Noteworthy News Articles on Mental Health Topics, August 24-31, 2006



Staff Negligence Cited at Psychiatric Facility
Andrea Estes, Boston Globe- 8/24/2006

A 23-year-old woman who entered a Brookline psychiatric hospital for drug treatment died late last year after staff members failed to monitor her properly for several hours, a state investigation has concluded. Nora Tosti had been dead approximately six hours before employees at the Bournewood Hospital in South Brookline found her unresponsive in her locked room, according to an investigation by the state Department of Mental Health.
      In a letter this month, DMH commissioner Elizabeth Childs said that if hospital workers had carefully checked her well-being every 30 minutes, Tosti's death ``might have been prevented." In their investigation, DMH officials found that hospital employees were not properly trained to perform safety checks and ``acted in a manner that was dangerous." Childs ordered the hospital to improve its training. Hospital officials did not return several phone calls seeking their comment yesterday. In DMH reports obtained by the Globe, hospital workers said they performed their required checks on the patient and reported seeing her stir at 3:45 a.m. She was discovered dead shortly before 8 a.m. Dec. 8.
     DMH chief of staff Patricia Mackin said yesterday that the state agency has taken ``appropriate" action, issuing a reprimand after finding the private facility negligent. But the parents of the woman, Allan and Barbara Tosti of Arlington, said state officials did not take strong enough action against the hospital. ``How it could happen in a hospital setting, I do not understand," said Barbara Tosti, a mental health counselor for the town of Arlington. Her husband is a municipal banker and longtime chairman of the town's Finance Committee. ``It's unbelievable. I don't think it's unreasonable to expect a hospital to notice something is going on in time to save someone," she said. ``It certainly shouldn't take six hours."
     Nora Tosti had admitted herself to the 12-acre, 100-year-old hospital Dec. 6 for three days of drug treatment, according to records and her mother. Thirty-six hours later she was found by staff, face down in her pillow. She was pronounced dead at Faulkner Hospital. The medical examiner concluded she had died of ``chronic drug abuse," a finding her family says doesn't make sense. According to an autopsy report, her organs showed no signs of damage. Her mother said she believes her daughter overdosed, though she is not sure how it happened. Barbara Tosti said she and her husband believe the hospital may have administered medication that their daughter's body couldn't tolerate, or that some friends slipped her something while visiting the hospital during her stay . The DMH commissioner said that the medical examiner ``did not find evidence of an overdose" and that there was ``insufficient evidence" to conclude there was a link between the friends' visit and Tosti's death.
     Nora Tosti had been adopted through the state Department of Social Services and had battled drug addiction for many years. Her mother said she learned only a month before Nora's death that her biological mother had been an addict who used drugs during pregnancy. But Tosti had been doing well, earning straight A's in a medical assistants' program run by Clark University, according to a transcript. She worked at an assisted-living facility for the elderly. ``She was very excited about school," said her mother, fighting back tears. ``The week before she died she came bounding up the back stairs with a paper that she had gotten an A on and, at 23, wanted to know if she could post it on the refrigerator door. It's still there." After police found drugs in her car during a traffic stop, Tosti volunteered to enter a detox program. Her insurance company suggested Bournewood, her mother said.
     What happened after she entered the facility is unclear. Her mother said that she spoke to her daughter the night before her death and that everything seemed fine. ``She said she couldn't talk long because they were going to watch a movie," Barbara Tosti said. ``She told me she loved me and went off to see the movie." According to the DMH reports, three friends visited her early in the evening. Staff members said that at least one of the visitors stood out in her ``appearance and demeanor," and so the staff decided to monitor the visit, according to DMH reports. Her mother said she believes the visitor may have given Tosti an anti-anxiety drug detected in her bloodstream after her death. It is a drug she had used previously. Since their daughter's death, the Tostis have been seeking answers. ``I haven't managed to get a satisfactory response from anybody," Barbara Tosti said. ``I want to know what they [the hospital staff] are doing to keep people safe. I want to know if they're being careful enough. I want them to do enough to make sure this type of thing won't happen again. ``I'm not in a position to say what specific things they should do, but they need to value life more highly."
     DMH officials yesterday expressed sympathy for the Tostis, but said their investigation was aggressive and thorough. DMH licenses all psychiatric facilities. ``Our investigators are tough," Mackin said. ``They leave no stone unturned. You never want to be in the position the Tostis are in right now. It's awful. But within our regulations we feel we took appropriate action. The reprimand -- it's a decision saying they were negligent."

