Presenters: 

Emily McMahan, AuD

Gail Whitelaw, PhD

CEUs: 0.1 AAA / Tier 1 CEUs

Duration: 60 minutes

Instructional Level: Intermediate

Program Focus: Knowledge 

Description:

Millions of Americans experience chronic tinnitus, seeking support from audiologists to assess and treat their tinnitus.  Many audiologists feel confident in addressing "run of the mill" or low needs tinnitus patients; however, are uncomfortable with those patients with significant degrees of anxiety/depression/distress, what we are referring to as the one percent.  This webinar will focus on higher level tinnitus treatment to those patients with the greatest difficulties with managing their tinnitus.  The difference between motivation and desperation will be discussed. Tools and techniques for working, establishing critical referral partnerships, and successfully working with this population of patients will be provided.

Learning Outcomes:  

1.  List factors that contribute to a patient being in a category of "catastrophic" tinnitus distress.

2.  Discuss addressing anxiety/depression, sleep interruption, and stress that impact the patient with tinnitus and tools for supporting these patients.

3.  Describe a plan for the audiologist to address potential caregiver fatigue with this population and how to be proactive in addressing these needs.

Emily McMahan, AuD

Dr. Emily McMahan is the owner of Alaska Hearing & Tinnitus Center in Anchorage. In addition to her physical practices in Alaska she serves high needs tinnitus patients via Telehealth and in-person field clinics across the Western United States. She holds multi-state licensure in order to help patients receive access to care closer to home. She is passionate about tinnitus patient care, audiology, and best practices. She dedicates a considerable amount of time to educating audiologists on evidence-based tinnitus care and how to establish a tinnitus clinic. She earned her Doctorate in Audiology and graduated from Salus University. She also has a Bachelor of Science in Communication Sciences and Disorders and a minor in Deaf Studies from the University of Cincinnati, Ohio.

Gail M. Whitelaw, PhD

Dr. Gail Whitelaw, is an audiologist/clinical professor and clinic director in the Department of Speech and Hearing Science at The Ohio State University. She teaches coursework in pediatrics, tinnitus, and professional issues, provides direct patient care, and precepts AuD students. Dr. Whitelaw is a past-president of both AAA and the Ohio Academy of Audiology, past-chair of the Board of Governors of the American Board of Audiology, and currently serves as the secretary-treasurer of the board of the Accreditation Commission for Audiology Education. She is a certificate holder in Tinnitus Management (CH-TM) from the American Board of Audiology. Her hobby is improv comedy and she incorporates the tenets of improv in clinical care and team building.