NHASP Protocol - New Hampshire Association of School

NHASP
Protocol
Volume 33, Issue I
Spring 2015
NASP Convention 2015:
A Great Combination of Professional
Development and Leadership Training
What’s inside...
President’s Message................................. Page 2
Editor’s Voice............................................... Page 3
NASP PREPaRE Training........................... Page 4
by Tari Selig, New Hampshire Delegate to NASP
New Hampshire Confidential—
Quiz Time...................................................... Page 5
here were many New Hampshire
school psychologists present at this
year’s NASP Convention in Orlando,
Florida. For me, it was a great combination
of professional development and leadership
training. It was
interesting to
see how many of
the conference
topics have
evolved into
themes of
mental health,
mindfulness,
school violence,
executive skills
and prevention.
As New Hampshire leaders, we spoke with
leaders from other states of similar size about
advocacy efforts and future planning. We
were able to make thoughtful plans and
develop action items to implement in our
recently improved strategic plan as well as
with current issues that the NHASP board
is undertaking.
NHASP Scholarship Deadline................ Page 5
We also heard from NASP leaders on key
issues including:
School Psychology Practicum Student
Attends Her First NASP Convention.Page 10
T
NASP President Steven Brock’s opening
address revolved around mental health
because he is passionate about spreading the
message that ‘Mental Health Matters.’ He
stated that it is well documented that mental
wellness in schools leads to school success
and increased achievement. Mental wellness
provides students with skills to improve
self-regulation, emotional competence and
positive relationships. Additionally, the
Keynote address by Patrick Kennedy, former
United States Representative from Rhode
Island, discussed why mental health is critical
to the overall health and wellness of all
Americans and noted the underlying public
policy imperatives. Kennedy described his
own journey toward mental health and
recovery and how he sees the world today.
This was the first convention after the
recent NASP leadership changes. What this
meant for the convention was that instead
of a Delegate Assembly at the end of the
convention, there was a regional meeting for
all state leaders. This was a great opportunity
for New Hampshire leaders to talk to
other leaders not only from the Northeast
Region, but from all over the United States.
• recruitment and retention of school
psychologists
• the role of school psychologists in multitiered systems of support
• school safety and violence prevention
• school budget and funding and the
impact on school psychologists.
If you were not able to make it to the
convention in Orlando, there are many
ways to experience professional development
opportunities from the convention. The
President’s message and Keynote address are
both on the NASP website. Listen to leading
industry experts for documented NASP- and
APA-approved CPD credit when you buy the
Session Recording Packages. Packages will
be available soon. Preorder at http://nasp.
inreachce.com/Search?category=9c23f90636e4-480e-856b-56078f2f23ae.
I would like to take this opportunity to
remind you of several resources that NASP
has available. NASP has updated its Position
Statement on School Violence Prevention
to reflect the association’s support for
common sense, evidence-based gun safety
policies relevant to the well being of children
and youth. NASP supports efforts to reduce
violence in schools and communities at large
that include strategies for:
• eliminating inappropriate youth access
to firearms
• strategies to keep guns out of the hands
of those who would harm students
The Work of NHASP.................................. Page 5
A Protocol for School Phobia/Social
Anxiety.......................................................... Page 6
A New Evidence Base for Essential
Life Skills....................................................... Page 8
NHASP Spring Conference 2015.......... Page 9
Media Literacy and Freedom..............Page 11
• school policies which ensure that the
only armed persons at schools are
highly trained professionals (e.g., school
resource officers). You can view the
position statement at www.nasponline.
org/about_nasp/positionpapers/
schoolviolence.pdf
NASP has upgraded its Advocacy Action
Center! This site will still allow you to write
your members of Congress, and will also
allow you to
• quickly access information resources
(including talking points relevant to
specific policy and practices issues
impacting school psychologists)
• learn about advocacy successes and
challenges happening across the country
• access education policy analysis and
current events from various sources.
You can also read about current federal
legislation that NASP supports and stay
updated on the work of the various NASP
advocacy committees. The new Advocacy
Action Center can be found at www.
nasponline.org/actioncenter. If you have
advocacy-related information or stories to
share, please send them to Kelly Vaillancourt
at kvaillancourt@naspweb.org.
President’s Message
Spring is a Time for Growth and Change
H
Fratellos back on a snowy
appy Spring!
The snow
Saturday in January.
continues to
We will continue it the
fall outside, but small
afternoon of Monday,
bits of grass are appearing
May 4th.
More
near my house. The
information on this day
beginning of spring
will be coming soon.
is always an exciting
NHASP continues to
time, but also one that
grow and evolve as an
reminds me of how little
organization. Many new
time there is left in each
leaders have joined us
school year. I hope that everyone has
accomplished many of your goals and for our board meetings this year and
spent some enjoyable time working brought valuable new perspectives
and energy. We continue to welcome
with students this year.
all members who are interested in
A NHASP presidential term is often learning more about the organization
defined by the conferences, meetings, to our board meetings. The next two
and other events of each year. By meetings will be Monday, April 6th
this measure, my year is definitely from 4-6pm in Concord and Monday,
coming to a close but we’re not there May 11 th after the conference at
yet. Registration has opened for our SERESC. Please contact me if you
spring conference, which will feature have any questions and join us if you
Dr. Peter Isquith and we have a special are interested.
invited guest: Dr. Peg Dawson. Dr.
