News Items
June 2009
UCD Professor's study of the psychological adjustment of adult survivors of institutional abuse included in the Ryan Report.
A research study by Professor Alan Carr from the UCD School of Psychology is included in volume 5 of the Ryan Report (http://www.childabusecommission.ie) recently published by the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse. Professor Carr's 200 page study presents the results of interviews conducted in 2005 and 2006 with 247 adult survivors of institutional abuse in religiously affiliated reformatories or industrial schools. Survivors had spent an average of about 10 years living in institutions. More than 90% had experienced institutional physical and emotional child abuse and about half, institutional child sexual abuse.
About four fifths of participants at some point in their life had had a psychological disorder including anxiety, mood, substance use and personality disorders. The overall rates of psychological disorders among survivors of institutional abuse, for most disorders, were more than double those found in normal community populations in Europe and North America. All participants had experienced one or more significant life problems with mental health problems, unemployment and substance use being the most common. More than four fifths of participants had an insecure adult attachment style, indicative of having problems making and maintaining satisfying intimate relationships.
Participants with multiple co-morbid psychological disorders had experienced more institutional abuse and showed poorer adult psychological adjustment than those with fewer disorders. The most poorly adjusted were those who entered institutions through the courts and reported institutional sexual abuse, in addition to prior physical abuse within their families. The psychological processes of traumatization and re-enactment of abuse on self and others were associated with multiple difficulties in adult life and a history of institutional, but not family-based child abuse. Having spent more time living within a family context in childhood and using positive coping strategies such as planning, developing skills and developing a social support network in adulthood were associated with a good quality of life.
Professor Carr made four key recommendations: (1) that legislation, policies, practices and procedures be regularly reviewed and revised to maximize protection of children and adolescents in institutional care in Ireland from all forms of abuse and neglect; (2) that evidence-based psychological treatment continue to be made available to adult survivors of institutional abuse; (3) that staff at centres which provide psychological treatment for adult survivors of institutional abuse have regular continuing professional education and training to keep them abreast of developments in the field of evidence-based treatment of survivors of childhood trauma; and (4) that research be conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of psychological treatment for adult survivors of institutional abuse.
April 2009
Guest Lecture - Prof. Joe Blader, Stony Brook University New York
Book Launch - Professor Alan Carr
Venue: Clinton Auditorium, Global Irish Institute Building, UCD 5.45p.m. Tuesday 7th April
Psychological Therapies are Effective
Speaking at UCD today Professor Joe Blader from the Department of Psychiatry Stony Brook State University of New York, said that ' multimodal programmes that include both psychological therapies and medication can be effective in treating a range of psychological disorders in children and adolescents.'
Professor Blader has been awarded a $4 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) for a large 5 year multisite trial evaluating innovative multimodal programmes for children with severe challenging behaviour. He said that pharmacological intervention help psychological therapy to 'gain traction' while psychological treatment may help young people cope better and prevent relapse.
Professor Blader was speaking at the launch of Professor Alan Carr's new book on the Effectiveness of psychological therapy - " What Works with Children Adolescents and Adults." Professor Carr, Director of Clinical Psychology Training at UCD said 'I have draw together a large body of the scientific evidence for the effectiveness of psychological therapies for common psychological problems across the lifespan, and written about this evidence base in a way that would make sense to health service managers as well as clinicians. There is no absolutely no doubt that psychological therapies are effective alone or in combination with medication for the treatment of most psychological problems.'
Laverne McGuinness, Director of the HSE PCCC programme was the guest of honour at the book launch. She said 'Within the European Union the economic costs of psychological disorders constitute 3-4% of the annual gross national product. Much of these costs are due to decreased productivity, absenteeism and unemployment, and the remainder are due to service costs.'
The research reviewed in Professor Carr's book shows unequivocally that psychological interventions work and are cost-effective. The principal policy implication of the research reviewed in his book is to provide a psychological service for all people with mental health problems. Professor Carr said 'Even in these challenging economic times it is essential not to cut back funding for training clinical psychologists who provide psychological interventions for people with mental health problems.'
