Thursday, 18 February 2010
Consultation
Monday, 15 February 2010
What's the Rush?
I recently had an e-mail correspondence with my dissertation chair that brought back some fond memories. A particular day is still very clear in my mind: I was so excited thinking I was going to learn something new. My chair, Susan Hawes, had sent me back a draft of my dissertation with comments. I was reading my methodology section. I thought it was pretty good: being a good doctoral student I was very interested in matters of epistemology and ontology. In retrospect I was getting carried away with my own geek-like cleverness.
In the margin on a particular page there was a single word written and underlined. Tautology. "Great," I thought. I was so excited. There was some new intellectual puzzle for me to ponder and think about. Of course, as was frequently the case with Susan, I had no idea what she was talking about. She's the kind of professor who (at the time) seemed both brilliant and totally unintelligible.
I drove the 60+ miles home eager to think new deep philosophical thoughts. While I didn't know what the word tautology meant, I knew it was the study of something. Must be good, right?
Imagine my surprise when I got home and looked the word up. An unnecessary or unessential repetition of meaning, using different and dissimilar words that effectively say the same thing twice. I was mortified, of course. Mortified both because I was such a geek thinking I was going to get to be all smart and because I had written a chapter of my dissertation in which I went on and on about the same thing. This of course wasn't new feedback to me: my advisor for my masters thesis once wrote a comment saying "I'm reminded of a dog tied to a stake running around and around in a circle tearing up all the grass."
Some lessons take time to learn, don't they?
Anyway, back to my point. I clicked on a few links in our e-mails and went to some of Susan's websites (here, here, and here). Imagine my surprise when I was able to actually understand what she was writing about. She is no long unintelligible. Now she just seems brilliant to me. That's progress.
This has all gotten me to go way back into my education and think about the nature of learning and wisdom. I started college when I was 16. I of course thought I knew everything. I promptly got put into my place and received (I think) a D in my first every class, which was philosophy. Whoops.
Two years later, a Junior in college, the situation had improved. I thought it was so clever of me when I understood what my history and systems of psychology teacher said: the older we get the more we know what we don't know. I was clever, perhaps, but didn't really get what he was saying. Lost in the nature of my own cleverness, I was amused that I was so smart I understood him when I was 18. I failed to reflect on the very humble nature of what he was talking about.
And then of course there was Susan, almost fifteen years later, reminding me how much more there was for me to learn about what I didn't know.
I was always in such a rush. I'm not rushing so much anymore because every time I do I'm reminded how little I actually know. It's also rather unsettling to keep on learning new things and discovering how little I actually know about anything.
It's this rushing that I think is a larger problem. I can't turn the television on without seeing an add promising a quick fix for a problem, a faster path to financial freedom, and now even an education in "less time than ever before." Mirroring the world at large, psychology seems to be after a quick fix too. The field wants to create technologies that fix depression faster, resolve the sequela of trauma in the fewest sessions possible, and end panic and anxiety in six sessions of cost-effective cognitive behavioral group therapy.
I don't think these endeavors are bad: there is a lot of human suffering and humanity needs lots of tools to help address these situations. I worry about the unintended costs of all this rushing. Learning--and wisdom--take time. It's not that we learning something once and are done with it. We go over and over the same things countless times. Repeating them in different contexts, different levels, and from different perspectives.
What's the rush?
In the margin on a particular page there was a single word written and underlined. Tautology. "Great," I thought. I was so excited. There was some new intellectual puzzle for me to ponder and think about. Of course, as was frequently the case with Susan, I had no idea what she was talking about. She's the kind of professor who (at the time) seemed both brilliant and totally unintelligible.
I drove the 60+ miles home eager to think new deep philosophical thoughts. While I didn't know what the word tautology meant, I knew it was the study of something. Must be good, right?
Imagine my surprise when I got home and looked the word up. An unnecessary or unessential repetition of meaning, using different and dissimilar words that effectively say the same thing twice. I was mortified, of course. Mortified both because I was such a geek thinking I was going to get to be all smart and because I had written a chapter of my dissertation in which I went on and on about the same thing. This of course wasn't new feedback to me: my advisor for my masters thesis once wrote a comment saying "I'm reminded of a dog tied to a stake running around and around in a circle tearing up all the grass."
