I’m watching twitter, google+ and the web so you don’t have to… This post is part of a weekly (or bi-weekly) series, Best in Mental Health, featuring some of the best posts of the week, in social work, psychology, evidence-based practice/healthcare, non-profit and private practice concerns.
Evidence Based Practice/Healthcare:
Characteristics of Doctor Shoppers and Ways for Healthcare Providers to Respond
ireta (Danielle Scott)
“Five or six prescribers in a short period of time may be a red flag. Within the “extreme” group, paying in cash was associated with more prescribers… guidance for a clinician concerned about a patient’s use of opioid medications…”
How your brain reacts to emotional information is influenced by your genes
ScienceDaily
“Emotions are not only about how feel about the world, but how our brains influence our perception of it,”…”As our genes influence how we literally see the positive and negative aspects of our world… believe the world has more rewards or threat…”
Psychosocial therapy effective in reducing self-harm, suicide and all-cause death
The Mental Elf (Elly O’Brien)
“psychosocial therapy is effective in reducing repeated self-harm, death by suicide and death by any cause in the short-term (one year) and over the longer-term (20 years) in people who have self-harmed… still uncertainty about what type of therapy to offer…”
Viewing violent news on social media can cause trauma
ScienceDaily
“Social media has enabled violent stories and graphic images to be watched by the public in unedited horrific detail… nearly a quarter of those who viewed the images scored high on clinical measures of PTSD… ensure that people are aware of the risks… appropriate support is available…”
Social Work:
Calvo ‘Happiness Study’ Demonstrates Global Reach
Innovate@BCSocialWork
“Survivors of Katrina… for the majority of these women from vulnerable populations… “no significant differences in happiness between the pre-disaster and four years post-disaster assessments.”… importance of supporting the community fabric in vulnerable populations…”
Digital Innovation and #AgeingBetter
Connecting Social Care and Social Media (Shirley Ayres)
“we have to disrupt the current care market… living longer does not feel like a celebration when care options in later life do not reflect our aspirations and experience of living in a digitally connected world… Map all of the digital community hubs…”
Do You Take Your Truth Black, or With Cream & Sugar? 14 Articles For White Folks Willing To Do Their Own Work
Relando Thompkins-Jones, MSW, LLMSW
“All people who are white… benefit from this structurally racist society… although there are differences in terms of the actions taken and not taken by the “bigots” and others… the truth about the notion of white supremacy… ways to act…14 articles…”
The Expert witness in child protection – putting limits on
Child Protection Lessons (Peter Choate)
“expert witness… strong impact on how judges see information… an expert in child protection should be challenged to determine if they have a clear and articulated understanding of the standards against which they have judged a parent…”
Find the Perfect Internship: Interview with Nathan Parcells CEO of InternMatch
Social Work Helper (Deona Hooper)
“social work skill set is transferable… we currently have over 500 social work positions available all across the country… We are always excited to… find the best way for us to share internships that are helpful… to craft resources for career centers…”
The Importance of Home Permanency For Foster Child Development
Social Justice Solutions (Chronicle Of Social Change)
“30-80 percent of foster care youth exhibit emotional and behavioral problems as an effect of their foster care or pre-foster care experiences… Kids who end up “aging out” at 18 years of age slip further… place we call home is where bonds and relationships…”
Making Social Policy Relevant Through Social Media
Teaching Social Work (Dr. Casey Bohrman)
“I asked students create a Twitter account and a blog about… mental health policy or how social policy might directly impact women… tweet several times per week and post a blog entry once a month… follow a range of accounts… it gives students a broader and more current perspective…”
New Report: “Facts Matter! Black Lives Matter! The Trauma of Racism”
McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research
“imperative to confront society’s insidious and deadly structural racism… new report entitled “Facts Matter! Black Lives Matter! The Trauma of Racism.” … analysis of the cumulative negative impact racism has on the lives of people of color…”
The New Social Worker Book Club Twitter Chat With Kristin Battista-Frazee
The New Social Worker Online
“May 20, 2015, 9 p.m. Eastern… The Pornographer’s Daughter… a great deal in this book for social workers to discuss–mental health and its treatment, stigma, pornography, First Amendment issues, family dynamics, what shapes who a person is, and more…”
New Ways of Seeing: The Art of Therapeutic Reframing
Everyone Needs Therapy (therapydoc)
“Losing at a game we have a sinking, negative feeling of inevitability. But the good news is that you have a new metaphor, and the metaphor by its very nature has the power to paradox, to tweak thinking in a direction that is not hopeless. Laughing at ourselves… best medicine…”
The Social Worker-Shaped Void in State Legislation
The Political Social Worker (Jennifer Petersen)
“role as secretary for two of Montana’s House of Representatives’ committees… observe how legislation is passed… If indeed this bill… tool to help drug addicts… Where… social workers to testify on the validity and cultural competence of the questionnaire?…”
‘Troubled’ or ‘disadvantaged’ families? – podcast
Podsocs (Sue Bond-Taylor)
“Troubled Families programs have been introduced in England for those most ‘troubled’ families.. an evaluation of one these programs and the differences between political and practice meanings of words like empowerment and troubled…”
Psychology:
Ten Myths that Derail Mormon Mental Health
MMH Podcast (Natasha Parker and Julie Hanks)
“some of the messaging that happens within Mormon constructs can lead to incorrect and harmful interpretations of what is considered “gospel truth.”… the top ten myths or themes… in her work with LDS clients… helpful reframes and restructuring of concepts…”
A Blood Test to Diagnose Depression?
