Archive for the ‘Winter 2011 Issue’ Category

Building a Race Conscious Research Agenda

People of color have held a long and often damaging relationship with mental health researchers, practitioners, and policymakers. Throughout the colonized history of the United States, the mental health of Native Americans, Africans, Asians, Latinos, Pacific Islanders, and other groups of color...

Challenges of Black Males with Mental Illness

This entry is focused on the mental health issues among Black males and the challenge of dealing with race and racism in mental health agencies. Because of the extensiveness of need, combined with stereotyping that is perhaps unique to this population, and notable gaps in culturally appropriate...

Shattering the Silence of Selective Mutism

If you’ve ever worked with a student identified as being diagnosed with Selective Mutism, you might see how easy it is to understand why many assume that the student is willfully avoiding eye contact, conversation, or compliance. How can it be that the same child, who speaks so clearly and...

Noted Panelists Discuss the Impact of Race and Racism on the Mental Health Professions and on the Therapeutic Alliance

Moderator’s Note: I had the pleasure of assembling a panel to address the impact of race and racism on the mental health professions. All of the panelists had participated in the Undoing Racism Workshop training offered by the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond and were familiar with...

Therapeutic Groups for Girls

Girls with learning disabilities, attention deficits and pervasive developmental disorders commonly experience different degrees of social impairment. They can be referred to the Social Skills Program in our Child and Adolescent Outpatient Clinic at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital-Westchester...

The NYSPA Report: Medication for Children and Adolescents

A doctor’s recommendation to use psychotropic medication for a child can lead to many concerns and questions in both the child and their parent. This article is meant to help clarify these concerns and help families understand that they can get safe, effective treatment for their child. The...

The Mental Health Needs of Special Populations

The history of mental illness in the United States and in New York State in particular amongst special populations is a very complex one, having within it all the politics, economics of a hierarchal, power centric, race constructed society. What are the key issues for practitioners who wish to...