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We're excited for the upcoming annual conference of the American Psychological Association in Toronto, Canada this year from 6-9 August 2015. The conference will be held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. The annual convention of the American Psychological Association is the largest assembly of psychologists and psychology students in the world.

The post Get ready with Oxford for the 2015 APA Convention appeared first on OUPblog.

Dr. John D. Otis is the Director of Medical Psychology at Boston University School of Medicine and the director of the Pain Management Psychology Services at the VA Boston Healthcare System.  He is also Associate Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry at Boston University.  In his newest book, Managing Chronic Pain: A Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Approach, Workbook, which is part of our Treatments That Work Series, Otis provides a guide to increasing productivity in the face of chronic pain.  Below are some tips, excerpted from the book, which will help you decrease the stress in your life, which in turn decreases your pain.

Stress and pain reinforce each other. You may have noticed that when you are stressed out, your pain gets worse. On the other hand, chronic pain is often a source of stress. This can result in a cycle of pain and stress…

Ways to Decrease Stress:

Given the relationship between stress and pain, it is important to learn how to manage stress. The good news is that there are things you can do to decrease your stress….

Change Lifestyle Habits:
-Decrease caffeine intake (coffee, tea, colas, chocolate)
-Maintain a balanced diet and decrease consumption of junk food
-Eat Slowly and at regular intervals
-Exercise regularly (at least 30 minutes three times per week)
-Get adequate sleep (figure out how much you need)
-Take time-outs and leisure time (do something for yourself every day)
-Do relaxation exercises (e.g., breathing, imagery, PMR)

Change How you Approach Situations:
-Time and money management
-Assertiveness
-Problem-solving coping skills

Change your Thinking:
-Have realistic expectations (when expectations are more realistic, life seems more manageable)
-Keep a sense of humor (being able to see the humor in the things helps o lighten the situation)
-Have a support system (speak with someone or write down your thoughts)
-Focus on the positive (think half-full versus half-empty)
-Challenge negative thinking using cognitive restructuring skills

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Ashley- Intern Extraordinaire

It is estimated that 1-3% of young adult women and one tenth that number of men suffer from the eating disorder bulimia nervosa, which involves binge eating followed by purging and feelings of guilt and shame. The goal of treatment is to unearth the factors that trigger such a disorder. The Treatments That Work series offers effective ways to combat various medical issues, and in Overcoming Your Eating Disorder: Workbook, by Robin F. Apple and W. Stewart Agras, patients are presented with ways to conquer bulimia nervosa and binge-eating disorders. The following excerpt talks about keeping a Daily Food Record, a method that allows patients to connect what they eat with how they feel.

Common Concerns About Keeping Records

Despite the value and usefulness of keeping food records, it is not uncommon to be somewhat hesitant about self-monitoring.

Perhaps you have used food records previously and were unsuccessful. Even if prior attempts to record your eating were ineffective, we encourage you to give record keeping another chance! We expect that you will find food records helpful when used as part of this treatment…

Maybe you think that closer examination of your eating problems will only make matters worse. You may feel that you already spend too much time thinking about eating anyway. But there are many reasons for becoming even more vigilant about your eating, particularly when your goal is to improve it. As explained, the process of keeping track of your eating, and also the product of record keeping (a long-term food diary) can bring substantial benefits. When you monitor your own eating behavior, you become more ware of the context in which your eating problems occur, particularly the thoughts, feelings, and situations that place you at “high risk” for binge eating and purging. By noting the association between these types of factors and the occurrence of binge-eating episodes, you will be better able to identify and anticipate these difficult, triggering situations and to work out strategies for avoiding or responding differently to them. Retrospectively, you will be able to learn from past problems and successes with your eating by reviewing the contexts in which these types of eating episodes tended to occur and the coping strategies you attempted to implement. Noting long-term patterns will help you view your eating problems as more predictable and controllable…

The Importance of Timely Recording

Many individuals with bulimia or binge-eating disorder often acknowledge having a poor memory for the details of their binge episodes. They commonly describe “spacing out” while eating; even those who remain “aware” tend to reconstruct their eating patterns in a manner that reflects a global, overly negative, and black-and-white thinking style (e.g., overestimating the amount of food consumed, exaggerating its effect on their body weight and shape, viewing any departure from rigid rules about what should and should not be eaten as gross violations, and interpreting a small overindulgence as having “ruined” the whole day). For these reasons, we recommend that the most effective strategy for recording food intake is to do so at the time of or as soon as possible after eating. The advantages to this are considerable. First, the information obtained is most accurate and least vulnerable to distortion or poor memory. Second, the food record, when used in this fashion, can serve as a tool for planning meals and snacks in advance. When used in this way, the Daily Food Record can actually prevent or reduce the extent of overeating and purging by fostering a sense of commitment to sticking with a regular eating pattern and healthy food selections. Third, looking back over your records can help correct the types of perceptual distortions just described (e.g., the sense that you overate or “blew it,” without actual data to support that feeling or impression). Reviewing your food record daily may help you stay focused on the positive, reminding you that you are still on track, even when you are ready to give up. Likewise, an accumulation of food records over time will provide data about your rate of progress and level of improvement during the course of treatment.

