GAP Circular Letter #672

POST MEETING SUMMER 2025

FUTURE MEETINGS 2025

November 6-8

America’s Think Tank for Mental Health

www.ourgap.org

2026

April 16-18 November 12-14

CIRCULAR LETTER #672

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT Our recent gathering in White Plains came just in time. The interval between our fall and spring meetings was filled with

2027

distressing news: terrible wildfires in Los Angeles, irrational,

April 8-10 November 11-13

impulsive, and destructive edicts from Washington, and wars

2028

wonderful to be in a room filled with humane, life-affirming, and

April 6-8

wise people.

November 9-11

Wisdom may be one of the most underrated resources in our

raging worldwide. In an unkind and wisdom-starved world, it was

world these days. It doesn’t grab headlines, generate clicks, or

All meetings scheduled

drive advertising revenue. But it underlies successful decision-

at the Sonesta Hotel White Plains, New York

making in our lives as individuals and is at the foundation of enduring, resilient institutions. Dilip Jeste, a geriatric psychiatrist and former APA President, is one of the most resonant voices in conversations about wisdom. He undertook a scientific study of wisdom and distilled it to a handful of core capacities, including empathy, emotional regulation, self-reflection, acceptance of divergent values, and tolerance of uncertainty.

GAP OFFICERS: President Robert P. Roca, M.D. rroca2@jhmi.edu President Elect

These qualities were evident at every turn in White Plains in April: in the Board meeting, the Friday morning business meeting, the meetings of the steering committee, and I know in the individual committee meetings as well. They were particularly evident during spirited and civil discussions about how GAP might best respond to ambient threats to our colleagues and patients and our efforts to help them. People spoke passionately and respectfully, mindful of the diversity of viewpoints, sensitivities, life experiences, and circumstances of our members, fellows, and guests. Many response options were proposed, and there will be opportunities

Sy A. Saeed, M.D.

to consider these over the next few weeks and months. However, one option is immediately

saeeds@ecu.edu

available: individual committees may develop their commentaries on important issues in their areas of special expertise and endeavor to publish them in venues where they might have

Secretary

an impact. Informing to have an impact—that’s how GAP can make a difference. That’s why

David A. Sasso, M.D.

I was so excited to review and approve a statement from the Committee on Professionalism

david.sasso@gmail.com

and Ethics about the deleterious effects of extreme uncertainty on mental health. They aimed to publish it someplace where they would, in their words, “not be preaching to the choir.”

Treasurer Gail E. Robinson, M.D. gail.robinson@utoronto.ca Past President Calvin R. Sumner, M.D. docsumner@gmail.com

They succeeded: it was published recently as a letter to the editor of the Washington Times.

Imagine 10 or 20 or more statements coming out of GAP committees on issues within their special expertise and appearing in a range of venues where people with diverse viewpoints might view them.

One important activity at the meeting was a review of the findings of our most recent audit, which looked at our standing at the end of 2023. There were two main takeaways, neither of

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P.O. B ox 5 7 0 2 1 8 • D allas , Tex as 75 3 5 7- 0 2 1 8 • 9 7 2- 6 13 - 0 9 8 5

Message from the President Continued. which was a surprise: (1) we have a

on a one-time basis. This decision

the IMG Committee was re-

very healthy “total assets” figure on

harmonizes well with our decision to

established by a vote of the Steering

our balance sheet, which is a source

add a 10% administrative charge to

Committee, and the Board voted to

all future restricted gifts. The Board

create, at the recommendation of

also voted to allow us to use for

Jacob Appel, a GAP Service Award

general operations any investment

to recognize an individual who has

income over that required to fund the

made extraordinary contributions to

fellows. These moves will increase our

our organization. Also, the Finance

unrestricted net assets right away.

Committee reaffirmed our recently

of fundamental strength and (2) a very high proportion of these assets are “restricted” by the Board for specific purposes, primarily the support of the fellowships, and are not available to fund operations under routine circumstances.

This is a structural problem that needs to be solved to guarantee the vigor of GAP in the years to come. One way to solve it is to balance our budget every year (i.e., annual expenses not to exceed annual revenue from dues, meeting registration, etc.) so that we do not need to use our reserves for operations. This will require that we find additional sources of revenue and/or reduce expenses. This is a project for the months leading up to the creation of our 2026 budget at the fall meeting. Another way to solve this problem is to build our unrestricted net assets. One way to do this is to attract new unrestricted donations.

At the meeting, we took a step in this direction by creating, at the suggestion of David Adler, the Frances Roton Bell Executive Director’s Fund, an unrestricted fund in Frances’ honor.

It has already attracted at least $35K in pledges from Board members and others. More on this later. Another way to build our unrestricted reserves is to “unrestrict” a fraction of our restricted funds, a move permitted by a 2/3 vote of the Board. At the spring meeting, the Board voted unanimously

In the meantime, our purpose-specific fundraising efforts have continued to bear fruit. We recently received another substantial gift from the Cotswold Foundation – supplemented

adopted policy of including a 10% administrative charge to support GAP infrastructure for all purposespecific gifts, including the new gifts mentioned above.

by John Looney—to create a

Finally, speaking of extraordinary

Distinguished Guests Fund. This

contributions to our organization,

will allow us to invite distinguished

let me end by returning to the

individuals from other fields to attend

establishment of the Frances Roton

GAP meetings for two years to

Bell Executive Director’s Fund. As

contribute their perspectives to the

described above, this is the brainchild

work of GAP committees. In addition, we recently received very generous gifts from Keith Flaherty, MD, in honor of his mother, our beloved former President Lois Flaherty, who died in early May. His gifts will establish the Lois Flaherty Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship fund, which will support a Fellow assigned to the Adolescent Committee, and the Lois Flaherty General Fund, which will provide grants to committees to support dissemination of their work. Her obituary, written by Keith, is reproduced later in this Circular Letter. Alongside this is the obituary of another beloved GAP member and former president, the remarkable

of David Adler, who recognized our debt to Frances for her extraordinary contributions to GAP over many decades and our need to create new sources of unrestricted funding to help shore up GAP’s operational finances.

As noted above, the fund has already been seeded with over $35000 from a handful of Board members. The hope is that by the fall meeting, this sum will have grown to $100,000 and beyond.

Donations can be made on the GAP website. Please do whatever you can to help us reach our target!

Have a great summer.

Bob

Malkah Notman. She died peacefully in

to allow us to “unrestrict” 10% of

early May as well.

the principal of the restricted funds

In other news from the April meeting,

G r o u p f o r t h e A d va n c e m e nt o f P s yc h i at r y

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COMMITTEE REPORTS

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

ADOLESCENCE Present in person: Dan Becker, Stephan Carlson, Liwei Hua, Jean Wittenberg.

Guest: Jeanne Phillips.

Adolescence_____________ 3

POLITICAL AND SOCIAL THREATS TO HEALTH FOR YOUTH. WHAT IS GAP’S ROLE?

Arts & Humanities________ 5

In addition to discussing our opinions on the role that GAP should take as an organization, we in the Adolescent Committee examined possible actions we could take. We agreed that it is urgent to act quickly. We agreed to pursue the following projects, each one speaking about what we support rather than focusing on what we oppose. Jean suggested three parameters as perspectives for positive views: stress-inducing vs. stress-moderating factors and the importance of prevention, the economic advantage of prevention, and how considering human rights leads to better health throughout a community. We also discussed the differing impacts of different documents and blogs, Substack documents via Doctors in Dialog on the GAP Substack site, and op-eds in the news media.

1.

Young mothers and their children. Jean will draft a blog describing the impacts of stress on maternal and infant health and functioning, how stresses can be mitigated, and how they are aggravated. This will include specific information about the U.S. context, such as the support that Medicaid offers these families.

2.

The vulnerability of mental health in the adolescent years. Dan will write a document addressing support for mental health and stresses that challenge it for youth.

3.

Medicaid and youth. Liwei will write a document describing the support that Medicaid offers youth.

4.

We considered creating a resource of evidence for factors that support mental health in youth and factors that predict mental health problems. This could be used to distribute the information to legislators.

5.

We discussed the possibility of collaborating with other GAP committees on projects that would support our values and raise their profile in the public view. Jean will contact the chair of the Systems Innovation & Transformation Committee, Wes Sowers, and Beth Haase, chair of the Climate Committee, to explore possible collaboration. We will also collaborate with the Media Committee and possibly the Planning, Marketing, & Communications Committee.

Aging____________________ 4 Child Psychiatry__________ 5 Climate__________________ 6 College Student__________ 6 Consultation Liason_______ 7 Cultural__________________ 8 Gender & Mental Health___ 9 LGBTQ+__________________ 9 Military & Veterans______ 10 Neuropsychiatry__________ 11 Planning, Marketing, & Communications______ 12 Professionalism & Ethics_________________ 12 Psychiatry & Community____________ 13 Psychiatry & Law________ 13 Psychiatry & Media______ 14 Psychiatry & Religion____ 15 Psychopathology_________17 Psychopharmacology_____17 Psychotherapy__________ 18 Research________________ 18 Social Justice____________ 19 Systems Innovation & Transformation________ 19

LGBTQ PROJECT Discussion deferred pending Jake’s availability.

Technology & Psychiatry____________ 20

YOUNG PARENTS PROJECT

Work & Organization_____ 22

1.

Dear Abby Jeanne Phillips was our guest to discuss how we might use her column to explore issues of health equity, specifically based on the experiences of young mothers in healthcare settings. She has generously offered to include a short invitation to women who had babies between the ages of 16 and 25 to share their stories with us. We would prepare a webpage, possibly

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COMMITTEE REPORTS Continued.

AGING WITH GRACE

on the GAP website (to be determined), in which we would list a number of questions seeking narrative responses and then conduct a qualitative analysis of those responses.

2.

Health equity paper Stephan has begun four separate papers, a number of which involve research and have timelines of up to 6 months. She has developed an index of stigma in teen mothers’ policies that impact teen mothers’ treatment in the healthcare system using that index.

He will keep us informed of progress and will send out copies of his proposals for our consideration.

He is near completion of one paper on a review of health equity for young mothers and their children, which he and Jean will share with the committee shortly.

Anticipated completion: Within a year

Liwei and Jean have discussed an approach that takes a developmental perspective on what might lead youth to attempt and/or complete suicide. For example, what are the origins of hopelessness and despair, anger, impulsiveness, etc.? The feasibility of postulating the mental state that leads to action was discussed. Factors increasing or decreasing the likelihood of acting were discussed. Liwei and Jean will continue work on the paper.

