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The psychiatrist who upset Freudian dogma in the 1960’s by developing cognitive therapy is one of five winners of this year’s Lasker Awards, widely considered the nation’s most prestigious medical prizes. The awards, announced yesterday by the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation, are also going to four scientists who made important discoveries about aging and cancer. Mary Lasker created the awards in 1946 as a birthday gift to her husband, Albert, in hopes of curing cancer in 10 years. Each award carries a $100,000 prize. The psychiatrist, Dr. Aaron T. Beck, 85, of the University of Pennsylvania, won the Lasker...

40 Thousand volts, four thousand amperes, and over one hundred million watts squeezed into a cubic centimeter. YouÂ’d think that would be enough to vaporize just about anything, and it certainly doesnÂ’t seem like the kind of electricity youÂ’d want to apply to your body. But if our research continues to succeed as it has, years from now weÂ’ll be asking some cancer patients to do just that. And it might just save their lives. The trick is to apply that gargantuan jolt for only a few billionths of a second. ThatÂ’s so brief a time that the energy delivered...

When Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12-step programs are examined in controlled studies, a new review reports, scientists find no proof that they are superior to any other intervention in reducing alcohol dependence or alcohol-related problems. The researchers, led by Marica Ferri of the Italian Agency for Public Health in Rome, found little to suggest that 12-step programs reduced the severity of addiction any more than any other intervention. And no data showed that 12-step interventions were any more — or any less — successful in increasing the number of people who stayed in treatment or reducing the number who relapsed...

MANCHESTER — A traveling conference advocating the heterosexual lifestyle came to the suburbs of west St. Louis County on Saturday. As gay-rights groups staged a peaceful protest outside the First Evangelical Free Church, conventioneers spent the day inside, mostly listening to speakers who say they were previously gay. Parents of gay and lesbian children got advice and could speak to counselors about what to do, short of accepting their child's behavior. "We suggest you decline an invitation to a civil commitment ceremony," Melissa Fryrear told a group of parents. Some busily took notes; a few others wiped away tears. "So...

(01-24) 10:31 PST Wichita, Kan. (AP) -- A therapist who ran a group home for the mentally ill was sentenced to 30 years in prison for enslaving its residents, forcing them to work naked and making them perform sex acts. His wife received seven years behind bars. Arlan Kaufman, 69, and his wife, Linda, were convicted in November on charges that included health care fraud, forced labor and involuntary servitude. "You are an arrogant individual. You don't recognize what you have done is wrong," U.S. District Judge Monti Belot told Arlan Kaufman on Monday. "You see yourself as a victim...

Going to the dogs may not be such a bad thing after all, a U.S. researcher has found. In a study released Wednesday, Saint Louis University professor Dr. William Banks found that lonely seniors responded better when they received visits from dogs alone than when the animals were accompanied by a human. “It was a strange finding,” said Dr. Banks, a professor of geriatrics in the school's department of internal medicine. “We had thought that the dog acts as a social lubricant and increases the interaction between residents. The residents found a little quiet time with the pooch is a...

The tyranny of therapism Today — with a book for every ailment, a counselor for every crisis, a lawsuit for every grievance, and a TV show for every conceivable problem — we are at risk of degrading our native ability to cope with life's challenges. In 2000, five Canadian psychologists published a satirical article about Winnie the Pooh entitled 'Pathology in the Hundred Acre Wood'. At first glance, say the authors, the hero of AA Milne's 1926 children's classic appears to be a healthy, well-adjusted bear; but on closer and more expert examination, Pooh turns out to suffer from attention...

An eccentric shrink whose theories have come to shape modern psychotherapy is ensconced in an apartment atop the East 65th Street institute he founded while he battles a bitter coup. Albert Ellis, 92, whose work has been hailed by everyone from the Clintons to Mayor Bloomberg to Nicole Kidman, was booted Sept. 18 from the board of the nonprofit Albert Ellis Institute. He also was barred from the Friday-night "stand-up" psychotherapy sessions he has conducted before crowds of as many as 200 for more than 30 years. A lawyer for the board says Ellis' expenses are "preposterous" and putting the...

What is enhanced external counterpulsation? Enhanced External Counterpulsation (EECP) is a treatment for angina (also called angina pectoris), or chest pain. Angina occurs when the muscle cells of the heart do not get enough blood to properly maintain their pumping function. The lack of blood supply is most likely to cause pain during physical activity, when the heart pumps fastest and needs the most oxygen. In most people, angina is caused by coronary artery disease. Results of clinical trials show that EECP is a safe and effective choice for people who are considered at high risk for bypass surgery and...

Day One: Attend an actual Cuddle party! Day Two Morning Session: Creating the Context - In this section we will examine who we are to ourselves and to others, both in our day-to-day lives and in our roles as facilitators. We will discuss what it is that we are trying to create and what it means to set and maintain the intention for a group of people. Afternoon Session: Building the Relational Skillset - In this section we will create a new understanding of what it means to listen to others and to be with them. We will learn how...

