We are now able to provide psychotherapy, counseling and psychological testing over the Internet because of recent advances in technology. The efficacy and effectiveness of this possibility has been studied and evaluated for many years. The challenge has been the development of a safe, reliable, real time Video/Audio platform that is properly encrypted, that is…
News
OUCH OUCH: “Hanging up on Dr. Laura”
The Los Angeles Times recently published a letter to the editor from Eugene Strull, a physician, commenting on the recent brouhaha about “Dr. Laura” (Laura Schlesinger, radio personality). Dr. Strull pointed out, “Any doctor of psychology who is qualified to treat patients would never make a diagnosis and offer advice after allowing the patient only…
President Obama and General McChrystal
Disclaimer: It is possible for a psychologist to analyze someone only by working with him personally as a patient. For this reason, my comments about public or historical figures are intended only as illustrations of general psychological principles that apply to the human condition and an expression of how one psychologist views the world. In…
The Cognitive Functioning of Right Handed vs. Left Handed People
The Cognitive Functioning of Right Handed vs. Left Handed People is compared in A Monitor on Psychology article by Monitor Staff writer Michael Price, (Volume 40, No. 1 December 2009). Michael Price explains in this article that right handed people have a left hemisphere dominant brain while left handed people have a right hemisphere dominant brain. In most people the dominant…
Nix the Tics
MAKING THE TRANSLATION New research debunks Tourette’s syndrome myths and lays the groundwork for a behavioral intervention. By Sadie F. DingfelderMonitor StaffMonitor on PsychologyVolume 37, No. 12 December 2006 Most researchers agree that the roots of Tourette’s syndrome are largely biological. The disorder’s characteristic tics—head jerks, eye blinks and grunts, to name a few—seem to stem…
Coping Through Cognition
SCIENCE WATCH Advanced cognitive skills may offer protection from post-traumatic stress disorder, according to new research. By Lea WinermanMonitor StaffMonitor on PsychologyVolume 36, No. 10 November 2006 People who score highly on cognitive tests may be less vulnerable to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) than people with only average scores, according to a study in the August…
Socially isolated and sick
New animal research sheds light on the intricate ways chronic stress and loneliness affect health. By Sadie F. DingfelderMonitor StaffMonitor on PsychologyVolume 36, No. 10 November 2006 Loneliness kills, according to research dating back to the 1970s. In one classic study, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology (Vol. 109, No. 2, pages 186–204), socially isolated people in…