Updates and News from 2007
December 18, 2007 - I will be doing a
public lecture for the North and West Vancouver Branch of the Canadian
Mental Health Association on January 30, 2008. The lecture will provide
information on the most common types of anxiety disorders and
evidence-based treatments for those disorders.
November 8, 2007 - Added a self-help
guide to the "OCD Resources" page. It is an excellent workbook that
provides valuable information about OCD, as well as descriptions of
important treatment components, including exposure and response
prevention.
November 2, 2007 - Uploaded a patient
treatment manual to the "Panic Resources" page. The manual was developed
at the Clinical Research Unit for Anxiety Disorders and includes a lot of
information about panic attacks and cognitive behavioral skills for
managing panic (e.g., relaxation training, exposure to feared situations,
changing thoughts related to panic).
October 20, 2007 - Reorganized the
"Links" page, including links to various websites across a variety of
categories (e.g., colleagues, anxiety, chronic pain, depression, general
mental health, generalized anxiety/worry, OCD, panic, PTSD).
October 18, 2007 - Added an
Assertiveness Workbook to the "General Wellness Resources" page. The
workbook defines assertive, passive and aggressive behavior and outlines
skills to help improve assertiveness.
October 7, 2007 - I apologize for
being so lax with my updates to the website. However, I uploaded the BC
Mental Health Guide, published by the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority,
to the "General Wellness Resources" page. It is an excellent source of
information about a variety of local mental health resources.
September 14, 2007 - Uploaded a
workbook to the "General Wellness Resources" page aimed at aiding in
problem-solving skills. It is an easy-to-use guide, walking through five
steps of problem-solving.
September 1, 2007 - Added another
series of videos from Dr. David Henley's "It's a Brain Thing" series. The
three videos are about obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and can be
found at the "OCD Resources" page.
August 26, 2007 - Added another series
of videos from Dr. David Henley's "It's a Brain Thing" series. The three
videos are about posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and can be found at
the "PTSD Resources" page.
August 13, 2007 - Created a link to a
Time Magazine article on the "OCD Resources" page called "When Worry
Hijacks the Brain". It describes some of the current medical theories
about causes of obsessive-compulsive disorder and emphasizes the
importance of CBT techniques (particularly exposure and response
prevention) in treating OCD.
August 6, 2007 - Uploaded a new
workbook to the "Depression Resources" page. It is called "Antidepressant
Skills at Work: Dealing with mood problems in the workplace" and is
published by the BC Mental Health and Addiction Services and the Centre
for Applied Research in Mental Health and Addiction. This free workbook is
an adaptation of the excellent Antidepressant Skills Workbook.
August 1, 2007 - Added a self-help
guide for managing panic attacks on the "Panic Resources" page. A very
informative workbook describing the features of panic, providing
information for understanding panic and techniques to help cope with and
reduce panic attacks.
July 26, 2007 - Added another series
of videos from Dr. David Henley's "It's a Brain Thing" series. The two new
videos are about Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) and can be found on
the "GAD Resources" page.
July 16, 2007 - Added a series of new
videos to the "Panic Resources" page. It is part of a series of web
lectures by Dr. David Henley called "It's a Brain Thing". These five
videos discuss Panic Disorder and describe some of the features of panic
and CBT treatment of panic.
July 11, 2007 - Uploaded a booklet on
the "Depression Resources" page for people struggling with depression and
their families. It is called "All Together Now" and provides information
about the impact of depression on families and some helpful tips for
families dealing with depression. It is published by Health Canada and the
Canadian Mental Health Association.
June 29, 2007 - Added a new toolkit
for family members of people struggling with anxiety, depression or other
mental health issues on the "General Wellness Resources" page. It is
called "Supporting Recovery from a Mental or Substance Use Disorder",
published by BC Partners for Mental Health and Addictions.
June 22, 2007 - Uploaded a new
guidebook for the survivors of suicide on the "Depression Resources" page.