Members attending: Bob Roca, John Beyer, Helen Kyomen Fellow attending: Laura VanDyck (Ethel Ginsberg Fellow)

PROJECTS: HEALTHY AGING: ENHANCING BRAIN HEALTH AND WELL-BEING Book proposal development is in progress with input from APPI staff, responding to the review process.

Anticipated Completion: A year after the book proposal is finalized.

G r o u p f o r t h e A d va n c e m e nt o f P s yc h i at r y

Invited to develop this into a webinar/course by Dr. Badr Ratnakaran, Chair of the APA Council on Geriatric Psychiatry, the topic is being reviewed by the APA Learning Center.

This topic is under discussion, prompted by guest Dr. Maureen Nash, who has been working on this issue with Oregon administrators; this may be a good symposium topic for future AAGP/APA.

SUICIDE IN YOUTH

AGING

HEALTHY BRAIN AGING AND SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH

WHY AND HOW TO USE ANTIPSYCHOTICS IN OLDER ADULTS

Dan described the organization of this paper, in which he has made significant progress. The committee engaged in a very fruitful discussion of issues related to aetiology, treatment and prognosis of BPD in youth.

We did not have time to hear from Beni, but we will schedule this as soon as we can.

Anticipated Completion: Within 6 months

Anticipated Completion: We will need to work with APA Learning Center to establish a deadline

STIGMA AND THE DIAGNOSIS OF BPD IN YOUTH

ART AS A THERAPEUTIC INTERVENTION

First manuscript draft in preparation for AJCP (invited to submit by Dr. Chip Reynolds, Editor of AJGP, who attended our AAGP symposium with the same title.

Anticipated Audience: Practicing Psychiatrists, Psychiatry residents, Training directors, Psychologists/other mental health and general public Work Accomplished During Meeting: Most of the projects incorporated concepts from positive psychiatry and lifestyle psychiatry to promote well-being and successful aging across the lifespan. An additional project concerned the use of antipsychotics in older adults who reside in non-nursing home settings.

Part of the meeting included discussions on the changing landscape and tenor regarding federal healthcare financing of multiple services, federal grants, etc., topics that emerged during the business meeting. These can impact the delivery of patient care and scientific progress on multiple levels.

Discussed sentiments were summarized in the draft: “To support all Americans in their efforts to establish healthy and safe communities, we advocate for a moratorium on further governmental cuts and changes in policies till there is thoughtful debate and discussion to (1) consider the consequences of the cuts and changes in policies and (2) plan for alternative strategies to address any problematic issues that may arise from the cuts and changes in policies.”

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2025 Circular Let ter #672

COMMITTEE REPORTS Continued.

Plan for Between-meeting Work: Plans are to meet monthly via Zoom to continue to work on current projects and consider new ones for development.

The Committee on Aging meets via Zoom once a month.

Focus for Next Meeting: We will continue to work on current projects and consider new ones for development.

Ways Members Can Help: Suggestions for guests and experts who can contribute/ consult to current and future projects would be appreciated.

PROJECTS: COMPETING WITH TIKTOK: HOW TO HELP GUIDE YOUTH THROUGH THE SOCIAL MEDIA MENTAL HEALTH DIAGNOSIS MAZE Anticipated Completion: One month.

Members attending: Donald Fidler (virtual), Christopher Snowdy (virtual), Andrew Lustbader, Kenneth Weiss, Anish R. Dube

Anticipated Audience: Practicing Psychiatrists, Psychiatric Residents Potential Publishing: The committee would like the manuscript to be re-submitted to the current Pediatric Report.

PROJECTS: THE SHRINK AT A DINNER PARTY Reviewed by Publications and approved.

Ways the Publications Board Can Help: Approved by the Publication Committee for publication prior to the first journal submission

AUTISM AND AMERICAN POLICING: A CALL FOR AWARENESS Reviewed by Publications and approved.

SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT: CLARIFYING AUTISM SCIENCE IN THE WAKE OF RECENT PUBLIC STATEMENTS

THE ARTS IN THERAPY In progress, anticipated by fall.

First draft in preparation, anticipated date of completion is 2 months.

The committee would like both blogs to be published in Psychology Today.

Anticipated Audience: General public

Work Accomplished During Meeting: Review of submissions in progress, approval of 2 of 3 articles. Discussion of future direction/projects.

Potential Publishing: The committee would like for it to be published in Psychology Today and AACAP News.

Discussion of comments raised by GAP general membership in regard to the current political environment.

Plan for Between-meeting Work: Article 3 (The Arts in Therapy) will continue to be revised and shared. Possible additional articles as movie and/or book reviews.

A CROSS-CONTINENTAL DISCUSSION ON TEENS’ DIGITAL REGULATION: PAST, NOW, AND THE FUTURE The topic has been chosen, and the first draft is in preparation Anticipated Completion: 2-3 months

The committee has met 1-2 times since April 2023.

Focus for Next Meeting: Maintain adequate membership and engagement within the committee. Continue to consider collaborative projects to work on and submit.

G r o u p f o r t h e A d va n c e m e nt o f P s yc h i at r y

Members attending: Dorothy Stubbe, Eunice Yuen, Gabrielle Shapiro, Bud Vana Fellow attending: Melissa Peace Guest Attending: Ivy Song

The committee is responding to the review process.

ARTS & HUMANITIES

Ways Members Can Help: We would appreciate guests to the committee who are interested in this subject matter.

CHILD PSYCHIATRY

Anticipated Audience: Practicing Psychiatrists, Psychiatry Residents Potential Publishing: The committee would like for it to be published in WPA News.

Ways the Publications Board Can Help: Will submit to the Publication Committee for review.

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COMMITTEE REPORTS Continued.

ADVOCATING POLICY CHANGES AND INSURANCE COVERAGE FOR PLAY THERAPEUTIC INTERVENTIONS

2.

The topic has been chosen, and the first draft is in preparation

A good 50% of our time at this meeting went to the articulation of this and a document on the psychological tools of authoritarianism, which we hope will become a blog but also support resistance to current Federal control of thought and freedom.

Anticipated Completion: 3–4 months Anticipated Audience: Practicing Psychiatrists, Psychiatry Residents The committee would like the manuscript to be published in AACAP News.

We are also working on:

Will submit to the Publications Board for review Work Accomplished During Meeting: — Invitation of new GAP members — Discussion on new topics of projects — Update and review of submitted manuscript Plans for Between-meeting Work: — Start working on projects as listed above.

— Send invitations to guest GAP members for the next meeting

1.

The second beta testing of a curriculum on climate change and mental health for the research study that we will launch in 3-4 weeks. The fellows have agreed to help us with this quite soon.

2.

The continued refinement of what we will study and how we will study it for our parent-child climate communication study.

3.

The final revision of our paper on future thinking and the need for using this model in psychiatric practice.

We hope to begin testing the curriculum with residency training directors in 2 months and to have an IRB submission for the parent/child study by June.

Focus for Next Meeting: — Updates on the ongoing project — Updates on outcomes of invited guest members.

COLLEGE STUDENT

CLIMATE

Members attending: Brunhild Kring (chair), Raj Patel Not attending: Helene Keable, Alexandra Ackerman, Ludmila de Faria, Ryan Flanagan Fellow attending: n/a Guests: Kashmira Rustomji, Patricia Mathelier

Our group was Janet Lewis, Beth Mark, Beth Haase, Joshua Wortzel, fellow Julia Rothschild, Caroline Dumont in person, Emily Schutzenhofer, and the two guests remotely.

Alex Yoon was able to attend on Saturday after a recent medical problem prevented her from fully participating.

We welcomed new guests: Casey Patnode, a third-year resident at U. Washington Seattle who will help with the curriculum study and has experience in this area, and Amelia Gallitano, a senior neuropsychiatric researcher who is interested in climate and heat. As they were both new guests, unfamiliar with GAP, and able to attend for only a few hours, we are not proposing them for membership at this time.

AGENDA: 1.

Like many committees, the GAP committee has been significantly concerned with the actions of the Trump administration in: 1.

Authoritarian efforts to suppress opinion and deny personal rights and safety by unjustly denying employment, privacy, and legal process to those they dislike.

G r o u p f o r t h e A d va n c e m e nt o f P s yc h i at r y

Active destruction of decades of programs involved in health, the health of the environment, and progress to mitigate global warming that is the bedrock of health and mental health.

Since our last meeting in November 2024, the College Student Committee has successfully published two manuscripts: a. The Psychological Fallout of the Covid-19 Pandemic on College Students Kring B, de Faria L, Ackerman A, Menon M, Peluso F; with the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry, College Student Committee. The Fallout of the COVID-19 Pandemic on College Students. Curr Psychiatry Rep. 2025 Apr;27(4):155-160. doi: 10.1007/ s11920-025-01587-8. Epub 2025 March 14. PMID: 40085363.

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COMMITTEE REPORTS Continued. b. Coping with the Problematic Effects of Social Media. Strategies to Deal with Social Media Use

by Ryan Flanagan. https://www.psychologytoday. com/us/blog/psychiatrys-think-tank/202501/copingwith-problematic-effects-of-social-media 2.

3.

4.

1.

Comprehensive Mental Health Treatment for College Students. The Value of Psychiatric Residents in College Counseling Services.

Review and editing of manuscript/blog post by Patricia Mathelier and Brunhild Kring. Manuscript submitted to the GAP Publication Committee for review and edits; Young Men in Crisis: Unique Challenges in Modern Society.

Review and editing of manuscript/blogpost by Raj Patel. The manuscript requires further edits and rewriting; Raj will complete the next draft by April 28, 2025.

Manuscript Type: systematic literature review article, Intermediate Length.

Anticipated Audience: Practicing Psychiatrists, Psychiatry Residents, Psychologists & other mental health Potential Publishing: Transcultural Psychiatry; Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry; World Cultural Psychiatry Journal; International Journal of Social Psychiatry Anticipated Completion: Fall 2025 (final manuscript

by January 2026) Potential Publishing: Health Communication Ways the Publications Board Can Help: Late-stage guidance during manuscript production and submission.

Work Accomplished During Meeting:

Save the date: Zoom meeting on Tuesday, July 15, from 4:30–6:00 p.m. Join the meeting at https://nyushc. zoom.us/j/2456711470?omn=99406258487, Meeting ID: 245 671 1470

• Develop an evidence-based Behavioral Emergency Incident Management Algorithm for adult & geriatric in-patients in general hospitals.

