Author: James Amos

  • What About Bob?

    What About Bob?

    The homeless guy camped next to the busy street just outside of our hotel is still here. I’m going to call him Bob because it’s awkward to keep calling him “the homeless guy.” I haven’t met Bob yet, but Sena got him some water. She had to give it to the hotel resident who so…

  • Thoughts About Psychedelic Assisted Psychotherapy

    Thoughts About Psychedelic Assisted Psychotherapy

    I read the Psychiatric Times article “FDA Issues CRL to Lykos for MDMA-Assisted Therapy.” The short story is that the FDA essentially told the drug company Lykos that their study of the efficacy of MDMA-assisted treatment of PTSD needs more work. I tried to wade through the on-line documents of the FDA’s meeting on June…

  • Thoughts on Hobos and Homelessness

    Thoughts on Hobos and Homelessness

    We can see the man from our hotel window. We assume he’s homeless. He has a small area where he sits on the curb next to the street.  He does this most of the day. He has a blanket and a few other loose items which sometimes are strewn on the sidewalk or the grass.…

  • Thoughts as Train Cars Visualization in Mindfulness Meditation

    Thoughts as Train Cars Visualization in Mindfulness Meditation

    The Iowa Interstate Railroad train rumbles past our hotel a few times a day and it reminds me of the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course I took 10 years ago. One of the exercises the instructor mentioned was the train visualization mindfulness exercise. I don’t know if I remember what our instructor actually said…

  • Dirty Laundromania

    Dirty Laundromania

    Because we’re staying in a hotel waiting for our house to be built, we have to take a different approach with our laundry. There are laundry facilities at the hotel, but there aren’t many machines. Sena usually takes it to a place called Laundromania. The motto is “We Never Clothes.” I went with her the…

  • Verbal De-escalation: University of Colorado School of Medicine Video Series cont. Chapter 5

    Verbal De-escalation: University of Colorado School of Medicine Video Series cont. Chapter 5

    Simpson, Scott & Sakai, Joseph & Rylander, Melanie. (2019). A Free Online Video Series Teaching Verbal De-escalation for Agitated Patients. Academic Psychiatry. 44. 10.1007/s40596-019-01155-2.

  • Verbal De-escalation: University of Colorado School of Medicine Video Series cont. Chapter 4

    Verbal De-escalation: University of Colorado School of Medicine Video Series cont. Chapter 4

    Simpson, Scott & Sakai, Joseph & Rylander, Melanie. (2019). A Free Online Video Series Teaching Verbal De-escalation for Agitated Patients. Academic Psychiatry. 44. 10.1007/s40596-019-01155-2.

  • Verbal De-escalation: University of Colorado School of Medicine Video Series cont. Chapter 3

    Verbal De-escalation: University of Colorado School of Medicine Video Series cont. Chapter 3

    Simpson, Scott & Sakai, Joseph & Rylander, Melanie. (2019). A Free Online Video Series Teaching Verbal De-escalation for Agitated Patients. Academic Psychiatry. 44. 10.1007/s40596-019-01155-2.

  • Verbal De-escalation: University of Colorado School of Medicine Video Series cont. Chapter 2

    Verbal De-escalation: University of Colorado School of Medicine Video Series cont. Chapter 2

    This is Chapter 2 of the free verbal de-escalation video series. This one is “Basic elements of verbal de-escalation.” Simpson, Scott & Sakai, Joseph & Rylander, Melanie. (2019). A Free Online Video Series Teaching Verbal De-escalation for Agitated Patients. Academic Psychiatry. 44. 10.1007/s40596-019-01155-2.

  • Verbal De-escalation Education Videos

    Verbal De-escalation Education Videos

    I was looking at the Academy of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry (ACLP) and discovered a free online video educational series on verbal de-escalation of agitated patients. It reminded me of my own early attempts to educate trainees about this very important topic (see my post “A Little Too Exuberant”). The Simpson et al presentation includes 5 free…