Consumer Reports on Psychotherapy

Consumer Reports, the largest independent consumer and product testing organization world-wide, has taken a look at psychotherapy. The July 2010 issue reports on a survey of 1,500 people who had sought help for depression and anxiety. Results indicate that those who completed at least 7 psychotherapy sessions reported as much improvement as those who had taken medication alone. The best outcomes were found when medication and "talk" therapy were used in combination.

The same article also reports on the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (that should be fully in effect by 2014) which is expected to increase the afforability of mental health care.

Reported by Dr. Bruce Sellars

For more information: http://www.consumerreports.org/

Dorene Fick

After 10 years in suburban NYC as a clinical social worker in a Psychiatric Hospital, Dorene has relocated to the Roanoke Valley and joined Psychological Health Roanoke. Her practice focuses on adult, adolescents, women's and family issues. As part of her work, she serves as an on-site counselor at William Fleming High School, through a program developed by the Roanoke Adolescent Health Partnership. This position brings Dorene full circle to the beginnings of her interest in Social Work. As she notes: I had been an inner city teacher for 3 years (1 in Pittsburgh and 2 in Manhattan). I realized that I needed more skills to help these kids with the many struggles that went above and beyond classroom learning. This prompted me to enroll in Social Work School.
After a whirlwind indoctrination into contemporary urban youth culture and some adjustments in her treatment style, Dorene feels at home and fully a part of things at Fleming HS.

At the encouragement of her students this spring she attended the school production, Urinetown. Dorene describes this as a satirical musical comedy in which the minority poor attempt to overthrow the rich overlords. Urinetown challenges the authority of bureaucracy, corporations and small town politics. The poignancy of a not so happy ending is an unfortunate reflection of the reality of everyday life for many of these students, however, many of them rise to accept real life challenges with maturity and perseverance beyond their years.

For more about the Roanoke Adolescent Health Partnership check out their website at http://www.rahpteens.org/

Who We Are

We are Psychological Health Roanoke, a group practice of 22 counselors, psychologists and social workers serving the western triangle of Virginia. Our clinical catchment reaches north and south along the Blue Ridge Mountains, with consulting services extending eastward into the Piedmont and Tidewater areas of Virginia. On any given day, you may find us at work in any of our 3 office locations in Roanoke, Blacksburg and Alleghany County.

You may also find us lecturing in a University classroom, a medical school, a police academy or a community organization… counseling in a high school, a nursing home, or a hospital medical unit…conducting evaluations in a jail or public safety agency…consulting to regional businesses and sports organizations …ministering in a church, testifying in court, conducting research or sitting in Board room. We are also Advantage EAP, PHR Police and Public Safety Assistance Program, and a training site for the Veterans Affairs Medical Center Doctoral Psychology Intern Program and Virginia Tech Undergraduate Psychology Practicum. In the words of our Clinicians we are “committed, compassionate and resourceful.”

We are our administrative staff, our point of contact with the public, who cheerfully multi-task their way through the day answering the phones, sending out the mail and tending to the millions of details that come between. They are, in their own words “compassionate, courteous and detail oriented.” –for which the rest of us are grateful.

At work we make our own coffee and recycle our cans and plastic. In our free time, we play music and write poetry, sail the lake and hike the mountains, read books and sell cookies, fret about the economy and the state of health care, follow the bouncing ball of our childrens’ lives, mow our lawns and tend to our gardens, and debate the merits of UVA and VT sports.

*John Heil


You can visit us at http://psychhealthroanoke.com/