Originally published: . Volume 7, No. 7. Source pages: 16.
The International Doctors in Alcoholics Anonymous will hold it’s annual meeting in New Orleans, August 3–7, at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside.
“We are not saints,” is the theme of this year’s convention and will emphasize the spiritual elements of recovery. Registration is available online at www.idaa.org.
International Doctors in Alcholics Anonymous is a fellowship of doctors and their families whose primary purpose is to support one another in recovery from additions, according to the association. “IDAA now numbers 6500 women and men worldwide who have, or are in preparation for, doctorate degrees in health care professions, including fields such as dentistry, psychology, pharmacy and veterinary science, as well as medicine.”
Membership is strictly confidential and held by the Executive Director, Michael Metcalf, MD, who can be contacted at executive@idaa.org for more information.
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. 7. Source pages: 16.
Cummings to Give Keynote at NAPPP in San Antonio, Texas
Nicholas Cummings, PhD, ScD, will present the Keynote Address at the upcoming conference of the National Alliance of Professional Psychology Providers. Dr. Cummings will speak on “The History of Psychotherapy in America, 1945 to 2016: The Golden Era, the Faltering Age, and the Stalled Present.”
The conference will be September 23–25, at the Drury Plaza Hotel– RiverWalk in San Antonio, Texas. The Theme of the conference is “Psychological Interventions: Past, Present & Future.”
Among those presenting are Joan Biever, PhD, and Bernadette Solorzano, PhD, on “Using Client Feedback to Improve Therapy Outcomes.” John Caccavale, PhD, ABMP, will speak on “Ethical & Cultural Issues for the Future of Psychotherapy.” Susana Galle, PhD., MSCP, ABMP, will present on “Gut Microbes and the Psyche? A bridge needed for best practices.”
Ward Lawson, PhD, ABMP, will speak on “Neuroplasticity, Psychological Disorders and Comprehensive Treatment.” Nori Mora, EdD, will provide, “Social Skills as Psychological Intervention.” And Jerry Morris, PsyD, ABMP, will speak on “The Opiate Epidemic: The State of the Data & National Plan/Reaction, New Guidelines, Enhancement of Addiction Services.”
See more at www.nappp.org.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Despite two special sessions and a regular session where the state’s dire financial picture dominated, and tax changes that should raise somewhere in the range of $1.5 billion, cuts to key public programs are still going to occur.
The compromise budget passed on June 23 maintains the funding to higher education but cuts the TOPS program to 70 percent. The Edwards administration also believes they have protected public hospitals and doctor training programs, said a report in the Times Picayune.
Cuts will however come to K-12 schools, for about $24 million, and to prisons and sheriff offices who hold offenders, with shortages of $25 million. Cuts of $14.5 million are also forecasted for juvenile detention and rehabilitation services.
While the changes leave Louisiana with the highest average sales tax in the country, even this fix is temporary. The June budget depends on a sales tax that will work for only two years, and then another funding crisis will be teed up.
The Times Picayune reported that the reductions will likely cause LSU’s medical school in New Orleans to absorb costs of maintaining the old Charity Hospital.
Reductions to the Department of Corrections threaten the re-entry programs, according to documents provided by the governor’s staff, said the Times Picayune.
The sales tax was muscled through while Governor Edwards was unable to achieve any changes to individual income taxes over the three sessions. Likewise there was no significant change in the generous tax breaks to business and industry.
Another crisis could loom at mid- year, as well, because corporate tax collections appear to be coming in well under the estimates, setting up a shortfall of $200 million, said the report.
The Governor recently signed some bills into law:
Stabilization Units––Act 591 authorizes Human services districts may create intervention and stabilization units, for those with recurrent crises from mental health or substance abuse, and if funded.
Healthcare Background Checks –– Act 311 authorizes background checks for healthcare workers including behavioral health services providers and those in certain treatment facilities.
Office of Juvenile Justice Schools – – Act 500 requires the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to create a team to draft and propose a program for children judicially committed to Department of Public Safety and Corrections.
