Psychiatry and Psychology Commons^™

Review: Sylvia Martin, 'Ink In Her Veins: The Troubled Life Of Aileen Palmer', (Crawley: Uwa Publishing, 2016)., Rowan Cahill

Rowan Cahill

Review: Sylvia Martin, 'Ink In Her Veins: The Troubled Life Of Aileen Palmer', (Crawley: Uwa Publishing, 2016)., Rowan Cahill

Rowan Cahill

A Pilot Study Of Deaf Trauma Survivors’ Experiences: Early Traumas Unique To Being Deaf In A Hearing World, Melissa L. Anderson, Kelly S. Wolf Craig, Wyatte C. Hall, Douglas M. Ziedonis

Melissa L. Anderson

Conducting semi-structured American Sign Language interviews with 17 Deaf trauma survivors, this pilot study explored Deaf individuals’ trauma experiences and whether these experiences generally align with trauma in the hearing population. Most commonly reported traumas were physical assault, sudden unexpected deaths, and “other” very stressful events. Although some “other” events overlap with traumas in the general population, many are unique to Deaf people (e.g., corporal punishment at oral/aural school if caught using sign language, utter lack of communication with hearing parents). These findings suggest that Deaf individuals may experience developmental traumas distinct to being raised in a hearing world. Such …

Piloting Signs Of Safety: A Deaf-Accessible Toolkit For Trauma And Addiction, Melissa L. Anderson, Kelly S. Wolf Craig, Amanda Sortwell, Douglas M. Ziedonis

Melissa L. Anderson

The Deaf community - a minority group of 500,000 Americans who use American Sign Language (ASL) - experiences trauma and addiction at rates double to the general population. Yet, there are no evidence-based treatments that have been evaluated to treat trauma, addiction, or other behavioral health conditions among Deaf people.

Current evidence-based treatments fail to meet the needs of Deaf clients. One example is Seeking Safety, a well-validated therapy for people recovering from trauma and addiction. Seeking Safety includes a therapist guide and client handouts for 25 therapy sessions, each teaching clients a safe coping skill. When Seeking Safety was …

Attitudes Toward Substance Abuse Clients: An Empirical Study Of Clinical Psychology Trainees, Chandra Mundon, Melissa Anderson, Lisa Najavits

Melissa L. Anderson

Despite the high prevalence of substance use disorder (SUD) and its frequent comorbidity with mental illness, individuals with SUD are less likely to receive effective SUD treatment from mental health practitioners than SUD counselors. Limited competence and interest in treating this clinical population are likely influenced by a lack of formal training in SUD treatment. Using a factorial survey-vignette design that included three clinical vignettes and a supplementary survey instrument, we investigated whether clinical psychology doctoral students differ in their level of negative emotional reactions toward clients with SUD versus major depressive disorder (MDD); whether they differ in their attributions …

Symptom Patterns Of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Among Deaf Trauma Survivors, Melissa Anderson, Amanda Sortwell, Kelly Wolf Craig, Douglas Ziedonis

Melissa L. Anderson

Details about Deaf people’s pattern of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms remain relatively unknown due to inaccessible methods used in most epidemiological research. We conducted semi-structured American Sign Language interviews with 16 trauma-exposed Deaf individuals to explore their PTSD symptom patterns. Half met criteria for current PTSD, a rate higher than the general population. Underlying this disparity may be heightened rates of dissociation and psychogenic amnesia reported by many Deaf trauma survivors. Future research with large samples of Deaf survivors is needed to clarify this hypothesis, and to inform interventions that more accurately target Deaf people’s pattern of trauma symptoms.

Sex Offending And Serious Mental Illness: Directions For Policy And Research, Andrew Harris, William Fisher, Bonita Veysey, Laura Ragusa, Arthur Lurigio

Arthur J. Lurigio

Over the past decade, two rapidly evolving areas of criminal justice practice have garnered increasing attention from policy makers, practitioners, and researchers: the management and treatment of justice involved individuals with serious and persistent mental illness, and the challenges of managing the perceived societal risk presented by sex offenders. Yet, whereas each of these issues has independently attracted significant attention, the nexus between them has remained largely unexamined. Matters of concern include the manner in which individuals with serious mental illness may be disproportionately affected by the expanding range of restrictions placed on those with sexual offense histories, the demands …