Isquith will outline his approach
to executive functioning, including
both assessment and treatment. Dr.
Dawson will provide an afternoon
session on coaching strategies for
executive skills. Together, this is
a wonderful opportunity to hear
two national leaders in executive
functioning in one day and celebrate
their remarkable contributions to our In closing, I hope that everyone has a
field. I hope you all will join us for great spring and that you will be able
this great day on Monday, May 11th to join us on May 11th to learn about
at SERESC. Registration information executive functioning. Springtime is a
is available on our website, www. great time for growth and change and
we all still have much do to before our
nhaspweb.org.
year ends.
Another big initiative for us this
Nate Jones
year is strategic planning. We began
NHASP President
this process at the winter meeting at
NHASP Protocol
Page 2
NHASP Executive Board
2014–2015
Nate Jones, President Elect
nate_jones@hotmail.com
Christina Flanders, President-elect
cstokes97@yahoo.com
Kate Salvati, Past President
ksalvati@comcast.net
Molly O’Connor, Secretary
mollyocon@gmail.com
Dave Smith, Treasurer
dbsmith001@gmail.com
Committee Chairs
Tari Selig, Nominations/Elections
tjselig@gmail.com
Tricia Raymond, Membership
traymond@sau16.org
Tari Selig, NASP Delegate
tjselig@gmail.com
Virginia Smith Harvey, Cindy Waltman,
Co-Chairs, Ethics & Professional
Standards Committee
virginia.harvey@umb.edu, cwaltman@Plymouth.edu
Jonas Taub, Research
jonasjt@comcast.net
Amy Bahan, Scholarship
abahan@sau81.org
Kate Salvati, Lacy Verrill, Conferences
ksalvati@comcast.net, lacyverrill@gmail.com
Dave Smith, Peter Whelley, Finance
dbsmith001@comcast.net, peterwhelley@gmail.com
Peg Dawson, Study Group Facilitator
pegdawson@comcast.net
Nate Jone, Tari Selig, Government
Professional Relations
nate_jones@hotmail.com, tjselig@gmail.com
Assoc. Positions
Adrienne Spector, Newsletter Editor
adespector@msn.com
Jack Morse, Certification Liaison
johnlmorse@yahoo.com
Jack Morse, NHPA Liaison
johnlmorse@yahoo.com
Carol Van Loon, Public Relations
cleevan1@aol.com
Lauryn Barton, Student Representative
labarton@mail.plymouth.edu
Kate Salvati, State SPAN Contact
ksalvati@comcast.net
Tari Selig, Robert Rodriguez
tjselig@gmail.com, rrodrig_jr@yahoo.com
Spring 2015
Editor’s Voice
www.nhaspweb.org
Emerge
T
his issue of
the Protocol
comes along
as springtime in
Ne w Hampshire
gains ground inch
by inch, “appearing
from a hidden place
to come into view”
(Merriman/Webster
2015, definition of
‘emerge’). Since January I’ve been teaching
for the first time at a community college
and learning a lot about my students
who seem to be in the newly proposed
developmental stage called ‘emerging
adulthood.’ Merriman/Webster’s alternate
definition of ‘emerge’ is “to come into
being through evolution.” My students
are, it seems to me, trying to adapt to the
independence that courses beyond high
school require. Many of them struggle with
prioritizing and organizing. Like all of us,
they are trying out ways to fit in all that
they want to do and have to do.
Most of my students live at home and
have on-going responsibilities to their
families that include helping care for ill
or handicapped family members, or babysitting for young children in the family.
All of my
students
have jobs,
some more
than one.
Their lives,
as related
to me, seem to require a stunning level
of planning and organization. It’s hard
for persons of any age to say ‘No’ to the
demands or requests of family members,
employers and friends.
As part of a recent assignment, several
of my students chose to write about their
own lives as part of a recent assignment.
I spent a wintry March afternoon reading
stunningly honest papers. Students
described their experiences with parental
divorce: their confusion of loyalties
NHASP Protocol
among their birth
parents, siblings,
step parents, stepsiblings, loss of
financial security,
and on-going
conflicts between
their parents after
divorce. Students
told of life in
families with
chronic addiction problems and chronic
domestic violence. These students spoke
of having the well being of a sibling or
a parent always at the forefront of their
minds, of learning not to expect or
predict what home will be like from one
day to the next.
Dr. Jeffrey Arnett says that a distinctive
feature of the emerging adult stage is “the
self-focused age, meaning the time of life
in which there is the least social control
from binding relationships and the
greatest scope for making independent
decisions. They are immersed in their
identity explorations.” Arnett’s work
underscores how important it is to take
the time to know oneself, to learn what
makes one happy, to take the time to
grow and explore before marriage, family
and career.
Professionals who work with this
population often say that we need more
alternatives and lower education and
living costs for this age group in order
to give society the enduring benefits of
stable, confident and mentally healthy
adults. If our society truly supported the
stage of emerging adulthood as Arnett
describes it, we could significantly
minimize the barriers to stable adulthood
that block the way for future generations.