• Algorithm to follow a tiered approach: –

Non-pharmacologic de-escalation

Brainstorming about proposals for new papers:

–

Pharmacologic management

a. How does the mental health crisis of young men influence women?

–

Restraints as last resort

b. Emerging trends on campus: How do staff and students in Institutions of Higher Education react to the criticism of universities, travel and visa restrictions for international students, and the paucity of post-graduation job opportunities?

Analysis of self-censorship.

• Focused on 7 clinical scenarios:

CONSULTATION-LIAISON Members attending: In-person: Aaron Pinkhasov, MD (Acting Chair), Ramotse Saunders, MD, Damir Huremovic, MD, Remote: Paulo Sales, MD Guests Attending: In Person: Seema Qureshi, MD, Director of CL Psychiatry, Mt. Sinai (expert in Lifestyle Psychiatry & scenario development); Remote: Rajvee Vora, MD, Chair, Psychiatry at Woodhull Hospital (expert in psychiatric de-escalation & policy development)

PROJECT INFORMATION: BEHAVIORAL EMERGENCY IN GENERAL HOSPITAL—EVIDENCE-BASED MANAGEMENT ALGORITHM G r o u p f o r t h e A d va n c e m e nt o f P s yc h i at r y

1.

Dementia / DLB

2.

Delirium

3.

Psychosis (incl. Parkinson’s)

4.

Substance intoxication / withdrawal

5.

Mania

6.

Life-altering news/bad-diagnosis–triggered agitation

7.

Personality disorder with medication/ substance-seeking behavior

Planned Deliverables: – Systematic literature reviews for each scenario → evidence synthesis → algorithm → training modules → incident-reporting template → manuscript submission Work Accomplished During Meeting (April 24-25, 2025): • Finalization of inclusion/exclusion criteria (BERT, psychopharm, crisis protocols, WPV, agitation, ER, psych ER, etc.).

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COMMITTEE REPORTS Continued.

• Literature search terms refined; Google Drive files updated and organized by scenario.

De-escalation/Safety,Rajvee Pending

• Scenario assignments confirmed (two additional scenarios added).

Upcoming Milestones:

• Meetings scheduled every other Thursday, 5–6 PM EST, to sustain momentum.

Scenario Assignments:

• May 8, 2025—Next full meeting; review search yields and early article coding.

• May–June 2025—Complete full-text pulls and dual screening; finalize data extraction template.

• July–August 2025—Risk-of-bias assessments: RoB-2, NOS, AMSTAR-2, CASP.

SCENARIO

LEAD

Agitation from life-altering diagnosis

Paulo

Agitation in personality-disordered, med/substance-seeking patient

Seema

Dementia / DLB

Seema

Delirium

Aaron

Mania

Paulo

Substance intoxication/withdrawal (EtOH, benzos, others)

Ramotse

Psychosis (incl. Parkinson’s)

Damir

Broset/PAS scales

Renata

De-escalation/Safety

Rajvee

• Distribute and refine data extraction form to all scenario leads.

Visuals/Synthesis

All members

• Assign early evidence synthesis tasks by scenario.

Ethics/Implementation/Senior Review

Vis (future role)

• Outline visual mapping plan for algorithm.

• September 2025—Create evidence tables and initial GRADE summaries.

• October 2025—Begin manuscript drafting and visual design.

• January 2026—Complete manuscript and submit for publication.

Focus for Next Meeting: • Review PubMed search yields and begin dual screening of titles/abstracts.

Ways the Publications Board Can Help:

Plan for Between-meeting Work: Current Task Matrix: PubMed Search Strategy, Nick B. In Progress. Initial draft due end-April; Paulo + PI reviewing.

Life-Altering Dx Agitation,Paulo Started. Literature pulled.

Personality Disorder/Seeking,Seema Started. Includes maladaptive substance-use behavior.

Dementia/DLB,Seema Gathering evidence— Delirium, Aaron Gathering evidence — Mania, Paulo Pending Substance Use/Withdrawal, Ramotse Pending Psychosis (incl. Parkinson’s), Damir Pending Broset/PAS Tools, Renata Pending G r o u p f o r t h e A d va n c e m e nt o f P s yc h i at r y

• Identify a statistician for any planned meta-analytic components.

• Finalize consensus development method (Delphi vs.

Nominal Group).

• Engage a graphic designer for visual formatting of the algorithm and tables.

• Recruit leads for ethics & implementation sections.

• Share any recent references, guidelines, or hospital protocols relevant to assigned scenarios.

CULTURAL Members attending: Roberto Lewis-Fernandez, Francis Lu, Neil Aggarwal, Kenneth Fung Fellow Attending: Sasini Bentanto

PROJECT INFORMATION: TOWARDS A CULTURAL CONTEXTUAL FORMULATION The first draft was mostly completed.

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COMMITTEE REPORTS Continued.

Anticipated Audience: Psychiatrists, Psychiatry Residents, Psychologists & other mental health Potential Publishing: Transcultural Psychiatry; Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry; World Cultural Psychiatry Journal; International Journal of Social Psychiatry Anticipated Completion: 3 to 4 months

GENDER & MENTAL HEALTH Members attending: Natalie Feldman, Shelby Powers, Sophie Grigoriadis, Zara Brown (via Zoom)

A COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS OF PAID MATERNITY LEAVE AND REDUCTIONS IN POSTPARTUM DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY

A PIECE ON THE STATUS OF CULTURAL PSYCHIATRY IN LIGHT OF FEDERAL DEVELOPMENTS

Anticipated Audience: Psychiatrists, Psychiatry Residents, Psychologists/other mental health, training directors, general public

The topic is under discussion, and the title is undetermined at this time

Work Accomplished During Meeting: Finished editing paper. We have met 4 times since April 2023.

Anticipated Completion: Unclear at this time Work Accomplished During Meeting:

Plan for Between-meeting Work: New project looking at risks to women of psychedelic treatment. Reviewing any suggestions from the Publication Committee review

— Discussion of the impact of recent policy changes around DEI and implications for cultural psychiatry and global mental health — Potential ideas for blogs/papers discussed: 1.) Culture & DEI—what it is and isn’t (e.g., DEI becoming described as illegal and immoral) and relationships among DEI 2.) Promotion of options for social justice

LGBTQ+

3.) Address underlying issues of divisiveness versus compassion/perspective-taking 4.) Wordlists that may be related to consequences, cultural perspective of language and lexicons, relationship with power and meaning potential to be weaponized/healing — Cross-Committee meeting with Social Justice Committee to explore potential collaboration on DEI-related issue — Discussion of work-in-progress paper on cultural contextual formulation (CCF) — Issues regarding the future of DSM and the role of culture Plan for Between-meeting Work: — Continue with paper preparation on cultural contextual formulation (CCF) to address issues raised — Meeting once virtually between in-person meetings Focus for Next Meeting: — Update on CCF Paper — Update on DEI blog/paper

Focus for Next Meeting: Reviewing any suggestions from the publication committee review. Starting a new project as described above.

We found it very helpful to develop a deeper shared understanding of what is happening and how it impacts us all. It is clear that we are all trying to figure out what to do—personally, professionally, socially/politically—and we are managing a lot of grief and anxiety. And yet, I think through the conversation we had on Friday, we are also thinking about how we do our part as a committee to both make GAP take a stand to defend scientific advancement in psychiatry and access to psychiatric services and continue producing quality work that can help improve LGBTQ+ mental health. In this, there is hope.

Again, we want to welcome our new Fellow Steven warmly and hope that the travel gods will be kinder in November so Steven can be with us.

Also, welcome again to our new members, Kelly and Tony!!

We are very excited that Andy and Tiziano are our new co-chairs and will be leading us for the next chapter.

One of the discussions in the Steering Committee was whether GAP should join statements published by other organizations. Some of the ones proposed were:

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COMMITTEE REPORTS Continued. https://www.aacu.org/newsroom/a-call-for-constructiveengagement

same fear while trying to make our patients feel better.

How can we use this to demonstrate how to

https://www.forourhealth.org/

build resilience, keep going, and stay engaged in what is meaningful? Self-care.

https://www.psychiatry.org/News-room/News-Releases/ Joint-Statement-on-Drastic-HHS-Staff-Reductions There is also a possibility of drafting an all-GAP statement or having all committees band together to make collective statements. Mary gave a great idea to add: WE ARE GAP Science. Diversity. Ideas. Dialogue.

Equity is in the banner on our home page.

• Again, if willing, ask Marlin to interview Mary about her decision to become a priest and think about the role of faith in the LGBTQ+ community.

• A discussion with David Baron on transgender kids in sports.

A separate idea that came up in the Steering Committee was to remove the names of individuals from the GAP website.

In terms of work products: We will work with Jeanne (Dear Abby) to send out a request for letters. Something like The Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry is asking for stories from LGBTQ+ individuals or their loved ones about how the recent anti-transgender federal Executive Orders and other federal actions have impacted their lives. These psychiatrists hope to use these stories to educate their field and the broader public about these impacts.

We would need a form, an email address, and a safe mailing address.

We also discussed writing a Psychology Today blog titled “Make Us American Again” in an effort to rehumanize all the people, the people that are being attacked, and have a discussion on how this will impact their and everyone’s mental health. We need to make sure this does not get confused with a xenophobic piece. Discuss pushing people to the margin. The folks who volunteered for this project are Tiziano, Mary, Steven, Jack, Marlin, Kelly, and Flavio. Anyone else who is interested should join.

We also discussed adapting our FOCUS article on working with families into a Psychology Today blog.

An interesting new SubStack project involves a recorded interview or conversation. It could be in the format of an interview with an expert, a discussion among 2–3 colleagues, or anything else. This interview will then be transformed into a brief article that will include links to resources, etc. Some of the ideas we discussed are • An interview of Joanne and Omar, or a conversation between Joanne and Omar on LGBTQ+ asylum seekers • A discussion with Tony on what it is like for psychiatrists and therapists to care for people with enormous fear and anxiety about the present situation and experiencing the G r o u p f o r t h e A d va n c e m e nt o f P s yc h i at r y

• If he is willing, an interview with Marlin. One possible topic is to talk about the current moment in LGBTQ+ history in the context of our history.

