GPSCH HypNews

A new slate of officers has started their tour of duty on the GPSCH Board of Governors, and as the incoming President I feel very grateful to be able to rely on such a capable team to guide GPSCH affairs. No better place to acknowledge the fact that all officers are volunteers, donating their expertise, time and energy, than in these very HypNews, continuously and single-handedly staffed by Stephen G. Glass, EDM, also chair of the Bylaws Committee, and the go-to person for any institutional-legal as well as proofreading needs.

Adrienne Mendell, MA, will stay on the Board as the Immediate Past President and make sure from behind the scenes that the incoming president is learning the ropes quickly and accurately. She will be a tough act to follow, having steered GPSCH with her sailor’s expertise over the past two years.

Eileen M. Casaccio, PsyD, GPSCH’s incoming Vice President ( and Program Chair! ) has already worked tirelessly to secure a fabulous program for the 2010-2011 academic year. I encourage you all to attend at least one of the upcoming programs, to spread the word and to bring a qualified colleague who is not yet part of the Hypnosis community.

Note that we have shifted to Sunday mornings for our short programs, following persistent requests from the membership to lay off the Wednesday evenings and the Battle of the Schuylkill to get to Roxborough Memorial Hospital. Your attendance will be the best proof that we made the right decision.

Michele Lyons-Fadel, MSS, LCSW, has guarded GPSCH’s financial health over the past years and has allowed GPSCH to remain fiscally sound as well as able to afford to invite nationally known speakers for our fall and spring one or two-day workshops. She is moving on to the position of Secretary, leaving the Treasurer’s job to incoming Board member Jeffrey E. Celebre, PhD, who is inheriting well-managed affairs. Jeff is a Media, PA psychologist who brings a wealth of experience to the Board.

Bernardo A. Merizalde, MD, is staying on for another term as Member-at-Large, and will continue to lend GPSCH his valuable perspective as a psychiatrist and integrative medicine practitioner. Through his appointment to the Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Department at Jefferson Medical University, he is also strengthening GPSCH’s long-standing connection with Jefferson U, first established and maintained through Margolis Berman Byrne Health Psychology, PC many years ago.

He is joined in the At-Large department by Linda M. Kandle, MSS, LCSW, who, hailing from Vineland, NJ, will provide a welcome link to our so far neglected but hypnosis-interested neighbors who may be willing to travel to future GPSCH events.

My sincere thanks to Scott M. Fried, DO, who freed his busy schedule as an orthopedic surgeon to serve as a Member-at-Large over the past two years. Please keep your reminders for mindful living coming!

Karen Clark-Schock, PsyD, ATR-BC, staying on as the Membership Chair, will continue to provide one of the essential functions for GPSCH: ensuring that potential members become actual members and allow GPSCH to continuously grow and flourish. You could make her job increasingly harder by getting lots of your colleagues to apply for membership …. I am confident, though, that Karen will gladly rise to the challenge.

I would not be able to fathom a GPSCH Board of Governors without the presence of Judith S. Berman, MA, GPSCH Past President and President of Margolis Berman Byrne Health Psychology, PC ( MBB ), who has trained me as well as literally hundreds of Philadelphia area health care professionals in the use of hypnosis, and who brings a wealth of clinical expertise and institutional savvy to the Board.  She will chair the newly formed Continuing Education Committee, assuring that the Psychology CE credits will continue to be granted, now still thanks to MBB, and in the future through GPSCH itself with her guidance.

Last but not least, Eric B. Spiegel, PhD, will join GPSCH as the newly appointed Chair of the Communications Committee, providing outreach and greater visibility for GPSCH in the region, with the goal of increasing membership for GPSCH and energy for hypnosis.  His experience providing similar services for ASCH will serve GPSCH well. 

Of course, GPSCH despite all its dedicated officers would be hopelessly mired in reinventing the nuts and bolts of organizational life, were it not for GPSCH’s Administrative Director, Subha Robinson.  Trust me, without her daily hands-on support and administrative acumen, there would be much less measurable GPSCH activity.  Speaking for myself, I breathe a sigh of relief when Subha, for example, quietly goes ahead and designs a workshop brochure before I even realize it would take me forever to get that done.  Have you noticed that your phone or email messages are being answered with a much quicker turn-around?  That would be Subha.  That workshop registration flows smoothly?  Subha.  That your complaints get addressed and hopefully solved satisfactorily?  Subha.  Therefore, please don’t be shy to say “Hello” and “Thank You” next time you see her.  And please remember:  GPSCH clearly and dearly needs Subha’s expertise, so help with maintaining a worthwhile work environment for our Administrative Director.

