INSIGHT Magazine, Volume 5, Issue 2

SPRING 2013

V OLUME 5

IS SUE 2

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

How social media is changing our perceptions of ourselves, others, and the world.

A W I R E D G E N E R A T I O N C O M I C B O O K T H E R A P Y H E L P I N G C H I L D R E N I N P E R U

“

ethered to technology, we are shaken when that world ‘unplugged’ T does not signify, does not satisfy. We build a following on Facebook or MySpace and wonder to what degree our followers are friends.

We re-create ourselves as online personae and give ourselves new bodies, homes, jobs, and romances. Yet, suddenly, in the half-light of virtual community, we may feel utterly alone.

”

Sherry Turkle, Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less From Each Other

SPRING 2013 VOLUME 5 ISSUE 2

editorial staff: Sherry Thomas Meredith Vigil Design: Bates Creative Contributing Photographers: Kelly Asher Bernadette Dare GradImages Loren Santow Photography

National President Interim President Los Angeles Campus Michele Nealon-Woods, Psy.D. ’01 President Chief Development Officer Washington, D.C. Campus Orlando Taylor, Ph.D. President Chicago Campus Patricia Arredondo, Ph.D. INSIGHT is published by the Department of Marketing at TCS Education System. It is mailed to alumni, faculty, staff, and friends of The Chicago School of Professional Psychology.

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

SPRING 2013 V OLUME 5 IS SUE 2 T HE M A G A Z INE FOR A L UMNI A ND F R IE ND S OF T HE CHIC A G O S CHO OL OF PROFE S SION A L P S YCHOL O G Y

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departments

28 Giving back

3 President’s Letter

A spotlight on international community service and a project in Lima, Peru.

4 On Campus

29 Last page

An alumnus brings comic book therapy to the classroom in Chicago; a unique study abroad trip to Israel; and the D.C. Campus wins a $1.8 million grant to launch a new program for women.

Pomp and circumstance: The D.C. Campus celebrates its inaugural Commencement as graduates don caps and gowns on the L.A. and Chicago campuses as well.

8 Faculty

14 The Virtual life

Faculty share differing views on "Internet addiction" and whether it should be added to the new DSM-5.

How a brave new world of avatars and personal profiles is impacting our sense of reality, and our sense of "self."

26 ALUMNI

A look at the psychological impact of social media on a generation that has been wired since birth.

Meet an alumna who changed the lives of one family in South Africa and another who is helping homeless women in Indiana.

FEATURES 20 Born Connected

24 Beyond the couch An alumnus shares thoughts on how telemental health could revolutionize the industry.

Give the Gift of Opportunity.

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• Give a gift in honor of a friend or mentor. Or,

give in memory of a loved one who touched your life.

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or with stocks, bonds, real estate, or other assets, there are many ways to give.

• Your gift to "The Promise of Opportunity"

is tax deductible. Give a gift of $1,000 or more to support scholarships and join the President's Circle.

" Thanks to financial support from The Chicago School, I will be able to earn my doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology and work to heal children suffering from traumatic loss."

-Mary Sooy, M.A.

Go to the Annual Giving page at www.thechicagoschool.edu/giving. Click on the "Give Now" button to make a difference in a student's life.

{president’s letter} INSIGHT MAGAZINE SPRING 2013 3

The Psychology of Social Media

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t has become exceedingly clear that social media is and will continue to be an integral part of our lives for decades to come. Who could argue that helping people to connect and communicate with each other regularly is not a good thing, especially in times of crisis and tragedy, when it allows each of us to quickly share life-saving information or respond to a national tragedy? Communication brings us together as a human and global family.

In this issue of INSIGHT, we explore the virtual self, and how social media is altering not only how we perceive others but how we are subsequently defining relationships with others. We also hear from several TCSPP experts on how the excessive use of social media can affect interpersonal interactions and relationships and our personal sense of wellbeing. Also discussed herein is an introduction to the emerging “darker side” of social media, especially among the youth of our nation. We have all read the tragic and heartbreaking stories about cyber bullying, increased depression and suicide, and the growing concerns over quick and sometimes brutal reputational damage. While many of us are enjoying the benefits of social media, we are also grappling with how best to understand and even prevent the related unintended consequences.

At the professional level and organizational level, many are increasingly engaged in how to leverage social media for constructive and businessenhancing purposes. At the same time, many of us are surprised by how individual and organizational

FINDING BALANCE IN AN EVOLVING DIGITAL WORLD. reputations can be damaged in a tweeting second.

This new highly public rating system for everything we do—personally and professionally—has so quickly become part of our everyday reality.

Like all disruptive innovations and shifts in cultural norms, we will wait to determine the eventual outcome. For now, we must remember that even though we can publicly express our various opinions on almost any and every issue at any given time, this new freedom brings substantial responsibility. It seems reasonable to suggest that a society take an active role in shaping how an action can or cannot adversely affect the lives of individuals.

As a psychologist whose practice was once dedicated to the well-being of children and adolescents, I am especially alert to how social media is impacting our adolescents and young adults. As a parent myself, I—like many other parents—take an active role in the use of social media with my own children.

As an individual with great access to social media, I find myself reflecting more and more on its role in my own life. As a professional school president, I am curious to watch how social media and web applications will shape the profession of mental and behavioral health.

There are interesting days ahead.

Michele Nealon-Woods, Psy.D. National President

on campus

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Black Cape Optional CHICAGO SCHOOL ALUMNUS AND ADJUNCT PROFESSOR PATRICK O'CONNOR DIGS INTO THE PSYCHOLOGY OF COMIC BOOK HEROES.

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s a young man, Patrick O’Connor pored over the pages of The Flash, comparing his plot in life to the trials faced by his favorite comic book character. It made sense. Here he was, a struggling student, transferred from the South Side of Chicago to the manicured lawns of the suburbs, trying to figure out who he was, and where he was going.

“I had a difficult time in terms of finding my own passion and what I wanted to do,” explains O’Connor, who earned a Clinical Psy.D. degree from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology and now works as an adjunct professor on the Chicago Campus. “What I liked about The Flash was that he could use his super speed in creative ways to take down villains, but sometimes it just got him to the trouble in a timely manner. He still needed to figure out how to solve the problem once he got there. It was exciting to me, as a boy, to think about having superpowers while still bringing yourself, as a person, to the situation to solve the problem.”

O’Connor clearly did find his calling but never forgot how analyzing his favorite comic book superheroes (and supervillains) helped him navigate life’s challenges. In 2010,

he created Comicspedia, an online database containing summaries of psychological issues found in comic books designed to serve as a resource for therapists. He also uses those comic books as tools in his counseling practice—and when appropriate, in the classroom.

While TCSPP doesn’t offer an official course in comic book psychology, O’Connor gives students in his Lifespan I class the option to devote their final session to exploring the genre as a psychological tool, particularly for reaching teens and young adults.

“There’s a subjective experience of a kid being brought into a therapist’s office and the feeling that ‘something is wrong with me,’” explains O’Connor, who first used comic book therapy with a group of foster children he was working with while a student at TCSPP. “Having just seen the Batman movie, I was thinking that Robin is essentially the foster son of Bruce Wayne and was curious if they had any issues in the Batman series we could use to focus on that father-son dynamic. That relationship mirrored everything that my kids were going through—that feeling of living in other people’s homes, with other people’s kids, and being told, ‘This is your home now.'”

TCSPP students voted unanimously to hear his presentation last fall, which included a video conference with Geek Therapy (geektherapy.com) host Josue’ Cardona and the chance to review, and evaluate, about 50 comic books featuring a variety of superheroes and themes. O’Connor

D.C. Campus Receives $1.8 Million Grant to Launch New Academic Leadership Program for Women.

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r. Orlando L. Taylor, president of The Chicago School of Professional Psychology’s D.C. Campus, says a $1.8 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) will help serve an urgent need in the higher education community—to launch an academic leadership program for female faculty in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields at the nation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).

“Women at HBCUs constitute upwards of 70 percent of their student bodies, while female academic leaders at these institutions continue to be underrepresented in the STEM fields and at the senior levels of administration,” explains Taylor, a legend in the HBCU community who took the lead in securing the grant for TCSPP. “Yet, research has shown that gender diversity benefits students and faculty of both sexes. In

addition, students of both genders are more likely to achieve more academically and are more likely to enter STEM disciplines when they have role models who are similar to themselves in those fields.”

President Taylor, whose reputation was built over more than 35 years as a professor and senior administrator at Howard University before coming to TCSPP, will lead the Opportunities for UnderRepresented Scholars (OURS) program.

He says OURS was created as an extension to TCSPP’s innovative Organizational Development program, which prepares students to assume leadership roles.

Taylor will be joined in achieving the goals of the program by other faculty on the D.C. Campus and in the online division—notably Dr. Joneis Thomas, Dr. Linda Liang and Dr. Michael Barr. Melissa Wynn will provide day-to-day administration of the program.

After several months of planning, OURS is slated to receive its first cohort of participants later this spring.

Over the next three years, the $1.8 million NSF grant will support a total of 45 women (15 per year) to receive training in such areas as leadership principles, contemporary issues in higher education, interpersonal dynamics, ethics, institutional advancement, financing, and governance. A practicum component will be infused throughout the program to assure that the participants will have ample opportunity to apply the training principles in real-life leadership opportunities on their campuses with appropriate mentorship. Upon the completion of each year-long program, participants will receive a graduate certificate in academic leadership from TCSPP. “The OURS program initiative will increase the pool of STEM women academics who will be well prepared to assume leadership roles at all levels within the HBCU community,” Taylor says. “The foundation for this innovative program will be grounded in the principles of organizational psychology and related fields, as well as in the diverse talents of outstanding TCSPP faculty.”

