The Shrink Is In- The Podcast Voice of Psychology DrGurr

Today’s podcast is a conversation between Dr. Howard Gurr and Dr. Les Posen about our use of Virtual Reality in private practice.  Check out the video version of this  conversation between Dr. Howard Gurr and Dr. Les Posen at https://youtu.be/tgvLHdAub5M   Les is Melbourne, born-and-bred.  Educated at Monash and Melbourne Universities, he later spent time in the Austin Hospital’s Department of Psychological Medicine, where he did clinical rotations in Adult Psychiatry and Cardiology.   With a lifelong passion for travel and commercial aviation, Les considers himself fortunate to have been supervised while at the Austin by Dr. Ida Kaplan who was Ansett Australia’s first Melbourne-based Fear of Flying Program Psychologist. He inherited the program from her in 1994 and for the next six years further developed and enhanced the program. Separate from this, he helped develop the airline’s Passenger and Crew Welfare program, training with airline staff from around the world – including United, Continental and TWA – to give him a special understanding of Crew psychology, especially enhancing resilience under stress.   Les’s website is https://flightwise.com.au/ 

I was searching through my old podcasts and I came up with another one from 2007 that seems to be pertinent to today's world. This one was on liars.
According to a study 50% of people questioned thought they could tell when someone was lying. The data suggested we were not that good at telling when someone was lying to us. Is that true?
This podcast presented some of the reasons why we cannot always tell who is telling the truth or who is lying. I think it is very relevant today!

I originally produced this podcast on why people who are incompetent do not know they are incompetent on August 15, 2007. At the time, I thought the research was very interesting and amusing. Now, with the state of our world, I think the podcast is very relevant and not so funny. The research was actually done in 1999. The researchers were Dr. David Duning and a then graduate student, named Justin Kruger. Interestingly, this concept has been called the Duning-Kruger effect! Below is the reference for the original article. In advance, I apologize for my voice- I must have been sick at the time I recorded the original podcast.

Kruger, Justin; Dunning, David (1999). "Unskilled and Unaware of It: How Difficulties in Recognizing One's Own Incompetence Lead to Inflated Self-Assessments". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 77 (6): 1121–34.

Today’s podcast is a conversation between Dr. Howard Gurr and Dr. Skip Rizzo. Dr. Rizzo is well known for his work with VR and PTSD. He is one of the first psychologists to recognize the benefits of VR for psychological issues. Dr. Rizzo talks about his introduction to VR, the benefits of VR for mental health problems and his research with VR.


Here is Dr. Rizzo’s bio:
Albert “Skip” Rizzo is a clinical psychologist/neuropsychologist and Director of Medical Virtual Reality at the University Of Southern California Institute for Creative Technologies. He is also a Research Professor with the USC Dept. of Psychiatry and at the USC Davis School of Gerontology. Skip conducts research on the design, development and evaluation of Virtual Reality systems targeting the areas of clinical assessment, treatment and rehabilitation across the domains of psychological, cognitive and motor functioning in both healthy and clinical populations. This work has focused on PTSD, TBI, Autism, ADHD, Alzheimer’s disease, stroke and other clinical conditions. In spite of the diversity of these clinical R&D areas, the common thread that drives all of his work with digital technologies involves the study of how interactive and immersive Virtual Reality simulations can be usefully applied to address human healthcare needs beyond what is possible with traditional 20th Century tools and methods. In 2010 he received the “American Psychological Association Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Practice of Trauma Psychology” and in 2012, the MMVR Satava Award for excellence in the use of VR for therapeutic applications. In 2015, he received the Society for Brain Mapping and Therapeutics “Pioneer in Medicine” award presented to individuals who have significantly contributed to the scientific advancement in the fields of medicine through a multidisciplinary approach. To view some videos on his work, please visit this YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=UUQrbzaW3x9wWoZPl4-l4GSA&feature=plcp

Dr. Howard Gurr Talks with Dr. Robert Reiner about Virtual reality Therapy(VRT). Dr. Reiner has been using VRT for many years in his practice in New York City.


Here is Dr. Reiner's bio:


Robert H. Reiner Ph.D., BCN, BCB, Executive Director and founder of Behavioral Associates (BA), has been practicing psychology since 1981. After receiving his undergraduate degree at the University of Pennsylvania, he went on to get his Ph. D. in clinical psychology at the University of Alabama and serve his clinical internship at Bellevue Hospital. He currently serves on the faculty for the Department of Psychiatry at New York University Medical Center and is a guest lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania psychology department.
Dr. Reiner can frequently be seen and quoted in the news and media and is often called upon to make appearances on major news networks for his expert opinion. Throughout his career he has served as psychological consultant for several corporations as well as an expert witness for a number of criminal trials.

He is well known for his work in treating anxiety and phobias through biofeedback and virtual reality therapy. He has been credited for this work in articles in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, New York Daily News, USA Today, Newsweek and Time Out magazine. He has specifically had great success in treating patients for fear of flying which was documented on an episode of The National Geographic Show featuring Dr. Reiner’s work with a phobic patient.

He is a co-author of, The Fearless Smile Overcoming Dental Phobia, a book on the subject of people suffering from dental phobias and how they can be effectively treated. The book, published in Jan. 2012 was written by Dr. Reiner along with two well-known Manhattan dentists.

Dr. Reiner currently serves on the Ethics Board at the International Study for Neurofeedback and Research (ISNR). He served on the faculty at NYU Medical Center, Dept. of Psychiatry, from 1980 to 2015. He has been a guest lecturer for the International Society for Neurofeedback and Research, Northeastern Regional Biofeedback Society (NFBS), Association for Applied Psychophysiology & Biofeedback (AAPB) and more.

Dr. Reiner can be reached at http://www.behavioralassociates.com/ or by calling him at (212) 860-8500.

Dr. Howard Gurr talks to Mr. Scott Lowe from www.psious.com about their company,the current state of Virtual Reality Therapy and the future of Virtual Reality Therapy.

Mr.Scott Lowe manages the North American market for Psious, the leading company in virtual reality for mental healthcare. Scott found his way to Psious after orthogonal stops as a competitive amateur boxer, industrial engineer at Stanford University, and professional dancer/acrobat, two of which entailed journeys in anxiety management that piqued his interest in cutting-edge treatments. Now with Psious, Scott is helping establish a new class of therapists well-versed in technological resources that potentiate the effect of clients' existing skills.