I have many people to thank for the
variety of articles in this issue of The
Protocol. Tari Selig, our NASP New
Hampshire delegate, and Melissa Clay,
Plymouth State University graduate
student and practicum student, sent in
articles about the convention. NHASP
Page 3
NHASP Regional
Representatives
Region 1
(Nashua, Manchester, Salem)
Amy Bahan
abahan@sau81.org
Region 2
(Greater Concord)
Kasey Landry-Filion
filion4@comcast.net
Region 3
(Lakes Region) 
Christina Flanders
cstokes97@yahoo.com
Region 4
(Monadnock area, Keene)
Jonas Taub
jonasjt@comcast.net
Region 5
(Upper Valley)
Mary Ann Salvatoriello
elevenmom@yahoo.com
Region 6
(Seacoast)
Carol McEntee
carolamcentee@gmail.com
Region 7
(North Country)
Emily Russell
e_c_russell@hotmail.com
members at the convention had a ball at
the NHASP association party sponsored
by Scott and Kasey Landry-Fillion.
Mr. FIllion’s company, Seal Shield,
develops products that prevent the
spread of infection through waterproof
electronics, air purification and antimicrobial services.
Mr. Robert DePaolo submitted an article
that describes an intervention protocol
for school phobia and social anxiety.
Dave Smith muses on confidentiality in
this computer age and in another article,
tells us about the new dues structure for
NHASP. As always, I’m grateful for Leo
Sandy’s article on media literacy. Dr.
Sandy is an informed and committed
child advocate.
Our graduate student representative at
Plymouth State, Lauryn Barton, writes
about her experience with the first threeday NASP PREPare Training in March.
This article gives the dates and times
for the next two sessions and is open to
(Continued on Page 7)
Spring 2015
NASP PREPaRE Training
Plymouth State University Counseling and
School Psychology Department
by Lauryn Barton, Graduate Student Representative
Plymouth State University, Plymouth, NH
T
he Counseling and School Psychology Department
at Plymouth State held its first NASP PREPaRE
Training on March 3, 9 and 20th. Christina Flanders,
PsyD, NCSP, Jonas Taub, NCSP and Zandra Reagan, NCSP
conquered and divided to present workshops 1 and 2 of the
training. Current interns from PSU, UMASS Boston, and
Brooklyn College, as well as local counselors, educators, and
school psychologists working in schools attended the training.
I felt relieved by the concrete steps the PREPaRE materials
offer with many handouts to give parents and fellow school
Lauryn Barton
personnel. These workshops covered everything from often
overlooked actions schools can take to create an environment of safety (i.e. removal
of hooks from bathroom doors to deter injuries from bullies and
watching hallways during transition times), the breakdown of the
incident command system, how to address any command system
problems within your school, how to evaluate and respond during the
event, how to recover from the event with interventions, and lastly,
how to evaluate your effectiveness.
Although there is a mass of material to go through, the workshops were entertaining
with activities and role-playing, which broke up the day and allowed for deeper
understanding of intervention dialogue and group intervention roles following a crisis
situation. I found it to be a very comprehensive and thorough training that is valuable
to anyone working in the schools, not just school psychologists.
NHASP
Scholarship
deadline reminder
The NHASP Scholarship
Committee would like to remind
all graduate students that the
scholarship deadline of June
1st is quickly approaching.
The NHASP Scholarship
was established to encourage
individuals who are enrolled
in, or about to enroll in, a
school psychology program
and demonstrate outstanding
scholarship and leadership
qualities to pursue or further
advance a career in the field
of school psychology. Further
information and the application
is available on the NHASP
website under the ‘Awards’ tab.
Any questions can be directed
to Amy Bahan, Scholarship
Committee Chair, at amy.
bahan@yahoo.com.
Good luck!
Plymouth State University will be offering this training again this fall. Workshop 1
will be offered on October 2nd and Workshop 2 will be on November 6, and 13th.
Registration will be available as the date moves closer. For more information please
contact Sally Kilfoyle at sakilfoyle@plymouth.edu.
Region 1 Meeting Scheduled
NHASP Region 1 will have their final regional meeting of the school
year Thursday May 28th from 4:00-6:00 at The Harbor Group at
402 Riverway Place in Bedford. If you will be attending please email
Amy Bahan, Region 1 Representative at amy.bahan@yahoo.com so
meeting space can be planned accordingly. Hope to see you there!
NHASP Protocol
Page 4
Spring 2015
www.nhaspweb.org
New Hampshire Confidential—Quiz Time
by Dave Smith
True or False: The personally identifiable only be scored
information we collect about students when
we complete evaluations should be kept
confidential. This seems like a no brainer.
True or False: If my data and reports have
been stored electronically, I have maintained
confidentiality. Potentially this is less clear.
Do you photocopy your reports at school?
Is that photocopier leased or owned? Is the
hard drive it stores the images on encrypted?
Who has access to it? If the photocopier is
eventually sold for salvage, does the image of
your report remain on the hard drive? Do an
internet search for “photocopiers” and “60
Minutes” and read about their investigation,
or better yet dig up the original video.
After viewing the 60 Minutes report, you
might prefer to simply print multiple copies
of your report, but printer ink is expensive.
Does the printer itself, or the school network,
maintain a copy of the print job? I’m not
sure.
What about emailing your reports to
others? Is there a secure way to do that?
We tell our students that their electronic
communications are like postcards. You
could use an email encryption program.