More changes to Medical Board –– Act 584 changes board membership and other matters; it adds members from LSUHSC and from Tulane Medical School.
Certified Addiction Counselor – Act 534 amends the current law to allow the certified addiction counselor to work independently when providing services in prisons.
Telemedicine ––Act 630 expands options such that patients and physicians can be in any location. Act 619 – Directs the Regents to review all needs and delivery system for postsecondary education.
Starvation added to child abuse reporting ––Act 302 adds injury resulting from starvation or malnutrition to the definition of “serious bodily injury.”
Lowers Value-Added Assessment Model Percent––Act 504 changes the percentage of Value-Added Assessment data in teacher evaluations.
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. 7. Source pages: 16.
Five Years Ago From The Psychology Times, Vol 2, No 11 July 2011
Psychology Board reverses decision and approves medical psychologists without state psychology board license, to supervise psychology interns.
SB 268, a bill to clarify scope of practice for Licensed Professional Counselors, is signed by Governor.
Tulane researchers received $50 million for scholarships in community service.
Dr. Paul Frick named Distinguished Professor at UNO.
Louisiana researchers present at APS.
Dr. Hannie, as incoming president of the local chapter for Americans United for Separation of Church and State, helps lobby against a bill to place Ten Commandments on capital grounds.
Ms. Kelly Parker takes on Executive Director position at the LSBEP, and Ms. Jaime Monic retires.
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. 6. Source pages: 4.
Dr. Seth Kunen, PhD, MP, met with the state medical board in December, along with his colleague Julie Alleman, M.Ed, LPC, LMFT. Both represent the Physicians’ Health Foundation. Dr. Kunen and Ms. Alleman reviewed the participants in the Physicians’ Health Program for the medical board.
According to the minutes, the participants in the Physicians’ Health Program are those who are either appearing before the Board or had matters before the Board for review and discussion, relating to the character and professional conduct, and allegations of misconduct of a licensee, was the topic. This pertains to La .Rev. Stat.§ 42:17A(1) and (4), according to the minutes.
In February Dr. Kunen again met with the board and reported on similar matters regarding impaired professionals for the Physicians Health Program. Kunen was accompanied by Michael Ellis, MD, Chairman, Board of Trustees. Dr. Kenun reported that the PHP has changed its name to the Health Care Professionals of Louisiana, according to the minutes.
According to state records, Physicians’ Health Foundation has an ongoing consulting contract with the medical board, listed from August 2013 to July 2016, for $1,348,720.
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. 6. Source pages: 5.
Opposition to Same-sex Marriage Still Strong in La
In a survey of 1,001 adults in Louisiana, the Reilly Center for Media & Public Affairs found that while the law has changed, public opinion has not, in regard to same-sex marriage.
The Reilly Center, part of the Louisiana State University Manship School of Mass Communication published it 2016 Report in April. The researchers found that just over half, or 53 percent, of Louisiana citizens “oppose legal recognition of same sex marriage, despite the U.S. Supreme Court ruling a year ago that states cannot refuse to recognize such marriages.” Forty-one percent support same-sex marriage.
The Louisiana Psychological Association, under the umbrella of the American Psychological Association, submitted an Amicus brief in 2014, when officials in the state were involved in a lawsuit about same-sex marriage: Robicheaux, et al, and the Forum for Equality Louisiana, v. the Louisiana Attorney General, State Registrar and Center Director of DHH, Secretary of Health & Hospitals, Kathy Kliebert, and others.
Also listed as Amici Curiae were the American Psychiatric Association, American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, National Association of Social Workers, and the National Association of Social Workers Louisiana Chapter.
The Reilly Center also found that about half of residents (53 percent) believe that businesses providing wedding services should be allowed to refuse service to same- sex couples.
The Reilly Center found Louisiana citizens to be consistently conservative; 55 percent would like all abortions to be illegal in most or all cases, while 40 percent think it should be legal, a mirror image researchers say, when compared with national norms. About two-thirds (68 percent) are against allowing refugees from Syria to settle in Louisiana, 61 percent oppose a ban on assault weapons, and 73 oppose removing monuments of those who fought in the Civil War on the side of the Confederacy.