COMBINATION hormone replacement therapy can cause cancer, the UN's agency on the disease has concluded. The International Agency for Research on Cancer said yesterday, based on evidence from recent studies, it has reclassified hormonal menopause therapy from "possibly carcinogenic to humans" to "carcinogenic to humans". The declaration from the World Health Organisation's cancer agency, widely regarded as the international authority on which substances cause cancer, comes after recent research linked HRT to breast cancer. The analysis found oestrogen and progestogen menopause therapy also increases the risk of endometrial cancer when progestogens are taken fewer than 10 days a month. The...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Civil rights leaders Friday called for monthly psychological evaluations for police officers statewide and standardized collection of racial profiling data in a report aimed at curbing police brutality. The report, released by the California National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, comes out of a March hearing with community leaders and civil rights groups following the death of 13-year-old Devin Brown. Brown was shot by police after allegedly crashing a stolen car into a police car in South Los Angeles. California NAACP president Alice Huffman said abuse of power among California police was widespread and persistent....

If Republicans are looking for a way to return to their principles of limited government and reduced federal spending, a good place to start would be rejection of the coming reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act sponsored by Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del. It's a mystery why Republicans continue to put a billion dollars a year of taxpayers' money into the hands of radical feminists who use it to preach their anti-marriage and anti-male ideology, promote divorce, corrupt the family court system, and engage in liberal political advocacy... The Violence Against Women Act-funded centers engage in political advocacy for feminist...

The Washington Timeswww.washingtontimes.com Liberals and terrorismBy Peter HuessyPublished June 28, 2005 The liberal press and its political allies are upset with Karl Rove. The president's key adviser said recently that liberals responded to the terrorist attacks of September 11 with calls for two things: Better understanding of why these enemies attacked us, and calling the police with indictments in hand to apprehend the terrorists and their terror masters.     Was Mr. Rove out of line? Remarkably, he probably understated the case. On Nov. 10, 1998, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright was asked what we should do about the declaration...

Karl Rove told New York conservatives June 22 that liberals had a wimpy response to the September 11 terrorist attacks, drawing harsh criticism June 23 from Democrats who demanded that President Bush either rebuke or fire his senior political adviser. “Conservatives saw the savagery of 9/11 in the attacks and prepared for war; liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers,” Mr. Rove said at the annual dinner of the New York State Conservative Party. Mr. Rove also accused Sen. Richard J. Durbin, Illinois Democrat, of endangering...

MIDI - OH WHAT A BEAUTIFUL MORNING - scroll down to Good Morning section for the MIDI We saw savagery on 9-11.....to the terrorists that day was heaven We hadn't attacked them, it was uncalled for...but they knew they could count on own liberal whores They say prepare the indictments...and offer some therapy They say prepare the indictments...why it was done we will see We're the bad guys the liberals keep saying...like a jackass they just keep on braying They have a solution that's always the same...on the US of A they are placing the blame They say prepare...

Of snake oil and snake oil producers there is no end; and modern America has its own types. Fortunately, philosopher Christina Hoff Sommers and her co-author Dr. Sally Satel, a psychiatrist, are on the lookout for America's Dr. Knocks (or should we say Dr. Kooks) and warn us about them in their smart, straight-shooting new book, "One Nation Under Therapy: How the Helping Culture is Eroding Self-Reliance." The cover of "One Nation Under Therapy" shows an analytic couch covered in red, white, and blue. The inner contradiction expressed in this symbol is explored in the book but requires some elaboration....

A Philadelphia Inquirer columnist who believes in the "right to die" has changed his mind about the Terri Schiavo case, pointing to "uncomfortable details" about her estranged husband that now lead him to side with the parents of the brain-damaged Florida woman, who are fighting to keep her alive. John Grogan said in a column published today, "I no longer so blithely believe Schiavo's feeding tubes should be pulled and her life allowed to end. I'm no longer so sure her parents do not deserve a say in their daughter's future. I no longer am totally comfortable assuming her husband,...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- In a drastic change, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration has committed California to reforming the way it treats youthful offenders, promising to replace more punitive measures with therapy and positive reinforcement. The agreement was announced Monday to settle a lawsuit. Only last year, the juvenile system was criticized by national experts as draconian. Among the methods they cited was the use of cages and drugs to subdue mentally ill or substance addicted youths. Under a timetable set for the agreement, reforms will be implemented gradually. The body that oversees the system, the California Youth Authority, set a...

Scientists Find Clue to AIDS Origins, New Therapy Mon Jan 10,12:02 PM ET By Patricia Reaney LONDON (Reuters) - A single change in a human gene may hold the key to preventing people living with HIV (news - web sites) from progressing to full-blown AIDS (news - web sites), researchers said on Monday. They found a crucial difference between a gene in humans and one in rhesus monkeys that blocks infection of the virus in the animals -- a finding that offers new insights into the origins of AIDS and gene therapy. Had the gene been the same in humans,...