Surely no one can see that. Well, maybe the
NSA. And have you examined the computer
code for that program to make sure it doesn’t
contain a “back door”? Hopefully the
recipient of that email has not given their
password to another person. And does your
school district keep copies of all emails sent
on their system? Again, how long do they
keep them and who has access?
Does your district require you to submit your
reports for electronic storage in the ‘Cloud?’
Given the numbers of security breaches of
financial information in the news, I am
less than convinced that Cloud storage is
confidential for the long term.
What has prompted me to write about
this topic is a conversation on the NASP
Member Exchange (which is a gold mine of
information, by the way—if you don’t read
it regularly, you should at least browse it
occasionally) entitled “W-J IV data storage
heads up.”
online and
that Riverside
(the publisher)
intends to
keep the
“anonymized”
data for its own
use. Several commenters to the thread
noted that this could be a violation of law,
ethics, and experimental protocol. The best
suggestion/solution I saw (kudos to a school
psychologist from Vermont) was to enter just
initials for the subject name when you score
it online and to then write the student’s full
name on your printed copy of the results.
Don’t even get me started on Cloud-based
IEPs and who might be entrusted with
purging that electronic data.
Does my search history imply information
about students? If I access their schedule
online is their name listed in the search
history? If I then search for information
about specific disorders someone might
infer a connection. Does the district keep
a record of my searches beyond what is on
my laptop? I think maybe I should clear my
search history on a more regular basis.
True or False: I believe everything I stored
electronically about individual students is
still confidential.
I hope so. I hope I did things correctly and
that nothing I wrote is lurking somewhere on
an old hard drive or on the web, subject to
future data mining. I asked the central office
about the district’s photocopiers. I wrote my
reports on a district-provided laptop and
saved them to the machine’s hard drive, not
to the district server. I kept the machine in
my possession or locked up at all times. Each
June before turning in the machine for the
summer I backed up my files to an encrypted
flash drive (Kingston makes some reasonable
ones) and then deleted everything from the
machine and ran a “secure erase”. If I could
do it over again I would not even save the
files to the machine, just to the flash drive.
Sometimes I wish I had used a typewriter
and some carbon paper. Confidential isn’t
what it used to be.
The Work of
NHASP
New Dues Structure for FY16
Explained ~Dave Smith
At its February meeting the NHASP
Executive Board approved changes
to the association’s dues structure
for the coming fiscal year (July 1,
2015 to June 30, 2016). Regular
and affiliate members will now pay
$70 a year while retired and student
members will pay $35 a year. All
four member groups will receive
a 5% discount for renewals paid
before July 15th.
In addition, the board approved the
concept of lowering the member
cost to attend future conferences by
$5 per conference. The decrease in
dues for students is in recognition
of the high cost attending graduate
school.
The overarching goal of the
association is to promote and
support the role of the school
psychologist in helping the students
in New Hampshire. Therefore,
thank you for choosing to belong
to our association, and thank you
for all you do for children!
My understanding of the WJ-IV is that it can
NHASP Protocol
Page 5
Spring 2015
A Protocol for School Phobia/Social Anxiety
by Robert DePaolo
Abstract
Methods for treating school phobia
typically involve systematic desensitization
and/or cognitive therapy. The former
purports to undo (i.e. counter-condition)
the association between anxiety reactions
and the stimuli and/or circumstances
that provoke them. The latter purports
to change the structure of schemata
and override anxiety by changing the
quasi-logic responsible for provoking
and sustaining the phobia. While both
methods can be effective, the following
treatment suggestions, which incorporate
CBT, SD and assertive therapy approaches,
adds another factor to
the therapeutic mix –
the element of self-talk
regulation.
Introduction
The types of socialemotional disorders
seen in and outside of
school settings seem
related increasingly to students’ incapacity
for self-regulation (Gross 1998),
(Mennin 2004). This skill – referred to
variously as metacognition, self-control,
conscience and executive functioning is
quintessentially important in almost all
aspects of the school experience. Once
anchored down, students can more easily
attend, memorize, modulate emotions and
profit from peer interactions. Conversely,
with deficiencies in this area a wide variety
of negative outcomes tend to crop up.
Dealing with the problem in schools
would be easier if one could define in
concise terms what self-regulation really
means. In psychological terms this is a
somewhat Byzantine endeavor – witness
the various characterizations mentioned
above. In neuro-psychological terms it is a
bit easier to do. It is known that the frontal
lobes of the brain – which unfortunately
for schools and society in general do not
fully mature until around age 25 – provide
NHASP Protocol
t h e s e l f - re g u l a t o r y
function. But how is
this accomplished?
The frontal lobes are
curious structures
because they are not
devoted to any sensory
or motor function. In
fact they are a fairly new evolutionary
byproduct of brain expansion branching
off the parietal lobe which gives us
language, fine motor control (including
orchestration of mouth, tongue, fingers
and hands which are coincidentally
responsible for the advent and expansion
of human culture). As
the parietal lobe moves
forward into the frontal
area it is met by vast
inhibitory circuits that
parse and refine its
pathways (Sakagami,
Pan et. al 2006). The
end result is that speech
and motor functions become whittled
down to fractional versions of language
and speech. That process enables us not
only to talk implicitly to ourselves but to
listen covertly to ourselves, because even
covert auditory attention in governed by
the prefrontal cortex (Benedict, Shucard et
al (2002). It also enables us to manipulate
the environment covertly and in effect
rehearse, reflect and predict events and
outcomes. It is interesting that despite
having no specific function – as seen in the
classic Phineas Gage head injury episode
(MacMillan (2000), the frontal lobes have
more connections to other brain sites
than any other (Lacruz, Gracia-Seone et
al 2007). Thus they are both general and
highly influential –the perfect format for
an oversight circuit capable of converting
external into internal experience.
