Therapists-in-Training Who Experience a Client Suicide: Implications for Supervision

Client suicide is often an extraordinarily painful process for clinicians, especially those still in training. Given their training status, supervisees may look to their graduate programs and supervisors for guidance and support when such an event occurs. This study qualitatively examined the experiences of 13 prelicensure doctoral supervisees regarding their client\u27s suicide. Findings suggest that these supervisees received minimal graduate training about suicide and that support from others, including supervisors, helped them cope with their client\u27s death. Supervisors are advised to normalize and process supervisees\u27 experiences of client suicide. Implications for training and practice are discussed

The impact of THC on people in recovery

In Montana, on January 1, 2022, cannabis became legal for recreational use. This policy has been adopted in several other states as well. The impact of THC on recovery has not been widely researched and, therefore, not fully understood. Addiction clinics are responsible for supporting individuals through their recovery journey, and probation offices are meant to uphold those on probation to their regulations. Therefore, professionals working in these agencies may have insight into how THC impacts recovery. In 2024, I quantitatively surveyed professionals (n=13) working in addiction clinics or probation and parole offices in Helena, MT, on their perspectives of the impact of THC use on recovery and whether there is a “therapeutic level” of THC use. I then analyzed these results using descriptive statistics. 66.67% of clinicians agreed or strongly agreed that THC could lead to relapse, and 22.22% of clinicians strongly disagreed. Half of the probation and parole officers disagreed that THC could lead to relapse, and the other half were neutral. Further examination showed how prevalent clients with comorbid SUD were for both clinicians and Probation officers. We do not yet know the implications of substance use disorders. We know that THC is used medically, however, we do not know enough about how this impacts those in recovery. This matters because, as social workers, we have a service duty to address social problems. THC is recreational, and dispensaries are prominent in communities. The more education around how THC affects recovery, people supporting those in recovery can give better informed care

Quality of Life Disparities For The Rural Economically Disadvantaged

Families who reside in rural communities and live in poverty often experience a lack of quality of life supports, which impacts their mental health and exasperates any special needs they may have. Research in regards to these concerns, has historically focused on southern states and or the impacts of poverty in urban settings. This phenomenological qualitative research study reveals quality of life supports that impoverished families living in rural communities in central Illinois often do without. This study further examines the families’ perceived barriers to those supports. The following research questions guided this study: (1) What quality-of-life supports (employment, food assistance, mental health services, special education) do impoverished families living in rural central Illinois believe they lack? (2) What do rural families identify as perceived barriers to receiving quality-of-life supports? (3) How are rural families impacted by lack of access to quality-of-life supports? (4) How are the children in rural families impacted by lack of access to quality-of-life supports? Data analysis of interviews and questionnaire responses from eight families living in rural communities in central Illinois explained a need for mental and physical health supports, food assistance, quality special education services, and local employment opportunities. In turn, the research yielded the following barriers to these supports: lack of transportation services, community resources (including food banks and service agencies), stigma, specialized educational programming/training, and acceptance of state funded insurance. Recommendations for further research include, longer, longitudinal study, larger interview pool, and children specific interviews

Transition from High School to College/University for Individuals with Disabilities

Transition from high school to life beyond high school can be scary and challenging for anyone, including students with disabilities and their families. This presentation seeks to explain some of the changes in law and access and potential means of support from faculty and staff at colleges/universities for this transition. Target Audience: Teachers, Parents, Faculty, Staff, Student

Developing and studying an outcome-focused measure of mental healthcare quality based on patient-reported symptoms in the USA: a study protocol.

