Originally published: . Volume 7, No. 9. Source pages: 16.
Drs. Harding, Gray, Osofsky, Foreman and others NDBH Conference on Resilience, New Orleans, October 23 – 26
The 2016 National Dialogues on Behavioral Health (NDBH) will hold its 57th annual conference in New Orleans at the Renaissance Arts Hotel from October 23 through 26. The conference theme is "Promoting Individual, Family and Community Mental Wellness and Resilience”.
The focus of the conference is to identify short- and long-term solutions to maintaining mental wellness by applying research-based approaches for communities and across the lifespan of individuals and their families.
Local experts will join national speakers in a variety of workshops and pre-conference presentations.
Dr. Courtenay Harding and Dr. Sarah Gray will present Defining Resilience, understanding bio-markers and how to use them, and promoting resilience” and “What is Resilience?” They will discuss the “emerging science of neurobiological, genetic adaptations for research-based therapeutic interventions for trauma and stress to promote mental wellness and resilience for individuals, families and communities.” They will also discuss risk and protective factors and summarize how people repair the biopsychosocial damage left by trauma and other life events, and explain how systems, services, families, consumers, and communities can help reclaim lives
Dr. Joy Osofsky will join Ingrid Donato of SAMHSA to present “Challenges and building resiliency over the lifespan.” The presenters will look at how resilience can be promoted at different stages of life, from early childhood through old age. Participants will be learn how develop interventions that promote resilience in early childhood, teens, adults, and for all genders and a variety of cultural groups.
Dr. Mimi McFaul and April Foreman will present, “The Role of the Media.” The presenters will discuss social and mass media campaigns addressing critical factors targeting individual and community resilience, the role of social media and public health, suicide, and other health issues, potential applications of social media in mental health resilience and recovery, and how grassroots social media movements can significantly drive innovation and research in mental health.
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. 8. Source pages: 2.
Leadership in a Storm-Driven World, by J. Nelson
“When the world is storm-driven and the bad that happens and the worse that threatens are so urgent as to shut out everything else from view, then we need to know all the strong fortresses of the spirit which men have built through the ages.”
The classical Greek scholar, Edith Hamilton was writing in her preface to The Greek Way, and World War II was darkening on the social horizon. She studied the simplicity of the writings of Greek poets and philosophers, about wisdom and truth.
“The eternal perspectives are being blotted out, and our judgment of immediate issues will go wrong unless we bring them back,” Hamilton wrote, and cited that Socrates agreed. We “wander in error” unless we “seek the true and divine.”
Hamilton, and also Socrates for that matter, could have been talking about mindfulness, or slow think, or statistical, scientific problem-solving.
I’ve been grateful and honestly just a bit surprised by the healthy leadership expressed by our Governor through these turbulent and dangerous times, these “storm-driven” days in our state. Gov. Edwards communicated with messages that called upon us to remember the principles that are the foundations of our society: peaceful resolution of conflicts, justice, truth, and more subtly, our higher power, our tolerance, our patience.
Leadership in this country seems more challenging to me than ever before because of several issues. We are more divided into subgroups than I can ever remember. Leaders seem less qualified and less competent and more politically opportunistic than I can ever remember. Technology has created a virtual world with an overwhelming amount of information that is both speeded up and at the same time truncated. The news media seems more removed from its core values, than I ever thought possible. This stewpot is what we human beings are basing our perceptions, opinions and decisions upon.
I was horrified when I first viewed the cell phone video of the police-involved death of Mr. Sterling. My initial reaction was, “Oh my God, they just shot that poor man.”
But then I watched it again. And then read the audio transcript, and the accounts of the witnesses and the analysis of two experts. Then I looked again at the video. Things didn’t look as simple or as clear to me as the first time I watched. I saw more things that don’t make sense, I had more questions.
I have no idea what the DOJ will find in their investigation, if the officers were incompetent or if they did something illegal, or if they were within the law and behaved in self-defense.
I am glad that the country is trying to understand if there is injustice toward minorities in policing and looking at policing in general. I’m glad for the public to be trying to find out the facts. I’m glad for science being applied to our problems and wish we were better at our jobs.
I do know that human perception is terribly flawed, and that our brains, as Nobel Prize winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman says, are machines designed to jump to conclusions.
I also know that subgroups can add to this by promoting group- think, which is more and more the rule rather than the exception, as I was once taught. We are creatures designed to accurately perceive reality, and at the same time to actively distort it, depending on the situation, as evolutionary biologist Robert Trivers has explained. Distorting information is not just the trait of a neurotic, it is human nature. It’s everyone’s human nature.
