Psychiatric diagnoses Archives - Robin Shapiro

Proof that Dissociation can be seen in the Human Brain!

The University of Washington medical school does not believe in dissociation and will not teach its psychiatrists about it. Schools that teach only cognitive behavioral therapies do not mention dissociation. It's great to see this research that shows proof that it actually exists. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-09-neuroimaging-dissociative-symptoms-reveals-wounds.html Novel neuroimaging study on dissociative symptoms reveals wounds of childhood trauma

By Doug Plummer|2022-09-26T20:23:53-07:00September 26th, 2022|Comments Off

Defining Rape and Sexual Assault

I've been working with survivors of rape and sexual assault since I started in the mental health field. Here are my definitions: Rape: The sexual use, involving penile, digital (fingers) or objects on a woman's, man's or child's body without that person's consent, with forced consent (threats) or if that person cannot conset due to

By Robin Shapiro|2012-08-23T10:38:15-07:00August 23rd, 2012|2 Comments

Research: CBT FAIL!

Huge study in Sweden finds that CBT often doesn't work on anxiety and depression and can make the problems much worse: REVOLUTION IN SWEDISH MENTAL HEALTH PRACTICE: THE COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL THERAPY MONOPOLY GIVES WAY Please don't flame me, I'm just reporting the study.

By Robin Shapiro|2012-06-19T20:40:56-07:00June 19th, 2012|Comments Off

In Ego State Therapy, Let the Client Run the Internal Show.

Twenty-seven years ago, when I worked with my first DID client, I became the "go to" person for soothing the young, distressed ego states. As a result, I was on-call 24/7, never took longer than a week's vacation, and was constantly fielding emergencies. Finally, a savvy consultant told me to put the "oldest, wisest part"

By Robin Shapiro|2011-08-20T17:22:40-07:00August 20th, 2011|Comments Off

Psychiatric Diagnoses: The Epidemic of Mental Illness

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.

By Robin Shapiro|2011-06-17T15:00:06-07:00June 17th, 2011|4 Comments

Tricare Refuses to Pay for CRT & EMDR for Veterans

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 —

By Robin Shapiro|2010-12-22T16:58:10-08:00December 22nd, 2010|1 Comment

Is Schizophrenia Caused by a Retro-Virus?

Fascinating article, The Insanity Virus, in the November online Discover magazine describes studies that show that schizophrenia and MS may be from viruses that trigger the Toxoplasmosis and CMV viruses that most of us already carry. It's a long read that got more interesting (for me) on pages 3 and 4. This article makes personal

By Robin Shapiro|2010-11-14T14:18:29-08:00November 14th, 2010|2 Comments

Trauma Treatment Handbook: Protocols Across the Spectrum

My copy of the new book arrived today. Here is what Diana Fosha says about it:"This is a thorough, accessible, and very practical book, filled with resources and sound ideas, filtered through the intelligence and experience of a savvy, compassionate, down-to-earth, and very experienced clinician. It is like a travel guide to the land of

By Robin Shapiro|2010-08-17T19:22:38-07:00August 17th, 2010|5 Comments

“Mental” Is Terrible

There's a new fantasy show on Fox: Mental. It's supposed to take place in an inpatient psych unit. So, first, the new head of psychiatry strips down in a room full of clients to connect with a psychotic guy who has pulled his clothes off. Later, he breaks into a woman's house in order to

By Robin Shapiro|2009-05-26T23:54:06-07:00May 26th, 2009|2 Comments

UCLA Trauma Conference Day 2: Dan Siegel, Mindfulness

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

By Robin Shapiro|2009-03-08T22:21:23-07:00March 8th, 2009|1 Comment

UCLA 2009 Trauma Conference Day 1, van der Kolk & Shapiro

Day 1: Bessel van der Kolk is lovely. He's humble, he's funny, and he is the premiere researcher on the neurobiology and/or efficacy of trauma treatments in the world. And cute and brilliant, of course. Here are nearly random gems from 3 hours of notes: With trauma, there are no stories, only sensory experience: images,

By Robin Shapiro|2009-03-06T22:35:54-08:00March 6th, 2009|2 Comments

“The Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Sourcebook”

I'm reading piles of books in preparation for writing a trauma therapy survey book. My friend and colleague, Barbara Hinsz lent me Glenn Schiraldi's The Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Sourcebook. (McGraw-Hill, 2000) It's a great self-help book, one of the best I've seen. Schiraldi's a good writer. I never wanted to fix his sentences. He's simple without being simplistic.

By Robin Shapiro|2009-02-18T17:23:36-08:00February 18th, 2009|Comments Off

Babette Rothschild: The Body Remembers

The name of the workshop was "The Body Remembers: The Psychophysiology of Trauma and Trauma Treatment". The main point was: therapists do too much trauma therapy too early and should do much more preparation before they do the "memory processing" and should often do no trauma processing at all. She talked alot about helping people

By Robin Shapiro|2009-01-31T18:04:25-08:00January 31st, 2009|Comments Off

NYT’s PTSD in Iraq Vets article: Counting the Walking Wounded

The New York Times published this article today. If you haven't starting gearing up to work with soldiers, get some training now. There are online trainings, in-person trainings, and books. You can even start by watching movies: In the Valley of the Elah is supposed to be a great one. Understand that, so far, EMDR

