Monitor on Psychology - March 2012 - (Page 4)

Letters Love the digital edition I just received the recent copy of the digital Monitor, and I can only say WOW! It’s much more informative than before and I used several of the links to go beyond the text. I will have to program a time to read it over monthly since in the past, I have let the hard copy issues stack up until I could get around to them. The digital version is so much more informative that I will have to keep up with it. Many thanks for the fine publication, but curse you for further filling my already busy calendar. Lance Harris, PHD Tacoma, Wash. Beyond one-on-one psychotherapy Your January cover story, “Beyond oneon-one psychotherapy” afforded much food for thought. “Keep it Human” will always be the operative mantra for an effective psychotherapist. Even with the explosion of electronics, all serious-minded psychologists know that if you kill the relationship, the field as we have known it will be dead. Furthermore, how did we get desensitized and seduced to begin talking about “one-on-one psychotherapy,” which is quite aggressive and derives from sports analogies? It used to be known and should still be rightly known as “one-to-one psychotherapy.” Also, “beyond” psychotherapy, rather than “in addition to” other kinds of psychotherapy, leads one to think that we are improving on existing excellent psychotherapies, rather than developing additional approaches to deal with the needs of our evolving world. These careless shifts resemble the problematic language usage some psychologists are using when describing patients as clients. The changes have understandable rationales, but the implementation is often problematic. Third-party payers ask for patient data on their forms rather than client data for which they would typically not reimburse for services rendered. Without a diagnosis, there would generally be no payment and insurance companies don’t generally reimburse for education or for clients, but for treatment rendered to diagnosed patients. Are psychologists flirting with legal issues even though they may be naïve or unaware of the implications of their practice? So I am eager to continue providing important psychotherapy services to patients in need and often in a one-onone setting. I will also seek innovative approaches that will add to, not go beyond, what I am already doing, which most importantly is doing my best to “keep it human.” Leon J. Hoffman, PHD Chicago correcTion: An article in the February Monitor stated that Daniel Kahneman, PhD, was the only psychologist to win a Nobel prize. In fact, Herbert Simon, PhD, won the Nobel Prize in economics in 1978 for his research on decision-making. Simon, whose PhD was in political science, was a pioneer in the fields of cognitive psychology and cognitive science, and taught in the psychology department at Carnegie Mellon University for more than 50 years. Please send letters to smartin@apa.org or Sara Martin, Monitor editor. Letters should be no more than 250 words and may be edited for space and clarity. 4 M o n i to r o n p s yc h o l o g y • M a rc h 2 0 1 2

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Monitor on Psychology - March 2012

Monitor on Psychology - March 2012
Letters
President’s column
Contents
From the CEO
Supreme Court rejects eyewitness protections
New member benefit: prevention screenings
A psychodynamic treatment for PTSD shows promise for soldiers
Was ‘Little Albert’ ill during the famed conditioning study?
New research identifies ways to improve eyewitness identifications
In Brief
‘Our health at risk’
Perspective on Practice
APA endorses higher education guidelines
TIME CAPSULE
QUESTIONNAIRE
Random Sample
Judicial Notebook
Help for struggling veterans
Driving out cancer disparities
In the Public Interest
SCIENCE WATCH
Practice, virtually
The legal and ethical issues of virtual therapy
Psychologist PROFILE
EARLY CAREER PSYCHOLOGY
Bringing life into focus
Pay attention to me
AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL FOUNDATION
Division Spotlight
Personalities

Monitor on Psychology - March 2012

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