No one knows better than our clients what is going on in their world - their stressors, symptoms, triumphs, values, goals… but sometimes it can also be helpful to hear additional perspectives from others in our client’s world. In this episode the P4P hosts discuss the potential relevance of collateral information in assessment, case conceptualization and treatment planning. We talk about how collateral information can sometimes enhance our understanding of our client’s environment, behaviors, and experiences as well as some of the pitfalls to avoid when involving others in the therapeutic process. Listen in for some great examples of when collateral information saved the day AND when we experienced collateral conundrums. As always we leave you with actionable intel to help support how YOU use collaterals in your EBP work.

Bios:

Drs. Ermold, Holloway and Lefkowitz are clinical psychologists who provide training and consultation at the Center for Deployment Psychology. Their specialties include military psychology, the assessment and treatment of trauma (PE and CPT), sleep disorders and more. They are passionate about delivering EBP’s effectively and creating a supportive community for providers to learn and grow in their EBP work.

Calls-to-action:

Always follow the laws and ethical guidelines of your state and discipline

Remember that the goal of gathering collateral information is to facilitate your client’s treatment. Always clarify the goals of a consultation and remember to prioritize the therapeutic relationship.

Utilize consultation

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For many of us, the idea of assessing and responding to suicide risk via telehealth seems overwhelming. As Jenna says, “the stakes are just a little higher.” But that’s all the more reason to become confident in the process; our patients deserve access to the best possible care, after all. In this episode, Dr. Kristyn Heins addresses common provider concerns about treating high risk patients over telehealth. Her common sense suggestions can reduce our collective anxiety and help us build our confidence in suicide prevention strategies.

Kristyn Heins, Ph.D., is a Licensed Professional Counselor serving as a Military Behavioral Health Counselor for the Center for Deployment Psychology (CDP) at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. In this role, she supports the CDP’s efforts of training clinicians in evidenced-based practice focused on suicide prevention. Prior to joining the CDP, Dr. Heins worked at the Department of Veteran Affairs in various roles including primary care mental health, and suicide prevention telehealth. Dr. Heins is trained in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy- Suicide Prevention, and Problem Solving Therapy- Suicide Prevention. She also has worked in a Federally Qualified Health Center and in a non-profit setting.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• The Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS). A validated and short self-report measure that can be utilized in a variety of settings. https://cssrs.columbia.edu/
• The Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). A validated and short self-report measure used for depression screening. https://tinyurl.com/5n6u7p6j
• Suicide Cognitions Scale. A self-report measure to assess thoughts, perceptions, and beliefs that are commonly experienced by people who have attempted suicide. https://osf.io/bf8uy/
• CBT for Suicide Prevention Workshops presented by CDP. View our training calendar here to register for a workshop, then follow up with consultation. https://deploymentpsych.org/training

Calls-to-action:

• Get familiar with validated self-report measures
• Take a CBT-SP course
• Utilize your support and consultation resources
• Subscribe to the Practical for Your Practice Podcast
• Subscribe to The Center for Deployment Psychology Monthly Email - https://deploymentpsych.org/CDP-MED-Opt-In
• Send us your questions, comments, stories, and/or topic/guest suggestions! We’d love to hear from you!
  • Practical for Your Practice voice mail: https://www.speakpipe.com/cdpp4p
  • Practical for Your Practice email: [email protected]

In this episode we have the honor of sitting down with Australian researcher, Ms. Carolyn Heward, lead author of “A Scoping Review of Military Culture, Military Identity, and Mental Health Outcomes in Military Personnel”. Listen in as we discuss the complexity of military culture's impact on military identity and its effect on mental health. We’ll dig into the Military Identity Model (MIM) and types of identities such as loyal, warrior, hidden and disrupted. But most importantly we’ll consider the clinical benefits of including military identity into case formulation, treatment planning and EBP work. As Heward says “identity work is clinical work” and we couldn’t agree more.

Carolyn Heward is a Senior Lecturer in Clinical Psychology at James Cook University in Townsville, Queensland, Australia, where she teaches in the Master of Psychology (Clinical) program while conducting research on military identity construction and its implications for psychological wellbeing. As a Clinical Psychologist with extensive experience working with the Australian Defence Force (ADF), she brings valuable insights to the intersection of military culture and mental health, particularly through her perspective that identity work is fundamental to clinical practice. Her recent scoping review on military culture, identity, and mental health has contributed to understanding the unique challenges faced by service members, while her current doctoral research explores the construction of military identity within the ADF and its clinical implications. Drawing from her clinical experience, Carolyn’s work focuses on developing integrated approaches to clinical psychology that move beyond cultural formulations to address individual identity construction. She has also contributed to public discourse on military mental health through The Conversation, publishing articles on military identity and providing analysis of the Australian Government’s response to the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Carolyn Heward, Wendy Li, Ylona Chun Tie, Pippa Waterworth, A Scoping Review of Military Culture, Military Identity, and Mental Health Outcomes in Military Personnel, Military Medicine, Volume 189, Issue 11-12, November/December 2024, Pages e2382–e2393, https://doi.org/10.1093/milmed/usae276
• Practical for Your Practice voice mail: speakpipe.com/cdpp4p
• Practical for Your Practice email: [email protected]

