Practical for Your Practice

When we think of “sleep problems,” most of the time, our brains go to insomnia – that group of people we work with who have difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep despite adequate opportunity to sleep. But what about the opposite side of the sleep coin… or pillow, if you will? What about the group of folks who desperately want sleep, need sleep, crave sleep, AND could sleep if only given adequate opportunity to do so? In this episode, we sit down once again with one of CDP’s sleep experts, Dr. Diana Dolan, to talk about sleep deprivation and the associated functional impairments. Given sleep deprivation can be a common presenting problem for our military-connected clients, we encourage you to join us to learn some useful tips and strategies when working with sleep-deprived individuals both in survival mode during crisis situations as well as how to help prioritize sleep for those who have more flexibility. We all need sleep to survive so be sure to check out the actionable intel in this episode to maximize sleep for your clients on the sleep deprivation continuum. Spoiler alert: take that nap!

Diana C. Dolan, Ph.D., CBSM, DBSM, is a clinical psychologist serving as a Senior Military Behavioral Health Psychologist with the Center for Deployment Psychology at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland. In this capacity, she develops and presents trainings on various EBPs and deployment-related topics and provides consultation services.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Sleeping in Crisis Situations: A Survival Guide

Calls-to-action: For example:

Subscribe to the Practical for Your Practice Podcast

Subscribe to The Center for Deployment Psychology Monthly Email

Emotionally-Focused Couples Therapy (EFT) is an evidence-based psychotherapy for couples that helps couples get better understanding and accepting their emotions, to be vulnerable in communicating those emotions to each other, and to get better at validating and supporting their partners. A challenge that therapists often face when working with military clients who are in committed relationships is deciding when to address relationship issues in individual therapy and when to refer your client to couples therapy. In this episode, certified EFT therapist Liz Polinksy share some actionable intel related to her work with military couples.

Elizabeth Polinsky, LCSW, RMFT, is a military marriage counselor in Norfolk Virginia. She comes from a military family and is now a military spouse—experiences that have led to her passion for helping military couples navigate the unique challenges of military life.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• https://deploymentpsych.org/EF-Therapy-Archive
• https://www.communicateandconnectpodcast.com/linkinbio.html
• https://iceeft.com/what-is-eft/

Calls-to-action: For example:

Subscribe to the Practical for Your Practice Podcast

Subscribe to The Center for Deployment Psychology Monthly Email

Have you ever thought, “I want to implement EBP’s effectively with my clients, but I’m running into barriers!”. Well, help is here! Listen in as we sit down with Dr. Lisa Cuccurullo, whose job it is to help solve the problems people face every day in their clinical practice. We dig into some clinical barriers, what mechanisms need to be in place administratively to do these treatments with fidelity, and how to do these treatments in the real world with all of the chaos of day-to-day life. We all need that “clinical family” to support our work, so join us to find out about resources to expand yours! Come hear about common challenges, potential solutions, and Dr. Cuccurullo’s uplifting consultation story!

Lisa-Ann Cuccurullo, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist at the National Center for PTSD, where she works on a team that facilitates the use of empirically supported treatments for veterans in rural areas. Her clinical work has focused on cognitive behavioral treatments for PTSD (and other post-trauma-related symptoms), such as Prolonged Exposure, Cognitive Processing Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and Dialectical Behavior Therapy. She is a national Prolonged Exposure consultant in VA. Before joining the staff of the National Center for PTSD, she was the Military Sexual Trauma Coordinator and Assistant Director of Psychology Clinical Training at the Southeast Louisiana Veteran’s Health Care System and a clinical instructor at Tulane University School of Medicine. Dr. Cuccurullo’s current research interests focus on the implementation of empirically supported treatments and posttraumatic symptom presentation. Dr. Cuccurullo received her doctorate in clinical psychology from La Salle University and completed her clinical internship and a PTSD-focused fellowship at the Southeast Louisiana Veteran’s Health Care System.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• VA’s Consultation Service: https://www.ptsd.va.gov/professional/consult/index.asp
• CDP’s Consultation Service: https://deploymentpsych.org/resources/consultation-services
• NCPTSD Patient Education tools: https://www.ptsd.va.gov/publications/print/index.asp
• Get EBP training from CDP: https://deploymentpsych.org/training

