Social Work Career Development

Best in Mental Health (wk of 5/7/2012)

noreply@blogger.com (DorleeM) — Mon, 14 May 2012 01:07:00 +0000

"A new systematic review from the Cochrane Schizophrenia Group has recently compared the effectiveness of CBT with other psychosocial therapies for people with schizophrenia..."

Methods of non-fatal self-harm may help to predict future risk of suicide
The Mental Elf (Andre Tomlin)

"Method of self-harm may aid identification of individuals at high risk of suicide. Individuals using more dangerous methods (e.g. hanging, CO/other gas) should receive intensive follow-up..."

Social Work:

10 Activities To Get Rid of Anxiety
HealthyPlace (Jodi Aman, LCSW-R)

"Write a list of your skills and knowledge... Do some yoga and meditation... Exercise... Try an alternative healing practitioner... Spend time with people... Have a routine. This is one of the best things you can do. Go to sleep and wake up at the same time everyday..."

“Aloof Politics are Not Revolutionary” - David B. Green Jr
N.A.H. (Relando Thompkins, MSW)

"My academic success does not make me better than street interlopers (i.e. commoners). I remain grounded in this philosophy because success often removes folks from reality... I remain grounded and humbled through this philosophy because at stake is the success of my people..."

‘Case’ and ‘Cause’ in Social Work Education — A Balancing Act
Social Work Today (Christina Reardon, MSW, LSW)

"Despite the historical debate about social work’s role as a case or cause profession, it is clear that the majority of students entering educational programs today want to pursue careers as clinicians. The popularity of clinical work may have more to do with practical matters than any conscious decision to reject social activism..."

Enslaving Children for Profit in the 21st Century
From Where I Stand (Andrea B. Goldberg, LCSW)

"... the 2007 Madame Afolabi case was cited as a typical example of trafficking and forced labor in New Jersey... The enslaved girls lived in squalor in overcrowded, roach infested... residences and were subjected to physical, emotional and sexual abuse..."

The Financial Challenges of Addiction: Tools to Help Addicts, Their Families, & Clinicians
Center for Financial Social Work (Jessica S. Sawyer and Thomas Anthony Weathers)

Tuesday, May 22, 2012 from 2:00 to 3:00PM EDT "This free webinar will identify the financial issues that using addicts, addicts in recovery and the families/support system(s) of these men and women face and highlight appropriate treatment and interventions for clinicians..."

Glee and Domestic Abuse
Marinagraphy (Marina DelVecchio)

"...we see Glee play an important role in creating awareness... regarding domestic abuse... It successfully shows the shame, fear, and illusions that revolve around abusive relationships, but also the courage and strength that is required to leave the abuser..."

Happy Week! The best things this blog has done for me
Classroom to Capitol (Melinda K Lewis)

"this week, I’m reflecting not just on how I have changed in the time since I started this blog, but also how it has changed me... Kept me in touch with former students...Expanded the walls of my classroom... Introduced me to some insightful, passionate people..."

Homework on Mars
Gamer Therapist (Mike Langlois, LICSW)

"Waking Mars is an example of what could be begun in a connected classroom, and then continued at home... It would be great if we could get rid of homework entirely, but if we insist on having it let’s make it fun and engaging..."

How does current social work education compare to 30 years ago?
The Guardian (Helen Bonnick)

"In many ways the students today look the same as when I qualified. Motivations for entering the profession, the variety of backgrounds... But the career they have chosen looks and feels very different... I see students who are already disillusioned before they have started..."

Live a life true to your priorities
Cathy Hanville, LCSW

"Why do we say our family is our priority and then not spend enough time with them?... Part of it is that we assume that things will be as they always are... How often do you take a moment during your day to be thankful for your health... or any other aspect of your life?..."

The Self in Western Psychology
This Is Me (spldbch)

"An infant begins its life with no sense of himself as an individual separate from his external environment... Each stage of the developmental process must be navigated successfully in order for a child to eventually form an integrated personality and a healthy sense of self..."

Self Love is the Best Love: National Masturbation Month
Infusing Passion & Creativity... Women & Girls of Color (Nicole Clark)

"One of the reasons why masturbation is such a taboo thing to discuss is due to shame and stigma associated with self-pleasuring... it's a stress reliever and tension reducer... you get to learn about your body... it can protect you against pregnancy and STIs..."

Twitter and ‘LIVE’ suicide threats
MentalHealthCop (Michael)

"When I started Tweeting, I anticipated dialogue... where the police had become involved in mental health issues of all kinds... what I did not predict was being contacted in relation to ‘LIVE’ suicide incidents by people on twitter..."

Who is my social worker, and what does she do?
SocialJerk

"One of the major tenets of social work is starting where the client is. I might recognize that a mother needs counseling for domestic violence. If she’s not ready, though, insisting isn’t going to do much good... it can be kind of hard to explain exactly what my job is. I do a lot of things..."

Psychology:

4 Steps to Rewire Your Brain With Your Mind and Conscious Action
Neuroscience and Relationships (Dr. Athena Staik)

"When you change what you think, say or do in response to an event or situation, you change inner emotional states... 1. See problem behaviors for what they are: learned strategies that your brain adapted because they ‘worked’ to protect you..."

5 Steps of Effective & Mindful Problem Solving
Laura Schenck, M.A.

"Part of the wisdom inherent in effective problem solving is discerning between solvable and unsolvable problems... and being willing to radically accept and let go of those problems which are truly out of your control..."

A Call for Ethics
The Irreverent Psychologist (Jason Evan Mihalko, Psy.D)

"There is no credible evidence in any peer reviewed journal that provides substantive empirical evidence to suggest that so-called reparative therapy is effective or ethical... association... also states that “same sex orientation is not a mental disorder..."

Can You Call a 9-Year-Old a Psychopath?
New York Times Magazine (Jennifer Kahn)

"By the time he turned 5, Michael had developed an uncanny ability to switch from full-blown anger to moments of pure rationality or calculated charm... Michael was almost two standard deviations outside the normal range for callous-unemotional behavior..."

Closing the Gap for Children's Mental Health
NAMI Blog (Darcy Gruttadaro)

"Half of all mental illness begins by age 14... Schools need more information about the early warning signs of mental illness... NAMI developed Parents and Teachers as Allies... Please consider sharing A Family Guide: Integrating Mental Health and Pediatric Primary Care ... with primary care providers..."

Creative Drama activities to help children with emotional and behavioural problems
JFK Blog (Penny McFarlane)

"Penny McFarlane shares two downloadable activities [Mr. Angry Man and The Two Islands]... The purpose is to help prevent the child from being overwhelmed by his emotions... By creating an "as if" scenario, the child can explore his apprehension and find out what it is that he is afraid of in a transition..."

For Moms (& the rest of us): Balance is a Moving Target
Dr. Ann Becker Schutte

"maybe we need to rethink what balance means... What are the top five most important things in my life? What are the top five things that use up my time?... If there’s some mismatch... what can I do to readjust..."

Overcoming resistance to change: The strongest argument you can make is not to
Teenage Whisperer (Sam Ross, BSc, MSc, Cert EP (YJ))

"Your role is to help them [the teens] argue their own case for change... if you start off with a statement that conveys that you realize that they are in control of what they do and the decisions they make, then their ears will prick up... neutrally explore their viewpoint and guide them to think about reasons for change..."

Swearing in Therapy
In Therapy (Ryan Howes, Ph.D)

"Yes, you can swear in therapy... we have our pure, raw feelings and impulses, and the masks we regularly show the world to protect us and give us positive PR... Therapy works best when we’re allowed to look at what you really think and feel..."

Termination in the Narrative of Treatment
American Counseling Association (Jennifer Bingaman)

"I’m struggling with the whole termination thing. I’m developing relationships with these clients and working on some pretty deep issues... I’m constantly assessing my role as a counselor and how it works into the treatment paradigm of addiction..."

The Unpredictability of Life
The Albert Ellis Institute (Magda Murawska, Ed.M.)

"We’ve all been dealt with at least one ‘life curveball.’... If there’s anything predictable about life, it’s its unpredictability. And sometimes that unpredictability can be very painful... Remember that our goal is the same – to live a happy life..."

What to Do if You Start to Feel Suicidal
Bipolar Burble (Natasha Tracy)

"when you start to feel like you want off the planet, there are some things you can do... stop the thoughts... switch the thoughts... distract... wait... reach out...even if you’re pretty sure you’re not going to commit suicide you still should reach out..."

When Rules Are A Challenge
Everyone Needs Therapy (therapydoc)

"As a society, we're beginning to recognize that the social skill we value is not within everyone's reach... Whether (1) suffering from a disorder on the spectrum; (2) gifted with empathy but socially phobic; or (3).... some prefer to hide in a proverbial shell..."

When the Therapist Falls Asleep During Session
After Psychotherapy (Joseph Burgo, PhD)

"I prefer to think [of empathy] in terms of a sponge, where the empathizer absorbs a portion of the other person’s emotional experience — say, his suffering. At the same time, the person suffering may project her pain as an unconscious kind of communication..."

Private Practice :

Therapist Leadership Virtual Conference 2012: Expanding the Possibilities
Casey Truffo

May 14-25 via Livestream video or phone: "Managing the Betrayal of Infidelity, Hypnosis and Psychotherapy vs. Medication for Depression, Developing the Buddha Brain – One simple Practice at a Time, Social Media Policy for Therapists and more... "

Do You Know What Your Colleagues Are Up To? Market Research In 9 Simple Steps
Private Practice from the Inside Out (Tamara Suttle, M.Ed., LPC)

"Identify the mental health practitioners in your immediate area... choose online directories and search for those psychotherapists in your own zip code... Record their credentials... List their average hourly fee..."

The Gift Of Resentment
Private Practice Toolbox (Julie Hanks, LCSW)

"I view resentment as an amazing gift to let me know when I need to make a change or to set better boundaries... When I started resenting seeing clients after 5:00p.m. I stopped seeing clients in the evenings..."

Nonprofits:

8 Social Justice and Advocacy Conferences You Must Attend
care 2's nonprofit marketing blog (Allyson Kapin)

"With so little free time on your hands, it can be challenging to figure out which ones you must attend in May and June. Check out our top picks... "

How To Easily Rate Charities and Non Profits In A Complicated World
Aunt Bertha (Mozart)

"Charity Navigator, GuideStar, funding and government agencies all create reports on nonprofits, but these reports are made for educated professionals and are generated once or at most a few times a year..."

Please share any thoughts or comments you have below. Also, feel free to mention any great posts that I may have missed.

You May Also Enjoy:
Best in Mental Health (wk of 4/30/2012)
Best in Mental Health (wk of 4/23/2012)
Best in Mental Health (wk of 4/16/2012)
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT): Acceptance and Change
Safety Tips for Social Workers
An Expression of Gratitude

The Box in Art Therapy: Inside and Outside of Self

noreply@blogger.com (DorleeM) — Thu, 10 May 2012 03:20:00 +0000

Have you ever been asked to design a box to represent yourself?

In one of my classes for art therapy for clinical social work, we were asked to do so. This is the fifth post in the art therapy** series.

The outside of the box was to be decorated (painted, glued, drawn on etc) in such a way that it reflects how you see yourself (or how you think others see you) from the outside.

Conversely, the inside of the box was to be adorned or filled with objects that portray what you don't show others, the feelings/emotions that you tend to hold/hide inside.

Above is a picture of the outside of my box. As you can see, the top of the box is decorated with a few sheets of fuchsia pink and orange tissue paper glued one on top of the other in an alternating pattern so as to present an upbeat and attractive appearance. This coincides with the general cheerful and "put-together" look I wear on the outside.

Moving onto the inside of my box (as revealed in the image below), I have a mixture of things going on that could be best described as chaos. It includes messy things, disorder, anxiety, painful experiences, sadness and grief as well as anger and frustration.

When the box is closed, the glue that I used to connect the pieces of tissue paper ended up providing a subtle transparency effect. I believe this reflects the partial sharing of my emotions with you, the reader, as well some of my innermost feelings with a few trusted people.

Boxes are particularly useful in art therapy due to their innate capacity to protect and preserve contents, create a safe space within the enclosure to explore and address feelings and/or fears, as well as join opposing parts of self - a frequent therapeutic goal (Farrell-Kirk, 2001; Kaufman, 1996).

Furthermore, the fact that boxes have inherent symbolic value throughout history via caskets, treasure chests and more increase the effectiveness of the box as a therapeutic tool (Farrell-Kirk, 2001; Kaufman, 1996).

Similar to a box, art, in of itself, is a container for feelings, as well as a means of expressing emotion (Kaufman, 1996).

As so eloquently stated by Levine (1992) in (Kaufman, 1996; p. 247), "the task of therapy is not to eliminate suffering but to give voice to it, to find a form in which it can be expressed. Expression itself is transformation... The therapist then would be a therapist of the soul, working with sufferers to enable them to find the proper container for their pain, the form in which it would be embodied."

What are your thoughts about such an art therapy exercise? Do you feel that it may be a useful one to engage in yourself and/or with one of your clients?