MILITARY & VETERANS DOD AND VA PSYCHIATRY IN THE CURRENT ENVIRONMENT: WHAT ROLE MIGHT OUR COMMITTEE PLAY? We define ourselves as a nonpartisan think tank that leverages deep experience in military and Veterans’ mental health treatment and policy to support service members, Veterans, their families, and the nation. Discussion and actions will be based on scientific findings, clinical expertise, and policy experience. Our goal is to formulate, collaborate on, and promote practical solutions to current and emerging challenges within the scope of Psychiatry.

Foci include:

DEFINING AND OPTIMIZING FORCE READINESS FROM A MENTAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVE: INDIVIDUAL, FAMILY, AND PUBLIC HEALTH PERSPECTIVES Action Item: Develop a submission for an AMSUS (The Society for Federal Health Professionals) symposium session on Force Readiness to be presented at the March 2–5, 2026 meeting.

ANTICIPATING AND PLANNING FOR THE MENTAL HEALTH CHALLENGES OF LARGE-SCALE COMBAT OPERATIONS WITH A NEAR PEER COMPETITOR Action Item: Blog and/or presentation (APA, AMSUS, and/or the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS)

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RECOMMENDATIONS ON POSSIBLE MERGER OF DOD AND VA HEALTH CARE SYSTEMS

gain access to needed support leading to better outcomes (3) Helping civilian clinicians better understand the unique needs of service members, Veterans, and their families.

Action Item: Blog or presentation (APA, AMSUS, and/or ISTSS) in a SWOT format on the pros and cons of such a merger.

ENSURE THE NATION’S CAPACITY TO RESPOND TO DISASTERS Action Item: Continue to develop cross-conversation with GAP’s Committee on Disasters, Trauma and Global Health and, possibly, with the Uniform Services University’s National Center for Disaster Medicine and Public Health ( https://ncdmph.usuhs.edu/), including the possibility of inviting speakers from one or both groups to join us at our November 2025 Committee Meeting.

PREPARING FOR WAR DURING PEACETIME: THE ROLE OF THE COMMITTEE IN HELPING TO OVERCOME THE NATIONAL TENDENCY TO FORGET THE LESSONS OF WAR As we engage in “future planning” on a key national security issue, we must pay attention to the tendency for health systems and the public to forget key lessons learned during past conflicts.

Action Item: Develop a presentation on Military Medical History focusing on preserving the mental health readiness of Military and Veteran health systems to meet the challenge of future conflicts. The Army Navy Club of Washington, D.C., was suggested as the first site for this presentation.

Known for its exceptional library and scholarly discussions on subjects relating to the military and naval services, the Army Navy Club would be an ideal setting to engage thought leaders in a balanced discussion. The core aim of this project is to define the properties of an efficient military/Veteran mental health care system and lay out the challenges and opportunities in continuously improving such a system.

THE RISK/BENEFIT RATIO OF ASKING THE QUESTION: “HAVE YOU OR SOMEONE YOU CARE ABOUT SERVED IN THE MILITARY?” IN CIVILIAN (NON-VA) HEALTH CARE SETTINGS

Action Item: Blog and/or Presentation ((APA, AMSUS, and/or ISTSS) reviewing data available from current “Ask the Question Campaigns” at the state level (e.g., New Hampshire) and SAMHSA’s Technical Advisory efforts in collaboration with VA (also known as the Governor’s and Mayor’s Challenge programs (https://www.samhsa.gov/ technical-assistance/smvf/challenges).

PSYCHEDELIC-ASSISTED PSYCHOTHERAPY: RECENT DEVELOPMENTS AND COMMITTEE RESPONSES The committee reviewed the recent FDA decision to decline approval for MDMA-assisted psychotherapy based on concerns about efficacy and safety. We also discussed the VA’s plan to study MDMA coupled with prolonged exposure psychotherapy for PTSD. The potential promise of psychedelics in psychiatric treatment cannot be ignored, but neither can questions such as: (1) When and how such treatments can and should be accessed or (2) When would it be safe to return a service member to duty after such treatment? All agree that there is a need for novel treatments for PTSD, depression, substance use, and other mental disorders. The committee will continue to monitor progress in this field and consider how best to translate emerging findings within DoD and VA settings.

NEUROPSYCHIATRY Members: Barbara Schildkrout, Chair During the spring meeting, the committee chair met with others on Zoom.

ONGOING PROJECTS INCLUDE:

The committee debated the relative value of identifying Veterans and those who care about them in non-military and non-VA settings—especially if those settings are not prepared to act effectively on the patient’s response to the question. We also considered whether there was value in asking if “someone you care about served in the military?”

Touted benefits include: (1) Helping civilian clinicians become aware of the services available to service members, Veterans, and their families

– Journal Article–“Ethical Consideration in the Use of Prescribed At-Home Ketamine” – Working on revising the initial draft, which should be ready to submit to the Publications Board before the next meeting.

– An Article for Psychiatric Times–“Do You Know the Diagnosis? Dysphoric Milk Ejection Reflex (D-MER)” – Working on the first draft, which is half done. It will be ready to submit to the Publications Board before the next meeting.

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(2) Helping service members, Veterans, and their families G r o u p f o r t h e A d va n c e m e nt o f P s yc h i at r y

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We discussed future projects, including an article about myxedema psychosis.

solicit suggestions from the membership and other GAP Committees for April 2027.

We plan to meet regularly, about every 6 weeks, on Zoom between now and November.

Uma Naidoo updated the committee on her plans to form a new GAP Committee on Nutritional, Lifestyle & Metabolic Psychiatry. She will update the committee’s mission and plans to invite 2-3 guests for the November meeting.

Frances has informed her that if she has 1-2 guests, she can host a meeting at the fall meeting.

PLANNING, MARKETING, & COMMUNICATIONS Attending: Steve Sharfstein (Acting Chair), Jack Bonner, Seth Powsner, Umadevi Naidoo, Mary Barber, Marketa Wills (Guest) Absent: Laura Roberts, Saul Levin, Harsh Trivedi, Bob Boland On this beautiful spring day in New York, we welcomed Marketa Wills, Medical Director and CEO of APA, as a Guest to our committee. She appreciated the invitation and was eager to learn about GAP, its history and current challenges, and its close relationship with APA. She told us about her journey to APA leadership and her adventures in the first year of her tenure. We went around the room, introduced ourselves to Marketa, and gave an update.

For the committee itself, we noted the resignations with sadness and appreciation of Harvey Ruben and Lois Flaherty due to illness. John Looney, our Chair, could not attend due to illness, so Steve Sharfstein stepped in as chair for this meeting. We missed John and wished him a speedy recovery. We missed the others and hope to see them all in November.

Amy Franklin, GAP’s Public Relations Consultant, updated us on her activities since November and her expectations for the next 6 months. She described the formation of the GAP Social Ambassadors Initiative, which consists of a team of selected GAP fellows who will help create a GAP presence across social platforms such as X, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Increasing GAP’s social media presence and influence is a major goal over the next 6 months. She described the launch of the Doctors in Dialogue Substack, an editorial platform to foster reflective conversations in psychiatry, which now has 342 subscribers (36 outside of psychiatry) and 3000 views since the first post. She continues to promote GAP through Psychology Today blogs and other media outlets.

We then spent the rest of the meeting discussing fundraising. Although GAP has a decent reserve of over a million dollars, these funds are mostly restricted and of little use for its operations. The Finance Committee and the Board voted to unrestrict 10% of these funds to deal with the immediate shortfall in operations and aggressively pursue other ideas to deal with the operational shortfall. At the committee, we discussed ways to decrease the costs of the meeting and add sponsors for the banquet, formation of a new fund in honor of Frances Roton with $50,000 already pledged, which would offset the cost of her office, launch the Cotswold/Looney Distinguished Fellowship in November and per the suggestion of John Looney invite George Abercrombie and his wife Elin in November as the first Distinguished GAP Fellow.

Other ideas were discussed, as well as new approaches to fundraising.

Uma Naidoo and others are exploring the option of GAP hosting a fundraiser at the next meeting—tentatively on Thursday so other events are not disrupted. The purpose would be to raise funds for GAP, which could subsidize some of the annual fees and attract new, younger faculty to join by invitation. It would also support interesting events such as a GAP culinary psychiatry cooking class. Three cooking classes are being held at APA this year.

PROFESSIONALISM & ETHICS Members attending: Ted Fallon, Karen Greenberg, Randy Howe, Jon Van Loon, Robert Nesheim, Madeline Teisberg Fellow attending: Pablo Romano

Conservation and climate protection are major concerns for our committee, but we deferred the discussion to the November meeting with John Looney, who was absent.

MEDICAL AID IN DYING: VULNERABILITY, COERCION, PROTECTION VS. ACCESS, EQUITY, AND JUSTICE (WORKING TITLE)

The Dear Abby Award presentation with Jeanne Phillips present was presented at this meeting to Jonathan Metzl.

His talk was well received. The next Dear Abby award will be in 2 years, and next year, the committee will

Fast Track: First draft mostly completed.

G r o u p f o r t h e A d va n c e m e nt o f P s yc h i at r y

Anticipated Completion: To Publication Board June 2, 2025

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Anticipated Audience: Psychiatrists, Psychiatry residents, Psychologist/other mental health, training directors, and other policymakers Potential Publishing: JAMA Network Open, J of Nervous & Mental Disease, American J of Bioethics, J of Medical Ethics, J of Clinical Ethics, J of Palliative Medicine

Potential Publishing: The committee wants the manuscript published in the Psychiatric Services Promoting High-Value Mental Health Care column.

ADDRESSING GUN VIOLENCE THROUGH COMMUNITY PSYCHIATRY: INTEGRATING MENTAL HEALTH WITH LOCAL INTERVENTION AND PREVENTION STRATEGIES

Ways the Publications Board Can Help: Review, edit, and consider word count and journal recommendations.

Anticipated Audience: Practicing Psychiatrists, Psychiatry Residents, Psychologists/other mental health.

Status: Subsequent Draft (2nd & 3rd)

Work Accomplished During Meeting:

Anticipated Completion: August 2025

— Edited full Medical Aid in Dying draft, evaluated data — Wrote op-ed article, later published as Letter to the Editor in Washington Times on 5/29/25 as “Policies Must Increase Stability and Meet People’s Needs” — Incorporated Fellow into Committee

Potential Publishing: The committee wants the manuscript published in the Psychiatric Services Promoting High-Value Mental Health Care column.