Calls-to-action:

Subscribe to the Practical for Your Practice Podcast

Subscribe to The Center for Deployment Psychology Monthly Email

Take one of CDP’s EBP’s (PE, CPT, CBT-SP, CBTi, ACT and more!): https://deploymentpsych.org/training

Why are pronouns important when working with your clients? Well, as this week’s guest, Dr. Jacob Eleazer, explains, misgendering clients is a form of medical harm, especially for members of the Trans* community. As we all move toward greater awareness and competency when it comes to working with Trans* clients, mistakes will be made. In this episode, Dr. Eleazar provides some practical advice for responding compassionately and directly to examples of misgendering. Also, in a P4P first, Dr. Eleazar and the crew demonstrate a few key techniques through candid role plays!

Dr. Jacob Eleazer (he/him) served in the Kentucky Army National Guard for 12 years and was among the first actively serving transgender soldiers to come out publicly in 2014. He completed his doctorate in counseling psychology at the University of Louisville and a postdoctoral clinical fellowship in LGBTQ+ Health and Psychosocial Rehabilitation at the Connecticut VA Healthcare System (VACHS). He is currently an Advanced Fellow in Health Services Research and Development at VACHS and the Yale School of Medicine and serves as the LGBTQ+ Veteran Care Coordinator for VACHS. Jacob’s research investigates the experiences of actively serving transgender military personnel, health disparities for LGBTQ+ Veterans, and patient-centered interventions to improve access to care for transgender Veterans. Jacob also advocates for an inclusive military policy as the Director of Advocacy for SPARTA, A Transgender Military Advocacy Organization.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Ruben MA, Kauth MR, Meterko M, Norton AM, Matza AR, Shipherd JC. Veterans' Reported Comfort in Disclosing Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity. Med Care. 2021 Jun 1;59(6):550-556. doi: 10.1097/MLR.0000000000001543. PMID: 33797509. [8:34]
• practicewithpronouns.com [32.23]
• CDP Presents: Psychological Practice with Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Service Members and Veterans [36:00]

Calls-to-action:

Subscribe to the Practical for Your Practice Podcast

Subscribe to The Center for Deployment Psychology Monthly Email

As behavioral health providers, our jobs often are primarily helping patients heal when their worlds are in turmoil. But we don’t often talk about doing that work while our own world or even the whole world is in turmoil. What can we learn from efforts to support mental health providers working in the heart of real-time geopolitical aggression? Join us as we discuss the experience of CDP’s own Drs. Bill Brim and Andrea Israel partnering with UNM’s ECHO project providing just-in-time training in psychological first aid and provider resilience to providers in Ukraine.

William Brim, Psy.D., is the director of the Center for Deployment Psychology (CDP) at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland. He joined CDP in 2007, initially as a deployment behavioral health psychologist at Malcolm Grow Medical Center and served as deputy director until 2017. Prior to joining CDP, Dr. Brim served on active duty as a psychologist in the United States Air Force from 1997 to 2007. The focus of Dr. Brim's clinical work, supervision and training is on deployment and redeployment- related mental health issues, specifically assessment and treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder and insomnia. Additionally, Dr. Brim focuses on health psychology clinical practice, the integration of mental health services in primary care and offers forensic psychology expert consultation and witness services.

