Abstract
The following interview highlights the career and rich professional influence of Dr. Michael Shaughnessy, a prolific writer, researcher, and educator. Dr. Shaughnessy has presented hundreds of national and international papers, presentations, and publications. Dr. Shaughnessy is the Associate Editor for The Journal of Education and Human Development, Member of the Institute of Logotherapy, former Chief Editor of the Gifted Education International Journal, and Past President of National Association for Creative Children and Adults.
Dr. Michael Shaughnessy is a Professor of Special Education at Eastern New Mexico University. Dr. Shaughnessy has presented over 100 national and international papers, presentations, and publications. Dr. Shaughnessy is the Associate Editor for The Journal of Education and Human Development, Member of the Institute of Logotherapy, former Chief Editor of the Gifted Education International Journal, and Past President of National Association for Creative Children and Adults.
Dr. Shaughnessy received his Associate's Degree from Westchester Community College (i.e., Social Science), his Bachelor's Degree in Psychology from Mercy College, his Masters’ in Counseling from Bank Street College of Education, his in Secondary Masters’ School Psychology from the College of New Rochelle, and his Doctorate in Educational Psychology and Social Foundations from the University of Nebraska. Furthermore, Dr. Shaughnessy completed Post Graduate Work at the Institute for Rational Emotive Psychotherapy, Columbia University, School of Social Work, and New York University, School of Social Work. Lastly, Dr. Michael Shaughnessy completed Post Doctoral at the University of California, San Francisco, Harvard Medical School, Texas Tech University (e.g., Special Education), and George Washington University (e.g., Special Education & Traumatic Brain Injury).
JD: Based on your educational experience at the Masters’ Level, what influenced you to seek both a Guidance/Career and a School Psychology Degrees? Thanks for asking- but we probably need to go back to freshman year at a place called Westchester Community College in Valhalla NY, where I took my first psychology class- Psych 101 and was enthralled. Add to that excellent instruction in the use of the library for research purposes and of course supplementary instruction in sociology. Then of course my bachelor's work at Mercy College in Dobbs Ferry NY led to a deep understanding of Abnormal Psychology and Experimental Psychology, plus the supplementary field of social work- which provided a big picture as to how the two disciplines interacted. Add to that some work with residential treatment and emotional disturbance and behavior disorders at a local residential treatment center where the disciplines of psychology, behavior modification, milieu therapy and social work were meshed. My first master's was in Counseling and Guidance and during that time, I was fortunate enough to be able to also seek education from the Institute for Rational Emotive Therapy under Dr. Albert Ellis and Dr. William Knaus. During that time, I was able to benefit from the demonstrations of Dr. Ellis who also brought many of the leaders of the field to lecture at 45 East 65th St in NY. I was able to learn from Dr. Arnold Lazarus (who edited my first publication) Dr. Aaron Beck, (whose daughter I later interviewed) and Dr. Donald Meichenbaum (who I am still in touch with even today !) A master's thesis was a requirement back then and I took an interest in Reality Therapy as practiced by Dr. William Glasser and I am proud to say he too, assisted me with my master's thesis and provided all kinds of data to analyze and I have since interviewed him for publication also. At that time there was an intense interest in psychology and many famous individuals were speaking at various places. I was wondering around Columbia University campus one day and saw B.F. Skinner was speaking- so I attended. Little did I know that several years down the road- we would be on the same progra in Nashville (maybe Knoxville) Tennessee at an ABA conference. And perhaps a few decades later, I was speaking opposite Dr. Albert Ellis in Santa Fe, New Mexico at a conference! My second masters in School Psychology taught me the basics of assessment- Intelligence Testing, Achievement Testing, Visual Motor, and language Assessment and I was able to put some of these skills to use while working at a developmental center for about 200 individuals with varying diagnoses. This was a period of de-institutionalization or mainstreaming and many psychiatric clients or patients (whichever term you prefer- this is another issue to discuss- some people are consumers- some are clients and some are patients- and there are differences- but a topic for another time) were released to group homes, and mini institutions in the US. During this time, there was obviously difficulty in providing for the needs of these individuals which led me back to what was then called the Mental Retardation Institute in Valhalla NY where I was trained in Multimodal Therapy by students of Dr. Arnold Lazarus. Obviously they have changed the name since my time there.