By Robin Shapiro|2009-01-26T16:09:04-08:00January 26th, 2009|Comments Off

KENSPORTAL.COM

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/

By Robin Shapiro|2008-10-31T21:50:49-07:00October 31st, 2008|Comments Off

EMDR and Depression poster

I applied to the EMDR International Conference to lead a 3-hour workshop on Treating Depression with EMDR. I wrote four chapters about it in the new book, EMDR Solutions II, for Depression, Eating Disorders, Performance, & More. Instead of a workshop, I was invited to do a poster. I know how to write. I know

By Robin Shapiro|2008-09-10T08:17:55-07:00September 10th, 2008|2 Comments

PTSD Has Genetic Aspects

http://arstechnica.com/journals/science.ars/2008/03/18/study-identifies-gene-x-environment-link-to-ptsd is a link to a website that discusses the connection between a stress-related gene and the likelihood of developing PTSD. The new issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association features an article by Dr. Kerry Ressler and several co-authors found that specific variations in the gene appeared to be influenced by child

By Robin Shapiro|2008-03-19T19:15:50-07:00March 19th, 2008|Comments Off

PTSD & Depression in Irag War Veterans

Michele Feingold, one of my readers, sent this link to me. It's timely since I'm about to start writing about trauma-based depression in the new book. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/2/11/131710/774/1/454592 Thanks Michele!

By Robin Shapiro|2008-02-14T07:01:21-08:00February 14th, 2008|Comments Off

MYSHRINK.COM

myshrink.com is a fantastic website/blog full of information about therapy, bodymind connection, anxiety, and depression. It has some of the most cogent explainations I've seen. It's a great resource for clients as well as therapists. It's written and overseen by Suzanne LaCombe, a therapist in Vancouver, BC. She writes clearly, has a sense of humor,

By Robin Shapiro|2007-11-14T07:32:48-08:00November 14th, 2007|Comments Off

The Neuroscience of Psychotherapy

The book group discussed The Neuroscience of Psychotherapy by Louis Cozolino (W.W. Norton & Co. 2002). We liked it. Cozolino's book is easy to understand and moves along nicely. It is packed with information about the brain. Its case examples were great, though too few. Cozolino writes about brain structures--the triune brain (lizard, mammalian, human),

By Robin Shapiro|2007-11-09T21:04:29-08:00November 9th, 2007|2 Comments

Thyroid Disease and Other Differential Diagnoses

It's been 7 months since the start of my thyroid inbalance. Today, I have energy, a focused mind, and no squalls of irritated, anxious, or shut down states. I'm sleeping, my digestion works, my husband is cute again, and my desk has been cleared. I have long periods of contentment and even some joy! It

By Robin Shapiro|2007-10-28T21:00:21-07:00October 28th, 2007|1 Comment

Reading Group: The Neuroscience of Psychotherapy by Cozolino

The next book in the reading group will be The Neuroscience of Psychotherapy, by Louis Cozolino (W.W. Norton, 2003). It's easier to read than you might think, and written by a psychologist, not a medical person, who struggled through the medical/scientific texts in order to bring we clinicians the good news. According to Cozolino, we

By Robin Shapiro|2007-10-23T18:19:41-07:00October 23rd, 2007|Comments Off

New Bipolar Dx medications

There are some new bipolar treatments in this article. Check it out: http://scienceblogs.com/grrlscientist/2007/09/dna_research_provides_new_hope.php

By Robin Shapiro|2007-09-03T16:46:01-07:00September 3rd, 2007|Comments Off

Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder

We all know what Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) looks like: repetitive rituals, obsessive thoughts, and the people who are thinking or doing the compulsive thinking or behavior and know that they're not being rational. Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Order (OCPD) is something else. People with OCPD are detail oriented, to the exclusion of the big picture. They are

By Robin Shapiro|2007-09-03T16:37:02-07:00September 3rd, 2007|6 Comments

Long-Term Clients

I've been in practice since 1981. During that time, I've seen around 1000 clients and in the last decade consulted to other therapists about at least a thousand more. DSM diagnoses are one way to describe clients. Another way is by the length of time they stay in therapy. (Not counting analysands) Here is a

By Robin Shapiro|2007-07-29T21:13:08-07:00July 29th, 2007|4 Comments

The Trauma Spectrum, by Robert Scaer

The Trauma Spectrum by Robert Scaer (2005, W.W. Norton). According to Scaer: A. Trauma is a continuum. B. What you have to endure during moments of helplessness and hopelessness creates a freeze response. It's the frozen, uncompleted actions that make for PTSD. C. These moments can start prenatally (fetuses feel). The medical process of birth

By Robin Shapiro|2007-05-25T22:15:40-07:00May 25th, 2007|1 Comment

Psychological Rating Scales

Kathy Downing just posted this on the ERC Listserve. She got it on another list somewhere. It has every assessment test that you can imagine. Check it out. Thanks Kathy! http://www.neurotransmitter.net/ratingscales.html

By Robin Shapiro|2007-05-05T20:51:09-07:00May 5th, 2007|Comments Off

Quick diagnoses

From a client: A penguin, dressed in a Santa suit, walks into the psychiatrist's office for an evaluation. The psychiatrist says, "Wait, don't say anything. I have the diagnosis: Bipolar."

By Robin Shapiro|2006-12-13T21:59:49-08:00December 13th, 2006|Comments Off