World View: FIVE CHICAGO SCHOOL INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS RECEIVE INAUGURAL GLOBAL IMPACT SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS. imrat K. Verraich, an international student at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology’s Irvine Campus, is working on a dissertation about the Sikh experience after Sept. 11 and plans to bring knowledge back to the Sikh and Punjabi communities in her native Toronto.

Chicago Campus student Akanksha Dutt hopes her Clinical Psy. D. training and practicum experience will help her practice as a “socially responsible psychologist” and “change the face of psychology” in India, where she was born.

And then there’s Delice D’Sa, an M.A. in Clinical Counseling candidate who came to the Chicago School’s Chicago Campus from Mumbai to learn more about addictions, a specialty not offered in India or even in most other psychology master’s programs in the U.S. These three were among five recipients of TCSPP International Programs and Services’ first Global Impact Scholarship awards, an initiative to encourage students to share their journey from their home country and explore how their experiences, combined with their education at TCSPP, will give them the tools to apply psychological principles to international settings.

Izuchukwu Unegbu of Nigeria, who is earning an M.A. in Applied Behavioral Analysis at the L.A.Campus, and Meyrav Zeitoun of Israel, who is earning a Psy.D. in Clinical Psychology at the Chicago Campus, joins Verraich, Dutt and D’Sa in receiving the scholarship award.

“These five recipients epitomize the diverse spectrum of students within the international community at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology,” says Emily B. Karem, associate vice president of international services. “These students really bring a global perspective to our campus.”

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INSIGHT MAGAZINE SPRING 2013 5

and Cardona, a licensed professional counselor associate, also shared examples of how comic book characters have helped their own clients.

O’Connor’s Comicspedia.net site currently summarizes more than 200 individual issues of comic books and organizes them in detail according to character and theme.

“Imagine Comicspedia as being your friendly psychologist buddy standing next to you in a comic book store,” he writes in the introduction to the site. Themes range from “abuse of power” and “being different” to “deception,” “facing fear,” and “revenge.”

There’s even a tutorial.

The response from students has been overwhelmingly positive, and O’Connor hopes his work will continue to evolve as a rich resource for fellow clinicians who want to harness the pop culture power of comic books in their therapy.

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Passport to Israel: FROM THE SEA OF GALILEE TO JERUSALEM, STUDENTS EMBARK ON A STUDY ABROAD EXPERIENCE UNLIKE ANY OTHER. t’s not often that a psychology student gets to meet an official from the Israeli Consulate, or a woman whose sister was pronounced dead after a terrorist attack, or a famous hostage negotiator from the FBI. But in The Chicago School of Professional Psychology associate professor Dr. Nancy Zarse’s increasingly popular forensic psychology course, “Psychology in an International Context: Israel,” the view to terrorism—and one country’s resilience—is up close and personal.

For the third year in a row, Zarse’s spring 2013 course is taking students from intensive classroom study on the Chicago Campus to a 10-day study abroad journey on the ancient streets of Israel.

“It’s kind of evolved over the years,” explains Zarse, who helped create the course in 2011 after returning from the Prague Summer Institute on Crime, Law and Psychology. “It has academic rigor and quality, but I also try to make it experiential. We don’t know of another graduate program that does this.”

The guest lecturer schedule alone is impressive, as Zarse has been talking up the program everywhere she goes. When Israeli experts in Chicago and Israel hear that there are graduate psychology students engaged in the study of terrorism, trauma, and resilience in Israel, she says they are more than willing to participate—some even volunteering their expertise and contacts.

Recently, at an Israeli event, a nationally renowned rabbi said, “I can get you the leading Nazi hunter in the world, if you’re interested.” The class was already filling up, but Zarse, realizing what a rare opportunity this was for her students, said, “Sure … OK!” “That’s the part that just keeps growing. I didn’t start as an Israeli scholar,” explains Zarse, who was among attendees of the Israeli Midwest Policy Conference, held in Chicago at the Israeli Consul General’s home. “My sense of this is, I’m a fisherman. I cast my net upon the sea and see what I can collect.”

As the classroom curriculum becomes richer, the study abroad component has become more service-oriented and hands-on. In addition to trips to Masada, Caesarea, and Tel Aviv, students on last year’s trip also had the opportunity to volunteer at the Sderot Media Center, clearing debris and rubble from a playground in Sderot that has been a target of Qassam rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip since 2001. Another scheduled tour on the journey unexpectedly landed Zarse and her crew inside the Control Room at the

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Simrat K. Verraich is one of five recipients of The Chicago School of Professional Psychology's first Global Impact scholarship awards.

This scholarship, along with other international activities, is part of TCSPP’s comprehensive internationalization program aimed at attracting talented students worldwide, which also emphasizes TCSPP’s commitment to diversity in psychology. Other activities include a focus on student exchanges, faculty exchanges, international academic partnerships, and international community service. These on-the-ground, real-world training opportunities give TCSPP students a unique hands-on educational experience not typically offered in graduate professional education.

“I have already trained in three different clinical settings—a private practice, a psychiatric outpatient hospital, and a college counseling center,” says Dutt. “I feel that my education at TCSPP has prepared me to work in any part of the globe and not just my country of origin.

I think in the long run, my training here has equipped me with knowledge that will enable me to give a voice to those whose existence has been neglected, and be an advocate for those who try hard to effect a change and give greater meaning to their lives.”

Verraich says she chose TCSPP because of the importance placed on multiculturalism and diversity. “I come from one of the most diverse cities in the world and have every intention of returning there upon graduation to set out a life for myself. In order to do this, I strongly believe I do not just need any education; I also need relevant training,” she explains, adding: “One of my goals when I go back to Toronto is to bring more awareness of mental health issues to the Sikh and Punjabi communities, and I feel my dissertation will provide me great insight about the lives of the Sikhs.”

The Virtual Classroom: SOCIAL MEDIA TOOLS IN THE CLASSROOM HELP BUILD COMMUNITY. f you’re on Facebook, you know how fun it is to create a personal profile, post status updates, and have the option to “chat” online with anyone who is available. But could those same tools enhance academic success?

Dr. Jessica J. Cerniak, Psy.D., associate professor in the M.A. in Psychology (MAP) program at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology Chicago Campus, was among a group of TCSPP faculty and staff involved in a “social media study” that compared two groups of MAP students testing the new eCollege software—one that had access to enhanced social media tools, and one that did not.

“The tools included things like being able to have a personal profile, say where they studied in the past, and why

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Ministry of Foreign Affairs headquarters in Jerusalem.

“We were in the Situation Room; the state department of Israel. Kind of exciting,” says Zarse, a licensed clinical psychologist who is also a lead faculty member for Hostage Negotiation, Violence & Risk Assessment; Psychology of Law Enforcement; and Psychology of Terrorism. “This is an interdepartmental collaboration and an interdisciplinary collaboration, and that’s part of what people respect about the class.”

This course is a part of TCSPP’s robust study abroad program developed specifically for graduate students. Zarse created it for the Forensic Psychology Department on the Chicago Campus and coordinates with the Israeli Consulate in Chicago and State Department officials in Israel. There are strict security guidelines, with a security briefing on-ground in Chicago and in Israel upon arrival. Zarse says it truly is the experience of a lifetime, one that the students will never forget.

PASSPORT TO ISRAEL: In addition to meeting Israeli terrorism experts, Dr. Nancy Zarse's study abroad trip to Israel also includes visits to the ancient site of Masada (above) and the city of Jerusalem (lower right).

they’re pursuing the program,” explains Cerniak. “Since so much of the online programming is conducted remotely, it was nice that they could post a picture and a profile, and there’s an activity feed so students could see the latest movement in the course, similar to a wall on Facebook. There were also opportunities for students to chat with their instructor and peers, so you could turn on a button to show you were online and just informally chat with each other.”

While final data from the two test groups (one each in fall I and II 2012 and the other in spring 2013) is still being gathered and analyzed and the research is ongoing, she says initial feedback showed that many students who had access to these tools enjoyed using them and reported feeling a greater sense of “belonging.”

“They liked using them, and they recommended that they be used

in other courses,” Cerniak adds.

“Research suggests that these tools do achieve what they’re set out to do, which is to improve the students’ sense of connection to the course. We also hope the tools will facilitate students’ performance in the course.”

This is just one example of how TCSPP faculty members are using technology to further engage students, both on-ground and online. Other endeavors include utilizing Skype and GoToMeeting tools for enhanced, interactive “office hours.” In addition to Cerniak, Dr. Geoffrey Lantz, Ph.D., department chair and associate professor, educational psychology and technology director for undergraduate programs; Iva Kolarov, M.A., MAP ARP instructor; Rebecca Zabiello, MAP department manager; and Tabitha Hudson, MAFO department manager are also on the research team that facilitates the social media project.

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BE YOND THE CL A S SROOM

A Latino/a Mental Health Pioneer is Tapped to Launch and Lead a New Institute on The Chicago School of Professional Psychology’s D.C. Campus.

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r. Azara Santiago-Rivera learned about social injustice and inequality at an early age. Her father was in the Army, so her family traveled extensively, adopting cultural norms at every new location.

While they embraced and celebrated the diversity around them, others did not. Being of Puerto Rican heritage, her family was often subjected to overt racism and discrimination. Memories of not being allowed to eat in restaurants or being called derogatory names are experiences that have stayed with her and inspired her to devote her life’s work to the psychology of her culture.

Today, Santiago-Rivera, professor and department chair of counseling psychology on The Chicago School of Professional Psychology’s D.C. Campus, is considered one of the pio-

neers in the advancement of Latino/a counseling psychology –training mental health clinicians and psychologists to meet the overwhelming need of culturally competent services to the largest ethnic minority group in the U.S. Her projects and accomplishments are tremendous, but one of the most recent fulfills a vision that did not become a reality until she arrived at TCSPP—to establish an institute where scholars would advance Latino/a psychology by conducting research, translating research into practice, and providing training to community mental health facilities.