Some students are less developed in
these functions. While they might have
normal speech and fine motor proficiency,
Page 6
they are less adept
(developed) in the area
of fractionated motor
and speech functions.
In simpler terms they
do not, cannot talk and
listen to themselves
covertly in working
their way through task
work, social situations and as a means by
which to modulate emotional reactions.
In effect they have limited internal access.
This is especially important with regard
to emotional dynamics, because many
types of phobia seem to be related to
skill deficits in the self-regulation domain
(Rapee & Heimberg 1997). For that
reason it would seem a therapeutic/
behavior management model that
incorporates self-talk, self-regulation into
a treatment approach might be effective.
The following suggestions incorporate
anxiety-reducing tactics such as relaxation
training and assertive training as well as
self-regulation. The model is not based on
research, rather is proposed as a speculative
model (subject to the creative revisions by
school counselors and psychologists) that
just might prove effective in dealing with
school phobia.
Principles Anxiety can be defined as an
unmanageable arousal level of global,
uncontrollable proportions. The main
problems with it are uncertainty (not
having a behavior by which to control it)
and over-generalization (not being able to
compartmentalize arousal so as to parse
and minimize its impact).
The method here includes three
components: Relaxation/desensitization,
Assertiveness and Self-talk regulation.
Strategies: Anxiety in specific or general
situations or can be controlled behaviorally
by reversing the factors mentioned above,
for example by…
(Continued on Page 7)
Spring 2015
www.nhaspweb.org
School Phobia/Social Anxiety
Emerge
1. Whittling arousal
down to narrower
influence through
self-talk and selfcontrol labeling
skills to categorize,
parse and ameliorate
its effect.
students and practitioners.
Our NHASP president, Nate Jones, is
serving his term with grace and humor
during the year when NHASP must
develop its next Strategic Plan. Much
work has been accomplished so far and
everyone’s input and participation is
welcomed.
Our Spring conference on Executive
Function in the Everyday Context with
Drs. Peter Isquith and Peg Dawson is
right around the corner. Please sign up
ASAP so you can take advantage of these
professionals’ knowledge base. SERESC,
the venue for the conference, is known for
its’ comfortable atmosphere and delicious
lunch catering. I am not alone in saying
how fortunate we were to participate
in the executive function study group
facilitated by Peg Dawson this year. We
plan to continue the group next year
and focus on universal interventions,
embedded or infused within the regular
curricula.
Finally, this will be my last time as editor
of The Protocol. The thrill of seeing our
newsletter finished online and in print has
never worn off, but I’m at a stage---and
age----where I would like to trim my list
of commitments. I also have learned a lot
from the new school psychologists and
graduate students. What a dynamic and
engaging group we have in NHASP! I plan
to remain involved with NHASP groups
and conferences out of sheer passion
for the profession---and I think that a
new editor and newsletter committee
will bring new ideas, perspectives and
resources to our Protocol.
(Continued from Page 6)
Employing relaxation exercises to
reduce arousal prior to engaging the
anxiety-laden situation
2. Expression of assertive behaviors to
enable a semi-aggressive response
to drown out the inhibitory effects
associated with anxiety in those
circumstances
Method The first step involves discussion
of student’s commitment and motivation.
The second step involves identification
of anxiety-provoking circumstances and
completion of a rating scale (perhaps 1-10,
from least to most fearful )
The third step involves learning and
practicing relaxation exercises, self-talk
strategies and assertive behaviors (scripts
to use) that are comfortable to the student
and which will
be used in real
situations.
This is done
in counseling
office for
several sessions.
The fourth step
involves use of imagination in anxietyladen situations in states of relaxation and
while engaging in an assertive behavior
(in office)
anxiety (“Oh boy, this is
hard”… etc etc
T
h
e
second involves
compartmentalizing/
parsing using the selftalk response (“It’s just
a damn classroom; it won’t kill me”
c. The third involves expression of the
assertive response in the anxietyprovoking situation – possibly a firm
greeting to another student or a witty
remark to override inhibition/anxiety.
These steps will be carried out gradually,
the actual gradation will depend on the
person’s learning curve.
Measurement An ongoing fear rating
scale could be filled out weekly at first to
see if anxiety has diminished and to what
extent – the feedback will help the student
recognize his mastery over the fears as well
as provide an assessment of progress.
REFERENCES
Benedict, R. Shucard, D.W., Santa Maria, M.P.
Shucard, J. Abara, J.P. Coad, M., Wack, D.
Sawusch, J. Lockwood, A. (2002) Covert Auditory
Attention Generates Activation in the Anterior
Rostral.Dorsal Cingulate Cortex. Journal of
Cognitive Neuroscience Vol 14, (4) 637-645
Gross, .J.J. (1998) The Emerging Field of
Emotional Regulation: An Integrative Review.
Review of Generall Psychology. 2; 217-299
Lacruz, ME, Garcia-Seoane, J.J. Valentin, A.
