Phenomenological Psychology

A 29-year-old single woman presents for psychotherapy.  She states she has been under stress due to a chaotic work environment, which sometimes prevents her from finishing her work.  She says she is experiencing insomnia, fatigue and irritability, feels overwhelmed and “can’t enjoy anything.”  She adds she has withdrawn from family and friends and sometimes feels [...]

1.            Dr. Z. is a licensed psychologist in private practice.  He is approached by his ex-wife’s friend who wants to see him for psychotherapy.   Discuss whether it would be ethical for Dr. Z. to accept this person as a patient. ANSWER:            Dubious and depends on whether Dr. Z. will be able to use independent judgment.  [...]

Review of Banta, J., Wiafe, S., Soret, S. & Holzer, C. (2008).  “A Spatial Needs Assessment of Indigent Acute Psychiatric Discharges in California.”  J. Behavioral Health Services and Research, 35(2), 1556 – 3308. California’s basic mental health law is the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act (the “Act”), Cal. Welfare & Institutions C. §5000 et seq. A person may be [...]

Review of Ball, W. (2007).  “Mentally ill prisoners in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation: strategies for improving treatment and reducing recidivism.”  J. Contemp. Health Law Policy, 24(1), 1 – 42. Law enforcement is given a stark choice when dealing with the mentally ill criminal: place in an in-patient psychiatric facility, or send to [...]

Review of Kovnick, J., Appelbaum, P., Hoge, S. & Leadbetter, R. (2003).  “Competence to Consent to Research Among Long-Stay Inpatients with Chronic Schizophrenia.”  Psychiatric Services, 54(9), 1247 – 1252. As set forth at DSM-IV-TR §295 (p. 312) persons with schizophrenia experience a variety of cognitive impairments, including: hallucinations, bizarre delusions and thought disorders.  Hallucinations are auditory, [...]

Review of Perlis, R., Perlis, C., Wu, Y., Hwang, C., Joseph, M. & Nierenberg, A. (2005).  “Industry Sponsorship and Financial Conflict of Interest in the Reporting of Clinical Trials in Psychiatry.”  Am. J. Psychiatry 162(10), 1957 – 1960. For many years the issue of medical professionals accepting remuneration from pharmaceutical firms in consideration for testing [...]

Review of Smith, S., Gorske, T., Wiggins, C. & Little, J.  “Personality Assessment Use by Clinical Neuropsychologists.” International Journal of Testing, 10(1), 6 – 20. Neuroscientists now are on the verge of developing persuasive etiologies for complex psychopathology such as schizophrenia and personality disorder spectra.  They have identified precise genetic and neurochemical contributors with highly granulated [...]

Review of Wise, E., Streiner, D. & Walfish, S. (2010).  “A Review and Comparison of the Reliabilities of the MMPI-2, MCMI-III, and PAI Presented in Their Respective Test Manuals.”  Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, 42(4), 246 – 254. The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) test originally was developed in 1939 and amended from time-to-time [...]

Review of Leucht, S., Komossa, K., Rummel-Kluge, C., Corves, C., Hunger, H., Schmid, F., Lobos C., Schwarz, S. & Davis, J. (2009).  ”A Meta-Analysis of Head-to-Head Comparisons of Second-Generation Antipsychotics in the Treatment of Schizophrenia.”  Am. J. Psychiatry, 166, 152 – 163. One of the earliest drugs to treat schizophrenia was chlorpromazine (thorazine), discovered by [...]

Review of Weintraub, D., Buchsbaum, R, Resor, S. & Hirsch, L. (2006).  ”Psychiatric and behavioral side effects of the newer antiepileptic drugs in adults with epilepsy.”  Epilepsy and Behavior, 10, 105 – 110. In addition to being a great writer, Dostoyevsky had temporal lobe epilepsy (“TLE”).  His ecstatic seizures gave him a capacity for mystical [...]