Multimedia Sessions Invite IPS Audience Participation

The 21 multimedia sessions planned for APA’s 2001 Institute on Psychiatric Services in Orlando, Fla., will provide daily opportunities not only to enjoy carefully selected video, computer, and virtual-reality presentations, but also to participate in discussion with other professionals and session leaders.

Several themes will be highlighted in this year’s multimedia program, in particular multidisciplinary roles and collaborative work. In the afternoon of the opening day, Wednesday, October 10, two multimedia sessions will feature the work of Marsha Linehan, Ph.D., and her dialectical behavioral approach to the diagnosis and treatment of borderline personality disorder.

Also on Wednesday, an historical documentary shows the transformation in psychiatric care that evolved from the pioneering work of Heinz Lehman, M.D., in the treatment of severely regressed patients. Dr. Lehman’s legacy began with his introduction of Largactil, the first antipsychotic medication used in North America. This led to the recognition of the role of psychobiology in mental illness.

In another context, the video program “The Personals” offers a captivating look at the emotional and creative life of older Americans finding joy and excitement in the creation of and performance in a production based on their own lives as they search for intimate human connection.

The use of movies as an experiential ground for an in-depth examination and discussion of important psychiatric issues continues in the two workshops on Thursday morning, October 14, both featuring outstanding films. The presentation of Melanie Spritz, M.D., will focus on an understanding of the processes and pain that a transgendered individual experiences while going through the transition from one gender to another, so vividly portrayed in “Boys Don’t Cry.” Discussion will include issues related to empathy and understanding on the part of the clinician and the proper methods of diagnosis and treatment.

The second film that morning, “As Good As It Gets,” will foster a discussion of contemporary American films with mental health content and how these may influence the public perception of mental illness and treatment. Steven Pflanz, M.D., organized this session and will comment and lead an audience discussion on the film.

The American Orthopsychiatric Association (AOA) will jointly sponsor the Friday afternoon presentation of “Hoop Dreams.” Joel Feiner, M.D., president of the AOA, will chair the discussion of this compelling American film. We experience the unforgettable five years that turn two boys into men in a tough Chicago neighborhood.

Reflecting this year’s theme of “multidisciplinary roles,” four programs will be devoted to Michael Apted’s film “7-Up Around the World.” This creative longitudinal project captures the universal promise and innocent wisdom possessed by children the world over. Filmed in several countries, Apted’s series depicts the developmental lives of children in various countries, beginning at age 7 and continuing at seven-year intervals. This year’s program will feature four of these extraordinary films: “7-Up in America” and “7-Up in Africa,” both on Thursday afternoon; “7-Up in the Soviet Union” on Friday afternoon, October 12; and “14-Up in the Soviet Union” on Saturday morning, October 13.

On Thursday afternoon Leah J. Dickstein, M.D., and Sharon Levine, M.D., will chair “History and Results of the Bristol-Myers Squibb Fellowships,” which have enabled several hundred trainees to meet leaders in the field. Dickstein’s video interview with Henry Work, M.D., will highlight APA’s goals and visions for the fellowship. Also on Thursday Hai Ahn Kim, M.D., will chair a session on the documentary “l^st Person Plural.” The film highlights the journey of a Korean woman who, as a young child, was adopted by an American family and bravely discovers the truth of her identity as she unites her biologic and adoptive families. This is a poignant film on family, loss, and the co-mingling and merging of two identities.

In a three-hour session on Friday morning, Milton Viederman, M.D., will present two clinical videotapes: “A Brief Therapy on Videotape” and “The Consultation Process on Videotape.” These programs offer an unusual opportunity for clinicians to experience firsthand a series of therapeutic interventions. Using extensive videotaped segments from a three-session dynamic psychotherapy and an eight-month follow-up with the wife of a medically ill patient suffering from a fatal cancer, he will demonstrate and discuss what is observed during therapy, what the patient communicates, and how the therapist uses this understanding. In the second part of the presentation, he will discuss the conceptual approach to consultation, illustrated by videotaped segments of interviews with several patients who have different concerns and different ways of adapting to the stresses of illness.

Programs focusing on the use of computers in psychiatry will be presented on Friday morning in two computer media sessions. Zebulon Taintor, M.D., who has pioneered applications of computers in clinical practice and teaching, will introduce new software and hardware, including handheld devices. Issues of privacy and confidentiality will also be discussed. In the subsequent workshop, Roxanne F. Szeftel, M.D., will review current applications of telepsychiatry in a variety of settings, including those related to the developmentally disabled (California); school consultations (Texas); and prison settings and general practice (New York).

An original HBO documentary, “Drinking Apart: Families Under the Influence” by award-winning producer Kenneth Rosenberg, M.D., will be presented on Friday afternoon. It follows the lives of three families from varying socioeconomic classes and ethnicities as they seek intervention and guidance from therapists using the special “team” interventions developed at New York’s Ackerman Institute for the Family.

On Saturday morning an innovative eight-week multimedia educational program to enhance compliance with schizophrenia treatment will be presented by Gary Remington, M.D., and Linda Collins, M.S.W., from Toronto, Canada.

In a Saturday afternoon session, Donald A. Misch, M.D., will use the film “Ordinary People” to demonstrate how a commercial film can be used creatively to develop psychosocial formulations and to stimulate discussion.

New technologies and therapeutic innovations in virtual-reality therapy will be presented in two workshops that I will chair. On Saturday morning advanced work in clinical application of virtual-reality technologies to phobias and to posttraumatic stress disorders will be demonstrated by Larry Hodges, Ph.D. In the afternoon session, Hunter Hoffman, Ph.D., will demonstrate and discuss the use of virtual reality–supported techniques in treating burn patients and working with severely phobic individuals.

These interactive multimedia learning sessions promise to provide an unusual opportunity for attendees to interact in a workshop format with experienced leaders, stimulated by challenging educational and entertaining multimedia presentations. ▪