Houston Psychiatric Society

In Memory of Alex Pokorny MD

Condensed wisdom a foundation.
Dignity ripened in quiet reflection.
Epitome of careful study process,
offered in clarity of expressiuon.
Concise and measured caring;
the impact of Love as science.
The meaning of Pokorny,
defines humility, in perpetuity.

National Depression Screening Day

It is Depression Screening Day
FREE Depression Screening
Thursday October 11, 2007
2-5:pm
HCC Southwest Campus
5407 Gulfton, Houston, Tx 77081
Google Map here.
Sponsored by HPS and HCC

Historic Opportunity for Electronic Medical Record Unification in Texas

Three major healthcare groups: Harris (Houston) and Tarrant (Dallas) County Mental Health Mental Retardation Authority (MHMRA) and Gateway to Care are either near Request for Proposal (RFP) or already have proposals for Electronic Medical Record (EMR) systems. A decision will be made in the next two months. Linking the MHRMRA's and Gateway to Care via the same EMR system would be a historic, rare, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. For the success of these initiatives and the future of our patients, it is of critical importance that the systems chosen 1) be non-proprietary, Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) licensed products and 2) use the same software base. Advocacy for such a system by Houston Psychiatric Society and its members is crucial.

New Book to Appear this Fall--THE CULT OF OSAMA

THE CULT OF OSAMA: Psychoanalyzing Bin Laden and His Magnetism for Muslim Youths will be published by The Greenwood Group in the late fall.Dr. Olsson presents a psychobiographical, group psychodynamic, and applied self-psychological approach to understanding Osama bin Laden's appeal. The war on terror will not be won with only bombs and bullets.

Join the HPS Team / NAMIWalk Houston / May 5

Join the HPS Team for the NAMIWalk Houston on Saturday, May 5. The walk will take place at Sam Houston Park. Check-in at 7:30 am / walk at 8:30 am.

You can register to walk with our team by going to www.nami.org and click on the NAMIWalks box on the left and then click on Texas and Houston. Our team name is HPSTeam07. If you cannot join us on the walk, please consider sponsoring a walker.

This purpose of the walk is to raise community awareness of mental illness and to raise funds to support NAMI's free education classes, support groups and advocacy. This is also an opportunity for those of us in Houston's mental health community to meet and get to know each other - strengthening all of our efforts.

Psychiatrist Position Available

The Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center�s community-based clinic in Conroe, Texas, is currently recruiting for a Staff Psychiatrist, to join a multidisciplinary mental health team treating veterans with a full range of diagnoses including mood disorders, PTSD, anxiety disorders, psychotic disorders, and substance abuse. Duties include psychiatric evaluations, psychiatric medication management, supervision of a mid-level provider (physician assistant or nurse practitioner), and coordination of the veteran�s overall mental health care (including referrals for psychotherapy and monitoring therapy progress).

How Psychiatrists Can Develop Skills to Become Organizational Consultants

The Brande Foundation is focused on providing life coaching and workshops to leaders of large, national and international, non-profit, non-religious organizations.

Life coaching is a process whereby the coach assists the client to determine what he or she wants in all areas of life for the rest of life and to then develop realistic and multiple action plans to achieve those visions. Generally the coach meets with the client three to six times per month over several years in order to assist them to achieve the life of their dreams by discovering their passions and uncovering their genius.

Mental Wellness Support Needed in San Antonio, TX

Immediate Full-time position for a M.D. Psychiatrist with a private practice setting in San Antonio, TX. Zeitgeist Wellness Group www.zeitgeistwellnessgroup.com 1222 N. Main Suite 740 San Antonio, TX 78212 210-271-7411

Children's Mental Health Action Network Resource Guide

CMHAN Road Map Gives Parents Hope and Help

When a child or adolescent is struggling with mental disorder, parents or caregivers often don�t know where to turn for help and support. The Children�s Mental Health Action Network, a coalition of parent advocates in Harris County has developed a guide based on the experiences of parents coping day to day. The step-by-step resource guide offers suggestions for coping and where to find community resources and support. The idea is that parents who become educated advocate for their child and actively partner with their doctors, schools and other support team members. Parents become empowered and there is hope for recovery.

The guide identifies several �stops on the road to recovery�, including: finding mental health care professionals, testing and diagnosis, understanding and supporting your child at home, forming a support team, parent education, partnering with schools, and crisis management. In the Resource section there is a brief description of the many services offered through support organizations, clinics, hospitals, schools, public assistance programs, books and websites. Professionals and educators reviewed the guide including John Sargent, M.D., Director of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Baylor College of Medicine, Robbie Sharp, Ph.D., and Becky Millikin, Ed.D.