MENTAL HEALTH PARITY: LESSONS FROM NEW YORK STATE’S PARITY ENFORCEMENT EFFORTS

Plan for Between-meeting Work:

Status: Subsequent draft (2nd & 3rd)

— Get an op-ed published as a Letter to the Editor — Major edit on Medical Aid in Dying article, which is to be submitted to Pub Board Number of Virtual Meetings Since April 2023: Roughly a dozen.

Focus for Next Meeting: New projects, including a possible one on Interaffectivity— i.e., shared affective space and mirror neurons.

Anticipated Completion: September 2025 Anticipated Audience: Practicing Psychiatrists, Psychiatry Residents, Psychologists/other mental health.

Potential Publishing: The committee wants the manuscript published in the Psychiatric Services State Mental Health Care column.

Work Accomplished During Meeting: This meeting was devoted to working towards the completion of three manuscripts above.

Focus for Next Meeting: We aim to have each of the three manuscripts above submitted by the fall in-person meeting. The anticipated focus for the next meeting will be a discussion of the direction of the next project or projects.

PSYCHIATRY & COMMUNITY Members Attending: Michael Flaum, Dwight Kemp, Caitlin Stork, Curtis Adams, Samuel Jackson (virtual) Fellow attending: Alexander McClanahan, Lala Forest Guest attending: Keris Myrick (virtual)

PROJECT INFORMATION:

PSYCHIATRY & LAW

FILLING THE GAP: SUBACUTE INPATIENT UNITS FOR PEOPLE EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS WITH SERIOUS MENTAL ILLNESS

Members Attending: Jacob M. Appel, Peter Ash, David Cash, Susan Hatters-Friedman, Rick Deborah Giorgi-Guarnieri, Beesh Jain, Rick Martinez, Phillip Resnick, Renee Sorrentino Fellow attending: Jinit Denai Guests attending: Ryan Hall Visitor attending (part-time): Ronald Goldman

Anticipated Completion: July 2025. Final draft near submission.

Anticipated Audience: Practicing Psychiatrists, Psychiatry Residents, Psychologists/Other Mental Health.

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PROJECT INFORMATION:

to as “Doctors in Dialogue.” It is a work in progress, and we will experiment with various subjects and approaches. The first was Dr. Drescher’s interview with Grant Brenner, MD, who co-chairs the GAP

A series of articles on bias in forensic psychiatry. Multiple titles TBD. Anticipated Completion: Spring 2026/Fall 2026

Committee on Disasters, Trauma, and Global Health, about the Disaster Response Model developed by their committee. The second post was a conversation between Drs. Jacob Appel and Matthew Erlich address the crisis of staffing shortages in behavioral health care settings. The site has almost 400 subscribers and over 3K views to date. The process is relatively simple: conversations are recorded on Zoom, transcribed and edited, and reviewed by Ms. Franklin, the discussants.

The GAP President then approved Dr. Drescher before being posted. Rather than a media training at the meeting on Saturday morning, members were invited to have a Doctors in Dialogue conversation that would be recorded or watch one being recorded. Ultimately, Dr. Drescher interviewed Dr. David Baron about his international work with young athletes experiencing “sports burnout.” Approximately 30 people attended, and many volunteered to participate in this project.

Status: Projects Assigned; development ongoing Anticipated Audience: Practicing psychiatrists, Psychiatry residents, other mental health professions.

Work Accomplished During Meeting: The Committee discussed progress on the project and reviewed the answers to a series of vignettes distributed between meetings. Amy Franklin also visited the committee to discuss ways to publicize previous web-based resource projects.

Plan for Between-meeting Work: Committee members will continue to conduct research and write their articles.

Focus for Next Meeting: During the next meeting (Fall 2025), the committee will begin to review members’ writing endeavors.

5.

Dr. Drescher and Amy Franklin met with the new GAP Fellows the day before to discuss a Social Media Ambassadors project with them. In essence, on a trial basis, it amplifies the presence of GAP on the internet through their own social media connections and posting to existing and future GAP accounts on social media platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook.

This would be a voluntary activity, and in exchange, the volunteers would receive mentorship from Dr. Drescher, Amy Franklin, and other members of the Media Committee. Melissa Peace, the GAP Fellow on the Child Committee, agreed to be the point person between the Media Committee and the Fellows, and the Meda Committee Fellow, Jonathan Chevinsky, agreed to serve as one of the ambassadors.

6.

The committee discussed the financial issues and challenges faced by GAP that were raised in the morning’s Business Meeting. Dr. Drescher expressed the belief that the work of the Media Committee is synergistic with seeking outside funding as GAP’s having a wider audience and recognition would increase the likelihood of finding donors willing to fund GAP activities, i.e., funding a committee project as the LGBT committee did more than a decade ago when the Gill Foundation provided $10K to fund their development of a training syllabus for psychiatric residents on LGBTQ+ mental health issues (https:// www.aglp.org/gap/)

PSYCHIATRY & MEDIA Members attending: Carol Bernstein (co-chair), Jack Drescher (co-chair), Jeffrey Freedman, Thomas Ungar Fellow attending: Jonathan Chevinsky Guests attending: Adjoa Smalls-Mantey, MD, Amy Franklin (GAP Publicist) Work Accomplished During Meeting: 1.

Introduction of new member (Thomas Ungar), new fellow (Jonathan Chevinsky), and first-time guest (Adjoa Smalls-Mantey).

2.

Discussion following the GAP Business Meeting of how GAP might, can, or should speak up in current turbulent times as a group (issuing policy statements which are presently not a GAP approach), as committees (which are allowed to take scholarly position statements) or as individuals who do not have to identify as GAP members in public positions.

3.

Discussion of GAP’s blog on PsychologyToday.com, which has over 170K hits to date since September 2022; Barbara Schildkraut will be leaving the blog subcommittee, and there was a discussion of inviting new reviewers to the blog subcommittee of the Publications Board.

4.

Discussion of GAP’s Substack postings began in March and was set up by Amy Franklin. The site is referred

G r o u p f o r t h e A d va n c e m e nt o f P s yc h i at r y

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7.

Following the morning vote by the membership present to amend the GAP bylaws to sunset the longstanding Plenary Committee, the work of planning future plenaries has been delegated to the Media Committee.

Dr. Drescher will ask Frances Bell to provide a list of past plenaries.

8.

The discussion about the November 2025 plenary included the possibility of a panel to discuss the impact of current administration policies on scientific research, expression, and thought. One GAP member will reach out to Harvard President Alan Garber, a physician; Dr. Bernstein will reach out to Barry Scheck, founder of the Innocence Project; and Dr. Drescher will seek out the participation of a political journalist. There was some discussion of including psychiatrists who may be taking active roles in the current environment, and several names were mentioned and may be followed up on.

9.

The role of the GAP Fellows in committees was discussed. Some committees have their Fellows take a leadership role over their two-year stay and become the first or second authors of a paper the committee works on. The Media Committee’s former Fellow, Ashvin Sood, MD, did an early blog on PT on “Countering Tik-Tok Misinformation about Mental Health,” which has been the most viewed blog, having garnered more than 20K views to date. Dr. Chevinsky expressed some interest in writing a blog as part of his committee experience.

10. The committee invited Dr. Smalls-Mantey to join us if she was interested, which she was. The next morning, she was voted in as a new member of the Steering Committee.

FAITH COMMUNITIES AND THE WELL-BEING OF LGBTQ+ YOUTH Publication on the importance of faith communities in efforts to reduce suicide and other negative mental health outcomes for LGBTQ+ youth. Project leader: Dr. Norko The Second Edition of the booklet is now available for free download on the GAP home page. One thousand copies of the 2nd Edition have been printed and are available from the GAP Office and Dr. Norko. The re-design and printing costs for the Second Edition were sponsored by a generous grant from the APA Foundation (APAF) of $2,500. Dr. Norko has recently drafted a Toolkit for faith communities to use, consisting of a fact sheet, a PowerPoint and script for a short introductory video (15-20 minutes), a facilitator’s guide, and a flyer template.

Work Accomplished During Meeting: The group discussed the Toolkit and offered suggestions for revisions.

Plan for Between-meeting Work: Dr. Norko will revise the Toolkit and then share it with the LGBTQ+ Committee for their comments. After any further revisions, the Toolkit will be sent to the Publication Board for review. The plan is to make the Toolkit and booklet available on the GAP website.

The APAF is also willing to help promote the Toolkit with their faith partners once it is completed.

DEAR ABBY RELIGION-SPIRITUALITY AND MENTAL HEALTH SURVEY Project leaders: Dr. Saunders, Dr. Norko, Dr. Meador Fast track: journal articles

Plan for Between-meeting Work: Drs. Drescher and Bernstein will continue to work on the blog subcommittee.

Dr. Drescher and Amy Franklin will continue to work on the Substack postings.

Focus for Next Meeting: Planning future plenaries; evaluating the Substack experiment.

PSYCHIATRY & RELIGION Attending: Margaret Bishop-Baier MD (virtual), Brian Fallon MD, Salman Majeed MD, Keith Meador MD, Joseph Merlino MD (virtual), Jenifer Nields MD (virtual), Michael Norko MD, MAR (chair), James Phillips MD (virtual), Andy Stone (virtual), and guest Jeanne Phillips G r o u p f o r t h e A d va n c e m e nt o f P s yc h i at r y

PROJECT INFORMATION:

Potential Publishing: J Sci Study Religion, J Rel & Health, and JNMD Anticipated Audience: practicing psychiatrists, psychiatry residents, training directors, psychologists, and other MHPs Ways the Publications Board Can Help: Not yet.

Work Accomplished During Meeting: Reviewed the current status of the project. We continue to focus on two papers that do not require additional funding: 1) Description of people who identify as spiritual but not religious (SBNR) but also say they are affiliated with a religious tradition in terms of religious practice and beliefs (Dr. Norko is the lead on this paper; he will work on this manuscript once the Toolkit is completed); and 2) Religion-spirituality and mental health, comparing respondents who identify as religious but not spiritual, SBNR, both religious and spiritual, and neither religious nor spiritual (Dr. Saunders to take the lead.

He will be working on a Data Use Agreement between

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Yale and Columbia so that he can analyze the data in his current institution). The plan begins with a qualitative analysis of individuals who identified as SBNR and noted that they belong to an SBNR community. We will explore the free text responses to subjects’ descriptions of those communities and compare mental health outcomes for SBNR subjects who did and did not say they belonged to an SBNR community. Later possible papers include spiritualreligious practice during COVID and LGBTQ+ and mental health/religion-spirituality. Dr. Saunders has also contacted the Union Presbyterian Seminary in Virginia; they are interested in funding a project on child spirituality based on contacting individuals from the original study who agreed to be contacted.

example, the work of eternalsoldier.org.) They have not yet had an opportunity to discuss it.

