Therapist Unlimited Blog

 

The Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness (ASSC) is an academic society that promotes rigorous research directed toward understanding the nature, function, and underlying mechanisms of consciousness.
The ASSC includes members working in the fields of cognitive science, medicine, neuroscience, philosophy, and other relevant disciplines in the sciences and humanities.

 

Membership
 

 

There are three categories of membership. Please note the minimal requirements for membership in each of the categories when submitting your application.

    * Student Member - The applicant is a student currently enrolled in a degree in an accredited program. The applicant’s research interests and major project matches with the general research areas promoted by the Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness. In addition to the member benefits below, student members are eligible for various ASSC programs and scholarships, including student activities at annual meetings and such.
    * Regular Member - without voting privileges - The applicant has a degree from an accredited University and an interest in the promotion or pursuit of the scientific study of consciousness as defined by the Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness.
    * Full-Voting Member - The applicant has a graduate degree in a relevant discipline and at least two articles published in internationally recognised peer reviewed journals or the equivalent in scholarly output particular to the applicant’s discipline. These articles should relate to the scientific, clinical, or philosophical study of consciousness. In addition, members meeting these criteria will be entitled to vote on official ASSC matters such as Board elections and other issues presented to the membership as they arise.

 

 

Get to know more the organization by visiting their official website at http://www.theassc.org/.

The American Association of Community Psychiatrists (AACP) has been working since 1984 as the only national organization that solely represents community psychiatrists.
The AACP had developed guidelines for practice adopted by the American Psychiatric Association.
The AACP had developed a model community psychiatry training curriculum for psychiatric residents.
The AACP promotes community psychiatry issues to the APA, the Mental Health Task Force of JCAHO, the National Community Mental Health Care Council, and other national organizations.

The mission of the AACP is to encourage, equip, and empower community and public psychiatrists to develop and implement policies and high-quality practices that promote individual, family and community resilience and recovery.
It does so through four key activities:

1.Advocating for and partnering to implement resiliency and recovery-oriented services and continuously improving systems for the people we serve, especially children, elderly, and other underrepresented groups.
2.Ceating and sustaining a network of collegiality and support for community and public sector psychiatrists, many of whom work in challenging and nontraditional service settings.
3.Developing and disseminating a foundation of knowledge relevant to community psychiatric practice and community health care based on effective clinical practice and relevant humanitarian and social values.
4.Actively advocating to influence a wide array of health and social welfare policies across all levels of government and service systems, including delivery system design, reimbursement, research, and treatment guideline policies.

The official website of the organization is http://www.comm.psych.pitt.edu/.

 

 

 

The American Academy of Psychoanalysis and Dynamic Psychiatry (AAPDP) is a forum for physician psychoanalysts and psychodynamic psychiatrists to exchange ideas, find a voice within the American Psychoanalytic Association (APA) to advocate psycho dynamic understanding in the evaluation and treatment of patients, and take a leadership role in promoting the importance of psycho dynamic training in residency and medical education. Founded in 1956, the AAPDP is an affiliate organization of the APA.
The organisation publishes a Journal of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis and Dynamic Psychiatry.

 

Mission
 

 

The American Academy of Psychoanalysis and Dynamic Psychiatry is an organization of psychiatrists interested in the application of psycho dynamic psychotherapy in clinical practice and in understanding emotional aspects of culture and art.
The aims of The American Academy of Psychoanalysis and Dynamic Psychiatry are:
•To provide a forum for the expression of ideas, concepts, and research in psycho dynamic psychiatry and psychoanalysis.
To constitute a forum for expression of and inquiry into the phenomena of individual motivation and social behavior.
•To encourage and support research in psycho dynamic psychiatry and psychoanalysis.
•To advance the development of psycho dynamic psychiatry and psychoanalysis in all other aspects.
•To develop communication among psychiatrists, psychoanalysts, and their colleagues in other disciplines in science and in the humanities.
 

 

 

Learn more about the organization by visiting their website http://aapdp.org/.