It is called "Hope and Healing", a well written, practical guide,
published by the Centre for Applied Research in Mental Health and
Addiction.
May 24, 2007 - The publication of two
abstracts in The Journal of Pain, recently presented at the 26th Annual
Scientific Meeting of the American Pain Society. For more information
about the abstracts, see the "About Dr. Nader" page.
May 23, 2007 - Uploaded the Cognitive
Behavioral Therapy Core Information Document published by the Centre for
Applied Research in Mental Health and Addiction in association with the BC
Ministry of Health. It is a well-written, thorough summary of the
effectiveness of CBT for a variety of conditions. The document can be
downloaded in its entirety from the "Anxiety Resources" page, or
individual chapters can be downloaded from the "GAD Resources", "OCD
Resources", "Panic Resources" and "Depression Resources" pages,
respectively.
May 18, 2007 - The publication of my
fifth article, titled "Like Riding a Bike", in the North Shore News. The
article addresses using behavioral goal-setting approaches to developing
and growing faith.
May 15, 2007 - Added a fact sheet
entitled "Coping with Suicidal Thoughts" on the "Depression Resources"
page. It is a new information sheet published by the Centre for Applied
Research in Mental Health and Addictions. It provides a number of useful
phone numbers and resources for people struggling with thoughts of self
harm and suicide.
May 9, 2007 - Added a new fact sheet
about depression on the "Depression Resources" page. It is from the
McMaster University Medical Centre Anxiety Disorders Clinic.
May 1, 2007 - Uploaded a new workbook
on the "GAD Resources" page. It is a patient workbook published by the
Clinical Research Unit for Anxiety Disorders at St. Vincent's Hospital in
Sydney, Australia. The workbook provides information about a number of
cognitive-behavioral skills for managing excessive worry and anxiety.
April 21, 2007 - Added a new article
providing information and details about cognitive behavioral therapy on
the "Stress & Anxiety" resource page. The article was written for the
British Association of Behavioral and Cognitive Psychotherapies.
March 23, 2007 - Added a new website,
to the "Chronic Pain Resources" page - www.PainAction.com. A good site
with lots of information on chronic pain and pain management tools.
March 22, 2007 - Added a new resource
to the "PTSD Resources" page. It is the Winter 2007 edition of the Visions
Newsletter (from BC Partners for Mental Health and Addictions) focusing on
the impact of trauma and victimization and issues related to PTSD.
March 19, 2007 - I have agreed to work
on a part-time, contract basis, as a consultant psychologist with the
Complex Pain Service at the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority. I will be
working on developing, implementing and running community-based chronic
pain management groups. This is a very exciting opportunity as there are
minimal pain management resources available to people in the community and
these groups will hopefully provide much needed information and
skills-training to people struggling with chronic pain.
March 12, 2007 - Just completed a
major revision to the "Resources" page. Now it is arranged by categories
and specific information. Much of the information is in convenient pdf
files that can be downloaded and copied for free. I hope people will find
it a useful resource for information about anxiety and depression, among
other things. I will try and update it regularly as I find more
information and websites of interest.
March 5, 2007 - Added a teen version
of the "Antidepressant Skills Workbook" to the "Resources" page. It is
very well written and free to download.
February 26, 2007 - I have agreed to
take a part-time teaching position in the Department of Psychology at UBC.
I will be teaching Psychology 542, which is the Introduction to Cognitive-Behavioral
Therapy (CBT) course for Master's level graduate students. The course is
designed as an introduction to CBT principles for anxiety, depression and
chronic pain, among other conditions.
February 9, 2007 - The publication of
my fourth article, titled "Crisis of Faith", in the North Shore News. The
article addresses issues of spiritual growth using a cognitive behavioral
model.
February 1, 2007 - The long awaited
launch of the new North Shore Stress and Anxiety Clinic Website -
www.nssac.ca - better organized and more easily navigated with updated
profiles of the clinicians at NSSAC.