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Cassie Ammerman, Publicity Assistant

Douglas W. Woods is associate professor of psychology and Director of Clinical Training at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Dr. Woods is a recognized expert in assessment and treatment of trichotillomania, Tourette Syndrome, and other obsessive-compulsive disorders. Michael P. Twohig is assistant professor of psychology at Utah State University in Logan, Utah. His research has generally focused on the treatment of OCD and OCD spectrum disorders such as trichotillomania and skin picking. The excerpt below is from their book Trichotillomania: An ACT-enhanced Behavior Therapy Approach, from the Treatments That Work series, explaining what trichotillomania really is.

What is Trichotillomania?

Trichotillomania, or TTM, is chronic hair pulling resulting in noticeable hair loss. Individuals usually feel an increasing sense of tension immediately prior to pulling out the hair or when attempting to resist pulling and feel a sense of gratification when pulling hair. Individuals typically experience significant distress or impairment in important areas of their life due to their struggles with the urges to pull and the hair pulling itself.

The places people most commonly pull hair from are as follows:

• Scalp
• Eyebrows
• Eyelashes
• Beards
• Pubic hair

Prevalence

Research estimates are limited, however, it is speculated that somewhere between 10% and 15% of young adults pull hair, but only 2% to 3% experiencing noticeable loss and significant distress from pulling. Thus, hair pulling may occur on a continuum, ranging from benign hair pulling to more severe pulling that results in noticeable hair loss and distress.

Gender Differences

Many more adult women present for trichotillomania treatment than men. This difference may only account for the number of people seeking help rather than actual differences in rates of trichotillomania. For example, in children the gender distribution may be closer to equal.

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It can be very difficult for parents to know just how strict to be with children who are suffering from mental diseases.  In the excerpt below authors Jennifer B. Freeman, PhD and Abbe Marrs Garcia, PhD explain why setting up goals with rewards can help a child make progress.  Freeman and Garcia’s book, Family-Based Treatment for Young Children With OCD, is specifically designed to provide all the information a family needs to participate in treatment with a child 5-8 who suffers from OCD.  While the book focuses on OCD the excerpt below can be applied to children who are struggling to progress in many types of treatments.

Rewards sometimes sounds like bribing a child to behave, but these rewards are actually very different from bribery. The major difference is that these types of rewards are planned and proactive. Rewards are connected to specific behaviors, both of which have been determined ahead of time. The rewards are set up beforehand to help a child stay motivated to control her behavior and to make good behavioral choices. This is very difference than offering rewards of desperation-for example, giving a toy to a child who is throwing a tantrum to quiet her down or telling a child who won’t stop a compulsion that if she gets in the car now she will get something she really wants. In these situations, rewards are being used to get quick control of a child who is misbehaving or having great difficulty with an anxiety-provoking situation. In this program’s reward plan, you will reward your child for practicing therapy skills and facing her fears-appropriate behaviors you might reward anyway.

Key Components of Successful Reward Programs

When designing a reward program for your child, keep the following key components in mind:

- The plan should be simple and easy to follow-ideally targeting specific, easy to observe behaviors.

-Rewards should be delivered promptly following desired behaviors.

-Rewards should be frequent enough that the child will be encouraged to work toward them.

-Rewards should be something the child enjoys and that the parents are going to feel okay about if children do not get it (e.g., stickers, playing a game, spending time with someone special, food, or a small toy).

-Rewards have to be delivered consistently.

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Anxiety and panic often first appears in adolescence, making effective treatment, while still young, imperative. The Treatments That Work series explains the most effective interventions for a particular problem in user-friendly language.  In Mastery of Anxiety and Panic for Adolescents, Riding The Wave: Therapist Guide, by Donna B. Pincus, Jill T. Ehrenreich and Sara G. Mattis, the aim is to help adolescents with panic disorder and agoraphobia.  In the excerpt below the authors focus on the importance of parental involvement in effective treatment.

Research on the importance of including parents in child and adolescent anxiety treatment has grown substantially during the past decade.  Numerous studies indicate that children and adolescents have the most significant and lasting gains in anxiety treatment when parents are involved.  Recent systemic research has suggested that incorporating parents more centrally into the treatment of children and adolescents with anxiety disorders may enhance treatment effectiveness and maintenance (Ginsburg, Silverman, & Kurtines, 19915; adds, Heard, & Rapee, 1992).  Ollendick and King (1998) highlight the need for intensive parental involvement when treating children with fears and anxiety.  They suggest that parents might be regarded as co-therapists, responsible for the implementation of procedures developed by the therapist and for giving children or adolescents ample praise and positive reinforcement for brace behavior.  Although this may seem common-sense, a review of the literature reveals that involving parents directly in the treatment process has been the exception rather than the rule (Braswell, 1991)…Since the parent is one of the most significant persons in an adolescent’s life, and an adolescent’s avoidance of activities often causes considerable disruption in most families, the inclusion of parents in the active treatment process should yield greater clinical benefit…

General Tips for Parental Involvement

As an adolescent is learning new concepts and tools for dealing with his panic attacks, it is very helpful to have parents on the “same page” as their child.  This can be accomplished by teaching both the adolescent and his parents a “common language” regarding the most appropriate tools to use during a panic attack.  For example, during a panic attack, a parent might suggest that the adolescent “restructure his maladaptive panic thoughts” or “notice the triggers of panic attacks” and “not avoid the feelings.”  While it is important for an adolescent to know how to cope most effectively with a panic attack, it is also crucial that parents also understand how to help most effectively.  Thus, including parents in a portion of treatment sessions ensures that they will be able to help reinforce concepts that the adolescent learned in therapy.