As your incoming President, I happily acknowledge that I have only modest goals for my tenure, the advantage being that they might be realistic.  Of course, that’s up to all of us GPSCH members, and I want to enlist your help in making my goals become real, or at least approach reality: 

1.  Increase Membership.
     A.  Make it a point to attend GPSCH programs during the next academic  year.  Check the website for up to date information at www.gpsch.org.
     B.  Bring one colleague to a GPSCH program at least once.

2.  Increase GPSCH visibility in the professional community.

     A.  Find opportunities to give Grand Rounds, talks, presentations on  Hypnosis in area institutions of higher learning.
     B.  Keep the website up to date.
     C.  Increase connections with ASCH Component Sections/interested  professionals in neighboring States.

3.  Increase transparency in our Elections of officers process.

4.  Increase flow of information between GPSCH and ASCH for mutual benefit.

5.  Obtain CE capabilities for GPSCH.

That’s it for my first Message From The President.  I’ll be in touch, and please do the same.

Respectfully,

Reinhild Draeger-Muenke, PsyD, LMFT
GPSCH President

MEMBER NEWS

Welcome New Member - Robert Kiefer, MA – Student Affiliate

Reinhild Draeger-Muenke, PsyD, LMFT and Max Muenke, MD, DABMA conducted the 20-hour Advanced Workshop on Acupressure and Hypnosis at the ASCH Regional Workshop in Clinical Hypnosis in Alexandria, VA, June, 2010.

Julie H. Linden, PhD, conducted the ASCH Individualized Consultation in Clinical Hypnosis Workshop in Philadelphia, PA, August, 2010

Co-authors Ronald J. Pekala, PhD, V. Krishna Kumar, PhD and Ronald L. Maurer, MA are ASCH 2010 Award recipients of the Clark Hull Award for Scientific Excellence in Writing on Experimental Hypnosis for their two studies published in the American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis.

Co-authors Jordan I. Zarren, DCSW and Bruce N. Eimer, PhD are among the ASCH 2010 Award recipients of the William S. Kroger Award for the Best Paper on Hypnosis, Health and Behavioral Medicine for their Response to Dr. Edwin Yager’s Open Letter to the Editor of the American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis.

Eric B. Spiegel, PhD served as the ASCH Student Liaison for the ASCH 52nd Annual Meeting in Nashville, TN, March, 2010.  He is currently Chair of the ASCH Library Task Force for 2010 and is ASCH Promotions Co-Chair for the ASCH 53rd Annual Meeting in Las Vegas in March, 2011.     

This section is for you.  Let us know what you are doing or have written, presented, taught, or if you have been honored in some way.  Share the good news!  Please submit Member News and items of interest for You’ve Got Mail to Stephen.Glass@crozer.org

"You've Got Mail"

This is to acknowledge the life and death of Herbert Spiegel, MD ( 1914-2009 ).  “Clinician, researcher, author and teacher in New York City, Dr. Herbert Spiegel developed treatment strategies with hypnosis for smoking cessation, habit control, anxiety, insomnia, dissociative disorders, personality disorders, trauma and psychological issues as a result of medical problems.  He has observed and treated over 50,000 people.”  ( Marcia Greenleaf, PhD, American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis Vol. 53, No. 4, p. 256, 2010 ).  The full obituary appears in the AJCH, Vol. 53, No. 4, pp. 253-258.

November 10-14, 2010 – 61st SCEH Annual Workshops & Scientific Program.  Quality, Innovation and Vision.  Boston, MA.  For more info: www.sceh.us.

March 4-8, 2011 – 53rd ASCH Annual Scientific Meeting & Workshops.  Mind and Matter: Innovations in Hypnosis.  Las Vegas, Nevada.  For more info:
info@asch.net.

GPSCH SURVEY RESULTS: THE PEOPLE HAVE SPOKEN!

Thanks to all who completed our online survey last spring. Your opinions and thoughts are greatly appreciated. A short synopsis of some of the results will be given here. Complete survey results are available by email upon request.

Fifty-three individuals completed the survey: 63.5% Psychologists; 9.6% MD/DO and Social Workers, respectively; 7.7% Counselors and Nurses, respectively; 1.9% Other. Of the 53 respondents, 76% were GPSCH Members, 24% Nonmembers.