Dr Barbara Dooley, Head of the UCD School of Psychology said 'We are all aware of the shortage of trained clinical psychologists within Ireland. To implement the recommendations in the Government's mental health policy document - Vision for Change - and to move forward the Assessment of Need programme for people with disabilities, it is essential that the HSE has a steady supply of trained clinical psychologists. UCD is committed to contributing to this training venture. The UCD clinical psychology programme is run in partnership with the HSE. The hallmark of the UCD clinical psychology training programme is its commitment to evidence-based practice.'
May 2008
Alcohol and Drug Use in Young People: A World of Solutions
Friday 23rd May 2008, O'Reilly Hall, UCD
Hosted by Juvenile Mental Health Matters and UCD School of Psychology.
A recent International Conference on 'Alcohol and Drug Use in Young People: A World of Solutions' was held in O'Reilly Hall on Friday 23rd May. The conference was hosted by Juvenile Mental Health Matters and UCD, School of Psychology. It conference was opened by Mr. Peter Sheridan, who gave a brief outline on one of his current projects 'The Runners', a screenplay documenting the relationship between two young boys lviing in inner city Dublin and the impact drug culture has on their young lives. An extract from this screenplay, adapted from the novel by Fichra Sheridan was performed by Peter, Fichra and two young actors Cian and Leroy. After the opening sequence the conference followed along a more traditional path with presentations from
- Dr. Howard Liddle, University of Miami, USA; on Effective family-based interventions for young peple who engage in substance misuse;
- Professor Tracy O' Leary Tevyaw, Brown University, USA; on reviewing the evidence for motivational enhancement and other brief interventions for adolescent substance use; and
- Dr. John Howard, National Drug and Research Centre. Australia; on Building communities to work effectively with alocohol and drug use in young people.
Dr. Deirdre Palmer, UCD School of Psychology and the HSE, presented an overview on a piece of research conducted within the HSE South East region on young people use of alcholol and drugs, the report (co-authored by Dr. Gary O'Reilly, UCD School of Psychology) was launched at the conference.
Click on image to download the Report Launched at Alcohol and Drug Use in Young People Conference:
Click here (then scroll down to and click the report entitled "One in two older teens binge drink - study") to watch the R.T.E. 6.1 news report on the conference:
October 2007
Innovations in Clinical Psychology Conference and Book Launch
An international conference on innovations in clinical psychology was held in UCD on Wednesday 17th October. The conference, and the book launch which followed it, marked the publication by a set of three handbooks written by a team of clinical psychologists from UCD. The volumes are
The Handbook of Child and Adolescent Clinical Psychology written by Professor Alan Carr
The Handbook of Adult Clinical Psychology edited by Professor Alan Carr & Dr Muireann McNulty
The Handbook of Clinical Psychology and Intellectual Disability edited by Professor Alan Carr, Dr Gary O’Reilly, Professor Patricia Noonan Walsh & Dr John McEvoy
Speaking at the book Launch Mary Harney, Minister for Health and Children said that ‘this set of handbooks is the first of its kind to be published in Ireland, the UK or North America, and it is good to see Ireland and UCD taking a leadership role in this field.’
President Hugh Brady, who introduced Minister Harney said ‘At UCD we have been centrally involved in training clinical psychologists for the Irish Health service for just over a quarter of a century.’ Over the past 28 years UCD, in partnership with the health service has trained over 150 clinical psychologists and these constitute a significant proportion of the 400 clinical psychologists currently employed by the HSE.
Martin Rogan, a senior HSE mental health service manager, in his address to the Innovations in Psychology Conference highlighted the national shortage of clinical psychologist in Ireland and the fact that the government’s policy document on mental health – The Vision for Change - recommends increasing the number of postgraduate training places in clinical psychology to 50 per annum. In the past fewer than half this number have entered training annually at UCD, TCD, Limerick and Galway universities. Currently the HSE is working with the clinical psychology doctoral training programmes at these four universities to expand the number of training places.
There have been many important innovations in clinical psychology internationally, especially in recent years. To make these innovations accessible to clinical psychology postgraduates in Ireland and abroad, the UCD clinical psychology team have produced a series of three 1000 page handbooks covering the entire curriculum for clinical psychology training. Many of the chapters in these books have been written by the UCD clinical psychology team, but the books also contain chapters written by international experts from centres of excellence in the UK, North America and Australia. They offer evidence-based guidelines on assessment and treatment, and point to key areas for future research. The topics covered in the handbooks include developmental disorders, autism, intellectual disability, ADHD, drug and alcohol abuse, anorexia, bulimia, anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, dementia, adjustment to chronic pain and cancer, child abuse and suicide. Clinical psychologists provide services to people with all of these difficulties.