You May Also Enjoy:
Art Therapy and Social Work
Children’s Growth Through Art
11 Tips for Employing Art Therapy Techniques
The "Ugly" in Art Therapy
Art Therapy - The Power of Art in Healing
Music Therapy: Healing Through Music
Drama Therapy in Action

**Caveats:
1) I am a social worker and not an art therapist. The above information is only meant to be seen as a taste of what is involved in art therapy.
2) Please do not substitute material on this site for consultation with an art therapist or mental health professional. It is not intended to serve as mental health advice, let alone assessment, diagnosis, or treatment.
3) Before practicing art therapy, one must obtain sufficient training, supervision and licensing. So You Want to be an Art Therapist, Part Two: Art Therapy Education describes some of the different paths available to those interested in art therapy as a profession or as an additional technique for those who have a master's degree in licensed mental health professions like counseling and social work.

References:
D. Fagen, LCSW, LCAT, ATR-BC, Creative arts therapy in clinical social work lecture, April 23, 2012.
Farrell-Kirk, R. (2001). Secrets, symbols, synthesis, and safety: The role of boxes in art therapy, American Journal of Art Therapy, (39), 88-92.
Kaufman, A.B. (1996). Art in boxes: An exploration of meanings. The Arts in Psychotherapy, (23), 237-247.

Best in Mental Health (wk of 4/30/2012)

noreply@blogger.com (DorleeM) — Sun, 06 May 2012 16:25:00 +0000

"The two programs were both based on cognitive behavioral therapy treatment exercises... They were randomly allocated to internet-based therapy (TAO), internet-based self-help (SAO) or to a waiting list group with no treatment (WL)..."

Will Regina Holliday Become Health Care’s Rosa Parks?
The Health Care Blog (Michael L. Millenson)

"The rights issue involves how quickly patients are able to see their own electronic medical information after leaving the hospital... A widow with two young children, Holliday recalls on her blog how her husband, Fred, died “painfully...”

Social Work:

The Cutting Edge: Self-Injurious Behavior in Adolescents and Young Adults (podcast)
Living Proof Podcast (UB School of Social Work, Dr. Janis Whitlock)

"In this episode [95], Dr. Janis Whitlock discusses the causes, prevalence, and risk factors of self-injurious behavior and explains its active though maladaptive coping dimension as well as the challenge of finding effective treatment."

Foster Caregivers
Child Protection Lessons (Peter Choate)

"This research showed the deep commitment to the role and belies the critics who seek to demean the contribution that foster parents make to the care of children who come into the system..."

“Can’t afford it… Get out…” is this a “Fair deal” or is it “Social Cleansing”?
@SWSCMedia (Claudia)

"The national housing benefit caps which came into effect at the beginning of this year are forcing a number of London boroughs to examine the option of re-housing some of their housing benefit claimants outside of the capital... "

Attention, Distraction & Creepers, Oh My!
Gamer Therapist (Mike Langlois, LICSW)

Mike discusses how parents often interrupt their children in front of their computers out of concern about them not doing their homework and may come across as "creepers," villains from the Mindcraft video game. He offers some alternative ways of coping w/homework dilemma.

Diogenes Syndrome, Hoarding – or Merely an Avid Collector?
The Masked AMHP

"According to Salkovskis, hoarders fall into one of three categories..."obsessive compulsive hoarding"... deprivation hoarders... they hoard because, having lost so much once, they feel a need to hold on to possessions in case catastrophe strikes again... sentimental hoarders..."

How I Passed the Licensing Exam: 10 Tips
The New Social Worker (Ammu Kowolik, LMSW)

"the main thing that helped me with this process was finding a study partner I could trust and rely on. Meeting with my friend held me accountable—and without that, I could have easily put this off longer...When you set an exam date, it really helps you focus..."

Love @ First Click
USC School of Social Work (Jenn Pedde)

"two MSW@USC students not only became close friends, but shortly after meeting in a class group project, they fell in love! These two students, who lived on opposite sides of the state of California, were recently engaged..."

"No Self" in Buddhism
This Is Me (spldbch)

"... what we experience as the "self" actually consists of five overlapping processes... Physical form... Sensation: the five senses plus our emotions... Perception... Mental formations... Consciousness: awareness..."

Organization Culture, Advocacy, and “Free Spaces”
Classroom to Capitol (Melinda K Lewis)

"As a consultant... I also get to observe different organizational cultures... I can often get a quick ‘feel’ that a particular organization is, for example, particularly receptive to an advocacy orientation, or especially concerned about appearances and protocol..."

Race you to the end of our postracial society
SocialJerk

"They’re constantly on us to be more culturally competent in our work. Speak to people in their native language, address cultural differences... talk to clients about their religion... But in order to address someone’s culture, we need to know what it is..."

"Smart" Treatment Plans
Practice Wisdom (Natalie L. Hill, LICSW)

"identify specifically what the client will do - what behavior s/he will exhibit... if treatment is effective... There should also be some way to "objectively" measure whether the specified behavior is occurring... aim for... meaningful but achievable change..."

SWAN
Nechakogal's Blog

"SWAN [Social Work Action Network] is going international and that there will soon be an online resource here in Canada that is linked with this initiative... Check out the video about this project..."

Psychology:

Active Imagination: A Tool for Self-Discovery
Matrignosis: A Blog About Inner Wisdom (Dr. Jean Raffa)

"Believing that our unconscious mind wants to communicate with our conscious mind, he [Carl Jung] conceived of a method to facilitate this. It is a process of visualizing unconscious issues by focusing on a concern, feeling or dream image..."

Bad News from the Bathroom Scales: Making Adjustments
Dr. Greg Hinkle

"making adjustments is a bad thing when it insulates you from the “real” by providing a fantasy-based (or baseless-fantasy) version of reality that provides a false comfort, and invites you to do nothing about the “real” challenges you face..."

The Difference Between Self-Esteem and Self-Confidence
HealthyPlace (Emily Roberts, MA, LPC)

"Self-esteem refers to how you feel about yourself overall... Self-esteem develops from experiences and situations that have shaped how you view yourself today... Self-confidence is how you feel about your abilities and can vary from situation to situation..."

Experience Matters
Trauma and Children (Annette Miner, CWY, CTC-S, CYC)

"A potentially trauma-inducing situation is only traumatic if the child’s experience is one of terror, feeling totally unsafe and powerless to do anything about the situation they found themselves in (freeze)... intervention is to be personalized to fit..."

It’s just not about the homework: How issues with school and homework impact your child
Creativity Queen (Dr. Laura Dessauer)

"struggling at school and with homework may... impact...their feelings, self-competency, and self-esteem... You can help shift these negative patterns... by teaching your child skills to manage homework stressors..."

The Key to Worry-Free: The Worry Tree
Dr. Christina Hibbert

"Worrying is a form of avoiding making a decision or taking action. Instead of acting, we en-act the scene over and over in our minds, thus increasing our discomfort and wasting our time. Worrying can also lead to unnecessary harmful behaviors like eating..."

May is for Mastrubation
The Irreverent Psychologist (Jason Evan Mihalko, Psy.D)

"If your clients aren't talking about sex, age, religious, race, disability, or any other difficult topic in the first three or four sessions they will never be able to talk about it. If they don't bring it up, it is your responsibility to bring it up..."

Mindfulness Play: Reaching students on a deeper level
JFK Blog (Deborah Plummer)

"In this series of videos, Deborah Plummer discusses the careful construction of the emotional environment... which she calls ‘mindfulness play’... focusing and calming games for children"

Somatic Experiencing
Heal My PTSD (Federico Garcia-Anguiano)

"Somatic experiencing is a form of therapy aimed at relieving and resolving the symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other... trauma-related... problems by focusing on the client’s perceived body sensations (or somatic experiences)."

Transform Me With Positivity: Show Me I’m Not Completely Crap
Teenage Whisperer (Sam Ross, BSc, MSc, Cert EP (YJ))

"how do you begin to show me that there is something other than crap within me... see the good stuff... Acknowledge me when I get things right. Like when I turn up, or turn up on time... do something helpful..."

Unspoken
What a Shrink Thinks (Martha Crawford, LCSW)

"Love, in all its forms, ineffable and undefinable, is the oil that suspends the the wheels and surrounds the entire mechanism so that therapeutic work can take place at all..."

Why Do Bad Diseases Happen to Good People?
Bipolar Burble (Natasha Tracy)

"On some level, people believe they “deserve” what happens to them. It’s a way of exercising control over our own destiny. If you deserve it then it’s because of something that you did and that’s something you can change..."

Private Practice:

6 Tips to Grow Your Private Practice [Part 1] and [Part 2]
Australia Counselling (Clinton Power)

"It's important to think of yourself as an advocate for your business, rather than 'selling yourself'... For each of those therapists I always came from the perspective of wanting to find out how I could support their businesses more with referrals..."

Join APA’s Mental Health Blog Party May 16th
Private Practice Toolbox (Julie Hanks, LCSW)

"May is mental health month!... opportunity to... educate about your mental health specialty areas and raise awareness about topics you’re passionate about...How to participate... Post a mental health related blog on May 16th, 2012... "

Nonprofit Employment:

Can Pinterest Help Your Job Search?
NonProfit Jobs

"Since pictures are the main focus of Pinterest, you can use it to get a good sense of the culture at the nonprofits for which you want to work... you can make pin boards to advance your brand... Post your resume as a picture..."

Diana’s Big Move: The first job interview
Idealist Blog (Diana Hsu)

"I just finished my first interview!... Here’s how I prepared and how I think you can make it through your interview with minimal stress... Remind yourself why you’re a great fit for the position... know the key points that you want to cover..."

Where Can I Find Non Profit Jobs? 5 Tips to Consider
Allison Jones (ajlovesya)

"One of the reasons folks struggle with a nonprofit is that there is little understanding of what a nonprofit is... The more specific you are about what you want to do the easier it is for you to search and to have others search with you... let people know you are looking..."

Please share any thoughts or comments you have below. Also, feel free to mention any great posts that I may have missed.

You May Also Enjoy:
Best in Mental Health (wk of 4/23/2012)
Best in Mental Health (wk of 4/16/2012)
Best in Mental Health (wk of 4/9/2012)
Drama Therapy in Action
7 Ways to Bond With Your Teen
What Are Microaggressions?

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT): Acceptance and Change

noreply@blogger.com (DorleeM) — Fri, 04 May 2012 01:05:00 +0000

Today, I attended Marsha Linehan's wonderful half-day training on dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) "Where We Were, Where We Are, and Where We Are Going."

Below are my some of my key take-aways:

* Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is a treatment that was developed by Marsha Linehan in order to help people with high suicide risk and multiple suicide attempts and/or self-harming behaviors.

The combination of an invalidating environment during childhood plus biological factors are common contributing factors.

* She developed the dialectical approach balancing both change and radical acceptance strategies to address the fact that the patients with high risk of suicide all exhibited:

Extreme sensitivity to rejection and invalidation

making a change-focused treatment unbearable

Extreme suffering (all clients had suffered extreme traumas in their childhoods)

making an acceptance based approach also inappropriate

* DBT treatment requires a team; the function of a team is to keep the therapist on track with the DBT protocol.

*Radical acceptance on the therapist's part entails acceptance of the client's tragic past, slower rate of improvement vs. other disorders and high risk of suicide/self-harm.

Acceptance is change! Change only happens in the context of acceptance.

*Radical acceptance on the client's side includes accepting:

a focus on one set of problems at a time
the past (what's past is past)
the present (some things in the present can also not be changed)
limitations of the future

* The client is taught radical acceptance skills that include both radical acceptance and distress tolerance skills (to enable the radical acceptance).

* The BPD criterion behaviors (such as the suicidal and self-harm activities) serve as a regulatory function for people with BPD (regulating their emotions) and/or are a natural result of their emotion dysregulation.

DBT is extremely effective at reducing suicidal behavior.

DBT Compared to Expert Community Therapy

Suicide attempts	50%	less
ER visits for suicidality	51%	less
Inpatient visits for suicidality	73%	less

DBT structures treatment goals and targets by level of disorder:

Pre-Treatment: Commitment and Agreement (when treatment first begins)

Decreasing life-threatening behaviors, therapy-interfering behaviors (such as missing sessions or coming late), and quality-of-life interfering behaviors

Increasing behavioral skills: mindfulness, distress tolerance, interpersonal effectiveness, and emotion regulation
Stage I: Severe Behavioral Dyscontrol
Stability and behavioral control (goal)

Stage II: Quiet Desperation
Non-anguished emotional experiencing (goal)

Stage III: Problems in Living/Simple Disorders
Ordinary happiness/unhappiness (goal)

Stage IV: Incompleteness
Freedom and capacity for joy (goal)

DBT added to standard Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) :

Model of suicidal behavior
Acceptance with change
Integration of evidence-based trainings
Suicide risk and assessment protocol
Skills-based on evidence-based trainings and mindfulness skills
Definition of team as part of therapy

* In general, she stated that the mental health field is moving toward a model in which emotion dysregulation is being considered a core component underlying most disorders. As a result, she thought that it was possible to think that DBT could one day be considered a potential treatment in addressing many mental health disorders (aside from BPD).

* While DBT tends to be viewed as a treatment for people with BPD only, the data indicate that it is already useful for other disorders such as eating disorders and recurrent major depressive disorder.

Where are we going?

DBT for high risk for suicidal adolescents
Models for integrating other evidence-based interventions into DBT (Melanie Harned, PhD)
DBT effects on parenting effects on adolescent suicidality
Friends and family DBT skills training
DBT skills as prevention in school systems (Mazza and Mazza)

For the evidence-based training and/or books on DBT, please see Behavioral Tech, LLC.

Finally, below is an excellent video created by the Borderline Personality Disorder Resource Center at NewYork-Presbyterian called "Back From the Edge" which offers guidance on treating Borderline Personality Disorder.

