May 24th 2023
Experts discuss findings from a new trial exploring affect-focused psychotherapies for LGBTQ+ patients with PTSD at the 2023 APA Annual Meeting.
Vicarious Trauma in Clinicians: Fostering Resilience and Preventing Burnout
July 26th 2019The recognition of a wide range of traumatic experiences-physical or sexual assault, motor vehicular accidents, natural disasters, terrorism-has implications for understanding the vulnerability to vicarious trauma inherent in a clinician’s practice.
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Compromised Confidentiality in the Military Is Harmful
October 22nd 2014The privacy and security of our offices-the therapeutic bunkers within which our wounded patient-warriors hunker down against an unseen enemy-is the fundamental first barricade between private sufferings and the potential for public humiliation.
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Trauma in Psychiatric Practice
August 16th 2013As psychiatrists, we practice holistic medicine. Our traumatized patients depend on us to uncover their emotional pain delicately, to understand its effects on their minds and bodies, and to recognize and draw on their unique strengths and vulnerabilities as we promote recovery.
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The Science and Politics of PTSD
February 14th 2012The first half of the 20th century saw 2 world wars, indiscriminate aerial bombing of civilians, the dropping of the atomic bomb, and the Holocaust-all of which created intense trauma for soldiers and civilians.Yet it was not until the American intervention in a post-colonial civil war in Southeast Asia that the psychiatric community in the 1970s formally described what we now call PTSD.
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PTSD, DSM-5, and Forensic Misuse
September 30th 2011In preparing DSM-IV, we worked hard to avoid causing confusion in forensic settings. Realizing that lawyers read documents in their own special way, we had a panel of forensic psychiatrists go over every word to reduce the risks that DSM IV could be misused in the courts.
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The Cultural Dimension in DSM-5: PTSD
August 15th 2010Any effort to develop a diagnostic manual for world-wide use must grapple with the question of cross-cultural applicability. The description and diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia must work as well in East Timor as in the US or France. In this piece I choose PTSD to show the complexity of the cultural issue for DSM-5.
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Organizations Press for Reimbursement of Gulf Mental Health Claims
August 14th 2010Mental health organizations have reacted strongly to recent statements by BP that reimbursement of stress-related claims caused by the oil spill is improbable. In fact BP has said that none of the $20 billion escrow fund will be distributed to mental health needs.
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There Are No Vaccines for PTSD and Suicides in the Military
August 12th 2010The latest information released by the US Army reveals that last year American soldiers attempted suicide at the rate of about 5 /day. There were 160 successful suicides last year and during June the rate was 1/day. Military research has reported that one in 10 Iraq veterans may develop a severe case of PTSD.
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