While research shows light therapy is effective for seasonal affective disorder (SAD), there's a lack of knowledgeable providers to administer it, says SAD researcher Michael Terman, PhD, director of New York-Presbyterian Hospital's Center for Light Treatment and Biological Rhythms.

In fact, the area is a natural for psychologists, notes Illinois Institute of Technology psychologist Michael Young, PhD, president of the Society for Light Treatment and Biological Rhythms. After all, bright light therapy is a safe, effective treatment in which the biggest challenge is behavioral.

Several resources can help practitioners who want to learn more:

• An up-to-date review of research on light therapy for SAD and nonseasonal depression in the August 2005 CNS Spectrums (Vol. 10, No. 8, pages 647–663). The material also is available via webcast at www.docguide.com/news/content.nsf/webcast.

• The Center for Environmental Therapeutics (www.cet.org), a nonprofit organization of multidisciplinary SAD researchers and clinicians.

• "Winter Blues: Seasonal Affective Disorder: What It Is and How to Overcome It" (Guilford Press, 2005), by SAD researcher Norman Rosenthal, MD, who first named and studied the disorder.

• The Society for Light Treatment and Biological Rhythms (www.sltbr.org), a nonprofit international association. Their next meeting is July 13–15, 2006, in Quebec City.

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