Andrea Israel, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist serving as a Military Behavioral Health Child Psychologist at the Center for Deployment Psychology (CDP) at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland. In this role, she supports a study to assess the feasibility and to identify best practices for enhancing and expanding capabilities to deliver telehealth services to youth (dependents of active duty military) with neurodevelopmental and behavioral health needs across a dispersed geographic area. In addition, she provides Evidence-Based Psychotherapy (EBP) training. Dr. Israel graduated with her doctorate in School Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and completed her postdoctoral work at Duke University Medical Center. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Spanish, with a minor in Psychology, from the University of Virginia.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• https://deploymentpsych.org/resources-for-providers-in-wartime

Calls-to-action:

Subscribe to the Practical for Your Practice Podcast

Subscribe to The Center for Deployment Psychology Monthly Email

Two active duty psychologists sit down on a podcast and try to set the record straight about some of the ins and outs of becoming and serving as a military mental health provider. What does it take to serve simultaneously as a mental health provider AND an officer? What opportunities exist in areas such as leadership, prevention (individual and systemic), as a clinician, and training? How might YOU collaborate or consult with a military mental health provider? Listen as popular myths are busted, and unique opportunities are discussed!

Maj John A. Blue Star is an active duty US Air Force, board-certified clinical health psychologist. He is the Mental Health Flight Commander at Hanscom Air Force Base. His duties include conducting biopsychosocial evaluations for active duty and their families and retirees with health conditions, coordinating community-level population health program initiatives, providing behavioral treatment to individuals and groups with a focus on the quality of life improvement, and supervising clinical activities and conducting didactics for psychology interns. Maj Blue Star has a specialty focus in implementing interdisciplinary care for Active Duty service members with chronic pain and associated functional impairments, with emphasis on improving military readiness and decreasing risks involving opioid medication.

Lt. Col. David Tubman, an active duty US Air Force clinical health psychologist, is currently serving as the Clinical Psychology Internship Training Director at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. He earned his Psy.D. at Wheaton College, Illinois, and completed both his internship and post-doctoral fellowship in clinical health psychology at Wilford Hall Medical Center, Lackland AFB, TX. He is passionate about delivering evidence-based population health interventions, developing effective and engaging clinical training experiences, the science of behavior change, and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT).

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• ACT for Military Special Interest Group https://contextualscience.org/act_for_military_sig [34:00]
• Society of Air Force Psychologists https://www.usafpsychologists.com/ [34:30]
• CDP’s Military Culture course: https://deploymentpsych.org/Military-Culture-Enhancing-Competence-Course-Description [35:40]

Calls-to-action: For example:

Subscribe to the Practical for Your Practice Podcast

Subscribe to The Center for Deployment Psychology Monthly Email

Take CDP’s free Military Culture Course: https://deploymentpsych.org/Military-Culture-Enhancing-Competence-Course-Description

A common question posed in our PE and CPT consultation groups is, “What do I do if my client is pregnant and has PTSD… ?” To treat or not to treat? That is the question! In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Yael Nillni to discuss the benefits of trauma-focused treatment for women during the perinatal period. Come join us to learn about how clients who enter pregnancy with PTSD are at higher risk for adverse reproductive health outcomes and what behavioral health providers can (and should) do to help improve those outcomes. Is the perinatal phase a period of increased risk or a window of opportunity? We invite you to listen and learn.

Yael I. Nillni, Ph.D., is a Clinical Research Psychologist in the National Center for PTSD, Women’s Health Sciences Division at VA Boston Healthcare System, and an Assistant Professor at Boston University School of Medicine. Dr. Nillni received her undergraduate degree from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Vermont. Dr. Nillni completed her pre-doctoral internship at the University of Mississippi Medical Center/VA Medical Center Consortium in Jackson, MS, and her postdoctoral research fellowship in the Women’s Health Sciences Division of the National Center for PTSD. Dr. Nillni’s research focuses on the intersection of trauma, PTSD and comorbid mental health conditions, and women’s reproductive health with the ultimate goal of improving healthcare outcomes for women. To this end, she has several ongoing studies among both civilians and Veterans focused on trauma, PTSD, and women’s perinatal health.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Survivor Moms Companion: https://survivormoms.org/ [23:15]
• https://blogs.va.gov/VAntage/86691/improving-reproductive-health-women-ptsd/

Calls-to-action: For example:

Subscribe to the Practical for Your Practice Podcast

Subscribe to The Center for Deployment Psychology Monthly Email

Enroll in an EBP training for PTSD: https://deploymentpsych.org/psychological-training

We’ve all been there–wondering if we measure up to the expectations we have from others and for ourselves. Imposter Syndrome, as its been sometimes called, is almost universal, and yet feels so unique to ourselves. Join us as we discuss imposter syndrome, how it shows up for us in EBP implementation, and how we can make room for it.