Earlier this year, Santiago-Riviera became director of TCSPP’s new National Center for Research and Practice, Latino Mental Health, carrying forward the work she has been doing for 20 years.

Building on her own childhood observations of injustice, SantiagoRivera says she had an “awakening” as an undergraduate student to turn her passion for human behavior and diversity into a profession. “I was learning the traditional human

behavior theories and thought none of them really explained the life circumstances of all ethnic groups in this country. It didn’t make any sense to me,” she says. With that realization, she dedicated her career to making multicultural psychology stand out.

“I chose psychology as a profession because I wanted to make a change and contribute in some way.”

Her dream for the center is big—to establish a premiere research and practice center featuring experts from across the U.S. collaborating on initiatives that will address the needs of the national Latino/a population. But Santiago-Rivera says this is the right time in contemporary society to be involved in a mission like this—where the demand for health care is rapidly increasing along with the growth of this minority group.

“We will have representatives from the West, Midwest, and East—covering three different geographical locations. There is no institution like us out there that can serve such a diverse population from a national perspective. It’s breathtaking.”

PRESENTATIONS Dr. Paul J. Birch, associate professor, MFT and Clinical Psychology, Los Angeles, co-presented last fall at the Annual Conference of the Society for the Advancement of Sexual Health in San Antonio, Texas.

He also presented “Increasing the Value of Your Marriage Program and Proving It to Others: Seamless Evaluation Tools That Work” and “A Bird Emerges From the Whirlwind: How the Sex Education Debates Can Ignite Relationship Education in America” at the National Association of Relationship and Marriage Education in Baltimore.

Dr. Kelly McGraw Broxterman, associate professor, School Psychology, Chicago, co-presented

“Reading Strand: Curriculum, Instruction & Assessment” at the Midwest Leadership Summit VI in St. Paul, Minn.

Dr. Todd DuBose, associate professor, Clinical Psychology, Chicago, presented “Where the Crooked are Made: ‘Being With' the Fated Hope of Escaping Facticity” at the 8th International World Forum of the International Federation of Daseinsanalysis in Budapest, Hungary.

Dr. Nina L. Dulabaum, dissertation affiliate faculty, Chicago, presented “The Key to Online Faculty Retention: Supporting, Evaluating and Developing Faculty” last August at the 28th An-

nual Conference on Distance Teaching & Learning Proceedings in Madison, Wis. Dr. Eleazar Cruz Eusebio, assistant professor, School Psychology, Chicago, was appointed Chicago representative for the national advocacy group, Asian Pacific Americans for Progress. He also presented “Exploring Periods for Effective Use of Executive Function” with students at the Illinois School Psychology Association Annual Conference in Springfield.

Dr. Bianka Hardin, associate professor, Clinical Psychology, Chicago, was a co-presenter of “Helping the Helpers—Managing Trauma Exposure or Vicarious Trauma,”

“Understanding How Cultural and Societal Issues Impact the Well-Being of Families,” and “Understanding Child Sexual Abuse From an Ecological Lens: An Examination of the Impact of Culture on Child Sexual Abuse and Strategies” at Awaken To Change: The National Conference for America’s Children, Prevent Child Abuse 2012 National Conference in Jacksonville, Fla. Dr. Kristy Kohler Kelly, associate professor, School Psychology, Chicago, gave a number of co-presentations at the Illinois School Psychology Association winter and fall conferences as well as the Missouri School Psychology Association, including “Creating Resilient Classrooms in Preschool and Early

theoretical perspective to address the issues negatively impacting the population. “Latinos experience a variety of life circumstances and barriers that affect them—transition to a new country, learning a new language, and discrimination in housing and job placement. It’s time for us to really recognize and address this population’s needs.”

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In addition to her work at the center, Santiago-Rivera was also appointed by the National Association of Latino/a Psychology as founding editor of the Journal of Latina/o Psychology, published by the American Psychological Association. The journal will be an invaluable resource for scholars to publish culturally relevant research in advancing methodologies and

PUBLICATIONS Dr. Jay Finkelman, vice president of academic affairs and chief academic officer, Los Angeles, co-authored a book, The Psychologist Manager: Success Models for Psychologists in Executive Positions, with Dr. Louise Kelly, a professor at Alliant International University in San Diego.

Dr. James F. Iaccino, associate professor, Forensic Psychology, Chicago and Jenna Dondero, adjunct faculty, Forensic Psychology, Chicago published a psychological film review of Scream 4 titled “Technology Can Be Deadly: A Female Serial Killer for the New Age,” in the December issue of PsycCRITIQUES, the American Psychological Association journal. Both faculty members will be doing psychological critiques of Skyfall (2012) and The Raven (2012) this year as well.

Iaccino also published a chapter in Investigating Smallville: Myth, Ideology, and the Cultural Representations in a Television Sensation.

Dr. Tulio M. Otero, associate professor, School Psychology, Chicago, co-authored “Assessment of Neuropsychological Functioning” in Handbook of Psychology.

PRAISE Dr. Kerri Bradley-Ronne, professor, Clinical Psychology, Chicago, completed four years of coursework and received a Certificate in Animal Assisted Therapy from Oakland University.

Dr. Tulio M. Otero, associate professor, School Psychology, Chicago, was recently voted president elect of the Hispanic Neuropsychological Society.

Honor Roll: Dr. Carroll Cradock, former president of The Chicago School of Professional Psychology, was recently conferred as an honorary professor in the School of Human Sciences at Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas (UPC), TCSPP’s partner institution in Lima, Peru. The ceremony was held Dec. 6 with International Liaison Officer, Dr. Stefan Reich, visiting TCSPP department chair Dr. Geoffrey Lantz, and UPC partner Dr. Lili Galvan.

Elementary Settings,” “Effective Supervision of Trainees and New School Psychologists: What Supervisors Need to Know,” and “Effective Behavioral Interventions for Preschool and Primary Age Children.”

Dr. Martin J. Leahy, associate professor, Organizational Leadership, Chicago, was chosen to participate and present in “Changing Power Relationships: Nonviolent Action Institute for Church Reform” last fall. A project of the American Catholic Council, the institute consisted of webinars and an online course, and concluded with a Washington, D.C. conference in November.

Dr. Tulio M. Otero, associate professor, School Psychology, Chicago, presented “Neurocognitive Approach for the Assessment and Intervention of SLD Latino Students” with Dr. Mary Annette Moreno of the University of Puerto Rico at a continuing education workshop at The Latino/a Psychological Association in New Brunswick, N.J., in October.

Dr. Donald Schultz, associate professor, Clinical Psychology, Los Angeles, presented and served as a keynote speaker at the Fifth Annual Symposium on PsychoGerontology. Schultz’s participation was part of an international virtual faculty exchange opportunity at the School of Psychology at Paulista University (UNIP) (Sao Paulo, Brazil)

Dr. Cynthia Langtiw, assistant professor, Clinical Psychology, Chicago, was the recipient of the inaugural Dr. Ted Rubinstein Inspired Teaching Award. The annual award was established last year to honor Rubinstein, who died on Sept. 11, 2010.

through an academic partnership with TCS Education System. Broadcast through GoToMeeting technology, his talk in English was translated into Portuguese for the audience by a UNIP interpreter.

Dr. Richard S. Sinacola, professor, Clinical Psychology and MFT, Los Angeles, presented “The Art of Effective Mental Status and Risk Assessments” as a training workshop for licensed psychologists and marriage and family therapists at the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists Fall Conference in Oakland, Calif.

Dr. Nancy Zarse, associate professor, Forensic Psychology, Chicago presented three

seminars about stress and emotional fitness for the Chicago Police Department in November. She also presented “Active Shooter: Risk Factors for Violence” at the Terrorism Liaison Office Conference in Schaumburg, III. “Best Practices in HIV Management in Corrections” and “Assessing Risk Factors for Violence” at the National Commission on Correctional Health Care in Las Vegas; “Survival Mindset: An Internal Locus of Control” at the Midwest Criminal Justice Association conference; and “Negotiating with the Mentally Ill” at an FBI Hostage Negotiation 40 hour certification course in Bridgeview, Ill. She also gave interviews about the Colorado movie massacre on CBS News and Steel Shores Radio.

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BE YOND THE CL A S SROOM

Q&A P

rofessional psychology is a field that was built around the study of human behavior and all manners of the mind. It is grounded in real world actions and real world

consequences. But when life goes online, the distinction between reality and a new, sometimes more exotic, virtual world becomes blurry. In an issue devoted to the psychology of social media, we decided to launch a Q&A discussion about a topic that is having a direct impact on our industry—the American Psychiatric As-

sociation’s proposed addition of “Internet addiction” to its newest Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM-5.

We chose three faculty members to interview on three aspects of the debate: defining addiction, the impact on families, and why

D r . barbre

dr . B irc h

D r . S caglione

Facebook might be in a category of its own.

Cris Ann Scaglione Assistant Professor, Marital & Family Therapy Westwood Campus As the American Psychiatric Association (APA) prepares to amend its 2013 Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), there has been much debate about how to address non-substance-abuse addictions. While gambling has long been considered a problem in this category, the suggested addition of “Internet addiction” has fueled a firestorm of debate. INSIGHT asked Dr. Scaglione to discuss her opinions on whether or not this should be added to the new DSM-5.

INSIGHT: If this does get added to the DSM-5, how would you define Internet addiction?

SCAGLIONE: I am one of these people who are on the fence about it. But certainly any kind of addiction has sort of an obsessive-compulsive quality to it, so it would be people who frequently think about and try to use the Internet as much as they possibly can, even to the detriment of other aspects of their lives—social, occupational, educational. That would be the shortest version I could give you.

INSIGHT: How would you distinguish between addiction and obsessivecompulsive behavior?

