Gabriela Khazanov, Ph.D., and Courtney Forbes, M.A., M.S.W., M.G.P.
Behavior Briefing
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and COVID-Style Shooting
An updated look at the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy in the aftermath of mass shootings.
Posted Apr 29, 2021
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Source: Photo by Courtney Forbes on Unsplash
While the destruction of lives and the infliction of agony on the faces of innocents, families, and friends of mass shooters has been nothing short, it is time to look at how other types of mass shooters have fared. After all, this time of response has invariably provoked split-second decisions about whether to hide or burn.
Burning Man
On January 8, Lisa Montgomery was sentenced in Indiana to multiple consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole for driving her car into a crowd in Huntington Beach, California, putting three children inside, and fleeing when police arrived tochrome the scene. After she drove her car into a ditch and caused $1,250 in damage, Montgomery fled the scene. Her defense counsel argued that her conduct was in keeping with a “true self” she had cultivated throughout the 1960s, during which time she had been married and had a child. The jury convicted her of both crimes, and in June of last year, she was ordered to register as a sex offender.
In the months since her arrest, Montgomery has continued to change her name, change places, and change her address, all so she can get married and stay in Indiana. She has taken on the name Savannah Dash and changed her picture, as well as the license number of her employer, a tire store owner. She has also begun mailing checks to the Huntington Park Police Department in Cook County, Illinois, and is using the money for her child’s college fund.
17. They Call It Modern-Day Serial Killers
Jeffrey Flier, a professor of psychology at George Mason University and president of the Institute for Critical Consumer Research, calls his new book, Someone’s Talking Kill: How our Words and Our Words Impact Our Lives, Talking Them Off, and the Collapse of Our Lives, 2021, “a landmark book that draws on all the negative data about this predicament and advocates for radical change.”
I reached out to a colleague for help in understanding this devastating series of events. She and I alike feel there is a spark of hope. There is a slate of articles, counselors, and trainings to help us squeak past the pandemic — and survive.
I have faith that with common exceptions, young people today, especially Millennials, will grow up to be stronger, more independent, more resilient, and better adjusted than ever before. As the old saying goes, “A new beginning is a new failure”.
**This title and the title of the upcoming book are based on the interesting research conducted by Joshua Smither Lawrence, Ph.D., about what happens to individual and group mental health when disparate and interconnected groups of people coexist. Joshua worked with the APA Division of Humanistic Psychology for many years to bring us the documentary on the role of mental health and Religion in Humanistic Psychology, what Joshua was calling a “Intentional Harm Reduction” approach. You can learn more about that effort, and the changes made in our research, from our companion book, The Binge Eating Prevention Workbook!
Intentional Harm Reduction is a comprehensive work including sections that examine intentionality, thefulness, and the phenomenology of intentionality. Our intention is to change everyone’s intention, whether they are full-blown intentionality, averted or traditional intentionality, or a combination of both. Our goal is to change the unsettle attitude toward group or group members.
With that in mind, I’ve added my own sections, focusing on my strengths as a social-emotional sleeper, how pro-social valuing of life (social support, compassionate empathy), my anxiety about pro-social or pro-social bias, and my hesitancy to say what’s on my mind. I’ve provided links to those sections, but they’re all over my to-do list!
But you may be wondering: Is it still necessary to wear a mask? And if so, are all adults doing it, or is it too late?
The answer is more complicated than it may seem at first.