of the group and an educational consultant in the Baton Rouge area. Mire is also on the Board of Directors for the Louisiana Branch of the International Dyslexia Association and works in the Office of Disability Services at Baton Rouge Community College.
The Coalition is the evolution of the group that has organized the annual CW Austin Learning Disabilities Conference.
“Having dyslexia, even mild dyslexia, can lead to a lot of psychological issues,” Dr. Dawson said, “feelings of inadequacy, fear of going to school, acting out behaviors to take attention away from the reading problem, fears of tackling college, and so on,” she said. “More than one parent of my child patients have told me that as a child, one of the most traumatic things that ever happened to them was being called upon to read aloud in class.”
Dr. Daigle agrees with the seriousness of the issues. “Learning disabilities are often comorbid with other conditions, such as ADHD and anxiety,” he said. “In other words, learning disabilities affect more than just academics. They affect risk for other mental illnesses and affect life outcomes. For example, prisons contain many individuals with learning disabilities. On the flip side, the business and arts side of the world is filled with people with dyslexia who are amazing innovators, managers, executives, and performers,” he said.
The importance of the area is one reason D’Aigle and Dawson have linked up with the Coalition and how important it is to help educate others.
“I most enjoy the part where we educate teachers and parents about what it is like to live day to day with dyslexia and how their child/student can be helped to be the best learner possible,” Dawson said.
“I feel useful,” she explained, “when parents gain insight into how they have been hurting their child by punishing for poor school performance. I also enjoy turning them on to all of the compensatory technology out there, that helps with reading and writing, and even math, so that even if the child has a ‘disability’ that child does not have to be ‘handicapped.’”
Dr. Daigle also has a passion for working with children with learning disabilities. “It is one of the few areas in psychology where you can actually ‘see’ the disability in the testing data,” he said. “Watching children improve when given the proper instruction and support is exciting and energizing. Helping teachers and parents understand how learning challenges affect daily life provides a meaningful service to people who often suffer tremendously.”
The next C.W. Austin Learning Disabilities Conference will be held February 4, 2017 from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm at the State Police Headquarters on Independence Blvd in Baton Rouge. CE credit for psychologists is available at a nominal fee. The conference is completely free for parents and teachers.
“At this year's conference,” Dawson said, “Bill Daigle and I will present on parents communicating with school personnel and visa versa, so that the child's disability is understood and that everyone is on board regarding accommodations/modifications they can provide to help ensure that each child will be successful in school.”
Dr. Dawson received her PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Montana and completed her residency at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. Formerly a professor of psychology, she has been in full- time private practice in Baton Rouge since 1992, specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of children and adolescents with psychological and learning disabilities. As a member of the Board she plans to help develop workshops of in-depth professional development for psychologists.
Dr. Daigle is a clinical psychologist in private practice and a native of Baton Rouge. He has been practicing in Baton Rouge since 1984. He does psychoeducational testing as well as psychotherapy, and specializes in children and families affected by learning disabilities. He has been involved with this learning disabilities conference since its inception and is also a board member.
(L to R) William Daigle, PhD., Georgann Mire, BFA, and Brenda Dawson, PhD, in the planning of a conference for the Greater Baton Rouge Learning Disability Coalition. (Photo courtesy Dr. Dawson.)
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 7, No. 11. Source pages: 9.
The Louisiana Counseling Association held its annual convention September 25 through 27, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Baton Rouge. The theme of this year’s convention was, “Diversity: the Spice of Life.”
Over 1,100 people attended the event, which hosted Dr. Catherine Roland, American Counseling Association President, and Dr. David Kaplan, the Chief Professional Officer, said Executive Director Ms. Diane Austin.
Dr. Roland presented two workshops, one on “Mentoring Professional Women in Counseling: Ethical Mentoring Toward Leadership,” where she looked at strategies for professional women to bring women into the light of leadership. She also presented, “Creating and Sustaining Families over the Lifespan.”
Dr. Kaplan presented, “Raising the Bar: Critical New Concepts in the 2014 American Counseling Association (ACA) Code of Ethics and he examined the 2014 revision of the ACA Code of Ethics substantially raises the bar for the ethical practice of professional counselors.