Why Do Smokers Fail to Heed Warnings?
Carolyn Susman, Cox New Service- 8/26/2006

WEST PALM BEACH, FLA. -- As more and more reasons accumulate against smoking, and more and more research continues into effective anti-smoking treatments, there would seem to be fewer and fewer reasons to continue this addiction. Yet, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality--a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services-- has released some mind-boggling statistics about those who can't or won't kick the habit.
     Nearly four of every 10 adults with emphysema-- a serious, often fatal lung disease usually caused by smoking-- still smoked even after diagnosis, according to a survey by the AHRQ.
Can you believe this? According to the Web site of the Mayo Clinic-- www.mayoclinic.com--when emphysema is severe, "you must work so hard to expel air from your lungs that breathing can consume up to 20 percent of your resting energy." Think about that. Smoking caused this disease, will likely kill the smokers, will hasten their demise if they don't stop. Yet four out of 10 smokers with emphysema apparently don't care.
     But that wasn't the only mindboggler. Other research by AHRQ found that 23.4 percent of people with asthma--another severe breathing disorder--and nearly a quarter of those surveyed who had suffered strokes, couldn't give up their cigarettes. As a nonsmoker, I find this hard to understand or even imagine. If you are sick and want to have some quality of life, why would you continue to do the very thing that made you sick? Better minds than mine may be able to answer that. Or at least try.
     Are the same factors at work here that cause overweight people--or anyone-- with diabetes to continue to eat anything and everything even though diet has to be controlled to keep the proper food sugar level? It's called denial. How anyone could be in denial about the fact that they can't breathe is beyond me.
     And if you don't care about yourself, there are other people to care about: those around you.
Or, in this case, in you. Research published in the July/August issue of the journal, Child Development, found that 2-year-olds regularly exposed to cigarette smoke in utero were nearly 12 times more likely to show clinical levels of behavior problems compared with toddlers who
were not exposed. The study was done with mothers who smoked during pregnancy. The researchers stepped back from laying the blame on the moms totally, saying it does not prove smoking during pregnancy causes behavior problems. Follow-up studies financed by the National Institute of Drug Abuse may do that.
     Why wait to find out? There is enough evidence now that smoking can harm your lungs, put you at risk for heart disease, and flat-out kill you. Smoking-related diseases .kill an estimated 430,700 Americans each year, according to the American Lung Association. So, if you're not suicidal, give it up.

Former Senator Cleland Treated for PTSD
Associated Press, 8/28/2006

WASHINGTON -- Former Sen. Max Cleland, who has battled bouts of depression since losing an arm and both legs in Vietnam, is being treated for post-traumatic stress disorder. Cleland, who represented Georgia in the Senate from 1997 to 2003, said he believes the condition -- cases of which are increasing rapidly among Vietnam war veterans -- was in part triggered by the ongoing violence in Iraq. ''I realize my symptoms are avoidance, not wanting to connect with anything dealing with the Iraq war, tremendous sadness over the casualties that are taken, a real identification with that. ... I've tried to disconnect and disassociate from the media. I don't watch it as much. I'm not engrossed in it like I was,'' Cleland said in an interview with WSB-TV in Atlanta. He said he feels depressed, has developed a sense of hyper-vigilance about his security and has difficulty sleeping, the television station reported.
     Cleland declined to discuss the matter with The Associated Press. An aide confirmed the diagnosis but said the former lawmaker is feeling better than he has in a long time. The aide, Michael Duga, declined to say when Cleland's treatments started, although he said the disease is often intertwined with other illnesses such as depression, which Cleland has been open about confronting. ''This is not a new thing,'' Duga said. ''He's happy and he's healthy and he's continuing with his counseling.'' Cleland is receiving treatment at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, Duga said. He said Cleland acknowledged his condition to encourage other veterans to seek help if they feel sick.
     The Department of Veterans Affairs' inspector general reported last year that the number of post-traumatic stress disorder cases has increased dramatically in recent years, from 120,265 in 1999 to 215,871 in 2004.
     A former VA administrator under President Jimmy Carter, Cleland has been highly critical of the Bush administration's funding for the agency. The Democrat also is a vocal critic of the Iraq war and is traveling the country to help Democrats campaign for office. He aggressively campaigned for Democrat Sen. John Kerry, a fellow Vietnam veteran, in the 2004 presidential election. Cleland lost his Senate seat after one term in 2002 to Republican Saxby Chambliss.



