Spring 1996, Vol. 5, No. 1

Report of the 1996 annual meeting: Psychiatry as a human resource

By Len Sperry, M.D., Ph.D.

The consensus of those who attended was that the seventh annual meeting of AOOP was an extraordinary conference. The conference was in Tucson, AZ on January 19-20, 1996. The weather was great, the margaritas were large (industrial strength size) the speakers were provocative, and, as always, the opportunity to network with other organizational and occupational psychiatrists was the highlight of the conference. Here is a brief summary of the major presentations.

Developing Human Resource Policy: Violence, Disability, and Forensic Psychiatry in the Workplace

Ronald Schouten, J.D., M.D., who is Director of the Law & Psychiatry Service at Harvard Medical School, offered an incisive perspective on how forensic psychiatrists, particularly those who combine the insights of forensic psychiatry with consulting skills of occupational psychiatry, can effectively consult in a variety of workplace settings in a manner in which those practicing either traditional occupational psychiatry or traditional forensic psychiatry cannot. Dr. Schouten described his niche practice of occupational/forensic psychiatry in terms of consulting on violence in the workplace, disability evaluation, sexual harassment, and fitness for duty. An extended and enthusiastic question and answer period followed this presentation.

Developing Human Resource Policy: Lessons Learned from Substance Abuse Policy Implementation

Robert B. Hunter, M.D., who is Medical Director of Special Health Services at Shell Oil Company, illustrated how he (originally trained in addictionology) was thrust in the role of an occupational psychiatrist when he was hired by Shell Oil. Dr. Hunter described his efforts to develop and implement rational substance abuse policies which benefit both the employee and the company.

Psychiatry as a Human Resource Asset: Why the Need for Psychiatry in Organizations?

Hal Lancaster, who is featured columnist of "Managing Your Career" for the Wall Street Journal, joined us again for our annual conference. This year we had the pleasure of having Mr. Lancaster address us formally. With his usual incisive view of current workplace issues, he noted how the need for psychiatry in the workplace has increased exponentially in the past few years. He emphasized how psychiatry must address the "people needs" since they have largely been eclipsed in the "new management". He challenged conference participants to think creatively about meeting some of these more pressing needs.

Psychiatry as a Human Resource Asset: Psychiatry and Human Resources Working Together

Kathryn McKee, President of the Human Resources Consortia, discussed the need for psychiatry to better interface with human resource (HR) professionals and their concerns. She indicated that such a collaboration of HR and occupational psychiatry should start with occupational psychiatrists teaching HR personnel how to more effectively recognize and refer problem employees.

Psychiatry as a Human Resource Asset: Psychiatry as a Resource in Unusual Places

Michael S. Hall, a retired Air Force major general and a human factors consultant, described how occupational psychiatrists can function as "human factors specialists" and can help keep their workplace clients in step with the rapidly changing needs of the environment.

Psychiatry and Executive Performance: NASA and the Astronaut Selection Process

David Jones, M.D., M.P.H., a consulting psychiatrist at NASA illustrated the challenges involved in the screening process of NASA astronauts. He noted the ways in which astronauts are similar and different from senior executives, and how NASA developed a screening process that is exclusively focused on job performance. Dr. Jones challenged psychiatrists involved in the selection of executives to develop similar screening procedures that emphasize the prediction of performance rather than an over-reliance on the personality of the executive.

Psychiatry and Executive Performance: Psychotherapy with the Successful Executives: Special Issues in Treating Executives Facing "Life Cycle Crises"

Sandra K. Cohen, M.D., who has a clinical appointment at Cornell University Medical College and practices psychoanalytically-oriented psychotherapy with executives, emphasized the value of the psychodynamic perspective in workplace psychiatry. She focused on the special difficulties facing both the psychotherapist and the executive when the character traits which contributed to a successful career turn into difficulties in the face of a life crisis and which make the therapeutic situation humiliating. Dr. Cohen indicated ways in which female executives experienced life crises in ways similar to and different from male executives. She presented case vignettes illustrating various life crises.

Organizational Psychiatry: Professional and Organizational Boundaries

Glenn Swogger, Jr. M.D., is senior psychiatric consultant at the Menninger Management Institute. Glenn has been a previous presenter for the Academy. This year he departed from his scheduled topic to address the matter of professional boundaries. He noted that because workplace psychiatrists have multiple boundaries, their roles and tasks can become confused to themselves and to others. He challenged occupational psychiatrists to re-evaluate and re-define their roles and boundaries, especially involving workplace consultation.

Psychiatry and Executive Performance: Unusual Psychiatrist in Usual Places

Gerald Kraines, M.D., is President and CEO of The Levinson Institute and is on the clinical faculty at Harvard Medical School. Gerry had previously presented at the AOOP Conference in San Diego. Again, his address was a thought-provoking discussion of work roles, role accountability, and how he consults on workplace issues.

 
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