It is nice to see a leader, our Governor, that communicated with the “fortresses of the spirit” underlying his words. I wish he had been speaking in Kansas City.
We have psychologists who are making tremendous contributions. But I believe the psychology community can do more to help–– to help our citizens, our leaders, and ourselves. With all we know about this area, dual mind, motivated reasoning, flaws in human judgment, and on and on, we can help in building more slow-think, mindfulness, and science into our modern society.
I think we can do this. And in a storm-driven world, I think we must.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Police officers from across the nation, in formal attire, packed the 1,500 capacity sanctuary at Istrouma Baptist Church on Saturday July 23, and overflowed into a second building where the services were streamed. After eulogies concluded and ceremonial guns were fired, East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Deputy Brad Garafola’s casket, draped in the flag, was placed into a horse- drawn carriage.
The tall, jet-black horses walked slowly down a flag-studded lane out to Airline Highway, where crowds lined the boulevard and overpasses in sweltering summer heat to honor Deputy Garafola, one of three officers killed in the deadly July 17 ambush.
The people waved their American flags at the almost endless stream of police cars and motorcycles, and chanted, “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”
A Stunned Community
As a stunned community grieved, and the Governor asked for unity and calm in a community dealing with multiple, complex issues. These are now seen to include: race relations, policing, mental health, veterans, acts of political extremism, coping with trauma and loss.
Governor John Bel Edwards said in a column in the Advocate, “We are all in this together, regardless of race, religion or socio-economic background. As Louisianans and Americans, all of us must work to bridge the divide that is causing violence and hatred to tear communities apart.”
With officers killed in Dallas and Baton Rouge, a report released last week by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund noted that officer deaths have increased 78 percent, despite a downward trend since the 1970s.
“This is perhaps the most difficult and dangerous time in American policing history,” said Terry Cunningham, President of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, soon after the Baton Rouge ambush. “It’s been a heartbreaking week for law enforcement, and we have to call for an end of this violence against police,” he said, as reported in the Washington Post.
Mixed Views and Emotions
The anti-police brutality movement, with civil rights leaders pointing to the series of police-involved deaths of black men, and racial bias, has gained national prominence.
Others say that there has been a “militarization” of police. In a 2014 report by the ACLU, authors outlined how the “war on drugs” and “war on terror” is moving the police culture more toward battlefield tactics, and a greater impact on minorities. The ACLU report found that the people impacted were 39 percent black, 20 percent white, and 11 percent Latino.
Still others point to law enforcement as the dumping ground for all of society’s problems. “We’re asking cops to do too much in this country,” said Dallas Police Chief David Brown at a press conference after five officers were killed. “We are. Every societal failure, we put it off on the cops to solve. Not enough mental health funding, let the cops handle it. … Here in Dallas we got a loose dog problem. Let’s have the cops chase loose dogs. Schools fail, let’s give it to the cops. That’s too much to ask. Policing was never meant to solve all those problems.”
But whether police are racially biased remains a subject of continuing debate by researchers. In one study published in Injury Prevention, researchers found that police were not more likely to injure black and Hispanic people when stopped, but were more likely to stop them.
A report in the New York Times cited the finding that police officers have the same unconscious biases toward minorities that the general population does, and cited a study by Center for Policing Equity that found that police were 3.6 times as likely to use force with blacks.
Harvard economist Roland Fryer, who has published extensively on racial issues, and who is black, also found that while black and Hispanic civilians were significantly more likely to be handled in a rough manner, even when obedient toward the officers. But, Fryer did not find racial bias in the use of lethal force. His work is causing controversy.
What is clear is that encounters with the police can be dangerous. Injuries inflicted by police accounted for 3.3 percent of all injuries resulting from an attack by another person, and the deaths by police accounted for about 6.5 percent of all homicides, according to one of the authors in Injury Prevention and reported in the Washington Post.
The Shooting of Mr. Sterling
The tinderbox of issues erupted in Baton Rouge when two white officers responded to a call about an armed man, early on July 5. Mr. Alton Sterling was shot to death during the arrest and after someone shouted, “He’s got a gun.” Bystanders recorded portions of the encounter where Mr. Sterling was shot while being restrained face up on the ground.
The recordings were widely viewed and sparked protests and an outcry from around the country, adding to a string of recorded police shootings since Ferguson, Missouri.
Unconfirmed threats toward Baton Rouge police were circulated on the web, and protests in the city became intense.
Governor Edwards, said he had “serious concerns” about what he saw on the video and asked the U.S. Department of Justice and FBI to lead the investigation into Sterling’s death.
With tensions high Gov. Edwards asked “… leaders in the faith-based community as well as our local and state elected officials to work together to continue to call for peace and calm across our community as details continue to unfold.”
