The Experts Speak - An Educational Service of the Florida Psychiatric Society

Kimberly Aquaviva, Ph. D., M.S.W., begins with her family experiences and why they refused hospice care for her partner. She then gives a overview of current discriminations, inadequate training, and other challenges when hospice and LGBTQ+ patients should function together. She is also pleased some of the problems are slowly resolving.

Heather Howard., PhD, MSW,speaks to her study of how to address stigma, from those who express it to those who receive it. She talks to how this can impede a readiness to ask for help Leaves insights and thoughtful drives to action. Much of her work as been with shame, past traumas and /or substance abuse in women during pregnancy. Easy to understand yet scholarly.

This old medication is finding a place in the treatment of psychiatric disorders. This is an overview of it's history and current use, especially now as an antidepressant.

Benjamin Bowser, Ph. D., sociologist, gives the legacy’s history, that it still remains a very potent contributor to racism, of the cultural based post-traumatic slave syndrome, of what slavery did to the psychology of the slaves and how much of that still lives to this date, and of the origin and legacy of whiteness, Jim Crow, etc. Intriguing, captivating, perhaps painful, but so necessary to stu...

Stefan Pasternak, M.D., on how the therapist-patient relationship is the cornerstone of psychotherapy, and about the challenges of developing a goal for the therapy, the physiologic and medication aspects of therapy, of coming to an accurate diagnosis, cognitive versus psychodynamic techniques, psychological mindedness, when a change of therapist may be needed, etc. January 2023

These Wires Carry Words! - Broadcast on July 1, 1946, by Advances in Research, this 15 minute radio piece is an excellent, fluid and valuable historical review of our developing communication tools, with stories about, and credits to, the scientists and thinkers who started the process that brought us to our ever-expanding dependence on electronic communications. It has a delightful 1940’s flare....

From the February 1937 Liberty Magazine interview, as told to George Viereck, the distinctive inventor accurately predicts much of our current world, on war, the changing of women’s roles, energy, environmental and social shifts, computers, the internet, etc. He was incorrect on some items, but perhaps only as of yet. 11 Minutes. Observant & thoughtworthy. Adapted from YouTube and Magellan Streami...

A 14 minute audio from the National Association of Manufacturer’s 1950’s educational and advocacy piece of the then appreciations and concerns with useable and sustainable water, including draughts and floods, in our community lives and our biosphere. Imagine what the producers would say now, over 65 years later

Rakesh Jain, M.D., gives its history, how it works, why it is so different and its enticing future, the roles of glutamate and GABA, nasal versus intravenous forms, the value of concurrent psychotherapy, etc. Succinct and thorough. November 2022

Larry Bush, M.D., infectious disease specialist, details the history of this virus, its characteristics, hosts and vectors, the already existing treatments and unique aspects of the monkeypox vaccine, the relationship to smallpox, how to approach such an infection, the reappearance of polio and measles, and a true overview and insightful look at the three real and desired endpoints of vaccine deve...

For Doctor’s Day, 2022, at the West Palm Beach VA Hospital, psychiatrist Abbey Strauss spoke that physicians must accept they are also regular people with the full inventory of emotional problems, how to deal with compassion and other fatigues, the high physician suicide rate, to not be alone, how to get and use help, and the decisive value of keeping themselves healthy, honest, and not embarrasse...

*Climate Change Questions That Psychiatrists Need To Ask Both Themselves and Their Patients - Psychiatrists Beth Hasse and David Pollack pose such questions, including those about eco-anxiety and when to - or not to - bring these issues into the treatment activity. Very timely given the current worldwide heat waves. Much talk of how vital and evolving diagnostic and treatment strategies are develo...

Carl Fisher, M.D, psychiatrist at Columbia University, argues that ‘disease’ is the wrong concept as he outlines the urge leading to addictive behaviors, that it oversimplifies, what is the place of free will, the three broad reasons fostering addictions, various social mitigators, long term outcomes, and his own recovery from alcoholism. Posted also with the Palm Beach Medical Society Opiate Task...

Maria, using only her first name, candidly shares her feelings and life being the parent of the adult mentally ill. She discusses the process of learning and accepting this reality, the parental pain, the differences between she, whose children are still alive, and those whose children died by suicide or otherwise, the importance of helping others and getting support groups, to find the right ques...

Former US Drug Czar Robert DuPont, M.D., in 1997, outlines the theories of all addictions, what it does to the brain, the roles of pleasure, honesty, character, family and background, risk-taking aversion or comfort, preventions and treatments, the importance of AA and NA, the relative risks of some becoming addicted or not, nicotine and alcohol use, etc. He wrote “The Selfish Brain.” This intervi...

Priti Kothari, child psychiatrist, outlines how the different age groups suffered differently during the pandemic, the educational and social pressures and delays, the need perhaps of a gap year to catch up, disruptive behaviors with the reasoning fundamental to treatment approaches, etc. Thoughtful concerns about what happened and how to offset any setbacks.

Tara Gomes, epidemiologist in Ontario, Canada, speaks to enlightening research that larger quantities of take home Buprenorphine and methadone, and as such are multi-day dose packets, can be safe and productive in stabilized patients. The project was partially in response to covid caused travel restrictions. Some of the results was that this strategy reduced barriers, the fears of increased overdo...

A forensic psychologist gives insight into many cases in which he examined people who committed deadly violence. This includes young teenager offenders as well. His data and opinions come from a mixture of hard experience with these defendants.

Bill Durston, MD, emergency room physician and former US Marine marksman, gives a necessary overview of gun violence statistics and his thoughts on how to reduce the suffering.

Steve Keen, M.D., gives a very detailed discussion of his real-time, on-going emergency room program, with specifics on how to rapidly stabilize, start medication assisted treatment, give psychosocial interventions and follow up referrals, deal with shame or patient’s hesitancy, the challenging omnipresence of fentanyl and related new drugs, etc. Done with the Palm Beach County Medical Society Opi...

Journalist, and former opiate abuser Maia Szalavitz, defines harm reduction as keeping people from getting hurt rather than stopping them from getting high, that needle exchange encourages treatment, of needing good coping skills before giving up the substance, what changed her life, her work to promote harm reduction, etc. An honest and energetic discussion. Done with the Palm Beach County Medica...

Elizabeth Evans, PhD, associate professor at the University of Massachusetts - Amherst, reports that giving Suboxone to jailed opiate using prisoners significantly reduced legal recidivism and other post release relapse and morbidity. Listen to the encouraging details of her the study, and to her current and related future work. Done in collaboration the Palm Beach County Medical Society Opiate Ta...

Roz Malmaud, PhD, and Andy Rosen, PhD, note that patients are now focusing more on the pre-Covid, usual problems. Both discuss, however, issues with telemedicine’s legal and insurance matters, being unable to give patients questionnaires to complete or handouts for them to use, to see how they interact in the waiting rooms, the real paradigm shifts away from traditional therapy arrangements and sc...

Elizabeth Evans, PhD, associate professor at the University of Massachusetts - Amherst, reports that giving Suboxone to jailed opiate using prisoners significantly reduced legal recidivism and other post release relapse and morbidity. Listen to the details of her the study and her current and related future work. Done in collaboration the Palm Beach County Medical Society Opiate Task Force.

Roger Ekirch, PhD, a historian at Virginia Tech, on our different sleep patterns that were normal before the industrial revolution. A fascinating look at sleep patterns, the first and second sleeps, and the social and biological drives and basis of how we sleep.