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. 6. Source pages: 5.
Dr. Darla Burnett, current Vice Chair of the Louisiana State Board of Examiners of Psychologists, known as the LSBEP, told attendees at a recent meeting of psychologists that they may use either the October 2013 Rules for Continuing Professional Development, or the proposed Rules published this March in the Louisiana Register.
Psychologists with even-numbered licenses are to submit their continuing education requirements when renewing their licenses in the next month or two. Many new categories are available for training activities, and details are set out in both the current Rules and the set of guidelines that were proposed in March this year but not completed.
After the board received public comments about some of the March changes, the newest edition of Rules for Continuing Professional Development were held for consideration.
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. 6. Source pages: 5.
Names for BA Board at Governor’s Office
The Louisiana Behavior Analyst Board and the Louisiana Behavior Analysis Association (LaBAA) worked together earlier this year to conduct an election to fill two positions on the LBAB, explained current LaBAA Secretary, Ms. Janice Huber, BCBA.
Huber said that both the state board and the Louisiana Behavior Analysis Association sent letters and emails to those in the state alerting the community to a Call for Nominations.
The election resulted in four individuals’ names being submitted to the Governor in early March, noted Ms. Huber. These were Richmond Gregory Mancil, PhD, BCBA-D, LBA, Alfred Tuminello, Jr., MA, BCBA, LBA, Scott Williamson, MA, BCBA, LBA, Kimberly Ray, PhD, BCBA-D, LBA. In April Dr. Mancil moved to New Mexico and his name was withdrawn.
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. 6. Source pages: 6.
ASPPB Announces Plans to Install Another Step in Licensing Exam for New Psychologists, EPPP – 2
The Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards (ASPPB) has announced their intention to develop an additional examination for licensing psychologists, called EPPP Step 2. In a May letter, Emil Rodolfa, PhD, Chair of the EPPP (Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology) Step 2 Task Force, said he was writing to inform the psychology education community “…of an exciting new development in the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards’ (ASPPB) examination program,” the addition of a skills test.
“This skills-based examination will be designed to augment and complement the Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology (EPPP), which assesses the core knowledge deemed necessary for the practice of psychology,” Rodolfa wrote. He also said that psychology has been moving towards a skills assessment component to the EPPP for several years. And he said that the goal is to “measure the functional skills related to the competent practice of psychology.”
The target date for the EPPP Step 2 is January 2019, he said.
Rodolfa also said that ASPPB has a competency framework, outlined in a publication titled, “ASPPB Competencies Expected of Psychologists At The Point of Licensure.” In this document, authors list a number of competencies: 1) Scientific Orientation such as selecting evidence-based interventions, 2) Professional Practice such as effective interviewing skills for assessment or consulting skills, 3) Relational Competence such as communication and conflict management skills, 4) Professionalism such as defining limits of competence, 5) Ethical Practice such as recognizing when services are not necessary, and lastly 6) Systems Thinking such as interdisciplinary collaboration.
Rodolfa said that ASPPB realizes that adoption of this new exam by the licensing jurisdictions will require involvement of state and provincial licensing boards, state associations, and training associations.
The notice did not explain the reasoning behind the change, or what problems require an additional exam. The Times emailed Dr. Rodolfa to ask this an other questions, but no reply has been received as yet. Rates of problems in the Louisiana community fall at about .002 or .003, according to data on disciplinary actions.
The news of the new EPPP Step 2 Exam was met with concerns by some members of the Louisiana Psychological Association. Dr. Amy Henke posted to their list, “It worries me that as a profession, we continue to add cumbersome requirements and hoops to jump through for our ECPs [Early career psychologists]. Where is the data supporting that this will make future psychologists better/more effective?”
“Not only might this deter young clinicians from entering the field,” she wrote, “but it continues to align us with physicians.” She noted her concern about psychology following the medical model and asked where is the evidence that the model is superior. A number of psychologists posted on the list in support of her concerns.
