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Many of the more than 1 million military veterans who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and/or transgender (LGBT) have encountered "rejecting experiences in the military" and stigma from prior "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policies. Associated minority stress and social isolation have been linked to a disproportionate risk for depression and suicide, as well as a reluctance to seek medical care at Veterans Health Administration (VHA) facilities. This paper describes feasibility and preliminary outcomes of the newly developed, Pride in All Who Served Health Education Group created to meet the unique needs of sexual and gender minority veterans. The 10-week, closed, health education group (e.g., continuums of identity, military culture) enables open dialogue, fosters social connectedness, and empowers veterans to be more effective self-advocates within the healthcare system. Feedback from formative evaluations (n = 29 LGBT veterans and n = 25 VHA stakeholders) was incorporated before conducting a small scale, non-randomized pilot. Preliminary pre-post surveys (n = 18) show promise (i.e., Cohen's d range ± 0.40 to 1.59) on mental health symptoms (depression/anxiety, suicidal ideation), resilience indicators (identity affirmation, community involvement, problem-focused coping), and willingness to access care within the VA system (satisfaction with VA services, perception of staff competence). Results suggest that the 10-week Pride Group may be an effective tool for addressing minority-related stress in LGBT veterans. A full-scale, randomized clinical trial of this intervention is needed to determine short and long-term impacts on clinical and healthcare access-related outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the protagonist in T.S Eliot's The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock in relation to the existential philosophy of Jean-Paul Sartre and posits further areas for academic enquiry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Perspectives about anxiety-related mental health issues with persistent stuttering. • Perspectives about when to begin early intervention for stuttering. • Perspectives about the issue of early intervention and anxiety. During the 2019 Fourth Croatia Clinical Symposium, speech-language pathologists (SLPs), scholars, and researchers from 29 countries discussed speech-language pathology and psychological practices for the management of early and persistent stuttering. This paper documents what those at the Symposium considered to be the key contemporary clinical issues for early and persistent stuttering. The authors prepared a written record of the discussion of Symposium topics, taking care to ensure that the content of the Symposium was faithfully reproduced in written form. Seven contemporary issues for our field emerged from the Symposium. Effective early intervention is fundamental to proper health care for the disorder. However, as yet, there is no consensus about the timing of early intervention and how it should be managed. Currently, clinical translation is a barrier to evidence-based practice with early stuttering, and proactive strategies were suggested for junior SLPs. Apprehension emerged among some discussants that treatment of early stuttering may cause anxiety. For persistent stuttering, assessment procedures were recommended, as were strategies for dealing with childhood bullying. There was agreement that SLPs are the ideal professionals to provide basic cognitive-behavior therapy for clients with persistent stuttering. Questions were raised about our discipline standards for basic professional preparation programs for stuttering management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper highlights the benefits of regional conferences to the development of undergraduate scholars. Presenting at such conferences helps undergraduates see their work in a different light-as scholarship and not simply coursework. Furthermore, the experience speeds their transformation from consumers to producers of knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The International Anxiety Disorders Society Conference, held in Melbourne in November 2014, enabled key researchers from Australia and internationally to interact with mental health practitioners with an interest in clinical anxiety disorders. The proceedings of previous conferences in 2006 and 2011 formed the basis of two well-received textbooks on anxiety disorders; this time we have taken up the invitation to publish the proceedings as articles in this issue of Australasian Psychiatry. At the end of the first day of the conference a lecture and linked international expert panel explored the topic of guidelines for the management of the anxiety disorders in conjunction with an engaged audience for 90 minutes – key elements of this discussion are presented here. Conclusions: Guidelines for anxiety disorder management should be applied with caution in clinical practice settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]