“I know protests are going on, and I am urging everyone to remain peaceful. One thing is for sure – another violent act or another family torn apart is not the answer,” Edwards said.
Gavin Long Comes to Baton Rouge
But on July 17, Gavin Long, a black man from Kansas City, came to Baton Rouge and ambushed police, killing officers Brad Garafola, Matthew Gerald, and Montrell Jackson, and wounding three others, one critically. It was Long’s 29th birthday.
He had served in the military for five years as a data network specialist, spending eight months in Iraq. According to the Kansas City Star, Long’s mother said her son was diagnosed with PTSD, and said that the VA determined that his PTSD was not related to his military service.
A report from CNN notes that Long had filled a prescription for Ativan, and had prescriptions for Valium and Lunesta.
Long’s mother has said she urged him to seek treatment at the VA but she reported that he declined because, “… they do not care about anything except the one percent,” and he felt that the VA would not help him. Long’s mother produced a letter from the VA saying that Long’s medical conditions, including PTSD, was not related to his military service, according to the Star.
Long had changed his name to Cosmo Ausar Setepenra, according to the CNN, and he posted on uTube with messages about “bloodshed.” In one he said, “If y’all want to keep protesting do that, but the serious ones, the real ones, the alpha ones, we know what it’s gonna take. It’s only fighting back or money, that’s all they care about. Revenue and blood. Revenue and blood.”
Long identified himself as part of the Washitaw Nation, a black nationalist movement that was once targeted by the FBI, and characterized by federal courts as fictional, reported the Washington Post.
According to the report, Long followed several conspiracy groups devoted to government surveillance and monitoring. One email, said the report, linked him to an organization that helps those being abused by “… remote brain experimentation, …” The FBI is said to be investigating the claim that Long made that he was a member of the Nation of Islam.
Civil rights leaders denounced the act. Rev. Jesse Jackson said that for decades black activists have called for justice but have never advocated attacks on police officers. “Shooting police is not a civil rights tactic,” said Jackson, in a Washington Post report.
Postings on Facebook by Fatally Shot Officer
Officer Montrell Jackson, a black Baton Rouge Police officer who also died in the July 17 attack, had just days before posted on Facebook to express his thoughts after the Dallas ambush and the Baton Rouge protests.
“In uniform I get nasty hateful looks and out of uniform some consider me a threat,” he wrote. “I’m tired physically and emotionally.”
He expressed his love for Baton Rouge and wrote that he wondered if the city loved him back after Sterling’s death, the Times-Picayune reported. “Please don’t let hate infect your heart,” Jackson wrote.
After Officer Jackson was killed, his sister was quoted by the Washington Post to say, “It’ coming to the point where no lives matter.”
If you or someone you know feels overwhelmed by events and needs help, call the crisis line at 225-924-3900. Or call the national suicide prevention line at 1-800-273-TALK.
The flag-draped casket of East Baton Rouge Parish Sherriff’s Deputy Brad Garafola, killed in the July 17 ambush, is conveyed by a horse-drawn carriage from the grounds of Istrouma Baptist Church. American flags placed along the lane are reflected in the carriage windows.
Photos above are of services, open to the public, for Baton Rouge Sherriff’s Deputy Brad Garafola, held at Istrouma Baptist Church in Baton Rouge.
Officers from the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office, outside the church at Deputy Garafola’s services.
Officers from the New Orleans Sherriff’s Department, leaving the services for Deputy Garafola. Officers from all across the country attended, some reported from all fifty states.
Officers in formal dress from all over nation and Canada attended the services for Deputy Garafola. The 1,500-person sanctuary overflowed to a second large building.
Members of the Gonzales Boat Club set up tents in the sweltering heat and handed out ice water at the services in Baton Rouge.
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. 8. Source pages: 8.
Gov. Makes Appointments to the Behavior Analyst Board, But Still No Psychology Board Appointment
The Governor’s Office announced on July 22 that Governor Edwards appointed two new members to the Louisiana Behavior Analyst Board.
Alfred R. Tuminello Jr., of Baton Rouge, was appointed to the Louisiana Behavior Analyst Board. Mr. Tuminello is an Autism Program Manager with The Emerge Center.
Scott A. Williamson, of Sulphur, was also appointed to the Louisiana Behavior Analyst Board. Mr. Williamson is the owner and director of Lights On ABA Services, Inc. Mr. Williamson was nominated by the Louisiana Behavior Analysis Association.
As of publication, there still does not seem to be an appointment to the state psychology board.
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. 8. Source pages: 8.