Please note that an interview providing an introduction to dialectical behavior therapy will be coming shortly...

What are your thoughts about dialectical behavior therapy? What are your thoughts about where Marsha Linehan is thinking of taking DBT?

You May Also Enjoy:
Bipolar Disorder Brought to Life
What is Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)?
Gestalt Therapy: Interactive, Here & Now
Social Work Vs. Psychology and a Taste of Hypnotherapy
Online Therapy: A New Frontier

Reference:
Linehan, M., Marsha Linehan on DBT: Where we were, where we are, and where we are going training, May 3, 2012.

Best in Mental Health (wk of 4/23/2012)

noreply@blogger.com (DorleeM) — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 21:30:00 +0000

I'm watching twitter, google+ and the web so you don't have to...

This post is part of a weekly series, Best in Mental Health, featuring the best posts of the week, in social work, psychology, evidence-based practice/healthcare, non-profit employment and private practice concerns on Social Work Career Development.

To get a quick idea of the topics covered in this week's round-up, please see the above word cloud :)

Evidence Based Practice/Healthcare:

NICE publish draft public heath guidance for social and emotional wellbeing in young children
The Mental Elf (Andre Tomlin)

"for ensuring the... wellbeing of children aged under 5 years... draft recommendations... have the potential to make a real difference to ensure all children get the best possible start in life..." < pdf attached

SIGN publish new patient booklet for women who have depression or psychosis during pregnancy or after the birth of their baby
The Mental Elf (Andre Tomlin)

"The booklet covers risk factors, diagnosis, treatment and self-management..." < pdf attached

The cost depends on the value
Occupy Healthcare (RichmondDoc)

"Primary care physicians–the physicians who provide comprehensive care... preventive care...are paid less than all other medical specialists... Unless we value primary care, and redesign our healthcare delivery and payment systems to reflect this, then we will continue to have a healthcare system that under-performs even as healthcare costs continue to increase..."

Social Work:

An Important Reminder
N.A.H. (Relando Thompkins, MSW)

"...I’m currently in a period of great transition. As I navigate through this time in my life, I find myself craving a complicated mix of change and consistency... After we’ve climbed one mountain, we might just find ourselves positioned in front of another..."

Can we stop diagnosing fictional characters with Asperger’s?
SocialJerk

"Mental illness is everywhere. But when we act like it’s actually everywhere, in everybody and in every action, we take away what it means, and we take away the legitimate struggle..."

Change and uncertainty – get used to it!
The College of Social Work (Alexander Campbell)

"In the second week of my first practice placement it was announced that the agency I was with had lost all its funding and would be closing in three months, after almost 25 years of pioneering work in its home city. Thirty members of staff were plunged into months of uncertainty..."

Come Hang Out With Auntie B On May 1st!
Aunt Bertha (Mozart)

"Come hang out with us on our Google+ page on May 1st, 11am-1pm EST. We will be sharing how to get Aunt Bertha in your neighborhood and also getting your ideas...Aunt Bertha's G+ Hangouts will be the first Tuesday of every month..."

Digital Citizenship and the Forward Edge Transference
Gamer Therapist (Mike Langlois, LICSW)

"the comment “multiplayer has no save” is the forward transference for... the dawning of a concept of being a digital citizen. Here is an adolescent saying that they understand their behavior has an impact on others... that they feel responsible to the larger group..."

How to Be an Evil Parent
John Lee, MSW, LCSW

"Dr. Sax carefully reinforced the authority of parents, which he suggested was something parents have been giving up or losing for the last 20 years... There are many parents that fear restrictions in setting limits or disciplining their child..."

Maybe SMART goals really aren’t
Classroom to Capitol (Melinda K Lewis)

"We forget that we’re likely capable of things far larger than what our constrained (and strained) minds can imagine today. We forget that we need aspiration for our motivation, and that no one ever changed the world without trying really, really hard..."

On being both a mental health professional and a patient
This Week in Mentalists (Zarathustra)

"I am, as the name indicates, a Community Psychiatric Nurse. I’m also a user of mental health services... I get why people may not take their medication, or completely ignore the advice of the Psychiatrist. I do it myself..."

Self and No Self: Psychology and Buddhism
This Is Me (spldbch)

"Buddhism asserts that the self... does not exist... Buddhist practice aims to alleviate suffering through losing the self; psychotherapy seeks to alleviate suffering by helping to build, rebuild, find, strengthen, or define the self..."

Spending Money Feels Good
Ari Hahn, LCSW, PhD

"why do people who absolutely should not splurge on luxuries do exactly that?... when there is a perception of even slight disrespect, people will massage their egos by spending money on status symbols and the more they splurge the better the massage..."

To vote or not to vote?
The Not So Big Society (politicalnurse)

"Next week the local elections in the UK will be held and many people will not even bother to vote... Politics (and using our vote) is one way we can all get involved in making choices about our future. ..."

Women Making Moves!: Interview with Sonia Guinansaca
Infusing Passion & Creativity... Women & Girls of Color (Nicole Clark)

"Sonia is an activist and an undocumented poet from New York... She has co-founded the new NYSYLC’s Arts and Expression initiative and serves as the NY END (Education Not Deportation) Campaign coordinator..."

Working with Chronic Populations
Practice Wisdom (Natalie L. Hill, LICSW)

"Whenever one of my clients gets hospitalized, or returns to an addictive behavior... I start to ask myself what I'm doing wrong, or what I could be doing differently... What matters is how we as therapists manage our countertransference so that it informs but does not negatively influence the work..."

Psychology:

“Cyberbullying and Bullying Are Not the Same” Say Kids
Dr. Michele Borba

"Traditional bullying... is often associated with three main characteristics: a power differential between bully and victim, a proactive targeting of a victim, and ongoing aggression... Traditional power differentials – size and popularity – do not necessarily apply online..."

The Fear Factor: Tips for Coping
Dr. Ann Becker Schutte

"Anyone who has faced a life-threatening health crisis, will know what I am talking about when I say, “the fear.” The fear is that thing that lurks beneath the surface. It bubbles up when you have a headache. It spikes when you have a stitch in your side..."

How to Create a Timeline: The Power of Re-working Your Life’s Story, 1 of 2
Neuroscience and Relationships (Dr. Athena Staik)

"A timeline... exercise... can be a tool to make conscious self-directed changes that, literally, rewire your brain to heal itself... your sense of self-worth lives in your life’s story. Your story tells you who you are, what you believe..."

It’s all in the shoes: empathy, victim awareness & the distance from action to impact
Teenage Whisperer (Sam Ross, BSc, MSc, Cert EP (YJ))

"One of the keys to getting them [teens] to consider others feelings is to help them reflect on their own victim experiences first... Meet them where they are at... if they steal, get them to think about when someone has taken something from them..."

The Mind-Brain Split and Enlightenment in Mental Illness
Bipolar Burble (Natasha Tracy)

"I know there is a brain-mind separation. And how do I know this? Perspective. It’s your free gift with a purchase of 10 or more years of bipolar disorder... to put it into a much-used computer metaphor, your mind is like a computer and your brain is like the information it receives..."

A mindful nation: a US congressman argues for widespread adoption of mindfulness practice
Beyond Meds (Giannakali)

" ... the benefit of mindfulness practice is starting to strike people of all sorts. It’s something that can be done regardless of religious belief... The book has a forward by Jon Kabat-Zinn..."

Psychologically Equipped? – White Paper Series #4
Mindfulness for NGOs (Alessandra Pigni)

“Knowledge is ‘KEY’ and being ‘informed’, or lack of, is the biggest problem when it comes to being in the field... Social and political issues add to the field stress... To download chapter 4 please click here #4 White Paper Series-Recruitment and Training

Reflections on 530 Hours
American Counseling Association (Jennifer Bingaman)

"When you work with addicts, you are guaranteed to always have a job. Relapse is incredibly common. I’ve already seen people leave treatment clean only to come back weeks later, seeking the elusive life of sobriety. That’s one of the reasons I don’t want to specialize in addictions..."

Simple Self-Esteem Boosters to Improve Your Self-Esteem
HealthyPlace (Emily Roberts, MA, LPC)

"give that little kid in all of us a self-esteem boost... as simple as changing your body language... practice smiling on purpose... You will likely feel a bit happier and people will perceive you as being so... stand...shoulders back, head up and back...straight..."

SPARX: A New and Effective Computerized, CBT Self-Help Intervention for Depression
Beck Institute Blog

"a new computerized cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) intervention, SPARX (Smart, Positive, Active, Realistic, X-factor thoughts), may reduce depressive symptoms in adolescents seeking treatment... similar in presentation to interactive fantasy avatar computer games..."

Stop Trying to Change Your Partner: Change Your Attitude - Part 1 and Part 2
Laura Schenck, M.A.

"we learn through repeated experiences with our parents and romantic partners what to expect (and not expect) from current relationships... If you find yourself caught in a cycle of discontent or disconnection... take some time to reflect on the ways in which you may contributing to the cycle..."

When Women Tell The Truth
Matrignosis: A Blog About Inner Wisdom (Dr. Jean Raffa

"It’s shocking to know how many women suffer at the hands of men who fear and hate them... Painful to know that so many women in today’s world are mistreated simply because they’re female... Scary because it reminds me how vulnerable I am..."

Private Practice:

A Therapist Website Critique
Marketing a Private Practice (Juliet Austin)

"In this 12-minute video, I critique a... therapist’s [Kaela Scott's] website... I discuss the implications of having a 2-niche website as well as commenting on the copy and some usability issues..."

How To Disentangle Your Private Practice From Managed Care
Private Practice from the Inside Out (Tamara Suttle, M.Ed., LPC)

"Review your contracts with managed care. Not all panels are equal. If you want to gradually transition your practice from being managed-care dependent to being an independent practitioner, then you won’t want to terminate all contracts at once..."

How To Get Paid For No Shows
Private Practice Toolbox (Julie Hanks, LCSW)

"A few years ago, I started requiring new clients to provide a credit card number before they could schedule an initial appointment with me or any of the therapists at my clinic... my practice has very few no shows or late cancellations..."

Nonprofit:

101 Secrets to Great Volunteer Recruitment—Part One
Getting Attention (Robert J. Rosenthal)

"Quick response can also turn incidental interest into something deeper... Download a free PDF copy of 101 Volunteer Recruitment Secrets."

Lead with Intention: How to Practice Conscious Entry
Rosetta Thurman

"Conscious entry allows you to check in with your feelings and intentions before you step into the work... Conscious entry can happen when you meditate or pray before a staff retreat and come into it with a calm, positive demeanor instead of an irritated, frazzled one..."

Please share any thoughts or comments you have below. Also, feel free to mention any great posts that I may have missed.

You May Also Enjoy:
Best in Mental Health (wk of 4/16/2012)
Best in Mental Health (wk of 4/9/2012)
Best in Mental Health (wk of 4/2/2012)
Social Work Abroad
20 Motivational Quotes for Job Seekers
Facing the Past as You Help Others Heal

Drama Therapy in Action

noreply@blogger.com (DorleeM) — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 15:35:00 +0000

Would you like to learn a little about drama therapy?

As you may recall, Noel McDermott was very kind in providing us with an introduction to Drama Therapy – Healing Through Role Playing/Storytelling last year.

This post will provide you with a taste of drama therapy from a different perspective, that of an MSW social worker participating in a graduate class with a drama therapist as a guest lecturer.

According to the National Association of Drama Therapy (NADT) drama therapy is the "intentional use of drama and/or theater processes to achieve therapeutic goals."

Furthermore, "through storytelling, projective play, purposeful improvisation, and performance, participants are invited to rehearse desired behaviors, practice being in relationships, expand and find flexibility between life roles, and perform the change they wish to be and see in the world."

Our sample drama class involved our participation in a number of different drama therapy exercises such as: role play [cards], sculpture, 6 piece story-making method and monologue.

When choosing an activity with a client, we were advised to take into consideration the emotional distance the client needs because unlike talk therapy, drama therapy gets the client to his/her emotions very quickly.

Distancing is a key tool in the dramatic treatment of clients. The choice of technique would depend upon the quality of distance inherent in the technique, the emotional distancing need of the client at that point in time of the therapeutic process and the treatment goals (Beauregard, 2012; Landy, 1983).

In overdistanced forms of drama therapy, clients participate in dramas that do not relate overtly to their own lives. This becomes a cognitive process of remembering the past (Landy, 1983).

Conversely, in underdistanced forms of drama therapy, clients view themselves more directly and personally in the drama. This is an affective process of reliving reexperiencing a past event (Landy, 1983).

Techniques of distancing include: storytelling, projective techniques such as puppets and masks, and psychodramatic techniques such as role-reversal. However each technique may be used along a continuum of distancing (Landy, 1983).

For example, in storytelling, a client could tell a story from his own life and reexperience emotion from that past event, thereby participate in an underdistanced form of drama therapy. On the other end of the continuum of distancing, a client could instead be asked to create a story that has nothing to do overtly with his/her life. This would be an example of an overdistanced form of drama therapy (Landy, 1983).

In general, sessions are always structured with a warm-up, middle (the focus of the session which is the "work") and a subsequent wind-down which ensures a close-up of the issues that came up during the session with clients (Beauregard, 2012).

Moving onto the activities that we participated in....