Some lessons take time to learn, don't they?
Anyway, back to my point. I clicked on a few links in our e-mails and went to some of Susan's websites (here, here, and here). Imagine my surprise when I was able to actually understand what she was writing about. She is no long unintelligible. Now she just seems brilliant to me. That's progress.
This has all gotten me to go way back into my education and think about the nature of learning and wisdom. I started college when I was 16. I of course thought I knew everything. I promptly got put into my place and received (I think) a D in my first every class, which was philosophy. Whoops.
Two years later, a Junior in college, the situation had improved. I thought it was so clever of me when I understood what my history and systems of psychology teacher said: the older we get the more we know what we don't know. I was clever, perhaps, but didn't really get what he was saying. Lost in the nature of my own cleverness, I was amused that I was so smart I understood him when I was 18. I failed to reflect on the very humble nature of what he was talking about.
And then of course there was Susan, almost fifteen years later, reminding me how much more there was for me to learn about what I didn't know.
I was always in such a rush. I'm not rushing so much anymore because every time I do I'm reminded how little I actually know. It's also rather unsettling to keep on learning new things and discovering how little I actually know about anything.
It's this rushing that I think is a larger problem. I can't turn the television on without seeing an add promising a quick fix for a problem, a faster path to financial freedom, and now even an education in "less time than ever before." Mirroring the world at large, psychology seems to be after a quick fix too. The field wants to create technologies that fix depression faster, resolve the sequela of trauma in the fewest sessions possible, and end panic and anxiety in six sessions of cost-effective cognitive behavioral group therapy.
I don't think these endeavors are bad: there is a lot of human suffering and humanity needs lots of tools to help address these situations. I worry about the unintended costs of all this rushing. Learning--and wisdom--take time. It's not that we learning something once and are done with it. We go over and over the same things countless times. Repeating them in different contexts, different levels, and from different perspectives.
What's the rush?
Friday, 12 February 2010
Friday News Roundup
Should Parents Spank Their Kids?
During my graduate training I frequently was told that I shouldn't take a direct stand on spanking and corporal punishment. It was suggested that taking a direct stand might be judgmental, might not be respectful of different choices about child-rearing, might not tolerant or understanding of religious views, etc.
In a recent statement from an the American Psychological Association task force, it was concluded that "parents and caregivers should reduce and potentially eliminate their use of any physical punishment as a disciplinary measure." Some things never change: the APA isn't taking a direct stand. One wouldn't want to appear to be judgmental or disrespectful.
The release goes on to find strong correlations between physical punishment and an increase in childhood anxiety and depression, and increase in behavioral problems, including aggression, and impaired cognitive development--even when the child's pre-punishment behavior and development were taken into consideration.
Muarry Straus, a professor at the University of New Hampshire, points out that while the evidence is correlational--not proof, the association is "more robust and stronger than the correlations that have served as bases for other public health interventions, such as secondhand smoke's relation to cancer, exposure to lead and IQ scores in children, and exposure to asbestos and laryngeal cancer."
Here are a few interesting facts, a survey from 2000 indicates that corporal punishment of minors within the home is lawful in all 50 states of the US, has been outlawed in 25 countries around the world, is legal in schools in 20 US states, and outlawed in schools in countries including Canada, Japan, South Africa, New Zealand, and nearly all of Europe except the Czech Republic and France.
Interestingly, corporal punishment is banned in most juvenile correction facilities in the US yet continues in public schools. Why? In 1977 the Supreme Court found that the Eighth Amendment only protects convicted criminals from cruel and unusual punishment--not children in a classroom. A Time magazine article from 2009 wrote that "Texas paddles the most students in the nation, as well as the most students with disabilities.... Nationwide, students with disabilities are paddled at more than twice the rate of the general student population.
Interesting.
I too wish not to be disrespectful. However despite my training, I'm going to go ahead and be judgmental. I think spanking is wrong and that it isn't a useful from of discipline.
