First meeting: A monthly journal club for mental health professionals. JOIN US! Now, or later. FREE.

The gap between dependent adolescence and independent adulthood seems to be getting wider - and more and more clients in mental health settings seem to be stuck at the transition. This online one-hour journal club selects and discusses a single short-ish article from the online open-access published literature on the subject of failure to launch, NEET (Not in Education Employment or Training), and hikikomori, with the aim of expanding awareness of the nature and therapy for this increasingly common life challenge. There is no need to attend regularly. Email me for the zoom link. Time is 11 am Pacific (Vancouver) time, 2 pm Eastern.

This time: Kato, TA, Kanba, S, and Teo, AR (2020). Defining pathological social withdrawal: Proposed diagnostic criteria for hikikomori. World Psychiatry, 19, 116-117. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/wps.20705

Free discussion session.

“Those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” - Santayana.

In the 1980s and early 1990s, widespread concern erupted in the mental health system about Satanic ritual abuse (SRA) as a cause for relatively common symptoms of psychological distress. It subsequently emerged that this was a mass delusion at work - but unusually, among treating professionals rather than (or prior to) those seeking care. Thousands of people were “treated” for this illusory problem until the evidence against the practice became overwhelming, at which point the mental health field moved on but largely failed to take responsibility for damage done, nor investigate how it had so readily fallen prey to a transparently false narrative. In this discussion session, clinicians are invited to share their memories from this neglected period, and consider whether the field has developed measures to temper irrational enthusiasms before putting them into practice. Newer clinicians very welcome. Time is 5 pm Pacific (Vancouver) time, 8 pm Eastern.

FREE. A monthly journal club for mental health professionals. The gap between dependent adolescence and independent adulthood seems to be getting wider - and more and more clients in mental health settings seem to be stuck at the transition. This online one-hour journal club selects and discusses a single short-ish article from the online open-access published literature on the subject of failure to launch, NEET (Not in Education Employment or Training), and hikikomori, with the aim of expanding awareness of the nature and therapy for this increasingly common life challenge. There is no need to attend regularly. Email me for the zoom link. Time is 11 am Pacific (Vancouver) time, 2 pm Eastern.

This time: Nonaka, S, & Sakai, M (2021). Psychological factors associated with social withdrawal (hikikomori). Investigation Psychiatry, 18, 463-470. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8169334/pdf/pi-2021-0050.pdf

FREE. A monthly journal club for mental health professionals. The gap between dependent adolescence and independent adulthood seems to be getting wider - and more and more clients in mental health settings seem to be stuck at the transition. This online one-hour journal club selects and discusses a single short-ish article from the online open-access published literature on the subject of failure to launch, NEET (Not in Education Employment or Training), and hikikomori, with the aim of expanding awareness of the nature and therapy for this increasingly common life challenge. There is no need to attend regularly. Email me for the zoom link. Time is 11 am Pacific (Vancouver) time, 2 pm Eastern.

This time: Population Europe (2014). Failure to Launch: Economic crisis leads to demographic crisis for the young. Population & Policy Compact, 6. https://population-europe.eu/files/documents/pb_youth_vulnerability_final_web.pdf

FREE. A monthly journal club for mental health professionals. The gap between dependent adolescence and independent adulthood seems to be getting wider - and more and more clients in mental health settings seem to be stuck at the transition. This online one-hour journal club selects and discusses a single short-ish article from the online open-access published literature on the subject of failure to launch, NEET (Not in Education Employment or Training), and hikikomori, with the aim of expanding awareness of the nature and therapy for this increasingly common life challenge. There is no need to attend regularly. Email me for the zoom link. Time is 11 am Pacific (Vancouver) time, 2 pm Eastern.

This time: Article to be announced.

Webinar for eCare Behavioural Health. A 3CE workshop for mental health professionals on the use of assertiveness training within clinical settings.

Webinar for international group of early-career scientists on assertive communication within the context of academia and related organizations. Part of “Life Skills for Young Scientists” group. Time indicated is Pacific; participants will join from multiple time zones.

Post-Secondary Counsellor Association Annual Convention. A presentation for postsecondary counsellors on the issues facing emerging youth, and strategies for assisting in the creation of an adult identity.