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Benefits of Student Membership

Internship/PostDoc Listings

Award Announcements

Seminal Articles and Books for Students in Geropsychology

Student Representatives

LTC Student Section

Benefits of Student Membership

	Student membership is FREE for the 1st year!
	Subscription and online access to the Clinical Gerontologist
	Two business meetings each year (at APA and GSA) which students are encouraged to attend
	Excellent networking opportunities with clinicians & researchers nation-wide
	Opportunity to apply for the Student Research Award (see Awards on this page) which includes a cash prize ($300) and a commemorative piece.

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Internship/PostDoc Listings (Updated March 1, 2008)

	NOTE: The recently revised third edition of the Directory of Psychology Internships with Geropsychology Training Opportunities and the Directory of Clinical Geropsychology Postdoctoral Fellowships are now available on the Division 12, Section II (Clinical Geropsychology) website.
	Internship and Postdoctoral Sites with LTC training Division 12, Section 2's list of internship sites that offer work with geriatric patients (updated 2/17/08). Division 12, Section 2's list of postdoctoral sites that offer work in geriatrics (updated 2/17/08).

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Award Announcements

Grant Announcements are on the Research Page

STUDENTS: Apply for the PLTC Annual Student Research Award

Graduate and post-doctoral students may submit a completed project relevant to long term care and geropsychology for the PLTC Student Research Award. The award, $300 and a commemorative piece, will be presented at the annual APA annual convention in San Fransico. Submissions will be accepted from student members of PLTC and from students of PLTC members. (Student membership is free for the first year -- become a member! For membership information, contact .

Information about the Student Research Award:

Graduate and post-doctoral students may submit a completed project relevant to long term care and geropsychology for the PLTC Student Research Award. Submissions will be accepted from student members of PLTC and from students of PLTC members. Manuscripts should be 8-12 pages, exclusive of tables and figures. Manuscripts that are being presented as posters or in symposia at the GSA annual meeting (or at APA) will be accepted and encouraged; please let us know if the manuscript you submit is being presented (or has been submitted). Manuscripts submitted to other organizations' award programs will not be considered for this award. For further information, contact .

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Past Award Winners

2008	Krystle Balhan Archibald -- Colorado State University, Paper Title: "Death Anxiety and Self-Esteem in Long-Term Care Employees"
2007	Natalie Brescian -- Colorado State University Paper Title: "Certified Nursing Assistants in Long-Term Care: Exploring the Relationship Between Locus of Control and Patient Aggression" Mentor: Tammi Vacha-Hasse, Ph.D.
2006	Kate L. Martin -- Colorado State University Paper Title: "Staff Perceptions of Same-Sex Sexual Contacts in Long-Term Care Facilities"; Mentor, Tammi Vacha-Haase, Ph.D. Runner-up: Laura L. Phillips -- University of Alabama; Paper Title: "Prisons as a Long-Term Care Providers Spirituality/Religiousness and Affect among Older Male Prisoners." Co-authors on the paper were Rebecca S. Allen, Ph.D. and Lucinda L. Roff, Ph.D.
2004	Susan Fisher, M.A. -- University of Alabama Fisher, S. E., Burgio, L. D., Thorn, B. E., Allen-Burge, R., Gerstle, J., & Allen, S. J. (2002). Pain assessment and management among cognitively impaired nursing home residents: Association of certified nursing assistant pain report, MDS pain report, and analgesic medication use. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 50, 152-156.
2003	Deborah Heiser, Ph.D. -- Isabella Geriatric Center, New York, NY.  Heiser, D. (2004). Depression Identification in the long-term care setting: The GDS vs. the MDS. Clinical Gerontologist, 27, 3-18.

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Seminal Articles and Books for Students in Geropsychology

Publication Opportunity

Dear Colleagues,

The Clinical Gerontologist journal is welcoming submissions to its New and Emerging Professionals Section, in which we publish manuscripts whose first authors are in the initial stages of their careers in mental health and aging. Manuscripts printed in this section will be accompanied by brief bios about the first authors, to introduce them to the journal’s readers. As editor of this Section, I invite you to spread the word about this exciting publication opportunity for students, postdocs, and assistant professors. Please address questions to me at apspira@hotmail.com.

Sincerely,
Adam P. Spira, Ph.D.

GENERAL AGING & MENTAL HEALTH

Binstock, R. H. & George, L. K. (2001). Handbook of aging and the social sciences (5th edition). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.

