Health and Psychology

I was talking to my class today about how a theoretical orientation is the first part of a clinical case formulation. In basic English when someone calls me on the phone or meets me, or contacts me by email, I start developing ideas about who the person is, why they are contacting me, and what kinds of things I might be able to do to help them.  Those ideas are based on a way of thinking about people.  That way of thinking about people is called a theoretical orientation.  So e...

I've been talking to people about brain injury ever since my second major concussion in 1997.  What surprises me is how isolated people feel, the tremendous amount of misinformation they are provided and the number of failed treatments they undergo that may worsen their condition and slow their recovery.  So here are the common "weird" symptoms post concussion.

Migraines:  Most people with concussion have post-concussive headaches.  These are inten...

I received a phone call from someone that had failed a psychological evaluation for being a police officer.  "Do you do those kinds of evaluations?" he asked.  "Yes of course we do."  I answered.  But not just evaluations for police, but for all types of employment--social worker, border patrol, customs, CHP, LAPD, LA Sheriff's Department and even out of area police departments.

People fail psychological evaluations for lots of reasons and it doesn't mean...

Attention Deficit Disorder is a frequently misdiagnosed condition.  Psychiatrists seem to think it can be adequately diagnosed by a parent and teacher questionnaire and a mental status examination and history. But then it doesn't adequately respond to medication so they start changing medications rather than reviewing the diagnosis.  

It's not how psychologists make an ADD diagnosis.

Parent and Teacher questionnaires are nice information, but do n...

Objective, personal, historical--This issue came up in a discussion with a colleague about an issue regarding time and task management.  Here are two people, unrelated.  Jane Doe has an issue with time management.  Jill Doe has an issue with task management.

Jane can't get things done because her ideas about time are related to her personal experience and beliefs about time, and her history of how time works.  It has nothing to do with the objective...

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is a specific type of psychotherapy that shows in research to be effective for a wide variety of conditions.  While it can be used by beginning students in a "cookbook" like approach, more sophisticated therapists can integrate it with any form of relational therapy to lessen the regimented approach and still maintain the outcomes.  

The basic model is that thoughts and behaviors create feelings.  You can change the thoughts, or be...

Evaluations for immigration deportation stays are not standard psychological evaluations.  These are forensic evaluations designed to document to the court the psychological impacts to the American citizens of the deportation order (hardship waiver), the impact of failing to provide asylum to someone from a country where their life may be threatened (asylum waiver), or to document how the immigrant served law enforcement by reporting crime (U-Visa).  A standard psychological evaluat...

Okay.  You spent several hours being evaluated.  The psychologist or neuropsychologist hands you a report. Now what?  

For a lot of evaluations once you have the report it's over.  Nothing more.  You send the report off to someone else.  But if it's about you, there's more at stake.  There's not just the process of having done all the tests, questionnaires, and meaurements.  Now what do you do?

We can help you make a ...

I evaluate all ages from preterm infants in neonatal units of hospitals to the old old.  A parent brought in their one year old for an SSDI evaluation because they believe their infant has bipolar disorder.  

Bipolar disorder previously was known as Manic Depressive illness.  The diagnosis generally starts in someone's 20's and lasts throughout their life.  It is characterized by a manic phase in which someone has difficulty managing their internal state ...

I really ought to have a category that says cats and psychology.  I like explaining things to people using animal models.  It's clearer.  It blames no one.  It makes talking about behavior issues so much simpler.

So historically my cat, Tatum-a three year old tortoise shell colored female tabby cat, has had weird medical issues.  I was told that by the rescue organization when I got her.  She'd had five foster homes and was on a turkey pate only...