Ms. Austin said the association was delighted to host Drs. Roland and Kaplan, and also to host Dr. Courtland Lee, Chicago School of Professional Psychology, Dr. Damien Thomas and Dr. Kenisha Gordon, Mississippi College.
Courtland Lee, Ph.D., Professor, The Chicago School of Professional Psychology, presented, “Saving Our Society: Professional Counselors as Agents of Change.” He looked at the present direction for culturally competent counseling as a force for promoting advocacy and social justice.
“LCA asked its members to think about multi-cultural issues and the role of Louisiana's mental health providers in today's political and social environment,” said Ms. Austin, “in developing this year’s theme.
Among the many presenting at this years conference wer Corey Porche, M.S., LPC, Camelia House Counseling and Education; Emily Sandoz, Ph.D., Professor, University of Louisiana –Lafayette; and Brian Canfield, Ed.D.
Also presenting were Christine Anthony, Ph.D., Coordinator, School Counseling Program, McNeese State; George Hebert, Ph.D., Psychologist, Louisiana State University Health Science Center; Laura Rohm, Elizabeth Turansky, and Mazie Martisius, Masters Candidates, Louisiana State University Health Science Center.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 7, No. 11. Source pages: 9.
The School of Human Resource Education & Workforce Development at the Louisiana State University’s College of Human Science & Education will host Dr. Russell Matthews on November 17 at 3 pm in the LSU International Room of the Student Union.
Matthews will speak on "Finding Worklife Balance: Are you really that off-kilter?" Matthews co-lead the Industrial-Organizational program for the LSU Psychology Department with Dr. Tracey Rizzuto until 2014. Rizzuto is Associate Director of the School of Human Resource & Workforce Development.
Dr. Matthews' new book is entitled, Research Perspectives on Work and the Transition to Motherhood (Springer, Inc., 2016)
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 7, No. 10. Source pages: 4.
Governor Edwards is suing Louisiana Attorney General, Jeff Landry, over a clause in state contracts protecting LGBT individuals, according to several news sources.
Earlier this year, Edwards issued an Executive Order requiring LGBT anti-discrimination language in state contracts.The Attorney General, Jeff Landry, has refused to allow the state to hire outside attorneys if the contracts include anti-discrimination language.
According to a report in Associated Press by Melinda Deslatte, Landry argued that the Executive Order that Edwards issued creates a new protected class and is not within the Governor’s authority.
The report said that Edwards and Landry met but couldn’t agree. "He basically told me if I wanted him to approve those contracts that I would have to sue him. So I'm going to oblige him on that," 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 7, No. 10. Source pages: 18.
A series of workshops for those adults, teens, and youngsters affected by the flood, will be offered on November 5, 12, and 19, for adults, and on December 3, 10, and 17 for teens and children.
Organizers Dr. Darlyne Nemeth and Dr. Charles Burchell are developing the Emotional Resiliency Workshops to help flood victims develop ways for positive coping. The workshops are hosted by the Louisiana Psychological Association.
Resiliency is a term that includes multiple aspects of positive coping, such as response flexibility, communication, humor, problem-solving, help-seeking, and creative-thinking, and others.
Psychologists helping to develop the workshops include Drs. Lucinda DeGrange, Andrew Yarborough, ValaRay Irvin, Thomandra Sam, Fernando Pastrana, and Mr. Stedwin Coleman, said organizer Dr. Charles Burchell.
Dr. Nemeth has been nationally and internationally recognized for her Hurricane Anniversary Wellness Workshops. She has a background in community psychology, and involves government, religious, and professional organizations, and uses a wellness model of group intervention.
She and her staff offered workshops that helped prepare participants for the emotional reactions at the anniversary dates for Katrina. Post- workshop data has indicated reduced anxiety, improved coping and evidence of reattachment, as reported in APA Division 49 news.
Nemeth was invited by Peking University, the Chinese Psychological Society, and the Chinese Association for Mental Health to present a workshop at the ‘08 World Congress for Psychotherapy in Beijing, China, where she trained psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers in anniversary reaction interventions and provided a training workshop for up to 3,000 of these mental health professionals. She has served as the World Council for Psychotherapy (WCP) delegate to the United Nations, and worked on the development of a worldwide Disaster/Trauma Relief professional certification process.