Plan for Between-meeting Work: First draft of paper #1

by November 2025; initial review of text responses for paper #2 by November 2025.

Ways the Publications Board Can Help: Submitted to Board 4/14/21. A revised version, prepared in response to the Gaza war and society’s need to be able to talk to one another about difficult subjects, was submitted to the blog subcommittee in December 2023.

BIOGRAPHICAL ESSAYS ON MENTAL HEALTH ATTRIBUTES OF MAJOR RELIGIOUS FIGURES Fast Track: series of journal articles Potential Publishing: The “Un-diagnosing St. Joan” manuscript was published in JNMD in 2023 (211(8):559-65); a reply to a letter to the editor was published in JNMD in 2024 (212(8):455).

Work Accomplished During Meeting: No practical work to report on the biographical essay on Nelson Mandela or the project of heroic achievements of “saints” with mental disorders to illustrate that mental disorders do not prevent being creative, effective activity. Anton Boisen and the “living human document” are possible examples of the latter.

Plan for Between-meeting Work: Dr. Phillips to continue work on Nelson Mandela.

KING SAUL AND PTSD

Project leader: Dr. Majeed, joined by Drs. Stone and Merlino Fast Track: Originally written as an OpEd piece about antiMuslim attitudes/behaviors/violence Anticipated Audience: general Potential Publishing: Psychology Today blog.

Plan for Between-meeting Work: Dr. Norko will confer with Dr. Appel regarding the previous blog feedback.

PSYCHEDELICS, RELIGIOUS/SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES, AND MENTAL HEALTH OUTCOMES Project Leader: Dr. Majeed, joined by Drs. Stone and Merlino Fast Track: Originally written as an OpEd piece about antiMuslim attitudes/behaviors/violence Anticipated Audience: general Potential Publishing: “Doctors in Dialogue” Substack, Psychology Today blog Ways the Publications Board Can Help: Not at this time.

Work Accomplished During Meeting: Discussed the Substack podcast as Amy Franklin and Jack Drescher presented in the general membership meeting. The three members of our group are interested in pursuing a recording with Amy on the topic of islamophobia and antisemitism. This idea was discussed preliminarily with Amy Franklin, who is also interested.

Project leader: Dr. Stone Fast track: An analysis of whether there are merits to diagnosing King Saul.

Potential Publishing: TBD Ways the Publications Board Can Help: not at this time Work Accomplished During Meeting: Dr. Stone noted that he contacted Harold Kudler of the Military & Veterans Committee to discuss possible collaboration on the PTSD

G r o u p f o r t h e A d va n c e m e nt o f P s yc h i at r y

“LIVING IN FEAR”/“WE HAVE TO TALK”

Work Accomplished During Meeting: Discussed feedback regarding the blog and how to proceed.

Project leader: Dr. Phillips

aspects of this project (This historical example may have merit in use with veterans returning home from war; for

Plan for Between-meeting Work: Dr. Stone to follow up with Dr. Kudler.

Plan for Between-meeting Work: Dr. Majeed will draft a one-page proposal describing the potential podcast discussion and share it with the others. We will then send it to Amy Franklin and plan for the podcast recording.

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MENTAL HEALTH OF CLERGY

HOW TO WORK WITH DIAGNOSTIC UNCERTAINTY

Project leader: Dr. Merlino

and a blog of one or more of our recent peer-reviewed publications in 2023-4.

Dr. Merlino is interested in recent developments in the mental health needs of clergy. He plans to propose to his Bishop the creation of an anonymous survey in REDCap or Qualtrics that would promote more open responses and provide data for a paper on the subject.

Our committee would help analyze the results and offer a potential action plan.

Status: The first draft is in preparation.

Anticipated Completion: During 2025 Anticipated Audience: Practicing psychiatrists, Psychiatry residents, training directors, psychologists/other mental health and general public

Fast Track: journal article

Potential Publishing: The committee wants the manuscript published in the Journal of Nervous and Mental Diseases and Psych Services.

Anticipated Audience: practicing psychiatrists, other MHPs, clergy Potential Publishing: TBD Ways the Publications Board Can Help: Not at this time.

Work Accomplished During Meeting: No updates on this project.

Plan for Between-meeting Work: Dr. Merlino to propose the idea to the Bishop.

MINISTRY TO PEOPLE WITH CHRONIC PAIN AND ILLNESS Project leader: Dr. Fallon Ways the Publications Board Can Help: Not at this time.

Work Accomplished During Meeting: Dr. Fallon reported that he and Dr. Nields had led a local parish group in monthly meetings through the Peace in the Storm Project, a ministry devoted to people experiencing chronic pain and illness.

Plan for Between-meeting Work: Drs. Fallon and Nields will consider possible projects developing out of this ministry.

Work Accomplished During Meeting: We tried to process and support each other during these difficult political times.

As a result of the administration’s assault on research, it became clear that we could not complete one of our current projects: Whither the Future of Psychiatric Research?

A decision was made to put this project on hold and undertake a new project building on our all-but-accepted Psych Services Paper: Integrating Social Determinants of Health into Clinically Informed Formulations: The Need for a Biaxial System in the DSM and Psychiatric Practice. The current working title for which we completed the paper outline is Working with Diagnostic Uncertainty. We also are considering one or more blogs for our previous several publications. We welcomed our new Adler Fellow of our Committee, Daniel Cohrs.

Plan for Between-meeting Work: The next meeting will be scheduled via Zoom to continue working on our projects.

Focus for Next Meeting: Continue work on our various projects

Focus for Next Meeting: Follow-up as noted above.

PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY

PSYCHOPATHOLOGY

Attending: Lawrence Gross, Janet Pine, Amir Garakani, Calvin Summer, Kevin Kennedy; Zoom attendance: Jeanne Alexander and David Mintz

Members attending: David Adler, Jeffrey Berlant, Mary Brunette (virtual), Lisa Dixon, Matthew Edwards, Matthew Erlich, Michael First, Nicole Kozloff, Samuel Siris (virtual), Rachel Talley Fellow attending: Daniel Cohrs (virtual)

PROJECT TITLE: The committee is working on a new project for peer review publication and a blog.

G r o u p f o r t h e A d va n c e m e nt o f P s yc h i at r y

We are nearing completion of our current paper, which we plan to submit to AJP after Publication Board approval. We are planning a Zoom call in early June. We also discussed the political situation and GAP response.

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COMMITTEE REPORTS Continued.

PSYCHOTHERAPY

values; how to engage religious organizations in mental health and psychotherapy efforts. We spent time organizing around several topics that we plan to write about, e.g., the role of Psychotherapy Distinction Tracks, more equitable

Members attending: Andrew Gerber, Katherine Kennedy, Daniel Knoepflmacher, Eric Plakun, Brendan Ross, Jeffery Smith, Margaret Cheng Tuttle Fellow attending: Brendan Ross Guests attending: Ana Ozdoba, MD, Anne Ruble, MD Via Zoom: Meiram Bendat JD PhD, Consultant and Mental Health Parity Expert Joe Feldman, CEO of Cover My Mental Health

access to intermediate levels of care, an “Augmented Y Model,” a Peer Supervision Model, the loss of SAMHSA, and time-saving tips for dealing with psychotherapy denials.

We finished our day by welcoming Ana Ozdoba and Anne Ruble as new CoP members!

Plan for Between-meeting Work:

PROJECTS: We are starting several different writing projects on a range of topics that will be potentially applicable to a variety of audiences. Various subgroup topics include the role of Psychotherapy Distinction Tracks in training, more equitable access to intermediate levels of care, an “Augmented Y Model,” a Peer Supervision Model; what the loss of SAMHSA means, and time-saving tips for dealing with psychotherapy denials.

Anticipated Completion: We hope to have one or two articles published by our next meeting in November.

• In-person Networking event at APA on 5/18/25 in LA— in coordination with the APA Psychotherapy Caucus • Online meeting June 30 • Online meeting in September, date TBD • Smaller workgroup meetings as needed for various writing projects We meet virtually between meetings, usually 3 to 4 times/ year; since April 2023, we have met virtually as a full group 7 times. Project subgroups have met more frequently.

Anticipated Audience: Practicing Psychiatrist, Training Directors, Psychologists/other mental health, General Public, Early Career Psychiatrists

Focus for Next Meeting:

The committee wants it published in Psychiatric News, Psychology Today, and Psychiatric Times.

• Follow-up on current efforts and writing projects

Work Accomplished During Meeting: We heard excellent presentations from our consultants, Joe Feldman (denials of psychotherapy services and medical necessity criteria) and Meiram Bendat (mental health parity). We discussed the new GAP podcast effort, Psychiatric News, and Psychiatric Times. We shared updates on the upcoming GAP CoP/ Psychotherapy Caucus networking event at the APA in Los Angeles and discussed managing a new dedicated financial account within GAP. Progress was reported on Meiram and Kiki’s article and a recent meeting organized by Jeffery that focused on how upcoming ACGME guidelines on psychotherapy training might affect residency programs.

An idea also emerged for a “Match-Up Database” to support early career psychiatrists (ECPs) and the role of psychotherapy distinction tracks in raising the bar for training. The development of an insurer “scorecard” (red/yellow/green) by organizations like Inseparable was mentioned. The group also discussed the following topics: the use of AI in psychotherapy as an augmenting, not primary, tool; how to assess therapist effectiveness; the lack of consumer advocacy (PsiAN is working to address this gap); concern over growing attacks on critical thinking and academic medicine and the need to unite around shared G r o u p f o r t h e A d va n c e m e nt o f P s yc h i at r y

• Luncheon Meeting at APA for those CoP members in attendance

• Two candidates for committee membership may attend

RESEARCH Members Attending: Mariam Rahmani, Douglas Kramer, Gordon Harper, John Beahrs, Claudette Beahrs Fellow attending: Sean Lynch Guest attending: Mohamed Jasser

JAACAP CLINICAL PERSPECTIVES ON HOW TO LOOK AT THE CHILD IN THEIR CONTEXT RATHER THAN AS AN INDIVIDUAL OR IN ISOLATION. Status: Topic chosen.

Potential Publishing: The committee would like for it to be published in JAACAP. We may ask the Publication Board to review it before submission.

Work Accomplished During Meeting: • Drs. Rahmani, Jasser, and Lynch agreed to work on the JAACAP clinical perspectives article. They will start in June.

