Spring 2000 - IP; President's Message

CONTEMPORARY ISSUES AND PRACTICE OPPORTUNITIES
My thoughts are still quite saturated with year 2000 news, events, reviews and retrospectives of the last year, decade, century and millennium. During the last decade I have developed an inner chip that automatically reinterprets situations in terms of “What does this mean for psychology?” or more specifically, “What does this mean for psychologists in independent practice?” This question came to me many times especially during 1999, leading me to see many ways that psychologists can contribute to public education on psychological issues and build their private practices along the way.

The last year saw natural disasters of epic proportions around the world, violence in schools thought to be immune to such events, continued war, starvation and brutalities in new and usual “trouble” spots on the globe. Following many of these national media stories, our Division 42 Public Relations expert, Kelly Cunningham, directed by our Marketing Committee, issued Public Service Announcements (PSA’s) to media outlets across the country. These PSA’s are psycho-educational and end with our toll-free phone number where callers can request further information, a brochure or fact sheet. With every request we include a copy of our Straight Talk Brochure describing the benefits of private pay psychotherapy. Announcements result in requests from Radio, TV and newspapers for direct interviews with psychologists.

The school shootings in Littleton, Colorado coincidently occurred just as the APA/MTV program on Violence was scheduled to be aired nationally, resulting in a flurry of media events that included psychologists and a noticeable increase in psychologists interviewed on the air. Russ Newman was interviewed by CNN and this was repeated many times in the course of that day. The APA Practice Directorate did a wonderful job, but they cannot do it all.

To increase the awareness of how psychology relates to helping humankind, and how we practitioners can help in direct ways, one person at a time, we all need to do more. So, going back to my chip that asks, “What does this all mean for psychologists in independent practice?” I wonder why there aren’t more psychologists in practice who are utilizing this great opportunity to market themselves to their community and thereby increase the possibility of referrals to their practice? I have heard psychologists say “I’m not interested in working in schools,” or “violence isn’t my specialty.” This is where many practitioners are missing an opportunity because they cannot see the big picture. For example:

A program on school violence can be your first entre into a school where you can be seen as a psychologist who knows about human behavior, and can help with many kinds of problems.
Leading a school violence program can open the door between you and parents who may see you as a competent and empathetic psychologist if they have some other problem.
You have the opportunity to develop other follow-up programs that pertain more to your interest area. For example: Teen suicide, dealing with divorce and separation, worrying about grades and college entrance.
Your future patients may be the students, their parents, the teachers, the administrators, the staff. All of the people you meet will learn about your competence, your style and your interest in them.

The APA Practice Directorate has brochures available on Violence in the Schools together with outlines of how to lead a school program on this topic.

Consider even further the school violence issue and the absence of any discussion of psychological concepts. Often the violence coverage by the media raises issues of the morality and character of the perpetrators. Psychology is what morality and character are really about. A person that develops a healthy sense of self, has good self-esteem, and is free from anger and self-destructive impulses will more likely be moral and have good character. Behaviors and events unfortunately get labeled with terms relating to morality and character. Psychological concepts are ignored and there is no attention paid to the underlying personal experiences.

A century or more ago, before the better understanding of psychology, human development and behavior, the “good” and “bad” behavior of individuals were considered as “good” and “evil.” Some were considered “possessed” by Satan and executed because of superstitious beliefs. Clearly the people of those centuries were misinformed. Still today, there are huge gaps in the public’s understanding of social and psychological sciences. Why did that child kill his parents? Why did those two young teens kill their high school schoolmates? Why did that postal worker go berserk and kill everyone at the post office? and on and on. Too often the psychodynamics underlying such behavior are ignored. When situations are reported that involve heroism, outstanding character on the part of a bystander, selfless action by a firefighter, there is a missed opportunity for understanding how a person develops empathy, altruism, and selflessness. There is the missed opportunity to connect these aspects with an emotionally healthy individual, to learn how more people can achieve this level of functioning, and the role of psychology in bringing this about.

Carl Sagan, in his last book, The Demon-Haunted World, referred to “God of the Gaps.” He noted when people have no answer for an event, they attribute the event to God. He also noted that people are seriously deficient in their knowledge of science, and that although there are simple scientific answers for many events, since many are ignorant to the facts, they still attribute the event to a supernatural cause. This is what I feel occurs in psychology, and with psychologically underlying causes for events and behaviors that are not understood by most.

Psychologists can explain the processes that can occur due to experiences of abuse and abandonment. We can explain behaviors evolving from paranoid minds that require no “motive” to explain on the 11 o’clock news. Gaps in knowledge cause people anxiety, appear magical and are frightening. We are the professionals who are trained to explain this “scary” stuff to others, and we all need to take the responsibility of doing it. We cannot leave it only to APA Public Relations Office, the Practice Directorate or Division 42’s PSA’s. They are capable of issuing media releases, but we need psychologists across the nation adding to this effort on a state by state, city by city and town by town basis. The effect will eventually be a public that has greater understanding of human dynamics and a greater regard for the power of psychological experiences and of psychology.

