22. Companion Animals

03/03/23 • 19 min

‘Timmy was never in the well. Yet, the phrase “Lassie! Timmy’s in the well,” inspired by a 60-yearold television show, lives on.’ With a foreword by Patricia McConnell, author of The Other End of the Leash, APA is very excited to publish a brand-new book on Companion Animals. In this 22nd episode of Psychiatry Unbound, Nancy R. Gee, Ph.D., editor of The Role of Companion Animals in the Treatment of Mental Disorders sits down with Dr. Laura Roberts to go between the covers of this fabulous book -a passion project for Nancy and the contributors- which examines the therapeutic bond between humans and animals. Gee also discusses her work at the Centre for Human Animal Interaction at VCU.

In this episode:

Introduction (1:00) Dr. Gee reflects on the book’s creation (1:52) Pookie the dog’s influence on APA editorial policy (2:50) What’s it like to be surrounded by psychiatrists? (3:11) Therapy dogs (5:09) Partnering with animals in the context of mental health (8:00) The role of aquariums in boosting the caloric intake of seniors (10:40) Dr. Gee’s background in psychology (13:10) Intended take-aways from the book (15:40) End credits (18:28) Show Notes and Resources:The Role of Companion Animals in the Treatment of Mental Disorders (American Psychiatric Association Publishing) 2023 Learn more about Nancy R. Gee, Ph.D. Transcript and further episodes: https://psychiatryonline.org/psychiatry-unbound

In this episode:

Previous Episode

21. Thinking About Prescribing

Release date: November 25th, 2022

Dr. Laura Roberts is joined by Shashank V. Joshi, M.D., FAAP, DFAACAP, and Andrés Martin, M.D., M.P.H. to discuss their new book, Thinking About Prescribing, which explores the psychology of psychopharmacology with diverse youth and families. They discuss the creation and editorial approaches taken, their hopes for the book, and what areas of the work might endure as the profession and practices evolve over the coming years. This is an erudite and incisive conversation about a book whose appeal to a wide-ranging readership is -already- beyond question.

In this episode:

Introduction (0:23) Reasons for writing the book (2:49) “The B.P.V.” (6:40) Sold out! (7:34) Hitting a nerve (8:25) Focus on diversity (10:15) Structure of the book (17:40) Who this book is for (24:30) Back... to the Gerund (30:45) Show Notes and Resources:Thinking About Prescribing (American Psychiatric Association Publishing) 2022 Learn more about Dr. Shashank Joshi and Dr. Andrés Martin. Transcript and More Episodes here

Next Episode

23. Problem-Focused Psychodynamic Psychotherapy

Release date: April 7th, 2023

Dr. Laura Roberts is joined by Fredric N. Busch, M.D. -a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst in New York City specializing in Depression, Panic and other Anxiety Disorders, and Bipolar Disorder- to discuss his new book: Problem-Focused Psychodynamic Psychotherapy published by American Psychiatric Publishing. Amongst the topics they discuss: how the psychodynamic approach can seem initially overwhelming, that the key concepts are easy to assimilate and can be applied with confidence by trainees, and, in a slam-dunk of a tangent, how Freud helped revive the composer Mahler’s sex life.

In this episode:

Adaptability of the approach (0:01) Introduction (2:17) Why the world needed this particular book (3:24) An example of a presenting problem (5:47) Conceptual Framing (11:07) What other principles can the book convey to practitioners? (14:20) Mahler’s potency (16:30) Challenges confronted in creation of the book (20:19) The Chief Complaint (24:40) Problems faced during the creation of the book (29:10) Trauma (33:25) Importance of doctor and client working together to define the problem (36:50) Show Notes and Resources:Problem-Focused Psychodynamic Psychotherapy (American Psychiatric Association Publishing) 2023 Learn more about Fredric N. Busch. Transcript and More Episodes: https://psychiatryonline.org/psychiatry-unbound