SCAGLIONE: That is not necessarily a clear delineation. All addictions seem to have an obsessive quality. It is almost like some of the qualities of the intrusive memories and thoughts of people with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and probably in fact involves the same neurological hardware. It is hard to say. The difference is very fuzzy. My guess is that in some

future version of the DSM we may end up having a spectrum disorder that runs from obsession through compulsion to maybe impulsivity through to addiction. The answer to the question is that we don’t know what the difference is necessarily, but then that is where the argument or confusion lies.

INSIGHT: In the modern world, most of us are online every day. What is the difference between being an addict and being a frequent user?

SCAGLIONE: With any addiction, the line that gets crossed is that for those of us that have to be on Internet to do our jobs or to stay in touch with family, we can turn it off and not think about it. We can put the computer away in the evening or turn it off or keep our phone off and not be constantly wondering in the back of our mind: “Gee what am I missing?

What did somebody send me? What if I am missing out on something?”

Whereas an addict really has a tough time leaving it alone, and again the

where they no longer actually enjoy what they are doing, but they must do it anyway.

INSIGHT: How should Internet addiction be treated? Is it similar or different from other addictions?

SCAGLIONE: What a good question.

Many of these kinds of disorders do react well to similar strategies one would use for chemical dependency or other addictions— including the use of peer support groups, possibly a structured 12-step kind of approach or some other structured step-down approach. I think you would need some family support to work on not just seeing how they are sticking with their program but also wondering what function this fills for the person, especially for people who are socially uncomfortable or a little depressed.

There is a whole world that they can disappear into. I think we are very easily drawn into those sorts of things because we are always kind of in our head. We are always in

“ An Internet addict would feel really uncomfortable not being able to access whatever it is they are interested in and would also have some functional impairment.”

Internet activity or the gaming or the texting or social media activity begins to interfere with other functional areas of your life. An Internet addict would feel really uncomfortable not being able to access whatever it is they are interested in and would also have some functional impairment.

They would begin to not take care of themselves healthwise, begin to isolate themselves socially, or maybe they are getting fired from jobs because they’ve been on the web all day and not doing their job.

Also, some addicts also get to a point

virtual reality essentially. So this is particularly easy to fall into. There are wonderful things online. There are games and there are activities, and there are people, and there are exotic people. I can live in a world of thousands of so-called friends, when in fact I am very socially awkward or don’t have a sense of my identity yet.

This creates a false world around me that I am comfortable in. In individual therapy, I would want to know what that was like for the person. How they could build other skills to get out of that world?

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DEFINING ADDICTION

faculty

BE YOND THE CL A S SROOM

IMPACTING OUR FAMILIES Paul Birch Assistant Professor, Marital & Family Therapy Los Angeles Campus One of the first signs that a habit has become an addiction is how it affects relationships, families and daily life. Dr. Birch draws on his work in the Marital and Family Therapy program to discuss how certain online behaviors in excess can send marriages into crisis.

INSIGHT: As a marriage counselor, when does Internet dependency or addiction become a problem for modern couples?

BIRCH: There are a lot of things in mental health that we never paid attention to, and then we start realizing that these things are really comorbid. To not know that somebody is experiencing an Internet addiction and be treating their substance addiction or treating their marital problems is a problem. When I first got into the field, I remember I was a couples’ counselor, and I was doing marital therapy and

INSIGHT: So does that make you in favor of listing it on the DSM-5 addendum?

BIRCH: The benefit would be it raises awareness in the minds of mental health practitioners that this is a serious problem, that it is comorbid and causal to a lot of other mental health conditions as well as a symptom of other mental health conditions. Someone may come in for Internet addiction, and they may really have a general anxiety disorder or they may have clinical depression. So we need to be aware that it is a significant problem that’s comorbid with, causal to and a symptom of other mental health disorders.

And in its own right, it is a very troublesome problem that has a lot of negative consequences—mentally, behaviorally, and relationally. I have seen a lot of suffering over it.

INSIGHT: How do you begin to treat this kind of addiction?

BIRCH: You begin by thinking about substance abuse treatment methods, and you add the things we have learned in treating sexual addictions particularly.

We need to work on our culture, which doesn’t see it as a problem in a lot of ways.

“ And in its own right, it is a very troublesome problem that has a lot of negative consequences—mentally, behaviorally, and relationally. I have seen a lot of suffering over it.”

I just kept thinking, “What is wrong with this guy?” Something was not right about how this couple was functioning, and sure enough, I found out that this guy is looking at online porn. He said, “Well, gee, I didn’t know this was relevant, but she caught me looking at porn on the Internet at three o’clock in the morning a year ago, and that’s when all of our problems began.”

We need help convincing the public that, “You know what? This is a serious problem that deserves preventative and remedial measures.” I have done studies of individuals who have successfully overcome it.

Their successful recovery revolved around first, recognizing that there was an addiction, recognizing that this was something they wanted to change, and finding a way

to get the behavior stopped. From there, the issues of most salience were learning to better manage relationship conflict, regulate negative emotion, engage in healthier self care, and stop putting so much pressure on themselves.

INSIGHT: How do couples even begin to recover and heal?

BIRCH: The treatment model I have developed, which is in part based on the model I described above, accelerates those processes. Some of the real clinical things that seem to be powerful include mindfulness, meditation, and directly dealing with the classical and operant conditioning that maintains the problem—which by the way is very powerful due to the directness and vividness of the Internet. I use neurolinguistic programming and other explicit ways to “reprogram” your brain.

There seems to be a definite neurology involved underlying the conditioning that is best manipulated through a combination of mindfulness and behavioral interventions.

That is really where I feel the next frontier in the field is at; we need to move past talk therapy and basic relapse prevention and working through negative emotions and move towards more explicit and direct ways to manipulate the conditioning and the underlying neurology. I don’t think the field has done a lot with classical and operant conditioning with this problem and is just starting to do a lot with mindfulness methods for really changing how you think and how you feel. Rory Reid at UCLA is doing great work in this area.

My development right now is focused on Internet-based and therapy-based interventions that directly reprogram and recondition and decondition and try to make more rapid change than that which happens normally. I would also add the 12-step groups and other self-help groups are critical because these individuals have just lost hope and they have no belief that they are ever going to get over this. Going to a group and finding people in advanced stages of recovery seems to be a critical determinant of change.

Claude Barbre, Ph.D., L.P. Associate Professor, Clinical Psychology Chicago Campus Few other Internet sites have had the impact of Facebook, a social media behemoth that counted more than a billion monthly active users since December 2012. Last year, researchers at the University of Bergen in Norway published an article in Psychological Reports about a new psychological tool to measure Facebook addiction, the Bergen Facebook Addiction Scale (BFAS).

INSIGHT asked Dr. Barbre to draw on his extensive background in psychotherapy and clinical psychology to discuss what drives this particular phenomenon.

INSIGHT: What makes Facebook so different from other things that people become addicted to on the Internet?

BARBRE: In his 1941 book Beyond Psychology, Viennese psychotherapist Otto Rank remarked that with the creation of new phenomena, new types of personalities develop that, in turn, precipitate new events.

I often think of Rank’s observation when I see the ever-changing nature of online socialization. Who are we becoming, what new types of personalities are emerging as we increasingly become dependent on electronic cyberspace communication and information, and how are these technologies affecting our evolving sense of self and other? Indeed the jury may be out in terms of designating heavy Internet use as an automatic “addiction,” but certainly the phenomenon of Internet overuse is increasingly a point of discussion in clinical rounds and settings as we study the positive and negative effects of the Internet phenomenon—especially in terms of social online systems such as Facebook.

INSIGHT: Do you think it should be added to the new DSM-5?

BARBRE: It is tricky to define an “Internet

addiction disorder” because such terms as “addiction” and “disorder” have wide-ranging meanings and applications. So do we risk pathologizing Internet use to the amount of time that a person spends online—the time sink—or is it a matter of the way the individual uses the online time? It is clear that human beings may tend to repeat behaviors that are satisfying in some way, and conditioning is a fundamental psychological process that influences all behavior, not just addiction.

We can explore aspects of Internet use that can point to dependent tendencies, aspects that may reflect addictive behaviors. For example, does a person feel preoccupied with the Internet, or does he or she have difficulty going offline; or does the user lose significant relationships because of Internet use, lie to others to conceal the extent of Internet involvement—this sort of criteria. As we have learned from the AA model, addiction is a physical, psychological, and spiritual disease, and thus any exploration of Internet disorders must include a collaborative and multi-dimensional approach to the causes and recovery possibilities surrounding Internet-based conflicts and difficulties. In fact, last year I had the honor of chairing a dissertation by Dr. Julie Ringelheim about the use and misuse of Facebook, entitled “Falsebook: False Self Manifestations in Modern Online Socialization.” We discussed how Facebook can be a tool toward healthy communication, as well as leading to identity diffusions, conflicts in self development, and interpersonal disruptions.

INSIGHT: What did you discover in the research on Facebook that led to the title “Falsebook?”

BARBRE: In this very important study, Dr. Ringelheim argued that online networking sites such as Facebook have deep meaning for individuals in terms of identity, socialization, and self-presentation to the community.

