Essay: Proximity to Impact
by Lisa Y. Livshin
Trauma Psychology News, Summer 2020
The world is up-ended. As psychologists, we would say that the world is dysregulated now. Emotional dysregulation is when people are unable to control or regulate their emotional reactions to “provocative stimuli”. A pandemic is the most provocative stimulus we’ve ever seen. With a specialization in disaster work, I observe my own difficulty self regulating right now. I find myself tearing up out of nowhere, experiencing unfamiliar anxiety, and wondering if I have COVID-19 every time I feel a tickle in my throat. Read More >
Book Review: Healing Sexually Betrayed Men and Boys: Treatment for Sexual Abuse, Assault, and Trauma
by Richard B. Gartner, Ph.D
Reviewed by Lisa Y. Livshin, Ed.D.
Trauma Psychology News, Summer 2020
This is a remarkable book and an important read for those of us who work with boys and menwho have experienced sexual trauma. It brings together twenty-one trauma experts to address a range of issues that, together, help us better under- stand the broad impact that childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and sexual assault have on males. Clinical vignettes serve as powerful teaching tools to illustrate how trauma is expressed at different junctures in healing. Read More >
Close Encounters of the Healing Kind: A Veteran Instructor In Patient Interviewing Relates What She Has Learned
By Lisa Y. Livshin, Ed.D.
Tufts Medicine, Winter 2007
YOU ARE A SEASONED PHYSICIAN. A NEW PATIENT WAITS IN your office. After you shake hands and say hello, how will you figure out what is wrong with this person and determine the best treatment? a Although the problem is the essence of the practice of medicine, the subtle detective work required by such an encounter is not something you were born knowing how to do. Instead, the relevant techniques had to be learned gradually, by close observation and through the example of your instructors. In this special double feature, we look at how our medical school is teaching students to be more effective doctors, one patient at a time. The first story gives the perspective of a veteran instructor of the basic first-year course; the second examines the use of patient actors during third year to help students refine their skills. Read More >
Treating Sexual Abuse/Harassment with Therapy and Support
By Phyllis Hanlon
New England Psychologist • December 1st, 2017
Recently, print, broadcast and social media sites have been reporting sexual abuse, harassment, and misbehavior allegations on a daily basis.
While this news has focused on the entertainment industry and corporate America, such behavior also occurs in the workplace, at home and in public venues.
Carlos A. Cuevas, Ph.D., associate professor, co-director, Violence & Justice Research Laboratory, School of Criminology & Criminal Justice at Northeastern University, defines sexual abuse as “any kind of unwanted or forced sexual behavior on a person” that might include touching, fondling or rape.
“Harassment doesn’t necessarily differ from sexual abuse, but is usually connected to workplace behavior,” he added. Read More >
Depression and Suicide Risk in the Veterinary Population
By Lisa Y. Livshin, Ed.D.
MassVet News • December 2015
A recent mental health survey of U.S. veterinarians (2014, Center for Disease Control and Prevention) revealed that 1 in 10 veterinarians have experienced depression and 1 in 6 veterinarians have considered suicide since graduation.
Why such Distress in the Veterinary profession?
We can only speculate on some of the factors until a more detailed breakdown of the survey is provided for JAVMA. Most of the veterinary students I have seen in therapy knew they wanted to be a veterinarian at a young age. In order to succeed they had to be extremely focused and driven for most of their lives. As with anything we work so hard to achieve, the pride and joy in our accomplishments can sometimes give way to disillusionment. Long hours, student loan debt, feeling isolated at work, high stress situations, compassion fatigue, and exposure to death and loss, are among many difficult issues facing veterinarians. Read More >
Review of Treating Traumatic Bereavement: A Practitioner’s Guide
By Lisa Y. Livshin, Ed.D.
Trauma Psychology • Division 56 • American Psychological Association – Summer – 2015
Treating Traumatic Bereavement is a comprehensive book (358 pages) on traumatic bereavement, which is defined by the authors as being the result of “a sudden, traumatic death, which is abrupt and occurs without warning.” Other aspects of traumatic death are those that are untimely, involve violence or mutilation, or are perceived by the survivor as having been preventable. Sometimes the survivor experiences many losses at once or the survivor’s own life was threatened. Read More>
Psychologists Offer Coping Tips After This Election
By Felice J. Freyer
Boston Globe • November 9, 2016
Psychologist Jason Evan Mihalko started getting texts from his patients in the middle of the night as the election results came in — people scared and overwhelmed by the news of Donald J. Trump’s presidential victory. Read More >
‘Manmade’ Disasters Pose Increased Psychological Symptoms
By James Bradshaw, Associate Editor
The National Psychologist, July/August 2013
Any disaster creates psychological problems, both among direct victims and onlookers. But the psyche differentiates between natural disasters, such as the Midwest tornados in March and April, and those caused by human malevolence, such as acts of terrorism or mass shootings.
The latter create the most traumarelated symptomatology, according to an experienced disaster response psychologist.
“Perhaps (it’s) because this kind of disaster is seen as preventable, as compared with natural disasters,” said Lisa Livshin, Ed.D., an instructor in psychiatry at Tufts University School of Medicine and a member of the steering committee of the Massachusetts Disaster Response Network. Read More >
PEC Activities Report 2016
American Psychological Association
Training
Georgia DRN committee member, Dr. Betsy Gard, attended a National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Training Session on Airport Disasters and was a featured speaker at the ATL Airport Disaster Response & Family Assistance Seminar. Dr. Gard also attended a planning meeting for potential hazardous spills and a Pandemic Training Session on May 20th Read More >