Click on the link below for a downloadable PDF document of the guide. Printed copies for your office may also be obtained from the Mental Health Association and other coalition members. To order copies, contact Delora King at MHA at 713-522-5161.

www.mhahouston.org

Free Mental Health Screening October 5

The Houston Psychiatric Society and Houston Community College are teaming up to offer free, anonymous mental health screening for depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders and postpartum depression at the West Loop Campus (5601 West Loop South) on Thursday, October 5 from 9 am - 3 pm. No appointment is necessary. Free parking. Screenings will take place in private partitions inside the Auditorium, which is located just inside the entrance. For more information, please call 713.668.5226.

Psychiatrists Needed

Psychiatrists needed to perform evaluations and ongoing medical management for parents, adolescents and children referred by the Department of Family and Protective Services. Your office or mine. No in-patient. No on-call or emergency services required. Good income for work with patients who genuinely need your help. Please call Dr. Newsom at (713) 533-0022 if interested.

Beyond Psychotropics: The Lost Art and Science of Psychoanalysis Contribution to Understanding Psychosis

A review of Joint Presentation With The Michigan Society for Psychoanalytic Psychology

PARANOIAC VISIONS AND NEO-REALITIES IN THE RECENT CINEMA:

Reflections on Tausk's "Influencing Machine in Schizophrenia"

A Film for Saturday Night

The Influencing Machine of Miss Natalija A. An Interactive Video Installation Zoe Beloff

[1] I work with a variety of forms of moving image; film, live stereoscopic projection performance, interactive cinema on CD-ROM and installation. The cinemas I create are marginal, fragile, sometimes existing only momentarily in the act of projection. I think not only about the telling stories but how the projection apparatus itself creates meaning and shapes our understanding. I am concerned with exploring the concept of "projection" not simply as a technical device but in relation to the idea of "mental projection," the transmission of thought. To this end I am particularly fascinated by case histories of mental patients and mediums, whom I think of as technological visionaries.

Rememberance of Things Past: The Origin of Influencing Machine

Viktor Tausk (1879 - July 3, 1919) was a pioneer psychoanalyst and neurologist. A student and a colleague of Sigmund Freud and the earliest exponent of psychoanalytical concepts with regard to clinical psychosis and the personality of the artist. In 1919 after he had stepped out from Freud�s shadow, Tausk published a paper on the origin of a delusion common to a wide array of schizophrenic patients,

Applied Clinical Study of Destructive Cults

BOOK ANNOUNCEMENT

Charisma run amok among wannabe gods

MALIGNANT PIED PIPERS OF OUR TIME: A Psychological Study of Destructive Cult Leaders from the Rev. Jim Jones to Osama bin Laden PublishAmerica, Baltimore (2005) ISBN 1-4137-7668-X Amazon.com, B&N Peter A. Olsson MD In this book, psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Dr. Peter A. Olsson examines the phenomena of destructive and apocalyptic cults, revealing the psychological roots of both leaders and cult members. Dr. Olsson calls the leaders � Rev. Jim Jones, David Koresh, Shoko Asahara, Osama bin Laden, and others � Malignant Pied Pipers for the way they lure followers to their deaths. He uses the tenets of psychology to analyze the lives of the cult leaders and the source of their powerful attraction to vulnerable converts. Most important in this age of global terrorism, Dr. Olsson offers his vision for the book: �It is my hope that this in-depth psychological study of destructive cult leaders of the last 30 years � Malignant Pied Pipers � illuminates the roots of their malevolence and their power, a condition that has invariably led to murder, mass suicide, the destruction of families, and to the terrorist acts that dominate our headlines. By understanding them and their appeal, we increase our chance of averting future disasters.�

NAMIWalk Saturday, May 20

The NAMIWalk is scheduled for Saturday, May 20th at 8:30 am at Sam Houston Park. There is still time to sign up for the walk, or to sponsor one of the HPS team members. This inaugural walk in Houston is to raise community awareness of mental illness and to raise funds to support NAMI's free education classes, support groups and advocacy. You can register for the HPS team by going to www.nami.org/namiwalks06/HOU/HPS06

April 19th Joint Meeting

The last meeting will be a Joint Meeting with the Houston Pediatric Society and is scheduled for Wednesday, April 19th, 6:30 pm at Trevisio. Shari Sistrunk, MD will present "Child and Adolescent Mood Disorders. A map to Trevisio is located on the right column in the Newsletters section.

Talk to the Doc / October 1 / 9 am - 3 pm

DOCTORS LEND AN EAR TO DISCUSS MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES

Are you one of the millions of Americans who feel like they�re losing control over their own emotions? A recent Harvard Medical School study of developed and developing nations finds that the United States has the highest rate of mental health disorders such as depression - and that they are all too frequently undiagnosed.

