Breakthroughs in Understanding & Treating Schizophrenia

_ Throughout its history North Suffolk has maintained a close relationship with Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). North Suffolk sponsors the research program of Don Goff, M.D. and his colleagues in the MGH Schizophrenia Research Program at the Freedom Trail Clinic.
Dr. Goff has built a team with a growing international reputation for clinical research in schizophrenia. His group of Dave Henderson, M.D., Eden Evins, M.D. and Oliver Freudenrich, M.D., and others have been prolific in obtaining research support for, then conducting and publishing studies in, the areas of:

• New pharmacological treatments for schizophrenia
• Neurological and genetic mechanisms of disease
• Related health issues including diabetes, smoking, and health promotion
• Cognitive behavioral therapies for treating schizophrenia

_ Cori Cather, Ph.D., a member of Dr. Don Goff’s group and a clinician at the Freedom Trail Clinic, has been developing cognitive behavioral treatments for schizophrenia. She is joined by colleagues, Dan Beck, LICSW and Bruce Bird, Ph.D., in two NIMH funded trials testing behavioral treatments for serious mental illness.

• Family intervention to reduce substance abuse for individuals with serious mental illness, Kim Mueser, M.D. Dartmouth University, Principal Investigator
• New intervention for health self-management and social skills in older adults with serious mental illness, Stephen Bartels, M.D, Dartmouth University, Principal Investigator

Culturally Competent Treatments for Panic and Anxiety among Southeast Asians

_ Devon Hinton, M.D., Ph.D. Senior Psychiatrist and Associate Medical Director of the Southeast Asian Community Clinic at North Suffolk collaborates with MGH colleagues, Michael Otto, M.D. and Mark Pollack, M.D. in developing a new program studying the culturally-specific manifestations of and treatments for panic and anxiety disorders in Cambodian and Vietnamese Populations. (Read about one client’s success with Dr. Hinton’s program in the Press Center page of this website.)

Training Clinicians in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

_ Each Thursday afternoon for 20 weeks during the winter/spring 2006, North Suffolk clinicians trained to provide innovative, new cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) in their practices at North Suffolk Outpatient Services. This is part of an agency program to promote professional development and bring clients the latest, most advanced treatments. Daniel Beck, LICSW, assisted by Dr. Bruce Bird, Dr. Cori Cather, and advised by MGH’s Dr. Michael Otto, trained North Suffolk’s clinicians in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy through lectures, role plays and case studies. CBT is a short term, skills-based, behavioral treatment which helps people change the way they think, act, and feel to cope better with mental illness, substance abuse and the stresses of daily life.