INSIGHT Magazine, Volume 3, Issue 1

FALL 2009

V OLUME 3

IS SUE 1

THE MAGAZINE FOR ALUMNI AND FRIENDS OF THE CHICAGO SCHOOL OF PROFESSIONAL PSYCHOLOGY

946-1964)

GENERATION X (1965-1982)

MILLENNIALS (1983-2000)

1982

1964

GENERATION X (1965-1982) 1982

2000

MILLENNIALS (1983-2000)

Y G O HOL 2000

C the Y S S S P ACRO S N O I T A R E GEN

T HE HI S T O R Y O F P Y S C H O L O G Y— A ND tcs T EC HN O L O G Y ’ S T O L L H O N O R IN G ‘D A C O A C H ’

FALL 2009 VOLUME 3 ISSUE 1

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To talk about a generation is to talk not about its bits and pieces, but about its social and cultural center of gravity. It is a generation’s direction that best reveals its collective self-image and sense of destiny.

Neil Howe and William Strauss in their book, Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation

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editorial staff: Judy Beaupre Kelli Langdon Matt Nehmer Beth VanDyke Contributing Writers: Connie Fuller Dave Clayton Design: Bates Creative Group Contributing Photographers: Amy Braswell Aaron Brownlee Greg Grieco Kelli Langdon Ben Reed Susan Ryan Derrick Smith David Songco Cover PHOTOGRAPHER: Howard Sokol

President and CEO Michael Horowitz, Ph.D. President, Chicago Campus Carroll Cradock, Ph.D. President, Southern California Campuses Michele Nealon-Woods, Psy.D. ‘00 President, Washington, D.C., Campus Orlando Taylor, Ph.D. President, Online Campus Darcy Tannehill, Ed.D. INSIGHT is published twice annually by the Department of Marketing and Communications at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology.

It is mailed to alumni, faculty, staff and friends of the school.

Address changes and correspondence should be sent to: insight@thechicagoschool.edu Visit INSIGHT online at : http://insight-magazine.org

FALL 2009 V OLUME 3 IS SUE 1 T HE M A G A Z INE FOR A L UMNI A ND F R IEND S OF T HE CHIC AG O S CHO OL OF PROFE S SION A L P S YCHOL O G Y

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28 04 departments 3 President’s Letter

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4 On Campus

29 Last page

New initiatives continue to expand our potential for impact: through high-profile grant-funded projects, a partnership with a consumer-analytics firm, and an affiliation with a California graduate school offering integrative health degrees.

Back-to-school excitement takes on a whole new meaning as The Chicago School opens an elementary school of its own.

10 Faculty

FEATURES

Offering insight and perspective on the psychological generation gap, our practitioner faculty also continue to share their expertise through local and national media channels.

16 PSYCHOLOGY ACROSS THE GENERATIONS

26 Class Notes

22 The Toll of Technology

Meet our 2009 Alumnus of the Year, learn how one of our most recent graduates is using his Psy.D. degree to make a difference in the lives of Los Angeles gang members.

From rotary dial phones and the family television set… to smartphones and on-demand podcasts: technology has changed the way generations communicate, bond, and cope.

28 GIVING BACK Working with TCS students, veterans’ children use drawing and drama to express their fears and anxieties.

An up-close look at how psychological challenges— and the way they are addressed—differ from generation to generation.

{president’s letter}

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his year, The Chicago School hit the Big 3-0. As part of the celebration, we pulled together a panel of Chicago School presidents to share and compare recollections that span the three decades. Joining Dr. Horowitz for the October 9 event were Phil Hablutzel, J.D., the founding president, and Dr. Jeffrey Grip, who served as the school’s third president. Thus, Presidents’ Reflections replace our standing President’s Letter in this issue of INSIGHT. Happy Birthday, Chicago School!

Left to Right: Mr. Hablutzel, Dr. Grip, Dr. Horowitz

To listen to the entire presidents’ panel discussion, log on to: thechicagoschool.edu/30thpanel

Phil Hablutzel, J.D.—President, 1979-1983 On The Chicago School’s earliest days In those days, we were a shoestring operation. We began at the Lawson YMCA in four rooms, but the administration at the Y decided we had fixed up the place so nicely, they wanted it for their offices. So we had to move. We found a place on Michigan Avenue; it was built as a showroom for the Studebaker automobile and then remodeled into the Fine Arts Building. Next to my office was the first tuba player of the Chicago Symphony. He would have students sit next to my office and practice tuba. Everybody thought that was terrible, but since I was a tuba player, I loved it.

Dr. Jeffrey Grip—President, 1985-1995 On the Emergence of Diversity as a Distinctive Focus I think it was in 1986 that I hired a woman for the faculty by the name of Elizabeth Davis Russell. Elizabeth was born in Liberia and was very low-key, persistent, visionary. She talked to me about creating a center for intercultural clinical psychology. The board approved it and a year later, she came to me and said ‘let’s have an intercultural psychology conference.’ That was really the emerging of the intercultural focus. It became an identity of The Chicago School that was distinctive.

Dr. Michael Horowitz—President, 2000-present On Beginning the Expansion Beyond a Single-Program School When we developed the I/O (Industrial and Organizational Psychology) Program, we didn’t have resources for a lot of outside people. And so I turned to Nancy Newton (long-time faculty member), who through her career had gone into organizational consulting, and didn’t want to be an administrator again. I went to her house and I said ‘You’re Plan A for continuing The Chicago School as an independent school.

And Plan B is that there is no Plan B.’ And she said she’d do it for a year. We discussed what number of students would be needed to start a new program with.

We said if we get six students, we will start this new degree program. We got 15 and never looked back.

In honor of The Chicago School’s birthday, Psychology Professor Paul Larson and Communications Director Matt Nehmer have spent more than a year compiling a history of our first three decades.

A summary of that history—in milestones and photos—occupies one side of the commemorative poster that is included with this issue of INSIGHT. On the flip side you will find a graphic representation of the history of psychology itself. To learn how to order a flat copy—framed or unframed—contact us at insight@chicagoschool.edu.

INSIGHT MAGAZINE FALL 2009 3

Reflections from Three Decades

on campus

The Chicago School Here and Now

For all in Times Square to see: Announcement of TCS’ half-million dollar community service grant.

expand the school’s model of communityengaged education, and provide outreach to returning veterans and their families.

Grants Open New Doorways Funding bolsters community service initiatives

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ueled by grants from highly competitive public and private funding sources, The Chicago School has taken major strides in its commitment to addressing the needs of marginalized populations. Three recently announced awards will increase the school’s outreach exponentially, supporting projects to prepare culturally competent mental health practitioners for Chicago’s rapidly growing Latino population, dramatically

Latino Mental Health The vision that led to the 2008 establishment of The Chicago School’s Center for Latino Mental Health (CLMH) took a step closer to realization with a grant from the Chicago Community Trust that will fund the creation of a Latino Mental Health Providers Network. In implementing the initiative, CMLH will collaborate with Latinoserving community agencies and healthcare professionals to develop workshops and mentoring opportunities, and to assist a cadre of mental health professionals in meeting the unique needs of Latinos.

“Studies have shown that therapists who participate in cultural sensitivity training provide more effective treatment to ethnic minority populations,” said Dr. Hector Torres, CLMH coordinator and assistant professor of clinical counseling. “The better the experience Latinos have with mental health care, the more likely the population is to benefit from the services that are available.”

Last year the Surgeon General reported that fewer than one in 20 Latino immigrants with mental disorders contact mental health specialists for care. Exacerbating the issue— and underscoring the need for practitioners who are sensitive to the unique needs and concerns of Latino immigrants—the National Council for LaRaza has reported that even when Latinos do access services, 70 percent never return after the first visit.

In addition to building a pipeline for professionals who understand and can address the reluctance of many Latinos to seek or accept psychological services, the network will place Chicago School clinical counseling interns and at least 75 student volunteers in agencies that serve the Latino community. Together they will deliver more than 8,000 service hours working with clients and staff. The project will

INSIGHT MAGAZINE FALL 2009 5

“ The first position to go when budgets get cut is the volunteer coordinator. These organizations rely heavily on volunteers but need someone to oversee their efforts.” also engage in public awareness, research, and outreach to coordinate and strengthen efforts of grassroots agencies with limited staff and capacity.

The network responds to a critical shortage of psychology and counseling professionals qualified to meet the needs of a population considered at high risk for depression, anxiety, and substance abuse. Experts estimate that there are only 29 Latino mental health providers for every 100,000 Latinos in the United States. Few areas could benefit more from this initiative than Chicago, which counts Latinos as its fastest-growing population, representing one of every four Chicagoland residents.

Working closely with Dr. Torres on project implementation will be Roberto Lopez-Tamayo, a 2009 graduate of the Clinical Counseling program who will assume the role of Latino mental health network coordinator. Lopez-Tamayo has already begun reaching out to area nonprofit agencies, with the goal of recruiting a minimum of 30 members to the project.