Complaints Coordinator LSBEP Changes Fees, Adds Possible Second Position
Dr. Chris Garner, the new Complaints Coordinator for the state psychology board, requested that the psychology board reconsider the terms of his contract, according to the May minutes.
Previously, Dr. Gary Pettigrew, who retired recently from ten years in the position, received $100 per case, for a total of between $4,000 and $4,900 per year. In contrast, the legal fees for complaints appeared to be well over $100,000 for 2015.
According to the May minutes, the board reviewed and approved Dr. Garner’s proposal of “$100/hour, payable upon completion of a review of a Request for Investigation, with a preliminary and final recommendation to the LSBEP, such review shall not exceed $200 per case.” And, “$100 per hour for all meetings, including meetings with attorney and preliminary hearings.” The members discussed that the total paid was not to exceed $12,000 year.
In a related story, the board members decided to create a second position for Complaints Coordinator, to support Dr. Garner in case of heavy workload or unavailability of Dr. Garner. This discussion took place at the LSBEP June 17 meeting. The board members said they would contact another of the candidates who applied.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Researchers from Lake Charles, LaTech, Neuropsych Center, ULM, & Xavier at APA
The American Psychological Association will hold its Convention in Denver this week, August 4–7. Researchers from the Lake Charles Research Group, Louisiana Tech, Neuropsychology Center of Louisiana, University of Louisiana Monroe, and Xavier University of Louisiana will present.
The Keynote Presentation will feature a thought-provoking topic by social psychologist Jonathan Haidt, PhD, whose research focuses on the emotional foundations and variations in morality. He authored The Righteous Mind. Haidt has pushed his moral theory as a way of understanding political differences and the conflicts between the right and left viewpoints.
Susan McDaniel, PhD, will deliver the Presidential Address, “Charting Psychology’s Future in Health Care and Beyond.” Plenary sessions include “Controversies in Researching and Teaching About Sex” by J. Michael Bailey, PhD; “What No One Ever Told You About People Who Are Single,” by Bella DePaula, PhD; “Self-Assessment of Practitioner Competencies: New Data and New Directions,” by Rebecca Schwartz-Mette, PhD, and others; and “ICD 10: Understanding the Paradigm Shift and Getting Ready for ICD 11,” by Antonio Puente, PhD.
Presenters from across Louisiana and presenting include:
Lake Charles Research Group
“Shyness and Touch Avoidance: Does Interpersonal Dependency Moderate a Relationship?” will be presented by Billie C. Myers, MA, Hawkins Raymond, PhD, Diego Miguel, PhD, and Tiffany Field, PhD, Fielding Graduate University; Lawrence S. Dilks, PhD, and Kimberly S. Hutchinson, PhD, Counseling Services of Southwest Louisiana, Lake Charles; Sandra Viggiani, PhD, Southwestern Louisiana Psychology Internship Consortium, Lake Charles; Burton Ashworth, PhD, McNeese State University; Chelsi King, MA, Southwestern Louisiana Psychology Internship Consortium, Lake Charles; Kate Hippman, BS, Counseling Services of Southwest Louisiana, Lake Charles; and Marni Richard, MA, Southwestern Louisiana Psychology Internship Consortium, Lake Charles.
“Social Competency: Mediator Between Family Conflict and Child Behavior Problems?” will be presented by Kimberly S. Hutchinson, PhD, Lake Charles Memorial Hospital, LA; Burton Ashworth, PhD, McNeese State University; Lawrence S. Dilks, PhD, Lake Charles Memorial Hospital, Lake Charles, LA; Sandra Viggiani, PhD, Southwest Louisiana Psychology Consortium, Lake Charles; Marnie Richard, MA, Hawai‘i School of Professional Psychology; Chelsi King, MA, Alliant International University– Fresno; Billie C. Myers, MA, Fielding Graduate University; Katherine Hippman, MS, University of Essex, Colchester, England, United Kingdom; and Jacob Short, Southwest Florida Christian Academy.
Louisiana Tech
“Measurement Concerns in Multicultural Competencies and Training: Results From a Large Sample,” will be presented by Melanie M. Lantz, PhD, Danielle N. Franks, BA, Michael Garza, MA, Sarah A. McConnell, MS, and Lindsey M. Shamp, MA, from Louisiana Tech University.
“Self-Stigma in Face-to-Face and Online Counseling: Demographic Differences,” will be presented by Mary M. Livingston, PhD, MA, Guler Boyraz, PhD, and Christopher D. Coleman, MA, from Louisiana Tech University; and Margaret L. Hindman, BS, University of Arkansas.