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A task force created by Senate Concurrent Resolution 65 during the last legislative session, and authored by Senator Fred Mills, created the “Task Force on Meaningful Oversight.” The goal was to examine possible structures for oversight of the 25 healthcare boards under the Department of Health and Hospitals (DHH). The effort was to deal with the fact that the boards operate autonomously from the department with “virtually no detectable oversight; …” said Senator Mills.
The taskforce met in August and mediators Stephen Russo, Chair, and Attorney Angelique Duhon Freel, Deputy Director Civil Division, Louisiana Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General, gave boards a list of questions to answer.
The LSBEP composed its responses and published them in the minutes from a special meeting held September 7. The following are selected questions from Russo and Freel, and answers from the psychology board.
Q: Mechanism, if any, for removal of board members;
A: If the behavior of a board member was found to be unlawful or unethical, the Board would notify either the Inspector General, Attorney General, Board of Ethics and/or Governor’s Office (Boards and Commissions). However, there is no mechanism for “removal” that is specifically written in the psychology statute.
Q: Does the board issue cease and desist letters, and what is the authority, process, and the due process procedures;
A: Under the authority referenced below, [§2351] the board does investigate complaints against unlicensed individuals.
Q: Is there any additional oversight for the rulemaking process;
A: Oversight for Rulemaking occurs at several levels as follows: a. Discussion and opportunity for public comment at Board Meetings prior to filing rules; b. Publication of proposed rules on the Board’s website and also in the LA Register; c. Scheduled hearings or opportunity for public comment or to request hearing on proposed rules; d. Review by the Legislative Fiscal Office which specifically includes review on the following:
Q: What type of training do the board members receive once they are appointed to the board;
A: 1) LSBEP has a Board Member Orientation packet which contains Policy, Procedures, Statutes, Rules, Administrative Procedures Act, Open Meeting Laws, Keesey’s Parliamentary Procedures; 2) Board members are required to annually take online ethics training; 3) New Board Members attend a national association meeting (ASPPB) where they attend a New Board Member Orientation; 4) The Board is a member of the Federation of Associations of Regulatory Boards (FARB) which provides training on regulatory issues to Members. In 2014, LA Board’s organized a FARB training for Members and Administration.
Q: Is there currently any training done to educate members on how to recognize actual antitrust issues;
A: The Board is a member of FARB and has organized training at its own expense to educate its membership on antitrust issues. The Board has also begun implementation of a new policy for antitrust training to be conducted annually by the Board’s General Counsel at its Long Range Planning meeting. Q: What areas of training
would the board members like to receive;
A: Any additional training offered by the state agencies that oversee open meetings laws, ethics; understanding the regulatory role versus professional advocacy, would be a welcomed opportunity.
Q: What is the board’s position on including more non-market participants as members on the board;
A: Although the Board would not be opposed to adding ex-officio members serving in an advisory capacity, there is a concern that the addition of any non-market participants on the board would reduce or eliminate altogether the judicial deference afforded to licensing boards by the courts.
Q: What is the board’s position on needed changes in light of the North Carolina Dental case: does the board think it is applicable, what are the board’s concerns, and proposed remedies;
A: The North Carolina Dental case has caused the Board to scrutinize its statutes, regulations, policies and procedures concerning antitrust issues. This review has facilitated the implementation of better defined procedures for handling complaints against non-market participants (including the adoption of the FARB Model for Identifying and Addressing Antitrust Issues); and implementation of an annual antitrust training for members. However, beyond this, it is the Board’s position that the statutes and regulations are clear regarding the scope and limitations of the board to regulate the practice of psychology.
Q: Does the board take the position that there is currently a state supervisor who reviews decisions of the Board; if so, describe and explain whether that person has the power to reverse or modify the board’s decision;
A: It is the Board’s position that, regarding market participants, there is oversight through rule- making, and adjudication of a complaint.