Role Play Cards

Mark handed each one of us two cards (face down). We were to look at the cards he handed us and then think about whether we wanted to keep one or both of our cards, or trade them with our neighbors, with some of those laying in the center of the room, or to create our own replacement cards (i.e. write a different role on a blank card and take that one instead).

Examples of the various roles written on the cards included: Warrior, Villain, Bully, Innocent, Victim, Survivor, Worrier, Beast, Adult, Child etc. (R. Landy, 1993).

Discussion:

This exercise was used to illustrate how people play different roles all the time. A person can be a student, daughter, sister, leader, artist and more, depending on the context. It is our job as the clinician to help our clients negotiate their different roles and expand the number of roles a person can take on, thereby allowing a person to be more fluid/flexible.

Usually a client is in distress when they are either stuck in a particular role and/or unable to envision themselves taking on a different role.

For an assessment, it can sometimes be helpful to ask a person to make three piles using role play cards answering the following 3 questions: "Who Am I," "Who Do I Want to Be," and "I'm Not Sure." And then you work with the person in order to get him/her to "Who Do I Want to Be."

Sculpture

One group was asked to first represent a sculpture-like image of a problem that is taking place in one of the group member's placements from the perspective of the therapist.

This group had 5 members. One member stood as a firm thick wall separating the client (teen) from the parents. One member sat as the teen leaning towards the parents in an attempt to make a connection. One member represented the father standing facing away from both his teen and wife. One member was the mother sitting half facing the father and half facing the teen, illustrating the ambivalence and locked position. Finally, the therapist was behind the parents in a bit of a lost position.

The therapist then explained the group's sculpture or her problem at work: her teen client no longer wishes to major in computers as her parents had expected and this is upsetting her parents, particularly her father.

The group was then asked to represent via "sculpture" the solution and all members were sitting facing one another this time around, with faces and postures more open and willing to talk and listen.

Discussion:

This exercise can be helpful in getting a person to view his problem (or relationship) in a different light and come up with new ideas for solutions. The drama therapist and/or the other observers may provide comments and/or helpful questions to provoke additional thought.

6 Piece Story-Making Method

A second group was asked to act out a story of a "hero's journey" according to the 6 piece story-making method which entails answering the following 6 questions:

1. Who is the main character?
2. What is the main goal?
3. Who/what can help them?
4. What is the obstacle?
5. How does the character cope with the obstacle?
6. How does it end? Does it end? Or is to be continued?

This group portrayed Michael as a young boy who wanted to go to summer camp but his mother says no. Michael gets upset and he goes out on a walk with his dog. He runs into a friend who is smoking pot and ends up smoking a little despite his dog's obvious distress and attempts at pulling him away from this activity. This particular "play" doesn't end with the problem getting resolved.

Discussion:

This exercise can be helpful in illustrating the way the members of a group typically perceive or react to the world. Once the story has been generated, different themes and ideas can be explored by improvising dialogue or statements from one character to another. The 6 piece story-making method has been taught internationally by Mooli Lahad (Dent-Brown, 2011).

Monologue (example of a projective technique - projecting your emotions/thoughts onto another object)

For this exercise, the members of this group were to have spent a few minutes by themselves writing a monologue, speaking on behalf of one of the objects that they had with them.

There was only enough time for two members of this group to read from their monologues. The first member placed a ring on a chair in front of her and then stood behind the chair and read her [ring's] speech.

To a bystander, it sounded like an interesting perspective of the relationship that this member has with her boyfriend because at times, this ring would be worn but at other times not. At one point, this ring was returned to the boyfriend. Based upon this talk, it appeared that the ring thought that the member and her boyfriend belonged together and that they should stop playing around with her [the ring]. In any case, it was definitely a good sign that she [the ring] was being worn.

Unlike the first monologue which was rather light-hearted, the second talk was rather painful to hear. In this case, an airplane sick bag was the "actor" and it seemed to be expressing the difficulties a parent and teen were having in terms of letting go of one another.

It went something like: "You bring with me everyday but you don't really need me. It's your son who needs me and truthfully, I think you need to stop carrying me with you. Just like you need to let go of J, you need to let go of me.... J is afraid of being an adult, of going to college but you must demonstrate your faith, your belief in J that J can do it despite the fact that J is nervous and scared. J can do it."

Discussion:

This exercise demonstrated how powerful using an inanimate object as the item onto which a person projects his feelings and/or thoughts. Projective techniques enable people to feel more comfortable in revealing their emotions.

Lastly, below are 2 brief clips (not related to class) illustrating how effective drama therapy can be.

How drama therapy has helped to heal communities...

A drama therapist from the Andrus Children's Center sharing a story about a little boy who was able to work on issues of lack of connection and trust through the creation of a play...

To me, this was a very interesting introduction to drama therapy and I would love to learn more.

What are your thoughts about drama therapy? Have you had prior exposure to this type of therapy before? Please share your thoughts/reactions :)

You May Also Enjoy:
Drama Therapy – Healing Through Role Playing/Storytelling
The New Social Worker: Theater Processes Therapeutic in Drama Therapy
Art Therapy and Social Work
Music Therapy: Healing Through Music
Technology Tools for Clinical Practice
A Talk about Upward Mobility and Technology in Social Work

References:
M. Beauregard, MA, RDT, LCAT, Drama therapy in clinical practice guest lecturer, April 16, 2012.
Dent-Brown, K., 2011. Six-Part Storymaking - a tool for CAT practitioners. Reformulation, Summer, pp. 34-36.
Landy, R. (1983). The use of distancing in drama therapy. The Arts in Psychotherapy, Vol 10(3), 175-185.
Landy, R. (1993). Personna and performance: The meaning of role in drama, therapy and everyday life. New York: Guilford Press.

Best in Mental Health (wk of 4/16/2012)

noreply@blogger.com (DorleeM) — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 16:50:00 +0000

I'm watching twitter, google+ and the web so you don't have to...

This post is part of a weekly series, Best in Mental Health, featuring the best posts of the week, in social work, psychology, evidence-based practice/healthcare, non-profit employment and private practice concerns on Social Work Career Development.

To get a quick idea of the topics covered in this week's round-up, please see the above word cloud :)

Evidence Based Practice/Healthcare:

Young people with psychotic symptoms should be offered CBT before antipsychotics
The Mental Elf (Andre Tomlin)

"Antipsychotic drugs are currently prescribed to... young people who are diagnosed with psychosis. Past research has estimated that up to half of people at risk of developing psychosis at a young age will progress to a full blown psychotic illness... Our findings... only one in 10 will actually develop psychosis..."

What’s in a name?
Occupy Healthcare (Dr. Ben Miller)

"When we started Occupy Healthcare, we did so because we wanted to bring attention to so many of the issues plaguing us all in healthcare... Occupying healthcare” is what we want to do in order to accomplish change... we want to change healthcare..."

Social Work:

Celebrating Social Work
@SWSCMedia (Prof. Harry Ferguson)

"Social workers routinely meet the extraordinarily difficult challenge of having to balance empathy and compassion with exercising power and authority to protect the hurt and the vulnerable..." Join Prof. Harry Ferguson at the #SWSCMedia chat on April 24th at 3PM EST

Change Agent: Erine Gray- Aunt Bertha
Kristine Brown

"For social workers, Aunt Bertha is a efficient tool to help their clients find services which saves them much-needed time. For service providers, it is an accountability tool... an online community will de-stigmatize receiving help..."

Beyond Burnout: Secondary Trauma and the Child Welfare Workforce
The Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare

May 1, 2012: 1-4:30PM EST | You may view the [free] program either in person, individual web stream or at a group web stream setting. Registration is available through April 23, 2012.

Dealing with Anger
Cathy Hanville, LCSW

"Anger management is really about appropriate anger expression... To develop anger management skills you first have to be able to identify when you are angry... Admit you are angry... Address the problem directly. Breathe deeply..."

Give me a minute to figure out how I can blame myself
SocialJerk

"... you need to maintain a professional distance. If you take every set back hard, and every struggle your families go through becomes personal, you’re not going to last... When the topic of getting overly involved or caring too much comes up, people usually talk about self care... But it doesn’t address how involved is too involved..."

The Goat
What a Shrink Thinks (Martha Crawford, LCSW)

"Any experience or self-state that makes others uncomfortable, that threatens, frightens, exposes or in someway challenges the status quo can mark you as the sacred goat... It is an inevitable and inescapable reality, that at some point in our lives, the group will turn on us..."

The miracle question for policy advocates
Classroom to Capitol (Melinda K Lewis)

"What if, instead of thinking that we have to dissect a problem infinitely, so that we can present detailed evidence to policymakers, other advocates, and the general public... about exactly what the problem is…we instead started with imagining what it would be like if the problem was gone?..."

Modern Day Slavery is Closer to Home Than You Think
From Where I Stand (Andrea B. Goldberg, LCSW)

"...women are brought to the U.S. under false pretenses and forced into debt servitude... promised the American Dream... charged exorbitant fees for being smuggled into the country... forced to engage in the commercial sex trade... trying to pay off their debt..."

Optimism
Gamer Therapist (Mike Langlois, LICSW)

"It takes optimism to risk answering a question in class, start a business, go to therapy, or play a video game. Without optimism we won’t risk trying and failing, and without trying and failing there can be no innovation..."

Reflections on Blue Light Camp
Connecting Social Care and Social Media (Ermintrude2)

"The purpose of Blue Light Camp was focused particularly on the use of social media/technology solutions and problems faced by first response services – particularly police, fire, ambulance but including social care..."

The Revolution Starts with Me
Infusing Passion & Creativity... Women & Girls of Color (Adaku Utah)

"The Revolution Starts with me is a workshop that utilizes healing practices, interactive activities, storytelling, and skill-sharing, to support activists and social justice organizations in thinking more critically about the importance of prioritizing self-care..."

Therapeutic Texting with Teenage Clients
Trauma and Attachment Therapy (Robin Shapiro, LICSW)

"These texts mimic talking. Connecting. Responding. Responding to response. And a change in affect. The first one had a diagnostic phase, a therapy phase, and a resolution. With this particular client, it cut down on phone calls and deep distress..."

“When You Get, Give, When You Learn, Teach”
N.A.H. (Relando Thompkins, MSW)

"My lecture entitled “Everyone Needs a Little Help” focused on social identities and issues of ability including... the social construction of disability, disability as a social justice issue... When I share about myself and my experiences, I teach others, and when I listen to others share about themselves and their experiences, I learn from them..."

Women's Experiences in Street-Level Prostitution: Implications for Court-Based and Social Service Programs (part 2 of 2)
Living Proof Podcast (UBSSW, Dr. Shelly Wiechelt and Dr. Corey Shdaimah)

"Dr. Shelly Wiechelt and Dr. Corey Shdaimah return to conclude the discussion of their research into women engaging in street-level prostitution in Baltimore, Maryland."

Your Gadgets, the Congo’s Chaos
The Trauma and Attachment Report (Adriana Wilson)

"... our daily lives have become intertwined with technology and its devices... The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) sits on 80% of the world’s supply of coltan... In addition to forced labour, civilians are subjected to widespread human rights violations including sex slavery, child prostitution, mass rape, torture..."

Psychology:

3 things you can do to help your child become more resourceful and resilient
Creativity Queen (Dr. Laura Dessauer)

"Obstacles are opportunities in disguise. Understanding this... may help you the next time your child... encounters a problem... give your child some space to figure it [problem] out before you step in. Do this in a gentle loving manner... "

10 Thoughts About Being Present With People in Grief
Frieda Ferrick, MFT

"Check in. That means, periodically calling or dropping by... Don’t give advice. You should do this or you should do that or I know someone that did this and it helped them... Don’t push people to get better quickly. Grieving has its own rhythms and timing... "

Crap, nuggets & bloody-minded perseverance
Teenage Whisperer (Sam Ross, BSc, MSc, Cert EP (YJ)

"... my shit is only skin deep. It's not really who I am... I have this nugget, this awful truth inside me that I don't want you or anyone else to see... please be a help and not a tool. It will require patience and toleration of my mood swings and erratic behavior..."

EMDR Therapy: Self-Help Techniques for Trauma Relief
HealthyPlace (Kellie Holly, Francine Shapiro, Ph.D.)

"Discovered and developed by Francine Shapiro, Ph.D., EMDR uses eye movements... to reprogram trauma victims’ thinking... EMDR... verbally tie trauma triggers to memories so the brain can move past the pain and heal rapidly... Dr. Shapiro... new EMDR self-help techniques for relief of traumas in your life..."

The Future of Psychiatry (= Clinical Neuroscience)
NIMH (National Institute of Mental Health) (Thomas Insel)

"This year, 11 of the 17 psychiatric residents at Brain Camp were MD-PhDs... They see psychiatry as the natural application of their interest in how the brain works. They want to transform psychiatry into clinical neuroscience... with a great commitment to developing a new scientific basis for clinical care..."

In Therapy Forever? Enough Already
New York Times (Jonathan Alpert)

"ineffective therapy is disturbingly common... In my experience, most people seek therapeutic help for discrete, treatable issues... Therapy can — and should — focus on goals and outcomes, and people should be able to graduate from it..."

It's Just a Word: Transvestite, Transsexual, & Transgender
The Irreverent Psychologist (Jason Evan Mihalko, Psy.D)

"Words matter--our choices in words represent complicated concepts and in turn, create our mutual understandings of the world around us... [Transvestite] was used to describe people who consistently dressed in clothing consistent with what those of the opposite sex wore..."