“I’m sure we’re going to have many more than 30,” Dr. Torres said. “There is no other network like this in the area that specifically meets this need.”

Community Partnerships The model of community-engaged scholarship that has twice landed The Chicago School on the President’s Community Service Honor Roll received a financial shot in the arm in September when the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) awarded the school a $581,884 Learn and Serve America grant. The funding—which comes at a critical time for Chicago’s underserved populations—will allow The Chicago School to extend community engagement oppor-

tunities to more than 1,100 graduate psychology students and directly impact the service gaps left by recent cuts to nonprofit agency budgets.

The grant will provide the resources to significantly increase the number of service hours provided by Chicago School students through course-based service-learning projects, community-based research, and community service activities. It also will expand the number of local organizations that benefit from communityengaged scholarship activities overseen by the Office of Community Partnerships (OCP). Currently, OCP partners with about 70 agencies and businesses to fulfill service needs, evaluate the effectiveness of organizational initiatives, and build the capacity of human service agencies throughout the Chicago area.

Community service volunteers work as tutors, mentors, and psychoeducational group leaders, while students engaged in community-based research collaborate with partner agencies to analyze service delivery issues, research potential solutions, and develop plans for evaluating implementation. Service-learning courses— another OCP initiative that will expand with the help of the federal grant—incorporate outreach into the curriculum. Through existing courses, students work with parents involved in child malpractice situations, counsel ex-offenders as they reintegrate into the community, and assist teachers in underserved schools. Fifty new service-learning courses and 24 student-led initiatives—all aimed at helping social service agencies better serve their clients—will be implemented with the grant.

The project will also focus on leadership development, identifying a cohort of students to organize and manage volunteer activities at targeted agencies. more »

on campus

The Chicago School Here and Now

extraordinary psychology professionals while providing service to the community. Its history of community partnerships dates back to 1995 when it established a collaboration with Erie Neighborhood House, a joint venture that to date has provided training opportunities for dozens of Chicago School students and dramatically increased Erie’s service delivery capacity.

Family Reintegration A third grant, the Yellow Ribbon Project funded by the Michael Reese Health Trust, is described in the Giving Back section of this issue, page 28.

Returning Veterans Need You, 2009 Graduating Class Told

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VA Assistant Secretary Tammy Duckworth addresses the newest crop of psychology graduates.

“ When I reached the bottoming out point in my own recovery, it was a health professional who

offered me that fragile thread of hope.”

“The first position to go when budgets get cut is the volunteer coordinator,” Dr. Sayaka Machizawa, assistant director of community partnerships,” said. “These organizations rely heavily on volunteers but need someone to oversee their efforts.” To address this issue, the grant includes stipends for eight student leaders, each of whom will organize and manage volunteer activities at a partner agency.

Dr. Machizawa emphasizes the systems focus of grant activities, which will result in being more than a “band-aid” solution.

“Traditionally, psychology has had a tendency to focus on an individual level of intervention,” said Dr. Machizawa.“Our engagement model aims higher. It takes a more systems and community-oriented approach to solving problems. Our goal is that the activities will have a long-term impact.”

The new project dovetails with The Chicago School’s long-held mission of training

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oo often, our society fails to understand that losing a leg, suffering a brain injury, or dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder does not mean life has to end,” the Honorable Tammy L. Duckworth told graduates at The Chicago School’s June 12 Commencement. “That’s where the incredible work that you do comes into play.”

As the newly appointed U.S. assistant secretary of veterans affairs, Duckworth addressed the Class of 2009 after receiving an honorary Doctor of Psychology degree.

By 2010, the number of wounded veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts will exceed 419,000, a 61 percent increase over 2008, she told the audience of more than 3,000 graduates and guests that filled the Civic Opera House in downtown Chicago.

“With 6.1 million veteran patients in our country, there is a critical need for mental health services for them,” Duckworth said.

She challenged the newly minted psychology professionals to offer the “fragile thread of hope” that could make the pivotal difference in their recovery. “When I reached the bottoming out point in my own recovery, it was a health professional who offered me that fragile thread of hope,” she said.

As a captain in the Illinois National Guard flying combat missions during Operation Iraqi Freedom, Duckworth sustained grave injuries when her helicopter was struck by a rocketpropelled grenade, resulting in the loss of both

Affiliation with Platt Retail Institute Offers Insight Into Consumer Psychology

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s the nation continues to struggle with ongoing economic challenges, The Chicago School has forged an affiliation with

a world-recognized consumer analytics firm that will provide Business Psychology students with unprecedented insight into consumer behavior and the use of emerging digital technologies to maintain high-quality customer communication.

The new partnership brings the Platt Retail Institute’s (PRI) research, data analysis, academic publishing, and consulting work to the Chicago Campus, where faculty and students will have the opportunity to participate in projects, publications, internships, and dissertation and thesis work with the institute. The affiliation is expected to particularly benefit students interested in consumer psychology, and give them hands-on experience with retail analytics.

“This new relationship greatly expands our ability to undertake the research necessary to understand the impact of emerging digital technologies on consumer behavior,” said Steven Keith Platt, PRI’s director and research fellow.

Coursework will cover the areas of in-store marketing, consumer-interaction technology, and other business psychology topics.

ACADEMICUPDATEs Planned Police Psychology Degree Builds on TCS-LAPD Partnership

LAPD Deputy Chief Kirk J. Albanese chats with Dr. Michele Nealon-Woods, president of TCS’ Southern California Campuses.

In one of its most visible partnerships to date, The Chicago School’s Los Angeles Campus has teamed with the Los Angeles Police Department to meet the need among law enforcement professionals to understand and address the mental health issues they encounter in the line of duty.

Currently in development is an M.A. in Police Psychology that will provide participants with a broad understanding of psychology as well as the skills to recognize symptoms of mental illness, provide psychological interventions, and deal with job-related trauma and stress. The new program builds on a history of collaboration that has already resulted in a series of workshops and training sessions for LAPD officers, city attorneys and social service providers throughout the city.

“This is a program that our police officers need, and that our community needs,” said Dr. Debra Warner, lead faculty for the Southern California Campuses’ Forensic Psychology Program, who has been instrumental in the development of both the partnership and the training programs. “LAPD’s current focus is on providing its officers with the education and skills to bring about significant community reform. In Skid Row alone, there is so much going on—an almost constant need for crisis intervention.”

According to LAPD data, 30 percent of its 9,200 officers have bachelor’s degrees when entering the Police Academy and very few have completed graduate study. Soon after opening its doors in April 2008, the Los Angeles Campus began discussions with the department about offering professional development opportunities for officers. The 36-credit master’s degree will meet criteria outlined in the Joint Committee on Police Psychology Competencies, and will be available in a blended format that allows participants to complete most coursework online and to integrate assignments into existing job duties. Law enforcement officers with a bachelor’s degree and at least two years of work experience may apply.

INSIGHT MAGAZINE FALL 2009 7

of her legs and partial use of one arm. Her arduous recovery culminated in her becoming a voice of veterans throughout the country. She served as director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs until her nomination by President Obama—and her subsequent confirmation by the U.S. Senate—as assistant secretary in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Her work heralds initiatives underway at The Chicago School to address the critical shortage of mental health services for returning veterans.

This year’s graduating class marked the largest one yet, with 394 receiving doctoral, master’s and education specialist diplomas.

The first class of 25 School Psychology graduates and the first 31 graduates from the Online Campus were among those who participated.

on campus

The Chicago School Here and Now

“Welcoming the Platt Institute to our campus is another example of The Chicago School being on the forefront of new thinking, technology, and applications, said Chicago Campus President Carroll Cradock. “It will give our students access to emerging business fields while positioning the institution as a leader in research into the psychology behind shopping behavior.”

SBGI Affiliation Brings Holistic Approach to Psychology

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anta Barbara Graduate Institute (SBGI) is the newest addition to The Chicago School’s academic community. Located 90 miles northwest of our Los Angeles Campus, SBGI occupies a unique niche as a provider of education in three emerging branches of psychology: somatic psychology, which brings the body, body awareness, and body experience into the foreground of psychotherapeutic inquiry and clinical training; and prenatal and perinatal psychology, which examine the human developmental periods of conception, life in the womb, birth and bonding, and our earliest experiences as infants.

SBGI provides its leading-edge programs in unique low-residence and distance learning formats. These flexible-scheduling options allow students to access graduate programs in highly specialized fields from all over the world, resulting in a culturally diverse educational community.

“This is an unprecedented event for both of our schools and an exciting opportunity for all involved,” said TCS Southern California President Michele Nealon-Woods and SBGI Campus Dean Marti Glenn, in a joint letter posted on the SBGI website. “By coming together, The Chicago School and SBGI are embarking on an exciting, purposeful journey: to advance innovative approaches to psychology training in Southern California built on a commitment to service and community engagement.”