Kennedy, G. J. (2002). Geriatric mental health care: A treatment guide for health professionals. NY: Springer Publishing.

Hinrichsen, G. A. (2006). Why multicultural issues matter for practitioners working with older adults. Professional Psychology Research and Practice, 37, 29-35.

*Lichtenberg, P. A., Murman, D. L., & Mellow, A. M. (2003). Handbook of dementia: Psychological, neurological, and psychiatric perspectives. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Ronch, J. L. & Goldfield, J. A. (2003). Mental wellness in aging: Strengths-based approaches. Baltimore: Health Professions Press.

Smyer, M. & *Qualls, S. (1999). Aging and mental health. Blackwell Publishers.

Zarit, S. H. & Zarit, J. M. (1998). Mental disorders in older adults: Fundamentals of assessment and treatment. NY: Guilford Press.

PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT & INTERVENTION

*Duffy, M. (1999). Handbook of counseling and psychotherapy with older adults. NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Knight, B. G. (1996). Psychotherapy with older adults (2nd edition). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

*Lichtenberg, P. A. (1999). Handbook of assessment in clinical gerontology. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Storandt, M. (1994). General principles of assessment of older adults. In M. Storandt & G. VandenBos (Eds.), Neuropsychological assessment of dementia and depression (pp. 7-32). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

LONG-TERM CARE

Conn, D. K., Herrmann, N., Kaye, A., Rewilak, D., & Schogt, B. (2001). Practical psychiatry in the long-term care facility: A handbook for staff. Ashland, OH,: Hogrefe & Huber Publishers.

Hill, R. D., Thorn, B. L., Bowling, J., & Morrison, A. (2002). Geriatric residential care. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers.

*Lichtenberg, P. (1994). A guide to psychiatric practice in geriatric long term care settings. Haworth Press.

*Lichtenberg, P. A. & *Duffy, M. (2000). Psychological assessment and psychotherapy in long-term care. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 7, 317-328.

*Lichtenberg, P. A., *Smith, M., *Frazer, D., *Molinari, V., *Rosowsky, E., *Crose, R., *Stillwell, N., *Kramer, N., *Hartman-Stein, P., *Qualls, S., *Salamon, M., *Duffy, M., *Parr, J., & *Gallagher-Thompson, D. (1998). Standards for psychological services in long-term care facilities. The Gerontologist, 38, 122-127.

*Molinari, V. (2000). Professional psychology in long term care. NY: Hatherleigh Press.

*Denotes a past or present PLTC member

Also see APA's Psychotherapy and Older Adults Resource Guide.

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Student Representatives

The current student representative to PLTC is (currently at Colorado State University). Please feel free to contact her if you have questions or want more information about student membership. 

Natalie E. Brescian, M.S.

First, I would like to thank the PLTC Board of Directors for this opportunity! I am honored to have been chosen as the newest PLTC Student Representative and am really looking forward to serving PLTC.

I am currently a Ph.D. candidate in the counseling psychology program at Colorado State University (CSU). I am on internship at the Miami VA Healthcare System in the Geropsychology position.

The counseling program at CSU adheres to the scientist-practitioner model, and thus, I completed a thesis and am in the process of finishing my dissertation. My thesis focused on understanding the role of external locus of control in predicting the number of patient aggressive incidents experienced by certified nursing assistants in LTC. My dissertation is focused the relationship between resident perceptions of justice in LTC and how those perceptions relate to quality of life, satisfaction with staff, and psychological sense of community.

Clinically, I have served as a co-leader of several adjustment groups in LTC and have been able to supervise junior colleagues in their LTC group work. At the VA, I am providing psychological services to older adults in the geriatric primary care clinic, the community living center, and the neuropsychology clinic (in the spring of 2010). My professional interests include capacity/decision-making evaluation, medical psychology, interpersonal therapy, women's issues, and family/caregiver support. I would like to work in the VA system as a geropsychologist after my training is complete.

In my research and clinical activities, I have been fortunate to have my advisor, Dr. Tammi Vacha-Haase, as a wonderful mentor. Dr. Vacha-Haase heads up CSU's GREAT team (Geriatric Research, Education, Assessment, and Treatment team), a group dedicated to increasing the well-being of older adults. It was through my role as a member of this group that my interest in working with older adults developed.

In closing, I want to emphasize that I enjoy conversing with other students who share my enthusiasm for geropsychology through email or other means. Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any ideas, thoughts, or concerns regarding student involvement in PLTC, or just want to exchange some friendly emails about working in LTC!