U.S. Report: More Nicotine in Cigarettes
Associated Press, 8/29/2006

BOSTON -- The level of nicotine found in U.S. cigarettes has risen about 10 percent in the past six years, making it harder to quit and easier to get hooked, according to a new report released Tuesday by the Massachusetts Department of Health.

The study shows a steady climb in the amount of nicotine delivered to the lungs of smokers regardless of brand, with overall nicotine yields increasing by about 10 percent.

Massachusetts is one of three U.S. states to require tobacco companies to submit information about nicotine and the only state with data going back to 1998.

Public Health Commissioner Paul Cote Jr. called the findings ''significant'' and said the report was the first new release on nicotine yield in more than six years nationally.

The study found the three most popular cigarette brands with young smokers -- Marlboro, Newport and Camel -- delivered significantly more nicotine than they did years ago. Nicotine in Kool, a popular menthol brand, rose 20 percent. More than two-thirds of black smokers use menthol brands.

Calls to Philip Morris USA, the United States' largest cigarette maker and manufacturer of Marlboro cigarettes, and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., manufacturer of Kool and Camel cigarettes, were not immediately returned Tuesday.

The study tried to measure nicotine levels based on the way smokers actually use cigarettes, health officials said, in part by partially covering ventilation holes as they smoke and taking longer puffs. Traditional testing methods which do not take real-life smoking habits into account, typically report lower nicotine contents, officials said.

Of the 179 cigarette brands tested in 2004 for the report, 93 percent fell into the highest range for nicotine. In 1998, 84 percent of 116 brands tested fell into the highest range.

Smokers who choose ''light'' brands hoping to reduce their nicotine intake are out of luck, according to the report that found for all brands tested in 1998 and 2004, there was no significant difference in the total nicotine content between ''full flavor,'' ''medium,'' ''light,'' or ''ultra-light'' cigarettes.

The finding means that health care providers trying to help smokers quit may have to adjust the strength of nicotine replacement therapies like nicotine patches and gums, according to Department of Public Health Associate Commissioner Sally Fogerty.

On the Net: Massachusetts Department of Health: http://trytostop.org/



Teen Promiscuity Takes Emotional Toll, Author Says
Vivian McInerny, Newhouse News Service- 8/30/2006

Some consider it sacred. Others use it to sell products. It's a private act that fuels a commercial industry. Many people feel uncomfortable discussing it, yet it's a recurring theme in popular songs, movies and books. Sex is complicated for even the most sophisticated adults. For teens, it can be a psychological train wreck.
     While many young people are educated about sexually transmitted diseases and control, they often remain oddly uninformed about the emotional risks of sex. Kerry Cohen Hoffmann, an author and psychotherapist, thinks if teens understand why some peers turn to sex to solve their problems, they stand a better chance off making smart decisions.
     Hoffmann is the author of "Easy" a new young-adult novel about teenage promiscuity The book's protagonist, who feels lost in the emotional upheaval of her parents' divorce, seeks the attention of boys to fill a void. In "Easy" (Simon & Schuster, $15.95, 176 pages), Hoffinann subtly reveals to young readers why the protagonist makes poor choices, how it affects her emotionally, and how she struggles to regain her self respect. "That promise that we see everywhere -- in the media, in love songs, in movies -- is that romantic love is going to save you, that it is going to fill every last bit of your emptiness," said Hoffmann, of Dalton, Mass.
     Hoffmann was a young adolescent when her parents' messy divorce caused them such pain that they failed to focus on their children's needs. While Hoflmann's older sister became the "good" daughter and a close companion to their mother, Hoffmann withdrew from the family seeking
solace in attention from boys. "Had somebody really been present with me and really been a support for me, I probably would not have done what I did," she said. "I started to lose a sense of who I was."  It wasn't until Hoffmann "got myself into therapy" in her late teens that she came to understand the motives behind her promiscuity.
     "If the task of adolescence is the relative separation over time from home, and home is crumbring beneath your feet, then it can't help but complicate that separation process," said Dr. Ronald Rosen, a psychiatrist at Oregon Health & Science University. Living with an alcoholic parent, grieving the death of a family member, moving to a new city or feeling trapped in the middle of a messy divorce affects everyone differently. One kid's emotional bump in the road is another's giant sinkhole.
     "Early sexual activity is not so different than other high-risk behavior, such as substance abuse," said Dr. Wayne Sells, another OHSU psychiatrist. Hoffmann understands the comparison but said, "Drugs or alcohol didn't give me that high that I got from boys." Like other high-risk behaviors, promiscuity often masks deeper emotional issues, including depression, anxiety and trauma from sex abuse. It can also be a display of defiance or a misdirected attempt for attention. "And don't underestimate biology," Rosen said.
     Developing much earlier than peers can present risks for teens who don't know how to handle the sexual attention, they get. Conversely, developing much later than peers can leave some feeling as if they need to prove to themselves and others that they are functioning sexual beings.  The teen years cover a broad age range and level of maturity, Sells pointed out, so what might be appropriate behavior for a mature 19-year old is obviously quite different for a 13-year-old.
      Teens who experiment with alcohol and drugs are more likely to also engage in early sexual. activity, he said, although it's difficult to pinpoint which behavior came first. "People tend to make smarter choices when they aren't impaired," he said. "The older teens are probably better able to think, `Is this the right relationship for me? Am I ready for this?' And to think of the long-term consequences."
     It's especially confusing for teens who get mixed messages about sex from parents, teachers and church, as well as pop culture. "Kids are sexualized at a remarkably young age," Rosen said. Music, the Internet, television and even clothing, he said, "pushes a premature sexualization, sexual awareness." "Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Rosen asked. "It can be a very bad thing. The question becomes: Is the person's emerging sexuality too driven by cultural norms and not enough driven by personal or family norms?"
     If family expectations and cultural norms are out of sync, cultural norms. usually have the bigger influence on the behavior of teens. "The challenge for any of us, regardless of age, is to have our sexuality be an expression and extension of our (sound) mental health as opposed to our coping with self-esteem problems," Rosen said.

