Tag: College of Psychology

Boucher Gill

We are pleased to announce Big Brain Book: How It Works and All Its Quirks by College of Psychology Professor Leanne Boucher Gill, Ph.D., has been recognized as a Finalist in the 24th annual Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards.

In the Big Brain Book, readers are welcomed to Lobe Labs and Dr. Brain activities in a brightly illustrated, highly engaging book that uses science to answer interesting questions that tweens, teens, and adults have about the brain and human behavior. This is a fun primer on psychology and neuroscience that makes complex psychological phenomena and neural mechanisms relatable to the reader through illustrations, interesting factoids, and more. Chapters include: What is the brain made up of and how does it work? Why can’t I tickle myself? Why do they shine a light in my eyes when I hit my head in the game? Answers draw from both psychology and neuroscience, giving ample examples of how the science is relevant to the question and to the reader’s life experiences.

The Big Brain Book and its companion picture book for younger readers, Lobe Your Brain: What Matters About Your Grey Matter, were published by Magination Press Children’s Books, the children’s book imprint of the American Psychological Association, in June 2021.

As part of its mission to discover, review, and share the best books from university and independent publishers, Foreword Magazine, Inc. hosts an annual awards program each year. Finalists represent the best books published in 2021. After more than 2,500 individual titles spread across 55 genres were submitted for consideration, the Finalistswere determined by Foreword’s editorial team. Winners will be decided by an expert team of booksellers and librarians—representing Foreword’s trade readership—from across the country.

The complete list of Finalists can be found at:

https://www.forewordreviews.com/awards/finalists/2021/

Boucher Gill has been on the faculty at NSU for 12 years teaching classes in psychology and neuroscience. She has a passion for communicating science with the public and often includes her students in library and museum STEAM outreach programs on brain science. Her research focuses on how cognition can be affected by movement. In this line of research, Boucher Gill examines how different forms of exercise (walking, running, bike riding, SCUBA diving) or fidgeting movements can affect one’s inhibitory control, working memory, learning, and attentional focus. She works with many students who have presented their research at local and national conferences.

Posted 04/10/22

Tammy Tucker

Nova Southeastern University alumna Tammy Tucker was recently promoted to vice president of Behavioral Health Services for the Memorial Healthcare System.

Tucker started her career at Memorial in 1992 as a clinical director of The Starting Place where she obtained invaluable experience in pediatric behavioral health. Subsequently, she has held positions at the Veterans Administration Hospital, Nova Southeastern University and progressed through the ranks at Memorial holding the positions of associate administrator of behavioral health and most recently, associate administrator at Memorial Regional Hospital.

Tucker received both her Master of Science in Psychology and Doctorate of Clinical Psychology degrees from NSU, her Bachelor of Science degree from Georgia Southern University, and she is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (FACHE).

With a history of community involvement, Tucker has been involved in numerous committees and boards throughout her career, including The Florida Hospital Association Behavioral Health Committee (member), Agency for Healthcare Administration (AHCA) HB945 CSU High Utilizers Workgroup, The Governor’s Task Force on Involuntary Commitment for Minors, The United Way of Broward County Commission on Behavioral Health and Drug Prevention (chair), The South Florida State Hospital (Board Member) and The Broward Behavioral Health Coalition (board member).

Jonathan Perle, Ph.D.

Jonathan Perle, Ph.D., ABPP, graduate of NSU’s Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program, recently published “A Mental Health Provider’s Guide to Telehealth: Providing Outpatient Videoconferencing Services”. This book was written to serve as a videoconferencing guide for psychological providers.

Perle explained that the COVID-19 pandemic has forced many health care providers to rely more on technology than ever before. While this transition to telehealth services has been made, it has not been without challenges. He added that “telehealth has certainly exploded in response to the COVID-19 pandemic” and he does not see the trend reversing anytime soon. Therefore, “a provider should be knowledgeable on both the positives and drawbacks of telehealth use in order to ensure optimal practice.”

Reminiscing about this time at NSU, Perle noted that while he was completing his degree, “telehealth wasn’t really discussed”. His main influencer of this line of work was NSU College of Psychology professor Barry Nierenberg. “Looking back, it was really Dr. Nierenberg who supported my telehealth work by encouraging me to learn more about the topic, and who later chaired my telehealth-focused dissertation. Together, we published numerous articles on the topic in peer-reviewed journals. Dr. Nierenberg introduced me to several well-known American Psychological Association (APA) telehealth experts which allowed me to become part of a select group of students to have contributed to the APA’s Telepsychology Guidelines. He is one of the biggest reasons why I have continued this line of work.”

Concerning his book, Perle explained that it is a culmination of about 10 years of personal study, use, and teaching about telehealth topics. The book combines research literature with professional experiences to create a videoconferencing guide for psychological providers. The purpose of this endeavor was to present a broad, simplified, and practical overview of pertinent factors through relatively brief and directly applicable chapters. The book provides readers with foundational knowledge including terminology, background research on the use of videoconferencing, and presents an overview of existing practices with guidebooks. Specific recommendations for ethical and legal factors are also presented. In the book, Perle also details numerous essential factors of a videoconferencing-based practice, including considerations of one’s computer system, video camera, display screen, microphone, videoconferencing platform, bandwidth and latency, room setup, documentation methods, and self-care practices. Multiple appendices and checklists are also provided to assist the reader.

Perle graduated from the Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology program in 2013. Additional information about his book can be found here: https://www.routledge.com/A-Mental-Health-Providers-Guide-to-Telehealth-Providing-Outpatient-Videoconferencing/Perle/p/book/9780367713577