There are many other forms of effective parenting--forms that are much more effective that do not involve hitting children. These aren't easy parenting tools. They take time, they take planning, they take education, and they take the development of a ongoing relationship with a child. They are important. I like teaching them and seeing a child blossom and grow--and I equally enjoy seeing the children's parents blossom and grow.
What do you think?
During my graduate training I frequently was told that I shouldn't take a direct stand on spanking and corporal punishment. It was suggested that taking a direct stand might be judgmental, might not be respectful of different choices about child-rearing, might not tolerant or understanding of religious views, etc.
In a recent statement from an the American Psychological Association task force, it was concluded that "parents and caregivers should reduce and potentially eliminate their use of any physical punishment as a disciplinary measure." Some things never change: the APA isn't taking a direct stand. One wouldn't want to appear to be judgmental or disrespectful.
The release goes on to find strong correlations between physical punishment and an increase in childhood anxiety and depression, and increase in behavioral problems, including aggression, and impaired cognitive development--even when the child's pre-punishment behavior and development were taken into consideration.
Muarry Straus, a professor at the University of New Hampshire, points out that while the evidence is correlational--not proof, the association is "more robust and stronger than the correlations that have served as bases for other public health interventions, such as secondhand smoke's relation to cancer, exposure to lead and IQ scores in children, and exposure to asbestos and laryngeal cancer."
Here are a few interesting facts, a survey from 2000 indicates that corporal punishment of minors within the home is lawful in all 50 states of the US, has been outlawed in 25 countries around the world, is legal in schools in 20 US states, and outlawed in schools in countries including Canada, Japan, South Africa, New Zealand, and nearly all of Europe except the Czech Republic and France.
Interestingly, corporal punishment is banned in most juvenile correction facilities in the US yet continues in public schools. Why? In 1977 the Supreme Court found that the Eighth Amendment only protects convicted criminals from cruel and unusual punishment--not children in a classroom. A Time magazine article from 2009 wrote that "Texas paddles the most students in the nation, as well as the most students with disabilities.... Nationwide, students with disabilities are paddled at more than twice the rate of the general student population.
Interesting.
I too wish not to be disrespectful. However despite my training, I'm going to go ahead and be judgmental. I think spanking is wrong and that it isn't a useful from of discipline.
There are many other forms of effective parenting--forms that are much more effective that do not involve hitting children. These aren't easy parenting tools. They take time, they take planning, they take education, and they take the development of a ongoing relationship with a child. They are important. I like teaching them and seeing a child blossom and grow--and I equally enjoy seeing the children's parents blossom and grow.
What do you think?
Wednesday, 10 February 2010
Nostalgia Workout
Now here is a workout that you probably won't be able to get at your local gym: a nostalgia workout. A recent BBC News article said that "nostalgia can give meaning to our seemingly dull lives."
Why do we care about our first car, kiss, or visit to the ocean? Some psychologists have pointed out that we care because nostalgia makes us feel good. Once considered a sickness (the word comes from the Greek "nostos"--return--and "algos" --pain). Modern day researchers have found that remembering past times improves mood, increases self-esteem, strengthens social bonds, and imbues life with meaning.
"Nostalgia," says a researcher from London, "is a way for us to tap into the past experiences that we have that are quite meaningful--to remind us that our lives are worthwhile, that we are people of value, that we have good relationships, that we are happy and that life has some sense of purpose or meaning."
A lot of times clients come to me with painful nostalgia. Negative feelings from the past--perhaps times they were bullied, painful relationships, or abandonment by others. This isn't the nostalgia I'm writing about here. This nostalgia is about positive life changing experiences.
Here's the workout. Routledge, the researcher from England, says that people who practice this Nostalgia workout for five minutes a day have a significant increase in psychological well-being, feel more alive and energetic, and see there life as more worthwhile.
So, rather than practicing negative nostalgia today, how about trying a different practice?
