Deployment Psychology Blog

Staff Voices: Sometimes Routine Self-Care Isn’t Enough

By Elizabeth Parins  on 01.05.2013 7:42 am

Working in an active duty Department of Defense (DoD) Behavioral Health Clinic can be challenging, with busy patient loads, complex cases, limited administrative time, and frequent short notice tasks. It can be a recipe for burnout, and those of us working there are often encouraged to engage in “provider self-care.” Such self-care is intended to be a daily ritual with the hope that doing so will prevent burnout and keep the caregivers healthy and productive. I’m a fan of the daily self-care model. I have an active social life, I regularly engage in my hobbies, I read, I exercise, I have a healthy diet, and even go to yoga. Even with all this text book self-care sometimes tragedy and adversity can crash into the personal lives of the caregiver.

By the Numbers - April 29, 2013

By Shirl Kennedy  on 29.04.2013 7:42 am

32%

The percentage by which "psychotherapy targeting suicide prevention reduced the risk for attempts" -- at least for adults -- according to an article recently published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine -- Screening for and Treatment of Suicide Risk Relevant to Primary Care: A Systematic Review for the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.

CDP News: April 26, 2013

By Christopher Adams  on 26.04.2013 7:42 am

It’s Friday and that means it’s time for another edition of our weekly roundup of all the happenings in and around the Center for Deployment Psychology, CDP News. This week marked the conclusion of our latest iteration of the eight-day “Topics in Deployment Psychology” course. We’d like to thank all of our participants and presenters, both staff and guests. We certainly couldn’t have done it without you! It’s a lot of work for everyone, but it’s well worth the effort for such successful results.  One particular panel of note, after the enthuastic reception it received in our last iteration, we held another panel focusing on lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender in the military. It was a very thought provoking discussion and we’d like to extend a special thank you to all involved in making it happen.

Research Update: April 25, 2013

By Shirl Kennedy  on 25.04.2013 7:42 am

The CDP's weekly research update contains the latest news, journal articles and useful links from around the web. Some of this week's topics include:

•Interview: Does Complex Trauma Exist? A “Long View” Based on Science and Service in theTrauma Field.
•Dissemination and implementation of prolonged exposure therapy for posttraumatic stressdisorder.
•Helping Vulnerable Populations: A Comprehensive Review of the Treatment Outcome Literatureon Substance Use Disorder and PTSD.

Staff Voices: The Next Step in Virtual Reality Treatment

By Christopher Adams  on 24.04.2013 8:25 am

Using virtual reality to help assist in the treatment of PTSD is nothing new. There have been numerous efforts to simulate stressful situations from the safety of a therapist’s office,  including the Virtual Iraq program,  the T2 Virtual PTSD Experience in Second Life by the National Institute of Telehealth and Technology and several others. 

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