A transition team comprising individuals from both organizations is working together to integrate the various academic, business, and employment-related areas.

Campus Presidents Provide New Level of Leadership

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ecognizing the responsibilities and potential inherent in running a campus, Chicago School President and CEO Michael Horowitz has elevated three deans to the post of campus president, and has named a fourth president for TCS’ anticipated new site in Washington, D.C.

New presidents include: Dr. Carroll Cradock, Chicago Campus, who joined The Chicago School in April.

A licensed professional psychologist, Dr. Cradock brings to the institution more than 30 years of service and experience in the mental health field. Her previous post was an eight-year stint as director of behavior health services at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center.

Dr. Cradock will oversee the operations of the Chicago Campus, TCS programs offered at the University Center of Lake County, and the newly opened Garfield Park Preparatory Academy.

Dr. Michele Nealon-Woods (Psy.D.‘00),

Southern California Campus, who has been with TCS for 15 years—as a student, a faculty member, and chair of the Clinical Psy.D. Department. She oversees the two Los Angeles campuses— downtown and Westwood—an Irvine Campus, two counseling centers, and Santa Barbara Graduate Institute, which affiliated with The Chicago School earlier this year.

Dr. Darcy Tannehill, Online Campus.

Dr. Tannehill has been with The Chicago School since 2007 and has been instrumental in building a wide variety of online degree programs. She oversees an array of programs including M.A. and certificate programs, as well as the school’s first Ph.D. programs—in International Psychology and Organizational Leadership. She came to TCS from Argosy University in 2007.

Dr. Orlando L. Taylor, planned

Washington, D.C. Campus. A higher education veteran with more than 35 years as a faculty member and

attention on enhancing and preserving quality, and a platform

for each president to become an acknowledged leader in the community.” senior administrator, Dr. Taylor comes from Howard University. While there, he played a significant role in ensuring the university’s national leadership as a diverse institution that produces more African-American on-campus Ph.D. recipients that any research university in the United States. He will be the inaugural president of the planned East Coast Campus, which will open in 2010, pending approval by the Higher Learning Commission.

“What is exciting about watching the evolution of our campuses is how each was

shaped by its own culture, unique projects, and connections to the community—yet linked

by The Chicago School Model of Education,” President Horowitz said. “Because of this dynamic, we recognized that a new title was in order for our campus leaders: campus president. This localized approach allows our campuses to have more autonomy, a focused attention on enhancing and preserving quality, and a platform for each campus president to become an acknowledged leader in the surrounding community.”

INSIGHT MAGAZINE FALL 2009 9

“ This allows our campuses to have more autonomy, a focused

faculty

BE YOND THE CL A S SROOM

Collision or Collaboration: Generations at Work {by Dr. Connie Fuller} Assistant Professor, Industrial and Organizational and Business Psychology functional generations in the workplace. These challenges will only increase as Gen-Y continues its march into the workforce of tomorrow. Four areas in particular will see significant change in the years ahead.

Who’s the Boss?

“ Age won’t matter. But character will.”

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s Catherine reviewed her calendar, she realized that her new intern was due for a six-week review. This was one review she was looking forward to! Jesse had been an excellent addition to the team so far, contributing actively in team meetings and always completing assignments on time and correctly. With a smile on her face, Catherine pulled out a pad of paper to capture her thoughts for Jesse’s review.

Out in the office, Jesse was frustrated. He had been in this internship for over a month and had been given no feedback whatsoever. He had repeatedly asked Catherine for feedback on his work, only to be told he was doing fine. “Fine” didn’t help him know what to do better, or even what to continue doing to keep his manager happy. This internship was important to Jesse. He wanted to do well, and he simply couldn’t do well if he didn’t get frequent and meaningful feedback from his manager.

What’s happening here? Both Catherine and Jesse are doing what seems to them to be the “right” thing to do. Problem is, each has a different definition of “right.”

The challenges of a multi-generational workforce are only now beginning to appear as businesses face, for the first time, four fully

The roles of Traditionalists and Baby Boomers are evolving as these generations age and continue in the workforce. Neither generation wants, nor can afford, to retire and live a life of leisure. However, they are not necessarily interested in maintaining their previous roles of command and control. They are ready to hand over the reins to a younger generation and trade money and position for flexible hours and less stress. This is good news for younger workers who are more than ready to move into positions of power and influence. More than at any time in the past, we see older employees working for younger bosses, sometimes bosses half their age. This challenges younger leaders to motivate and satisfy workers whose values and norms are very different from their own. It also creates a challenge for older workers whose younger bosses are not likely to manage them in the way to which they have become accustomed.

Independence and Direction

Gen Xers, those most likely to move into leadership positions vacated by Traditionalists and Boomers, are fiercely independent. They hate being micromanaged. Just give them a job to do and let them do it. A hands-off approach will work fine with experienced Gen Xers. However, Gen-Y employees will need more direction. This younger cohort has been over-programmed since grammar school so they have not had as much experience figuring things out for themselves. They will work, and work hard, but they need a roadmap to show them the way. This is not to be confused with micro-management. Rather, it is coaching that includes feedback—early and often. Annual, bi-annual or even quarterly feedback sessions will not suffice. Daily feedback, formal and informal, is in order to bring out the best in Gen Y and to help them learn the independence and decisionmaking ability taken for granted by older generations.

Reward and Recognition

Traditionalists found reward in a job well done. Boomers sought recognition through power and influence. Both believed that

Leadership

Traditional command and control leadership is dead. The hierarchy continues to flatten. The successful multi-generational workplace of the future will be an egalitarian organization that honors the

individual strengths. It will provide resources to enhance those strengths for the good of both employees and the organization.

Successful leaders will be teachers and coaches. Leaders will be effective communicators. Leaders will earn the respect of their employees through their actions. Age won’t matter, but character will. This type of organization and leadership has been discussed for years, but the mix of generations in the workplace today mandates an egalitarian organization and authentic leadership for tomorrow.

Members of a multi-generational workforce will co-create the leadership model of the future.

The world of work is changing. Our generational differences provide us a wealth of opportunity to share what we know, to clarify what we need, to learn from one another, to grow, and to make the future of work what we need it to be for personal and organizational success.

Do you have your own opinion on this issue? Share it at www.insight-magazine.org/POV

F ac u lt y I n the N ews Dr. Michael Barr, assistant professor of business psychology, was quoted in a Crain’s Chicago Business story about people who take exhausting vacations (Oct. 6) and he was quoted in an Associated Press article titled “Employed, but Overworked? Here are 7 Ways to Handle it.” The story ran in multiple publications including the Detroit Free Press and The News Herald (4/14).

Channel 35 Los Angeles aired a segment on The Chicago School honoring the late LAPD Deputy Chief Kenneth O. Garner with the inaugural President’s Award for Visionary Leadership. President Michael Horowitz and Southern California President Michele Nealon-Woods were interviewed for the package (6/7).

Michele Kerulis, adjunct professor of sport and exercise psychology, was quoted in a Medill News Service story about people

who are addicted to exercise. (10/13) She was also interviewed by the Associated Press for a story about the psychology of starting and maintaining an exercise program (5/13).

Dr. Michael Komie, affiliate professor of clinical psychology, was quoted in an MSNBC. com story about discouragement and frustration people face when searching for a job. The story was picked up by several affiliates including NBC Los Angeles (9/7). Crain’s Chicago Business also interviewed Dr. Komie for a story about how entrepreneurship can take a toll on family life (5/11), and he appeared on WCIU’s First Business program to discuss how the economy might be contributing to an increase in suicide rates (4/23).

Dr. Cynthia Langtiw, assistant professor of clinical counseling, commented in a Medill News Service story about seasonal affective disorder. (10/08).

Dr. Breeda McGrath, associate professor of school psychology, was quoted in a Medill News Service story about youth violence in Chicago (10/23).

Dr. Daniela Schreier, assistant professor of clinical counseling, was interviewed by CBS2 for a story about the psychology of public opinion (10/22).

Dr. Charles Merbitz, chair of the ABA Department, was quoted in a Voice of America story about the healthcare town hall debate (8/17).

Dr. Hector Torres, coordinator for the Center for Latino Mental Health, appeared on the Spanish-language television program “Sin Censura con Vicente Serrano” to discuss mental health factors with obesity (9/18).

Garfield Park Preparatory Academy and its principal, Dr. Denise Ross, were featured in a WBEZ Chicago Public Radio story about new Renaissance 2010 schools (9/8).

Dr. Ted Rubenstein, assistant professor of clinical psychology, was quoted in a Chicago Tribune story titled “Art Used to Help Young Patients Cope with Hospitals, Treatments” (10/14).

Dr. Nancy Zarse, associate professor of forensic psychology, was featured in two Q&As about Stockholm Syndrome and the Jaycee Lee Dugard case that appeared on the news site AssociatedContent.com—one on the case itself and one on parenting tips (8/31). Dr. Zarse was also quoted in the July/August issue of Monitor on Psychology in a story titled “Presentation Disasters.”