Psycho-educational information can include parenting information, sibling conflicts, divorce and separation, illness, death and bereavement, suicide, disaster reactions, PTSD, depression, anxiety, stress, OCD, schizophrenia, homelessness, loneliness, aging, stalking, and risk taking. These are topics that will educate a public looking for answers. The more the public understands about psychological issues, the less they will jump to erroneous conclusions or be happy with superficial explanations of events. An example of this simplification is the belief that getting fired from a job is the motive for killing 20 co-workers in an office. The sad part to me is when there is no desire on the part of the public or media to understand the dynamics any further. There is a belief that getting fired explains such extreme behavior. There is no interest (because there is no knowledge) that perhaps there were other life experiences that preceded the firing that made the firing the “last straw” for that individual.

Realize that the more the public understands that events and behaviors have psychological underpinnings, the more comfortable they will become with thinking in psychological terms, and the more likely they will be to seek psychological help when they are having similar problems. The APA Public Education Campaign is based on this.

There are many actions you can take depending on your personal interest area and mostly depending on your own personal style. The list below is intended to offer diverse examples, but most importantly you need to commit to start to actively help your own practice. The APA, the Practice Directorate, Division 42 can provide you with tools, ideas, reading materials, brochures, fact sheets, and workshops on practice building, but you need to do your part or the referrals will not just “magically” arrive at your door.

When you hear a media personality or newscaster make an incorrect judgement or comment regarding an event (e.g. “I guess some kids are just born bad”) call the station or newsroom and talk with the producer about correcting this misinformation.
You will be pleased to experience them as very thankful for your input, and they will frequently change the information during their next broadcast.
Prepare a talk (30 or 60 minutes) for a school, library, chamber of commerce, church, synagogue or business on a relevant topic and volunteer to do the program. Go with brochures, fact sheets, etc. with your name, address and phone number imprinted.
Write an article for your local newspaper. Small hometown papers usually are eager for such articles. Be sure your name and location appear.
Volunteer to conduct a parenting discussion at a local pediatrician’s office.
Volunteer for health websites.

There are many and most are quite good. They too are always eager for more information on various topics.

Learn how to make use of the brochures, fact sheets, training workshops and niche guides provided by our Division, the Practice Directorate and APA. There is a world of people wanting and needing information that we happen to have. The more we take part in communicating with them, the more they benefit in their own lives, the more our own profession gains, and so does your practice.

Elaine Rodino, Ph.D.

Return to Top

President’s Message/Elaine Rodino

From the Editor/Michael Brickey

CONTEMPORARY ISSUES AND PRACTICE OPPORTUNITIES
My thoughts are still quite saturated with year 2000 news, events, reviews and retrospectives of the last year, decade, century and millennium. During the last decade I have developed an inner chip that automatically reinterprets situations in terms of “What does this mean for psychology?” or more specifically, “What does this mean for psychologists in independent practice?” This question came to me many times especially during 1999, leading me to see many ways that psychologists can contribute to public education on psychological issues and build their private practices along the way.

The last year saw natural disasters of epic proportions around the world, violence in schools thought to be immune to such events, continued war, starvation and brutalities in new and usual “trouble” spots on the globe. Following many of these national media stories, our Division 42 Public Relations expert, Kelly Cunningham, directed by our Marketing Committee, issued Public Service Announcements (PSA’s) to media outlets across the country. These PSA’s are psycho-educational and end with our toll-free phone number where callers can request further information, a brochure or fact sheet. With every request we include a copy of our Straight Talk Brochure describing the benefits of private pay psychotherapy. Announcements result in requests from Radio, TV and newspapers for direct interviews with psychologists.

The school shootings in Littleton, Colorado coincidently occurred just as the APA/MTV program on Violence was scheduled to be aired nationally, resulting in a flurry of media events that included psychologists and a noticeable increase in psychologists interviewed on the air. Russ Newman was interviewed by CNN and this was repeated many times in the course of that day. The APA Practice Directorate did a wonderful job, but they cannot do it all.

To increase the awareness of how psychology relates to helping humankind, and how we practitioners can help in direct ways, one person at a time, we all need to do more. So, going back to my chip that asks, “What does this all mean for psychologists in independent practice?” I wonder why there aren’t more psychologists in practice who are utilizing this great opportunity to market themselves to their community and thereby increase the possibility of referrals to their practice? I have heard psychologists say “I’m not interested in working in schools,” or “violence isn’t my specialty.” This is where many practitioners are missing an opportunity because they cannot see the big picture. For example:

A program on school violence can be your first entre into a school where you can be seen as a psychologist who knows about human behavior, and can help with many kinds of problems.
Leading a school violence program can open the door between you and parents who may see you as a competent and empathetic psychologist if they have some other problem.
You have the opportunity to develop other follow-up programs that pertain more to your interest area. For example: Teen suicide, dealing with divorce and separation, worrying about grades and college entrance.
Your future patients may be the students, their parents, the teachers, the administrators, the staff. All of the people you meet will learn about your competence, your style and your interest in them.