Obviously, I attended workshops and seminars by Dr. Albert Ellis- but would have to acknowledge Dr. William Knaus and his supervision during that time. I am happy to say I am still in touch with him and recently wrote an acknowledgement to his latest book! Ed Garcia was a social worker who taught us all about the emotional side of Rational Emotive Therapy and I have already mentioned Dr. William Glasser. Dr. Janet Wolfe was another person at the Institute for RET.
JD: Of those mentors in NY, what advice did you receive that has stayed with you? One of the key things that Dr. Arnold Lazarus would say was “first make a correct diagnosis” and then proceed from there to address the BASIC-ID—Behavior, Affect, Sensory, Imagery, Cognition and then Interpersonal Relations and then the need for Drugs or the clients use of drugs (this cannot be neglected). Dr. Albert Ellis would often comment on the fact that there is an elegant and an inelegant solution to most problems and more than anything else taught thinking about problems- that some people think illogically, irrationally, unrealistically, inappropriately, and we need to focus on the cognitive realm in counseling and psychotherapy. Dr. Ellis also encouraged what he called “homework assignments” so that clients would practice certain skills so that they would “get better and not just feel better” Indirectly, I think and this is just opinion, that Dr. Ellis was influenced indirectly by Dr. Abraham Maslow- and believed that people had potential and he wanted them to employ their skills and abilities and to be a more fully functioning person.
JD: What factors influenced you to attend the University of Nebraska to pursue your doctorate? As I was attending the College of New Rochelle, being trained in intelligence testing and research by Dr. Benjamin Alimena, he referred me to a program in Lincoln Nebraska which he thought would be a good fit. I had taken courses in the Rorschach and projective techniques (Thematic Apperception Test) at the College of New Rochelle and there were some key people in Lincoln, Nebrsaka that he felt would enhance my expertise and competence. I had studied under Dr. Milton Arner but at Nebraska I would be working with and under Dr. Terry Gutkin and Dr. Fred Grossman. I know I mention the Rorschach in passing and I realize it's use has been somewhat discontinued and that there are concerns about all projective evaluation but that is a discussion for another interview, as I believe therapists can gain much insight from some projective testing.
John Glover was one of the premier educational psychologists in the US and Dr. Gutkin had just edited the Handbook of School Psychology. At that time Dr. Reynolds was just taking over Buros Mental Measurements Yearbook and there was a great camaraderie at that time with Dr. Robert Filbeck and Dr. Royce Ronning and Dr. Roger Bruning.
All of these were (and are) superior scholars, writers, researchers, who mentored and encouraged me in my endeavors. Dr. Glover was the chair of my dissertation, so he deserves much recognition and acknowledgement. Dr. Keith Pritchard also on my committee really taught about the impact of culture- if he were alive today- he would be lecturing about social media and the impact it has on people.
JD: Based on your educational and professional experiences (e.g., gifted children, clinical psychology, TBI, families, etc.), where do you see the connection between these constructs? Let me start with clinical psychology and acknowledge Dr. Kenneth Newman who I worked with for about four years (while pursuing the master's in school psychology) In a sense, he was the first to really examine the issue of brain functioning and various psychiatric conditions. My work with gifted children began at the University of Nebraska in an introductory course-as I recall her name was Dr. Ursula Walsh. At that time I worked as a guidance counselor and had a few intellectually gifted students, some talented and some creative students whose needs were not being addressed. This later led to my being on the editorial board of Gifted Education International and working with Belle Wallace and John Senior of England and later led to my presenting at St. Catherine's in Oxford University and to my work with Colin Hannaford also of Oxford. My work with Traumatic Brain Injury resulted from being consulted by a local school district, then being contacted by the state department of education, resulting in a 5 course sequence at George Washington University in Head Injury/Brain Trauma/Acquired Brain Injury- which then led to my serving 3 governors of the state on a Brain injury Advisory Council. - So as you can see- as they say- one thing leads to another ! And it continues to this day in terms of cognitive rehabilitation.