 

 

 

The American Academy of Counselling Psychology (AACoP) is the association of psychologists who are Board Certified in Counselling Psychology by the American Board of Counselling Psychology (ABCoP) of the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP).
Board Certification assures the public and the profession that the Counselling Psychologist has successfully completed the education, training and experience requirements of the specialty including an examination designed to assess competencies necessary to provide quality services in Counselling Psychology.
The Academy advocates for Board Certification of Counselling Psychologists by ABCoP as a vital professional peer review process that promotes the highest standards of professional practice within the specialization of Counselling Psychology.
The mission of the American Academy of Counselling Psychology (AACoP) is to advance Counselling Psychology as a science and practice, and to promote the highest quality of professional practice within the specialization of Counselling Psychology for the protection and well being of the public, the profession, and the Academy.

The Academy advocates for Board Certification of Counselling Psychologists by ABCoP as a vital professional peer review process that promotes the highest standards of professional practice within the specialization of Counselling Psychology.
The Academy provides information and advocates to advance the interests of Board Certified Counselling Psychologists to the public, professional organizations, universities, health care organizations; national and state legislative and judicial bodies; state licensure boards, and registries of health care providers. The Academy sponsors professional continuing education (CE) for psychologists who are pursuing their Board Certification from ABCoP and CE for ABCoP Board Certified Counselling Psychologists. The Academy also confers awards to recognize outstanding contributions to the specialty of Counselling Psychology.

Those interested to know more about the organization can just visit their official website at http://www.aacop.net/.

 

The Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards (ASPPB) is the alliance of state, provincial, and territorial agencies responsible for the licensure and certification of psychologists throughout the United States and Canada.
ASPPB was formed in 1961 to serve psychology boards in the two countries. Much of the impetus for its founding related to mobility for practitioners. By consensus, the first step was to create and maintain a standardized written Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology (EPPP). ASPPB has done so since 1965.

Today, in addition to creating the EPPP, ASPPB coordinates cooperative efforts of boards, facilitates communication among boards, maintains a Disciplinary Data Bank, issues a Certificate of Professional Qualification in Psychology (CPQ), advocates for the advancement of mobility by encouraging board acceptance of the CPQ and the ASPPB Agreement of Reciprocity (AOR), maintains a Credentials Verification Program (CVP), and provides a Score Transfer Service. ASPPB acts as a voice for those responsible for the regulation of the practice of psychology.
ASPPB has drafted a Model Act, Model Regulations, a Code of Conduct, and guidelines for the use and/or adoption by state and provincial psychology boards.
ASPPB also generates a number of publications to aid psychology students in preparing for licensure, as well as publications for practitioners. Several of ASPPB’s publications have proven to be of great interest to individuals preparing to practice psychology, to
licensed psychologists, and to academic and private institutions. Two of ASPPB’s most popular publications are Items from Previous Examinations, and Psychology Exam Scores by Doctoral Program (Previously: Educational Reporting Service).

 ASPPB Vision Statement:
 

 

 ASPPB is the international leader and knowledge resource in the regulation and credentialing of psychologists.

 In order to reach this vision, they commit their efforts to the following four activities:

       1. Offering exemplary examination and credentialing programs.
       2. Providing state of the art programs and services to all our stakeholders.
       3. Serving as the source for the most current and accurate information about the regulation of psychologists.
       4. Advocating for the critical consumer protection perspective in the on-going development of the profession.

 

 

Annual and Midyear Meetings
 

 

ASPPB hosts two membership meetings each year: the Midyear Meeting, normally held in April and an Annual Meeting, normally held in October.
These meetings take place at different venues each year. The meetings feature speakers who are experts in professional regulatory law, testing, issues facing regulatory boards, and administrative matters. The meetings are designed to offer educational and interactive
sessions for psychology board members, administrators, and attorneys engaged in regulating the profession.
The Annual and Midyear Meetings provide an opportunity to gain continuing education credits. ASPPB is approved by the American Psychological Association to offer continuing education (CE) credits for psychologists.
The Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology (EPPP).
ASPPB creates and maintains the Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology (EPPP). The EPPP is used by 59 agencies in assessing entry-level knowledge to practice. ASPPB has an ongoing research and development program to ensure that the EPPP is valid and legally defensible.

For more information and queries their website is http://www.asppb.net.

To make sure the public will have a competent psychologist that will serve them, the American Board of Professional Psychology is here to offer selfless service to all.
The American Board of Professional Psychology issues board certification (awarding of a Diploma in a specialty) that assures the public that specialists designated by the ABPP have successfully completed the educational, training, and experience requirements of the specialty, including an examination designed to assess the competencies required to provide quality services in that specialty.
The American Board of Professional Psychology was incorporated in 1947 with the support of the American Psychological Association.