Learning to Be Present With Yourself
The Mindful Self-Express (Melanie Greenberg, Ph.D)

"We automatically scan our worlds for past mistakes we dare not repeat and future threats we try desperately to avoid and prepare to deal with....Teaching ourselves to focus on the present moment can train our brain pathways towards more deliberate and positive experiencing..."

Post-Prozac Nation: The Science and History of Treating Depression
New York Times Magazine (Siddhartha Mukherjee)

"Prozac, Paxil and Zoloft may never turn out to be the “wonder drugs” that were once advertised. But they have drastically improved our understanding of what depression is and how to treat it... “talk therapies” work in some patients and not in others..."

Teaching Kids Stranger Safety
Dr. Michele Borba

"Step 1: Empower your child to say "No!" If you want your kid to stand up for herself, don’t get in the habit of speaking for her or rescuing... Step 2: Help your child recognize suspicious adult behavior [asking for help, offering treats, feigning an emergency...]..."

Video #3 – “The Transference Begins”
After Psychotherapy (Joseph Burgo, PhD)

"This one covers early manifestations of the transference and includes a lot of examples from recent sessions in my practice... fleshing out the ways that an understanding of the transference can shed light on a person’s “outside” relationships and internal dynamics..."

You Deserve Self-Care
Dr. Ann Becker Schutte

"... On some level, if we have “fallen off the wagon” of self-care, we don’t believe that we deserve to get back on... That moment when you can recognize that you have been avoiding self-care–not because you are lazy, or unmotivated... You can be compassionate..."

Private Practice:

Six Lessons I Learned About Growing A Private Practice
American Counseling Association (Judy Belmont)

"Have a last name that starts with a letter at the beginning of the alphabet... Maybe that is not an option for you – but at least you can name your practice with a name that starts with an A or B!... speak on mental health/wellness issues..."

How To Avoid Collection Agencies When Your Clients Owe You Money
Private Practice from the Inside Out (Tamara Suttle, M.Ed., LPC)

"Collections is difficult in therapy... Consider asking for payment at the beginning of the session. If there is an issue it can be discussed in treatment and the treatment plan can be adjusted to fit their financial reality... Consider asking for a credit card routinely..."

Nonprofit:

Ten AFP Conference Insights from a Newbie
Kivi's Nonprofit Communications Blog (Kim McCleary)

"Donors want to give to causes that inspire and motivate them... Measure what's important... Change is happening all around us; we need to lead it... Get good at video and infographics... Tell the truth..."

Shifting the lens on the millennial generation’s activism
Allison Jones (ajlovesya)

"Volunteering and making donations to organizations are great ways to demonstrate support. However, these are not the only ways to get involved in one’s community. Some folks pay a great deal of attention to what they buy..."

Please share any thoughts or comments you have below. Also, feel free to mention any great posts that I may have missed.

You May Also Enjoy:
Best in Mental Health (wk of 4/9/2012)
Best in Mental Health (wk of 4/2/2012)
Best in Mental Health (wk of 3/26/2012)
The Power of Meditation
Tools to Help You Pass the LMSW Exam

Music Therapy: Healing Through Music

noreply@blogger.com (DorleeM) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 05:50:00 +0000

Have you wondered what is music therapy all about?

As you may recall, Linda Grobman provided us with a lovely introduction to Social Work and Music Therapy last year.

This post will provide you with a few introductory notes of musical therapy from the perspective of a student. Last week, we happened to have a music therapist as a guest lecturer :)

According to the American Music Therapy Association, music therapy is an established health profession that uses music to "address physical, emotional, cognitive, and social needs of individuals. After assessing the strengths and needs of each client, the qualified music therapist provides the indicated treatment including creating, singing, moving to, and/or listening to music. Through musical involvement in the therapeutic context, clients' abilities are strengthened and transferred to other areas of their lives."

Music therapy also provides an outlet or alternative method of communication for people who have difficulties in using words and/or expressing their feelings. No prior experience in music is needed to benefit from this type of therapy.

For those of you interested in learning about the brain science behind music therapy, below is a recent video clip from the PBS Newshour on "The Healing Power of Music."

Moving back to the music therapist guest lecturer, Brian was most interesting. The combination of the stories he shared and the experiential activities we engaged in, made music therapy come alive for me in a very meaningful way.

After providing us with a brief description of his background, he shared with us some of his experiences in running a music therapy clinic in Mostar, Bosnia and working with children and adults who were 4 through 21 years old. They were all second-generation trauma survivors related to the Balkan wars; that is, they were all experiencing trauma symptoms as if they had lived through the wars themselves.

Brian illustrated the effective use of music therapy by walking us through the history of one little 5 year old boy who did not live through the Balkan wars but whose mother (or parents) did. His mother never had the opportunity to express, process or work through all the pain that she had suffered through.

This led the boy to exhibit the same symptoms of trauma as if he had lived through the war himself. In the video clip that Brian showed us of one of this first sessions with this little boy, the boy "B." On the one hand, "B" was sometimes being playful and seeking mirroring from Brian (and his mother who was too depressed and disassociated to respond).

On the other hand, "B" would often beat down hard on the piano keys and you could hear in the music he played - both rage and pain. "B" was essentially expressing in a very safe manner some of the pent-up rage and pain that his mother was unable to express.

It was through the aid of music therapy that Brian was able to give "B" the necessary mirroring and positive attention that he so desperately needed. Furthermore, the musical instruments served as a safe venue for the expression of the mother's pent-up range and pain, as well as great transition objects to use to help "B" separate from the mother and ultimately work his way to other people/places in his life.

After Brian finished sharing his powerful second-generational trauma case study, he walked us through 2 fun music therapy exercises.

2 Music Therapy Exercises:

The first exercise was a mirroring type in which we all stood together in a circle facing one another. One of us would come up any sort of movement and sound combination that came to us (twice to allow the others in the circle to absorb what it is that we did) and then we would all repeat that same movement and sound combination together.

At first, there was a bit of awkwardness but as we got used to the assignment, we started to feel more comfortable with the task and have more fun with it. Many of us also found ourselves experiencing the emotion that would naturally go along with whatever movement and sound combination we were mirroring.

After everyone had a turn in mirroring, Brian asked us to quickly move so as to stand next to and touch the person who made the movement/sound combination that connected with each of us the most and then explain why.

The second exercise dealt with emotion-regulation. For this exercise, Brian asked for a volunteer to be willing to describe a relatively simple situation that was moderately anxiety-provoking.

In our case, "Z" volunteered that she was feeling anxious about terminating with a client. Brian then asked her to describe in more detail her emotions so that she could have a total of 3 or 4 emotions. The goal was for us to be split up into 3 or 4 groups to represent each of her different feelings.

As Z thought about terminating with this client, she realized that she felt 4 emotions: anxiety, relief, some worry, as well as a desire for some balance or zen.

Therefore, she asked her "anxiety" representatives to make the sounds of an anxiety sort of squeal, her "relief" group to let sighs (repeatedly) and her "zen" group to be making "ohm" sounds.

I don't recall what sound the "worry" group was to make... In any case, all 4 groups were making their assigned sounds and Brian instructed Z to modulate their sounds so that they were at the right pitch/volume etc. that she would like.

Z ultimately made her zen and sigh group a bit louder and lowered the volume of her worry and anxiety groups.

Observations:

This exercise gave Z the feeling that she has more control than she thought over the emotions that she has.
Z would have liked some more time to be able to adjust the sounds/volume of the different groups (but she had also been concerned over the fact that people in the different groups looked like they were starting to suffer from making non-stop the sound requests she had made).

I hope you enjoyed this little taste of music therapy.

What are your thoughts about music therapy and/or this post? Have you had prior exposure to this type of therapy before? I'd love to hear from you :)

You May Also Enjoy:
Social Work and Music Therapy
The New Social Worker: David's Harp: Bringing Healing Through Music
Music as a Means of Establishing Rapport
Continuing Education: Optional or Obligatory?
Exploring Career Paths in Social Work

Reference:
B.T. Harris, MA, MT-BC, LCAT, Music psychotherapist guest lecturer, April 9, 2012.

Best in Mental Health (wk of 4/9/2012)

noreply@blogger.com (DorleeM) — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 18:42:00 +0000

"another way of slicing American society -- right down the middle... Poverty is concentrated in this half of America, both adult and child; the percentage of uninsured people is high; and the median income has dropped significantly since 2000..."

What Food Stamps Can Teach Us about Health Care
HealthWorks Collective (John Goodman)

"There are about 50 million people on Medicaid in the United States and the biggest problem they have, by far, is finding a doctor who will see them... The quickest, surest way to create access to care for poverty-level families is to allow them to pay market prices..."

Social Work:

20 Commandments for Mental Health Workers
This Week in Mentalists (Zarathustra)

"Thou shalt respect your client and not judge; Thou shalt be in time for appointments and ‘phone calls. It will show your client that he matters; Thou shalt not let your bad mood or personal issues influence your professional attitude..."

Ally Alert: Interview with Daniel José Older
Infusing Passion & Creativity... Women & Girls of Color (Nicole Clark)

"Daniel has facilitated workshops on music and anti-oppression organizing... violence against women gets complicated and magnified by a tangled web of intersecting forms of violence; police brutality, gentrification, economic oppression and medical discrimination..."

But our path can’t be that easy, or why advocates can’t be Amazon
Classroom to Capitol (Melinda K Lewis)

"unfortunately, we... can’t make activism too easy... there has to be some sacrifice, because the advocacy is a signal to those in power of what we’re willing to expend to address the problems that motivate our action..."

Challenges and opportunities of project management in social work and social care
JKP Blog (Interview with Gary Spolander and Linda Martin)

"The reality for social work and social care organizations today is that they are expected to produce more for less, so balancing quality and budget requirements requires good skills, resourcefulness and integrity..."

DSM-5 Projected for May, 2013: Publication Draft Revisions Continue To Be Met with Controversy and Challenges
NASW-NYC Connections (Jack A. Carney, DSW)

"I haven’t seen any social workers expressing opinions pro or con on the new DSM and no social work organization has endorsed the APA/ACA petition. Social workers are the single largest cohort of mental health practitioners in the country... there is still time..."

Innovation, Strategic Networks & Social Media: Or Why I’m Here
Virtual Connections (Nancy Smyth)

"one of the main reasons I’m here... ideas, ideas that drive innovation and allow me to forecast trends... For example, I follow some people on Twitter that I really don’t interact with, but who post awesome content... outside of my discipline..."

The Jenna Talackova Story - some thoughts
Child Protection Lessons (Peter Choate)

"Jenna Talackova is the transgendered Canadian who has been seeking to compete in the Miss Universe contest... This is a story of change, difference but also one of family and community support and acceptance... the types of resilience factors that we are often looking for..."

The Pink Cloud
Practice Wisdom (Natalie L. Hill, LICSW)

"In AA and NA, people talk about the "pink cloud" - that period of time in early recovery when everything feels and seems good... People may conclude that they have beaten the addiction, and become overconfident in their recoveries... something worth thinking about, whatever type of change we're helping clients to make..."

Scary pics but nice words…
Martin Webber's Blog (@mgoat73)

"In March I was interviewed by Natalie Valios for The College of Social Work’s online magazine... I argued that it is up to us – social workers – to define our identity rather than leave it to policymakers or other professional groups to do it for us..."

Social Justice & Technology
Gamer Therapist (Mike Langlois, LICSW)

"There is a shortfall between lived experience, social justice and technology occurring on a microscopic level in the US, and part of why we all need to become more digitally literate is so that we can advocate on behalf of under-served and marginalized populations for technology to improve their lives..."

Tech Topics: Learning by Podcast With Jonathan SingerThe New Social Worker (Claudia J. Dewane, D.Ed., LCSW)

"Dr. Jonathan Singer is the founder of The Social Work Podcast ... The most rewarding aspect is connecting with experts in the field, listeners from all over the world who share their social work experiences, and feeling like I’m making a valuable contribution to the social work profession..."

Violence begins when democracy ends
The Not So Big Society (politicalnurse)

"Democracy is what we all hope to live by in demonstrating a tolerant attitude to the many different values and beliefs within a society that needs a certain amount of rules for it to be successful... "

What can United Nations do for the Young People?
@SWSCMedia (Claudia)

"a #SWSCmedia debate in support of @UN Secretary General Q&A with Young People... Join debate on Tuesday (10 March 2012) and share your views... Discussion will begin at 3PM EST..."

Why Mental Health is Bad for My…Mental Health
SocialJerk

"When ACS refers a case to us, there are certain things they want done... Everyone in the family–parents, kids, household pets–should have a psychiatric evaluation... We are tragically failing our people in need when the only way to get (temporary, kinda-ok) treatment is to be brought in slitting your wrists..."

Psychology:

Four Approaches to Forgiveness, Ranging From ‘Cheap’ to ‘Genuine’
Neuroscience and Relationships (Dr. Athena Staik)

"Genuine forgiveness, Dr. Abrahms Spring argues, is a more in-depth process that involves the person who acted wrongly, and places the onus of responsibility on them, while simultaneously, freeing the person wronged to have the option to not forgive the other..."

10 Sobering Stats on College Drinking Deaths
Dr. Michele Borba

"Nearly 2,000 students die from alcohol-related injuries each year... the first year of college is easily the most dangerous... With all the pressure, the separation from family and familiar surroundings, and the lack of sleep... depression is...very common..."

