Health and Psychology

I've posted on this before, but it's still fall and a relatively new school year so it's time again.  Behavior therapy, quite simply, is a therapy designed to change a specific behavior.  It does not change thoughts or feelings.  It does not require the assent of the person getting the treatment, although a lot of people will explain to a child or adult what they are doing and why.  It can be done with animals in addition to people.  The behavior must be described in ...

The American Psychological Association is doing promotional spots promoting therapy over medication.  I'm often asked why is therapy so expensive?  The short answer is "It isn't." Medication requires a visit to a physician's office.  It requires renewals of refills.  At the end of the treatment the person taking medication has the same set of skills they had prior to taking the medication.  If symptoms return, they will need medication again.

Th...

I'm very concerned.  A couple of weeks ago I saw a child in preschool diagnosed with bipolar disorder. PRESCHOOL!  The treating physician had wanted to start the child on an antipsychotic drug known to cause diabetes.  The parent was skeptical about the treatment being suggested.  

Let me explain a couple of things.  First, bipolar disorder used to be known as manic-depressive disorder and was diagnosed exclusively in adults with the onset of a manic...

There are many helpful applications for the iPhone, iPad, and Mac that can help with weight loss.  There are a couple of strategies that health psychologists suggest to assist people wanting to lose weight.

STRATEGIES

1.  Don't think of weight loss as a diet.  Think of it as a permanent lifestyle change.  

2.  Keep track of what you eat.  

3.  Eat deliberately.  Don't just eat mindlessly on the couch while...

Let me explain what blood pressure is and how to think about it.  Blood pressure is evaluated by two numbers to check how your heart is circulating blood throughout the body.  The first or top number is the systolic pressure.  in lay terms, this is the amount of pressure the heart exerts when it is beating.  The second or bottom number is the diastolic pressure or the amount of pressure the heart is exerting at rest.  Blood pressure in adults is usually measured in th...

When a child attends school they undergo a series of evaluations.  They are evaluated primarily by their teacher.  If the teacher suspects the child may be having a problem with learning, they will suggest the child be evaluated to see if they require an individual educational program or IEP be developed for them.  This is the start of a special education process.  

Individual education programs are regulated under Federal Education law.  The program...

In both health psychology and neuropsychology I deal with individuals that are just coming to terms with a probable terminal illness. I say "probable" because there are always new treatments, the occasional miracle, and the occasional misdiagnosis that means there's much more time left, in some cases-years.  I also think terminal illness diagnoses is difficult for physicians.  Apart from "I'm sorry to tell you this..." they don't have the time to spend with someone to help them proc...

I testified in a hearing this past week about an individual I had evaluated.  The person had been evaluated on multiple occasions by multiple people.  I was seated across a table from another evaluator that had also evaluated the same person.  We were in front of a judge because we disagreed about diagnosis.  We weren't far apart diagnostically.  We were literally one check off box apart.  Other evaluators weren't even on the same page, making things even less cl...

A good friend and colleague called.  He does the same type of complex testing I do and we have similar laments about what others, even in our profession, know about what we do.   "Someone just asked me what tests I give to get people a private room as an accommodation. I said I evaluate people. I don't just administer tests."

I understand completely.  I get the same types of calls.  So the first step in the process of an evaluation of anything is to talk ...

I work with several companies providing social security disability assessments (SSI/SSDI).  I've done this for the past 15 years.  The system is not well understood by applicants and is extremely frustrating for those of us involved in attempting to assist applicants and the analysts and judges that send applicants to us.

My job in performing what are referred to as "Comprehensive Psychological Examinations" is to document what an applicant tells me about their con...