Sunday AM was the preferred monthly meeting day and time of 51%. Wednesday Evening was preferred by 37%. 89.9% of respondents identified a willingness ( Definite and Possibly ) to attend a meeting at a City Line Avenue Location ( other than Roxborough Memorial Hospital ).

Factors endorsed influencing reasons to attend a GPSCH program ( combined Very Important and Somewhat Important ) in descending order were: Topic; Presenter; and Day of the Week. Factors influencing reasons not to attend a GPSCH program ( Very Important and Somewhat Important ) were in descending order: Day of the Week; Topic; and Time of Day. It was interesting to see that neither “Cost to Attend” nor “Distance to Programs” were a top 3 result for either reason to attend or deterrent to attending. However, “Topic of the Program” and “Day of the Week” were top influencing factors for both.

Topics listed for future programs were varied and reflect the diverse interests of GPSCH professionals who have a common interest in hypnosis. Two areas mentioned most frequently were Trauma and Pain. Other topics mentioned 3 times included: EMDR and Hypnosis; Neurofeedback; Energy Psychology; Hypnosis in Medicine ( including surgery and short procedures ); Hypnosis with Mood Disorders; and Habit Control.

In response to the question about what GPSCH can do for you, several individuals encouraged us to “keep up the good work.”  Thank you for your vote of confidence!  Other suggestions were to provide outreach to other geographic areas as well as to other professionals, including nurses.  Offering advanced training and adding an ethics program were other good ideas mentioned.  An important reminder was made to make ASCH aware of GPSCH members who have published and/or presented.

In summary, the GPSCH BOARD hopes to incorporate ideas generated in the survey into planning future programs as well as setting other Society goals.  Many of 2010-2011 programs had been set before getting the survey results due to the lead time required in obtaining presenters.  However, going forward, this information will be very helpful.  It was the board’s first attempt to conduct a survey, and if done again in the future, we hope to work out the kinks and construct a better survey.  If anyone has expertise or interest in this area, your help would be appreciated.  Please remember that the GPSCH Board welcomes all comments ( positive/critical ) at any time.  So please feel free to email or call with your thoughts so that we may continue to be responsive to the needs of our members.

Submitted by Eileen M. Casaccio, PsyD      

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

The “Summer Wind”  “Here Today ….”

Where are the Laughs?
Where are the Smiles?
Where are the Years?
Where are the Miles?
Together we Walked.
And then Gone.
-  SGG

OBSERVATIONS SUR LA PLAGE

On Holiday.  On Vacation.  Or just a little dedicated time at the beach.  Men, women and children of all ages, sizes, shapes and nationalities convening; some half and more than half naked to celebrate the sun, the sand, the ocean, being, each other.  Basic, primitive, essential.  Individuals walking on soft darkened sand moistened by the ocean’s periodic caress.  Couples padding along the water’s edge communicating their desires and dreams.  Small groups of contemporaries and multi-generation families on blankets, in chairs, under large colorful umbrellas.  Talking, eating, drinking, tossing
frisbees, flying kites, reading and napping.  Having a moment in time unique to them and replicating past generations’ experience.  Young children, with and without parental assistance, building sand castles only later to view the inevitable as the tide rises.  C’est la vie.  Some of Nature’s guests gradually make their way into the ocean one inch of flesh at a time; moving forward, then back, teasing and being teased by the cold water before them.  Others just dash into the surf with exuberant joyful shrieks.

Toward the tip of the peninsula the human population thins to a few souls embracing the solitude and wonder of Life’s beauty.  Oncoming walkers offer broad warm smiles and exchange friendly greetings; validating each other’s existence, acknowledging the spirituality of their momentary shared experience.  Beyond the shells, stones and rocks, seaward there are sport fishing vessels and pleasure craft, large sailboats filled with delight, a surfacing scuba diver and a group of two dozen kayakers slowly paddling almost synchronously.  Landward there is the sparkling white sand, pink and white Rosa rugosas, gliding and resting sea gulls, nesting endangered least terns and osprey, and piping plovers walking about, humorously always in a hurry.

Are you always in a hurry?  Perhaps you may be too outcome oriented rather than enjoying the process.  The choice is yours.  Inhaling fast food on the run or mindfully savoring the experience of life set before you?  Rushing about like an endangered laughable piping plover or gliding, then resting like a gull?  Crashing surf or percolating bubbles in the sand once the water recedes?  It is your footprint in the sand.  Determine your experience.  Tasty full living and deliberate time off – it is your decision.  Novelty, Enrichment and Exercise ( mental and physical ) sur la plage.  Happy Holidays.    - SGG