A Smile a Day Keeps Insecurity Away: Bonding without Spoken Language
The Trauma and Attachment Report (Tessie Mastorakos)

"Prior to diagnosis and learning that their child may be deaf, parents often have difficulty understanding the needs of their baby. They usually manage to find ways to calm their child through facial expressiveness and touch, but begin to notice how ineffective talking and singing is when trying to soothe their child..."

ECT Related Materials: (A reference)
A Friend to Yourself (Sana Johnson-Quijada, MD)

Several sources addressing the topic of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) are provided.

The Empathy Deficit: Why don’t they care?
Teenage Whisperer (Sam Ross, BSc, MSc, Cert EP (YJ))

"They [teens with challenging behavior] seem to lack the ability to consider others and to view their actions from the perspective of the people on the receiving end... teens in general often do not reflect on how their actions affect them, let alone others... Teens live... in the rush of their emotions..."

Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness Affects Recovery
HealthyPlace (Natasha Tracy)

"Stigma is something that can be seen outwardly like when a family member avoids you due to your depression or you’re passed over for a promotion... It’s also seen in public perceptions as noted in the Surgeon’s General report..."

It Is What It Is
NAMI (Dawn Brown)

"My son was 8 years old the first time a doctor told me he had a psychotic illness... After the initial shock of hearing the diagnosis of psychosis my first reaction was denial... Being proactive in your advocacy is the best course of action. Hope for the best, but be prepared for the worst.."

Laughing Matters
What a Shrink Thinks (Martha Crawford, LCSW)

"Therapeutic horseplay, testing the strength of our alliance, enjoying our trust in each other, playing with the parameters of our shared perspectives and friendly teasing about the divergences in our world views shores up and sustains the work..."

Let’s Talk about Dying (and Living)
Dr. Ann Becker Schutte

"We are all going to die. So are all the people that we love... But I firmly believe that if we are able to talk about this, instead of shoving these truths into a box in our heads, we can actually build lives that are richer, more connected, and more full of meaning..."

Male Drug Users and Female Counselors
American Counseling Association (Jennifer Bingaman)

"I have had the most difficulty in this job [at a men’s residential drug treatment facility] because of my gender than in any other job. I have been asked to leave work to change my outfit because it was too suggestive for the clients... I am a person, a woman with self-worth..."

On Safety Town, Spending My White Privilege, and a Cambridge Policeman
The Irreverent Psychologist (Jason Evan Mihalko, Psy.D)

"We learned as kids that policemen and firemen (and at the time, they were all men) were good people. We learned they were there to help us... Yesterday I had an experience that really shook me... "Officer can I ask you for some help?"..."

Psychodynamic Psychotherapy Video #2 – The Early Weeks
Therapy Case Notes (Joseph Burgo, PhD)

"In addition to developing a deeper understanding of the client’s... issues, these sessions involve a fair amount of education about the process itself: how it is the job of the psychotherapist to make the unconscious conscious... explaining what kind of change is possible..."

Think Different: On post-traumatic growth
Mindfulness for NGOs (Alessandra Pigni)

"There are times when things are bad and there is no “think positive” attitude that helps out of it... Stress, burnout and trauma can become a wake-up call for aid workers... Post-traumatic growth recognizes that life is uncertain and that things change... Mindfulness is thus central to building resilience..."

April is Sexual Assault and Prevention Awareness Month
American Psychological Association (Dr. Elaine Ducharme)

"reduce the risk of being sexually assaulted... Be aware of your surroundings... Try to avoid isolated areas... Walk with purpose... Trust your instincts. If a situation or location feels unsafe or uncomfortable, it probably isn’t the best place to be..."

Nonprofit:

Can I Live on a Non Profit Salary?
Allison Jones (ajlovesya)

"some tips to keep in mind when thinking about your salary... Keep searching or rethink how you can become involved in the non profit sector... until you find an opportunity that provides the salary you need... go beyond salary..."

Diana’s Big Move: The job applications continue…
Idealist Blog (Diana Hsu)

"It’s easy to feel burnt out when you spend hours on applications and you don’t receive positive feedback... as tempting as it may be, in most cases you should refrain from following up on your resume... One exception to this is if you have a substantial addition to make to your file..."

Private Practice:

The Client-Attracting Therapist Website [Infographic]
Marketing a Private Practice (Juliet Austin)

"... I’ve listed 10 factors (the green circles) that will influence your conversion rate (the percentage of people who come to your website who decide to become clients)... include as many “conversion factors” as possible to maximize the number of website visitors who will turn into clients..."

Please share any thoughts or comments you have below. Also, feel free to mention any great posts that I may have missed.

You May Also Enjoy:
Best in Mental Health (wk of 4/2/2012)
Best in Mental Health (wk of 3/26/2012)
Best in Mental Health (wk of 3/12/2012)
The "Ugly" in Art Therapy
Innovation in Social Work

The Power of Meditation

noreply@blogger.com (DorleeM) — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 18:59:00 +0000

Recently, I had the opportunity to attend Dr. Dan Siegel's seminar "How Psychotherapy Works."

It was a fascinating day in which I learned about the intersection of psychology, neuroscience and mindfulness meditation in mental health.

Below are my key take-aways from Dan Siegel's talk:

Mindsight = the special kind of attention that allows you to see the inner workings of your own mind. It helps you to become aware of your thought processes without being swept away by them. It enables you to turn off the autopilot of (previously) ingrained behaviors/responses. In other words, it helps you "name and tame" your emotions vs. being overwhelmed by them.

For those of you who are familiar with mindfulness meditation, Mindsight is essentially the state of awareness that one obtains from the practice of mindfulness meditation.

However, as Dan explained, he had developed Mindsight without any knowledge of mindfulness meditation at the time. It just so happened that the Mindsight and mindfulness meditation overlapped and the subsequent research in support of all the benefits of mindfulness meditation, is in support of his research as well.

Mind = an emergent self-organizing process that regulates energy and information flow. The mind is both embodied (within us) and relational (between us).

Integration is (mental) health; linkage of differentiated parts. This may be achieved through mindsight, or mindfulness meditation practiced on a regular basis. Dan has a "Wheel of Awareness" meditation tool that we may use for this purpose available for free at www.drdansiegel.com.

*Mindsight: The New Science of Personal Transformation - shows us how to help others monitor their minds and achieve mindsight.
*The Mindful Therapist: A Clinician's Guide to Mindsight and Neural Integration helps learn how to monitor our own minds and self-regulate.

When integration is impaired, you lead a life that is either rigid or chaotic. In other words, it is either rather stuck and dull or explosive and unpredictable. You can also become imprisoned in various behavioral ruts such as anxiety, depression, obsession and addiction.

Conversely, with integration, harmony and well-being emerge, as well as the "open plane of possibility." Integration is a process by which differentiated elements are linked together into a working whole. This, in turn, leads the mind to have increased flexibility and adaptability.

The ability to see the mind first develops based upon your early interactions with others, primarily through communication with your parents and caregivers.

When those adults are in tune with you, that is, they reflect back to you as a child, an accurate portrayal of your internal world/emotions, you will come to sense your own mind with clarity.

However, when those early caregivers provide unresponsive, distant or confusing responses, their lack of attunement is likely to lead to you having a cloudy/distorted mindsight lens.

Regardless of how attuned our parents or caregivers were to our emotional world, neuroscience has definitely shown that we can grow these new connections throughout our lives (not just in childhood) via mindsight because the brain never stops growing in response to experience.

Mindsight (via Mindfulness Meditation) > Integration > Mental Health

Below is a video clip of Dr Dan Siegel talking about some of these concepts.

In sum, developing the skill of Mindsight changes the physical structure of the brain, leading to a healthier, more integrated structure that leads to better mental health. In addition, neuroscience confirms that mindfulness meditation activates the brain circuits that are responsible for our resilience, well-being, as well as our feelings of empathy and compassion.

As much as regular practice of mindful meditation is important for obtaining and maintaining integration in the brain, it is not the only component one needs for a healthy mind.

Thoughts and emotions will come up as a result of practicing meditation; one becomes aware of previously ingrained habits and "shoulds" from one's childhood. Sometimes facing these past memories and emotions and moving forward require the assistance of psychotherapy.

Furthermore, aside from meditation (or "time in"), Dan recommends that we engage in the other 6 servings of the Healthy Mind Platter to help our brain function at its best.

In other words, he suggests that we incorporate each of the following activities or "mental nutrients" into our daily routine: time in, sufficient sleep, physical activity, focus time, down time, play time and connecting time.

Engaging in the Healthy Mind Platter -- > enables our brain to coordinate and balance its activities --> strengthen our brain's internal connections and our connections with other people --> Greater Health and Well-Being

What are your thoughts about meditation and/or the Healthy Mind Platter? Do the potential benefits of time in and the other "mental nutrients" make you want to start engaging in these activities yourself and/or incorporating these components in your work with clients?

You May Also Enjoy:
Meditation and Stress Management
10 Take-Aways from Workshop on Neuroscience, Meditation & Health
Spirituality, Compassion and Gestalt Therapy
Unlearning with Jack Uldrich
Twitter Chats for Mental Health Professionals

Reference:
Siegel, D., How psychotherapy works seminar, March 31, 2012.
Siegel, D., (2011). Mindsight. New York: Bantom Books.

Best in Mental Health (wk of 4/2/2012)

noreply@blogger.com (DorleeM) — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 19:54:00 +0000

"Researchers... have been working on a major new study for the last 5 years, which investigates the cost-effectiveness of a physical activity intervention as a treatment for depression. The headline... is that the physical activity promoting intervention in primary care did not lead to any clinical benefit in terms of depressive symptoms..."

Self-Service Healthcare?
e-patients.net (Dan Hoch)

"I think there are parallels between the failure of the self check-out lanes in grocery stores, and the failure of many patients to embrace engagement... The majority of patients are not e-patients... customers will only embrace self-service when it provides something they want and when the technology is intuitive..."

Social Work:

The People Who Inspire Series: Nick Berbiers
N.A.H. (Relando Thompkins, MSW)

"Today’s Post features Nick Berbiers, Social Care Interim Manager and Consultant at Neist Point Limited in the United Kingdom... it’s ALL about social justice and equity. I hope it is visible as a motivator, a driver, and an aspiration in my management..."

Anxiety and ego strength
This Is Me (spldbch)

"How do I know when to "push" (i.e., encourage) a patient to stick with the treatment and when to back off? Is it my job to say to a patient, "Look, I don't think you can handle this?" And what if I'm wrong?... There doesn't seem to be a clear cut answer to this..."

Be half that you can be
SocialJerk

"I’m really happy about two of these cases that are closing... I’m thrilled that they’ve made so much progress and done so much work that they are... ready to move on... Two out of four. Fifty percent... I’m kind of elated with those numbers... In social work... there are so many variables..."

Can We Love God & Sex?: Religion, Media, & Young Women’s Sexuality
Infusing Passion & Creativity... Women & Girls of Color (Nicole Clark)

"In the United States, we live in a contradictory society regarding sex and sexuality. Women are expected to remain virtuous until their wedding night while men are encouraged to be sexually experienced prior to marriage..."

Child Sexual Abuse Disclosures
Child Protection Lessons (Peter Choate)

"Two recent studies have offered some very important information on the issues of disclosures in child sexual abuse... 3 overarching themes... Active Withholding...Pressure Cooker Effect – a build up of tension between wanting and not wanting to tell..."

Disenfranchized: Race, Class, and "Equal" Rights
Practice Wisdom (Natalie L. Hill, LICSW)

"people of color are incarcerated at much higher rates that Caucasians... particularly... on drug charges... anyone with a felony conviction is systematically and permanently disenfranchised in our society. They are ineligible to vote in many states, are excluded from many jobs, can't get student loans, food stamps, or housing assistance..."

A Different Perspective on the Dharun Ravi Invasion of Privacy Case
From Where I Stand (Andrea B. Goldberg, LCSW)

"Dharun Ravi was recently found guilty of invasion of privacy and a bias crime against his roommate Tyler Clementi in a highly publicized trial... One good thing has come out of this tragedy. New Jersey has strengthened its anti-bullying law so that it is one of the strictest in the country..."

Failing Better
Gamer Therapist (Mike Langlois, LICSW)

"Play is a vital part of being a person, and failure is a vital part of play... We need to improve the quality and experience of failure in schools... If we think we are capable of solving a problem, we will keep at it. Therefore, we need to foster a sense of autonomy in learning..."

Say you’re a social worker
Classroom to Capitol (Melinda K Lewis)

"far too many social workers call ourselves “therapists” or “administrators” or even “advocates,” without specifying that we approach those disciplines from an identity within the social work profession... "

Serenity by tap tap tap
Social Work Tech Blog (Ignacio Pacheco, MSW)

"Stop what you're doing right now, go to iTunes, and download Serenity... It’s free for a very limited time! It’s an app I would recommend for your clients... It promotes relaxation using aesthetically visual and calm auditory elements..."

Social workers and the teacher role
Diary of a Social Worker (Dave Ray)

"Whether they [social workers] are a therapist or a housing case manager, they are teachers; they teach their clients about things that, if taken to heart, can make for a better life... Unlike most other “educators”... the social worker has the unique task of drawing on the strengths of the client..."

Veterinary Social Work: "One Health" in Action
Living Proof Podcast (UB School of Social Work, Dr. Elizabeth Strand)

"In episode 93, Dr. Elizabeth Strand discusses Veterinary Social Work (VSW)... that is a part of the One Health Initiative. One Health embraces the fact that health and well-being among humans, animals, and the environment are inextricably linked..."