She underscored that since this kind of networking is a medium where we often use photos, quotations, and dialogue instead of explicit autobiographical text, crafting the manner of our presentation, then this form of communication reflects our sense of identity,

and thus we must study how Facebook functions as users share information about themselves. Social technology can present some challenges in terms of how users create idealized representations of themselves that may be quite different, in contrast, to offline reality. Even so, Dr. Ringelhiem points out that Facebook is a self-regulating environment and is often an extension of face-to-face social interactions. Although Dr. Ringelheim underscored that she did not intend to demonize or repudiate the pivotal role that Facebook and online communication can play, she did point out several areas where the language of psychological disorders developed in a pre-digital era might apply to the modern online context, especially in regard to false self or pseudo-self development, warning of incidences where Facebook can actually replace intimacy between people even as they search to feel understood and real in connection to others. In addition, Dr. Ringelheim suggests that Facebook creates online connections between individuals who may not otherwise have any connections, and while this phenomenon may be positive in terms of accessibility to others who may struggle making connections, it may also have negative consequences in regard to how users must represent themselves, experience their identity according to online standards and formats. Internet disorders inherent in the use of online socialization such as Facebook point to the phenomenon that such virtual communication changes human experience through the blurring of machine and person, disassembling human existence; it supports an escape from the body—that is, we are represented as a text and not a body, transforming us from the corporeal to virtual interaction. Online socialization mediates our self presentation and also creates a multiplicity of self that may inhibit expressions of real human vulnerability and limitations, and also lead to a kind of multiphrenia, referring to the splitting of the self into diverse selfinvestments. And finally, online technology may be experienced as fragmenting, in that users may become saturated by virtual communication demands, as well as isolated from others in an online world.

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THE FACEBOOK FACTOR

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By Sherry Thomas

A VIRTUAL LIFE

How social media is changing our perceptions of ourselves, others, and the world.

In social psychologist Kenneth Gergen’s 1991 tome, The Saturated Self, he warned of an Orwellian world where technology might saturate human beings to the point of “multiphrenia,” a fragmented version of the self that is pulled in so many directions the individual would be lost.

“I am linked, therefore I am,” he famously said, playing on Descartes’ “I think, therefore I am.”

Little did Gergen know how dead-on his prediction would be.

Because as our society sits here more than 20 years later with our tablets and cell phones and electronic gadgets—seduced by the lure of the blue light glow—we have never been more linked, more connected, and more bound to a virtual reality that many of us can no longer live without.

“Tethered to technology, we are shaken when that world ‘unplugged’ does not signify, does not satisfy. We build a following on Facebook or MySpace and wonder to what degree our followers are friends. We re-create ourselves as online personae and give ourselves new bodies, homes, jobs, and romances. Yet, suddenly, in the half-light

of virtual community, we may feel utterly alone,” writes licensed clinical psychologist and MIT professor Sherry Turkle in her best-selling tome, Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less From Each Other. Founder and director of the MIT Initiative on Technology and Self, the book is the third in a series on the effects of technology on society and culminates 15 years of research on the digital terrain.

The long-term psychological impact of social media on individuals and their individual sense of “self” remains to be seen. But there is one thing we do know. Our daily lives have been digitized, tracked, and tied up in metrics. Our real selves have split into online avatars and profile pictures and status updates.

And while social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn are powerful tools that have the potential to build communities, connect relatives in far-flung places, leverage careers, and even elect presidents of the United States, they are also unleashing a myriad of complex psychological issues that have altered our collective sense of reality.

A virtual life is shiny and bright. It’s where you post your prettiest pictures and tell all your best news.

“In games where we expect to play an avatar, we end up being ourselves in the most revealing ways; on social networking sites such as Facebook, we think we will be presenting ourselves, but our profile ends up as somebody else—often the fantasy of who we want to be,” Turkle writes.

But is it real? More importantly, is it healthy?

Dr. Ali Jazayeri, associate professor of clinical psychology at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology’s L.A. Campus, thinks there are clear and present dangers that can’t be ignored.

The Unreal World “I definitely think that social media has had a very deep impact on our lives. The world that we see on Facebook and other social media sites is not a true and real world. It’s a creation of people,” Jazayeri explains. “Among other dangers that Facebook might possibly pose in our lives, such as lack of privacy, is this habit of always comparing ourselves to others. People, when they are happy, post a lot of happy things. But when I’m not happy I will consciously, or unconsciously, compare myself to others. As a result, I create a world that is not a true world because I imagine that everybody is happy in that world, except me.”

While each social media site has its own personality and purpose, the wildly popular Facebook and its estimated one billion active monthly users has gained the most attention from psychologists for the potential to distort an individual’s sense of self and sense of other people.

A clinical report on “The Impact of Social Media on Children, Adolescents and Families,” published last year in Pediatrics, the official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, was one of the first to raise the issue of “Facebook depression” among young people worried that they weren’t accumulating enough “friends” or “likes” to their status updates. Around the same time, Dr. Cecilie Andraessen and her colleagues at the University of Bergen (UiB) in Norway published a piece about their work with the Bergen Facebook Addiction Scale in the journal Psychological Reports. And this all came on the heels of somewhat controversial news that the American Psychiatric Association was considering the addition of “Internet addiction” in an appendix to the Diagnostic & Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), slated for release later this year.

What concerns Jazayeri most, from a psychologist’s perspective, is the danger of slipping too far into a virtual world and losing a sense of real life, real self, and real priorities.

“Some people use this social media to create something that they are not,” he says, explaining that the virtual world can distract people so much from their real lives that they either forget who they are or become so involved in the reality they’ve created that they don’t want to work on their own issues.

“Instead of me trying to deal with things I don’t like about myself, I will go online and present myself in the way I’d like to be seen, without any changes to me. It’s dangerous, and very deceptive. If you look at the history of psychology, we’ve spent the last 100 years trying to help people know themselves better, deal with their shortcomings, deal with things they don’t want to have, so we have a very realityoriented atmosphere in our Western psychology.”

Jazayeri worries that an overreliance on this virtual world that we create online is undermining all the progress human beings have made in addressing real-life problems.

“As psychologists, we have theories based on the reality of patient’s lives. Our goal is to help people try to see themselves for the reality of what they are,” he continues. “But if we perceive that everyone else is perfect, then we push ourselves to become someone that we are not, and then we get frustrated, and then we get depressed.”

Like Turkle, and other experts, he is careful to also note the value of such sites for helping people do everything from reconnect with old friends and family members to rallying community members during times of national tragedy or disaster. However, he believes we need limits—that as a society we need to be vigilant about taking time to unplug, to disconnect, and to reconnect with ourselves and our real lives.

In a statement that echoes Gergen’s words from 1991, Jazayeri concludes by saying, “Someday, I hope we will appreciate that the computer is not a substitute for a real human being.”

Consciousness, Collected Dr. Eleazar Eusebio, an assistant professor in the department of school psychology at TCSPP’s Chicago Campus, has been fascinated with the concept of virtual worlds and social media since the early chat rooms of the 1990s.

“Something I like to talk about a lot in psychotherapy are the various dimensions of consciousness,” he says. “It can get really psy-

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“ Instead of me trying to deal with things I don’t like about myself, I will go online and present myself in the way I’d like to be seen, without any changes to me. It’s dangerous, and very deceptive."

choanalytical if you’re going to look at what kind of behavior people are putting out there. I have been studying Jungian analysis, and I do find it interesting, especially when you look at personality types.”

Whether your inner nature tends toward paranoia, narcissism, manic, depressive, or even melodramatic behaviors, Eusebio says these things unconsciously manifest themselves, rather publically, in an online setting. “I don’t want to psychopathologize everybody who’s online, but I think it's possible to take a quasi-diagnostic look at it when you examine what people write or how they interact online.”

Of all the social media sites, Facebook is a place where he says almost every personality type can be found, and analyzed.

“This is the best modern example I've come across of what I've been calling the collective unconscious personified. How do we choose to present ourselves to this world? In addition, at what point do we stop?”

As any Facebook user knows, there are “types” among almost anyone’s collection of “friends.”

Some use the site solely to promote their business or career.

Others take the opportunity to share political opinions, while others post several status updates per day about events as banal as what they had for breakfast, or what’s on the dinner table.

Some are a series of “check ins” at restaurants, clubs, museums, and airports. There are braggarts and complainers; cheerleaders and naysayers.

“Online groups tend to triangulate people. This environment will provide you the tool to display any kind of psycho-pathology,” Eusebio adds. “Cyberspace alone is a psychological extension of our own intrapsychic world. We all have various dimensions of our unconscious. And with social media, you can really dive into

people’s lives. The danger is we throw our reputations out there, and we put avatars attached to who we are.”

While he says most adults have the foresight to screen their online behavior, to think twice about who’s viewing their status updates, photo albums and “check-ins,” the more compulsive types often do not—especially if the posts are made in the heat of the moment, late at night.

“One notion we might overlook is whether we would be saying the same things or sending the same messages if we were face-toface in a coffee shop?” Eusebio wonders.

Or, even scarier, a job interview.

The Professional Fibber John Fowler received an M.A. in psychology at TCSPP’s Chicago Campus in 2009, and for several years made his business teaching other professionals how to use social media to advance their careers. Three years have passed since he published his book, Graduate to LinkedIn: Jumpstart Your Career Support Network Now, and he says the social media of today is already vastly different.

That said, Fowler says he still believes in the professional power of social networking sites like LinkedIn, and more recently, Facebook pages being utilized by businesses and organizations. “Social media has its advantages and disadvantages. It’s a tool, and like any tool, you can use it the wrong way. There are great things that come out of it. Just recently, it was instrumental in raising money for people who were affected by Hurricane Sandy. And I think it’s going to evolve. The social aspect of these platforms is going to live on. What remains to be seen is how this will affect the way we conduct business.”

“Professionally, you say that you want to brand yourself. But you can sometimes get so lost in branding yourself the way you want to be perceived, that what you present online isn’t who you really are.

When potential employers meet you in person, they want you to be consistent,” cautions Fowler, who now works at Deloitte consulting and sometimes uses his social media background to help clients leverage their brands.

It’s one thing to post your prettiest vacation photos on Facebook or to exaggerate how wonderful your life is (for the clear benefit of ex-boyfriends or college rivals), but when it comes to LinkedIn and other professional uses of social media, truth and ethics are just as important online as they are on your printed resume.