- list cherished memories
- find photos or mementos from happy times
- close your eyes and think about what is outside the "picture frame" to conjure subtle details
- reminiscing with people from your past strengthens relationships
- take mental snapshots and save mementos of happy times for future nostalgia
Saturday, 6 February 2010
Friday News Roundup
Sedentary TV Time May Cut Life Short
In a recent press release from the American Heart Association, a research report from the Journal of the American Heart Association was released. A study found that every hour spent in front of the television per day brings with it an 11 percent greater risk of premature death from all causes, and an 18 percent greater risk from dying from cardiovascular disease. The findings apply to both obese and overweight people as well as people with a healthy weight because prolonged periods of sitting have an unhealthy influence on blood sugar and blood fat levels.
Keep in mind that this isn't just sitting at the TV--this includes sitting at your desk, too.
Which is Worse for Your Brain: Texting or Pot?
A University of London study done for Hewlett-Packard found that "infomania"--a term connected with addiction to email and texting--can lower your IQ by twice as much as smoking marijuana. Moreover, email can raise the levels of noradrenaline and dopamine in your brain by constantly introducing new stimuli into your day. When those levels get too high, complex thinking becomes more difficult, making it harder to make decision and solve problems. The article gives several suggestions: take control of email, prioritize your prioritizing, blind-side the date (approach it form an unexpected direction), do less, and unplug.
Yoga Is Good For You
A study published by Ohio State University researchers in Psychosomatic Medicine showed that women who routinely practiced yoga had lower amounts of the cytokine interleukin-6 (IL-6) in their blood. IL-6 is an important part of the body's inflammatory response. It has been implicated in heart disease, stroke, type-2 diabetes, arthritis and a variety of other age-related debilitating diseases. Reducing inflammation may provide substantial short and long-term health benefits.
In a recent press release from the American Heart Association, a research report from the Journal of the American Heart Association was released. A study found that every hour spent in front of the television per day brings with it an 11 percent greater risk of premature death from all causes, and an 18 percent greater risk from dying from cardiovascular disease. The findings apply to both obese and overweight people as well as people with a healthy weight because prolonged periods of sitting have an unhealthy influence on blood sugar and blood fat levels.
Keep in mind that this isn't just sitting at the TV--this includes sitting at your desk, too.
Which is Worse for Your Brain: Texting or Pot?
A University of London study done for Hewlett-Packard found that "infomania"--a term connected with addiction to email and texting--can lower your IQ by twice as much as smoking marijuana. Moreover, email can raise the levels of noradrenaline and dopamine in your brain by constantly introducing new stimuli into your day. When those levels get too high, complex thinking becomes more difficult, making it harder to make decision and solve problems. The article gives several suggestions: take control of email, prioritize your prioritizing, blind-side the date (approach it form an unexpected direction), do less, and unplug.
Yoga Is Good For You
A study published by Ohio State University researchers in Psychosomatic Medicine showed that women who routinely practiced yoga had lower amounts of the cytokine interleukin-6 (IL-6) in their blood. IL-6 is an important part of the body's inflammatory response. It has been implicated in heart disease, stroke, type-2 diabetes, arthritis and a variety of other age-related debilitating diseases. Reducing inflammation may provide substantial short and long-term health benefits.
Monday, 1 February 2010
Mindful Monday
Friday, 29 January 2010
Friday News Roundup
Using Hypnosis to Treat Dyspepsia
Dyspepsia is a common disorder of the gastrointestinal tract. The major symptom of this disorder is upper abdominal pain. There appears to be no known type of disease that underlies the disorder. Hypnosis has already been shown by several research studies to be effective in the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome, which often overlaps with dyspepsia. A recent study of 126 participants looked at the effects of hypnosis on patients with this disorder. In the study, participants received either hypnotherapy or supportive therapy and either placebo or medical treatment. The symptoms of dyspepsia were analyzed before the treatment began, after the 16-week treatment, and during the 56-week follow-up. The results indicated that the hypnotherapy group saw more short term improvement (16 weeks) compared to the therapy and medication groups. IN the long term, hypnotherapy group showed significant improved symptoms (73% reporting improvement compared to 43% in the medicine group and 34% of the therapy group).