Good question- because I have been fortunate enough to see many of the leaders in the field “in action” so to speak and to meet many of the leaders such as Dr. Viktor Frankl, Dr. Elizabeth Kubler Ross (we were on the same program in Connecticut) Dr. Henry Hicks, Dr. Harold Greenwald (of Direct Decision Therapy) Dr. Rollo May (met him and corresponded with him) Dr. Irvin Yalom- used his book in basic group therapy classes and got to interview him and his son Victor Yalom. I also have to acknowledge David Robinson M.D. over the years and his excellent books om Abnormal Psychology and Psychiatry. He is a wonderful teacher via his numerous books.
Now, “the current state of mental health” really deserves a small chapter in a book or may be a book unto itself- It is almost impossible to provide a global assessment but some preliminary thoughts- we know more about the brain and we have a small armamentarium of medications to address many issues.
We have a number of different therapeutic approaches but not enough therapists/counselors and psychologists out there-and we live in a stressful world.
There are mental health issues all over the world. I have been to Finland six times, and I have to acknowledge the work of Kimmo Lehtonen, Antti Juvonen, and several others in Finland. Further, I have lectured in South Korea, and they have their own set of problems. I serve on the Editorial Board of one of their journals and am in touch with many of their leaders.
JD: What advice would you provide for future professionals that work with families and the aforementioned constructs? First of all, I would not consider myself an expert in family therapy- although I have taken many courses in it and have taught it- but in this day and age it is somewhat difficult to get an entire family together in the same place at the same time to really delve into the inter-generational issues and the presenting problems. The diversity of families is another issue (as you know) and the ever changing landscape of the world is yet another – witness what hath COVID wrought!
JD: Any last comments and or words of wisdom? A few realms need to be addressed- Supervision is an integral part of the learning process. Some students in training abhor it- others benefit from it immensely. It is almost a needed realm in today's society- I both seek supervision at times due to very intricate ethical issues and psychologists contact me- via Zoom nowadays- for assistance with intricate cases (e.g., client is both bi-polar and bi-sexual- and I was never trained or educated in any class to address that combination). And yes, Zoom is an alternative to face to face supervision and needed in some situations-but how effective it is, remains to be seen. And there are issues of 2e- twice exceptional- the student is gifted and depressed—the student is gifted yet has a medical issue- sucrose isomaltose deficiency or diabetes or asthma or hay fever- and the list goes on and on. And since you asked previously about families, we all are aware of the increasing number of students with “special needs”—autism, Traumatic Brain Injury, learning disabilities, speech and language difficulties, vision and hearing issues- and we need to be much more sensitive to the impact of these learning and medical issues on the family. Having worked with families with Williams Syndrome, Hunter's Syndrome, Down Syndrome, and genetic abnormalities (e.g., 16 qd), these are families in need of support and assistance. There are three people much better to provide “words of wisdom” that I have worked with over the years- Samuel Gladding, Bradley Erford, and Loretta Bradley (past president of ACA). I have worked tangentially with these current leaders in their fields, used their books, and have learned from them, I guess the best words of wisdom that I can impart come from Dr. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross. As I indicated earlier, we were on the same program (she was the keynote speaker) and at the end of her presentation, the conference committee presented her with 2 dozen red roses. And she said “Thank you for giving me these flowers now while I can enjoy them, rather than after I am dead”. I think she was saying treat people- especially those you love well, while they are alive, rather than mourn them after they are dead.
