Top of Mind

CBT VS DBT

The Difference Between CBT and DBT (Cognitive and Dialectical Behavioral Therapies) Stacey L. Spencer, Ed.D. Clinical Neuropsychologist, Lindner Center of HOPE EMDR Trained therapist Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Neuroscience   There are many, many possible types of psychotherapy. Psychotherapy is an optimal treatment method for mental illnesses.  Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and […]

Eating Habits: Why You Should Listen to Your Body Instead of Shame

By: Annie Ward, MSN, PMHNP-BC Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner, Lindner Center of HOPE When we think of eating disorders, our society tends to think of individuals in emaciated bodies. Disordered eating is more common than not, and does not discriminate against body size, gender or race. The line between dieting and disordered eating is blurred in […]

Feeling the winter blues?

By: Jessica Kraft, APRN, PMHNP-BC Lindner Center of HOPE, Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a type of depression that is more isolated to the changing of the seasons. It can happen in the spring and summer but occurs most commonly in the fall and winter months. We know that everyone is going […]

Smarter Screen Usage for Families

By Tracy S. Cummings, MD, Associate Chief Medical Officer for Clinical Excellence and Chief of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Lindner Center of HOPE Medical school was an intense experience filled with mass information consumption regarding physiological health, followed by residency and fellowship focused on mental health care amounting to nine years of training to be […]

Identifying School Struggles

Nicole Jederlinic, DO Lindner Center of HOPE Staff Psychiatrist and Medical Director for the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Acute Unit at Lindner Center of HOPE As an inpatient and outpatient child / adolescent psychiatrist, I see children and teens, and, consequently, their families facing a wide range of mental health conditions. In the wake of the […]

How Does Exercise Help Me, and How Do I Get Started When I Don’t Have The Motivation?

By: Angela Couch, RN, MSN, PMHNP-BC, Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner The research is in, and it’s clear. Exercise can help with depression, anxiety and cognitive decline, not to mention the physical benefits which we are all probably familiar with already. Physical inactivity can also be a risk factor for depression and anxiety. What are the ways […]

Pediatric Acute-Onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome (PANS): Symptoms, Causes & Treatment

What Is Pediatric Acute-Onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome (PANS)? Pediatric Acute-Onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome (PANS), considered by expert consortiums to be a type of Autoimmune Encephalitis (AE), is characterized by a dramatic onset of severe obsessive-compulsive symptoms or food restriction.  Symptoms of Pediatric Acute-Onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome Along with obsessive-compulsive symptoms or food restrictions, children with PANS present with […]

OCD’s 10 Biggest Tricks

OCD, or Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, affects 1 in 40 people and is the third most common psychiatric condition. This disorder uses deceptive “OCD tricks” and lies to keep people trapped in cycles of anxiety. Here are 10 powerful tips for combatting OCD’s tricks, helping you recognize and challenge the common lies OCD tells you. 1. Spot […]

A Holistic Approach: Yoga for Trauma Recovery

Understanding Trauma The sympathetic nervous system (SNS) is responsible for our “fight, flight or freeze” response and has been essential to our survival since the beginning of our existence. In the case of traumatic, threatening emotional, mental and physical experiences, this fear response can become altered. Connection between the amygdala and hypothalamus causes change to […]

Caught in the weeds: The impact of cannabis on mental health

By: Christine Collins, MD, Lindner Center of HOPE Addiction Psychiatrist       Legalization of cannabis is rapidly expanding across the world. To date, 17 states (and DC) in the US have legalized marijuana for all uses, and another 19 states have legalized it for medical purposes only. The media tends to portray cannabis and […]

Transitioning to Young (and not quite) “Adult”hood

Jennifer L. Farley, PsyD Lindner Center of HOPE, Associate Chief of Psychological Services Congratulations! Your child graduated from high school!  And now…   what? Many are busy selecting their fall semester college courses and buying necessities for their dorm room. Others have chosen to delay college and work instead, using time to consider their future. Some opted […]

Is our biological clock leading us to gain weight?

The role of the circadian system in obesity and disordered eating By Nicole Mori Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner The circadian system is the body’s endogenous timekeeper, a network of hierarchically-organized structures (“clocks” or “oscillators”) in nucleated cells, which regulates a variety of biological processes (including the cell cycle, metabolism, growth, development and sleep/activity cycles) by generating outputs […]

Promoting Positive Food Habits in Children

  By Elizabeth Mariutto, PsyD, CEDS, Clinical Director of Eating Disorder Services “How do I encourage mindful eating for my kids?” I often have patients come in with histories of well-intended parents who promoted diets or restrictive eating in the attempts to help their kids become “healthy.” When they come to me to rewire their […]

“This above all: to thine own self be true…” – Shakespeare

By Tracy Suzanne Cummings, MD  Chief of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry  If you have ever been a passenger on an airplane, you have heard the directive to don your own oxygen mask first before attempting to help someone else with theirs. Perhaps as February’s decorative hearts and cupids fill our visual fields, we can consider […]

A Look at Binge Eating Disorder: What it is and How to Treat

Byline:  Anna I. Guerdjikova, PhD, LISW Binge eating disorder (BED) is the most common eating disorder in adults. The lifetime prevalence of BED has been estimated to be 2.0% for men and 3.5% for women, higher than that of the commonly recognized eating disorders anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Of note, BED is found in […]

Good Food for Great Mood

Nutritional Psychiatry and Wellness By Anna I. Guerdjikova, PhD, LISW, CCRC Director of Administrative Services, Harold C. Schott Foundation Eating Disorders Program The connection between health in general and the foods we consume has been known since the dawn of human kind, and Hippocrates is credited with the “Let food be thy medicine” saying. The […]

Pros and Cons of TMS Therapy – Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

Updated on August 13, 2025 to reflect current TMS treatment durations and session counts. Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) is an innovative treatment for depression. Depression is common and affects 1 in 10 adults. Only a fraction of individuals suffering from depression seek treatment. Of those who do, greater than 30% fail to achieve satisfactory improvement. […]

Grief During the Holidays

By Danielle J. Johnson, MD, FAPA Lindner Center of HOPE, Chief Medical Officer Many people have experienced loss of several types during the COVID-19 pandemic – employment, financial security, social connections, a sense of safety, and loved ones.  The way we grieve has changed because we cannot rely on our support systems to be physically […]