Curious about hypnotherapy? Check out my web page for a brief discussion of clinical hypnosis, post a comment here for discussion, or send me an e-mail.
The Americanization of Mental Illness
A recent New York Times magazine article discussed the Americanization of Mental Illness. In a statement that I found particular stunning, the article wrote that for many years we have "been busily engaged in a grande project of Americanizing the world's understanding of mental health and illness. We may indeed be far along in homogenizing the way the world goes mad." It's common sense, I think, to notice that concepts of mental illness are not understood the same across the entire world. An example from the article is polio. Polio is polio, no matter where it occurs. Is depression, however, the same in the United States as it is in Uganda, or New Guinea, or elsewhere?
I liked the idea of cultures possessing a symptom repertoire, which was discussed in the article. Different cultures across the world--and different cultures across time--have a different repertoire of symptoms that express a range of psychological conflicts. This notion is in significant contrast with modern psychiatry and psychology which "aggressively spread our modern knowledge of mental illness around the world." The end result is that our modern Western symptom repertoire is being exported around the word with the "speed of contagious diseases."
I'm not so sure this is a good thing. What gets missed, the article points out, is a "deep understanding of how the expectations and beliefs of the sufferer shape their suffering." What's stunning to me is that a deep understanding of how someone changes, heals, or grows is also lost. I'm going to be thinking a lot about this over the next few months. I hope you do, too.
Dyspepsia is a common disorder of the gastrointestinal tract. The major symptom of this disorder is upper abdominal pain. There appears to be no known type of disease that underlies the disorder. Hypnosis has already been shown by several research studies to be effective in the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome, which often overlaps with dyspepsia. A recent study of 126 participants looked at the effects of hypnosis on patients with this disorder. In the study, participants received either hypnotherapy or supportive therapy and either placebo or medical treatment. The symptoms of dyspepsia were analyzed before the treatment began, after the 16-week treatment, and during the 56-week follow-up. The results indicated that the hypnotherapy group saw more short term improvement (16 weeks) compared to the therapy and medication groups. IN the long term, hypnotherapy group showed significant improved symptoms (73% reporting improvement compared to 43% in the medicine group and 34% of the therapy group).
Curious about hypnotherapy? Check out my web page for a brief discussion of clinical hypnosis, post a comment here for discussion, or send me an e-mail.
The Americanization of Mental Illness
A recent New York Times magazine article discussed the Americanization of Mental Illness. In a statement that I found particular stunning, the article wrote that for many years we have "been busily engaged in a grande project of Americanizing the world's understanding of mental health and illness. We may indeed be far along in homogenizing the way the world goes mad." It's common sense, I think, to notice that concepts of mental illness are not understood the same across the entire world. An example from the article is polio. Polio is polio, no matter where it occurs. Is depression, however, the same in the United States as it is in Uganda, or New Guinea, or elsewhere?
I liked the idea of cultures possessing a symptom repertoire, which was discussed in the article. Different cultures across the world--and different cultures across time--have a different repertoire of symptoms that express a range of psychological conflicts. This notion is in significant contrast with modern psychiatry and psychology which "aggressively spread our modern knowledge of mental illness around the world." The end result is that our modern Western symptom repertoire is being exported around the word with the "speed of contagious diseases."
I'm not so sure this is a good thing. What gets missed, the article points out, is a "deep understanding of how the expectations and beliefs of the sufferer shape their suffering." What's stunning to me is that a deep understanding of how someone changes, heals, or grows is also lost. I'm going to be thinking a lot about this over the next few months. I hope you do, too.
Wednesday, 27 January 2010
What's The Conversation?
Over the last week, I've been thinking a lot about how people have conversations. This line of thought has mostly been stimulated by the post-election discussions in Massachusetts. The senatorial campaign, and the conversation about how it happened, so easily gets reduced down into small bits of digested sound bites. Based on the tv ads and most of the interviews I saw, I really don't know what either candidate stands for. I know they think this issue is good, or this other issue is bad. I don't know why they think so. I really don't know what plans either might have to make things better. In fact, I'm not even sure if I know what exactly either of them wanted to make better.