The ABPP is a unitary governing body of separately incorporated specialty examining boards which assures the establishment, implementation,and maintenance of specialty standards and examinations by its member boards. Through it’s Central Office, a wide range of administrative support services are provided to ABPP Boards, Board Certified Specialists, and the public.
A Specialty is a defined area in the practice of psychology that connotes special competency acquired through an organized sequence of formal education, training, and experience.  In order to qualify as a specialty affiliated with the ABPP, a specialty must be represented by an examining board which is stable, national in scope, and reflects the current development of the specialty. A specialty board is accepted for affiliation following an intensive self-study and a favorable review by the ABPP affirming that the standards for affiliation have been met. These standards include a thorough description of the area of practice and the pattern of competencies required therein as well as requirements for education, training, experience, research bases of the specialty, practice guidelines, and a demonstrated capacity to examine candidates for the specialty on a national level.
The mission of the American Board of Professional Psychology is to increase consumer protection through the examination and certification of psychologists who demonstrate competence in approved specialty areas in professional psychology.

 

To know more about the services offered by the group and other matters pertaining to the organization you can visit their website at http://www.abpp.org.

 

Drinking too much liquor might be bad for the health but for some instances it is not that harmful.
A recent medical study has shown that drunk patients have better chances of surviving trauma injuries than their sober counterparts.
According to the report, trauma patients who were intoxicated before their injuries were more likely to survive than trauma patients who suffered similar injuries but were sober at
the time.
To get the result, researchers at the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center (LA BioMed) surveyed 7,985 trauma patients of similar age and with similar injuries to determine if the consumption of alcohol prior to injury affected
outcome.
Based on their study they discovered that 7 percent of the sober patients died compared to just 1 percent of the patients who had been drinking.

 

 

 

Getting drunk is not that all bad after-all.

 

 

 

"This study is not encouraging the use of alcohol," said Christian de Virgilio, MD, LA BioMed’s principal investigator for the study. "It is seeking to
further explore earlier studies that had found alcohol may improve the body’s response to severe injuries. If alcohol is proven to improve the body’s
response to traumatic injury, it could lead to treatments that help patients survive and recover more quickly."
Alcohol consumption is already known to be one of the leading causes of accident and injury, with a previous study finding it contributes to about
one-third of all trauma-related deaths. Previous studies found trauma patients who had abused alcohol for a long period of time had lower survival rates.
But recent studies also found alcohol consumption may protect against death by changing the chemical response to injury.
"This study adds further support to the possibility that alcohol could be altering the body’s response to injury in a way that helps ensure survival," said
Dr. de Virgilio. "Given these findings, more research is needed to determine if there is some role for alcohol in the management of trauma patients.

 

The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) is a medical professional membership association representing the majority of child and adolescent psychiatrists in the United States.
Established in 1953, the AACAP is the leading national medical association dedicated to the advancement of medical contributions to the knowledge, diagnosis and treatment for the estimated 7—12 million American youth under 18 years of age who are affected by emotional, behavioral, developmental and mental disorders.
In addition to providing print resources to mental health professionals and the general public, the AACAP also works with government agencies and mental health groups to improve mental health care and influence public policy.
The Academy publishes the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry monthly.

Federal Advocacy
 

 

Despite treatment advances and better early identification, most youth with mental illnesses do not receive treatment. Some of the barriers to treatment include: a sever shortage of child and adolescent psychiatrists, lack of adequate coverage of services within health care systems, lack of research funding, lack of community mental health services. The AACAP has a legislative agenda to help eliminate these barriers.

 

Member Benefits
 

 

The Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry by far the most prestigious in its field, the monthly Journal is a primary source for the latest research and studies in child and adolescent psychiatry.
Members also have access to the complete Journal online archive as well as articles published online ahead of print.
 

 

To learn more about the organization you can visit their official website at http://www.aacap.org/.