Selway, R. Alarcon, G. (2007) Frontal and
Temporal Functional Connections of the Living
Brain. European Journal of Neuroscience. Sept. 28
(5) 1357-70
MacMillan, M. (2000) An Odd Kind of Fame;
Stories of Phineas Gage. MIT Press pp. 116-119
The fifth step involves the student who
will be asked to:
Mennin, D.S. (2004) Emotional Regulation
Treatment for Generalized Anxiety Disorder.
Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy: 11, 17-29
a. Use a brief relaxation exercise before
in entering the anxiety-provoking
situation.
b. Use two self-talk scripts while in the
situation…
Rappe, R.M. Heimberg, R.G. (1997) A CognitiveBehavioral Model of Anxiety in Social Phobias.
Behavioral Research and Therapy. 35, 741-756
The first involved first acknowledging the
NHASP Protocol
Sakagami, M, Pan, X, Utll, B. (2006) Behavioral
Inhibition and Prefrontal Cortex in Decision
Making; Neurobiology of Decision Making. Journal
of Neural Networks. Vol 19 (8) 1255-1265
Page 7
(Continued from Page 3)
With sincere thanks and best wishes to all,
Adrienne Spector, NCSP
Reference:
Arnett, Jeffrey, APS-Association for Psychological
Science, Oh, Grow Up! Generational Grumbling
and the New Life Stage of Emerging Adulthood—
Commentary on Trzesniewski & Donnellan
(2010) Perspectives on Psychological Science 5
(1) 89-92,DOI: 10.1177/1745691609357016
http://pps.sagepub.com
Spring 2015
Executive Function and Self-Regulation
A New Evidence Base for Essential Life Skills
Editor’s Note: Reprinted in The Protocol with permission, March 2015
For more information, see “Building the Brain’s ‘Air Traffic Control’ System: How Early Experiences Shape the Development of Executive
Function” and the Working Paper series from the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University.
www.developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/
A
new evidence base has identified a set of skills that are essential for school achievement, for the preparation and adaptability
of our future workforce, and for avoiding a wide range of population health problems. In the brain, the ability to hold onto
and work with information, focus thinking, filter distractions, and switch gears is like an airport having a highly effective
air traffic control system to manage the arrivals and departures of dozens of planes on multiple runways. Scientists refer to these
capacities as executive function and self-regulation—a set of skills that relies on three types of brain function: working memory,
mental flexibility, and self-control.
Children aren’t born with these skills—they are born with the potential to develop them. The full range of abilities continues to
grow and mature through the teen years and into early adulthood.
To ensure that children develop these capacities, it’s helpful to understand how the quality of the interactions and experiences that
our communities provide for them either strengthens or undermines these emerging skills. When children have had opportunities
to develop executive function and self-regulation skills
successfully, both individuals and society experience lifelong
benefits.
Policy Implications
•
Efforts to support the development of these skills
deserve much greater attention in the design of
early care and education programs. Policies that
emphasize literacy instruction alone could increase their
effectiveness by including attention to the development
of executive function skills.
•
Teachers of young children would be better equipped
Tests measuring different forms of executive function skills indicate that they begin to develop
to understand and address behavioral and learn­ing
shortly after birth, with ages 3 to 5 a window of opportunity for dramatic growth in these skills.
challenges in their classrooms if they had professional
Development continues throughout adolescence and early adulthood.
training in the development of executive function
skills. Teachers are often the first to recognize serious problems with a child’s ability to control impulses, focus attention, stay
organized, and follow instructions. The consequences of mislabeling these problems as “bad behavior” can lead to a highly
disrupted classroom, preventable expulsions, or the inappropriate use of psychotropic medications.
•
For young children facing serious adversity, policies that combine attention to executive function and reducing the
sources of toxic stress would improve the likelihood of success in school and later in life. Adverse conditions such as abuse,
neglect, community violence, and persistent poverty can disrupt brain architecture and place children at a disadvantage with
regard to the development of their executive func­tion skills. Lessons learned from interventions that have successfully fostered
these skills hold consider­able promise for incorporation into home visiting, parent education, and family support programs.
•
Adult caregivers need to have these skills in order to support their development in children.
Programs such as job-skills training that intentionally build executive function and self-regulation capacities in adult caregivers
not only help them become more economically secure, but they also enhance their ability to model and support these skills
in children.
NHASP Protocol
Page 8
Spring 2015
www.nhaspweb.org
NHASP Spring Conference 2015
Please join us on Monday, May 11th at SERESC, Bedford, NH
Executive Function in the Everyday Context
The Evidence for Assessment and Intervention
Presenter
Peter Isquith, Ph.D.
Adjunct Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics
Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth
Invited Guest
Peg Dawson, Ed.D.
The Center for Learning and Attention Disorders
Registration available online: WWW.NHASPWEB.ORG
Description
Executive functions contribute demonstrably to children’s success in
the academic, social, emotional and behavioral domains, as well as
to a wide range of clinical conditions. In the morning presentation,
Dr. Isquith will discuss contributions of both rating scale and
performance measures to assessment of executive functioning,
including profiles in an array of clinical populations, associations
with relevant outcomes and biological markers, and relationships
with performance-based measures.