“One huge thing that’s gone on over time is the social media world isn’t always real. It isn’t reality. I think we need to keep that in mind,” Fowler says. “There’s a fine line between branding yourself well and straight up lying and misrepresenting your experience.”

Resumes have always been prone to exaggeration, despite the best advice to be ready to back up any degree or certification you might claim to have earned. However, in a virtual world where it is understood that everyone exaggerates and reality is always slightly distorted, the temptation to lie or stretch the truth is more pervasive than ever.

“And for the younger generations, people who were born into this age, there’s a danger there that they could possibly take this as the way the world is,” he continues. “I think some people want to hide. You go on Twitter and you have an avatar, and you want to hide behind that. But when that doesn’t match up to who you really are, especially professionally, that’s when it comes back to haunt you.”

Love In The Time of Social Media In all of the incarnations and manifestations of social media in our lives, one aspect that can’t be ignored—particularly when it comes to how we present ourselves and perceive others—is how the always-on, must-be-perfect virtual world has changed our most intimate relationships.

Whether you’re a single 20-something looking for a Mr. or Mrs. Right or a newly divorced parent dipping your toes back into the dating scene, online sites such as Match.com, OKCupid. com, and eHarmony.com have revolutionized the idea of how we meet and connect with new people. The fairy tale endings are legendary, as are the tales of love, loss, and heartbreak.

But what is often overlooked is how the surreal world of social media affects people who are already in domestic partnerships, marriages, and other long-term partnerships.

Dr. Melody Bacon, a licensed clinical therapist, assistant dean of academic affairs and chair of the Marital and Family Therapy program at TCSPP’s L.A. Campus, says social media and the distractions of technology cause problems for couples because they provide another way to disconnect.

Most people these days have heard stories about how Facebook and other social media sites that offer opportunities to chat or flirt online have wrecked marriages. But Bacon says we shouldn’t blame Facebook any more than we should blame our 24/7 dependence on cell phones or other digital technology.

“In terms of relationships, it’s just one more thing that keeps people from being able to connect and be together without fighting for attention. I know of young mothers with little kids. I see

To Disconnect, Or Not to Disconnect That disconnect that Bacon refers to is at the very heart of what Turkle is chronicling in Together Alone. “As we instant message, email, text, and Twitter, technology redraws the boundaries between intimacy and solitude,” she writes. “We talk of getting ‘rid’ of our emails, as though these notes are so much excess baggage. Teenagers avoid making telephone calls, fearful that they ‘reveal too much.’ They would rather text than talk. Adults, too, choose keyboards over the human voice.”

The irony of it all is that we can see it happening—to our kids, our friends, even ourselves. We know it’s a problem, but we don’t know how to stop it.

“Sites like Facebook can be positive in connecting people. In my classes, we do family diagrams, and students are connecting with people across the country or across the world. Facebook is great for meeting up with people that way. It can be positive, but to a limited degree. Because once you’ve made that connection, unless you talk on the phone or have some verbal communication, you’re limited to verbal sound bites,” Bacon says.

Dr. Tom Barrett, department chair and an associate professor in the clinical psychology department at TCSPP’s Chicago Campus,

shares many of the same concerns as his colleagues about people losing themselves in this new virtual world. But he also believes that the motivation for connecting online is the same as it’s always been—a human urge to belong, and to be accepted.

“It’s not that the ability to network this way is a problem. People have always experienced the range of emotions from the insecure to the confident,” he says. “I think we tend to think the technology is what is causing the problem but we just have a new way of expressing an old problem. It’s a long-standing reality that people struggle in relationships. This is new way to disconnect from your family, or partner, or loved one, but it’s just a new form of doing an old thing.”

As Jazayeri says, social media is here to stay and is a new reality we have to contend with. The question is, how do we find balance?

“I definitely do not want to discard the benefits of all this connectivity, but there has to be a limit to it,” he continues. “I hope people can begin to recognize that Facebook and social media can’t be a substitute for everything in their life. Instead of me sitting and reading other people’s posts on Facebook for two hours, I can go do some community work. Maybe I need to ask myself, ‘why do I always have to be so busy with someone who is not real?’”

As Gergen said more than two decades ago, “I am linked, therefore I am.”

Do we want this to be our future, our reality? What happens from here is up to us.

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them at the park, the kids are playing or trying to get attention and Mom’s on Facebook or doing something on her phone. They think they’re engaged with the outside world but they’re not. Children are drowning with their Mom and Dad sitting there on their Smart phones. They have no idea how disconnected they are.”

As far as affairs go, Bacon says if the will is there, people will always find a way.

“If someone’s going to have an affair or cheat in some way, it’s just another opportunity,” she says. “I don’t think it’s causing a problem, but I think it does make it easier. I don’t think it necessarily starts relationships, but people become open, they start flirting, and over time it can become where they connect in person. If you have a partner who is unhappy in their marriage, they are more likely to be available to someone else online.”

The question is, how “real” is that virtual paramour? And if the relationship is based on a carefully groomed online persona, how “real” are you?

" Whether you’re a single 20-something looking for a Mr. or Mrs. Right or a newly divorced parent dipping your toes back into the dating scene, online sites such as Match.com, OKCupid. com, and eHarmony. com have revolutionized the idea of how we meet and connect with new people."

BORN CONNECTED

By Sherry Thomas

BY SHERRY THOMAS

Some of social media’s youngest consumers have grown up in a world that has had them wired since birth—plugged-in and turned-on from the time they unwrapped their first Tickle Me Elmo toy. The result is a millennial generation of tech-savvy, worldly young people who reap the best and worst of what the medium has to offer.

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ut an iPhone or iPad in the hands of a typical two-year-old and prepare to be amazed. She can not only find the app to play her favorite "Ponyville" game, she will probably also organize your contacts with touch-screen skills that are quick, deliberate, and intuitive.

And she is copying her older siblings, who are also basking in a sea of glowing screens of different sizes and descriptions.

One might be playing “Star Wars Angry Birds.” Another could be video chatting with a friend on Facebook, or posting a photo to Instagram, or sending a 140-character missive into the Twittersphere.

Then there’s Mom and Dad, who are also likely to be on their own electronic devices. If they are like most parents, they are careful and vigilant.

They may have even imposed rules about “screen time” versus “quality face-to-face time.” But the reality of the next generation of Americans is they are the most wired, plugged-in, technology-dependent human beings in history, and this constant connectivity is raising ethical, legal, and psychological dilemmas no one saw coming even five years ago.

According to a clinical report on “The Impact of Social Media on Children, Adolescents, and Families” published last year in Pediatrics, the official journal of The American Academy of Pediatrics, 22 percent of teenagers log on to their favorite social media site more than 10 times a day, and more than half of adolescents log on to a social media site more than once a day. “Seventy-five percent of teenagers now own cell phones, and 25 percent use them for social media, 54 percent use them for texting, and 24 percent use them for instant messaging. Thus, a large part of this generation’s social and emotional development is occurring while on the Internet and on cell phones,” an abstract of the report concludes.

The advantages are clear. Today’s young people know how to find complex information within seconds, and they have “friends” that may span the globe. It’s the dark side—the cyberbullying and most recently, stories of teens posting unflattering or embarrassing photos of young people on Facebook in effort to publicly “shame” them—or even the danger of 24/7 addiction, compulsion, and obsessions that sends shivers down parents’ spines across the nation.

Social media veteran and frequent blogger Anjhula Mya Singh Bais is a Ph.D. candidate in The Chicago School of Professional Psychology’s International Psychology program.

In a talk presented more than a year ago at the 119th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, Dr. Larry D. Rosen, a professor of psychology at California State University, had some cold, hard warnings for parents.

Teens who use Facebook more often show narcissistic tendencies while young adults who have a strong Facebook presence show more signs of the other psychological disorders, including antisocial behaviors, mania, and aggressive tendencies, Rosen reported in “Poke Me: How Social Networks Can Both Help and Harm Our Kids.” He also said that daily overuse of media and technology has a negative effect on the health of all children, preteens, and teenagers by making them more prone to anxiety, depression, and other psychological disorders.

His research did have some high notes, including findings that young adults who spend more time on Facebook are better at showing “virtual empathy” to their online friends, and that social networking—when used in a healthy way—can provide compelling tools for teaching young students.

Still, the dilemma remains. How do we raise healthy, smart kids in this new, sometimes scary and overwhelming, digital world?

Voice of Experience Anjhula Mya Singh Bais, social media veteran and a Ph.D. candidate in The Chicago School of Professional Psychology’s International Psychology program, says her first foray into the virtual world was AOL, at age 17.

“I was never on MySpace because, intuitively, I felt it was too open. There is social media for every kind of taste. If you’re pithy and succinct, Twitter is for you with a 140-character limitation,” she says, adding: “Facebook has done so much for mankind. The genocide survivors I have worked with in Rwanda have asked me to add them. One in 12 people in the world is on Facebook. It’s sort of a worldwide directory.”

With blog posts and other social media endeavors that are now read around the globe, Bais is definitely a fan. But as a user, and

an expert via some decade of experience, she also sees how some young people get into trouble with these mediums.

“If it were not for social media, I would not be able to connect with people in different countries and get immensely helpful tips/ ideas at a stroke of a button,” she explains. “Having said that, it’s often a great distraction, and it can cause a lowering of self esteem as many try to consistently project their ‘best’ self. For teenagers, the amount of lingo and shortcuts in spelling/grammar is outstanding. But I think it will have significant effect on writing/reading/ comprehension/speaking skills because nothing substitutes for interpersonal interaction. The anonymity factor of social media has unleashed a new wave of material waiting to be researched. The wave is both inspirational and demonic in nature.”

As MIT professor Sherry Turkle writes in her book Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less From Each Other, “The network’s effects on today’s young people are paradoxical.” A licensed clinical psychologist who is also founder and director of the MIT Initiative on Technology and Self, she believes that some teenagers are beginning to turn away from the “real time” demands of the telephone and disappear into roleplaying games they describe as “communities.”