INSIGHT MAGAZINE FALL 2009 11

there was a need to pay your dues and earn your way to the top.

Gen X and Gen Y believe that reward and recognition should be based on the quality of your work. Period. In a multi-generational workplace, employees will compete on the value of what they contribute to the workplace, not on length of time they are there.

Goals and timeframes will need to be clearly communicated, and accountability for achieving goals should be unwavering; how the goals are accomplished, however, may be very different for each worker. The nature of rewards will also shift. While sufficient income to support a desired lifestyle will still be important, time for a personal life is fast becoming the currency of choice.

faculty

BE YOND THE CL A S SROOM

Q&A

Dr .Wadland

Dr . N ewton

INSIGHT: We are starting with the premise that psychology— like so many other things—has changed, or perhaps taken on different focuses, different emphases, with each generation.

We assume that it is as true for those of you who practice psychology as it is for clients. The four of you represent a range of generations, so I’d like to start by asking each of you what brought you into the field? What made you want to go into psychology?

Dr. Canul: There are two factors. One of them would be having been born and raised

observations I have made over the last 30 years.

Dr. Newton: Like Clive, I am a Baby Boomer and finished college in 1971. One of the issues for me was the notion of being in a profession that was new to women. I am the first woman in my family to graduate from college, so the idea that I could have a professional path, go on to get a doctorate degree, and all the exciting things that were happening in the psychology of women in the 1970s really shaped my decisions and my career path. The other exciting change was the emergence of the community mental health center movement and the deinstitutionalization movement. My first internship during my master’s program was a two-year internship at a state hospital that was in the process of deinstitutionalizing, you know, sending people out; and then my first job was

Dr . K ennedy

D

oes the practice of clinical psychology vary by generation?

To tackle this question, INSIGHT gathered four faculty representing different specialties, different campuses, and different generations. Joining in the dialogue were Dr. Nancy Newton, professor, Business Psychology, Chicago Campus; Dr. Matthew Wadland, assistant professor, Clinical Counseling, Chicago Campus; Dr. Clive Kennedy, associate professor, Forensic Psychology, Southern California Campuses; and Dr. Gerardo Canul, associate professor, Clinical Psychology, Southern California Campuses.

in Los Angeles and being quite aware as a child and then as a young person/adult of socialpolitical issues. Then, when I went to graduate school, I was aware that psychology provided the opportunity to do research, to teach about social issues, and that we could provide services to help those with emotional health and mental health problems.

Dr. Kennedy: I am a Boomer and this was in the ’70s. Initially I was a theater major and psychology was my fall-back position, but I was amazed at how many different roles psychology could play, especially with social-political kinds of issues. Throughout my training I have been interested in the study of cultural issues and ethnicity, and in the ’70s there wasn’t a lot written. Part of it evolved from the generation, but watching the field grow from primarily a male field to a female-dominated field has been one of the

Dr .C an u l

HAS THE PROFESSION CHANGED?

INSIGHT MAGAZINE FALL 2009 13

in a young community mental health center. There was funding for that, so that was a pretty exciting time.

Dr. Wadland: I can relate to Clive as well, maybe for different reasons. When I initially went into undergrad, I wanted to be an architect. Psychology I liked—but for some reason I didn’t really want to make a career out of it. There was actually a moment—I worked at a bookstore—I ended up

Dr. Kennedy: It was so exciting listening to you, Nancy. I was in California, and we had a governor named Ronald Reagan—you may remember him. I attributed a lot of the change that was taking place to him. So it is exciting to hear that this was happening somewhere else. I watched the state hospitals close, and I was really excited about this new community health movement, which I had a lot of

could happen. I worked in community mental health in Ohio and there was a short period of time when we thought it could be realized. For me personally it has been very painful to watch that process never reach its fulfillment and for us to be in a situation now. Boy, and with all the cuts in the state of Illinois and no funding for community services, it has really been a crime.

When you talk about gen-

“ I was there when there was enthusiasm and hopefulness that something really important could happen. It has been very painful to watch the process never reach its fulfillment.” talking to this woman who had just started working there, and we talked for three and a half hours about a slew of different things and I remember realizing in that moment—along with some work I had been doing with some children who had been diagnosed with autism— that this was it. This was the thing I really wanted to do.

I started graduate school in 2002. So I am technically part of Generation X—I was born in ‘77, so it puts me right at the cusp.

But, the more readings I do, the more I realize that I relate to Generation X and sometimes I don’t—I relate more to the Millennials. So, I straddle both.

enthusiasm about. And which would have worked if we had had the funding. But after the hospitals closed, the funding dropped off and there were individuals in the community who needed help and there wasn’t a lot of support for them. So, I had really strong feelings about this process, and it’s interesting that you introduced it as different in a different state.

Dr. Newton: A different state, but a very similar experience. I was there—it sounds like you were too—when there was enthusiasm and the hopefulness and the idea that something really important

erational issues, I think it is that when people are entering adult life in their 20s, what’s going on in the culture and in the country makes a huge difference. Research suggests that people in their 20s are more impacted by what’s happening socially, politically, than any other generation. The difference in the culture in ‘71 versus the culture now is probably the biggest variable in terms of why people in different generations are different. The times, the healthcare, everything is different now as it impinges on the healthcare system and the stress on people’s lives and work experiences.

Dr. Wadland: I think for my generation of psychologists there is this negative spin to community mental health. Not negative in the fact that the services aren’t needed and necessary and wanted, but that the funding isn’t there. We don’t have that context of what could have been… the hope and the excitement you are talking about.

Dr. Kennedy: I have always interacted with colleagues at various stages and my students that I teach—or those that I supervise—are different cohorts. And so, I hope I do share my perspectives and my frustrations, and I’ll use Nancy’s term, “pain,” with what could have been in doing the work that we do.

INSIGHT: Do you see a difference in the younger psychologists who have come into the field who don’t have that context?

Dr. Kennedy: You mean who don’t have the bitterness? I don’t know. I tend to be very inclusive in my work, and so I never had thought about that… except the technological challenges that I have to deal with.

You know, I came from a generation of using computer cards.

Dr. Newton: I don’t know that I see a difference. My sense is the people coming into psychology who are in their early 20s, they want to be helpful, they want to make

faculty

BE YOND THE CL A S SROOM

a difference. I feel badly for them because the challenges of doing those good things are much harder. When I went to graduate school, my education was funded—the state paid for it, teaching assistantships— I didn’t come out of my Ph.D. program $100,000 in debt.

Young people today seem caught between the jobs that will pay well but seem hard to find, and this debt from their graduate education. It is more difficult to live out dreams and visions than it was when I was in my 20s.

INSIGHT: Do you feel that the perspective that each of you brings to psychology reflects your generation and impacts the way that you work?

Dr. Kennedy: I guess I was a flower child and very idealistic and community-focused, and so I think I bring that to the table in my work in the way I see families. At that time, I trained in a very strict behavioral program, and I kind of wandered onto the dark side of touchy-feely family therapy work as well. I think growing up in the ’60s and ’70s has certainly affected my per-

“ This generation has a tendency to look inward, self-analyze.

Looking at the folks that came out of the 1940s, it was

really about sucking it up and doing what you can for your family, your community, your country.”

Dr. Wadland: I agree completely. I want to do the social justice work where I am not necessarily getting compensated monetarily for that work, but I also know that a bank that will not be named is looking for payment every month.

You have to take care of the more basic, daily things, and so your ideals get compromised in some way. The other part is that I was trained in a time when you just assumed that insurance companies are difficult to deal with… that wasn’t always the case.

spective—not only with clients, but on a macro-level with the way I see communities as well.

I think it is also a little different growing up as an African-American. I tend to have a more inclusive view of the world than someone else, but it’s just another type of diversity that I include in my life and my work.

Dr. Canul: As a Generation Xer, there was a lot accomplished in the ’60s, and some of that was passed on to the next generation of psychologists to continue to make progress for

diversity. What I find is that a lot of students are willing to at least embrace a discussion and that’s really different from maybe five or ten years ago. I feel that we need to continue to benefit from that, and continue that struggle.

Dr. Newton: That is a really good point. I was thinking about how the financial situation is a constraining factor that makes it difficult on younger people, but I agree that there is such a huge change in the models of psychology. There is really no comparison between what they were when I went into graduate school and now.

In the early ’70s, research showed that mental health professionals gave the same descriptors of healthy adults that they gave of men. When asked to describe a healthy adult, they would say they are assertive, they are independent. And when you ask them to describe a typical man, they would describe him exactly the same. If you asked them to describe a typical woman, they would say she is needy, dependent, and pathological. The whole view that there were ways of being female and being psychologically healthy wasn’t even on the map. And as off the map as women were, other minority groups weren’t even in the room.

