Psychological torture on trial

Following on from my earlier post about the involvement of psychologists in torture at the Guantanamo detention facility, it has been interesting to read several recent commentaries in the Guardian about this issue:
1] Naomi Klein writes about a current trial in the US that may serve to expose to judicial review the use of [...]

Using virtual reality to treat PTSD

Of interest this week are reports of an innovative exposure-based treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder using virtual reality. The Guardian describes the work of Professor Skip Rizzo at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles in developing a “virtual Iraq” simulation to assist treatment of soldiers experiencing PTSD. This simulation involves exposure to visual, [...]

Classic cinema @ the Action Écoles: 23 rue des Écoles, Paris

I have visited Paris a bunch of times since living in Europe, and as a love-struck tourist I can’t get enough. Aside from the culture, food, fashion, beautiful streets, reasurringly rude waiters etc., Paris is also a cinephiles dream.
I spend a fair amount of my time in Paris going to the cinema, as it is [...]

Finally “Dr” Gillian McKeith is taken to task

Good news this week as TV diet guru Gillian McKeith agrees to drop the title “Dr” from the marketing of her products after the Advertising Standards Authority came to the provisional conclusion that her use of the title (based on earning a PhD from a non-accredited distance learning college) was likely to mislead the public [...]

There’s no such thing as a free lunch with drug reps

In the time that I have spent working in mental health services it has been hard not to notice the effects of drug company marketing, and in particular marketing to non-prescribing professionals, such as mental health workers and psychologists.
Drug reps regularly contact managers of community mental health teams and offer to provide free lunches, pens, [...]

Writing therapeutic letters

Lately in my clinical psychology work I have been writing an increased number of therapeutic letters to my clients (“therapeutic letters” are not in a report format but more like a personal letter, and part of the process of therapy, such as a description of a case formulation or a summary of the work we [...]