The Trauma And Attachment Report (Alessandro Perri)
“Researchers at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern believe it may be possible to diagnose depression using a blood test… Using a test such as this to identify depression could reduce some of the stigma… bridge the gap between mental and physical health…”
Bullying, Students with Disabilities, and Federal Law
Cyberbullying Research Center (Sameer Hinduja)
“When it can be shown certain behaviors are a result of a formally diagnosed impairment… schools are legally responsible to provide accommodation instead of discipline… Schools cannot discipline a disability, nor can they discipline and provide accommodations at the same time…”
Counselor, know thyself
Counseling Today (Lynn Bohecker)
“spiritual timelines… explore our own values, beliefs and attitudes about spirituality and religion… developing a drawing and an accompanying narrative to highlight critical events… become effective at addressing client spirituality issues by first becoming aware of… own…”
Cultural Beliefs that May Affect Asian American Moms’ Emotions After Birth
Postpartum Progress (Heather King)
“How each woman approaches and embraces motherhood is largely informed by her familial and cultural lineage… Postpartum mood concerns… affecting between 15-17% of mothers… in some Asian cultures, gender of the child may be correlated with perinatal depression…”
Handout – How to Talk to a Psychiatric Patient
A Friend to Yourself (Sana Johnson-Quijada MD)
“innuendos that interplay in communication between caregiver and patient… Identifying Me in the mental health treatment paradigm… address our personal limitations… Own that we have stigma: prejudice and discrimination… Collaborate… More contact and exposure… “
Helpelessness
Beck Institute (Dr. Judith Beck)
“cognitive conceptualization of… client, using the Cognitive Conceptualization Diagram… Joe’s automatic thoughts in situations where he either felt some (mild) distress or acted in a dysfunctional way (using avoiding something)… very strong core beliefs of helplessness…”
How Can Sociology Help Explain the Civil Unrest in Baltimore?
Everyday Sociology Blog (Karen Sternheimer)
“no consequences for police brutality… recent history of mass incarceration and the criminalization of low-income people… Coverage of violence drowns out legitimate grievances… more people need to become aware about the persistence of inequality…”
How The United States Treats Psychosis Is All Wrong
HealthyPlace (Natasha Tracy)
“Dr. Robert K. Heinssen… while medication may be necessary in treating psychosis, only using medication as the usual paradigm is not nearly as successful as combining it with: Targeted early-intervention services, which decreases relapse… Onset of Psychosis: What Do We Know…”
Mindfulness and Self-Care in Humanitarian Action
Mindfulnext (Alessandra Pigni)
“As a psychologist… provide therapeutic support to Palestinians who carried the wounds of the ongoing conflict and military occupation… biggest stressor… not military checkpoints, but strained relations… care and respect for others start from within ourselves…”
Preventing Traumatic Memory Consolidation
Trauma Institute (Ricky Greenwald)
“Traumatization arises from the individual’s subjective experience of an event… six hour post-event memory consolidation period… meaning-making strategy… debrief… soon after the event… help the individual to arrive at a more constructive perspective…”
Don’t Overthink Your Interventions
Psychotherapy Networker (Jay Efran and Rob Fauber)
“perennial hazard… succumbing to the allure of novel… fancy theories… major factor determining outcome is the strength of the therapeutic alliance… role of hereditary factors in shaping adult personality… declutter the therapeutic space… life isn’t personal…”
“Take Your Power Back” Summit
Heal My PTSD (Svava Brooks)
“Abuse of any kind strips its victims of their personal power. Sexual abuse is particularly damaging… “Take Your Power Back” summit begins May 13… more than twenty professional therapists… trauma specialists… approach to healing and thriving after childhood trauma…”
Why It’s Difficult to “Think Positive!” When You Have PTSD
The Art of Healing from Trauma
“when you have PTSD, negativity is constantly being generated… trauma wires the brain… hypervigilance, a state in which part of our mind is on the alert for danger all the time… PTSD can cause functional impairments in the brain… brain training work… important”
NonProfit:
Career Building Skills for Social Workers: #MacroSW Chat 5/14 9 PM EST
#macrosw (Laurel Iverson Hitchcock)
“guest experts Melissa Whatley & Joy Jones… answering your most pressing questions about searching and interviewing for that first social work job, how to tell your professional story through a resume, and best practices for networking, off-line & online…”
Communities Creating Health: An Introduction
SSIR (Priptal S. Tamber, Leigh Carroll, & Bridget B. Kelly)
“We need to take a long, hard look at whether the well-intentioned quest to support health through the lens of disease has detracted from supporting other activities that have the potential to create health in the settings of everyday life… consider new ways of thinking…”
Private Practice:
4 Actions to ensure the long-term sustainability of your therapy business
Be a Wealthy Therapist (Casey Truffo)
“Make answering the phone or returning phone calls a priority… The first person to speak to the client usually gets the client. You actually worked hard to get them to call you… 2 tips to making phone answering easier… Understand that money is a clinical issue…”
What? A Lawyer Wants Therapy Records?
Psych Central Professional (Elizabeth Ann Younggren, J.D. & Jeffrey N. Younggren, Ph.D)
“legal requests… court orders and subpoenas…If you received a court order for the release of patient information, it compels disclosure of the records… a subpoena does not usually compel disclosure… contact the lawyer… explain that without an authorization from a client…”
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HI Dorlee!
I can’t say enough what great contributions you make by culling all this amazing content every week. Thank you so much for all your insights and efforts.
I especially appreciate the post about traumatization due to violent exposure on social media. We learned a lot after 9/11 about the effects of viewing traumatic material and the fact that it can cause PTSD. I am always disturbed when an unwanted video pops up on my FB feed and I think educating people is the only tool we have.
Thanks so much,
Amy
You are most kind, Amy
It is my pleasure… I most appreciate your thoughtful feedback!
Thanks so much for also highlighting the post about vicarious traumatization. My inclination has been to turn away from disturbing images but others are not always aware of the harm that may take place if they stay to watch.
Best,
Dorlee