Unless you were there, it is

INSIGHT MAGAZINE FALL 2009 15

“ Unless you were there, it is hard to realize how the field itself has really been revolutionized in a way that makes it much more applicable, human, and practical.” hard to realize how the field itself has really been revolutionized in a way that makes it much more applicable, human, and practical.

Dr. Wadland: When I was in graduate school, the world was my oyster. It was all about what model seems to fit you. It was clear that there were different ways of thinking about help—not just this male, white, middleclass way of thinking about it.

Dr. Kennedy: As I age, I tend to contextualize everything.

For example, when I teach History and Systems, I talk about how it wasn’t that long ago that women were only allowed to go into professions like home economics and more traditional female roles. And the impact that had on the development of math and science as careers for women. As Nancy was talking, I was really listening to her trying to put things in perspective.

I don’t know if that is a product of my generation or if everyone does that.

Dr. Canul:In graduate school, there was a real common theme, a male-dom-

inated theme—I think it is still there in our profession—that’s shifting to be more inclusive, to embrace the issues of diversity. In each new generation of students and early-career psychologists, there is more openness and a willingness to incorporate different perspectives that may not be male-dominated. That, I think, is what makes the field so exciting.

INSIGHT: There is research that says the Millennial generation is the most depressed one yet, or that the Gen Xers are the most stressed. Do you have any perspectives on that from your research or from your personal experiences.

Dr. Canul: I think that this generation has a tendency to look inward, self-analyze— you get that from the media, whether it is Dr. Phil or Oprah.

Looking at folks that came out of the 1940s, that generation was really about sucking it up and doing what you can for your families, your community, your country. As psychologists,

Dr. Newton in ealier years at the Chicago School.

we train and work with a variety of populations.

Dr. Wadland: When I’ve worked with individuals in their 30s and 40s versus late teens and 20s, their perspective of psychology and therapy is so much different. You are walking down the street and you see a client and I’ve had so many Millennials scream across the street, ‘Hey! How are you?’

INSIGHT: That’s not something you would expect from an older generation?

Dr. Wadland: I think it’s that stigma about mental health. But I guess there is that Millennial focus of, ‘I want to do something about it.’ There is more of a proactive approach.

Dr. Kennedy: From the 1900s to the 1940s. there was an ingrained scare of being asso-

ciated with mental illness. It probably wasn’t until the ‘90s that there was a real loosening… an interest in wellness, emotional health, taking care of your body, taking care of your mind. This recent generation has had school-based mental health programs—a good example of how we have loosened up in the context of stigma. You have mental health (practitioners) come in and provide home-based services and parenting programs… good examples of how families, communities, educators got away from thinking about mental health as just pathology and more about helping people get along, function more effectively.

Have an idea for faculty Q&A? Email insight@thechicagoschool.edu.

TRADITIONALISTS (1927-1945) 1927

1945

BABY BOOMERS (1946-1964) 1964

GENERATION X (1965-1982) 1982

MILLENNIALS (1983-2000) 2000

PSYCHOLOGY ACROSS t h e

GENERATIONS Is our psychological health dependent on the gener ation we inhabit? Are we more likely

to be idealistic as Baby Boomers, skeptical as Gen Xers, anxious as Millennials? Or is this merely the stuff of exaggerated stereotypes—a series of one-size-fits-all brackets dreamed up by marketing gurus in their quest to sell us vacation property, insurance policies, or antidepressants?

P

sychologist Jean Twenge believes there’s plenty of evidence to tie our emotional well-being to the berth we occupy along the generation spectrum. The author of Generation Me: Why Today’s Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled—and More Miserable Than Ever Before, she has studied decades worth of psychological data and contends that depression, loneliness, and panic attacks are all significantly more characteristic of today’s twenty-somethings than of preceding generations at the same age.

“The fact is that expectations have outpaced reality,” Dr. Twenge says. “Young people today are expected to achieve the extraordinary but it’s getting harder and harder to do. It takes more than it used to to get into a good college, get a good job, or buy a good house.” All too often, she adds,

the result is “crippling anxiety and crushing depression.”

To reach her conclusions, she studied decades of results from university-administered personality inventories, and examined research that traced the rising demand for depression treatment on college campuses and that documented marked increases in panic attacks and suicide ideation among teens and young adults. She acknowledges that the trends have been accompanied by a greater acceptance of mental health issues and a growing receptiveness to treatment, but contends that those factors have not been significant enough to account for the dramatic rise in anxiety and depression in recent and current college students.

“Even when controlled for socially desirable responses, there is more anxiety and depression in this group than there was in earlier birth cohorts,” she says.

The Millennial Generation, which comprises some 78 million Americans born between 1983 and 2000, isn’t the only one with its own sociological persona or unique psychological challenges.

Social scientists have portrayed Generation X as skeptical risk-takers, resourceful and independent individualists who have charted their own paths to success and their own rules for getting there. Baby Boomers, on the other hand, are known for the tight grasp they have maintained on the post–World War II idealism that saw them through the civil rights and women’s movements. They have been characterized by optimism and ambition, work has always been central to their lives and, unlike the “Xers” who followed, they have played by the rules rather than creating their own.

It is this cohort—the largest ever

four generations: who are they?

Traditionalists

Baby Boomers

Generation X

Millennials

How many?

50,000,000

80,000,000

46,000,000

78,000,000

Born between

1925-1945

1946-1960

1961-1982

1983-2000

Also known as

Silent Generation, G.I. Generation

Now Generation, Love Generation

Sandwich Generation, Gen X

Generation Y, Net Generation

Influencers

Great Depression, World War II

Vietnam War, Civil Rights and Women’s movements, Cold War

Working mothers, September 11, Economic recessions, Television

Helicopter parents, Technology, Social media, Environmentalism, Globalization

Values

Privacy, Trust, Formality, Work ethic

Equality, Inclusion, Change

Work-life balance, Education, Independence

Teamwork, Social change, Diversity, Positive reinforcement

Characteristics

Hardworking, Loyal, Respect for authority

Optimistic, Ambitious, Workaholic, Competitive

Flexible, Individualistic, Creates own rules, Risk-takers

Entitled, Confident, Overprotected, Introspective

Technologically

Challenged

Adapting

Adept

Savvy

Psychological Challenges

Less open to therapy

High divorce rate, Difficulty sharing emotions, Pressure to slow aging process

Cynical, Stressed

Anxious, Narcissistic, Socially isolated or ultraconnected

INSIGHT MAGAZINE FALL 2009 19

born in the United States—that is changing the role that mental health plays in the aging process.

“Of all the Americans who have ever lived to 65, two-thirds are alive right now,” says Dr. Donald Schultz, a California psychologist specializing in geriatric issues and an affiliate faculty member in The Chicago School’s Marital and Family Therapy program.

That percentage will continue to grow as Boomers—the first of whom will reach 65 in 2011— continue to age. Eighty million strong, this generation has in recent years commandeered the public spotlight as they march steadily toward retirement, a progression that—because of their sheer numbers—threatens to drain the Medicare and Social Security coffers and dramatically increase the need for medical and psychological health care tailored to the needs of senior citizenry.

That concern—of insufficient resources to see them through their golden years—heads the list of psychological burdens that Boomers carry. Loneliness—the consequence of the divorce upsurge and geographically scattered families—registers as a close second. And not to be overlooked, there is the pressure to resist aging more adamantly than their parents or grandparents.

“They consider themselves the timeless generation, often unwilling to let go of their youth,” says Dr. Daniela Schreier, assistant professor of clinical counseling at The Chicago School. “It’s a lingering characterization of their idealism and may account for trends like Botox and plastic surgery.”

“Sixty is the new 40,” she says.

Dr. Schultz notes that, in many ways, Boomers are better equipped to handle psychological challenges than

“ Young people today are expected to achieve the extraordinary but it’s getting harder and harder to do. It takes more than it used to to

get into a good college, get a good job, or buy a good house.” the generations that came before.

“They have seen a lot in their lives,” he says, ticking off events that range from assassinations and the unrest of the ’60s to the increased threats of terrorism today.

“As a result, they have developed better coping styles, they’re less likely to be overwhelmed, and they are the first generation really willing to consider psychotherapy.”

Going a step further, Dr. Schultz suggests a correlation between the lower incidence of depression that Boomers experienced when they were younger and the fact that they continue to be less depressed than either Generation X or the Millennials today.

“The best predictor of a person during the aging years is how they were when they were younger,” he says.

The Latchkey Generation Sometimes referred to as the Sandwich Generation because

of their positioning between two much larger cohorts and the expectation that they eventually will have to care for members of both simultaneously, many in Generation X grew up as “latchkey kids.” Their mothers were the first to return to the workplace in droves, leaving them to develop a sense of independence unmatched by children who came before and after.

“We are a generation that has always been in the shadow of the Baby Boom,” says Dr. Schreier, who identifies herself as an Xer. “They saw things that we never saw—things like civil rights demonstrations and campus sitins—and I think we have always felt we had missed out on that.”

