HVPA at Ulster County Health Expo - April 20, 2017

Thank you to Bonnie Guild, new HVPA member, and Joy Dryer who helped man [woman] the HVPA table at the Ulster County Health Expo on April 20, 2017. There were several dozen organizations represented offering an amazing range of services that may be potentially used by our patients.

HVPA Shines - Takes Home Two NYSPA Awards

• Lubna Somjee - Distinguished Service Award: Psychologist who has demonstrated an unusually strong commitment to NYSPA's program and goals
• Maury Lacher - Beacon Award: Psychologist whose leadership and/or advocacy activity has established a guiding light for the profession of psychology

HVPA thanks you both for your service. Congratulations!

HVPA's own Dr. Catherine DiNardo featured in the NY Times

A November 7th, 2011 article titled: "Intern Gap Frustrates Clinicians in Training" prompted a response by HVPA's own Dr. Catherine DiNardo, which you can read here. You do us proud, Dr. DiNardo!

HVPA Couple Miriam and Maury Lacher Lead the Way to Psychological Health through Nature

Maury Lacher started watching birds in the 1960s.

"It's exercise," the Poughkeepsie resident said. "You're focused on finding a bird or looking around. You get to enjoy nature. You look at butterflies, dragonflies, flowers, plants, mushrooms. You start paying attention to that."

Bird watching, or birding to serious enthusiasts, does more than put people in touch with nature. The hobby also requires a focus that frees people from everyday stresses. More than that, hiking along trails or over rugged terrain on bird-watching expeditions also provides mild to serious exercise. (Originally posted in the Poughkeepsie Journal, but the article has been removed.)

NY Times Obituary: Robert Ader, Who Linked Stress and Illness, Dies at 79

Dr. Robert Ader, an experimental psychologist who was among the first scientists to show how mental processes influence the body’s immune system, a finding that changed modern medicine, died on Tuesday in Pittsford, N.Y. He was 79.  At the core of Dr. Ader’s breakthrough research was an insight already obvious to any grandmother who ever said, “Stop worrying or you’ll make yourself sick.” He demonstrated scientifically that stress worsens illness — sometimes even triggering it — and that reducing stress is essential to health care.  Read the entire article which summarizes his breakthrough research.

HVPA's Dr. David Crenshaw Leads Innovative Therapy Dog Program in Court for Child Witnesses of Domestic Violence

David Crenshaw and handler Sherri Cookinham with courthouse dog Rose.
Photo by Darryl Bautista, Poughkeepsie Journal/AP Photo