What DSM-IV diagnosis would you give for test anxiety that has been
impairing academic performance? Specific Phobia? Anxiety Disorder NOS?
V-Code?
_______________________________________
Roderick D. Hetzel, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor and Attending Psychologist
Department of Anesthesiology
University of Rochester Medical Center
Pain and Symptom Treatment Center
2337 Clinton Avenue South
Rochester, New York 14618
716-275-3524 (phone)
716-473-5007 (fax)
[EMAIL PROTECTED] (email)
-----Original Message-----
From: Jim Guinee [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Friday, May 19, 2000 10:52 AM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Girl Dies After Controversial Therapy
Hi,
Not sure my purpose in posting this -- this is clearly far far outside of
the
norm of what psychotherapists do, but the fact that there are people out
there who seem to have little regard for science and common sense just
drives me crazy.
------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
Girl Dies in Colorado After Controversial Therapy
DENVER (Reuters) - Police on Thursday arrested three people for
conducting a controversial ``rebirthing'' therapy on a 10-year-old
girl who died after being wrapped in a blanket despite telling them
she could not breathe and was going to die.
The procedure, aimed at helping children who cannot form bonds with
their parents by making them ``relive'' birth, was captured on closed
circuit television on April 18 while the girl's horrified mother
watched in a nearby room, according to the Jefferson County sheriff's
office.
The girl, Candace Newmaker of North Carolina, told the therapists
seven times that she could not breathe and said six times that she
was going to die.
But instead of unwrapping her, the therapists said ``you got to push
hard if you want to be born -- or do you want to stay in there and
die?''
The girl, who was adopted four years ago and had been treated for
Attention Deficit Disorder and depression, lost consciousness during
the procedure and was rushed to a local hospital where she died the
next day.
Blanket Is Supposed To Represent The Womb
In the procedure the child was completely wrapped in a blue, flannel
blanket that simulated the womb. Large pillows were placed around
her. Counselors then pressed in on the pillows to simulate
contractions and to motivate the girl to push her way out of the
blanket through a twisted end of the blanket at the top of the girl's
head.
Brita St. Clair, Jack McDaniel and Julie Ponder, employees at Connell
Watkins and Associates, a counseling office in Evergreen, Colo. were
arrested for ``child abuse resulting in death,'' the sheriff's office
said.
An arrest warrant was issued for a fourth person, Connell Watkins,
who ran the counseling office that specialized in attachment therapy
for children. Attorneys for Ponder and Watkins were not available to
comment.
According to an investigator who viewed the tape there was a
20-minute lapse between the time the girl's last breath could be
heard to the time she was unwrapped.