But their refusal to live by rules they deem irrelevant and their insistence on a balanced lifestyle—a marked departure from the workaholic mentality of the Boomers—has established

“ Parents today feel uncomfortable in their roles as authority figures. They want to be their kids’ friends and have their kids’ approval rather than the other way around. They have brought the ‘everybody-is-equal’ philosophy of their youth to their roles as parents.” this generation as one that charts its own path. Their skepticism of everything from marriage to the rigidity of Corporate America has left an indelible mark on the household and the workplace alike.

A relentless determination to do it “their way” has resulted in delaying marriage and children and then, when they decide the time for a family is right, rethinking their professional aspirations—tailoring them to meet their expectations rather than their employers’— so that they can have it all.

Having it all can be stressful, however. The American Psychological Association’s 2008 Stress in America survey found that no group feels as much stress as the

Sandwich Generation, typically ages 35–54. The demands of balancing the care of growing children and aging parents while pursuing professional and personal fulfillment often takes its toll on relationships and emotional well-being. Nearly 40 percent of Gen Xers surveyed reported “extreme levels of stress,” compared with 29 percent of Millennials and 25 percent of those older than 55, an age bracket that includes both Boomers and the World War II-era “Traditionals.”

Dr. Schreier contends that the flexibility and adaptability that are hallmarks of her generation also manifest themselves in a tendency to move around—from location to location and from partner to partner.

“It is a generation of nomads,” Dr. Schreier says. “Many never settle down into a job or a relationship. They adapt easily to new situations, but they also feel torn, like they are always floating and wondering ‘where do I belong’?”

Generation Y But it is the Millennials—aka Generation Y or the Net Generation— who have dominated headlines, blog traffic, and water-cooler conversation since they began coming of age in the last decade. Terms used to define them range from “entitled” and “narcissistic” in Dr. Twenge’s books to “overprotected, overscheduled, and socially conscious” by psychologists such as Dr. Dave Verhaagen, author of Parenting the Millennial Generation.

While narcissism, which Dr. Twenge references loosely as too much self esteem, may seem a heavy—if not downright judgmental—label to pin on today’s teens and twenties, she grounds her assertion in data collected for

a 25-year time span, evidence she considers so compelling that it led to her most recent book, The Narcissism Epidemic.

“When looking at the incidence of Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD), you would expect to find higher rates in those who have lived longer and had more time to experience episodes of NPD, but that’s not what the research shows,” she says. She cites a 2005 National Institutes of Mental Health study of 35,000 respondents that reports that people in their 20s were three times as likely to have experienced an episode of NPD than people over 65.

“I was blown away by the fact that the prevalence was tripled in a group that had only lived one-third as long,” she says.

To further prove her point, she points to evidence gathered from decades of Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) results. In the 1950s, only 12 percent of respondents agreed with the statement “I am an important person.” By the late 1980s, more than 80 percent agreed.

Many psychologists and parenting experts attribute the trend to the fact that Millennials have often been treated more like partners than children as they were growing up. They cite families who allow a 6-year-old to choose the family car and pre-teens to decide where to go—or even whether to go— on vacation. It is a phenomenon spawned by the Baby Boomers who are doing much of the parenting today, they claim. As a generation that identifies strongly with the equal-rights marches and antiestablishment protests that defined their seminal years, they can find it hard to deal with the hierarchy of the “traditional” family that assumes parents make the rules

are some mental health disorders more prevalent in certain generations than in others

?

T

he difficulty in answering this question, psychologists say, is that diagnostic methods and classifications have increased so significantly that it is nearly impossible to accurately compare the prevalence of any diagnosis—whether it is depression, schizophrenia, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder—to the same age group a generation earlier.

In the past half century—a span in which three of the four generations discussed in this issue came of age—the number of disorders listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) has almost tripled.

DSM I (1952) 106 diagnoses DSM II (1968) 182 diagnoses DSM III (1980) 265 diagnoses DSM III-R (1987) 292 diagnoses DSM IV (1994) and DSM IV-TR (2000) 297 disorders DSM V, due out in 2012, is expected to be more expansive yet, and may include some diagnoses—Internet Addiction Disorder, for example—that have emerged as a result of our changing culture.

to their parents’ expectations. Add to that the dependence on the technology and social media that have revolutionized their communication channels and turned them into achievement-oriented multi-taskers.

“One thing that is clear and is that this generation is more stressed than any previous generation,” Dr. Verhaagen says. In contrast to Dr. Twenge’s assertions, however, he believes that Millennials are handling this pressure. He points to data produced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that track trends in youth risk behaviors associated with stress, including the use of alcohol and illegal drugs and suiciderelated behavior.

“There are lower rates of drug use, lower rates of pregnancy

and STD (sexually transmitted diseases). Most of the indicators for high-risk behavior are either trending down or holding steady.”

The reason? Dr. Verhaagen offers several: goals, family values, and a determination to do meaningful work. Despite frequent declarations that this generation is the “most coddled” in history, he contends the very actions cited for creating entitled, narcissistic youth have also built up a degree of resilience.

They may be stressed but they have goals to work toward. They may be overscheduled, but they’re not idle.

“They might be our next generation of heroes,” he says. “They’re a good generation—well nurtured, able to relate well to others, and with a strong sense of the future.

They have the potential to be great.

Time will tell.”

INSIGHT MAGAZINE FALL 2009 21

and children follow them.

“Parents today feel uncomfortable in their roles as authority figures,” Dr. Twenge says. “They want to be their kids’ friends and have their kids’ approval rather than the other way around. They have brought the ‘everybody-isequal’ philosophy of their youth to their roles as parents. The downside comes when kids grow up and realize they are not the center of the universe.”

Dr. Verhaagen, who has spent much of his career providing mental health services for children and adolescents and is currently a managing partner at Southeast Psychological Services in Charlotte, N.C., agrees.

“Is this generation more narcissistic? Probably. After all, they’ve been raised by parents who taught them that they can do anything,” Dr. Verhaagen says. “It’s both good and bad. It’s great to believe in yourself, but not so great if problems have always been solved for you and you haven’t been given the opportunity to fail.”

The problem solvers that he references—“helicopter parents” as they are known in 21st-century lexicon—are mothers and fathers who “hover” over their children, serving as ubiquitous buffers between them and the occasional hard knocks that life has to offer.

“The notion of the helicopter parent is not made up and not over-blown,” Dr. Verhaagen says.

“Everyone who works in academia has stories about the father who calls the professor to question a grade or the grandmother who is on the phone with the registrar’s office about the registration process.”

The result is a generation that lacks the ardent independence of Generation X’s latchkey kids yet struggles continuously to live up

THE Toll of

Technology From rotary dial phones to on-demand podcasts: it has changed the way we communicate, bond, and cope.

epending on your frame of reference, it has been a seismic shift that has turned communication, socialization, and family life upside down. Or it has been progress at its best, the least to be expected from a new millennium.

Technology. It has redefined the way we learn, the way we think, and the way we live. And it has changed us—for the worse or for the better. Or both.

Dr. Larry Rosen, a psychologist at California State UniversityDominguez Hills, sees both sides of the coin. He will play devil’s advocate when others claim that a generation immersed in an unceasing barrage of text messages, Facebook status updates, and tweets have become antisocial beings with serious interpersonal deficits. But he also points to research that links media consumption to physical and psychological health problems.

“We know that this generation sleeps less than any generation before, and we also know that media use leads to unhealthy eating, which leads to all forms of ill-being—including psychological problems, behavioral problems, attention difficulties, and physical symptomology,” Dr. Rosen says. Citing his own research studies, he specifically addresses the issue of multi-tasking—using or viewing several media simultaneously—and its impact on the Millennial Generation, or “the Net Generation,” as he calls it.

D

INSIGHT MAGAZINE FALL 2009 23

by Judy Beaupre

THE Toll of

Technology Who’s Online?

Generation

Pew Internet & American Life Project 2009

Ages in 2009

% of total adult population

% of Internetusing population

Millennials

18-32

26%

30%

Generation X

33-44

20%

23%

Baby Boomers

45-63

33%

35%

Traditionalists

64-84

18%

11%

“It’s an issue that transcends junk food and lack of sleep,” he says. “In the simplest terms, we could say that when multi-tasking is taking place, more neurons are firing, taking oxygen away from the brain, which results in a negative impact on health in general.”

Digital multitasking has been widely associated with today’s youth and college students, and has produced a deluge of research on the implications and consequences.

A 2006 study by the Kaiser Family Foundation showed that the average 8-to-18-year-old spends more than eight hours a day using digital media. Dr. Rosen found that

only seven collective digital hours a day, with television and music accounting for half of that.

One concern that has surfaced is the effect that heavy technology use has on the still-developing brain.