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COMMITTEE REPORTS Continued.

• Discussion on ACGME and ABPN requirements for GAP that have evolved over time

6.

• The committee provided feedback on the book chapter written by Dr. Rahmani (under Dr. Kramer’s guidance) for Dr. Gogineni’s (family committee) book.

Discussion on blogs and articles from the committee relating to the current political situation and Social Justice from a psychiatric perspective: a. Who is the intended audience? b. How do you engage with people with different views/values?

• Discussion on ethics of individual committees vs. GAP as an organization responding to the current political climate esp., its effects on mental health

c. What is the intended outcome? d. How to achieve intended goals?

Plan for Between-meeting Work:

e. Utilize storytelling.

• Dr. Lynch to apply for IRB for his survey study

f. Focus on commonalities.

• Drs. Rahmani, Jasser & Lynch to work on JAACAP article • Dr. Rahmani to wrap up the family therapy book chapter

g. Use empathy and reassurance.

7.

• Look into whether Dr. Beahr’s psychotherapy textbook can be made available on the GAP website

Offering ways for people to care for themselves might be most helpful during these times. a. use of a mindful quote or practice to help people feel better

Some members have met in smaller groups at least once since the Fall 2024 meeting

8.

Focus for Next Meeting: • Update on the JAACAP article

Hugh agreed to begin work on an article focusing on the writings of Amartya Sen, author of “The Idea of Social Justice.”

• Update on members’ presentation at AACAP, etc.

• Update on survey study.IRB

SYSTEMS INNOVATION & TRANSFORMATION Present in Person: Wes Sowers, Julie Ranz, Hunter McQuistion, Mardoche Sidor, Anna Skiandos Virtual: Deepika Sastry, Rachel Zinns, Ken Thompson, Meriam Tepper, Venay Verma

SOCIAL JUSTICE Members present: Kenn Ashley, Hugh Cummings, Jane Gagliardi 1.

The committee’s Membership Survey was distributed at the General Membership Meeting.

2.

Discussion of the current political situation.

3.

Review of blog on Belonging by German Velez. a. It was agreed that many interesting ideas/concepts were presented, but the scope was too large for the blog format, and the focus was narrow for a blog or expansion for the article. b. The blog editing plan is postponed until German is available to discuss.

4.

Met with the Cultural Psychiatry Committee to discuss collaboration on the blog and article. We agreed to further meetings to move the projects forward.

5.

The meeting with Technology and Psychiatry was postponed until German could attend, as he is the committee’s lead on AI and Social Justice.

G r o u p f o r t h e A d va n c e m e nt o f P s yc h i at r y

The committee met in the morning, and time was taken for committee members to update the group on their work and personal lives, as is our custom.

We spent the morning discussing the proper response to the abuses of the current regime, particularly the assault on science and psychiatry as one element of that. We agreed to spend the remainder of our time together to draft an Action Paper focused on Psychiatry, the threats it faces, and our obligations to respond.

The result of that effort is included below. We have agreed to submit this to the publications committee before determining other ways to disseminate this statement:

THE MENTAL HEALTH DISASTER: A CALL TO ACTION A mental health crisis in the United States has been building for years and has now reached disastrous levels.

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COMMITTEE REPORTS Continued.

Although more insidious than a sudden and catastrophic

a force for preserving dignity and autonomy—for individuals,

natural disaster, events of recent decades—economic crisis,

communities, and society.

the COVID pandemic, racial strife, international conflicts,

We call on our colleagues and the entire mental health

climate change, and sociopolitical polarization—have

workforce to engage with your communities. Reject the

compounded to create a deep and evolving traumatic

erosion of civil liberties. Resist the political misuse of our

impact on the population.

institutions. Challenge the threats to our Constitution’s

The term “disaster” is used intentionally because,

integrity. Uphold ethical boundaries—advocate publicly and

like sudden destructive natural calamities, these

unapologetically for science, equity, and democracy.

events have had a major impact on our communities,

History demands our conscience. The present requires our

depleted resources, disrupted relationships, and caused

resistance. The future depends on our courage.

overwhelming casualties.

Psychiatry is at a critical juncture. We are witnessing the rise of authoritarianism: the erosion of scientific truth, the subjugation of public health and social services to political agendas, and the spread of ideologically driven, irrational policies that threaten the foundations of

TECHNOLOGY & PSYCHIATRY Members attending: Victor Buwalda (Virtual), Mark D’Agostino (Virtual), Anita Everett, Steven Hyler, John

American democracy.

Luo (Virtual), Aida Mihajlovic, William Narrow,

We do not speak out of abstraction or alarmism but from historical memory and present urgency. Already, scientific inquiry is being restricted, with funding withheld and

Ujjwal Ramtekkar, Sy Saeed, Manish Sapra.

Fellow attending: Kaitlin Hanss (Virtual, Morning segment)

research censored. We fear that psychiatry may again be

PROJECT TITLES:

turned against those it is meant to protect.

BLOG ON VIRTUAL REALITY

Psychiatry wields unique power over liberty, autonomy,

The virtual reality blog project, led by Aida, has been

and dignity. That power can be misused—especially under

completed and published in Psychology Today.

authoritarian regimes—if we fail in our ethical vigilance.

PAPER ON AI AND SOCIAL JUSTICE.

History is filled with chilling examples: in Nazi Germany,

The topic has been chosen but is still under discussion in

psychiatrists played a central role in the T4 program, selecting individuals with mental illness for extermination under the pretense of medical necessity. In the Soviet Union, the fabricated diagnosis of “sluggish schizophrenia,” characterized by vague or absent symptoms, was weaponized to confine political dissidents under the guise of treatment. In South Africa, the apartheid government dissidents and withhold psychiatric care from black citizens.

These were not isolated abuses but systematic betrayals of medicine and justice in which psychiatry was repurposed to We refuse to return to an era in which our field has been used to stigmatize and suppress. In the face of political

previously agreed to collaborate with the Social Justice Committee on a paper about AI and social justice, focusing on the harms and benefits of AI in healthcare. The paper will also consider the differences between various proprietary AI models and the availability of tools to detect bias, how to make clinicians aware of these biases, and tools available,

used mental health institutions to suppress political

serve state oppression.

collaboration with the committee on social justice. We have

or in development, for detecting such biases. We planned to meet with the Social Justice Committee again at this meeting, but due to several of their members not being available, we decided to instead meet virtually at another time yet to be scheduled. It has not yet been determined where it will be published.

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coercion, neutrality is not an option. Psychiatry must be G r o u p f o r t h e A d va n c e m e nt o f P s yc h i at r y

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COMMITTEE REPORTS Continued.

PSYCHIATRIC TIMES SPECIAL THEME ISSUE ON USING TECHNOLOGY IN MENTAL HEALTH

from the Administration and Leadership Committee to

The topic under discussion. We await a response from

transfer and had Jorge on our committee.

Psychiatric Times regarding when PT will likely have

Psychiatric Times Special Edition on Mental Health

sufficient space to accommodate this theme issue. We also

Technology: We await a response from Psychiatric Times

discussed other potential journals/publications for this

regarding when PT will likely have sufficient space available

our committee. The committee members supported this

theme issue.

to accommodate this theme issue. We also discussed other

BOOK PROJECT: USING TELEPSYCHIATRY FOR VULNERABLE POPULATIONS.

potential journals/publications for this theme issue.

Collaboration with the Social Justice Committee: We have

Book proposal accepted by APPI. GAP now has the book

previously agreed to collaborate with the Social Justice

contract. Chapter authors were selected, and the first

Committee on a paper about AI and social justice, focusing

chapter draft submission deadline was established.

on the harms and benefits of AI in healthcare. The paper will

Anticipated Completion: The chapters’ first drafts will be

also consider the differences between various proprietary

completed within 12 months from the book contract. Book

AI models and the availability of tools to detect bias, how to

manuscript due to APPI no later than October 15, 2026 (18

make clinicians aware of these biases, and tools available,

months from execution of the book contract). The book

or in development, for detecting such biases. We planned

will be a practical guide informed by the current best

to meet with the Socia Justice Committee again at this

evidence and will consist of 15 chapters, an introduction,

meeting, but due to several of their members not being

and a preface.

available, we decided to instead meet virtually at another

Ways the Publications Board Can Help: Peer review

time yet to be scheduled.

and feedback

Mental Health Tech Product Guidelines: We focused on

Work Accomplished During Meeting:

the need for quality and safety guidelines for developing and deploying mental health technology products. The

Welcome and Approval of the Agenda: Sy welcomed everyone and introduced the new fellow, Katie Hanss, who joined the committee virtually. The committee members

participants discussed the lack of rigorous scientific evaluation of these products and the issue of data privacy.

We also discussed the need for a seal of approval for mental

then introduced themselves, sharing their backgrounds

health apps and the possibility of creating a framework for

and interests in technology and psychiatry. The meeting

evaluating these products. The conversation ended with

started with discussing what was happening nationally

a discussion on the potential for the committee to provide

and expressing concerns about national issues. We focused on the role of mental health professionals in

guidelines and cautionary information to the public.

the current political climate. We discussed the need

Mental Health Apps Regulation Discussion: The team

for advocacy in areas where we can have a significant

discussed the marketing and regulation of mental health

impact, such as mental health and technology. We also

apps, particularly those claiming to be digital therapeutics.

discussed the importance of maintaining objectivity and

We noted that many apps are not clinically validated or

focusing on evidence-based practices. We considered

FDA-approved/cleared and that the current regulatory

the potential impact of political changes on our field and

process is not stringent enough. The team considered

the need to prepare for future challenges. The committee

writing an opinion piece or blog to raise awareness

was encouraged to discuss and mature this topic for its

about the issue and propose better guardrails for the

recommendation to the steering committee.

industry. We also discussed the need for guidelines

Committee Membership Changes: Alexis Chavez is leaving

on digital therapeutics, specifically focusing on digital

GAP and will not be serving as a committee member

interventions that can improve clinical conditions.

effective this meeting. Jorge Petit has requested to transfer G r o u p f o r t h e A d va n c e m e nt o f P s yc h i at r y

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COMMITTEE REPORTS Continued.

