This is from Laura Groshong, the lobbyist of the Washington State Coalition of Mental Health Professionals and Consumers. I'm appalled by this decision and that we are now liable for every client we have ever seen! Changes to Practice of Mental Health Clinicians Based on Volk Decision April, 2017 Laura Groshong, LICSW, Mental Health Advocate
Dr. Richard Friedman in "Why Are We Drugging Our Soldiers" shows the correlation between Ritalin and Adderall prescriptions and increased PTSD. He cites several studies showing that these drugs enhance the memory of fear-provoking events. Scary and makes all kinds of sense. Read it!
Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is in the news again. Robert Bales murdered 16 civilians in Afghanistan. He has TBI, drinks too much, and just saw a friend lose a leg. Why does TBI matter? Traumatic brain injuries are head injuries that can occur from a direct blow to the head, in an accident, sports, or
It took a law suit and it's about time! http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/2011/08/02/gIQAEm8cqI_story.html?fb_ref=NetworkNews&fb_source=home_multiline
The New York Review of Books carried and a scathing and mostly right-on article about the medicalization and over-medication of mental illness by Marcia Angell. It's a review of three books about the history of psych meds, the power of the drug companies, and the minimization of psychotherapy. Read it here.
National Public Radio wrote and spoke about the "Battle Over the Science" of Tricare not paying for cognitive rehabilitation therapy (CRT) for Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) "despite pressure from Congress and the recommendations of military and civilian experts, the Pentagon’s health plan for troops and many veterans does not to cover” cognitive rehabilitation therapy —
A great hour of interviews about anxiety on one of best radio shows around. This one includes Patricia Pearson, author of A Brief History of Anxiety, Yours and Mine, and her own experience with anxiety medications and learning to self-soothe; Ethan Waters, talking about the globalization of American psychiatric diagnoses and pharmaceutical cures; Dr. Daniel Carlat,
From Laura W. Groshong, LICSW, Director, Government Relations, Clinical Social Work Association: I have just returned from three days of lobbying in Washington DC for the Clinical Social Work Association and have some new ideas of what the President and Congress (the five committees and one informal "Group of Six") are doing to develop a
This distressing article, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/10/us/10juvenile.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all by Solomon Moore in today's New York Times shows us how the mental health system in most of the country is failing teenagers. Kids who need medication, psychotherapy, and structure act out until they end up in detention, often physically and sexually abused by both fellow inmates and staff, with little or no treatment.
Daniel Siegel: A System's View of Disintegration & Integration (He's still cute, he's still brilliant, he speaks in easy-to-remember aphorisms and he's still heartful. What's not to like?) "Integration is the linking of differentiated parts. The concept is useful for assessment, tx planning and therapy. . .Presence is absent in trauma survivors. Presence begins with
The EMDR International Association, (EMDRIA) is urging its members to write a letter supporting EMDR treatment for soldiers and veterans. The EMDR Humanitarian Assistance Program has been offering and doing volunteer-run, inexpensive Basic trainings to the military and the VA. EMDR has been accepted by the Department of Defense as one of two effective/allowed treatments.
Check out this great therapy resource. It has forms, great links, directories, and information about client populations. If you do therapy, you'll find something useful on it. I met Ken Eisenberger a few weeks ago at a workshop and he turned me onto his helpful, free website. Check it out at http://www.hiddenhillcounseling.com/kensportal/
In Washington state, all licensed mental health types must take an ethics class every two years. I try to take a different one each time. I often wonder how an issue that can be so alive in a consultation session can be deadly dull in a lecture hall. It can be. Any new perspective or
Here's a link to an op-ed column by Anne Levinson & Jeffrey Swanson, members of the MacArthur Foundation's Research Network on Mandated Community Treatment, which discusses mental health issues after the VA Tech shooting: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/313882_levinson02.html They cogently breakdown the individual privacy vs. community safety issues, based on actual statistics.
In my past life, I worked with severely mentally ill people. In my early 20's, I supported my way through college working in a glorified boarding house for 40 women. The price of admission was a psychiatric hospitalization. I was given about an hour of orientation and left alone to be in charge. In my