 

MEDICAL experts called on the people around the world to always use soap while doing some hand wash to get rid of bacteria and germs.
The experts said washing with the aid of soap will not at all help since it does not get rid of microbes.
They revealed to kills germs and bacteria the best thing to do is to rinse the hands after using soap.
According to their study, the experts also discovered that touching the sink faucet, which is one of the dirtiest things in a restroom people could be adding even more germs to their hands.
A poll conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of LifeBridge Health reveals that when in a public restroom without soap or towels, 74 percent of American adults who use public restrooms would rinse their hands with water and let them air dry.
"They might as well not even bother," says John Cmar, M.D., an internist at LifeBridge Health’s Sinai Hospital of Baltimore and expert on infectious diseases. "Washing with water alone does not get rid of microbes the action of working up a lather with soap, and then rinsing it off, is what washes them away. Plus, by touching the sink faucet one of the dirtiest things in a restroom these people could be adding even more germs to their hands."
The survey examined 2,257 U.S. adults aged 18+, of whom 2,208 use public restrooms.

 

 

 

To ensure germs and bacteria could not harm your body always use soap regularly.

 

 

The poll also revealed that only 12 percent of public restroom users would immediately go find another place to wash their hands in that situation, though that number increases to 17 percent among those aged 18 to 44 and 19 percent among females in that same age range.
Six percent of males aged 18 to 34 who use public restrooms said if there were no soap or paper towels in a public restroom then they would
give themselves a "free pass" and not wash their hands at all. This self-reported number is much lower than what past observational studies have revealed; an August 2007 study (1) conducted in four U.S. cities observed 34 percent of men (presumed to be aged 18+) neglecting to wash their hands at all in public restrooms, despite the availability of soap, towels and running water.
"To avoid getting sick, it is critical that people know how to wash their hands the right way," says Jackie Daley, director of Infection Prevention and Control at Sinai Hospital. "Many people think the water temperature kills the germs on their hands, but water from a faucet could never get hot enough to do that," she says. "The keys are the soap, the length of scrubbing time and drying your hands thoroughly with towels afterwards." Daley stresses that people need to scrub their hands with soap and water for at least 15 to 20 seconds about the time it takes to sing "Happy Birthday" through twice. If soap and water are not available, then an alcohol-based hand rub will work to destroy germs.

 

 

A recent medical study has shown that those women who are positive about their genitals find it easier to orgasm and are more likely to engage in sexual health promoting behaviours, such as having regular gynecological exams or performing vulvar self-examinations.
Debby Herbenick, associate director of the Center for Sexual Health Promotion in the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation explained their findings is a positive news to women around the world.
Herbenick said our culture often portrays women’s genitals as dirty and in need of cleaning and grooming.
She added some women may have had greater exposure to such negative messages or may be more susceptible to their impact.
Herbenick’s study created a scale for measuring men’s and women’s attitudes toward women’s genitals. Such a scale, she wrote in the study, could be useful in sex therapy, in medical settings to help better understand decision-making that goes into gynecological care and treatment, and in health education settings involving women and their sexual health. The study also found that men had more positive attitudes about women’s genitals than women.
"Women are often more critical about their own bodies and other women’s bodies than men are," Herbenick said. "What we found in this study is that men generally feel positive about a variety of aspects of women’s genitals including how they look, smell, taste and feel."

 

 

To achieve orgasm and better sexual health women should feel confident about their sexuality.

 

Herbenick, also a sexual health educator for The Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction, offers the following suggestions regarding the findings:
Body image. Parents might consider how they can help their daughters to feel more positively about their bodies, such as by teaching them accurate names for their body parts, including their genitals (e.g., "vulva" rather than "down there") and responding in supportive ways to their self-exploration. "Rather than saying, ‘don’t touch down there it’s dirty,’ parents might let their children know that it’s OK for them to touch their genitals, but in private spaces such as their own bedroom or the bathroom," Herbenick said.
Advertisements and marketing. Health educators might consider ways that they can teach women and men about their bodies in positive, sex-positive ways by openly discussing how some products or marketing campaigns make people feel about their bodies.
The survey component of the study involved 362 women and 241 men, most of whom were white/Caucasian and between the ages of 18 and 23.
"Our study builds on previous research that demonstrates that the mind and body are highly connected in regard to sex," said Herbenick."When women feel more positively about female genitals, they likely feel more relaxed in their own skin, more able to let go and thus more likely to experience pleasure and orgasm."