Minister for Health and Children, Mary Harney, TD, at the launch of the handbooks of clinical psychology on 17 October 2007 with the editorial team, from left to right:
Professor Patricia Noonan Walsh, Professor Alan Carr, Minister Mary Harney, Dr Muireann McNulty, Dr John McEvoy, Dr Gary O'Reilly.
Keynote speakers and discussants at the Innovations in Clinical Psychology Conference on 17 October 2007, from left to right:
Professor Alan Carr, UCD; Professor Paul Stallard, Bath University; Professor Eric Emerson, Univesities of Sydney and Lancaster; Professor Elisabeth Kuipers, Kings College London; Professor Patricia Noonan Walsh, UCD, Dr Muireann McNulty, UCD, Dr Gary O'Reilly, UCD, Mr Martin Rogan, HSE.
February 2007
Dr Graham Connon, a recent UCD clinical pscychology graduate presented results of his doctoral research on children's experiences of the criminal justice system following the disclosure of sexual abuse to an invited audience of legal and mental health professionals at the office of the the Director of Public Prosecutions in February 2007. The research was conducted in collaboration with Dr Derek Deasy at the Children's University Hospital Temple Street under the supervison of Professor Alan Carr, Director of the UCD Doctoral Programme in Clinical Psychology. Dr Allian Crooks, also a recent graduate of the UCD Docotral Programme in Clinical Psychology, presented results of a related project on parents' expereinces of the criminal justice system following the disclosure of sexual abuse at the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse in Neglect in York in 2006. Other members of the research team include Dr Imelda Ryan and Anne O'Flaherty, Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children, Crumlin and Deirdre O'Shea, Children's Univeristy Hosptial Temple Street.
Professor Alan Carr, Director of the UCD Doctoral Programme in Clinical Psychology
Dr Derek Deasy, Children�s University Hosptial Temple Street
James Hamilton, Director of Public Prosecutions.
Claire Loftus. Chief Prosecution Solicitor
Dr Graham Connon, Graduate of the UCD Doctoral Programme in Clinical Psychology
Minister Launches New Book on Prevention (Nov 5, 2002)
Minister of State for Health and Children, Brian Lenihan launched a new book on the prevention of psychological problems in children and adolescents at UCD on Tuesday November 5th. The book was produced by Professor Alan Carr, Director of the D Psych Sc and team of 18 UCD clinical psychology postgraduates some of whom appear in the photo.
Front row, left to right:
Dr Nodlaig Moore, Dr Caroline Hussey (Registrar of UCD), Brian Lenihan, TD, (MInister of State for Health and Children), Professor Alan Carr (D Psych Sc Director), Dr Mairead Doyle.
Second Row, left to right: Dr Ruth Cullen, Dr Orna McCarthy, Dr Linda Finnegan, Dr Aine Fahey, Dr Eimear Farrell, Dr Deirdre Hickey, Dr Yvonne Duane
Back row, left to right: Dr Siofradh Enright, Dr Gregor Lang, Dr Barry Coughlan, Dr Brian Waldron, Dr Aoife Brinkley
The book deals with the prevention of psychological problems which are of central concern to those who fund and develop psychological, health, social and educational services for children, adolescents and their families. Problems addressed in this book include developmental delay in low birth weight infants and socially disadvantaged children; adjustment problems in children with sensory and motor disabilities; adjustment problems in children with autism; challenging behaviour in children with intellectual disabilities; physical and sexual abuse; bullying; adjustment problems in children with asthma and diabetes; teenage smoking, alcohol use and drug abuse; teenage pregnancy, STDs and HIV infection; post-traumatic adjustment problems; and adolescent suicide. Conclusions drawn in this book are based on the results of over 200 rigorously conducted studies containing more than 70,000 children and adolescents. Prevention: What Works with Children And Adolescents? complements a previous text by the same editor - What Works with Children and Adolescents? (Carr, 2000, published by Routledge) - insofar as it provides a review of the evidence on effective prevention strategies while the previous volume, also written with a team of clinical psychology postgraduates, reviewed evidence for the effectiveness of psychological treatment programmes.
Both books are available at the campus bookstore in UCD.