Conversations I've had with friends or have observed other people have haven't been much better. See, they aren't really conversations. They are well phrased and nuanced sound bites that don't really reveal anything. Rather than talking about political parties with different ideas we've moved to a world of knee-jerk politics and reactionary sound bites. What ever happened to ideas? Where is the discourse about how to improve the world?
Take for example of few snippets of conversation on Facebook about the Massachusetts elections:
It's hard to find good conversation about politics. This morning at the gym I was listening to a pod-cast from Talk of the Nation. It struck me on several different levels. First, and perhaps foremost, it was a smart conversation. Secondly, I stopped and thought for awhile. I first found this caller funny, though I don't think he intended to be so. After I finished my chuckle, I really noticed just how ill-equipped we all are for having conversations. We don't talk about things (my mini-tirade about the election is about that). This caller made me see that we've lost so many conversational skills that we don't even know what one is. This is a portion of the callers question:
"I have a question regarding the conversation whites and blacks folks are supposed to be having... I've never seen anybody having an actual conversation. I've seen people talking.. we need to have a conversation. What is the conversation supposed to be about? Hey, what do you hate about white people? Hey, what do you hate about black people? Are we supposed to have that? What is the conversation supposed to take place? I'm thinking like a CSPAN or some sort of news thing... I want to see the conversation actually happen."
If I had a chance to respond to the caller it would be something like this: the conversation is one we could have right now. It's not about what one group of people hates about another group of people. It's a conversation about what your own experience is like to be you. What does being white mean to you? What does being black? Why does it mean that to you? How has it come to mean that? What might you not know about your own experience or that of someone else? How might you get to know it?
I've often said that part of effective psychotherapy is the ability to have (or the ability to learn to have) a really good conversation. For the rest of the morning I thought a lot about different interactions I've had in my office this week. Among other things, I've talked about race, sex, politics, feelings, and martial problems. Each time I met this situation with a conversation--I ask good questions that I hope make my clients stop, think, and look at a situation in a new way. It mostly doesn't matter to me what a client is thinking about a particular situation: it matters to me how they are thinking about a particular situation.
What are you thinking today? How are you thinking about it? Can you think of it in a different way?
Conversations I've had with friends or have observed other people have haven't been much better. See, they aren't really conversations. They are well phrased and nuanced sound bites that don't really reveal anything. Rather than talking about political parties with different ideas we've moved to a world of knee-jerk politics and reactionary sound bites. What ever happened to ideas? Where is the discourse about how to improve the world?
Take for example of few snippets of conversation on Facebook about the Massachusetts elections:
- "You over tax the people, you over spend, you grow government to big, and you push bills that the American people overwhelming [sic] don't want. Health care, cap and trade, bail outs, etc. That's how they lost his seat. There will be many more to follow in November."
- "Good. Maybe in 3 years the president will be next."
- "Were you living outside the United States between January 2001 to January 2009? The country between those dates was in utter shambles and I don't understand why you would feel the need to repeat that."
It's hard to find good conversation about politics. This morning at the gym I was listening to a pod-cast from Talk of the Nation. It struck me on several different levels. First, and perhaps foremost, it was a smart conversation. Secondly, I stopped and thought for awhile. I first found this caller funny, though I don't think he intended to be so. After I finished my chuckle, I really noticed just how ill-equipped we all are for having conversations. We don't talk about things (my mini-tirade about the election is about that). This caller made me see that we've lost so many conversational skills that we don't even know what one is. This is a portion of the callers question:
"I have a question regarding the conversation whites and blacks folks are supposed to be having... I've never seen anybody having an actual conversation. I've seen people talking.. we need to have a conversation. What is the conversation supposed to be about? Hey, what do you hate about white people? Hey, what do you hate about black people? Are we supposed to have that? What is the conversation supposed to take place? I'm thinking like a CSPAN or some sort of news thing... I want to see the conversation actually happen."