In complaint adjudication, a complainant is ultimately the Board’s witness against a licensee. The parties in an Administrative Complaint include the Board and the Licensee. In decisions which are adverse to the licensee, this Board is required to follow the LA Administrative Procedures Act and offer an opportunity for hearing. In these cases, an administrative law judge oversees the decisions of the board. An opportunity to appeal these decisions are (sic) afforded under La. R.S. §2353. E.
Q: Suggestions for active supervision by the state on market-sensitive decisions;
A: It is the Board’s opinion that the board’s policies and training in conjunction with oversight currently in place (i.e. rule-making and injunctive preceding’s (sic) in the District Courts) is sufficient.
Q: Position on creation of a superagency that would review market-sensitive decisions and would approve, modify or veto the board’s action;
A: The Board maintains that adequate oversight currently exists in market-sensitive decisions involving non-market participants (i.e. the District Attorney; Judicial District Courts; LaRegister; Legislative Fiscal Office; Health and Welfare Oversight Committees).
Q: Is there a concern with participation by board members that wear a dual hat/association appointee, etc.;
A: Participating as an officer in an Association could present a conflict of interest where the Association protects the interests of the market participant and the Board protects the interests of the consumer. There may be ethical and/or legal considerations in dual office holding in some cases. The Board must rely on the Governor’s Office of Boards and Commissions to review and vet these matters and potential conflicts of interest. This Board is not currently dealing with such concerns. Additionally, the Board seeks to improve relations with its association to seek and support the Board’s opinion on legislation that may promote the profession, but potentially harm the public.
Q: Are there specific board prohibitions that address conflicts of interests that may exist for board members;
A: The Board has no prohibition specifically written in its regulations. However, it is the Board’s policy to follow the Open Meetings and Ethics laws.
(The complete text of questions and answers can be found in the minutes of the September 7 meeting, available at http://www.lsbep.org/wp- content/uploads/Minutes-9-7-16- Final-Approved-.pdf)
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 7, No. 10. Source pages: 5.
The Louisiana Behavior Analyst Board (LBAB) published new Rules for continuing education, ethics, and supervision requirements, published in the September Louisiana Register.
The Rule states that each licensed behavior analyst and state certified assistant behavior analyst is required to complete continuing education hours within biennial reporting periods. For the reporting periods that begin December 2016 and henceforth, 32 credits of continuing professional development will be required in the biennial reporting period for licensed behavior analysts and 20 credits for state certified assistant behavior analysts.
The LBAB noted that it maintains that licensed behavior analysts, state certified assistant behavior analysts and registered line technicians shall follow the national Behavior Analyst Certification Board’s (BACB) Professional and Ethical Compliance Code, approved by the BACB Board of Directors and with the effective date of January 1, 2016.
In a section on Supervision Requirements for State Certified Assistant Behavior Analysts (SCABA) the Rules notes that a state certified assistant behavior analyst shall assist a licensed behavior analyst (LBA) in the delivery of applied behavior analysis in compliance with all state and federal statutes, regulations, and rules. In the section on Supervisor Responsibilities, the Rule notes that qualifying supervision shall ensure that the quality of the services provided by the SCABA to his employer and to consumers is in accordance with accepted standards, including the guidelines for responsible conduct for behavior analysts and professional disciplinary and ethical standards for the Behavior Analyst Certification Board or other nation credentialing bodies as approved by the board.
The full text of the new Rules can be reviewed in the Register for September, found at http://www.doa.la.gov/Pages/osr/reg/regs2016.aspx
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 7, No. 10. Source pages: 7.
The U.S. Small Business Administration, Louisiana Economic Development and Louisiana Small Business Development Centers have partnered to provide support services to citizens with businesses impacted by the flooding.
Business Recovery Centers open include:
Baton Rouge: Louisiana State Archives, 3851 Essen Lane (near Interstate 12), Mondays through Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Prairieville: BancorpSouth Bank, 13423 Louisiana 73, Mondays through Fridays from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Denham Springs: Arts Council of Livingston Parish, 133 N Hummell Street, Mondays through Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sundays from noon to 4 p.m.
