PsyBar Video Presentations:

Below are links to 10 PsyBar Video Presentations. To view a presentation, please click on its title.

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• The New EASNA Guidelines for Fitness for Duty and Violence Risk Evaluations
  • Dr. David Fisher, who serves on the EASNA Professional Practices Committee, will discuss the practical implications of EASNA's new guidelines for managing psychological and psychiatric Fitness for Duty and Violence Risk Assessments. These guidelines encourage a clear separation between medical/legal (forensic) and treatment roles for doctors, EAP personnel and others. Further, they place responsibility on EAPs to both educate their employer clients about these practices, and to reasonably prevent dual relationships which might impact employee management and care. These changes also ultimately challenge the EAP professional to become knowledgeable about psychological/psychiatric issues related to issues such as setting up evaluations, dual relationships, report writing, payment for examinations, giving employees feedback, as well as arranging follow up evaluations and care.
• Evaluating the Impaired Professional or Manager
  • Mr. Gary Schoener, M.Eq., Licensed Psychologist will examine and discuss the process of evaluating the impaired professional or manager. His presentation will focus on unique methods of assessment and special considerations including boundary issues, which enter the picture with these types of evaluations. Some possible scenarios may be: A senior partner in a law firm is sexually harassing support staff. A program director at a major social services agency appears depressed and is failing in his job duties. A pediatrician who heads a clinic is engaging in unprofessional interchanges with adolescent patients. An employer or regulatory board has decided that something is very wrong and an evaluation is needed. This could be a return-to-work evaluation or it could be focused on setting up a rehabilitation plan. The subject of the assessment is bright and talented and important to their organization, but something needs to change. He or she may be knowledgeable about assessment methodologies and tests. The spectre of possible confrontation inside the organization or legal challenges complicates the situation. Mr. Schoener will cover these challenging issues in this important presentation.
• Using the MMPI to Reduce Risk in Psychological Fitness for Duty and Violence Risk Assessments
  • Drs. Fisher and Wilson will show participants how the newer versions of the MMPI can help them defend their employment decisions. To do this, they will contrast the clinical or "intuitional" method of psychological assessment with that of objective psychological testing. Specific MMPI scales will be presented, as well as their implications for employment matters. They will emphasize issues related to validity of employee self-report and courtroom acceptance of this test.
• The Importance of Maintaining Appropriate Boundaries After Fitness for Duty Evaluations
  • To protect the employer, EAP, employee and the doctor who performs a Fitness for Duty Evaluation (FFDE), it is critical that each have a well-defined role related to both the assessment itself and employee management. This sometimes does not happen though, partly because of confusion about the importance of professional divisions. Dr. Fisher will discuss ways to avoid these practices, which can invite considerable risk. These pertain to such issues as giving feedback to employees about FFDE results, disseminating copies of FFDE reports, providing treatment, monitoring treatment compliance, psychological re-evaluation before return to work, and completing insurance paperwork.
• Psychological and Psychiatric Assessment of Employees and Claimants who Speak English as a Second Language
  • America is an increasingly diverse culture where doctors and insurers cannot rely on psychological, psychiatric and neuropsychological evaluation procedures validated only with native-born Caucasian populations. Instead, psychiatrists, psychologists and neuropsychologists performing IMEs and Fitness for Duty Evaluations should adhere to specialized assessment practices when evaluating claimants from different racial and ethnic groups. In this presentation Dr. Fisher will discuss the assessment procedures necessary to adequately assess non English-speaking claimants. This might include the use of specialized psychological and neuropsychological tests, written in a foreign language, along with normative data collected from the claimant's racial or ethnic group. Further, he will discuss the use of foreign language-speaking professionals, issues related to professional interpreters, neuropsychology, and concerns about informed consent and release of information forms. Neglecting any these issues can have serious legal and professional repercussions for doctors, employers and insurers.
• Pre-employment and Promotional Assessments
  • Dr. Jay T. McNamara, PhD, LP, will discuss the content and use of pre-employment and promotional assessments. In many industrial/corporate settings, psychologists using objective tests and standardized assessment processes can uncover and describe subtle yet important information about the personality traits and work styles of prospective candidates. Participants will learn what constitutes a good, defensible pre-employment or promotional assessment, and they will also be shown when such assessments are appropriate. Using specific case examples, Dr. McNamara will illustrate how the assessment process can go beyond obvious interview behavior to highlight characteristics, tendencies and preferences that influence success on the job.
• Neuropsychological Fitness for Duty and Risk Assessment
  • Dr. Fisher will explain how neuropsychological evaluations can help employers and EAP professionals make managerial decisions about employees who have worrisome and potentially dangerous cognitive difficulties. Neuropsychologists perform these evaluations, designed to measure thinking skills such as memory, concentration, communication skills and judgment. These problems might occur because of injury or illness such as brain trauma, stroke, dementia and even severe depression or anxiety. He will discuss the critical components of high quality neuropsychological evaluations, which often include lengthy employee and “collateral” interviews (frequently with employers), neuropsychological tests, validity assessment and medical records review. Finally, Dr. Fisher will cover referral questions, designed to help ensure a safe and productive workplace.
• The Myths, Magic and Methods of Psychiatric Case Management (EAP and HR Professionals)
  • In this presentation, Karen Jasper will show participants how and when to use specialized case management services for employees with psychological, psychiatric and neuropsychological impairments. She will examine the efficacy of various case management models (telephonic, onsite, and peer to peer inventions); provide examples of stay-at-work and return-to-work plans to reduce disability duration; and demonstrate when case management can positively impact several major psychiatric/psychological diagnoses and patterns of impairments, including the interplay between physical injury and psychological problems, substance abuse, subjective medical conditions, PTSD and depression. Through case studies and examples, participants will be introduced to a case management continuum ranging from the traditional coordination of appropriate treatment and return-to-work services through non-traditional, out-of-the-box, and individualized community approaches.
• Using Fitness for Duty and Violence Risk Assessments to Facilitate Employee Return to Work
  • Dr. Fisher will discuss a standardized psychological assessment protocol used to assist employee recovery and return to work. This protocol helps case managers both assist employees and prevent concerns about unfair management practices. Included will be methods to objectively document limitations in psychological functioning and determine when an employee might present a danger of psychiatric relapse or violence. He will also discuss obtaining information from treating psychologists and psychiatrists, medication stabilization, monitoring treatment results, and coordinating return to work plans with treating doctors.
• Psychological Fitness for Duty Evaluations: Best Practices for the Employer and the EAP
  • This presentation will offer a model for evaluating employees that have psychological problems that have an impact on the workplace. It will include a discussion of the roles of the a) EAP, 2) employer, 3) employee, 4) independent doctor, and 5) the Fitness for Duty Evaluation Facilitator. Each of these has well-defined goals that are different from those they would adopt if the evaluation were being performed solely for treatment purposes. Objective psychological testing will be reviewed, as well as a formal psychological evaluation protocol and methods to avoid conflict of interest.