Many parents of adolescents with panic disorder (PD) are worried that their child might be in significant distress during a panic attack, and my inadvertently reinforce the child’s avoidance of places or situations that might trigger panic.  It is important that parents are educated about the nature of anxiety and panic, the fact that anxiety won’t hurt or harm their child, and the importance of nonavoidance of physical sensations and of situations that might trigger panic attacks.  Although parents are typically given handouts and reading materials regarding the nature of anxiety and panic, it is also helpful to have parents join part of the session, to teach these importance concepts in person.

A common fear of parents of adolescents with panic is whether getting rid of their adolescent’s PD will make them feel “less close” to their child.  Parents state that, unlike many adolescents who are trying to separate from their parents, their teenager tries to “stay close” to them out of fear of getting a panic attack and having to deal with it alone.  This often makes parents feel a sense of importance and emotional closeness to their teenager.  When attempting to treat PD, it is important to discuss with the adolescent and his parents other way that they might maintain a close relationship if panic attacks were no longer occurring.

Although parents can be involved in treatment in many ways, it is important to first discuss the plan with the adolescent and parent(s), so that both parties are comfortable and aware of the plan.  In addition, the inclusion of parents at the end of sessions does not mean that they must be informed about everything the adolescent talked about in therapy; only the important treatment concepts need to be conveyed.

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Did you sleep last night?  I did, but only because I took NyQuil.  It is estimated that one in ten people suffer from Insomnia- and Jack D. Edinger and Colleen E. Carney have written a guide that can keep you from suffering alone.  Overcoming Insomnia, in our Treatments That Work series, has two editions, one designed for therapists and one designed for patients.  Below is an excerpt from the patient workbook, which provides essential information about healthy sleep and the reasons for improving sleep habits, and then introduces a behavioral program designed to address that patient’s specific sleep problems.

-Select a standard rising time
It is important that you choose a standard rising time and stick to it every day regardless of how much sleep you actually get on any given night. This practice will help you develop a more stable sleep pattern. As discussed in the previous chapter, changes in your sleep-wake schedule can disturb your sleep. In fact, you can create the type of sleep problem that occurs in jet lag by varying your wake-up time from day to day. If you set your alarm for a standard wake-up time, you will soon notice that you usually will become sleepy at about the right time each evening to allow you to get the sleep you need.

- Use the bed only for sleeping
While in bed, you should avoid doing things that you do when you are awake. Do not read, watch TV, eat, study, use the phone, or do other things that require you to be awake while you are in bed. If you frequently use your bed for activities other than sleep, you are unintentionally training yourself to stay awake in bed. If you avoid these activities while in bed, your bed will eventually become a place where it is easy to go to sleep and stay asleep. Sexual activity is the only exception to this rule.

- Get out of bed when you can’t sleep
Never stay in bed, either at the beginning of the night or during the middle of the night, for extended periods without being asleep. Long periods of being awake in bed usually lead to tossing and turning, becoming frustrated, or worrying about not sleeping. These reactions, in turn, make it more difficult to fall asleep. Also, if you lie in bed awake for long periods, you are training yourself to be awake in bed. When sleep does not come on or return quickly, it is best to get up, go to another room, and only return to bed when you feel sleepy enough to fall asleep quickly. Generally speaking, you should get up if you find yourself awake for 20 minutes or so and you do not feel as though you are about to go to sleep.

- Don’t worry, plan, or problem solve in bed
Do not worry, mull over your problems, plan future events, or do other thinking while in bed. These activities are bad mental habits. If your mind seems to be racing or you can’t seem to shut off your thoughts, get up and go to another room until you can return to bed without this thinking interrupting your sleep. If this disruptive thinking occurs frequently, you may find it helpful to routinely set aside a time early each evening to do the thinking, problem solving, and planning you need to do. If you start this practice you probably will have fewer intrusive thoughts while you are in bed.

- Avoid daytime napping
You should avoid all daytime napping. Sleeping during the day partially satisfies your sleep needs and, thus, will weaken your sleep drive at night.

- Avoid excessive time in bed
In general, you should go to bed when you feel sleepy. However, you should not go to bed so early that you find yourself spending far more time in bed each night than you need for sleep. Spending too much time in bed results in a very broken night’s sleep. If you spend too much time in bed, you may actually make your sleep problem worse. The following discussion will help you to decide the amount of time to spend in bed and what times you should go to bed at night and get out of bed in the morning.

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