If I had a chance to respond to the caller it would be something like this: the conversation is one we could have right now. It's not about what one group of people hates about another group of people. It's a conversation about what your own experience is like to be you. What does being white mean to you? What does being black? Why does it mean that to you? How has it come to mean that? What might you not know about your own experience or that of someone else? How might you get to know it?
I've often said that part of effective psychotherapy is the ability to have (or the ability to learn to have) a really good conversation. For the rest of the morning I thought a lot about different interactions I've had in my office this week. Among other things, I've talked about race, sex, politics, feelings, and martial problems. Each time I met this situation with a conversation--I ask good questions that I hope make my clients stop, think, and look at a situation in a new way. It mostly doesn't matter to me what a client is thinking about a particular situation: it matters to me how they are thinking about a particular situation.
What are you thinking today? How are you thinking about it? Can you think of it in a different way?
Saturday, 23 January 2010
The Nuts and Bolts: Using Your Insurance for Mental Health Services
It seems that every time January comes around I spend an increased time on the phone with insurance companies. This year is proving to be no different. People's policies change, employers don't always provide clear information, and confusion ensues.
This might be a good time to take a bit of time out to do a little self-education about your own insurance plan. I've put together a list of questions to ask your insurance company. You can find that on my website, here. Additionally, I have made a glossary of insurance terms. It's helpful when you are trying to decode what it is you are reading when you receive an EOB (explanation of benefits) or are on the phone with your insurance company. Check out that glossary here.
Lastly, I've come across a helpful posting about health insurance that I thought I would share. This link will take you to it: The Nuts and Bolts: Using Your Insurance for Mental Health Services
This might be a good time to take a bit of time out to do a little self-education about your own insurance plan. I've put together a list of questions to ask your insurance company. You can find that on my website, here. Additionally, I have made a glossary of insurance terms. It's helpful when you are trying to decode what it is you are reading when you receive an EOB (explanation of benefits) or are on the phone with your insurance company. Check out that glossary here.
Lastly, I've come across a helpful posting about health insurance that I thought I would share. This link will take you to it: The Nuts and Bolts: Using Your Insurance for Mental Health Services
Wednesday, 20 January 2010
Repairing or Maintaining a Relationship
The longer that I am a practicing a psychologist, the more I start to take for granted the things I've learned along the way. I'm thankful each and every time something happens that reminds me not to take this knowledge for granted.
It's second nature for me to engage in "active listening." I know how to pay attention, make eye contact, and let the person who is talking to me to know that I'm alive, paying attention, and taking what they say seriously. I had a telephone conversation the other day with a customer service person and found myself incredibly frustrated. They weren't engaged in active listening. I was first just plain annoyed that I had to work so hard to get my point across. It dawned on me that the person on the other end of the line had no idea how to listen to me. I was still annoyed, but softened up a little bit realizing that there was a lack of training and knowledge: the person wasn't really trying to annoy me.
I slipped into therapist mode for a minute, stopped yelling to get my point across, and used another skill that is second nature to me as a therapist: GIVE.
GIVE is a skill that is part of a trio of interpersonal effectiveness skills that are taught in dialectical behavioral therapy. While some of the acronyms that are used are a little corny, they are a good way to be reminded how to be effective in life.
be Gentle
act Interested
Validate
use and Easy manner.
What does being gentle mean? Generally if you are finding yourself yelling, telling someone that they are dumb, stupid, or out of their minds, you are not being gentle. Take a breath. Play nice. Make a gentle joke if you are that sort or perhaps just make reference to the conversation being difficult.
Act interested? When someone is upset with you, don't say "blah blah blah", mock them, roll your eyes, twiddle your thumbs, or watch TV. Look at them, pay attention, let them know you are taking them seriously.
Take it a step further and validate what they are saying. Let them know you are alive, you hear them, and what they are saying is making some sort of impact.
Finally, use an easy manner. Make yourself approachable.
Try it out. You'll feel better about yourself and your relationships will be stronger.
