Other Featured Stories

• TNP writer/editor Richard E. Gill dies after battle with cancer
• APA Leading the Charge Against ‘Medicalizing’ DSM-5
• Psychologists Integral to Relief in Joplin Disaster
• DeLeon Retiring as Senator’s Chief of Staff

News Briefs

Halve the Risk of a Heart Attack

Proponents of positive psychology may take satisfaction from a Harvard study that shows optimistic people have half the risk of suffering a heart attack compared to the least optimistic. Julia Boehm, research fellow with Harvard’s School of Public Health, drew that conclusion from reviewing dozens of studies of people with positive outlooks on life. The [...]

Barbara Van Dahlen, Ph.D. Named One of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People

Barbara Van Dahlen, Ph.D., has been named one of TIME magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world. Van Dahlen founded Give an Hour, which encourages mental health professionals to donate time to counseling U.S. troops and their families.

1 in 88 Children Diagnosed with Austim

The Center for Disease Control released a report in April — designated as Autism Awareness Month — that among 8-year-olds, one in 88 children is diagnosed as being within the autism spectrum. The study shows a 26 percent increase in diagnoses from 2006 to 2008, which researchers attributed to better diagnostics rather than increased prevalence.

The Future Economics of Practice

I have been writing for some time about the changing demo- graphics in America and how they will affect a doctor of psychology’s education, practice and personal financial planning. Soon Spanish will be the predominant language in Texas with 42 percent of the state’s population using it as the primary language, and the Hispanic group [...]

From the Latest Issue...

A Critical Thinker’s Views on ADHD and the DSM

The November/December issue of The National Psychologist carried an article by Dathan Paterno, Psy.D., called “A divergent view on ADHD,” an interesting piece in which Paterno expressed the view that ADHD is not a brain illness, but rather “…a set of skills that needs to be trained.”

He also stated that the most likely cause was ineffective parenting.

Predictably, the article attracted some negative comment. In the January/February issue there were two critical replies — one from Myles Cooley Ph.D.; the other from Jan Nix, Ph.D.

The letters are very similar. Both castigate …

Catholic Church Sexual Abuse: A Decade of Crisis

This year marks the 10th anniversary of The Boston Globe ’s investigative report on child sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church in Boston, unleashing a remarkable and unrelenting crisis in the church across the United States and much of the world. Much has happened in the decade since this story made front page news yet there is a remarkable amount of misinformation and myths about clergy sexual abuse that still exists.

This includes the notion that Catholic clergy are much more likely to be sex offenders than men from other …

Perspectives of a Second-Generation Psychologist

I am trying to remember when I first understood what my dad did for a living. As a kid I think I knew that he helped people, but that’s about it. I remember when he built a psychiatric hospital but at the time I was focused on playing on the construction site like a jungle gym. I don’t think I really understood until high school when I also began to find myself increasingly interested in psychology.

Since high school, people who knew my father was a psychologist have often expressed sympathy, …

Offspring Follow Parents Down the Psychological Path

I never knew exactly what Dad did for a living until I was well into high school. I knew he was a psychologist and that a psy- chologist was a doctor who talked to people about their problems.

To his patients, he’s Dr. Fox, to his col- leagues he’s Ron and to the general public he’s Ronald Fox, Ph.D., but to me he’s always been just Dad.

Every once in a great while, his work life would bump into our home life – a client obsessively calling the house hoping to speak …

Technician Ban Divides New York Psychologists

Neuropsychologists have split from the New York State Psychological Association (NYSPA) over disagreement on the use of technicians in their practices.

The State Department of Education, which regulates psychology and 47 other professions, ruled that no psychologists may use technicians and when the NYSPA executive board endorsed the ban in December, neuropsychologists walked out.

Accepting the policy would have eliminated the way the vast number of neuropsychologists practice. This was considered totally unacceptable to neuropsychologists, who concluded that NYSPA was out of step with national practice standards and neuropsychologists could not …

Classifieds

2012 Appointment Calendar for Mental Health Professionals

For more than 20 years, this 8 1/2 x 11 inch appointment book has been a mainstay for busy psychologists, social workers & other... 

Did you know...?
That psychologists can earn 1 continuing education credit per issue for simply reading The National Psychologist? A great reason to subscribe today!