What would be better than the Resource Allocation System?
The Not So Big Society (Ermintrude2)

"The Resource Allocation System (RAS) in adult social care in England is the means by which local authorities determine the size of the ‘personal budget’ pot in social care and the money that will be paid (or services in lieu) to the recipient..."

Psychology:

Six Qualities Leaders Need to Be Successful
The Mindful Self-Express (Melanie Greenberg, Ph.D)

"Leaders have to be able to flexibly adapt their strategies in line with their personal qualities, the company culture, and the situation... Leadership by example can be powerful... The best leaders put in place a structure that allows for employee personal development..."

Six Tips for Avoiding Injury to Self and Others on the Internet
Dr. Keely Kolmes

"the Internet. It gives so much to us in terms of support, connection, and the ability to obtain and absorb information. ... it can also take so much away: feelings of pain, jealousy, feeling left out, or trying to interpret messages from pixels on the screen..."

Ten Steps of Acceptance – When Forgiving Is Not the Best Option
Neuroscience and Relationships (Dr. Athena Staik)

“Acceptance is not forgiveness,” Dr. Abrahms Spring points out. It is rather a critical choice that allows the person wronged to fully take the reins of their own healing – independent of the actions of the person that wronged them..."

The Anatomy of Joy with Brené Brown - (free live video event)
SoundsTrue and Omega (the Women & Happiness Conference)

"April 21, 2012, 2:30 PM EST; By exploring the relationship between joy and gratitude, Dr. Brown guides you through the process of navigating your feelings of vulnerability and shows you how your sense of worthiness impacts your ability to be happy in every area of your life..."

Are you a boiled frog?
Mindfulness for NGOs (Alessandra Pigni)

"aid workers often relate to the story of the boiled frog... Pain and stress are part of life, they turn into suffering when we add the extra ingredients of resistance or avoidance... Integrating some quiet time in our daily life is so important..."

As a parent what do you choose to reflect?
Creativity Queen (Dr. Laura Dessauer)

"How can you choose to honor, respect, listen to, validate yourself?... Take out a piece of paper, collage materials, markers, pastels, or paint... Allow yourself the space to explore with the art materials...When you take the time to honor and witness your thoughts and feelings (both good and bad) you’ll likely feel re-energized, nourished..."

Early Maladaptive Schemas: Understand Your Patterns
Laura Schenck, M.A.

"A schema is considered to be a stable longstanding pattern that develops through early childhood experiences and develops into an unquestioned lens through which you view the world as an adult... Problems may develop when EMS’s [early maladaptive schemas] persist into adulthood and adversely impact... life or relationships..."

Go Away Evil: Global Mental Health and Traditional Healers
NAMI Blog (Delaney Ruston)

"Most developing countries spend less than one percent of their health budgets on mental health and eight out of 10 people with severe mental illness go untreated... Educational campaigns that link mental illness to a bio-medical paradigm are practically nonexistent..."

‘How do I feel?’ Are you crazy?
Teenage Whisperer (Sam Ross, BSc, MSc, Cert EP (YJ))

"Half the time I have absolutely no idea how I feel... Instead of asking me how I feel, ask me what I did... By asking what I did, I will start to talk, and you will end up exploring my emotions, but in an indirect non-threatening way..."

New Video Series on Psychodynamic Psychotherapy
After Psychotherapy (Joseph Burgo, PhD)

"I’ve settled on a series of lectures about the process of psychodynamic psychotherapy... In this video [Psychodynamic Therapy and What to Expect], I abandoned my script and teleprompter... I ran through the outline of the subject I wanted to discuss beforehand — the first session..."

PTSD Prof Perspective: Acquaintance Rape: A Matter of Consent©, Part 6
Heal My PTSD (Dr. Amy Menna)

"Educate yourself on the topic of rape and related issues. Knowledge is power. It allows survivors to identify what happened and how it is affecting them... Assign responsibility. Rape is the responsibility of the assailant. It doesn’t matter what the survivor was doing, wearing, drinking or what has transpired in the past..."

Sometimes Life Just Hurts–Part II
Dr. Ann Becker Schutte

"The most important thing to do in response to random bad stuff is to... Find a safe space to name and process your feelings... Focus on what is on under your control... Try to remember that everyone experiences random bad stuff... Don't disconnect..."

Successful Despite Schizophrenia
HealthyPlace TV (Kellie Holly)

"Mr. MacPhee, CEO and founder of Magpie Media Inc., was diagnosed with schizophrenia when he was 24. Bill struggled with his illness, was in and out of hospitals and group homes... Through medication, family support, and other therapies, eventually he was able to take control of his life..."

When Supervision Isn’t Enough
American Counseling Association (Grace Hipona)

"I worked with a Masters-level counseling student, “Jennifer,”... I was her onsite supervisor... Jennifer worked well with the clients when they were not experiencing any crises or acute stress..."

Nonprofit:

11 LinkedIn Profile Tips for Nonprofit Professionals
Nonprofit Tech 2.0

"Though it may take four to five hours, you should make the effort and invest the time necessary to complete your LinkedIn Profile in order to maximize its full potential... Resist the urge and do not automate [your updates or sync with twitter]..."

The 50 Best Nonprofits To Work For In 2012
Nonprofit Jobs

"a survey [was] sent to the nonprofits' employees, which contained 72 statements to which they responded using a five-point agreement scale. These statements covered topics such as role satisfaction, work environment, pay and benefits, and relationship with supervisor..."

Private Practice:

What to Do When Everyone Laughs At You
Dr. Susan Giurleo

"Did you know that more people fear public speaking than death?... We fear what we experienced as bad in the past... we all have had the experience of someone laughing at us. It feels awful... Here is what you do when people laugh at you: Smile and nod. Get away... Acknowledge your feelings..."

Please share any thoughts or comments you have below. Also, feel free to mention any great posts that I may have missed.

You May Also Enjoy:
Best in Mental Health (wk of 3/26/2012)
Best in Mental Health (wk of 3/12/2012)
Best in Mental Health (wk of 3/5/2012)
Career Advice from a Dean of Social Work
Parallel Processes, Boundaries & Authenticity
Meditation and Stress Management

Best in Mental Health (wk of 3/26/2012)

noreply@blogger.com (DorleeM) — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 22:38:00 +0000

I'm watching twitter, google+ and the web so you don't have to...

This post is part of a weekly series, Best in Mental Health, featuring the best posts of the week, in social work, psychology, evidence-based practice/healthcare, non-profit and private practice concerns on Social Work Career Development.

To get a quick idea of the topics covered in this week's round-up, please see the above word cloud :)

Evidence Based Practice/Healthcare:

Can pregnant women with depression take SSRI antidepressants without harming their unborn baby?
The Mental Elf (Andre Tomlin)

"Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants are commonly offered to pregnant women suffering from depression... Untreated maternal depression was associated with slower rates of fetal body and head growth. Pregnant mothers treated with SSRIs had fewer depressive symptoms..."

Health Care Reform, the Supreme Court and Implications for People Living with Mental Illness
NAMI (Ron Honberg)

"This week, the U.S. Supreme Court is hearing arguments on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act (ACA)... there are two main issues before the Court... First, is the provision in the law requiring Americans to purchase health insurance (the “mandate”) an impermissible tax?..."

ObamaCare and the End of Nothing
The Health Care Blog (JD Kleinke)

"ObamaCare is expected to cram 30 million uninsured people into the current non-system. Complementary elements of the law make it illegal for health insurers to kick any of us out if we get too sick or stop paying our bills if we get too expensive. And if an insurer makes too much money in the process, it needs to refund a portion. Aside from these four economically intertwined health insurance market reforms, most everything else about ObamaCare is business as usual..."

Social Work:

Breakdown
This Is Me (spldbch)

"we all vary in our ability to cope with stress... Still... we all have limits to what we can endure... We significantly decrease the likelihood that we will ever reach our "breaking point" by coping with individual stressors as they arise and by making self care a priority..."

CHE: A Graduate Student With $88,000 in Student Loans Speaks Out About College Debt
Michigan Girl's Cafe

"Young people like Ms. Johnson, who are starting adult life deeper in debt than students a decade ago, see themselves as part of a new generation of serfdom. Even as their debt grows, she and others say that student activism around the issue is weaker in the United States than in other countries..."

Doritos for breakfast? Only if they’re Cool Ranch!
SocialJerk

"Every day the kids come to us after school with chips and candy... More toddlers than I can count eat Doritos in the office for breakfast... I don’t want this to be another thing my families think I just don’t get... we’re already asking a family to do some much... All I can do is model another way, provide some other options..."

Good enough parenting - a concept in need of development
Child Protection Lessons (Peter Choate)

"Child protection is faced with difficult decisions about whether or not to sustain a family unit... the question that often vexes workers is what is the standard against which to judge parents... Perhaps we... need not agree with a parenting strategy but accept it if that strategy allows a child to develop in a context in which they are likely to be successful..."

How not to do heroin harm reduction
The Not So Big Society (Zarathustra)

"There’s an argument that any references to heroin use in culture inevitably glamorizes it... My own view, and this might be colored by my anti-censorship inclinations, is that while there may have been a bit of glamorization, the film did also show the harrowing nature of heroin addiction..."

Intervention: A Parable To Get You By
Social Work Tech Blog (Ignacio Pacheco, MSW)

"I love using stories to help a client connect their situation to a general concept I want them to learn... Keeping friends: Anita learns a valuable lesson about friendships while handling gentle baby chickens... Why Do We Shout in Anger? A master converses with his disciples about communication between people..."

The Long Run
What a Shrink Thinks (Martha Crawford, LCSW)

"A lifetime ago you traveled to the mountain to seek healing for some utterly transforming loss, trauma, chaos, confusion, or pain that burdened you and set you apart, publicly or privately, from the “normal” others who were not (yet) traumatized..."

Mastering Approaches to Diversity in Social Work
@SWSCMedia (Interview with Linda Gast and Anne Patmore, Courtesy of JKP Books)

"In my experience of working with student social workers and those undertaking post-qualifying awards, there is a tendency to think ‘race, culture, religion’ when asked about diversity. Recognizing the importance of other aspects of difference may be more of a struggle for people, and takes more teasing out..."

The People Who Inspire Series: Lumas Helaire
N.A.H. (Relando Thompkins, MSW)

"Dr. Lumas Helaire... co-founder Obvious Inc. They work to enhance positive youth development with adolescent males and enhance the professional and personal growth of young adult males by training males in college in mentoring middle school boys..."

PhD Elitism
Jae Ran Kim

"I entered graduate school because I was tired of reading research articles about my community that asked what I thought were wrong questions or made incorrect assumptions about us... Many of the PhD’s I admire the most are the ones who wanted to help advance their communities..."

Termination
I See Things Upside Down (Brandi E McNeil, MSW Student)

"I understood all of it [termination] intellectually. It made sense that you should give clients time to process the end of the relationship, and give them time to work though it during sessions. But there's a huge difference between understanding something and actually experiencing it..."

Things I Didn't Learn in School: Utilization Review
Practice Wisdom (Natalie L. Hill, LICSW)

"Utilization Review (or UR) is a fancy way of saying insurance review - it is the process health care providers have to go through to get health insurance companies to pay for treatment... you have to demonstrate that there is a clinical condition that is impairing the client's functioning and requires the recommended treatment (rather than a less-costly alternative)..."

Third-order Engagement: Friends don’t let friends advocate alone
Classroom to Capitol (Melinda K Lewis)

"People are more likely to get excited about something that their friends are excited about. And they’re more likely to be receptive to messages that are conveyed by those with whom they already have a strong relationship...Are our advocacy efforts set up to make it easy for people to “invite” friends to take a stand with them..."

Psychology:

Seven Strategies to Boost Healing Processes In Brain & Body Naturally, 3 of 3
Neuroscience and Relationships (Dr. Athena Staik)

"The first, and perhaps most critical step to regain emotional (and physical) wellbeing is simply to stop ingesting foods and drinks that promote chronic inflammation, and take in nutrient rich foods instead... Enjoy a balanced exercise program..."

The Anger Debrief for Workers
Teenage Whisperer (Sam Ross, BSc, MSc, Cert EP (YJ))

"In the context of debriefing an anger incident (or series of incidents)... What was my role in it?... Did I encourage it?... Am I just applying bandaids?... Do I have a big-head?...Am I disengaged?... Did I hammer my point home with a jack-hammer?..."

Anticipate Rejections – Normal And Part of Our Human Condition
A Friend to Yourself (Sana Johnson-Quijada, MD)

"But whether we are applying for employment or asking to be someone’s friend... rejections are normal. They may feel particularly personal, but that’s a distortion... We love success... We forget from sunset to sunrise what a day’s labor brought us before..."

Battle of Wills: Who Controls Mealtime?
The Trauma & Attachment Report (Saqina Abedi)

"Since feeding is a time when a parent is fulfilling a child’s basic needs, mealtime interactions can have a strong impact on attachment... Difficulties often arise when the parent assumes an authoritarian role, leaving the child little room for choice or exploration..."

