Monitor on Psychology - June 2012 - (Page 4)

Letters Access to effective trauma treatment In the April Monitor article, “More support needed for trauma interventions,” the author cogently argues that access to effective intervention is essential. In an even more compelling way, the Adolescent Subjective Experience of Treatment (ASET) study surveys troubled youth placed in residential care. Findings from this study reveal that these youth are inordinately trauma-exposed, yet often receive diagnoses of bipolar disorder, conduct disorder and ADHD, rather than a primary focus of trauma. As a result, instead of focusing on the cause of their dysregulated behavior, many of the treatment goals of these youth are directed at containing the disruption. Indeed, many of the youth in this sample are on multiple psychotropic medications. To highlight this issue, in the original Adverse Childhood Experience data, 12.5 percent of study participants had experienced four or more adverse experiences. ACE researchers noted the profound impact on overall physical and mental health with this level of trauma exposure. In the ASET sample, of over 70 adolescents, 60.3 percent of these youth have experienced four or more adverse experiences. Unfortunately, residential treatment — despite having youth with extraordinary needs — often finds itself being criticized or poorly funded. In reality, it can provide a safe environment for youth well beyond the typical scope of trauma, and those whose resiliency may be diminished. Arguably, this makes the residential treatment environment an opportunity for academic settings to collaborate in their research and 4 treatment development initiatives. I applaud the article and its efforts to raise more attention to the needs of traumatized youth. Moreover, I would encourage clinicians and researchers to connect with residential care settings, as the need is accentuated in these environments. ROBERT FOLTZ, PSYD The Chicago School of Professional Psychology The internship imbalance I found the April article “The internship match imbalance worsens, but there are signs of hope in otherwise grim numbers” disheartening. As a current student of psychology looking forward to my future I am encouraged by the amount of students seeking the different fields within psychology. The part I find disheartening is that for many of us, we will not find the needed internship to help further our careers. Without the internships being available, many future psychologists will be overlooked for positions because they do not have the needed real-world experience. The author pointed out that between 2002 and 2012 the gap between the number of students who were unmatched for internships increased almost 250 percent, this gap will only continue to increase unless more psychologists and companies open their doors to my fellow students. JUSTIN DONNELLY University of Phoenix associated with spanking. Too frequent or intense physical punishment may be confounded with excessively strict or unreasonable family rules, or with behaviors of the type Barber has called “intrusive parenting.” Families who have a minimum number of essential rules, who use a developmentally guided approach and who foster negotiation with toddlers and preschoolers are likely both to produce good developmental outcomes and to use infrequent physical punishment. This would be in high contrast to families who meet none of these criteria, as shown by actions like spanking used in fruitless attempts to stop tantrum behavior. Spanking alone is only one part of the picture. JEAN MERCER, PHD Pomona, N.J. Corporal punishment In regard to the April article “The case against spanking,” the ongoing argument about the effectiveness and possible harmfulness of spanking is incomplete without consideration of the family rules Interdisciplinary research As APA President Dr. Suzanne Bennett Johnson points out in her March “President’s Column,” it is important to be creative and find solutions in our field of psychology regarding the support of professionals who have an interest and passion to conduct interdisciplinary research. As a doctoral student at Marquette University, I discovered that the area of life satisfaction in the field of psychology could benefit from taking an interdisciplinary approach by integrating a sociological theory (generation theory) with psychology (assessment of life satisfaction) to find a solution to an important and longstanding question of whether there are age/generational differences when assessing levels of life satisfaction across the life span. Previous psychology research has not supported the presence of age differences on life satisfaction levels (Kreis, Journal continues on page 8 MONITOR ON PSYCHOLOGY • JUNE 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Monitor on Psychology - June 2012

Monitor on Psychology - June 2012
Letters
President’s column
Contents
From the CEO
Give an Hour founder is one of Time magazine’s ‘most influential’
APA treatment guidelines panels are being formed
APA supports ‘Speak Up For Kids’
In Brief
Time Capsule
Random Sample
Judicial Notebook
Questionaire
APA honors Howell
Science Watch
Science Directions
What you should know about online education
Speaking of Education
Psychologist Profile
Redefining masculinity
Miscarriage and loss
Something for everyone
Candidates weigh in
Division Spotlight
American Psychological Foundation
Personalities

Monitor on Psychology - June 2012