Dr. Joshua Semiatin, PHD is a clinical psychologist in Baltimore, MD. He currently practices at Department of Veterans Affairs, Baltimore, MD.

Calls-to-action: For example:

Subscribe to the Practical for Your Practice Podcast

Subscribe to The Center for Deployment Psychology Monthly Email

In the context of a global pandemic where every one of us lives daily with uncertainty and barriers to connection with others, these challenges and burdens are magnified in the lives of our immunocompromised clients. From expanding our understanding of who is immunocompromised to empathy for their unique challenges to discussing practical strategies in clinical care, join us as we sit in the uncertainty together, discussing showing up, connecting with, and serving these clients.

Amanda Rhodes, Psy.D. is a licensed psychologist and researcher in the Health Psychology and Neurobehavioral Research Group (HPNRG) at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) / National Institutes of Health (NIH). Dr. Rhodes received a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from Lehigh University, a Master of Arts in psychology from Kean University, and a Doctorate in combined school and clinical psychology from Kean University. Her doctoral dissertation investigated acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and opioid use in patients with chronic pain. Dr. Rhodes completed a competitive, APA-accredited internship utilizing mindfulness-based interventions at the Brattleboro Retreat Psychiatric Hospital in Vermont, USA. She then completed a two-year postdoctoral research fellowship in the Pediatric Oncology Branch at NCI/NIH.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• A contextual-behavioral perspective on chronic pain during the COVID-19 pandemic and future times of mandated physical distancing
• ACBS ACT for Health SIG & Resources for working with Chronic Health Conditions

If listeners are interested in learning more about this approach, a colleague and I are leading a 2-day (virtual) training in June called ACTivating Health: A Skills Building Workshop to Help People with Chronic Medical Conditions

Calls-to-action: For example:

Subscribe to the Practical for Your Practice Podcast

Subscribe to The Center for Deployment Psychology Monthly Email

What is resilience? What is Psychological Flexibility? What are the points of convergence between these two concepts? Practically speaking (and you know we LOVE practical stuff), it turns out that the Psychological Flexibility model may offer a unique pathway to the direct enhancement of resilience. In this episode, we chat with Dr. Wyatt Evans about his exciting insights and research about the role that psychological flexibility may play in resilience.

Wyatt R. Evans, Ph.D., ABPP, is a board-certified clinical psychologist in the VA North Texas Health Care System and private practice in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. His areas of clinical and research interest include combat and operational stress, moral injury, trauma-focused treatment, and resilience enhancement. Dr. Evans currently supports DoD-, VA-and NIH-funded research into the prevention and treatment of PTSD, moral injury, and other stress reactions among military personnel. His primary area of expertise is in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and he has developed programs for utilizing ACT to treat a moral injury, enhance resilience, and facilitate posttraumatic growth. On moral injury, Dr. Evans has published on definitional distinctions, interventions, religious/spiritual considerations, and associated outcomes. Dr. Evans is a co-investigator on an initial acceptability/feasibility trial of ACT for moral injury and is the lead author of a recently published book titled The Moral Injury Workbook.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• CDP Presents: Engaging Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Processes to Enhance Resilience in Military Personnel with Wyatt Evans, Ph.D., and Andy Santanello, Psy.D. (https://deploymentpsych.org/CDPP-ACT-Archive) [03:20]
• Bonanno, G. (2021). The end of trauma: How the new science of resilience is changing how we think about PTSD. Basic Books.[23:16]
• Homepage of the ACT for Military Special Interest Group of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science (https://contextualscience.org/act_for_military_sig)

Calls-to-action: For example:

Subscribe to the Practical for Your Practice Podcast

Subscribe to The Center for Deployment Psychology Monthly Email