Sleep trackers - what are they good for? While they may give you an entertaining look at your sleep health, they can complicate treatment of sleep disorders. Our guest today, Dr. Diana Dolan, returns to P4P to provide a balanced view on consumer wearables and their impact on sleep assessment and treatment. Technology has evolved in the past few years, and so have our suggestions for how to work with patients who love their sleep trackers. How can we capitalize on our patients’ enthusiasm for better sleep? Tune in to find out.

Diana Dolan, Ph.D., CBSM, DBSM, is a clinical psychologist serving as an Associate Director of Training & Education with the Center for Deployment Psychology (CDP) at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland. She currently oversees programs that provide evidence-based training for military-connected patients on a variety of topics. She is certified in Behavioral Sleep Medicine by the American Board of Sleep Medicine. She is also a diplomate in Behavioral Sleep Medicine from the Board of Behavioral Sleep Medicine.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• de Zambotti, M., Goldstein, C., Cook, J., Menghini, L., Altini, M., Cheng, P., & Robillard, R. (2024). State of the science and recommendations for using wearable technology in sleep and circadian research. SLEEP 47: 1-31. https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsad325
• Khosla S, Deak MC, Gault D, Goldstein CA, Hwang D, Kwon Y, O'Hearn D, Schutte-Rodin S, Yurcheshen M, Rosen IM, Kirsch DB, Chervin RD, Carden KA, Ramar K, Aurora RN, Kristo DA, Malhotra RK, Martin JL, Olson EJ, Rosen CL, Rowley JA; American Academy of Sleep Medicine Board of Directors. Consumer sleep technology: an American Academy of Sleep Medicine position statement. J Clin Sleep Med. 2018;14(5):877–880.
• CBT-I Coach app. Includes a sleep diary that may appeal to patients who prefer to use apps and other technology. https://mobile.va.gov/app/cbt-i-coach

Calls-to-action: For example:

• Become familiar with the American Academy of Sleep Medicine’s position on consumer wearables: “It is the position of the AASM that CST must be FDA cleared and rigorously tested against current gold standards if it is intended to render a diagnosis and/or treatment. Given the unknown potential of CST to measure sleep or assess for sleep disorders, these tools are not substitutes for medical evaluation. However, CSTs may be utilized to enhance the patient-clinician interaction when presented in the context of an appropriate clinical evaluation.”
• Subscribe to the Practical for Your Practice Podcast
• Subscribe to The Center for Deployment Psychology Monthly Email
• Send us your questions and feedback!
  • Voicemail: speakpipe.com/cdpp4p
  • Email: [email protected]

New year! New season! New look! AND new theme! Our hosts kick off season six of the P4P podcast introducing the theme, “Who’s Got Your Six?” (see what we did there?), and talk about the importance of cultivating our own support systems and people. Each host shares a story about someone who has (and has had) their “six”. As mental health providers, we all need and deserve someone to have our backs. So how do we cultivate these supportive relationships? Check out this episode! And as always, thank you listeners for having OUR six.

We LOVE hearing from our listeners. If you have a question, comment, topic suggestion for a future episode, or even a guest recommendation, let us know! We also welcome listeners to share your “EBP Confession” story (season 4 theme), your “What’s Your Why?” story (season 5 theme), or your “Who’s Got Your Six” story (season 6 theme). You can leave us a voice mail message at speakpipe.com/cdpp4p, or send us an email at [email protected]. Your message could be featured in an upcoming episode!

Drs. Carin Lefkowitz, Jenna Ermold, and Kevin Holloway are all psychologists, trainers, and subject matter experts at the Center for Deployment Psychology (CDP) at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS).

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Practical for Your Practice voice mail: speakpipe.com/cdpp4p
• Practical for Your Practice email: [email protected]

Calls-to-action:

1. Don’t take “no” for an answer when you want to be part of a group or work with an individual you can learn from.
2. Know your value. Don’t waste your energy on someone else or an organization that doesn’t recognize your value.
3. It’s ok to ask for help. It’s ok to be real. Deep relationships thrive on authenticity. GIve yourself permission to acknowledge your limits and vulnerabilities.