Dr. Henke is currently one of the two names on a list for appointment to the state board. She is also serving on the Louisiana Psychological Assn Executive Council.
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. 6. Source pages: 9.
Dr. Salcedo and Beth Salcedo will present “Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking” for the attendees at this year’s Summer Symposium, organized by Professional Training Resources and Dr. John Simoneaux. The presentation is Friday, July 29, at the Paragon Casino Resort in Marksville, Louisiana.
The Salcedos will cover the estimates of incidence, prevalence, and the issues related to tracking victims. The couple will describe in detail their experiences with helping the girls, the intensive program and setting, and the bio- psycho-social circumstances that are associated with Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking.
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. 6. Source pages: 10.
Psychologists Speak at Louisiana Primary Care Assn June 3–4
Dr. Melissa Bonnell, Dr. William (Gig) Costelloe, and Dr. Karen Slaton will present at the 3rd Annual Clinical Summit of the Louisiana Primary Care Association, this week. The summit will be hosted in collaboration with the Louisiana Rural Health Association and held June 3-4, in New Orleans at the Downtown Marriott Convention Center.
Drs. Bonnell and Slaton will present “Three Behaviors = Four Disease Processes = 50% of All Mortality: How to Help Patients Change the Big Three.”
Dr. Gig Costelloe will present at the ummit on Friday, speaking on “Creating Effective Teamwork and Collaboration in Integrated Settings.” Dr. Costelloe is president of Costelloe & Associates in New Orleans and a licensed Industrial-Organizational Psychologist.
Dr. Melissa Bonnell is with the Veterans Health Care System in New Orleans, and also a member of the Southern Pain Society.
Dr. Karen Slaton is also a health psychologist at Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System. She is currently the Program Manager for Behavioral Medicine and Health Psychology and serves as Health Behavior Coordinator in the Health Promotion and Disease Prevention program.
The theme is “Big Ideas in the Big Easy: Uniting Rural and Urban Providers.” The Louisiana Primary Care Association (LPCA) is a non-profit state trade association whose purpose is to promote accessible, affordable, quality primary health care for the uninsured and medically underserved populations in Louisiana, noted Shannon Robertson, Clinical Education Coordinator. The LPCA represents 34 organizations with over 170 health care sites, private non-profit and public FQHCs across Louisiana that serves more than 300,000 patients annually, she said.
Psychologists speaking at the conference are coordinated through the Speakers’ Bureau of the Louisiana Psychological Association, serving the public interest through psychological science.
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. 6. Source pages: 10.
Todd Presents at Assn of Family and Conciliation Courts in Seattle
Leslie Todd, LCSW, will present at a preconference Institute at the Annual Conference of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts in this month in Seattle, helping attendees understand that while settling the divorce used to be Family Court’s primary function, today it is “defining families.” Todd is founding president of the Louisiana Chapter of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts.
Family Courts are inundated with cases that require the assistance of forensic mental health professionals, Todd explained in an interview last week. Same-sex partners and grandparents are requesting recognition as parents. Gestational surrogacy has created another generation of familial and legal dilemmas. There are more living-together than married parents, and there are huge numbers of young parents who have never even lived with their co-parent, she said. Since 80 percent of families are now non-nuclear, the majority of modern families will pass through Family Court doors at some point for clarification of roles at the very least, Todd said.
While the need for these services is pressing, the cost is often prohibitive, Todd said. She is one of four presenters for “Cadillac or Chevy? Providing High Quality, Affordable and Trustworthy Processes,” where she will present information to judges, attorneys and mental health professionals from across the U.S, Australia and Canada.
Todd joins international mediator/psychologist Arnold Shienvold, PhD, Brent Cashatt, JD, Hon. William Fee, to examine the spiraling costs related to child custody disputes as well as alternative models which address the issues of quality, jurisdictional expectations, comprehensiveness and cost in various geographic regions and across socioeconomic strata.