“They start to resent the devices that force them into performing their profiles; they long for a world in which personal information is not taken from them automatically, just as the cost of doing business. Often it is children who tell their parents to put away the cell phone at dinner. It is the young who begin to speak up about the problems that, to their eyes, their elders have given up on.”

But have we given up?

Dr. Thomas Barrett, chair and associate professor in the clinical psychology department at TCSPP’s Chicago Campus, doesn’t think so.

A Secret Life Last year, Barrett, published an article in the Child Analysis journal that cites social media and virtual worlds as a place where teenagers seek answers to problems that have been plaguing young people for generations.

In “The Secret Life of Teens: What you don’t know about them—What they may not know about themselves …” Barrett writes that it’s a combination of hope and longing that compels teenagers to turn to each other in these worlds.

“A recent study of teenage behavior claimed that, through Internet or ‘text’ messaging, teens connect with an average of

INSIGHT MAGAZINE SPRING 2013 23

Five Reasons Social Media is Good for Kids Are there risks for young people online? Absolutely.

35 people for a total of three hours per week. In But a clinical abstract of “The Impact of Social Media on Chila related way, consider the immense popularity among teens of such Internet sites as Facedren, Adolescents, and Families” published in Pediatrics, the official book, MySpace, and YouTube where teens journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, says children and can both use (and abuse) the opportunity adolescents who use social media can benefit in the following ways: to compose, create, and share information with another, often times spending several 1. Opportunities for community engagement through raising money hours a day in such activities.” for charity and volunteering for local initiatives, including political and Turkle suggests that this new connectivity philanthropic events. offers new possibilities for experimenting with 2. Enhancement of individual and collective creativity through the developidentity, particularly in adolescence, and the ment and sharing of artistic and musical endeavors. sense of a free space, what Erik Erikson called 3. Growth of ideas from the creation of blogs, podcasts, videos, and the “moratorium.” “This is a time, relatively gaming sites. consequence free, for doing what adolescents 4. Expansion of one’s online connections through shared interneed to do: fall in and out of love with people and ests to include others from more diverse backgrounds—affordideas. Real life does not always provide this kind of ing the opportunity for respect, tolerance, and increased space, but the Internet does,” she writes. discourse about personal and global issues.

While Barrett admits there are dangers to this 5. Fostering individual identity and unique behavior and a real potential for depression and social skills. other psychological disorders to come out of it, he shares Turkle’s philosophy that while the medium is new, teenagers are merely acting the way they always have.

“Again, I think this has to be understood in the context of a continuum,” he says in an interview from his Chicago office.

“The idea of my article is to appreciate that this is what teenagers In today’s world, a “digital footprint” is a permanent record. It’s try to do to avoid feeling alone. I see it not as a defensive thing but as something that is being utilized to try to cope and try to up to all of us to keep our children’s as clean and safe as possible.

“Just like parents square up to have a talk about sexuality, find a way to get through a difficult period of life.”

However, he does think the medium is raising the stakes for the so must they with the ramifications of an online footprint,” says Bais, whose work around the world as a model and blogger future of our children.

“One thing that’s important for those who work with teenagers has required her to stay vigilant about how she is being porand even young adults is to encourage them to think about the trayed online.” There are countless incidences of people being long-term consequences of what they’re going to say,” Barrett expelled or not getting admitted to the college of their dreams explains. “These are new issues young people need to think because of misuse of social media.”

She also says that young people need to remember that they have about. There used to be this idea that until you were done with adolescence, you got a pass. But if you have traces of your past the right—and more importantly, the responsibility—to control immaturity lingering on the Internet that could be hard to escape and regulate what their friends say about them or post online.

“As hard as it might be, try to think of your dream when you’re or live down, that’s something you might long regret.”

The report in Pediatrics echoes the same concerns, sug- 20 or 30. What are things that could get in the way? Think gesting that the main risk to pre-adolescents and adolescents long-term and realize that your online footprint lasts forever,” online today are risks from each other, risks of improper use of Bais advises “Never Tweet, “like,” “pin,” or update something technology, lack of privacy, sharing too much information, or that you wouldn’t want to have around forever that everyone can see. That’s the golden rule of thumb.” posting false information about themselves or others.

Why Telemental Health Could Revolutionize The Way We Practice.

BEYOND THE COUCH

By Meredith Vigil

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nvision a world where patients can attend a weekly therapy session—confiding every thought and fear that is preventing them from living their fullest life—but instead of sitting on a proverbial couch in a therapist’s office, they are streaming live in high-depth video from the comfort of their own home.

Sounds a little futuristic?

With technology and social media tools advancing at unprecedented rates, this remote methodology—labeled telemental health—is providing ground-breaking options for practitioners to deliver effective care and treat patients in an increasingly complex 21st century.

Using encrypted software developed according to strict HIPAA guidelines, Internet and video teleconferencing (VTC) tools are used to connect patients to clinicians remotely on computer monitors and video teleconferencing screens in real time. Security is critical, and the web-based equipment utilized by telemental health professionals needs to ensure a reliable connection.

It’s a complicated endeavor, one that is expanding more rapidly than the industry ever imagined. But as a 2011 pilot program launched within the U.S. Department of

Veterans Affairs (VA)—and pioneered by an alumnus of The Chicago School of Professional Psychology—has shown, it works.

Dr. Peter Shore (Psy. D., ’09) joined the Portland VA Medical Center as a staff psychologist shortly after graduating from TCSPP—quickly becoming an instrumental player as the VA began searching for ways to leverage telemental health tools for veterans who were returning home with a myriad of psychological needs, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

The result was the VA’s home-based telemental health program, launched in February 2011—a first-of-its-kind endeavor that allowed any returning soldier who needed help the opportunity to receive treatment in their home via personal computer, web cam, and encrypted software.

Access was quickly established for veterans, first at the

INSIGHT MAGAZINE SPRING 2013 25

Portland VA, then throughout the Northwest Health Network’s VISN-20, the largest geographical VA network covering Oregon, Alaska, Idaho, California, Montana, and Washington.

The Portland-based pilot program was well-received by veterans and provided enough data to justify a regional expansion. “We found in the first two years of the program, about 80 percent of those enrolled in the program would not have received mental health care if it had not been available in the home,” says Shore, who is now director of telehealth services for VISN-20.

The VA central office has since adopted this modality and now offers veterans across the country in-home treatment options through the Clinical Video Telehealth (CVT) program. Not only does the in-home treatment eliminate the barriers of travel and access to treatment, it also provides a safe, secure environment where they can feel comfortable confiding in providers.

The program’s success is a model for the rest of the country, and possibly the world.

According to the U.S. Health and Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration, nearly 80 million Americans live in a mental health professional shortage area and could benefit from programs like the one offered by the VA. And that doesn’t even count the need for remotely administered mental health assistance around the globe.

But here’s the caveat: While the opportunities for success through telemental health might appear to be as endless as the Internet itself, this is still considered an untapped resource for many psychologists, and for good reason.

One of them is the challenge of treating patients remotely across state lines. Current licensing laws do not provide enough guidance as to whether or not psychologists based in one state can provide services to a patient residing in another. Only three states—California, Kentucky, and Vermont—have instituted specific licensing guidelines for the use of telemental health.

Another is overcoming the inevitable unknown variables that come with treating a patient in their home using remote technology.

“These include developing a relationship with the patient at a distance, while ensuring their competency and comfort around technology. They also must know how to handle an emergency situation,” adds Shore.

“The idea of not knowing and feeling out of control provokes anxiety for some providers. And your patient can pick up on that anxiety—which in turn may have treatment implications.”

However, changes are coming that could help eliminate some of the industry’s apprehensions and fears.

The American Telemedicine Association, the leading international resource and advocate for remote medical technologies, and the American Psychological Association have established task forces to create technical and clinical guidelines and clarify what is acceptable and not acceptable as psychologists work with new technologies.

Shore says his experience shows how beneficial telemental health can be, and he encourages his colleagues to consider these new options in their practice.

The results can be life-changing.

As a veteran once told him, “I’m in my own bunker, around my things, my stuff. Being in this environment makes me comfortable to speak freely.” Some veterans may be self-conscious about visiting a VA medical center for mental health care.

“It offers less visibility to the general population and is an effective tool in addressing the stigma,” he adds.

Additionally, some veterans become less guarded and feel solace in the distance between themselves and the therapist. “They become naturally vulnerable and let their guard down—that vulnerability is potentially a pathway of change.”

Perhaps the next question is, where do we go from here?

While social networking, texting, and emailing have not been HIPAA-approved as secure mediums, Shore and other telemental health leaders are pushing for guidelines and advancements to be able to use these tools in meaningful ways.

The VA’s mental health clinicians have already integrated iPhone applications such as PTSD Coach—an iOS application developed by the VA and the Department of Defense—that can be used as an adjunctive tool to assist in treatment between therapy sessions.

“My hope is to help develop best practices in telemental health by making healthcare available anytime, anywhere, using mobile technology, where you can have the ability to use two-way communications,” adds Shore.

“One day, I hope a veteran will be given a choice of where they’d like to receive treatment—at the medical center, community clinic, at home, or on the road.”

alumni news

When Nausheen Pasha-Zaidi visited South Africa last year as part of her International Psychology field experience, this house had been burned and abandoned. Thanks to her efforts, it has been rebuilt and the family has returned to their neighborhood.

S TAY CONNECTED, GE T IN VOLV ED

Nausheen pasha-zaidi (Ph.D. ’12)

Changing the World, One Family at a Time

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or most students, a trip to South Africa is a life changer. But when Nausheen Pasha-Zaidi (Ph.D ’12) visited the Capetown township of Langa last year as part of her International Psychology field experience at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology, the lives that were changed most were those of a family she will never meet.

