Welcome to The National Psychologist

Money driving health care reform
APA leaders say fixed salaries may replace fee-for-service billing

Reporting from the APA Convention in Toronto, Canada, Paula Hartman-Stein, Ph.D. says that depictions of a truck transforming into a powerful robot, a surfer riding a spectacular 60-foot wave, a massive table fork blocking a road, phrases such as leaping from the first curve of change to the second, the branding of psychology for the general public and time for a significant shift of identity were among visual and verbal images repeated throughout health care reform sessions at the August 6-9 APA convention. Attendance was reported to be about 10,000.
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New York adopts landmark insurance regulation

Elizabeth K. Carll, Ph.D., reports that New York Gov. David A. Paterson issued a new Department of Insurance regulation on June 18, 2009 that codifies Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s recent efforts to reform the faulty insurance system for determining patient reimbursement rates and ensures that Cuomo’s historic reforms become the industry standard.
Cuomo’s investigation and settlement with United Healthcare and 11 other insurance companies expires in five years. The new regulation makes reforms permanent.
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Problem kids respond to dog
Canine-assisted play therapy enhances emotional growth

Risë Van Fleet, Ph.D., said that Jared, at age 8, had been in foster care for two years. His history of hurting family pets stemmed from his own extensive abuse history and it resulted in several disrupted foster placements. Each transition brought new eruptions of serious oppositional behaviors and emotional distress for Jared. He had made improvements through individual and family play therapy and behavioral work but stresses in his life made it difficult to maintain harmony and to develop healthy attachments.
When Jared’s therapist introduced him to her specially trained play therapy dog, he could not stop grinning. He eagerly embarked on a series of playful interactions with her, under the therapist’s guidance, learning appropriate ways to interact with the dog.
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