“Posttraumatic Stress and Alcohol- Related Negative Consequences Among College Students,” will be presented by Megan L. Kuhl, BS, Guler Boyraz, PhD, Marcus A. Cherry, MS, Samantha Aarstad-Martin, MS, Cody Cloud, MS, Lindsey M. Shamp, MA, and Sarah A. McConnell, MS, from Louisiana Tech University.
Melanie M. Lantz, PhD, Louisiana Tech University will be a participate in the Symposium: “Student Voices— Examining the Complexities of Privilege and Power.”
Melanie M. Lantz, PhD, Louisiana Tech University will chair the Discussion: “Intersectionality and Leadership— Narratives of Women Early Career Psychologist Leaders.” Dr. Lantz, will also be presenting, as well as chairing, the presentation, “Hiking the Trail of SES and Gender to Leadership Point.”
Neuropsychology Center of Louisiana
“Symposium: Creative, Noncomputerized Approaches to Restoring Brain–Behavior Functions and Social Skills,” will be chaired by Darlyne G. Nemeth, PhD, MP, Neuropsychology Center of Louisiana, Baton Rouge. Participants will include Fernando Pastrana, PhD, Neuropsych- ology Center of Louisiana at Gretna, who will present, “Support for Noncomputerized Cognitive Rehabilitation Techniques.” Also, Julia Hussey, BS, Neuropsychology Center of Louisiana, will present, “Meaningful Recovery via Long-Term Integrated Care: A Case Study on West Nile Encephalitis.”
In this symposium, participants will examine how creative approaches to retraining brain-behavior functions, re-teaching appropriate thinking strategies and behavioral skills, choosing medications to ameliorate emotional dysregulation, and restructuring social and/or family life. According to the abstract, “Of late, neuropsychologists have been increasingly drawn to the ease of computerized training; however, according to Heilman [Kenneth], these approaches often do not generalize. After speech therapy, occupational therapy, and physical therapy interventions have concluded, a higher level of neurorehabilitation is essential.” This, the authors write, involves cognitively retraining the patient to initiate, plan, organize, monitor, and remember. Behaviorally this includes relearning to inhibit and self-monitor. And emotionally, this involves re- establishing shift-setting and emotional controls.
In “Symposium: Psychology’s Role in the Construction of a Healthier Society,” Darlyne G. Nemeth, PhD, MP, Neuropsychology Center of Louisiana, will present, “Giving Psychology Away.”
Darlyne G. Nemeth, PhD, MP, will chair, “Symposium: Understanding Ecodynamics and Ecokinetics to Effect Change and Ameliorate Trauma.” She will present, “The Role of Perception in Environmental Change.”
Donald F. Nemeth, PhD, Neuropsychology Center of Louisiana, will present, “The Science of Climate Change: A Geologist’s Perspective.” Fernando Pastrana, PhD, Neuropsychology Center of Louisiana at Gretna, will present, “Changing Perception One Person at a Time: The Importance of Grassroots Effects.” And, Joseph Tramontana, PhD, Independent Practice, Baton Rouge, will present, “Posttraumatic Intervention on an Individual Level.”
“Ecopsychology has two important components – Ecodynamics, how humans affect the environment and Ecokinetics, how the environment affects humans. Because of humankind’s increasing effects on the environment, our climate is changing faster than expected. In response, more environment trauma (e.g. from hurricanes) is occurring. At the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina (August 29, 2015) many areas of Louisiana and the Gulf Coast are still slow to recover. Business and industry appear to be rehabilitated; but just a few blocks away from their establishments, people are still suffering.” The symposia will look at perception, intervention, and community restoration.
University of Louisiana Monroe
“Motives for Volunteering Among Rural RSVP Elders,” will be presented by Karen Kopera-Frye, PhD, and Rita Massey, BS, University of Louisiana at Monroe.
Xavier University of Louisiana
“Centrality of Racial Identity and Conformity to Gender Role Norms in SCCT,” will be presented by Wyndolyn M.A. Ludwikowski, PhD, Alexis M. Greer, and Dominiqueca B. Lewis, Xavier University of Louisiana.
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. 8. Source pages: 12.
LaTech’s Dr. Buboltz and Team Study Health Issues, Sleep, and Lifestyle In College Students
Dr. Walter Buboltz and graduate student Nathalie Campsen, along with a team of students at Louisiana Tech Psychology, are working to find out more about how sleep patterns impact college students’ functioning.
Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome or DSPS, a circadian rhythm disorder, can cause problems with cognitive abilities. In 2001 Dr. Buboltz and his team found that 11.5 percent of college students experienced problems consistent with DSPS, about twice the rate as that in the general population.
