About Phil Hickey Ph.D

I am a licensed psychologist, presently retired. I have worked in clinical and managerial positions in the mental health, corrections, and addictions fields in the United States and England. My wife Nancy and I have been married since 1970 and have four grown children.

The CAFE Study: Dr. Lieberman’s High Moral Ground

July 16, 2013 By Phil Hickey |

BACKGROUND The CAFE Study, conducted by Jeffrey Lieberman, MD, et al between 2002 and 2005, has been the subject of much comment. Carl Elliott, in particular, has written extensively on the matter, including his article The Deadly Corruption of Clinical Trials in Mother Jones. In order to address the issues involved in the CAFE study, we… Continue Reading

Psychiatry Is Intrinsically Flawed and Rotten

July 15, 2013 By Phil Hickey |

On Twitter yesterday, Robert Stamatakis commented: “I have to ask, I don’t understand. Do you work in the UK? Your descriptions of psychiatry are nothing I recognize. These descriptions of psychiatry are nothing like the practice I see on a daily basis.” I am certainly a very outspoken critic of psychiatry, and in that regard… Continue Reading

Personal Goals and Depression

July 14, 2013 By Phil Hickey |

I’ve recently read a noteworthy article on PLOS One. It’s by Joanne M. Dickson and Nicholas J. Moberly, and it’s called Reduced Specificity of Personal Goals and Explanations for Goal Attainment in Major Depression. It’s a very interesting and detailed paper. The authors, who work at the University of Liverpool and the University of Exeter… Continue Reading

Psychiatry: The Science That Isn’t

July 13, 2013 By Phil Hickey |

There’s a very important article on Mad in America. It’s called Does NIMH Follow the Rules of Science? A Startling Study, by Niall McLaren, MD, dated July 9, 2013. Dr. McLaren is an Australian psychiatrist who has relentlessly combed the literature for proof of the fundamental psychiatric claim – “…that a full understanding of the… Continue Reading