Pasha-Zaidi, born in the coastal city of Karachi, Pakistan, was on what started as a typical group tour of a typical South African neighborhood. However, she saw something that day that stayed with her long after the 10-day trip had ended—inspiring her to lead an international fundraising campaign

that harnessed her TCSPP friends and worldwide social network.

While on the tour of Langa, Pasha-Zaidi says she noticed the embers of what remained of a home destroyed by fire. This desolate skeleton of a house was in a connected row of homes filled with warmth and love, with families trying their hardest to better their lives and their children’s future. It didn’t make sense.

“The house immediately struck me as misplaced.

It wasn’t part of the shanty homes or temporary shelters that we saw in other townships. This was a developed home,” explains Pasha-Zaidi. “It didn’t seem right that there was a burnt façade in the middle of this neighborhood.”

She learned that the former residents—a multigenerational family of eight cared for by a female matriarch—had lost their home and had since been scattered and displaced to a meager one-room “bachelor’s quarters” elsewhere in the village.

Pasha-Zaidi asked her tour guide, Eric Dilma, what it cost to build a home in Langa and was shocked to learn that for just a few thousand dollars,

jobs in the township. “I view humanitarianism not as making small changes in a community from the outside and then leaving, but helping people local to their land revitalize their own community,” adds Pasha-Zaidi. “That’s how you create sustainability by helping people gain momentum to do things on their own.”

Now an assistant professor at the Petroleum Institute in Abu-Dhabi, U.A.E. and adjunct faculty for TCSPP’s International Psychology program, Pasha-Zaidi focuses her research efforts on ethnicity and perceptions of stereotypes. However, she says she will continue to look for opportunities to help rebuild communities whenever possible.

Rachel Niemi (Ph.D. ’12)

Bringing Hope to Homeless Women

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omen who lose their homes in the midst of crisis are among our society’s most vulnerable citizens. Those with children or families to care for are often eligible for shelters and other social programs to help them get back on their feet. But if they are alone, the options are very limited.

Chicago School alumna Rachel Niemi (Ph.D. ’12) is doing something about that.

Shortly after graduating last fall, Niemi was appointed to serve as director of the Dayspring Homeless Women’s Center, a new program that offers shelter and guidance to homeless women in Valparaiso, Ind. “Some of the women do have children, but we primarily work with single women, mainly because we’re filling a need in the community,” explains Niemi, a northwest Indiana native who also worked at the nearby Porter County Family Counseling Center while completing her degree. “I feel like every day I’m using just about everything I learned.”

Dayspring evolved from Open Arms Women’s Shelter Program with a mission to serve this population, opening its doors on Oct. 15. And Niemi, who supervises a staff of volunteers, has been given the opportunity to develop it from the ground up.

“The vision is to have it primarily be a safe place where these women can explore what is maintaining their homelessness, what’s keeping them down, and how they can find solutions to their own problems and make change when they’re ready,” she says.

“There are definitely a lot of mental health concerns. We see undiagnosed mental health issues, substance abuse issues, and we’ve had a few women who’ve been through domestic violence issues. These are chronic psychological issues, and their problems need to be approached in ways that maybe haven’t been tried before.”

Niemi says she realized during the course of her study at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology that she wanted to devote her career to working with people in crisis.

“Being the director allows me a lot of creative freedom. It allows me to take chances and make mistakes but also to develop some pretty cool things,” she adds. “I’m working with people who are survivors. They live in chaos and live from moment to moment.”

Dayspring currently serves 28 clients in the day program with the capacity to serve 10 overnight, in cooperation with PADS and Open Arms. Niemi’s vision, and part of her charge as director, is to expand the program through outreach and fundraising initiatives.

“Our primary goal is not to be dependent on grants. We’d like to have a strong enough base of donors to sustain our mission,” she says. “The first few weeks I was almost overwhelmed with the generosity of the community. As the only paid staff person, Dayspring relies very heavily on volunteers.

But we’re always looking for collaborators; always looking for new ways to fundraise and new ideas for programming.”

For more information about Dayspring, go to dayspringvalpo.org.

INSIGHT MAGAZINE SPRING 2013 27

little more than what a typical U.S. family might spend to renovate a kitchen, this home could be rebuilt, and a family torn apart by disaster could be reunited.

“It didn’t seem quite fair in life. It just stayed in the back of my mind,” explains Pasha-Zaidi.

Once she returned from her travels, she was motivated to make a difference.

Pasha-Zaidi reached out to her instructor Emily B. Karem to see if there was anything that could be done to help rebuild this home.

Karem, associate vice president of international services, referred her to TCSPP’s international partner in Langa—Anthony Galloway, from the LEAP Science & Math Schools. LEAP’s vision is to transform South African communities by teaching disadvantage youth and members of the community to understand their potential to be positive agents of change. If Pasha-Zaidi could raise enough money to finance the construction, LEAP and Dilma would oversee the project, ensuring it would be completed through their community ties in Langa.

Pasha-Zaidi’s initial fundraising campaign focused on asking her family, friends, and TCSPP colleagues for support.

“I received huge contributions from some of my fellow doctoral students," she says.

"One student donated $1,000. Like me, she had been inspired by her own global excursion experience in South Africa. Her generosity almost made me cry.”

To cast a wider net of donors and reach her end goal, Pasha-Zaidi relied on the power of Facebook as a tool to engage with others across the world for help. By documenting the progress of the home construction via photo posts and status updates, Pasha-Zaidi was able to encourage others to contribute to the worthy cause. “It was heartwarming that people can come together to make a change in a part of the world where they have no direct ties to.”

In the span of seven months, Pasha-Zaidi raised $4,000 to rebuild the Langa home.

With that money, Pasha-Zaidi’s South African contacts hired a construction crew indigenous to the area—creating additional

GIVING BACK

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

Children at the Taller de Los Ninos (TANI) in Lima, Peru, enjoy a meal together. TCSPP's International Psychology students offer in-service training and other volunteer support to TANI in its mission to provide health, education, and advocacy for infants, children, and families.

Para Los Ninos When The Chicago School of Professional Psychology forges an international partnership, community service is always a key component. One of those projects happening right now is in Lima, Peru, where TCSPP students in the international psychology program are making a difference by helping infants, children, and families at the Taller de Los Ninos (TANI).

I

n San Juan de Lurigancho, an impoverished district on the steep outskirts of Lima, Peru, approximately one million people are reinventing their lives.

“Many people who live in Lurigancho have left their homes in the jungle or the mountains during the recent terrorist period which ended around 2000,” explains Dr. Carroll Cradock, a former president of The Chicago School of Professional Psychology who now serves as an honorary faculty member in the School of Human Sciences at Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas (UPC), TCSPP’s partner institution in Lima, Peru. “They are from many indigenous groups, each one having their own customs. They are referred to as ‘immigrants’

by Peruvians even though they are from Peru because they have relocated to the city. The immigrants are very poor and live in makeshift housing on hillsides on the edge of Lima. Many do not have electricity.”

In the heart of that community is Taller de Los Ninos (TANI), an organization that provides health, education, and advocacy for infants, children, and families. Hundreds of children are served here every day, and thanks to the efforts of Dr. Stefan Reich—a Peru native who attended and graduated from TSCPP—International Psychology students studying abroad at UPC have joined forces with community health care workers to help make that happen.

“The connection with UPC stemmed out of interpersonal relationships. At the time, I had just returned to work in my home country, Peru, after having lived abroad for many years, and was connected with a vibrant university— UPC,” says Reich, who now serves as director of the Peru International Liaison Office in Lima. “I am thrilled to be the liaison officer for TCSPP in Peru as it is aligned with my values of internationalization in education and contributing to take psychology to an international level.”

Cradock, who was recently designated Honorary Professor at UPC (see page 9) and who helped create the program with Reich, says students accompany community health care workers who provide post-delivery care to new parents and their newborns. They also have an opportunity to provide in-service training to the staff on topics selected by TANI, which include everything from adolescent parenting issues to child abuse.

“TANI is a remarkable organization, which, while being very ‘grass roots,’ also has a remarkable system for collecting data on the progress of each infant and child seen in the program,” Cradock explains. “However, TANI does not have a staff to analyze the data, so this is where the services of our students are so valuable.”

Emily Brinkmoeller Karem, associate vice president of international services, reports that in 2012, an estimated 1,523 hours of international community service were performed by TCSPP students and faculty. The project at TANI is just one way that students and faculty participating in TCSPP international programs give back to the communities that surround partner institutions.

Reich recently received an Eisenhower Fellowship and will participate in its Multi Nation Program (MNP) this spring. He is hoping to expand on the partnership with UPC to develop similar service projects in Peru. Cradock applauds this, saying the experience for students has been invaluable.

“They have gained an appreciation of the leadership it takes to begin, develop, expand, and sustain a non-governmental organization (NGO) in another country, which is particularly important for those in the organization and systems track,” she explains. “They have also learned much about the psychology of resilience and recovery from a period of terrorism and trauma as it applies to the individual, family, community, and national level.”

last page POMP AND CIRCUMSTANCE The D.C. Campus of The Chicago School of Professional Psychology welcomed The Honorable James Kimonyo (3), ambassador of Rwanda to the U.S., as keynote speaker for its inaugural Commencement ceremony in October. D.C. President Dr. Orlando Taylor and National President Michele Nealon-Woods shared congratulations (1) with a graduating class comprised of nearly all women, at least half of them minorities. Commencement festivities for the L.A., Westwood, and Irvine campuses were also held at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium (2), with TCSPP students receiving master’s and Psy.D. degrees (5).

In Chicago, clinical psychology faculty members Dr. Ken Fogel, Dr, Robert Foltz, and Dr. Paul Sanders (4) celebrated with 600 graduates in the campus’ 28th Commencement ceremony.

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

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