The circadian rhythm disorder includes difficulty falling asleep, problems waking up at a specific time, and morning sleepiness that impairs functioning. Various studies found these problems in college age young adults, and it was confirmed by Buboltz and his team. They also pointed to the related problems with sleep deprivation that causes a reduction in the amount of REM sleep due to shorter sleep periods in students’ lifestyles.
Currently, Dr. Buboltz and his team are looking at a variety of related issues, said LaTech graduate student Nathalie Campsen who is working on the Buboltz laboratory. There are four research assistants working in areas of lifestyle and health, including sleep hygiene, diet, nutrition, stress, and other areas, she explained. Her work is called a Quality Research Project or QRP.
“My QRP is looking at several lifestyle factors of college students and their impact on both sleep quality and sleep length,” she said. “We know that there are certain factors that differentiate a college student from their counterparts who do not attend college. The factors I am specifically looking at are food choice, caffeine consumption, stimulant use––more specifically prescription stimulants–, whether their classes are more in the morning or evening, physical activity, alcohol consumption, and how many hours they reportedly work per week,” she explained.
“I am looking to determine the relationship that such factors have with sleep length and sleep quality.” The data analyses are still in progress, she said.
In a 2009 study, “Sleep Habits and Patterns of College Students: An Expanded Study,” Buboltz and co-authors, pointed to the health conditions associated with sleep difficulties, which include affective disorders, anxiety disorders, and substance abuse disorders.
They studied 742 undergraduates and found that 66 percent reported occasional problems while 22.6 percent reported symptoms consistent with poor sleep quality. More than 54 percent reported “mostly tired” in the mornings, more than 70 percent reported that sleep during the week was not adequate, and 48 percent reported difficulties during the week such as problems falling asleep (44%), difficulty staying awake (37%), unwanted early morning wakening (56%) and daytime naps (44%).
Currently, Ms. Campsen is working on several projects and her work involves seven different hypotheses. “My current projects are my QRP,” she said, “a supervised project of food choice meal options of college students, and caloric intake of college students and its impact on sleep quality and sleep length.” She is also looking at lifestyle factors, which can include hours of sleep, coffee, alcohol, and other variables, and how these are related to well-being, she explained.
Dr. Buboltz told the Times, “One of the most interesting tracks that we are exploring is the impact of sleep length and quality on food choices and nutrient intake. Data is indicating the amount of calories, fat and other nutrients consumed differs between good and poor sleepers and we are trying to figure out the long term consequences.”
“Second,” he said, “ a major track is the impact of poor sleep quality on cognitive skills. What we are finding is that in the short run, cognitive skills do not diminish and that people can compensate for the lack of sleep but as the task becomes more demanding and longer the performance for poor sleep quality people drops off quicker than the good sleep quality people. Finally, we are looking at the impact of technology on sleep behaviors, such as how cell phone use impacts sleeping and we are finding that chronic texters have poorer sleep quality then limited texters,” said Buboltz.
In the 2009 study, authors recommendations for prevention and education included providing information and education during orientation classes, changing of class times, and strategic scheduling of extracurricular activities. Authors recommended counseling for those with underlying mental health challenges.
“The big issue for the college population is the impact of technology on sleep and then sleeps impact on performance,” Dr. Buboltz said. “Within this area we are also developing treatment approaches that can be effectively employed in the college setting.”
What applications does he see for the future? “We are envisioning understanding how sleep impacts performance in a variety of areas and how companies can alter work environments/schedules or colleges can alter environments and schedules to get the maximum performance. Lastly, we are just starting to look at how sleep and energy drink use go together,” he said.
Ms. Campsen told the Times, “I’ve learned a lot more about sleep than I ever thought I would.” Campsen completed her masters in the Applied Psychology at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, during which time she interned at LSU Mental Health Services in Baton Rouge. After she graduated, she spent a year employed at a private practice in Baton Rouge, where she worked as the clinical assistant to Dr. Charles Frey. “I am first generation college student who has stuck with the psychology major since day one of my undergraduate career,” she said.
LaTech graduate student Nathalie Campsen discusses her work with Dr. William Costelloe. Her study, “Exercise and Sleep: Are College Students Getting Enough,” is part of the research program in sleep and health at Dr. Walter Buboltz’ lab at Louisiana Tech. Ms. Campsen presented her work at a recent convention of the Louisiana Psychological Assn.
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. 8. Source pages: 13.
Dr. Karen Kopera-Frye Helps Police Learn about People with Dementia
Dr. Karen Kopera-Frye, Biedenharn Endowed Chair and Professor in Gerontology, and Dr. Attapol Kuanliang, Associate Professor of Criminal Justice, conducted a training experience for multijurisdictional public safety units in June, as reported in the ULM News service.
