Dr. Lisa Tropez-Arceneaux’ Work Featured in Times-Picayune
The Psychology Times - vol. 3 no. 5 Independent Voice for Psychology in Louisiana
Dr. Lisa Tropez-Arceneaux, New Orleans licensed clinical psychologist, recently returned from a trip to Honduras where she assisted youngsters recovering from burns. Dr. Tropez-Arceneaux is a staff member at the New Orleans based Mercy Family Center and her efforts in Honduras came through her volunteer work with Physicians for Peace.
In a report in the Times Picayune, Dr. Tropez-Arceneaux said, “It is such important work. I remember on young man that I helped told me that I had to write to him so he could tell me how he was doing. Things like that prove that you’re making a difference.” In the report, contributing writer Joseph Halm noted that in countries like Honduras, burns are responsible for more deaths in children annually than malaria or tuberculosis. Tropez-Arceneaux explained that this is because people cook over open flames and children sometimes fall into the fire or turn over a pot. Seventy percent of burn victims in Central American and the Caribbean are children, said the report. “A lot of times the patients are just released from the public hospital with no follow-up care,” Dr. Tropez-Arceneax was noted to say, “For a burn injury, it is imperative that they have that follow-up care because there are a lot of psychological conerns in terms of body image and depression, especially with children.” Dr. Tropez-Arceneaux’ work was part of a group effort of five volunteers, in the international nonprofit group, Physicians for Peace. The group visited a burn clinic in Tegucigalpa to improve skills and approaches of the healthcare workers, an educational goal of the group. The report also explained that psychological issues can include body image, depression, and traumatic issues from both the injury and the nature of burn wounds and the resulting “contractures,” where the skin tightens and restricts movements of the burn victim. Dr. Tropez-Arceneaux is a native of New Orleans and graduated from the University of New Orleans. According to the article she began her career working with troubled students n the Orleans Parish schools.