In his book, iBrain: Surviving the Technological Alteration of the Modern Mind, Dr. Gary Small, a University of California-Los Angeles neuroscientist claims that the neurological pathways used in face-to-face communication are not developing in today’s young people the way they developed in previous generations.

“The empathic skills that come from receiving an affirmative nod or an encouraging smile are just

“If they don’t learn to read facial cues, that can translate into poor relationships and make it harder to develop dependency and trust. We have yet to discover what the longterm consequences will be.”

The link between the increasing use of online communication and its psychological ramifications has been the subject of exploration for several years now. In a 2005 survey completed by more than 1,000 mental health professionals and reported in the Monitor on Psychology, isolative-avoidant use of the Internet was identified as a diagnosis in 15 percent of youth clients. Psychologists echoed concerns expressed by Dr. Small and Dr. Konopka, citing an inability

by Millennials to read body language and facial cues.

Some researchers also attribute a recent rise in diagnoses of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder—a 3 percent annual

“ Without eye contact, you can miss so many of the subtleties that are a part of interpersonal communication.” when multitasking is taken into consideration and time spent using each distinct medium is collectively tallied—even though many took place concurrently—Millennials log more than 20 digital hours a day, almost triple the time spent by Baby Boomers. True, that may include passive activities such as listening to music and watching television, but it also represents hefty doses of interactive communication—texting, IM chatting, emailing, and social networking.

Add to that the occasional (or not so occasional) video game or charting a virtual path through the glut of information available on the Internet. Dr. Rosen found that Baby Boomers, by contrast, put in

not being formed,” he says. “Without eye contact, you can miss so many of the subtleties that are part of interpersonal communication.

We can only speculate what this might mean 10 and 20 years down the road. Will digital natives— young people who only know Facebook-to-Facebook communication rather than face-to-face communication—lack the social skills they need?”

Dr. Lukasz Konopka, a Chicago School neuropsychologist, agrees that technology overuse is likely to impact brain development.

“People who use technology as a primary source of communication have very different expectations for their social relationships,” he says.

jump between 1997 and 2006, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)—to increased media exposure by children whose brains are not yet capable of processing a lightening-fast parade of visual images. The experience, they say, may train young brains to become dependent on excessive stimulation, to become bored with the pace of real life, and to rapidly shift from one stimulus to another.

This could explain the propensity of Millennials—who often grew up in front of Sesame Street and animated television programming—to multitask. With an explanation about the plasticity of children’s brains, the American

INSIGHT MAGAZINE FALL 2009 25

Academy of Pediatrics has recommended not exposing babies under 2 to television.

Although Dr. Rosen refers frequently to the “techno-cocoons” that he says shroud heavy media consumers—particularly this generation—he also disputes the ill effects of too much online communication.

“I would argue that this generation is connecting more and not less, although they may be connecting in a way that Baby Boomers like me don’t think is communication,” he says. “They have an incredible opportunity behind the safety of a computer screen, and are able to say things that they are not sure will be accepted.” He adds that technologies such as ichats and cell phone cameras also mitigate the effect of cyber-communication, actually offering users a chance to view others’ reactions.

Dr. Dave Verhaagen, a North Carolina psychologist who wrote Parenting the Millennial Generation, agrees.

“Technology is part of their DNA—they use it to facilitate relationships,” he says. “When you look at the big picture, you see that they’re pretty relationally skilled. We have to get past the speculation that their use of technology is hurtful to their ability to have relationships.”

At the other end of the digital comfort spectrum is technophobia, most often associated with the older generations—Traditionalists and Baby Boomers. A decade ago, Dr. Rosen wrote TechnoStress, a book that addresses the overwhelmed feeling that users—especially technology newcomers—get when dealing with the digital overload that was nonexistent a few years ago. Many experts call for strategies to bridge the brain gap that

“ Technology is part of [Millennials’] DNA—they use it to faciltate relationships. When you look at the big picture, you see that they’re pretty relationally skilled.” emerges between the older and younger generations. Dr. Small provides a technology toolkit that can bring Traditionalists and Boomers up to speed with their children’s generations, and also puts his UCLA students through a series of empathic listening exercises to help them rebuild the face-to-face skills that have fallen between the cracks of their smartphone key boards.

Consequences of excessive media exposure do not appear to be confined to Millennials. The excessive use of video games—frequently fingered as the culprit in diagnoses that range from ADHD to aggressive behavior—affects a broad age span. While under-30s have distinguished themselves as the masters of multitasking, their use of video games can be matched by Generation X. A new study from the CDC has placed the average age of the adult video gamer at 35, higher

than previously believed. But the emerging classification of Internet addiction can also be found among Baby Boom shoppers who frequent E-bay and Traditionalists who take their poker games online.

Although not yet recognized as an official diagnosis, this new form of addiction is receiving attention around the world and especially in Asia, where Internet rehabilitation centers have begun to spring up. Here in the United Stated, the first such facility opened in July in Fall City, Wash., and the diagnosis is being considered for inclusion in the 2012 edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, published by the American Psychiatric Association.

“Everything that is human can be acted out using technology,” Dr. Small says. “Whether it’s shopping or gambling or social networking, technology is just another pathway to addiction.”

Multitasking Across Generations In comparing the multitasking behavior of three generations, Dr. Larry Rosen found that Millennials were more likely than older generations to use several media simultaneously.

Some tasks—such as IM chatting and texting—were also far more popular with Millennials.

Technology Hours/Day

Millennials

Generation X

Baby Boomers

Online

2:31

1:58

1:14

On Computer

2:08

2:32

1:41

Email

1:26

1:37

1:14

IM/Chat

1:45

0:36

0:14

Telephone

2:02

1:47

1:38

Texting

2:20

1:07

0:28

Video Games

1:08

0:31

0:13

Music

3:33

2:35

1:44

Television

2:37

2:12

2:25

Total Daily Technology Use

20:38

14:55

7:51

class notes

2009 Distinguished Alumnus: Grant ‘Da Coach’ White

D

r. Grant White believes in “paying it forward.” As a 1993 graduate of The Chicago School who benefited from “great mentoring” during his years as a clinical psychology student, he is doing the same for today’s TCS students.

STAY CONNECTED, GE T IN VOLV ED

Dr. White (Psy.D. ‘93) maintains a dual role that facilitates his ability to provide clinical training opportunities and realworld experience. A member of The Chicago School faculty since 1996, he is also a practicing clinical psychologist at Community Mental Health Council (CMHC), where he was recently promoted to associate vice president of clinical operations.

CMHC is a nonprofit agency that provides evidence-based, culturally sensitive behavioral health and wellness services to residents of Chicago’s South Side. In his dual role, Dr, White has been instrumental in maintaining a strong partnership between the two organizations, and providing hands-on learning opportunities to dozens of students.

“CMHC is a remarkable organization that offers the full

gamut of clinical experiences to our students,” he says. “What started out as an opportunity for students in the Clinical Psy.D. program in 1996 is expanding to incorporate students in many Chicago School programs.” He has already added practicum placements for forensic psychology students and by 2010, he plans to increase the number of practicum students from four to 16 and add practicum opportunities to students in the School Psychology, Clinical Counseling, and Industrial and Organizational Psychology departments.

Dr. White’s efforts were honored at the June 12 Commencement, where he was named 2009 Distinguished Alumnus of the Year. The award, which is presented annually by the Alumni Council, recognized his contributions in establishing one of the

school’s earliest, largest, and most innovative community partnerships. The traditional plaque came with an additional gift—a Chicago School softball jersey emblazoned with “Da Coach,” recognizing his role in initiating the annual faculty-staff softball games, which started in 2001.

In accepting the award, he acknowledged the role models he had known during his students days—faculty who “exemplified professionalism in every sense of the word.”

“I believe that displaying respect for your clients and always giving your very best should be a priority. What I took from my experience as a student is what I would like my students to emulate. It’s a continuous loop—and I hope they’ll go on to do the same for the people they influence.”

al u mni profile :

Just “know me, call me by a name” Dr. Stan Bosch (Psy.D.‘09) Funerals are never easy, even when it’s part of the job. For the Rev. Stan Bosch, a Catholic priest working the gang-ridden streets of Los Angeles, the hardest part of witnessing hundreds of gang-member burials was seeing that things never improved—until recently, that is, when he went back to school at California Graduate Institute (CGI), earned a 2009 Clinical Psy.D. from The Chicago School (which had recently acquired CGI), and began putting his newly acquired psychotherapy skills into practice.

“In my 23 years as a parish priest working in some of the toughest areas of L.A., I can’t honestly say that I saw changes in gang members’ lives,” says Dr. Bosch. “But in just the past couple of years doing therapy, it’s amazing the transformations I’ve witnessed.”

As he labors out of a small charter school attended by “the worst of the worst” (as described by the head of the nonprofit organization that runs the school), his work is never-ending. With more than 400 street gangs and 40,000 gang members—resulting in some of the nation’s worst youth-on-youth violence—Los Angeles has the dubious distinction of being the gang capital of the U.S.A.

