Reaching an Autistic Teenager
An excellent feature story about a young man with autism is in the Sunday New York Times for Sunday, October 19, 2008: Reaching an Autistic Teenager
By: William Van Ornum, Ph.D.Welcome to the AMHF Blog
Now, Voyager, and psychoanalysis
A wonderful movie was made in 1942. The critics at the time considered it a standard “weepie.” Yet, the film Now, Voyager, has stood the test of time. Why? The title is taken from a short and obscure lyric by Walt Whitman, a two-liner almost of a type out of the still-to-be-developed Imagist School, on […]
By: Evander LomkeAmerican Psychological Association
The American Psychological Association, a group of over 100,000 psychologists in the U.S.A., offers helpful information for professionals as well as the public on its website: click here for APA link
By: William Van Ornum, Ph.D.The Bipolar Child
An outstanding article appeared in The New York Times Magazine on September 14, 2008: click here for bipolar children article Reading this will provide anyone with a greater understanding of bipolar children and the problems that they and their families face. There is hope for the future, as advances in psychopharmacology, genetic tests for liver […]
By: William Van Ornum, Ph.D.A graduate student’s thoughts on depression
We are very lucky that so many talented young people are choosing to devote their careers to helping other people in the mental health field. Here are some ideas on “depression” from a young woman who is studying to be a New York State Certified School Psychologist: Depression is a disorder that affects all types […]
By: William Van Ornum, Ph.D.Anna Freud, WAR AND CHILDREN, 9-11
On this day of sadness and mourning I’m thinking about a book that Anna Freud wrote during World War Two. CHILDREN AND WAR was written for the women of London who were holding down the country during the deadly German bombings. These heroic women did just about everything to keep London alive in front-line conditions. […]
By: William Van Ornum, Ph.D.The New Yorker doesn’t quite get it after all
The contest-winning caption on the Wizard of Oz group-therapy session drawing is in. The judges went for the cheap laugh. “And my hourly fee is six hundred dollars. You’re not in Kansas anymore.” The winning entry is by Bill Craig of Ridgewood, New Jersey. Mr. Craig has written an amusing caption to be sure. His […]
By: Evander LomkeDRIVEN TO DISTRACTION
I have been reading a wonderful book, DRIVEN TO DISTRACTION: Recognizing and Coping with Attention Deficit Disorder from Childhood through Adulthood by Edward M. Hallowell, M.D., and John Ratey. M.D. This book brings to a general trade audience wisdom gained from peer-reviewed studies and research. Unlike some books on this topic, there is no ax […]
By: William Van Ornum, Ph.D.PSYCHODYNAMIC DIAGNOSTIC MANUAL: Helpful companion the DSM IV
In the latter part of the 20th century a dramatic shift occurred regarding the manner in which psychiatrists and other mental health professionals described and diagnosed psychological problems. DSM I, the first version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, was a modest size paperback handbook providing broad categories of mental health problems. It was the […]
By: William Van Ornum, Ph.D.Leave it to The New Yorker
Not that I am such a rabid reader of The New Yorker magazine, but in the past several weeks their cartoonists have outdone themselves in relevance to AMHF. At this writing, the “Wizard of Oz” group-session caption has not been selected. It ought to be final by Labor Day. But the August 25 and September […]
By: Evander Lomke
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