?In response to the following article in the New York Times http://tinyurl.com/2w3zkto Joan Warmbold writes:
>But how much longer are we psychologists willing to allow ourselves to be >partner to political correctness as opposed to looking at the data of the impact >of early experience on the development of an infant's brain. In the first paragraph of the article that sets the tone of the article, Daniel Carlat writes: "He was sleeping poorly, and as soon as he opened his eyes in the early morning, the worries began. “I wake up with a list of things to worry about,” he said. “I just go through the list, and it seems to get longer every day.” I certainly don't think that CBT is always appropriate, or that in any case it is necessarily wise to use it exclusively with patients for whom it does seem appropriate, but from this description I would think that CBT should be the first port or call. Why should we supposed that "the impact of early experience" is a significant factor in such a case? And even it negative thought patterns go a long way back, that doesn't mean examination of childhood event in depth is going to be of much help, while CBT might well be efficacious. In a case like this, how many months (years?) of getting the patient to dredge up childhood memories (no doubt mostly negative ones, given that's what such therapists are waiting to hear) should be undertaken before it is realised that this is inappropriate in a good many cases. And even where specific childhood events may be a factor in the individual's current predicament, I think there is little evidence that getting a patient to spend many hours dwelling on such events is helpful -- probably quite the reverse. Better to spend most of the time getting the patient to undertake activities (mental and physical) that will enable him or her to live in the present and deal with current difficulties directly. Allen Esterson Former lecturer, Science Department Southwark College, London allenester...@compuserve.com http://www.esterson.org -------------------------------------------- From: Joan Warmbold <jwarm...@oakton.edu> Subject: Mediation over talk therapy Date: Sun, 2 May 2010 07:42:28 -0500 (CDT) http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/25/magazine/25Memoir-t.html?scp=2&sq=article%20by%20psychiatrist%20encouraging%20use%20of%20talk%20therapy%20as%20well%20as%20medication&st=cse I found this article quite sad as it is authored by a well regarded psychiatrist and he is just now discovering/appreciating that just maybe he should talk to his clients in addition to providing them medication. Why and how has the biomedical model of psychological disorders taken such a strong grip on treatment? It has strong and vocal proponents, as we are all aware, simply because we are choosing to ignore any and all data that might imply otherwise. However, where is the indisputable scientific foundation that all disorders are biologically brain based? I quite understand the motive behind this perspective as, within the last 20 years,the need to relieve parents of all responsibility has superseded any research to search for the importance of early experience. But how much longer are we psychologists willing to allow ourselves to be partner to political correctness as opposed to looking at the data of the impact of early experience on the development of an infant's brain. This is not a blame game--parents do the best they can and there is no bigger challenge than parenting. In addition, the US government, as opposed to those in Europe, provides little if any support to parents relative to parental leaves and parental visits. Instead of ignoring how important an infants early years are, why don't those of us who specialize in understand human behavior work together to encourage stronger support structures for parents in every way possible. Joan Joan Warmbold Boggs Professor of Psychology Oakton Community College jwarm...@oakton.edu --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=2405 or send a blank email to leave-2405-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