The training was part of a U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance federal grant awarded to Drs. Kopera-Frye and Kuanliang. The work is titled, “Project Found: Fostering Officer and University Networking for Dementia.”
According to the ULM report, over 35 deputies, officers, EMS staff, and other agents from across northeast Louisiana attended the training which helps first responders become aware of the issues with people they encounter who are suffering from dementia.
“The purpose of this federal grant is two-fold: 1) to train law enforcement and first responders on how to interact with elders they may come across wandering from dementia; and 2) to enroll loved ones suffering from dementia with Medic-Alert type free bracelets so they can be returned home quickly and safely.”
The training has been developed by the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) said the report. It involves: sharing information about Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), communication strategies for public safety when encountering an elderly person who is suffering from AD, information about search and rescue strategies to find a missing person who suffers from AD. And also a section on community resources to support public safety endeavors.
Also according to the report, the workshop included a ‘train-the-trainer’ approach that encourages public safety attendees to share what they have learned with their agency staff.
“We had an overwhelming response and had to turn away individuals, but we will conduct training in early August to meet this need,” Kopera-Frye told ULM News.
“Kopera-Frye and Kuanliang expressed their appreciation to the ULM Police Department for use of the facilities and ULM Police Director Tom Torregrossa and Assistant Director Mark Johnson for working with them on this important project.”
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. 8. Source pages: 13.
Busy, multidisciplinary, fee-for-service, mental health practice located in the Garden District of New Orleans, LA is currently seeking an experienced, licensed psychologist interested to provide assessment and psychotherapy services to adolescents and adults.
Neuropsychology specialty skills are encouraged.
Please submit a letter of interest along with a curriculum vitae to clasiter@pelts-kirkhart.com
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. 8. Source pages: 14.
The Legend of Tarzan: A Review
As a youngster I enjoyed the Tarzan films starring Johnnie Weissmuller, the Olympic medalist who played him in a series. I also read many of the literary accounts by Edgar Rice Burroughs, who authored the Tarzan book series beginning in 1912 with Tarzan of the Apes and continuing into the 1940s. The Tarzan story has been retold in many formats, testifying to its psychological resonance, so I was eager to see its most recent iteration in this year’s film.
To provide a context for thinking about the story and the film, I re-read the first two Burroughs’ Tarzan books, Tarzan of the Apes and The Return of Tarzan. In these stories, Burroughs taps the psychological concerns around adoption and belonging, concerns about which children and adults brood. These themes arise in the ugly duckling genre from Kipling’s Jungle Book to Rowling’s Harry Potter.
In Tarzan, Burroughs finds a particularly complex case. Tarzan loves his adoptive mother, an ape. He thinks she is beautiful and finds his own human features repellant. He acquires the red in tooth and claw morality of the jungle and he sees the sadism motivating much human behavior as perverse. He has deep doubts about his capacity to be in a relationship with Jane despite his sexual attraction to her when they meet. Jane, too, is conflicted. She is drawn to Tarzan, a hyper-masculine savior, but also to an English nobleman whom the reader, but not the protagonists, know is Tarzan’s younger brother. In the Tarzan books, we see both Tarzan and Jane struggling with these conflicts. In a surprising turn, Tarzan learns that he is the older brother of his rival, and an English peer by heritage. He first decides to conceal this information supporting Jane’s decision to marry his brother, only, in a second surprising turn, to risk marriage with Jane, though it means abandoning the jungle existence that he feels native to.
The film alludes to these complexities, and, highlights some of Burroughs’ Tarzan’s reservations about the benefits of civilization. The movie invents a later involvement of Tarzan in the resistance to Belgian monarch Leopold II raping his Congo colony of its resources, both material and human.
Unfortunately this issue becomes the dramatic focus of the film at the expense of further exploration of the complications of Tarzan’s and Jane’s relationship, which becomes completely unambivalent.
To flesh out the political conflict, new characters are introduced, the king and his minions, and a Black American diplomat, George Washington Williams, who provides comic relief, but in a way that further distracts us from the protagonists and jars with the Victorian times in which the film is placed.
The film also draws our attention to Mbongo, an African chieftain whose son Tarzan slew in the back-story, and who must deal with his thirst for revenge for that slaying and his conflicting need to join in the fight against the Belgians.
The movie further glosses over Tarzan and Jane’s conflicts by ending in their kumbaya decision to raise their new-born son in the jungle, providing the ape man ready opportunity for treetop acrobatics and feral companionship.
Although I was much impressed with the cinematic artistry with which the jungle and its inhabitants are captured by the film and by the opportunity to reflect further on the problems of a continent emerging from colonization, I thought more was lost than gained in this latest wrinkle in the legend of Tarzan.
