Counselors need better training to help BIPOC clients, educators say

Counselors need to learn a form of interaction called cultural empathy, which involves honoring racial and cultural differences to better grasp a client’s experiences, according to a new journal article in Counseling Education and Supervision, a journal of the American Counseling Association.

Racial justice in counselor training the focus of journal special issue

Many people of color live in areas devoid of mental health services or may receive treatments that fit poorly with their cultural values or complicate their racial trauma. A critical response to this inequity is better anti-racism education for counselors in training, educators say. More in the June special issue of Counselor Education and Supervision.

Cannabis use disorder and schizophrenia connection: expert says the drug, “seems to be amplifying some of the consequences that we are seeing”

What: A new study in Psychological Medicine found an association between young men with cannabis use disorder and a higher risk of developing schizophrenia. Furthermore, intense cannabis use may trigger and/or worsen schizophrenia.  Who: Katharine Sperandio, Ph.D., LPC, ACS, NCC, assistant professor of…

Community Health Center Honored for Services Assisting Minority Women

Florida Atlantic University and Northwest Community Health Alliance’s Community Health Center, operated by FAU’s Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing, together with the West Palm Beach YWCA, recently received the “2021 Community Collaborators Award” from Nonprofits First, Inc., for their untiring efforts to mitigate health care disparities among women from minority groups with limited access to quality care.

Graphic Warning Labels on Cigarette Packaging Changes Perceptions

A Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science at University of California San Diego clinical trial showed that graphic warning labels on cigarette packaging changes perceptions of smokers to recognize the negative consequences of tobacco and consider quitting.

How can counselors address social justice amid climate change?

We’re currently living in what many scientists are calling the Anthropocene, the period during which human activity has been the dominant influence on climate and the environment. An article published in the Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development discusses how…

Ben-Gurion U. develop new measure continuous traumatic stress impact

BEER-SHEVA, ISRAEL, June 22, 2021 — Researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) have developed the first methodology to assess symptoms associated with continuous exposure to traumatic stress from rocket attacks and other security threats, which are not currently…

Psychologists identify 18 best measures to assess intimate partner violence

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. — Millions of people experience intimate partner violence (IPV) in their lifetime and assessment is important in conducting therapy and assisting victims. A team of psychologists at Binghamton University, State University of New York have evaluated dozens of…

Making mindfulness meditation more helpful starts with understanding how it can be harmful

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Mindfulness-based meditation programs have emerged as a promising treatment for conditions ranging from stress to sleeplessness to depression. In some cases, they’re even offered to people — schoolkids or employees, for example — who aren’t…

Conn. medication-assisted opioid treatment programs retain patients at higher rates

Medication-assisted treatment, or MAT, is an important tool in the ongoing fight against opioid use dependence in the United States. Employing certain medications in combination with counseling and behavioral therapy, MAT offers a comprehensive, “whole-patient” approach to addressing opioid use.…

Rutgers Champion of Student Health and Wellness is Retiring

When Melodee Lasky joined Rutgers University 19 years ago, behavioral and mental health services were scattered across the individual colleges with little coordination. Psychiatry and the Alcohol and Other Drug Assistance Program were part of student health, but counseling services were separated and college-affiliated. Lasky, a physician who recognized the connection between physical and emotional wellness, recommended that mental and behavioral health be integrated within the framework of student health. That led to the creation of CAPS – Counseling, Alcohol and Other Drug Assistance Program & Psychiatric Services – a program that helps about 4,500 students each year.

Digital mental health interventions for young people are perceived promising, but are they effective

April 29, 2021 -An increasing number of digital mental health interventions are designed for adolescents and young people with a range of mental health issues, but the evidence on their effectiveness is mixed, according to research by Columbia University Mailman…

Training in compassion improves the well-being of relatives to people with mental illness

If relatives of people with mental illness become better at accepting the difficult emotions and life events they experience — which is what training in compassion is about — their anxiety, depression and stress is reduced

Doctors experiencing domestic abuse feel socially and professionally isolated

Female doctors who suffer domestic abuse can feel unable to get help due to perceptions that it “should not happen to a doctor” and a judgemental culture in medical settings, a new study suggests. Victim-survivors who work as doctors often…

Studying the health and wellbeing of police officers during the global pandemic

The University’s Professor Jason Roach will work alongside the National Police Wellbeing Service on a research project that will study to what extent the health and wellbeing of the nation’s police officers has been affected by the pandemic POLICE officers…

Mindfulness program in campus dorms, groups improved students’ mental health

As experts nationwide point to a mental health crisis among teens and young adults, a pilot program teaching mindfulness and coping techniques to students at the University of Washington has helped lower stress and improve emotional well-being. New studies by…

Veterans see positive changes in emotional resilience after intervention

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A six-week training program designed to strengthen resilience against emotional distress in military veterans was associated with positive changes in brain function and increased confidence in their ability to regulate emotions, researchers report. Published in the journal…