The presenters will discuss the sources of tension between the need of the Court and the ability of mental health professions to provide necessary information to the parents and the Court, and the issue of finances, Todd explained. They will discuss a spectrum of services, ranging from collaborative divorce models and mediation ranging from early- stage to child-inclusive mediation.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Louisiana Researchers Presented at 28th Annual Convention of APS in Chicago, May 26–28
Psychologists and psychological scientists from around the state presented their work at the 28th Annual Conference of the Association for Psychological Science, held May 26 to 29 in Chicago. Researchers from Louisiana Tech, Tulane, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, University of Louisiana at Monroe and University of New Orleans, presented at this year’s conference. Included below are excerpts from abstracts of the projects.
Louisiana Tech
Danielle N. Newman, Nathalie Campsen, and Dr. Walter Buboltz, all from Louisiana Tech University presented, “Dozing and Diet: Links Between Nutrients and Individual Slumber.” Researchers took student volunteers (n = 137) and had them complete a seven-day food and sleep diary. Food consumed and amounts were entered into the USDA Online Nutrition Supertracker for analysis of six dietary intake factors. The results indicated no significant relationships between the dietary variables and sleep quality and sleep length.
“Validation of the Cynical Attitudes Toward Math Scale, “ was presented by Dr. Alice P Carter, Louisiana Tech University (retired), Dr. Mary M Livingston, Louisiana Tech University, and Julie Oslandx, Wheeling Jesuit University. Authors investigated convergent and criterion validity of the Cynical Attitudes toward Math Scale. Participants were 200 students. Of the measure’s three subscales, one correlated with scores on a math skills inventory. However, all three subscales correlated with participant math anxiety and math self- worth protection, suggesting convergent validity.
Victoria Felixx, Mercedes Gremillion, and Dr. Walter Buboltz, all from Louisiana Tech University, presented, “Loneliness, Facebook Addiction, and Internet Addiction as Predictors of Insomnia in College Students. Limited research has investigated the roles of loneliness, Facebook-use, and Internet-use on college student sleeping behaviors.
Researchers investigated whether reported loneliness, Facebook addiction, and Internet addiction are predictors of insomnia among a sample of college students. Internet addiction, Facebook addiction, and loneliness significantly predicted insomnia severity.
“Generational Attitudes toward Employees with Disabilities,” was presented by Michael A Knottx, Dr. Mitzi Desselles, and Kelly S. Stewart, all from Louisiana Tech University. People with disabilities face physical and psychological challenges as well as discriminatory attitudes and practices. We examined differences in attitudes towards employees with disabilities between generational cohorts (e.g., Millennial, Generation-X, and Baby Boomers). Baby Boomers had significantly more positive attitudes towards people with disabilities than did Millennials.
Dr. Frank Igoux and Jose J. Valadez from Louisiana Tech University, presented, “A Comparison of Top-down and Banding Methods of Test Score Use Applied to an Entry-level Police Selection Procedure.” Test score banding identifies ranges in which scores are considered equivalent, and secondary criteria such as race or gender may be used to diversify an organization’s workforce. The present study uses data from a 2015 police selection process and compares adverse impact and utility outcomes using top-down and banding methods.
For, “Preliminary Development of the Problematic Cell Phone Use Scale,” Jose J Valadez, and Dr. Frank Igou both from Louisiana Tech University presented their finding: Cyber- addiction and dependence are recognized societal problems that have led to reduced workplace productivity. The portability of cell phones has created a level of secrecy with respect to hiding the problem in a workplace setting. The present study created a measure to identify respondents’ differences in problematic cell phone use.
Esther L. Grabow, Camille N Baker, and Dr. Walter Buboltz all from Louisiana Tech University, presented, “The Aggression Questionnaire- Short Form (AQ- SF) and Brief Aggression Questionnaire (BAQ): Better measures than the Aggression Questionnaire (AQ).” Two shorter versions of the Aggression Questionnaire (AQ) have been proposed, the Aggression Questionnaire – Short Form (AQ- SF) and the Brief Aggression Questionnaire (BAQ). Based on confirmatory factor analyses, the AQ-SF and the BAQ are both better fits for the data than the AQ.