IntroductionVarious psychological, cognitive, behavioural, medication and neurostimulation treatments can improve the outcomes of people with depressive and anxiety disorders. However, in usual practice, there is large variability in treatment delivery and treatments are poorly characterised. The effectiveness and quality of mental health services in the community are not accurately monitored and are poorly understood. At present, healthcare organisations, payers and policy makers know little about the quality of care they support. Similarly, patients and families have limited information on quality to guide choice of provider or organisation. It will be necessary to implement monitoring of treatment quality so that treatment and outcomes can be improved. This study develops, tests and validates a new, transdiagnostic outcome-focused mental health quality measure. This measure is based on routine, regular patient reports of their symptoms. It is designed to be aggregated at the provider, clinic, organisation or plan level; inform choice of provider; and be used to improve routine delivery of services and quality of care among patients with common psychiatric disorders.Methods and analysisThe project analyses existing data with responses to a wide variety of items that are known to assess depression or anxiety and empirically selects symptom items for a transdiagnostic outcome-focused quality measure. The project informs risk adjustment and benchmarking of the quality measure by studying how patient, provider and practice factors, including health-related social needs, baseline symptom severity and diagnoses, affect outcomes. Drawing on these, the project specifies an outcome-focused quality measure that includes risk adjustment and benchmarks for improvement; and studies, at practices nationally, its feasibility and psychometric properties, the effect of treatment characteristics on the quality of care, and the effect of quality on health-related quality of life.Ethics and disseminationResults will be published. The quality measure is designed to be broadly relevant across community settings and populations and to be submitted for endorsement by regulatory and governing bodies

Increasing research study engagement in minoritized populations: An example from the Black Women Inflammation and Tau Study.

Black women are sorely underrepresented in studies of Alzheimers disease and related dementias (ADRD) despite higher rates of ADRD diagnoses than in non-Hispanic White women. There are many reasons for underrepresentation, including medical mistrust, limited access to clinical studies, and restrictive study inclusion criteria. These pervasive barriers to research participation are often not considered during study development and, if eventually thought of tend to be after the fact. Community-engaged research (CER) approaches are an effective method for reducing participation barriers. This article describes how CER approaches were used to develop the Black Women Inflammation and Tau Study (BWITS), a prospective study to identify biopsychosocial risk factors for ADRD in Black women. Guidelines discussed here for future ADRD research in diverse populations are informed by Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR), the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD), and the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). HIGHLIGHTS: Understand the historical tragedies related to medical practices and research designs that may contribute to the underrepresentation of Black Americans in research studies today. Highlight community-engaged research approaches that effectively reduce participation barriers in minoritized groups. Review Community-Based Participatory Research, National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities, and the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute guidelines for conducting research with minoritized communities. Describe using the three frameworks to inform the study development protocol for the Black Women Inflammation and Tau Study. Conclude by offering study design considerations that we hope can be a helpful starting point for others conducting research with minoritized communities

Power poses – where do we stand?

<p>Dynamic results for Scenario 2.</p

Book Reviews

Catherine Stonehouse and Scottie MayListening to Children on the Spiritual Journey: Guidance for Those Who Teach and Nurture2010. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker AcademicReviewed by Desiree Segura-April Dyron B. DaughrityThe Changing World of Christianity: The Global History of a Borderless Religion2010. New York: Peter LangReviewed by Meesaeng Lee Choi Derek TidballThe Message of Holiness: Restoring God\u27s Masterpiece2010. Downers Grove, IL Inter-Varsity, PressReviewed by Joseph R. Dongell Accordance. Scholars CollectionDVD-ROM and CD-ROM, version 82008. OakTree Software, Inc.Reviewed by Michael D. Matlock and Jason R. Jackson Paul L. Gavrilyuk, Douglas M. Koskela, Jason E. Vickers, Eds.Immersed in the Life of God: The Healing Resources of the Christian Faith2008. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.Reviewed by Stephen Seamands Thomas Jay OordThe Nature of Love: A TheologySt. Louis, MO: Chalice Press, 2010Reviewed by Wm. Andrew Schwartz James R. PaytonGetting the Reformation Wrong. Correcting some MisunderstandingsDowners Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2010, 240 pages, $23Reviewed by Ben Witherington Kenneth Cain KinghornThe Story of Asbury Theological Seminary2010. Published by Emeth PressReviewed by Laurence W. Woo

Leadership in academia during a pandemic

This presentation describes how leadership at the department, college, and university levels enabled nursing faculty to provide quality education through online learning and simulation during a pandemic