In the afternoon, Dr. Dawson will join Dr. Isquith to focus on how
this data informs development of interventions, and approaches
to assessing intervention outcome. Dr. Dawson will provide an
overview of coaching, highlighting how it is a vehicle for linking
assessment to intervention as well as a proven strategy for improving
executive skills in struggling students.
The target audience for this intermediate to advanced level workshop
is school psychologists, psychologists, and other education and
mental health professionals looking for a working model of executive
functions, knowledge of assessment approaches for evaluating
executive functions, and evidence for intervention approaches to
problems with executive functions in students.
Contact Info:
Nate Jones, NHASP President
Nate_Jones@hotmail.com
NHASP Protocol
Page 9
Spring 2015
School Psychology Practicum Student
Attends Her First NASP Convention
by Melissa Clay
D
uring the opening session,
NASP President Stephen Brock
talked about his first time at
NASP and how, when looking at the list
of all the seminars, symposiums, posters,
and special sessions, he felt like a kid in
a candy store. I knew exactly what he
meant. There seemed to be an endless list
of desirable options, and it was incredibly
exciting and a bit overwhelming at the
same time. There were seminars on all
the hottest topics: mindfulness, RTI,
PBIS, collaboration, autism, the cross
battery approach and incorporating socioemotional learning into the classroom.
George McCloskey, a leading expert
in Executive Function, gave one of
my favorite talks. He spoke about
the importance of understanding the
difference between executive function
and executive skills and recognizing the
four areas of involvement (interpersonal,
intrapersonal, environmental, and
academic) so that one can determine
an individual’s pattern of strengths and
weaknesses in executive functioning.
This way, the pattern can be used to
inform intervention so that students are
learning the exact strategies they need
to be successful. He also emphasized
the difference between inhibition and
moderation and explained that many of
the current assessments do not correctly
distinguish between these two, making
it difficult for the results to inform
effective interventions. Of course, he
was promoting his own newly developed
McCloskey Executive Functioning Scales
(MEFS), which address 33 different skills
over 4 domains. I have to say that he
peaked my interest enough to check out
these scales.
I also had the pleasure of hearing about
the changes that have been made under
the Comprehensive Behavioral Health
Model recently implemented in schools
in Boston, MA. This effort was designed
NHASP Protocol
with emphasis on the 10 Domains of the
NASP Model. School psychologists held
a leadership role in its implementation,
developing connections with community
and state agencies in order to build a
network of support. It was inspiring to
see how a team effort could bring about
such a large, and what appears to be
sustainable, change.
Conventions such as this demonstrate
how energizing it is to be in one place with
over 4,000 other psychologists, special
educators, professors, and students all
with a similar mindset. Even at 8:00 on
Friday morning, after some obviously long
nights at Disney, the rooms were full of
people eager to hear one more talk before
rushing out the door to catch their planes.
It was comforting to know that we are not
alone in the quest to better our practices
and skills so that we can be most effective
in our interventions and advocacy for
children and families across the country.
In the mountains of northern New
Hampshire, working part-time at several
schools, a psychologist can feel isolated or
on the fringes of educational reform. The
2015 NASP Convention was a wonderful
reminder of the power that each of us have
as advocates, passionately working day in
and day out to bring about big changes,
one step at a time.
Melissa Clay is a graduate student in the
school psychology program at Plymouth
State University and is currently a school
psychology practicum student in NH’s
North Country. Here is a picture of her two
children.
Page 10
Audrey Willis, Tari Selig, James Phillips
Scott Fillion and Kasey Landry-Fillion
Scott Fillion and Nate Jones
Thanks to Scott Fillion and Kasey LandryFillion for sponsoring the New Hampshire
State Association party at the National
Association of School Psychologists 2015
convention in Orlando, Florida. Scott's
company, “Seal Shield™ develops innovative
solutions to help Prevent Infections and Save
Lives. Seal Shield’s unique combination
of patent pending waterproof electronics,
air purification products and antimicrobial
services combine to create the most complete
infection control solutions available.”
Spring 2015
www.nhaspweb.org
Media Literacy and Freedom
by Leo R. Sandy
A
poignant irony is that the same
Americans who pride themselves on
their freedom allow themselves to
be controlled by the media that constantly
bombard us with alcohol ads, sex and violence,
appeals to attractiveness, and objects that will
make us happy. In the end, people develop an
addicted life style. They want and buy things
they don’t need and base everything they do
on feeling and looking good. The more they
consume and the less time they spend with
family, the emptier their lives become, and the
more they look toward substances and material
things to fill that emptiness. There is even an
accepted social ethic that assumes that as long
as citizens are not breaking any laws, they have
no moral obligation to others or themselves.
As one tee
shirt said, “It’s
all about me.”
For those of us
old enough to
remember, this
was not always
the case.
On the matter of violence, the American
Academy of Pediatrics reported that over
1000 studies link media violence to aggressive
behavior in children. By the time the average
American child turns 18 s/he will have viewed
about 200,000 acts of violence on television.
Children over 8 years old now are in front
of electronic screens an average of 6 3/4
hours. Media violence affects children in a
number of ways. They become desensitized
to real violence and to victims of violence,
imitate aggressive behavior, increase their
fear of victimization, become more antisocial
and less altruistic, believe that there are no
consequences of violent behavior, and increase
their appetite for more violent entertainment.