It's second nature for me to engage in "active listening." I know how to pay attention, make eye contact, and let the person who is talking to me to know that I'm alive, paying attention, and taking what they say seriously. I had a telephone conversation the other day with a customer service person and found myself incredibly frustrated. They weren't engaged in active listening. I was first just plain annoyed that I had to work so hard to get my point across. It dawned on me that the person on the other end of the line had no idea how to listen to me. I was still annoyed, but softened up a little bit realizing that there was a lack of training and knowledge: the person wasn't really trying to annoy me.
I slipped into therapist mode for a minute, stopped yelling to get my point across, and used another skill that is second nature to me as a therapist: GIVE.
GIVE is a skill that is part of a trio of interpersonal effectiveness skills that are taught in dialectical behavioral therapy. While some of the acronyms that are used are a little corny, they are a good way to be reminded how to be effective in life.
be Gentle
act Interested
Validate
use and Easy manner.
What does being gentle mean? Generally if you are finding yourself yelling, telling someone that they are dumb, stupid, or out of their minds, you are not being gentle. Take a breath. Play nice. Make a gentle joke if you are that sort or perhaps just make reference to the conversation being difficult.
Act interested? When someone is upset with you, don't say "blah blah blah", mock them, roll your eyes, twiddle your thumbs, or watch TV. Look at them, pay attention, let them know you are taking them seriously.
Take it a step further and validate what they are saying. Let them know you are alive, you hear them, and what they are saying is making some sort of impact.
Finally, use an easy manner. Make yourself approachable.
Try it out. You'll feel better about yourself and your relationships will be stronger.
Friday, 15 January 2010
Friday News Roundup
Sleep: Are We Depriving Our Teenagers of Mental Health?
A study analyzed data taking from 15,569 U.S. students in grades 7 through 12 during a two year time period. The average teenager reported getting seven hours and 53 minutes of sleep a night. As a reference point, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine suggests teens get nine or more hours of sleep.
Here is the take home message: adolescents who slept five or fewer hours a night were 1.71 times more likely to suffer from depression and 1.48 times more likely to to think about committing suicide than those who got eight hours of sleep a night.
Of course, one symptom of depression can be difficulty sleeping. The survey data might simply be recording that depressed teens sleep less than non-depressed teens (which would be obvious). Without closer research it would be hard to draw the conclusion that lack of sleep can cause depression.
Regardless, it's a good idea to encourage our teens (and ourselves) to get a good night sleep. It helps reduce emotional vulnerability and just might even help insulate someone from depression. Want to know more about what is considered a health night sleep? Check out this link that discusses sleep hygiene.
Exercise Preserves Memory
This is less news (at least to me) and more of a reminder. According to two reports that appeared in the January issue of Archives of Neurology, moderate levels of physical activity during middle age or later appears to have a protective effect: it can reduce the risk of mild cognitive impairment which is a common condition preceding dementia. Further, six months of high-intensity aerobic exercise can improve cognitive function in individuals who already have the condition.
This makes me glad I went running this morning!
A study analyzed data taking from 15,569 U.S. students in grades 7 through 12 during a two year time period. The average teenager reported getting seven hours and 53 minutes of sleep a night. As a reference point, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine suggests teens get nine or more hours of sleep.
Here is the take home message: adolescents who slept five or fewer hours a night were 1.71 times more likely to suffer from depression and 1.48 times more likely to to think about committing suicide than those who got eight hours of sleep a night.
Of course, one symptom of depression can be difficulty sleeping. The survey data might simply be recording that depressed teens sleep less than non-depressed teens (which would be obvious). Without closer research it would be hard to draw the conclusion that lack of sleep can cause depression.
Regardless, it's a good idea to encourage our teens (and ourselves) to get a good night sleep. It helps reduce emotional vulnerability and just might even help insulate someone from depression. Want to know more about what is considered a health night sleep? Check out this link that discusses sleep hygiene.
Exercise Preserves Memory
This is less news (at least to me) and more of a reminder. According to two reports that appeared in the January issue of Archives of Neurology, moderate levels of physical activity during middle age or later appears to have a protective effect: it can reduce the risk of mild cognitive impairment which is a common condition preceding dementia. Further, six months of high-intensity aerobic exercise can improve cognitive function in individuals who already have the condition.
This makes me glad I went running this morning!
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