For most people, figuring out the line between �I�ve been moody lately� or �I get tired easily,� �I can�t sleep� and �I have depression� is difficult. That�s why the Houston Psychiatric Society is offering a free, anonymous �CALL THE DOCTOR� opportunity on Saturday, October 1 from 9 am - 3 pm. Volunteer Psychiatrists will be on hand to answer questions and pass along information on where to get help. The number to call is 713.759.1133.

�The stigma associated with depression and related disorders has decreased in recent years, but many people aren�t able to recognize depression in themselves and others,� says Dawnelle Schatte, MD. This is an easy first step for anyone who�s concerned about their own mental health or the mental health of someone close to them.� ###

Career Opportunity

UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS MEDICAL BRANCH CORRECTIONAL MANAGED CARE RECRUITMENT OF PSYCHIATRISTS

Want a guaranteed income where psychiatrists are actually valued and appreciated?

Skyview Psychiatric Hospital is 528 beds which services the UTMB catchment area along with a second psychiatric hospital serving 160,000 inmates in East Texas. No insurance forms, no billing, limited on-call by telephone. State-of-the-art electronic medical record and digital medical services. Teaching opportunity with psychiatric residents from UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas when residents are available.

Live in beautiful East Texas city of Tyler (100,000 population) with a warm climate, great recreational and educational opportunities.

We are currently not eligible for J1 Visa status.

For more information contact John W. Raasoch, M.D., Clinical Director at (903) 683-5781, Ext. 1158 or Mona Ross at Ext. 1232.

Crisis Hotline Available for Victims of Hurricane Katrina

Headline: CRISIS HOTLINE AVAILABLE FOR VICTIMS OF HURRICANE KATRINA

The Department of Health and Human Services today announced the availability of a toll-free hotline for people in crisis in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. By dialing 1-800-273-TALK (1-800-273-8255), callers will be connected to a network of local crisis centers across the country that are committed to crisis counseling. Callers to the hotline will receive counseling from trained staff at the closest certified crisis center in the network.

"We have all been touched by this tragedy, and profound sadness, grief, and anger are normal reactions that many people may experience," HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt said. "We want people to know that we have a nationwide team of crisis counseling experts available to help people through their grief and loss."

The network is run by HHS' Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and involves more than 110 certified crisis centers. People who are in emotional distress or suicidal can call at any time from anywhere in the nation to talk to a trained worker who will listen to and assist callers in getting the mental health help they need. People will be provided with immediate access to local resources, referrals and expertise.

HPS to Host Site for National Depression Screening Day / October 6

The Houston Psychiatric Society will conduct free, confidential screenings to address concerns about depression and related mood and anxiety disorders. After completing a brief questionnaire, participants will have the opportunity to speak with a mental health professional.

The screenings will be held at Houston Community College, West Loop Campus, 5601 West Loop South,in the auditorium from 9 am - 1 pm on Thursday, October 6, 2005. No reservation is necessary.

vote NO to amend Texas Constitution

The proposed amendment to the Texas Constitution (November 8, 2005) would ban same-sex marriage (already illegal in Texas) and same-sex civil unions. The APA has issued a resolution in favor of same-sex civil unions and I am hoping that my colleagues in HPS will join me in opposing this amendment.

How Old Timer Can Deal With Young Turks

1)why opposite attract and need each other
2) how you can you deal with difficult people
3)what it will take to increase HPS member participation
4)what APA can learn from TSPP

Why Psychiatrists Have Trouble Talking To Each Other

Does the conflict come from the fact that the other person is bad ? Or that you are mean and just can�t get on with other people ?

No, of course not. You can see that you both have positive intentions, and you get on fine with lots of other colleagues, but something is stopping you from working together. What starts off as a feeling of constant disagreement, increasing friction, a difference in the ways you seem to do every single little thing, can transform into visible disdain for the other person and may blow up into constant irritation, open argument, insulting behaviour and even declarations of hostility. You might even have admired the other person�s intellect at the beginning of the working � relationship �, but in the end his or her � obnoxious � behaviour just makes you blind to any of the good points. And he or she is also blind to your qualities.

The whole team might divide along the lines of conflict. One half supports you and the other half supports your colleague. Because you all know that consensus is no longer an option, each side begins to try to blindside the other side and to railroad through its choices. Every newcomer to the team is made to take sides. The side that manages to impose a decision then lives in constant anguish about the possibility of sabotage by the other side and if that decision ends in failure it is sure that the other side will be blamed.