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. 8. Source pages: 15.
The Psychology Times Winner of 57 Louisiana Press Association Awards since 2011 This Year’s Winner, Editorial Sweepstakes, Division 6
Best News Coverage – 1st Place “… chock full of interesting stories about interesting people.” – Judge
Best Investigative Reporting – 1st, 2nd, and 3rd and Winner of the Gibbs Adams Award, Julie Nelson
Best Feature Story 1st Place Our WWII Fathers by Susan Andrews, Julie Nelson, and John Magee “Wonderfully intimate portraits of men who lived throught hell and came out on the other side. Good, solid writing. A great feature and a beautiful tribute to The Greatest Generation.” – Judge
Best Regular Column –1st Place and Winner of the Sam Hanna Award, Julie Nelson
Best Continuing News Coverage –1st Place
Best Editorial Cartoon, Division C – 1st and 2nd Places
and others including 2nd in Best News Story, 2nd in Best Lifestyle Coverage, 2nd in Community Service, 2nd in Best Continuing News Coverage
Front L to R: Dr. Julie Nelson, publisher and reporter, Dr. Susan Andrews, columnist and feature writer; Dr. Yael Banai, feature writer and photographer; (Back L to R): Mike Dooley, photographer and business manager, Jake Nelson-Dooley, cartoonist and animator, and Dr. John Magee, feature writer.
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. 8. Source pages: 16.
Task Force for “Meaningful Oversight” to Meet in August
At task force created by Senate Concurrent Resolution directed to review laws and possible structures for oversight of the 25 healthcare boards that fall under the Department of Health and Hospitals (DHH) is set to meet sometime in August, said a representative from the Senate Health & Welfare Committee.
A tentative date is August 26, and letters from DHH asking the task force members for their designees were sent last month. The task force is to make recommendations to the legislature for the 2017 session.
According to the representative, the legal division at DHH will take the lead, and that the group will have to meet by September 1.
The Resolution was authored by Senator Fred Mills, and it called for a “Task Force on Meaningful Oversight” to be created to deal with the fact that the boards operate autonomously from the department with “virtually no detectable oversight; …” According to a discussion at the psychology board, Dr. Darla Burnett, current Chair, appears to be the designated representative.
Senator Mills’ measure states that the Supreme Court decision hinged on the issue that boards “cannot invoke state-action antitrust immunity if they are not subject to active supervision by the state,” when it comes to professions pursuing self-interests or restraining trade, from the power of their positions on boards, which are typically filled by “active market participants” in that profession.
The measure also stems from Senator Mills’ observations about problems with the boards and where citizens have nowhere to go when they feel harassed or treated unfairly.
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. 8. Source pages: 16.
DOJ Blocks Insurance Companies Merger
In a July 21 press release, Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch announced that the U.S. Department of Justice and attorneys general from multiple states and the District of Columbia sued to block Anthem’s proposed acquisition of Cigna and Aetna’s proposed acquisition of Humana, alleging that the transactions would increase concentration and harm competition across the country, reducing from five to three the number of large, national health insurers in the nation.
The announcement noted that the two mergers – valued at $54 billion and $37 billion – would harm seniors, working families and individuals, employers and doctors and other healthcare providers by limiting price competition, reducing benefits, decreasing incentives to provide innovative wellness programs and lowering the quality of care.
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. 8. Source pages: 16.
No Word On the LSU PhD Clinical Psychology APA Accreditation Status
Louisiana State University Psychology Department appears to still be waiting to hear the results of the recent review of the clinical psychology program.
The official accreditation site for APA states that the program is “accredited, on probation.” Undisclosed sources report that the recent visits with review committees appeared to go well. However, no official information could be obtained from program administers by publication.
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. 8. Source pages: 16.
Five Years Ago From The Psychology Times, Vol 2, No 12 August 2011
Tulane’s Associate Professor of Psychology, Dr. C. Chrisman Wilson passed away suddenly on Monday, July 25.
Dr. Tony Young, psychologist and Associate Professor from Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, was named the new Chair for the Louisiana State Board of Examiners of Psychologists.
Governor Bobby Jindal appointed Dr. Marc Zimmerman, licensed clinical psychologist and medical psychologist, to the Louisiana State Board of Examiners of Psychologists,
The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) announced that it will fund a network of researchers, called the Deepwater Horizon Research Consortia, to study the effects of the oil spill on citizens of the Gulf Coast.
Dr. Gary Jones in “Close-Up:” Chair of the Department of Psychology at Louisiana State University Shreveport and Tenured Professor, coming from career at the University of Southern Mississippi (USM), including Director of Clinical Psychology Training & USM’s clinic.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.