Visual media also short-circuit imagination
and fantasy which serve as filters and inhibiters
for aggressive impulses. For example, most
of Alfred Hitchcock’s movies required the
viewer to visually construct scenes whereas
today all the violent acts are shown in graphic
detail. In my early days, we only had radio
and, although there were fights in school, no
one used weapons and killed anyone. Also,
fewer kids were obese because our parents
wouldn’t let us into the house until dinner
so we organized baseball games by ourselves.
Thus, the media are a powerful influence
in our society and their messages are all the
NHASP Protocol
more powerful when they remain
unexamined.
One way to counter the negative
effects of the media is to provide children and
parents with media literacy which may be one
of the most important subjects to teach in
school because it helps children to critically
examine the messages they receive that
influence their behavior in a variety of areas
such as fashion, music, food, social habits,
and values. The media tell young people what
is important and what they should do to be
accepted, liked, and loved. It teaches them
to excessively consume, experiment sexually,
drink alcohol, hate school, eat bad food, use
drugs, and accept violence as normal. Some
of these themes and messages are that violence
should be used as a first resort in solving
problems, that education and teachers are a
joke, that a certain brand of beer will increase
your popularity and get you more dates, that
smoking will make you cool and grownup,
that hard work and effort are to be avoided,
that personal happiness supersedes the public
good, that there is a terrorist behind every tree,
that Arabs, especially Muslims, are not to be
trusted, and that minorities are responsible
for all the crime.
Media literacy, a communication
skill, can lessen the impact of
these messages and help to
create informed citizens who
can discern what they are exposed
to in the media. It helps them
put things into perspective and
not to be swayed by subliminal
visual messages. For example, one young child
in a media literacy class saw an ad showing a
father with his young child nearby admiring
a new car. This student said that the value of
the car for the father appeared to be higher
than the value he had for his own child. Thus,
media literacy helps people to access, analyze,
evaluate, and communicate. It helps develop
critical thinking skills - an absolute necessity
for a viable democracy and continued moral
development. Children taught in this manner
learn to separate realty from fantasy even when
they become adults. For example, Dolores
Curran, nationally recognized parent educator,
spoke about the camper family TV ad. In the
ad, the sun was out; the children were getting
along; and there was general family bliss. If
dysfunctional parents were to see this ad, they
could notice the contrast between this family
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and theirs. This could prompt them
to buy a camper to achieve family
harmony.
To many, this may sound absurd but with over
40 years in the field of school psychology, I
don’t assume anything. I do know that many
families don’t eat together but take their
meals in front of the TV. Advertisers are very
sophisticated in getting their messages across
to potential consumers. Another example is
the fear generated by TV. Lurid crimes are
given much air time but when national crimes
statistics were at their lowest levels, gun sales
were at their highest. While it may be true
that animated violence has less of a negative
impact and that it actually diffuses anger, the
newer video games show characters that are
almost indistinguishable from real people. The
more real the figures are, the greater likelihood
they are copied.
Media literacy helps children to see themes
and messages that are embedded in ads and
programs so that they can be in more control
of themselves, more free as it were. Besides
becoming more aware of how the media work,
parents can do several things suggested by
the American Academy of Pediatrics. They
include limiting the amount of television
children watch to 1 to 2 hours
a day, monitoring the programs
children watch and restricting
children’s viewing of violent
programs, monitoring the music
videos and films children see, as
well as the music children listen
to, for violent themes; teaching
children alternatives to violence, helping
children distinguish between fantasy and
reality, teaching them that real-life violence has
consequences, for example, asking children to
think about what would happen in real life if
the same type of violent act were committed.
Would anyone die or go to jail? would anyone
be sad? or would the violence solve problems
or create them?
I would also recommend that parents demand
that their schools develop a media literacy
program and boycott advertised products
that air on the most offensive programs (and,
of course tell the networks they are doing it).
We wouldn’t allow a stranger to come into our
house and undermine the values that we teach
our children so why should we allow the media
to do that? We need to take our children back.
Spring 2015
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NHASP Protocol
Adrienne Spector, Editor
490 Kearsarge Avenue
Contoocook, NH 03229-3103
Don’t forget to
check out our website at
www.nhaspweb.org
for the most up to date
information on upcoming
meetings, conferences
and more!
The New Hampshire Association of School Psychologists publishes the Protocol, its official publication, four
times a year and distributes it to members as a membership benefit. We also send copies to all superintendents
of schools in New Hampshire and to members of the NASP newsletter editors’ network. NHASP’s goals are to
serve the education and mental health needs of New Hampshire children.
The contents of this publication, the opinions expressed by the contributors, and any advertisements do not
necessarily reflect the opinions, endorsement, or policy of NHASP, NASP, or their elected, employed, or
appointed officials. Other reciprocating school psychology organizations have permission to reprint material
from the Protocol that is not copyrighted so long as the author and source are credited. Obtain permission to
reprint copyrighted material from the copyright holder.
Send items for possible publication to the editor, preferably via e-mail or on disk, using Microsoft Word.
Contributions may be edited to conform to space and format, and to improve clarity, without permission of the
author’s. Expression of opinion in editorials or letters may be edited only with the writer’s consent. Unsigned
articles will not be printed.
Editorial Staff
Adrienne Spector, Editor
25 Hardy Court
Keene, NH 03431
603-352-6322 (h)
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July 15
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