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Daniel Fallon (Psy.D. ’96) is currently working as a clinical psychologist at Hoover and Associates.

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Daniel Klein (Psy.D. ’01) recently expanded his treatment-focused child psychology practice in suburban Detroit. He also writes an “Ask the Child Psychologist” blog and is a contributor to The Detroit News.

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Providentia Marinze (Psy.D. ’05) is the founder of the Heerey Center for Human Development, the first of its kind in Nigeria.

Dr. Marinze is a nun and a licensed clinical psychologist.

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Jodi Thomas (Psy.D. ’09) is working at the Counseling Center at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

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Claudia Feldman, (Ph.D ’09) presented her dissertation “Testosterone and Memory in Female-to-Male Transsexuals” at the APA convention in Toronto, Canada, in June 2009. She presented again to the National Academy of Neuropsychology convention in November 2009 in New Orleans. Dr. Feldman is currently a psychological assistant in private practice, and a post Graduate fellow at the Wright Institute Los Angeles.

Clinical counseling:

07|

Meghan Rowland (M.A. ’07) is working as an afterhours clinical crisis counselor for a youth residential facility in Oregon and is attending Pacific University to obtain a Psy.D. in clinical counseling with plans for an emphasis in neuropsychology.

Dr. Bosch, who was featured on the front page of the Los Angeles Times in August, is part of a relatively new anti-gang program called Gang Reduction and Youth Development, or GRYD. The program focuses on a dozen gang-reduction zones, neighborhoods where gang violence is at least four times the citywide average. Dr. Bosch, 54, oversees two of those zones, supervising 12 intervention workers and four case managers.

A primary goal of GRYD is to stop retaliations that often follow shootings, says Dr. Bosch. He supplements law enforcement efforts with counseling and wraparound services, and counsels families and gang members afterwards. Rumor control is also emphasized— addressing rumors about what gang is responsible for a specific incident. Because one shooting can result in as many as 10 retaliation shootings, the goal is to have a gang interventionist on the scene.

A Chicago School alumnus with a clear agenda, Dr. Bosch has already begun working with TCS-Southern California to provide practicum and community service opportunity for students.

“I want them to get a taste of the gang way of life, where so many kids are simply trying to survive from day-to-day,” he says. “Violence is diminished in neighborhoods where people are connected and know each other by their real names. It’s amazing what can be accomplished

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Roberto Lopez Tamayo (M.A. ’09) is working for the Chicago Campus‘ Center for Latino Mental Health as the network coordinator. He is developing the Latino Mental Health Providers‘ network in the Chicago area in addition to carrying out an independent research project. He welcomes mental health practitioners working with Latinos/as as part of the network.

New Job? Exciting News? We want to know! Submit a class note to keep your fellow alumni up to date on your latest accomplishments and exciting news. Class notes can be submitted online through our online community eGo or sent to Beth VanDyke, assistant director of alumni relations, at evandyke@thechicagoschool. edu. Please include “class note” in the subject line of your email.

Industrial and Organizational Psychology:

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Elisa Dworak (M.A. ’06) is a training specialist in Rotary International‘s Human Resources Division, where her main duties include facilitating instructor-led courses and designing customized courses. She hosts a monthly Evanston Lunch-Bunch, an informal networking gathering of Workplace Learning & Performance Professionals through her professional association. She welcomes visitors and guest speakers. Details are posted on each month at www.ccastd.org.

with proper training coupled with genuine caring and love.”

His passion is to get at the psychological hurts, wounds, and scars that inner-city kids have, which often lead them to join gangs and commit horrendous acts of violence on each other.

He believes that urban gang members, above all else, need to be listened to and loved.

“It’s bringing kids together to put words to feelings,” he says.

“It’s dealing with what’s called ‘alexithymia’ in psychodynamic terms, the incapacity to put words to feelings. Many of our kids don’t know what they feel, and nobody asks them.”

People act out what they can’t talk out, because nobody’s really listening about how they feel, Dr. Bosch explains.

“It’s complicated with the socio-economic environment where people are in survival mode. I think kids get lost. That’s why they join gangs, a surrogate family, to be able to be recognized by others who ‘will know me, call me by a name, die for me’,” He refers to “ the chasm between the inner city and the outer city,” as a “structural sin” that needs addressing and urges people to “come forward in love and touch these kids, and be touched.

“These kids are hungry to be listened to and share their hurts,” he says.

INSIGHT MAGAZINE FALL 2009 27

Clinical Psychology:

giving back

TH A NK S & RECOGNITION, OPP ORT UNITIES TO GI V E

Communicating Through Art A strategy for reintegrating families of returning veterans

by TCS students who devote their weekends to painting and singing with children, is funded by the Health Trust and an anonymous co-donor.

Thirty-six students representing several TCS departments participate weekly through community service, research, clerkship, and volunteer opportunities in 18 small-to-midsize Illinois towns. They work with small groups of children ages 3 to 15, while their parents—both veterans and spouses—receive their own specialized services nearby. The project is expected to serve a total of 1,500 children in the next few months.

“The readjustment process is a difficult one,” says Dr.

“Our goal is that one week from now, or one month from now, there will be a family at the dinner table and a child will be able to say to his mom or dad, ‘While you were away, I missed you and I was scared and I was mad that you left’.”

T

he vivid drawing of men in combat told the story the 6-year-old boy couldn’t bring himself to tell: of a father in a distant war zone, far from family, alone, and afraid. It was the fear that the crayons brought instantly to life—a fear so palpable that it could be felt continents away.

“We don’t know if the battle scene really took place,” says Dr. Ted Rubenstein. “But in the child’s mind, it was real enough.

And putting it on paper helped him express what he was feeling.”

A Chicago School clinical psychology professor with a

practice in creative arts therapy, Dr. Rubenstein is the architect of a project designed to address the mental health needs of children whose parents have recently returned from the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. He worked closely with a team from TCS’ Office of Community Partnerships, the Illinois National Guard, and the Michael Reese Health Trust to design activities that could support statewide family-reintegration efforts being undertaken by the Illinois National Guard. The Yellow Ribbon Project, as it is called

Rubenstein, who compares the challenges facing the family of a returning soldier to a canoe that has been overturned.

“You have to adjust and start rowing again when you get the boat right-side up, but when the person who went overboard climbs back on, the boat is upset again.

Everyone in the boat has to work together to get the canoe moving smoothly again.”

Because children often have difficulty putting their feelings into words, student volunteers use the creative arts—painting, drawing, music, and drama—to

elicit the anger and fear that often preoccupies them. The goal is to help participants cope with stress, anxiety, and depression, and to build empathy and feelings of empowerment.

“They don’t want to talk, but when given the opportunity to tell their story in a different way, they open up,” Dr. Rubenstein says.

“Often others in the room—including soldiers who are functioning as security guards—are drawn into their stories.”

Although each child attends only one or two sessions with TCS students, follow-up takes place with the help of a book that parents receive, offering suggestions on communication and readjustment strategies to use with their children. The hope is that parents will continue the conversations initiated during creative arts therapy sessions and build healthy communication skills in their children.

“Our goal is that one week from now, or one month from now, there will be a family at the dinner table and a child will be able to say to his mom or dad, ‘While you were away, I missed you and I was scared and I was mad that you left’,” Dr. Rubenstein says.

Continuing its long-term commitment to filling service gaps and meeting community needs, The Chicago School hopes to build on the relationship created with the Michael Reese Health Trust and the Illinois National Guard to provide ongoing mental health services for both veterans and active-duty soldiers and their families.

last page

Principal Ross greets children and parents as GPPA opened its doors.

Cr ayons, Nametags, and High Expectations: Garfield Park Students Settle Into New School It was, literally, a new beginning—for children who pulled crayons and pencil boxes from backpacks; for parents whose faces reflected the hope they had for their children, and for staff who shared the exhilaration of a new academic adventure—one that they unanimously expect to leave an indelible mark on the educational landscape in Chicago.

Garfield Park Preparatory Academy (GPPA)—an elementary school operated by The Chicago School in partnership with the Chicago Public School system—opened its doors in September for its first 120 students.

The initiative offers the certainty of academic success to the economically depressed neighborhood of East Garfield Park while providing TCS students the opportunity to put skills learned in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and School Psychology classes to work. It is one of the few schools in the country to use ABA techniques to guide the educational and behavioral progress of children who would often be left behind in a system that offered less individualized support.

325 North Wells Street Chicago, IL 60654

whether it’s supporting Our own students, Scholarships Children in our Chicago backyard, Garfield Park Preparatory Academy Our Community, Counseling Centers at The Chicago School—Southern California Our Country, The Veterans Initiative Or the World, The Rwanda Initiative The Chicago School’s reach extends far and wide.

For more information on how to support these initiatives please visit ego.thechicagoschool.edu/giving.