We considered publishing a scientific paper on the current state of app evaluation and the lack of scientific validation for many apps. The team also discussed the potential for a

WORK & ORGANIZATIONS

website with links to useful information, including articles

The Committee on Work and Organizations was pleased

they have authored.

to welcome our fellow members and has been thinking

Committee Future Projects: We discussed other potential future projects of the committee. Here is a list of topics that we had previously discussed as potential future projects:

about various ways to collaborate with other groups and participate in things like Doctors in Dialogue. We discussed the role of high trust vs low trust dualism and its role in innovation. Our forthcoming work will discuss ideology traps and cancel culture in the workplace,

• Current State Analysis: Identifying gaps in knowledge

as well as the rise of identitarianism and what it means

and evaluating new technologies.

for workers’ communities.

• Standard of Care for Technology-Assisted Psychiatry: Ensuring technologies meet the highest clinical standards.

• Web Portal Development: Building a clinic-ready repository of information and tools for clinicians.

• Consumer Guidelines: Protecting privacy and safety in digital mental health tools.

• AI in Psychiatry: Exploring the potential of wellness apps and the future of AI in research.

• Emerging Technologies: Developing guidelines and safeguards for cutting-edge technologies like VR and augmented reality.

• EHR Improvement: Addressing clinical needs in the design of electronic health records.

• Pain Points in Technology Integration: Identifying and resolving barriers to seamless technology adoption in clinical practice.

Other business: Sy announced the need for more members on the publication board and encouraged interested individuals to express their interest.

Sy also discussed the financial challenges faced by the organization, including the high cost of meetings and the need for increased dues or registration fees. He also mentioned the organization’s endowment and the Board’s decision to charge administrative fees on grants.

Ways Members Can Help: We invite and welcome collaboration with other committees, especially on topics described in this report from our committee.

G r o u p f o r t h e A d va n c e m e nt o f P s yc h i at r y

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ANNOUNCEMENTS

Doctor Uma Naidoo has

formed a new GAP Committee to bring forward the integration of Nutritional, Lifestyle, and Metabolic Psychiatry.

Grounded in current research and clinical innovation, the committee will examine how dietary patterns, physical activity, sleep, microbiome science, metabolic factors, and more impact mental health across the lifespan. It aims to build upon current evidence-based recommendations, foster educational initiatives, and inform psychiatric care models that integrate whole-person approaches to mood, cognition, and emotional resilience. The committee brings together leaders in psychiatry with expertise in nutritional neuroscience, lifestyle medicine, lifestyle psychiatry, and obesity medicine to shape the future of preventive and integrative psychiatric care.

Richard Zhang, MD, one of our new Fellows, has had a blog published by the American Psychiatric Association Foundation on his GAP meeting experience and the APA-GAP historical connection.

Here is the link to the article: https://www.apaf.org/media-events/blogs/deeplyshared-roots-a-spotlight-on-the-apa-gap-connection/

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IN MEMORIAM LOIS T. FLAHERTY, MD 1942–2025 Lois Talbot Flaherty died on May 11, 2025, at age 83, after living with lung cancer for six years.

She was born in Nashville, Tennessee, on April 28, 1942, while her father, Theodore Talbot, was a physician at the U.S. Veteran’s Hospital in Outwood, Kentucky. Her family returned to Staten Island, New York, after his Army service. She attended P.S. 45 and Curtis High School, an honors student like her mother, Jeanette Talbot, a generation before her. She graduated from Wellesley College in 1963 with a B.A. in English and received her M.D. from Duke University in 1968—one of seven women in her class. She completed her adult psychiatry residency at Georgetown University (’68–’71) and child psychiatry residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital (’71–’73). She joined the faculty of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, where she remained until 1993.

Then, as she and her husband, John T. Flaherty, M.D., moved between the Philadelphia and Boston/ Cambridge areas, she became faculty at the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard University. She directed her career toward the large underserved population of Baltimore as Director of Child and Adolescent Services at the Walter P. Carter Community Mental Health Center from 1977 to 1992. Reflecting her love of training the next generation of psychiatrists, she was the Director of Training in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the University of Maryland from 1981–86 and Director of the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry from 1983–1992. Never fully retired, she volunteered as an instructor and research mentor for psychiatry fellows at the renowned Cambridge Hospital program until recently. Of her many contributions to her field, the founding of the Center for School Mental Health at the University of Maryland in 1992 was exemplary of her legacy. This program rose to national prominence, leading to her appointment as Chair of the Advisory Board of the National Center for School Mental Health from 1995 to 2005 and as a board member ever since. Recognizing her foundational work in this area, she was presented with the Sidney Berman Award for the School-Based Study and

G r o u p f o r t h e A d va n c e m e nt o f P s yc h i at r y

Treatment of Learning Disorders and Mental Illness by the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in 2023, the same year in which she published her last scholarly work entitled: “The Kids are not OK: Challenges and Opportunities in School Mental Health.” She served many leadership roles at a national level in the societies representing her field.

She became president of the American Society for Adolescent Psychiatry (ASAP) in 1995 and the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry in 2007. She was honored as a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in 2012 and the ASAP in 2015. She served as editor-in-chief of Adolescent Psychiatry, the official publication of the American Society for Adolescent Psychiatry, for a remarkable 22-year term (1999-2021).

Lois and John met at a Wellesley-MIT mixer. They jointly applied to medical school, accepting admissions offers at Duke and marrying that fall. Lois had three sons during medical school and residency, taking just one year off from her studies/training. They would admit patients together while living in trainee housing adjacent to Johns Hopkins Hospital. They moved from Baltimore after 15 years to be closer to their sailboat on the Chesapeake Bay, and then they moved five more times for John’s career in biotech/pharma and to be close to their two granddaughters. They traveled widely and enjoyed spending time in the mountains of Colorado and the family retreat in New Hampshire.

John passed away in 2015. In recent years, she devoted her scholarly abilities to assembling her ancestry, including grandparents who emigrated from Romania and England, and an early American settler on outer Long Island, who used his fishing boat to harass British naval vessels during the Revolutionary War. She is survived by her loving and admiring family, including her sons John, Mark (Lisa) and Keith (Mira Kautzky); granddaughters, Hazel and Ruby; her sister, Joan Prival (Michael); brother, Ted Talbot (Angelika); brother-in-law, Paul Flaherty (Judy, deceased 2024); and her devoted partner of the last nine years, Dr. Richard Sarles, who was her longstanding colleague in psychiatry.

Her life will be celebrated at St. Cecilia’s Church, 18 Belvidere Street in Boston, on June 7 at 11:00 AM. In lieu of flowers, donations can be directed to the Lois Flaherty Adolescent Committee Fellowship Fund of the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry at https:// www.ourgap.org/pay-dues-or-donate.

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2025 Circular Let ter #672

IN MEMORIAM MALKAH T. NOTMAN, MD (1927–2025) Doctor Notman— who served as GAP president (1997–1999), and was a Professor at Harvard Medical School, former President of the American College of Psychoanalysts, former President of Massachusetts Psychiatric Society, Psychiatrist for over 55 years— passed away on May 3, 2025, at age 97.

A tenured Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and a Training and Supervising Analyst at the Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute, Dr. Notman’s influence extended across the fields of psychiatry and psychoanalysis for more than half a century. She served in numerous leadership roles, including President of the Massachusetts Psychiatric Society, President of the American College of Psychoanalysts, Councilor-at-Large of the American Psychoanalytic Association, and President of the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry. She also chaired the Education Committee and served as President of the Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute. In recognition of her enduring contributions, the Massachusetts Psychiatric Society awarded her its Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006.

Born in New York City in 1927 to Eastern European immigrants, Dr. Notman entered the University of Chicago at just 16, studying psychoanalysis with Bruno Bettelheim and physics with Enrico Fermi.

During World War II, she volunteered in Fermi’s lab for the Manhattan Project. Though her father hoped she would become a research scientist, Dr. Notman pursued medicine, graduating from Boston University School of Medicine when few women were admitted to medical schools. Dr. Notman trained in psychiatry at Boston State Hospital and Beth Israel Hospital, later completing fellowships at the National Institute of Mental Health and the Henry Murray Center at the Radcliffe Institute. Her early clinical work included serving as a consulting liaison for obstetrics and gynecology at Beth Israel and providing psychiatric care to students at Wellesley College.

She joined the faculty at Cambridge City Hospital (now Cambridge Health Alliance), where she would later become the first and only woman to serve

G r o u p f o r t h e A d va n c e m e nt o f P s yc h i at r y

as Chair (Interim) of the Department of Psychiatry from 1991 to 1995. During this time, she guided the department through significant transitions amidst the rise of managed care and demonstrated exceptional leadership and advocacy within the hospital and Harvard Medical School.

A prolific writer and editor, Dr. Notman’s scholarship centered on adult development, gender and identity, and the psychological dimensions of women’s reproductive lives. She co-edited the foundational three-volume work The Woman Patient and the influential Physician Sexual Misconduct with longtime collaborator Dr. Carol Nadelson. Her research and clinical work often bridged feminist thought and psychiatric practice, leading to innovations in care for survivors of sexual trauma and the founding of the Rape Crisis Intervention Program at Beth Israel Hospital.

Beyond her professional roles, Dr. Notman was a passionate mentor, particularly to women in medicine.

She modeled how to balance intellectual ambition with motherhood and advocated for women’s voices in academic and clinical settings. As her colleague, Dr. Cathy Schen, wrote, “She was a brilliant scholar and a fierce advocate of women. She encouraged junior female faculty in their scholarship and helped them navigate department politics and advance their careers.”

In her later years, Dr. Notman remained actively engaged in writing, teaching, and mentoring. She continued to practice psychiatry well into her 90s and was widely admired for her intellectual vigor and dedication. In 2025, the Cambridge Health Alliance established the Malkah Notman Award to honor faculty scholarship on women’s mental health—a fitting tribute to her enduring impact.

Outside her professional life, Dr. Notman was an avid hiker, traveler, and lifelong learner. She climbed to Camp 1 at Everest at age 60 and Machu Picchu at 70. A lover of books, oil painting, and nature, she brought the same curiosity and discipline to her personal interests as she did to her work.

She is survived by her three children, Naomi Notman Butterfield, Laura Notman, and Evan Notman, and four grandchildren. Her husband, Dr. Ralph R. Notman, predeceased her in 1993.

A memorial celebration of her life will be held on June 27 at the Harvard Loeb House from 2–4 p.m.

Dr. Malkah Notman’s contributions to psychiatry, psychoanalysis, and the advancement of women in medicine leave a lasting legacy. She will be remembered as a brilliant clinician, scholar, teacher, and trailblazer.

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2025 Circular Let ter #672