The frustration may grow to the point that your half of the team even begins to put in place a strategy to get the other half fired, so that they can be replaced by people who think more like you. Or you may find yourself in the part of the team that looks as if it is going to be fired, so you decide to pull up sticks, get out of the toxic atmosphere and move on to find a group of people among whom the style is more congenial and where you can see people recognise and be grateful for your talents. In the people that are left behind, the ones who managed to expel the others, the result will be a team that finally works well together. But, sadly, this will be because everybody who had a different thinking or decision-making style has been driven out.

The atmosphere in that team may be better, but because of the loss of diversity the effectiveness of the team will go down. However much people of a different thinking or creative style irritate us, the truth is that we need them in order to thrive, not just to survive. Every team needs to have people who focus daily on what is going on inside "the box" and people who "sense" what trends and new competitors are emerging outside it.

Female Entreprenurs Are Different? Maybe Female Psychiatrists Are Different

A Burning Topic... Gender is a critical element in the success of small businesses. Men and women have different ways of thinking, different ways of working and managing. Women do not face the same problems while starting and managing a small business. This study will give a review on what the current situation is in terms of differences between men and women in the small business environment. Being aware of these differences, men and women business-owners 'II be able to take actions in order to improve their weaknesses and then improve the will business as a whole to increase profits and achieve success and growth. Moreover, such studies on motivation and success measures will provide needed insight into women's career development. Institutions and consultants to women considering entrepreneurship would better understand their client's motivation and would be better able to help the women make good and better career decisions. The results could also help women who seek greater self-awareness about their motivation and its influence on their personal and professional success. This awareness would help them integrate the work and personal dimensions of their lives.

IF HPS CONTINUES ITS PRESENT COURSE WILL IT DIE OR JUST FADE AWAY?

Nonprofit organizations are people, too - at least according to some management theorists. In her research on the life cycles of nonprofit organizations, former foundation intern Cora Milhollin found that, "the dominant model in nonprofit life cycle theory is the biological model." She reports that from one theorist's work on the life cycles of for-profit corporations evolved "a basic biological model of nonprofit life cycles�outlining five basic stages of growth: infancy, juvenile, adolescence, maturity and middle-age."

Understanding of the Body Mind and Society Through Complexity Science

Participate in the formation of two new Plexus Learning Networks, one devoted to complexity and nursing and one devoted to complexity and clinical practice. The work of these networks will be partially supported through a grant from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and will extend over a two-year period.

The primary goals of the Complexity Science and Clinical Care Learning Network will be: to a augment current perspectives of human physiology to reflect the new view of dynamical systems that has emerged from complexity science; and to demonstrate how this new perspective could be used to understand health and illness, thereby affecting clinical practice.

BLAH, BLOGS, BLOGGERS AND MORE BLOGS

A COMPLETE LIST TO FIND INFORMATION QUICKLY THAT YOU WANT WITHOUT MUCH EFFORT

STEREOTYPES ABOUT CREATIVITY

DIFFERENT STROKE FOR DIFFERENT FOLKS-INVOLVING MEMBERS WHO MAY BE NON-TRADITIONAL

Chaos now complexity-why can't we go back to the good olde days where ignorance was bliss?

A New Journal: Emergence: Complexity and Organization Editors-in-chief: Jeffrey Goldstein, Peter Allen, David Snowden

Ethical Position: Are We Right About Managed Care?

When we take an ethical position are we right or will are we trying to win persuade others that we know what's best as psychiatrists? To answer this you need to ask: Who are the players? What are the facts? What are the competing ethical values? Generally, right versus right dilemmas involve one or more of the following values: 1) truth versus loyalty, 2) self versus community, 3) short-term versus long-term, and 4) justice versus mercy. While your daughter�s decision to plagiarize was a right versus wrong dilemma, you are now left with a right versus right dilemma regarding how to handle it and one which might involve elements of all four competing values.

APA Alternative to Managed Care

In response to the changing managed care environment, the APA Committee on Managed Care established a subcommittee to document the changes in managed care and to begin the process of thinking about alternative healthcare financing systems.

How Professional Organizations Are Successful

Performance Measurement Achieving high performance through alignment and strategic learning.

Why Measure Performance? Preliminary studies are demonstrating that organizations with effective performance measurement systems are more than twice as successful as similar firms

Leading organizations such as Sears, Analog Devices, FMC, and Brown and Root1 are discovering that there are two key reasons to invest in performance measurement programs:

Strategic Alignment. Performance measurement programs can be used clearly to communicate and reinforce messages about what is important in the organization, and to engage people in aligning to objectives. Strategic Learning. Performance measurement programs can promote learning as managers sift through performance data and discover pockets of excellence or weakness where more information about what works and what doesn�t can be found and reapplied. Learning also occurs as performance data is analyzed to discover trends and relationships between measures (e.g. How does employee satisfaction affect customer satisfaction?)