Blog

Jess Levine is a licensed clinical social worker at a large community mental health organization. She has worked there for more than eight years, and the agency serves hundreds of young people every year. Her days include supervising interns, seeing individual clients at the agency, in schools, and over telehealth, and running groups.

Her team uses the K-CAT^® to help with some of the hardest parts of that work: long waitlists, complex histories, and planning treatment that fits each young person.

Dr. Scott Kollins is a clinical psychologist and chief medical officer at Aura. He is also an adjunct professor of psychiatry at the Duke University School of Medicine. Much of his work focuses on digital wellness and positive mental health for kids. 

For more than 30 years, he has been part of clinical research, and he often tells colleagues that the K-CAT^® is "the greatest set of tools they've probably never heard of." 

The client seemed straightforward. Good grades. Holding it together. A typical intake.

Then the assessment results came back, and Steve Monte, founder and Clinical Director of Rock Life Counseling in Indianapolis, saw something completely different: bipolar disorder with manic features. Substance use in the past month. A pattern of risky choices that could've spiraled for months or years without intervention.

"Something that could've easily taken three to six months to fully uncover," Steve said. "We were able to get to it within the first three or four visits."

That's not luck. That's what happens when you have the right tools and the right approach.

HOBOKEN, Oct. 28, 2026 - Workplace burnout, youth mental health, trauma, grief, and AI companions. The issues shaping mental health today are wide-ranging, evolving and the focus of Pearson's 2026 Mental Health Virtual Summit on October 29.  

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) research is moving toward earlier detection, more precise diagnosis, and interventions designed to slow disease progression. As researchers get better at identifying risk and detecting disease earlier, it becomes increasingly important to consider the patient perspective: Do patients want to know their risk, and how should that information shape their care?

The patient perspective is at the heart of the fourth episode of “The Progress Profile: Alzheimer’s Research in Focus,” featuring Dr. Wiesje van der Flier, executive director at Alzheimer Nederland. In conversation with moderator John Harrison, van der Flier explores what earlier detection and prevention could mean for patients, families, and healthcare systems, and the reason that giving patients a stronger voice will be essential as the field moves forward.

Public safety occupations — including police officers, firefighters, paramedics, correctional officers, and military personnel — are generally considered safety-sensitive positions, meaning that impairment, fatigue, psychological difficulties, or significant judgment errors may create a risk of harm to the employee, coworkers, the public, or property. Fitness-for-duty evaluations (FFDEs) are intended to assess whether employees can safely perform these essential functions.

The professionals working in these occupations routinely encounter situations involving trauma, violence, human suffering, and critical incidents that most members of the public will never experience. While exposure to these stressors is often managed successfully, the cumulative effects of operational stress, psychological injury, and personal life challenges can sometimes affect an employee’s ability to safely and effectively perform their duties.

Research has consistently demonstrated that public safety personnel experience higher rates of mental health concerns than the general population, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, and substance misuse. At the same time, the vast majority of public safety professionals continue to perform their duties effectively, even when managing significant occupational stress.

Given this reality, FFDEs play an important role in balancing employee wellness, organizational responsibility, and public safety. Although they are sometimes viewed with suspicion or perceived as disciplinary measures, their purpose is to provide an objective, evidence-based assessment of an employee’s current functional capacity relative to the essential requirements of their role.

Fitness-for-duty evaluations are often conducted within broader occupational health or independent medical examination (IME) processes. However, psychological FFDEs are a specialized form of occupational assessment focused specifically on determining whether psychological factors are affecting an employee's ability to safely and effectively perform essential job duties. As a result, the motivation behind the assessment and the questions being addressed are slightly different from those in an IME.

When implemented appropriately, FFDEs support both employees and employers by helping identify risks, accommodations, treatment needs, and pathways toward safe and effective workplace functioning.