One of the goals of AMHF is to keep in everyone’s awareness those therapeutic approaches that are important either for their historical value or for practical techniques still helpful. Of course, we seek to encourage the latest empirical studies and cognitive therapies, such as the study on prevention of psychosis we are funding at Astor […]
By: William Van Ornum, Ph.D.
Clint Eastwood in the first-named movie, released over the weekend, is an old-time baseball scout who scours the South in his well-traveled Mustang, attending high-school and minor-league games to find the next baseball phenom—as Mickey Mantle was improbably discovered by Tom Greenwade several generations ago. The Eastwood character knows baseball so well that he can […]
By: William Van Ornum, Ph.D.
Public Law 94-142, passed by the Congress in 1976, and following legislation including Individual Education Disabilities Act (IDEA), defined different handicapping conditions for which a child could receive additional support (and therefore additional funding) in the public school system. A continuum of extra supports was initiated. This could range from being in a smaller class […]
By: William Van Ornum, Ph.D.
Dr. Stefan de Schill, for sixty years a key figure of the American Mental Health Foundation, saw group therapy as an important part of his practice. He supported all efforts to strengthen the training of group therapists because he thought that these efforts at the time were “dreadful.” Since then, the use of group therapy […]
By: William Van Ornum, Ph.D.The AMHF grant to Astor Services for Children—to identify and evaluate interventions that help adolescents at risk for suicide and psychosis, and to create scientifically supported guidelines—supports the exact kind of empirical investigation recommended by American Psychological Association President Suzanne Bennett Johnson. In the President’s Column of the July August 2012 APA Monitor (American Psychological […]
By: William Van Ornum, Ph.D.Susannah Wood, Arie Greenleaf, and Lisa Thompson-Gillespie, in the August 2012 issue of Counseling Today (a publication of the American Counseling Association), cite Military Officer magazine: there are two-million children in United States military families today. Studies conducted by the National Military Family Association offers this information: students from military households encounter many challenges but […]
By: William Van Ornum, Ph.D.A few months ago I wrote about Marsha Linehan and Dialectical Behavior Therapy here on this blog. It is a creative and empirically-supported treatment that combines cognitive and behavior therapy as well as wisdom from philosophical and religious traditions. Last week, at the 120th Annual Meeting of the American Psychological Association in Orlando, Florida, Linehan […]
By: William Van Ornum, Ph.D.AMHF Board Chair Jack Fowler posted the following in National Review Online, The Corner.
By: William Van Ornum, Ph.D.From International Bipolar Foundation: “We at International Bipolar Foundation mourn the loss of those killed in the tragic shootings Friday. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims’ families and all those affected. “We recognize that this senseless shooting will stimulate many conversations about gun laws, public safety, violence and their association to mental […]
By: William Van Ornum, Ph.D.
There is much more to be said on this centennial anniversary of Northrop Frye’s birth. After reading Evander’s recent blog, I ordered a copy of Frye’s Anatomy of Criticism. This edition included a new foreword by Harold Bloom. How is Frye’s work related to mental health? Evander’s posting makes us wonder if Frye’s work and […]
By: William Van Ornum, Ph.D.
For at least several weeks we have been hearing about and seeing the bullying incident that occurred in upstate New York near Rochester. This occurred on a school bus where at least several students mercilessly taunted a 68-year-wiman who was riding the bus as a bus monitor. The video of this occurring captivated worldwide attention—especially […]
By: William Van Ornum, Ph.D.
Edward Hallowell and John Ratey have published a follow-up to their successful book Driven to Distraction. On a hopeful note, it is titled Delivered from Distraction. The first book was written in the 1990s. It contains much good advice on ADHD: diagnosis, medications, telling it apart from other conditions as well as finding it in […]
By: William Van Ornum, Ph.D.
This blog has little directly to do with mental health, and everything to do with pedagogy and its impact on later life. It is composed in memoriam. In 1975 to 1976, while a graduate student at the University of Toronto, I was fortunate to attend lectures, based on sections of Anatomy of Criticism, by Herman […]
By: Evander Lomke
Although the education of children and teens with autism is covered both in Public Law 94-142 and Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), even with these supports some parents and advocates worried that the intense needs of those with autism were not being fully addressed. This led to the passage of PL 109-416. This act: […]
By: William Van Ornum, Ph.D.
Big Brothers Big Sisters is a national organization which matches volunteers to children who could use a supportive adult in their life. Children in foster care, in single parent families, children with an incapacitating illness–are the kinds of youngsters who might be given priority status. The sponsoring agency has been known to do a careful […]
By: William Van Ornum, Ph.D.