Baker: Baker Workforce Development Center, 3262 Baker Blvd., Mondays through Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Lafayette: Louisiana Immersive Technologies Enterprise (LITE) Executive Conference Room, 537 Cajundome Blvd., Mondays through Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
SBA representatives will provide information on disaster loans consultants can provide program information, answer questions and help businesses apply for financial help.
Parishes currently designated in the federal disaster declaration: Acadia, Ascension, Avoyelles, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Evangeline, Iberia, Iberville, Jefferson Davis, Lafayette, Livingston, Pointe Coupee, St. Helena, St. James, St. Landry, St. Martin, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Vermilion, Washington, West Baton Rouge and West Feliciana parishes. Damage assessments are continuing for other parishes, reported LED.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 7, No. 10. Source pages: 8.
Dr. Tracey Rizzuto is co-organizing the She Geauxs! Women’s Leadership Development Conference, an effort to help women understand and build their leadership ability. The conference is to be held November 16 and is part of the College of Human Sciences and Education’s Leadership Development Institute, recently approved by the Louisiana Board of Regents.
Rizzuto is Associate Director of the School of Human Resource Education & Workforce Development, in the College of Human Sciences & Education at the Baton Rouge campus of Louisiana State University. She is an Ind.-Org. psychologist.
According to the Baton Rouge Business Report, Rizzuto initiated the creation of the conference because she found a missing element in typical and local leadership conferences when it came to women’s development as leaders.
“Women in male-dominated fields often lose out on important socialization and mentor opportunities, and having those needs met elsewhere is important to women’s continued development,” Rizzuto said to the Business Report.
The She Geauxs conference is designed to give attendees help in understanding the psychology of their individual leadership styles and traits, and to pinpoint strengths, weaknesses, and areas for individual and professional development.
She Geauxs! is hosting a networking event as a lead up to the conference, Wednesday, October 12, 6 pm to 8 pm at Blend, 304 Laurel Street, in Baton Rouge, Dr. Rizzuto explained to the Times.
She also said that there are some openings still available for volunteers and LSU Students and staff are eligible for discounted attendance in exchange for volunteering.
The She Geauxs conference is part of the Leadership Development Institute and has been in development since 2014, according to the Business Report. The School of Human Resource Education & Workforce Development interim director, Reid Bates, said that the a need for leadership and leaders’ abilities to adapt to new challenges was needed for Louisiana, said the report.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 7, No. 10. Source pages: 9.
Tulane’s Dr. Gray Awarded Prestigious Young Investigator Grant from BBR Foundation
The Brain and Behavior Research Foundation has awarded Tulane’s Dr. Sarah Gray the NARSAD Young Investigator Grant for her research Parasympathetic and Behavioral Synchrony and Child Emotion Dysregulation Following Trauma.
Gray, an assistant professor of psychology at Tulane, explained to Tulane News that she and her research team will focus on “children’s ability to regulate their emotions and behavior.
Brain and Behavior Research Foundation notes that The Young Investigator Grant supports the most promising young scientists conducting neurobiological research.
A NARSAD grant is one of the highest distinctions in the field of mental health research. Fewer than 200 researchers receive the prestigious award during the year, noted the Foundation.
Gray and her team will have up to $70,000 over two years to study children who have been exposed to violence or other traumatic events, reported Barri Bronston, Tulane News. Gray’s team includes collaborators in the Tulane Department of Psychiatry and the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine.
“Studies show that children under 5 years old are exposed to these events at rates that are actually higher than older children,” Gray told Bronston. “And we know that many children who are exposed to these events show lingering effects for long periods of time.”
Gray said that she and her team will be examining how biology, behavior and the environment work together. “We’re hoping that when we understand the mechanisms that underlie regulation difficulties among children exposed to trauma, we can better support parents to support children,” she told Bronston.
Dr. Sarah Gray will be presenting with Dr. Courtenay Harding, “Defining Resilience, understanding bio-markers and how to use them, and promoting resilience” and “What is Resilience?” at the 2016 National Dialogues on Behavioral Health (NDBH) annual conference in New Orleans to be held at the Renaissance Arts Hotel from October 23 through 26.
