USD President's Report 1999

is a psychologist of Asian American descent whose major platform is a commitment to enhance cultura l diversity in the field . Applied research . While basic research is o n e of the foundations upon which modern day psychology rests , a major chall enge in the future is to conduct research with more practical applications. The National Institute on Mental Health recently funded a series of research proj ects designed to test the relative effectiveness of psyc h oth erapy and drug interventions in menta l health treatment. The findings revealed that

psychotherapy is as effective as medications in reducing the symptoms of depression and anxiety , the two most common outpatient mental health problems. What stands o ut in a review of recent and f uture trends in psychology is the expanding role of t h e discipline beyond the confines of the classroom , the laboratory and the consulting office. The field of psychology will continue to demonstrate its relevance to concerns that range from the level of the individual to that of the global community, and prom ises to grow in exciting new directions .

ou ll probably get a plethora of anawers, because when 1t comes to therapy, psychology and psychiatry everyone seems to have a different opinion about how much it can help. Even psychologists themselves aren't unified in their opinions. But they're getting some help from Marc Kruse '98. "The field of psychology is a little troubled about overly quantifying treatment outcomes, because each person treated has a unique experience," says Kruse. ''But psychologists recognize the need to decide if treatment is making a situation better and if patients are satisfied with the services they receive." Kruse is a coordinator for a five-year research project being conducted by the University of California, San Diego , psychiatry department to study whether adolescents in state- and county-funded treatment programs are in fact benefiting from treatment. He will help interview 200 kids aged 12-17 , along with their teachers , parents and the clinicians who are treating them. In the end, he expects to find out if the goals of treatment are being met , and if state-mandated performance indicators are fairly assessing the success of such treatment. "We're looking at any child affected by the Department of Social Services - whether it be through the juvenile justice system, alcohol and drug programs or oth er mental health services," says Kruse. "This is a great example of how research can b e applied to improve how treatment is provided to patients." The fact that those patients are children is a happy coincidence for Kruse. Although he didn't set out specifically to work with kids, he 's encountered young people at every turn . As an undergraduate psychology major , he worked in the children's ward of a local psychiatric hospital , interned at juvenile Hall and was a counselor at USD's summer sports camps. Kruse wants to attend graduate schoo l and perhaps move into private practice in th e future, but always plans to carry with him the lessons he 's learned about applying his research. "My goal is to move beyond studies of limited scope and get into issues of behavior," he says. "That's where I hope to make a difference."

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