Beginning the Turnaround
A psychological evaluation led to a diagnosis of a serious anxiety disorder set off by the abrupt change in school environment. Medication and 18 months at a therapeutic school, where James made steady progress, turned the situation around. He did not return to the public school that terrified him, but he is thriving in a small private school where he made the National Honor Roll. Refusal to go to school is not an uncommon problem; up to one-quarter of children do it at some point. While you might expect the problem to be severest when a child first enters school, it occurs most often and hits hardest at ages 10 to 13.
      At this age children typically leave the nurturing environment of elementary school and are thrust into the chaos of middle school and the confusion of dealing with so many teachers. Compound this with the hormonal upheaval. Many children suffer crises in self-confidence and self-image, often exacerbated by the fact that they go from being the oldest and most experienced students in the school to being the youngest and most inexperienced.
     Bullying, often perpetrated by young teens who are unsure of themselves, is one of the most common causes of this problem, called school refusal behavior. “Children who are bullied or teased often become anxious about going to school,” said Michelle Kees, a psychologist at the University of Michigan. And some of them may avoid school because it is too hard for them or perhaps because they have an undiagnosed learning disability, she added.
     Christopher A. Kearney, a psychologist at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, offered guidance on dealing with the situation in the August issue of The Journal of Family Practice. He told of Nathan, a 13-year-old who, like James, had trouble adjusting to middle school. Though Nathan seemed fine on the weekends, during the school week he complained of headaches and stomachaches and told his parents he felt upset and nervous in school. He started going to school late, skipping classes and then skipping school altogether.
     Common symptoms of school refusal behavior may include aggressive behavior, clinging to a parent or other adult, defiance, excessive assurance-seeking behavior, refusal to get up or get ready for school, running away from school or home, or having temper tantrums and crying. Dr. Kearney described four circumstances that may prompt refusal to go to school: Often in combination with underlying anxiety and depression, the child may be distressed by teachers, students, the bus, the cafeteria, the classrooms and transitions between classes. The child may be trying to escape from distressing social situations or academic or athletic evaluations, including interacting with others or having to perform before others. The child may be seeking attention from parents by staying home or wanting to go to work with a parent. The child may find staying at home a rewarding experience that permits sleeping late, watching television, playing video games, or — especially for teenagers — engaging in delinquent behavior or substance abuse.

