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Health Care
Insight-centered approach to mental health An interview with Dr. Michael Weissman
Dr. Michael Weissman.
Debbie Burke
Judging by the waiting list of more than 400 people for Dr. Michael S. Weissman, Ph.D.’s outpatient practice, you would think there is a heightened need for mental health services today, and you would be exactly right.
According to the Chesapeake and Norfolk-based psychologist who opened a private practice in 1981, the last three years have felt like a “different era.” A general state of angst, he says, is evident, transforming what used to be a large number of patients with depression and anxiety into patients now presenting with an “overlay” of an overarching sense of “existential questioning.”
“We still dig for what is triggering a person’s distress,” he says. “Before, you could say ‘let’s explore why you are anxious.’ Now, you say ‘of course you’re anxious.’” Weissman helps patients develop tools to find their own purpose and meaning.
There are two major myths people tend to have about therapy before they start.
The first is that it is somehow a weakness or a crutch. That’s flawed, he says, but pervasive. “It’s a huge growth step if a person approaches it the right way: I want to fix it, I want to grow.” While medicine tends to be illness-focused as if something is “broken” and causing a patient to feel they are “defective,” Weissman’s approach is to teach ways of coping that are effective, whether in one’s marriage, work, or for one’s own inner peace. “At some point, everyone has to look at themselves and say ‘I want to change.’ That’s a huge sign of strength.”
The other misconception about therapy is that it’s a passive process; that the therapist will somehow fix you. “This couldn’t be further from the truth. Usually they realize ‘hey, this is not sit back and let the doctor do it.’ It’s a shared journey in mastery helping a person to learn new skills and to develop better character traits. They have to be very active in that process.”
In 2019, Weissman and Rabbi Mordechai Wecker co-authored a book called Therapy According to G-d (Mosaica Press). The idea for the book came at a moment when Weissman was attending Rabbi Wecker’s weekly class on Torah and noticed how integral faith insights from the Torah were to his daily practice (he is a secular practitioner, taking patients of all backgrounds and faiths).
“The book is a reflection of my entire career, but I didn’t know it until I became Orthodox. Both daily life issues and existential questions are best answered by digging into insights from the Torah about purpose, meaning, personal growth, and mortality,” says Weissman.
Even with the present state of the world, Weissman remains optimistic about the mental health field and how people can continue to learn, grow, and heal.
“I’m most hopeful about the significant increase in people who are now seeking help,” says Weissman. “Much of the stigma [over therapy] has softened or gone away. It’s troubling that there is so much need, but more people are trying to find healthier solutions to reducing such symptoms as depression and anxiety rather than resorting to substances or allowing their feelings to manifest in acting-out behaviors. So many people are coming in with frustration and hopelessness watching the world crumble, and they feel ‘so what am I; what’s the point?’ In the Torah, each one of us is responsible for fixing the world through the development of our character traits, how we deal with problems, and how we treat other people.”
Weissman received his undergraduate education at Princeton University in 1970 and earned his Master of Science (1972) and Doctorate (1974) degrees from the University of Massachusetts in the field of Clinical Psychology. He completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship at Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse, New York, before moving to Virginia in 1975 to take a position as the first doctoral level psychologist at Maryview Community Mental Health Center followed by five years at Portsmouth Psychiatric Center. He started his private practice in 1981 which has grown to two locations, one on Colley Ave. in Norfolk, and the main office at Churchland Psychological Center.
Excerpt, Therapy According to G-d by Rabbi Mordechai Wecker and Michael Weissman, Ph.D.
Chapter 3 “No One in My Family Gets Along”
Both Jennifer and George state that their discussions get nowhere, and they realize that they have a severe breakdown in communication. They acknowledged that they both end up saying very hurtful things to the other…. They…are willing to try one more attempt at therapy with the goal of trying to address these communication issues as well as more deeply rooted underlying issues….
“…Jennifer and George…were presenting with a myriad of interconnected issues which result in a family which is always close to a state of chaos. In complex situations such as this, it becomes important to find a place to start which will allow both persons to feel that what they have to say counts, that their feelings are important, and that the other person in the relationship wants to understand their feelings. … [T]he starting place should be in helping them learn that there are proper ways to talk with each other as well as ways that are unacceptable, ways that never work, and therefore need to be first identified and then abandoned. … [L]et us see what the Torah has to tell us. The Torah is infinitely rich in giving us rules for living which we have learned from how our forefathers conducted their lives, as well as from the commandments themselves.”
Health Care
JEWISH FAMILY SERVICE
“Perfect storm” sees heightened need for mental health counseling
Debbie Burke
Think about it: the world went through a pandemic, a lockdown, reintegration, new variants, social isolation, and financial uncertainty. Why wouldn’t anxiety be at an all-time high?
“The level of stress has exploded,” says Debra Mayer, LCSW, CT director of clinical services at Jewish Family Service of Tidewater. “Since COVID started, the trend we are seeing is that everybody across the country has a demand for service greater than the providers that are available. This is especially true in working with children and the elderly.”
Debra Mayer.
JFS provides counseling services for people from ages two through 100. Outpatient counseling is available for individuals, couples, and families. Currently, three full-time LCSWs and three parttime LCSWs are employed to provide the counseling. But for the first time in 25 years, there’s a waiting list for services, so it’s time to grow and Mayer says JFS is actively looking for more staff.
“There was always a shortage of mental health providers, especially psychiatrists, but that shortage has gotten worse,” Mayer notes. Family doctors and pediatricians are now stepping up to prescribe psychiatric medication because it can take three to six months to get an appointment with a psychiatrist.