Dr. Sarah Gray at recent presentation. She has been awarded the NARSAD Young Investigator Grant.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 7, No. 10. Source pages: 10.
by Alvin G. Burstein USAir Flight 1549 was airborne only six minutes before crash landing in the Hudson River January 15th, 2009. The film, Sully, directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Tom Hanks is also short, about an hour and a half. It is a biopic about Chesley Sullenberger, the pilot of the plane who was central to the astonishing survival of the one hundred and fifty-five persons aboard.
The film is remarkable in a number of ways. In it, Hanks confirms his virtuosity in portraying a particular kind of protagonist. Rather than hero of Greek tragedies, a great man brought down by a flaw in his character, or an epic hero whose virtues inspire us, he gives us a Sully worried about making ends meet and scrupulous about routine, but whose rule– bound commitment to professionalism becomes a virtue.
Hanna Arendt, writing about Eichmann's trial for his actions during the Holocaust, coined the phrase "banality of evil." She was referring to the capacity for enormous wrong–doing that might be a consequence of a bureaucratic commitment to following orders or rules.
What Sully illustrates is that remarkable achievement may ensue from a similar source, perhaps a sort of banality of virtue. Sully describes his behavior, and that of his crew, as "just doing their jobs." While he was piloting the plane in its descent into the Hudson, his co-pilot was, as Sully ordered, thumbing through the book of procedures kept in every cockpit, and following the stipulated procedures. Perhaps this kind of banality is a positive one that could be understood as involved in what we understand by the term “professionalism.”
Another striking aspect of the film is its ability to generate suspenseful tension about the outcome of the six–minute ordeal, despite the successful outcome being well-known, indeed, celebrated.
The director, Clint Eastwood skillfully accomplishes the feat by interleaving bits of Sully's early life, and, more importantly, pieces of the activity at the air traffic control center and on the rescue crafts, as they struggle to put together a response to Flight 1549's loss of engine power. Further, and perhaps more powerfully, Eastwood portrays Sully as having to deal with crises beyond that of piloting a powerless plane over a heavily populated area. Sully must later struggle with nightmares and feelings of self-doubt, elements which are now pathologized as Post Traumatic Stress disorder.
In the film, he must also struggle against an effort by the National Transportation Safety Board to conclude that he erred in ditching the expensive plane, needlessly imposing the risks of a water crash landing on the passengers and crew, that he could have taken the plane to a safer airport landing.
Sully, in his autobiographical account, does describe some of the mental distress with which he had to cope in the aftermath of the event. One might wonder if what he describes benefits from being pathologized in our medical culture as opposed to being understood as part of the psychological process of emotional assimilation of painful material.
On the other hand, there is no evidence in Sully's account, or in other accounts that I have found, of a "grilling" of Sully by the NTSB beyond the normal review that would ensue after the crash landing any commercial plane. I assume that Eastwood's invention of these activities is intended to introduce another level of suspense, and to increase Sully's heroism. The pilot becomes not just a very proficient professional, but a David routing the Goliath of bureaucracy and commercialism.
Good movie making, but one that obscures the interesting possibility of deepening the meaning of professionalism.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 7, No. 10. Source pages: 11.
In 2010 the Psychology Board created a Memorandum of Understanding with the state Medical Board. The agreement instructed the Psychology Board to cooperate with the Med. Board for regulating MPs (medical psychologists) who retained their license with the Psychology Board.
However, there was no provision for the Medical Board to cooperate with the Psychology Board for regulating the practice of Psychology for MPs licensed solely under the Medical Board.
One board member referred to it as “the pecking order.”
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 7, No. 10. Source pages: 12.
In 2010 and 2011, members of the Louisiana Psychological Association passed a motion to “explore ways to address the dual licensure issues created by Act 251, and “open a dialogue” with various groups, including the psychology board.
In late 2011, the then LPA President, Phil Griffin, asked the psychology board to discuss the issue. The board told Griffin, “This is a legislative matter and is not the responsibility of the LSBEP to change.” We don’t legislate, we regulate, was the board’s response.
But the board would prove to be an active participant in legislation. Only a few months later the board would launch an aggressive effort to bring Behavior Analysts under their regulatory control. It ended badly for psychologists.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.