Risking the Consequences
Studies have shown that failing to deal with school refusal behavior can have serious consequences. In the short term, children who won’t go to school decline academically, become alienated from friends and cause family conflicts and financial and legal problems. Had James not gone willingly to the therapeutic school, the courts would have forced him to attend a school for delinquent children.
      Common long-term problems listed by Dr. Kearney include dropping out of school, delinquent behaviors, economic deprivation, social isolation, marital problems and difficulty holding a job. Failing to receive the needed treatment can lead in later life to problems like anxiety disorder, depression or personality disorders.
     Young children just starting school or returning to school after summer vacation may fear leaving their family or environment. In most cases, the initial hesitancy disappears as the child becomes familiar with the school and its rules and makes new friends. But a child with severe separation anxiety who is paralyzed by the fear of leaving home needs professional help, which should include teaching the parents how to cope effectively with the problem.

Discovering the Right Treatment
Often, the problem can be minimized before school opens by doing a walk-through of the school and classroom with children and arranging outings or visits with others in the same class. Once school opens, some teachers may allow parents to stay in class with their children for part of the day for a few days.
      Dr. Kearney cautions that if a child has complaints like stomachaches, headaches or fatigue, as Nathan did, these should be checked out to be sure there is no underlying medical problem. After Nathan’s pediatrician determined that the boy suffered from no underlying physical problems, a psychological exam revealed a generalized anxiety disorder. “He worried excessively about his social and academic performance at school,” and he showed physical signs related to anxiety, Dr. Kearney wrote.
     If a psychological evaluation reveals a generalized anxiety disorder or depression, treatment is required, often with medication and professional counseling. Nathan was treated with a combination of sertraline (Zoloft) and anxiety management techniques, his parents received family therapy aimed at limiting the fun he had at home, and school staff members allowed him to gradually return to a full academic schedule.
     Cognitive behavioral therapy, which emphasizes patterns of thinking, is especially effective in such cases. For older children, techniques include relaxation training and breathing retraining to reduce the child’s anxiety, establishing routines and consequences for not attending school, and developing a contract that increases incentives for going to school and disincentives for staying home.

A Choice for New York Priests in Abuse Cases
Andy Newman, New York Times- 8/31/2006