“If a child is properly diagnosed with ADD [for example], most pediatricians feel fairly confident to treat that. But if the diagnosis is anxiety or depression, they really want them to see a specialist,” says Mayer.
When the COVID-19 pandemic began, JFS began to deliver counseling services Family owned and operated since 1917
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through telehealth. Now, they’re moving back to in-office appointments while keeping some telehealth patients, making it a hybrid situation. The insurance companies, Mayer relates, revise telehealth coverage guidelines frequently, but she hopes JFS will be able to stick with the hybrid model. It’s especially important to keep telehealth for the elderly that do not drive, she says.
Mayer is also a Certified Thanatologist (grief counselor), and she and her staff specialize in grief counseling. This includes coping with life transitions, divorce, and illness, as well as the death of a loved one. For the past 21 years, JFS has also partnered with Edmarc Hospice to provide “Peace by Piece” which are free community support groups for grieving children and their families.
“So much of it has piled up on people,” says Mayer. “The elderly are experiencing lots of isolation. For kids, it’s been difficult to not be around other children for so long. Now that they’re back with other kids, it’s been hard for them to reintegrate.”
For more information, contact JFS at www. jfshamptonroads.org or 757-459-4640.
Health Care
A pain management approach to long-haul COVID, gut issues, and what to know about medical marijuana
Debbie Burke
Staying on top of current research in pain management is very important to Dr. Lisa Barr, who has more than 30 years of experience as a board-certified physician treating patients in Tidewater with muscle, nerve, and joint problems related to sports injuries and degenerative conditions. The author of Outsmart Your Pain: The Essential Guide to Overcoming Pain and Transforming Your Life (Synergy Health Quest, LLC, 2018), Barr discusses with Jewish News the most common issues she comes across and what new research reveals.
Jewish News: What are the different types of pain and their causes that you typically see in your practice? Dr. Lisa Barr: At the Barr Center, we provide non-surgical treatment for low back and neck pain, as well as sports injuries and overuse conditions using traditional modalities as well as regenerative therapies. We also have a keen interest in functional medicine which seeks to assess the root cause of many diseases and conditions. This includes looking for nutrient deficiencies, hidden gut infections and genetic weaknesses that impact cellular function. As an offshoot of our functional medicine program, we recently opened an IV therapy practice with a focus on solving challenging problems like long-haul COVID. We also advocate the use of CBD products as the studies of the endocannabinoid system are overwhelmingly positive for reducing pain, improving gut function, and helping with brain function and mood, as well as supporting immune function. JN: With long-haul COVID, what should people know about for pain management? LB: The primary concerns we see are brain fog and generalized fatigue. The reason people get long-haul issues is the effect of the virus on ACE2 receptors that ultimately cause vascular issues and inflammation that can impact any organ system. It also impacts the critical energy-producing organelles called mitochondria. Brain inflammation causes brain fog and mitochondrial dysfunction severely limits our ability to produce energy, causing fatigue. COVID also effects the gut microbiome which impacts production of the crucial neurotransmitters responsible for pain threshold.
JN: Concerning medical marijuana, what do people need to know about its use, including the legality of it for pain management as prescribed by a doctor? LB: Marijuana and CBD are both phytocannabinoids. That means that they are plant-based substances that can influence our endocannabinoid system (the role of which is to regulate one’s ability to achieve homeostasis; by regulating the nervous system, it protects the immune system). Both marijuana and CBD come from the hemp plant, but each is bred to yield plant material with different features; some plants have more THC and others have more CBD. There are nearly 60 different phytocannabinoids and these are the most popular, but there is also CBN, CBC, and CBG which have different therapeutic effects.
The legal limit of THC in any phytocannabinoid in the US is < 0.3%. Anything higher than that is considered marijuana. THC is a powerful pain reliever, but it is also a hallucinogen and potentially addicting, while CBD is not, so when we determine someone would benefit from a phytocannabinoid, we consider these factors.
Topical CBD salves are effective in treating pain in the neck and extremities as they are easily absorbed and provide an all-natural form of pain relief and reduced inflammation. For more diffuse pain conditions, most patients start with full spectrum CBD gummies or tinctures and only if they don’t respond do they consider getting a medical marijuana card. Products are purchased at a dispensary.
To obtain a medical marijuana card, you have to apply online through the Virginia Board of Medicine and have a physician’s support.
JN: What role does the gut’s microbiome play in pain? LB: The gut microbiome is responsible for about 60% of our immune system. A healthy and diverse gut microbiome is essential for good health. When there is an overgrowth of certain bacteria or a significant deficiency, we can experience symptoms such as IBS and autoimmunity. Pathogenic bacteria, viruses, parasites, and candida can cause pain, arthritis, gastric ulcers, IBS, cancer, and many other disorders. A simple stool sample can assess the health and diversity of one’s microbiome. The gut microbiome is linked to the gut-brain connection and that is why our gut is often referred to as our second brain. Think ‘gut instincts.’ They are real!
JN: Advice to people experiencing pain about how to find the right practitioner? LB: Seek providers that focus on the root cause of pain so that the underlying cause/causes are addressed rather than simply treating symptoms. Make sure that your provider can distinguish between compensatory patterns and pathology, and address each appropriately. In other words, we can have an injury, and through our body’s innate protective behaviors, adopt painful postural and gait patterns. At a certain point, these compensatory patterns can take over and become the cause of persistent pain.
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The Barr Center for Innovative Pain & Regenerative Therapies is located in Virginia Beach. Visit barrcenter.com or call 757-578-2260.