The APA Practice Directorate has brochures available on Violence in the Schools together with outlines of how to lead a school program on this topic.

Consider even further the school violence issue and the absence of any discussion of psychological concepts. Often the violence coverage by the media raises issues of the morality and character of the perpetrators. Psychology is what morality and character are really about. A person that develops a healthy sense of self, has good self-esteem, and is free from anger and self-destructive impulses will more likely be moral and have good character. Behaviors and events unfortunately get labeled with terms relating to morality and character. Psychological concepts are ignored and there is no attention paid to the underlying personal experiences.

A century or more ago, before the better understanding of psychology, human development and behavior, the “good” and “bad” behavior of individuals were considered as “good” and “evil.” Some were considered “possessed” by Satan and executed because of superstitious beliefs. Clearly the people of those centuries were misinformed. Still today, there are huge gaps in the public’s understanding of social and psychological sciences. Why did that child kill his parents? Why did those two young teens kill their high school schoolmates? Why did that postal worker go berserk and kill everyone at the post office? and on and on. Too often the psychodynamics underlying such behavior are ignored. When situations are reported that involve heroism, outstanding character on the part of a bystander, selfless action by a firefighter, there is a missed opportunity for understanding how a person develops empathy, altruism, and selflessness. There is the missed opportunity to connect these aspects with an emotionally healthy individual, to learn how more people can achieve this level of functioning, and the role of psychology in bringing this about.

Carl Sagan, in his last book, The Demon-Haunted World, referred to “God of the Gaps.” He noted when people have no answer for an event, they attribute the event to God. He also noted that people are seriously deficient in their knowledge of science, and that although there are simple scientific answers for many events, since many are ignorant to the facts, they still attribute the event to a supernatural cause. This is what I feel occurs in psychology, and with psychologically underlying causes for events and behaviors that are not understood by most.

Psychologists can explain the processes that can occur due to experiences of abuse and abandonment. We can explain behaviors evolving from paranoid minds that require no “motive” to explain on the 11 o’clock news. Gaps in knowledge cause people anxiety, appear magical and are frightening. We are the professionals who are trained to explain this “scary” stuff to others, and we all need to take the responsibility of doing it. We cannot leave it only to APA Public Relations Office, the Practice Directorate or Division 42’s PSA’s. They are capable of issuing media releases, but we need psychologists across the nation adding to this effort on a state by state, city by city and town by town basis. The effect will eventually be a public that has greater understanding of human dynamics and a greater regard for the power of psychological experiences and of psychology.

Psycho-educational information can include parenting information, sibling conflicts, divorce and separation, illness, death and bereavement, suicide, disaster reactions, PTSD, depression, anxiety, stress, OCD, schizophrenia, homelessness, loneliness, aging, stalking, and risk taking. These are topics that will educate a public looking for answers. The more the public understands about psychological issues, the less they will jump to erroneous conclusions or be happy with superficial explanations of events. An example of this simplification is the belief that getting fired from a job is the motive for killing 20 co-workers in an office. The sad part to me is when there is no desire on the part of the public or media to understand the dynamics any further. There is a belief that getting fired explains such extreme behavior. There is no interest (because there is no knowledge) that perhaps there were other life experiences that preceded the firing that made the firing the “last straw” for that individual.

Realize that the more the public understands that events and behaviors have psychological underpinnings, the more comfortable they will become with thinking in psychological terms, and the more likely they will be to seek psychological help when they are having similar problems. The APA Public Education Campaign is based on this.

There are many actions you can take depending on your personal interest area and mostly depending on your own personal style. The list below is intended to offer diverse examples, but most importantly you need to commit to start to actively help your own practice. The APA, the Practice Directorate, Division 42 can provide you with tools, ideas, reading materials, brochures, fact sheets, and workshops on practice building, but you need to do your part or the referrals will not just “magically” arrive at your door.

When you hear a media personality or newscaster make an incorrect judgement or comment regarding an event (e.g. “I guess some kids are just born bad”) call the station or newsroom and talk with the producer about correcting this misinformation.
You will be pleased to experience them as very thankful for your input, and they will frequently change the information during their next broadcast.
Prepare a talk (30 or 60 minutes) for a school, library, chamber of commerce, church, synagogue or business on a relevant topic and volunteer to do the program. Go with brochures, fact sheets, etc. with your name, address and phone number imprinted.
Write an article for your local newspaper. Small hometown papers usually are eager for such articles. Be sure your name and location appear.
Volunteer to conduct a parenting discussion at a local pediatrician’s office.
Volunteer for health websites.

There are many and most are quite good. They too are always eager for more information on various topics.

Learn how to make use of the brochures, fact sheets, training workshops and niche guides provided by our Division, the Practice Directorate and APA. There is a world of people wanting and needing information that we happen to have. The more we take part in communicating with them, the more they benefit in their own lives, the more our own profession gains, and so does your practice.

Elaine Rodino, Ph.D.

Return to Top

	President’s Message/Elaine Rodino
	From the Editor/Michael Brickey