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Tap, tap, tap. Is this thing on? Hello? Anyone out there? Turns out, YES! Podcasts are funny things where it sometimes feels like we might just be talking into the void. And what we REALLY want is to have collegial interactions with you, the listeners. So for our 60th episode, we asked for your questions, comments, and “What is your why?” stories, and you delivered! Thank you to all who contributed to this episode. Join us as we respond to listeners' questions and hear about LPCs in clinical practice, clients that aren’t a “perfect” fit with EBP protocols, not mixing EBP “cocktails”, lots of “woohoo!”s, and Jenna being voted “Most Likely to be Ariel in Little Mermaid 2” in high school. What a great community of practice!

Drs. Carin Lefkowitz, Jenna Ermold, and Kevin Holloway are all psychologists, trainers, and subject matter experts at the Center for Deployment Psychology (CDP) at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS).

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Take our Facebook poll: Was your path to your career in behavioral health a “windy” path or more direct? https://tinyurl.com/cdpp4ppoll2
• Leave us a Voice Mail: https://speakpipe.com/cdpp4p
• Send us an Email: [email protected]

Calls-to-action:

Subscribe to the Practical for Your Practice Podcast

Subscribe to The Center for Deployment Psychology Monthly Email

Today we are joined by Dr. Joe Ruzek, a clinical psychologist and former Director of the National Center for PTSD Dissemination and Training Division. Dr. Ruzek recently published a book on group therapies for PTSD and shares his findings and innovations with Jenna and Carin. We discussed the unique benefits of group therapies, more flexible ways of measuring progress, and future directions. As always, we wrap up with Actionable Intel; Dr. Ruzek provides listeners with numerous tips and resources to hone skills in group therapy.

Calls-to-action:

• Get busy running groups! Find a trusted colleague who wants to run a group on any topic. It will help you develop your skills in structuring groups, setting an agenda, and managing group dynamics, regardless of the topic.
• Visit the National Center for PTSD website to access many free resources on trauma-focused care, including group treatments. www.ptsd.va.gov
• Learn an evidence-based treatment for PTSD. Once you have developed competence and familiarity with the approach, consider implementing it in group format.
• Subscribe to the Practical for Your Practice Podcast
• Subscribe to The Center for Deployment Psychology Monthly Email

As behavioral health providers, many of us receive training, and are well positioned to help people after a disaster or traumatic event. But what do you do in situations of ongoing threat, ongoing stress and adversity perhaps lasting months or years? In this episode, we are joined by the amazing Dr. Patricia Watson, a psychologist at the National Center for PTSD, who walks us through the incredibly versatile Stress First Aid (SFA) model to include its essential elements, relationship to the stress continuum model, as well as core actions to take based on the type and severity of stress injury. From military members to fire fighters, law enforcement to EMS, harm reduction workers to healthcare workers, this model will help YOU help reduce stress reactions for those who need it most. Come hear the origin stories for both SFA AND Dr. Watson’s career. You won’t want to miss it.

Calls-to-action:

Review CDP Presents webinar recording on SFA and resources

Subscribe to the Practical for Your Practice Podcast

Subscribe to The Center for Deployment Psychology Monthly Email

In this episode of Practical for your Practice we are joined by motivational interviewing maven and one of our USU colleague besties, Dr. Abby Diehl, who challenges us to become more aware of our righting reflex - or our tendency, as behavioral health providers, to become problem detectors who offer immediate solutions to eradicate said problem(s). Sometimes easier said than done when one tries to operate in the larger (quick) “fix it” culture many of us find ourselves in. Her advice? Shut your mouth and open your ears and listen to understand. You might just be surprised how just being with people and deeply listening can lead to deeper connection and ultimately profound change. You’ll definitely want to keep your ears open for this not to miss episode.

Calls-to-action:

Take an upcoming CDP Motivational Interviewing workshop

Subscribe to the Practical for Your Practice Podcast

Subscribe to The Center for Deployment Psychology Monthly Email

Leave us a message on Speakpipe: https://www.speakpipe.com/cdpp4p

One of the most common co-morbid conditions with many of the disorders treated by mental health providers is substance-use disorder (SUD). And while many of us as providers are trained in evidence-based psychotherapies for disorders such as PTSD, MDD, GAD, Primary Insomnia, etc, many of us are not as well trained regarding how to manage or treat co-morbid SUD. Research demonstrates that concurrent treatment of the primary condition and co-morbid SUD has the highest likelihood of positive treatment outcomes. Join us as our guest, Dr. Mark Campanile, discusses medication assisted therapies for SUD and incorporating concurrent treatments for dual diagnosis cases in a Veterans Affairs clinic.

Calls-to-action:

Subscribe to the Practical for Your Practice Podcast

Subscribe to The Center for Deployment Psychology Monthly Email