On June 22 it was announced that Judith Wallerstein, 90, had died. Wallerstein is known for a 25-year longitudinal study about the effects of divorce on children. Her study examined the psychological impact of divorce on children, and her scientific findings cautioned against the too-ready “advice” of many mental-health professionals that divorce could be a […]
By: William Van Ornum, Ph.D.
Marsha Linehan, always a leader in the psychological profession for her work with people with borderline personality disorder, became well known to the public when the New York Times featured a front-page article on her. In this, Linehan revealed her own personal struggle with borderline personality disorder as a teen. She was hospitalized around the […]
By: William Van Ornum, Ph.D.
One of my favorite television persons–Jane Pauley–experiences bipolar disorder and has written about it in the book Skywriting: A Life Out of the Blue . Here is her description of one of her episodes: “My husband, Garry, was becoming concerned. When I started talking about my own line of clothing, his concern upgraded to alarm. […]
By: William Van Ornum, Ph.D.
Too many times we view medication and psychological therapies as either/or treatments. Many times people will try to avoid any medication for even a severe mental health problem. Their reasons are always worth noting: perhaps there is a realistic fear of side effects, or a desire to work things out in a trusting relationship. Perhaps […]
By: William Van Ornum, Ph.D.
Part 1 of this essay examined the general nature of violence in the workplace. It noted the major types of crimes in the workplace, the various types of patient assailants, the theories that seek to explain such violent behavior, and the various physical and psychological impacts such violence has on staff victims. Part 2 examines […]
By: Dr. Raymond B. Flannery Jr.
There are many books on fishing, yet only a few on the relationship between fishing and mental health. Paul Quinnett, friend of AMHF and expert on suicide prevention: Pavolv’s Trout and Darwin’s Bass. Centuries ago, another fisherman, Izaac Walton, penned his Compleat Angler—a celebration of the gratitude and joy that fishing brings to one’s life. […]
By: William Van Ornum, Ph.D.
Friends at the International Bipolar Foundation are sponsoring an important lecture on June 14, 2002. If you live near San Diego you might consider attending. For others, the lecture will be archived on the Web site…. Join us Thursday, June 14, for our free monthly mental health lecture with guest speaker Dr. Lisa Eyler. Dr. […]
By: William Van Ornum, Ph.D.Suicide rates are unacceptably high. A U.S. soldier, present or recent past, is said to kill himself or herself every eighty minutes. In countries suffering economic crises, the situation is in some ways even more tragic. Reuters reports that “behind every suicide in crisis-stricken countries such as Greece there are up to 20 more people […]
By: Evander Lomke
Decades ago I was a pre-doctoral intern in clinical psychology and was assigned a therapy case of a young man who would probably now be considered to be experiencing an autism spectrum disorder. He was extremely guarded, withdrawn, and tactile defensive (not liking to touch objects in his environment). Three times each week we met […]
By: William Van Ornum, Ph.D.
In Men In Black III, Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith, have returned to help police the Earth from what they call invading life forms that represent “the scum of the universe.” No spoiler here–but it’s a must-see film if you want to learn more about the dynamics of the Agent J-Agent K relationship. Once […]
By: William Van Ornum, Ph.D.
In yesterday’s blog I noted the level of professionalism and service that was accorded to veterans in the VA system after World War II. My grandfather, a World War II vet, received one of the earliest heart pacemakers as well as top-notch cardiac care, all at no cost (although one might view the treatment as […]
By: William Van Ornum, Ph.D.
Some occupations appear to put persons employed in them at risk for eating disorders. Flight attendants, dancers, actors—persons in these lines of work must maintain unforgiving standards of weight and general appearance in order to ply their trade. As such, they may employ tactics of severe calories-restriction or eating, and then throwing up. (Binging-and-purging as […]
By: William Van Ornum, Ph.D.
Many years ago, in the little neighborhood where I grew up in Chicago, the Memorial Day parade was a major event. Not only did it mark an unofficial beginning of summer, it was an opportunity to see veterans from many wars, marching together, and being honored by the entire neighborhood. The soldiers who had served […]
By: William Van Ornum, Ph.D.The alarm clock goes off. You are up and about and, in time, you make your way to work. As you enter your worksite, you think: another routine day at work. But what if it were not a routine day? What if today you became a victim of violence in the workplace? It could happen […]
By: Dr. Raymond B. Flannery Jr.
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