Deployment Psychology Blog

Guest Perspective: Concussion - Spotlight on mTBIs

The much-anticipated movie “Concussion” was released on Christmas Day, and already there is Oscar Award talk for Will Smith, who plays the role of Dr. Bennet Omalu. It was Dr. Omalu who discovered the tragic progressive degenerative effects of years of multiple concussions in NFL players, which he named CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy). The film highlights the NFL’s initial response of anger and denial. Indeed, since Dr. Omalu’s discovery in 2002, the NFL has experienced lawsuitsexposés, and finger-pointing in general. 

By the Numbers - Jan. 11, 2016

30.4 per 10,000
and
107.8 per 10,000

The rate of “any chronic pain diagnosis” in 2007 and in 2014 "per 10,000 person-years" (p-yrs) among "all individuals serving at any time in the active component of the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine Corps between 1 January 2007 and 31 December 2014," according to a report in the December 2015 issue of the Medical Surveillance Monthly Report, published by the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Branch of the Defense Health Agency. 

CDP News: Jan. 8, 2016

Welcome to this week’s edition of CDP News! We like to use this space to review recent happenings in and around the Center for Deployment Psychology, while also looking ahead to upcoming events. We’re still getting up to speed after the holiday break, but there’s lots on the horizon to discuss. Let’s take a look!

Staff Perspective: Symptom Exacerbation When Using Evidence-Based Psychotherapies

When I was starting out with practicing EBPs, there was a part of me that was a little frightened by the prospect of guiding my clients toward their worst fears, and I was more than a little concerned that I wouldn’t be able to tolerate seeing them in distress. I had visions of my clients “falling apart”. Luckily, the training and supervision I received (and a decision to have faith in the data) helped me. I’ve gone on to learn, practice, and teach EBPs for a variety of issues, including both Prolonged Exposure Therapy (PE) and Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) for PTSD.

Pages