As the Roman Catholic Church struggles to repair itself and its image in the wake of the sex abuse scandals, one of the more confounding questions church leaders face is what to do with priests accused of abuse. Some priests whose crimes fell within statutes of limitation are in jail. Some have been defrocked. But others — because they are elderly, because of the nature of their offenses, or because they have had some success fighting the charges — cannot be defrocked under canon law. These priests occupy a sort of shadow world, stripped of most duties but still financially supported by the church and fairly free to move about, both angering the critics of the church and exposing the diocese to further liability.
      Cardinal Edward M. Egan, head of the New York Archdiocese, is trying something new. Since June, he has offered seven priests that the archdiocese believes have been credibly accused of sexually abusing children a choice. They can spend the rest of their lives in closely supervised housing, where, in addition to receiving regular therapy, they must fill out a daily log of their comings and goings. Or they can leave the priesthood and the lifetime security net that comes with it. Priests who agree to enter the program move temporarily to a handsome, ivy-covered retreat house on Long Island Sound in a mansion-filled corner of Larchmont, N.Y., in Westchester County, a place where priests with troubles have long been sent.
     The building, Trinity Retreat House, flanked by the sound on one side and an inlet on the other, is, unlike its neighbors, nearly invisible from the road, hidden behind leafy trees and an ivy-covered wall. In a few months, the priests are transferred to permanent housing elsewhere, said Joseph Zwilling, Mr. Egan’s spokesman.
     So far, five of the seven priests who received the letters have resigned rather than submit to monitoring. One priest has moved into the retreat house, and the other is on his way, Mr. Zwilling said.
     It is difficult to determine how many other dioceses have a supervised-living program like the new one in New York. In the Chicago Archdiocese, nine priests accused of sex abuse live in a retreat house on the grounds of a seminary and are carefully monitored, officials there said, adding that they also planned to install surveillance cameras and keep the priests locked in the building during some hours. A spokesman for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, William A. Ryan, said, “There are several other dioceses that have similar programs, but unfortunately, none of them are willing to talk about it.”
     In the New York Archdiocese, the priests who received the letter fall into one of several categories, Mr. Zwilling said. Some have been convicted in a canonical trial but determined to be too elderly or infirm to endure being defrocked and are instead sentenced to a life of prayer and penance. Others have had the accusations against them referred to an archdiocesan advisory board consisting mostly of laypeople, including psychologists and lawyers. The board, which can interview the priest but does not have to, issues a recommendation to the cardinal on whether the priest should continue to minister.
     The archdiocese notifies law enforcement authorities of all allegations that could result in criminal charges. But in many cases, with the accusations decades old, statutes of limitations had long since run out.
     Those who defend priests have said the New York policy is too harsh, especially since the board that decides whether an accusation is credible does not have to give the priest a chance to defend himself. But Mr. Zwilling said the archdiocese was doing what it had to do. “If there has been a finding and a belief that a cleric has misbehaved, we want to do all that we can to protect against such misbehavior occurring in the future,” Mr. Zwilling said this week. The letter to the priests states, “The continued safety of our children and young people, the protection of the reputation and patrimony of the archdiocese, and your own well-being dictate that you enter this program and residence.”
     The Rev. John P. Bambrick, a priest in the Trenton Diocese who says he was abused as a youth by a priest in Yonkers and who is now an advocate for victims, said that the program seemed in part like an attempt to force out abusive priests so that the church is no longer accountable for their actions. “I don’t think the archdiocese is doing this out of their great concern for children,” he said. “There’s a liability issue here, and the archdiocese’s lawyers have come up with this brilliant plan, which is either to corral them and control them or to force them to leave.” He added that if the archdiocese really wanted to protect the public, it would publish the names of abusive priests and former priests. “Unleashing them on society is not the responsible thing to do,” he said.
     Mr. Zwilling said the program was not an attempt to drive out problem priests. “Our goal was to have them all participate in this program,” he said. “They are people who can make choices on their own, and this is what they have chosen.” Mr. Zwilling added that he did not believe the archdiocese could legally notify the neighbors of abusive priests if the men were not convicted of any crime, though it does notify the local district attorney. The archdiocese covers New York City and five other downstate counties.
     David Clohessy, the executive director of SNAP, the Survivors’ Network of Those Abused by Priests, said community notification should not pose a problem: “If a bishop can publicly say, ‘Father Bob has been accused of child sexual abuse,’ ” — the archdiocese does tell parishioners in a priest’s own parish when he has been removed because of abuse allegations — “that same bishop can say ‘Father Bob now lives at this address and here’s why.’ ”
     Before the new program, called the Shepherd Program, was put into effect, most accused priests lived on their own, as they do in much of the country, barred from functioning as priests but required only to tell the archdiocese every few months where they lived, Mr. Zwilling said.
     It is typically difficult for laypeople to find out where abusive priests are living, said Paul Baier, co-director of bishopaccountability.org. “Here in Boston they’ve removed 150 of them, and no one knows where they are,” he said. “In Los Angeles they have 200 or 300 of them, and no one knows where they are.”
     But the Rev. Michael Sullivan, chairman of the canonical board of Justice for Priests and Deacons, a national organization that helps clerics accused of sexual offenses, said that New York’s program was one of the strictest he had heard of. “I don’t read in their policy that the person has an opportunity for a different job within the church unless they accept laicization,” Father Sullivan said, referring to the conversion of priests to laymen. “My sense is that if the canonical courts cannot prove anything, that that becomes overly restrictive, and that’s unjust.”
     While the letter to the priests mandates psychotherapy, it does not speak of rehabilitation or of leaving the program. “That was the situation we found ourselves in the past, where individual clerics would go through intensive therapy and would be judged able to return to ministry, and it didn’t work,” Mr. Zwilling said. “They relapsed — that led to all the charges about shuffling priests around. With what we know today, I don’t think that can be an alternative.”
     Priests who agree to enter the program may not say Mass in public, dress as a priest, be alone with children or “inappropriately use computers,” the letter says. They must receive therapy and spiritual counseling. And they must fill out a logbook every day, have it signed by a monitor and be prepared to document their claims.
     Over the years, Trinity Retreat House, on Pryer Manor Road, has provided a temporary home for priests with all kinds of problems, including sex abuse. Several residents of Larchmont said they knew about the retreat house and were not bothered by it or by the new program. “I think this shows that the cardinals are making an effort,” said Jeanne Murray, a retired teacher leaving Mass on Tuesday at St. Augustine’s Church, less than a mile from the retreat house. “What would we do with people who are not priests who make mistakes? We would try to help them.”
     At the retreat’s office, the secretary showed a reporter the door. “It’s nothing to publicize,” she said. “It’s a retreat house for priests. Period. End of story.” In the retreat house itself, a man answered the door, and three others inside got up from couches and scattered. There will be no interviews, he said.