For “Sleep Quality and Technology Use as Predictors of Life Satisfaction,” Mercedes Gremillion, Victoria Felix, and Dr. Walter Buboltz, all from Louisiana Tech University presented. Limited research has investigated the roles of sleep quality, text messaging, Internet addiction, and Facebook use on satisfaction with life. To address this deficiency, the present study was conducted. Results indicated that sleep quality, text messaging, Internet addiction, and Facebook use were significant predictors of satisfaction with life.
Tulane University
Sally K. Merritt, Dr. Laurie T. O'Brien, and Dr. Janet B. Ruscher, from Tulane University presented research titled,“ ‘But I was just trying to be funny’- Communication Goals and Offensiveness.” The group investigated offensive communication, asking participants to create captions for pictures using different communication goals. Only participants with the non- offensive goal were successful at avoiding offensiveness. When people are trying to be funny they may resort to offensiveness when shown pictures of the devalued social group of overweight individuals.
Dr. Michael J Burke from Tulane University, along with colleagues from California State University and the University of Massachusetts, presented, “A Meta-analysis of the Effectiveness of Food Safety Training.” Studies regarding the effectiveness of food safety training have yielded mixed findings. In this meta-analysis (50 studies, N = 6,819), results indicate that such training has a positive effect on employee knowledge and performance. Highly engaging training methods are more effective than less engaging ones only with respect to knowledge.
University of Louisiana at Lafayette
From University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Dr.. Hung-Chu Linx, Yang Yang, Robert McFatter, and Jacob Ambrose, and Philip Richard from Louisiana State University, presented, “Criminal Offenders' Dispositional Empathy, Perceived Parental Bonding, and Attachment Dimensions.” The researchers examined the associations of inmate’ dispositional empathy, perceived early parental bonding, and attachment dimensions. Inmates’ perceived parental overprotection was associated with positive views of others and a need for others’ approval (attachment anxiety), which in turn was related to a greater propensity to empathically respond to others’ distress.
Michele I. Feist from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, and Sarah E Duffy from the University of Birmingham, presented, “Power in Time: The Influence of Power Posing on the Interpretation of an Ambiguous Metaphoric Statement.” What influences interpretations of metaphors for time? English metaphors have been connected to approach (Moving Ego) and avoidance (Moving Time). Researchers asked whether adopting a high- power (approach) or low-power (avoidance) pose might influence interpretation of an ambiguous metaphor. Results suggest high- power posers prefer the ME perspective more than low-power posers.
University of Louisiana Monroe
“Does Magical Ideation Combined with Need for Cognition Facilitate Belief in Conspiracies?” was presented by Dr. Rick Stevens, Mary Medlin, Amber Flick, and Kay Rawls, all from the University of Louisiana at Monroe. Researchers investigated the belief in conspiracy theories. They found that Need for Cognition was positively correlated with belief in conspiracy theories. Magical ideation was positively correlated with the belief in conspiracies and with Need for Cognition.
University of New Orleans
For, “Protective Factors in the Relation between Acculturation Dissonance and Externalizing and Internalizing Problems among Latino Adolescents,” Jena Michel and Sonia L Rubens from the University of New Orleans, and researchers from the University of Kansas, looked at the relation between acculturation dissonance (AD) and internalizing/externalizing problems in Latino adolescents. Higher levels of hope were related to lower levels of internalizing problems. AD was positively associated with delinquent behavior. Neither spirituality nor hope moderated the association between AD and internalizing or externalizing problems.
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. 6. Source pages: 12.
The Louisiana Academy of Medical Psychologists held a training meeting April 16 and 17 in Baton Rouge.
Derek Shanman, PhD, spoke on Behavior Analysis and the CABAS Model in Louisiana. Dr. Shanman provided information on behavior analysis, applied behavior analysis, and implementation of the CABAS model of behavior analysis in Southern Louisiana, according to the LaBAA website.
Also presenting was Joe Comaty, PhD, MP, who spoke on Madness in Medicine: The History of Psychiatric Treatments.
Case studies were presented by Dr. Rebecca Nolan, PhD, MP, and also by Dr. Tony Young, PhD, MP.
Dr. Seth Kunen, PhD, MP, presented Ethical Practice and the Healthcare Professionals’ Foundation of Louisiana (HPFL). Dr. Kunen works with the state medical board on matters impacting the quality and safety of care delivered by physicians and others licensed under the state medical board, called the Physicians’ Health Program, along with his colleague Julie Alleman, M.Ed, LPC, LMFT.
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. 6. Source pages: 13.
There are cities that have a kind of spiritual essence, an aura that transcends their geography and feeds the imagination. Thus Paris, especially in the spring, is for lovers, New Orleans is the city that care forgot, New York is the city for bustle that never sleeps—if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere.
What is it about Los Angeles that makes it a focus for stories of crime? Sgt. Friday, Philip Marlowe, Harry Bosch and scores of Los Angeles ‘tecs have just been joined by Holland Marsh and Jackson Healy in a current film, The Nice Guys. Thinking about the movie might help us see more deeply into the imaginary essence of L.A.
The film is a comedy featuring amusing characters and witty dialogue, which seem to denature the accompanying violence. It opens in 1970 with a porn star, Misty Mountains, being killed in a car crash. Holland Marsh, a bumbling and corrupt private eye, is hired by Misty’s aunt, possessed by the loony conviction that she has seen her niece alive, to find her. Marsh doubts the claim, but is willing to accept the job, and begins looking for Amelia Kutner, another girl who has disappeared, in the belief that she might somehow be involved. Amelia doesn’t want to be tracked down and hires Healy to persuade Marsh to lay off his search, which he does by breaking the detective’s arm. This graphic assault, along with the earlier shots of Misty’s bleeding corpse, initiates the parade of violence that continues through the film.
The next display occurs when a pair of hoods show up in Healy’s apartment demanding that he reveal Amelia’s whereabouts. In the course of being roughed up, Healy manages to scare the duo off by blasting at them with a shotgun.
Healy, who doesn’t know what has become of Amelia, decides to join in a search for the missing girl. This unlikely team discovers that Amelia had been working on a Misty Mountains film combining pornography and investigation of the political corruption involved in L.A.’s failure to control smog—a failure highlighted by L.A.’s status in 1970 as having America’s most polluted air. The film’s angel is Sidney Shattuck, a notorious porn producer. They are told that the film was destroyed in a suspicious fire, and the duo decides to seek Shattuck out for information about Amelia.
The search for Shattuck takes the duo to an extravagant fest where black ties and formal gowns mix with flagrant dissipation and exotic perversion. There they discover Shattuck’s gory body. Various mostly violent complications ensue, including the abduction and rescue of Marsh’s feisty teen-aged daughter, Holly, Healy’s strangling of Holly’s kidnapper, and their discovery of Amelia, whose aunt turns out to be a high place federal agent complicit in the corrupt forestalling of anti- pollution efforts.
It turns out that a copy of the film has been spliced into a promo for pollution spewing autos, and gets shown at the wild party; efforts by various malefactors to destroy it are forestalled by Healy and Marsh.
Amelia herself is killed, but her film survives. Her aunt’s corruption is revealed, but, unabashed, the aunt reminds the dynamic duo that “what is good for Detroit, is good for America”—and presumably Los Angeles. The film closes with Healy and Marsh forming an agency called “Nice Guys.”
So what makes Los Angeles the ideal setting for this movie, and such a frequent locale for tales of crime and detection? The answer is suggested by the city’s sobriquet, “Tinsel Town.” Tinsel is glitter that deceives. L.A. is about dreams that can end in rude awakenings. L.A. is sunshine and smog, beauty, charm and interest, and an underbelly of danger, destitution and pain.
Love and hate, birth and death, beauty and ugliness, virtue and sin are the dualities in which we live and that the City of Angels can personify and on which the film plays.
The Nice Guys is a film that amuses, entertains, diverts—and if you think about it, is troubling.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.