Children Growing Up in the Digital Age: Opportunities and Pitfalls (Free Webinar)
Institute of HeartMath (Guest speaker: Linda Stone, Host: Jeff Goelitz)

"Register for free webinar taking place on Saturday, April 21, 2012... Most children today are better at surfing the Internet or using the smartphone than swimming or making their own breakfast... Stone...will discuss how these changes are affecting... about the advantages and pitfalls... some healthy ways parents can address too much screen time"

Erasing Self Abuse In The Brain
HealthyPlace (Kellie Holly)

"by forcing myself to think in new ways, my brain will form new thinking paths and use them instead of the old, negative and abusive ones I’m using today... First, I’ll believe that I can change my thinking patterns... Second, I’ll picture new pathways forming in my brain where there were none before..."

Making Connections in Case Formulation and Treatment Planning: Exploring Attachment, Historical Trauma and Self-Concept
Trauma and Children (Lori Gill, M.A.)

"I tend to focus on key themes, which include exploring early childhood and attachment experiences... My favorite activity is a comprehensive timeline in which clients draw, color, paint or write a narrative of the significant positive and negative experiences throughout their lives from birth to present..."

Online Dating May Lead to Love, But Has Its Perils Too
The Mindful Self-Express (Melanie Greenberg, Ph.D)

"While online dating may be the most efficient and effective way for many people to meet a potential mate, dating strangers involves some level of risk, and the anonymity provided by the internet can make it easier for scammers and individuals with a history of violence to hide their true identities and motives..."

PTSD is not the problem. Lack of awareness is
Mindfulness for NGOs (Alessandra Pigni)

"There are still many misconceptions around the mental health of aid workers. Only between 5-10% develop PTSD following a traumatic event... The solution?... Searching within, taking some time alone, slowing down... Learning to be comfortable with uncertainty... "

Sometimes Life Just Hurts–Part I
Dr. Ann Becker Schutte

"The random bad stuff is hard to handle not just because it shakes up your life, but because it is random... I think that acknowledging the existence of random bad stuff, and creating safe space for all of your emotional reactions to are... important... for coping..."

Transference: Uses and Abuses
After Psychotherapy (Joseph Burgo, PhD)

"Under normal conditions, if the therapist is doing her job, the transference gradually evolves on its own. An unscrupulous or narcissistic therapist, however, may behave in seductive ways — by causing the client to feel that he is very special to the therapist, or by trying to elicit his admiration..."

What is Brainspotting?
Heal My PTSD (Cynthia Schwartzberg)

"Brainspotting is a powerful, focused treatment method that works by identifying, processing and releasing core neuro-physiological sources of emotional/body pain, trauma, dissociation and a variety of challenging symptoms. It is the next generation of brain-based therapy beyond...EMDR..."

Nonprofit:

How to make the most of a conference
Idealist Blog (Julia Smith)

"I asked a bunch of nonprofit leaders how they make the most of big events... part 1: what to do before you leave... Do you really want to do this?... Create a schedule for yourself ahead of time. Don’t budget every minute of every day, but do outline any sessions you know you want to see..."

Take Responsibility for What You Love
Rosetta Thurman

"If you are here to do good work and make a difference, DO IT. Do not trade in your passion and purpose for a job that makes you miserable. Do not let fear keep you from waking up with joy every morning, knowing that your work matters..."

Private Practice:

The Ethics of Email Amongst Colleagues: A Manifesto
Gamer Therapist (Mike Langlois, LICSW)

"As therapists, we value intimacy. As humans we are seduced by popularity. As businesspeople we need to negotiate the two economies ethically... please consider both as a reader and a writer of emails, the Ethics of Content as well as Ethics of Form..."

6 Website Trends that Therapists Need to Know: Where We’ve Been and Where We Need to Go
Marketing a Private Practice (Juliet Austin)

"Below is a video interview I did with my colleague, Clinton Power... The 6 website trends include... The surge in the number of people using mobile devices to access the web... There has been a proliferation of therapist websites over the past few years... "

Please share any thoughts or comments you have below. Also, feel free to mention any great posts that I may have missed.

You May Also Enjoy:
Best in Mental Health (wk of 3/19/2012)
Best in Mental Health (wk of 3/12/2012)
Best in Mental Health (wk of 3/5/2012)
Social Work Abroad
34 Social Work Career Development Resources
Are Some Therapeutic Impasses Unavoidable?

The "Ugly" in Art Therapy

noreply@blogger.com (DorleeM) — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 15:23:00 +0000

Have you had concerns about making "ugly" artwork when engaging in art therapy?

This is the fourth post of the art therapy** series, based upon the graduate class I'm taking in art therapy for clinical social work, and it will be addressing this very topic.

This post will illustrate that being worried about making something unattractive was a rather common concern amongst my classmates and I (and is likely to be so for our clients) but that the "beauty" of the art is not what matters. Rather, it is the process of making the art and the expression of the emotion that are key.

Moving onto last week's class, we worked with clay for the very first time. It was fun and quite messy :)

Our (first) assignment: Make whatever we like

This was essentially a warm-up exercise for us to get familiar with the material. Some of my classmates had never worked with clay before; others have but only on a wheel.

For me, this assignment ended up having two parts: a warm-up part in which I made the above small bowl (reminiscent of my experience in making bowls on a wheel) and a second part which I will describe in some detail.

After completing my bowl, I was feeling relaxed because I had completed the assignment of "making whatever I like." This meant that whatever I was going to make now was above and beyond the required and so I just let myself play with the clay and feel whatever I was feeling.

As I was playing with the clay, my mind filled up with thoughts about someone who is near and dear to me who is battling cancer and I was feeling terribly sad and worried after a recent development.

Before long, my hands were twisting and turning the clay and I found myself with a long twisted piece of clay looking to me like my dear friend's spread-out colon (the place where his cancer had originated).

This long piece of colon looked to me so ugly. It was truly ugly - it was where the cancer had started attacking my dear friend. I also didn't feel comfortable with it looking almost like poop.

I was afraid what everyone would think and thus, I destroyed it. Instead, I decided to make a safer non-ugly item, a (rough) model of my dear friend. While I was making it, I was feeling very sad and had some tears run down the side of my face.

Skipping ahead to part of this week's class, the topic of making "ugly" art was on the agenda. This was because it had become apparent in our private "class-only" blog that there were a number of us who had trouble with making "ugly" art. Many of us were wondering how to get over this hurdle and how to help clients who may suffer from the same inhibition.

Our professor asked us what we associated "ugly" or an "ugly" picture with, and the following words came to mind: painful, shame, gross, inadequate, frustrating, disgusting, taboo__lust, libido, suicidal/death thoughts, anger-rage/murder, fear and envy/jealousy.

Conversely, for the word "good," the following words were mentioned: pretty, appropriate/acceptable, perfect, professional-looking and others want it/desirable.

To further help us deal with our "ugly," we were asked to think about what pops up for us when we feel our work is inadequate, not pretty or we don't like it and then to go ahead and make a drawing. Below is my picture of "ugly."

It was the strangest thing for me to let those feelings out. I've certainly felt them before but I've never given them a voice, so to speak, before. Right after I finished, I turned over the page and didn't want to look at my "ugly" anymore.

Now, when I look at my "ugly," it doesn't seem as ugly as it did before and I feel some relief at having expressed my emotions in this manner. I recall that when making my "ugly," I had pressed down hard and used the cray-paz in a rather rough and dark manner (most uncharacteristic of me).

Before reading McMurray and Schwartz-Mirman (2001), I had always interpreted and experienced this awful feeling as inward-directed. However, now I think that when I have been feeling my pain, I have also been expressing my repressed anger and rage towards a significant figure in my early childhood.

Key Takeaways:

The goal in clinical art therapy is not to create "beautiful" art or art for public display but rather, to encourage the client to express exactly what is felt, regardless of how pleasing or unpleasing the result will be to the eye (D. Fagen, Creative arts therapy in clinical social work lecture, March 19 & 26, 2012; Marxen, 2011).

When working with clients, it is important to create a space for whatever shows up - for it not be ignored, shut down or judged. It is only by creating a safe space for clients that they may feel safe to express their emotions (D. Fagen, Creative arts therapy in clinical social work lecture, March 26, 2012).

By accompanying and supporting our clients (and following the 11 Tips for Employing Art Therapy Techniques), you help create a safe space for them. This, in turn, helps them find their own form of artistic self-expression through which to externalize their emotions (D. Fagen, Creative arts therapy in clinical social work lecture, March 19 & 26, 2012; Marxen, 2011).

According to McMurray and Schwartz-Mirman (2001; p. 311), "the core of the creative process is the translation of the unconscious primitive impulses and fantasies into tangible forms in the present, using art materials."

The artwork created in art therapy serves as an external tangible substitute that enables safe distancing from primitive impulses and fantasies that were originally aimed towards the significant figures in early life (McMurray and Schwartz-Mirman, 2001)

The employment of art therapy, that is, the provision of ongoing, consistent and flexible activity of art materials, enables varied and repeated examination of early object relations. This, in turn, enables the ego to gain gradual control over the (and/or the working through of) previously repressed primitive impulses and fantasies (McMurray and Schwartz-Mirman, 2001).

Finally, if you can, please check out McMurray and Schwartz-Mirman (2001) for a wonderful illustration of a boy who worked through his need to to always be well-behaved and good through repeated creation of "cute things" in their varying forms, as well as his fear of expressing anger and aggression through the repeated and varied creation of things he termed as "revolting things."

Have you made some "ugly" art and if so, what feelings did it evoke in you both during and afterwards? Have you had an experience working with clay (or play-doh) with a client that you would like to share?

And for the art therapists out there, what questions would you ask to help me interpret my "ugly?"

You May Also Enjoy:
Art Therapy and Social Work
Children’s Growth Through Art
11 Tips for Employing Art Therapy Techniques
Art Therapy - The Power of Art in Healing
Drama Therapy – Healing Through Role Playing/Storytelling
New Social Worker: Different Strokes: Art & Photo Therapy Promote Healing

**Caveats:
1) I am a social worker and not an art therapist. The above information is only meant to be seen as a taste of what is involved in art therapy.
2) Please do not substitute material on this site for consultation with an art therapist or mental health professional. It is not intended to serve as mental health advice, let alone assessment, diagnosis, or treatment.
3) Before practicing art therapy, one must obtain sufficient training, supervision and licensing. So You Want to be an Art Therapist, Part Two: Art Therapy Education describes some of the different paths available to those interested in art therapy as a profession or as an additional technique for those who have a master's degree in licensed mental health professions like counseling and social work.

References:
D. Fagen, LCSW, LCAT, ATR-BC, Creative arts therapy in clinical social work lecture, March 19 and 26, 2012.
Marxen, E. (2011). Pain and knowledge: Artistic expression and the transformation of pain, The Arts in Psychotherapy, (38), 239-246.
McMurray, M. & Schwartz-Mirman, O. (2001). Integration and working through in art therapy, The Arts in Psychotherapy, (28), 311-318.

Best in Mental Health (wk of 3/19/2012)

noreply@blogger.com (DorleeM) — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 15:20:00 +0000

"Processes and practices have been put in place at all levels of the system that make it difficult for patients to access information, to be involved in their own treatment decisions and, perhaps most importantly, develop meaningful relationships with their care providers..."

Pharmacists can significantly improve patient adherence to antidepressants, according to new systematic review
The Mental Elf (Andre Tomlin)

"Observational studies (Vergouwen et al) have reported alarmingly high discontinuation rates for patients taking antidepressant medication (28% at 1 month and 44-52% at 3 months)... pharmacists managed to achieve a 15-27% improvement in patient adherence to antidepressants..."

Social Work:

Blow The Whistle on Street Harassment!
Infusing Passion & Creativity... Women & Girls of Color (Nicole Clark)

"Every woman... has experienced street harassment. You may not know it by name, but you know... the signs (men stopping what they’re doing to stare as you walk past,... reaching out to touch you, or ...saying sexually suggestive things...) as well as the... feelings of uneasiness, anger, annoyance, and fear for your safety..."

How Black Beauty inspired my social work career
SocialCare Network (Ermintrude)

"Passing through different owners..., Beauty grows wise to the world but does not lose sight of the potential for goodness in man, even amid ill-treatment. As a professional it is important that I... provide hope that there will be recoveries, there are better days even through some of the darkest nights..."

Keeping stress at bay
@SWSCMedia (Dr. Neil Thompson)

"What I regularly encounter... are employees who are suffering considerably because of the work pressures they face... Many people see burnout as a form of stress, whereas in reality it is an attempted solution, a response to stress..." Join #SWSCMedia on April 3, 2012 for a twitter chat with Dr. Neil Thompson on "Workplace Stress and Building Resilience."

Process Versus Content
Everyone Needs Therapy (therapydoc)

"A patient ended up clarifying it for me... Her [Joy's] boyfriend would shut down when she asked him things, asked for any kind of explanation for his behavior... She said: (a) It troubles me that he won't answer the question. (That would be process.) and (b) I really want the answer to the question. (That would be content.)..."

On Social Work in Society: For me, it all comes back to Ubuntu
N.A.H. (Relando Thompkins, MSW)

"when I think of Social Work... it all comes back to Ubuntu: an African philosophy which highlights the interconnectedness of our destinies and our real interdependence on one another to succeed... I... believe that we all have a role to play working toward establishing a more equitable and just society for all people..."

Social Worker Sanctions
Child Protection Lessons (Peter Choate)

"... two social workers have been sanctioned as a result of their work in a case known as Child F... The social worker clearly required direction and support which managers failed to make available. It is also noteworthy that the social worker felt "too junior" to challenge the direction offered by managers..."

Thanks, I just needed to vent
This Is Me (spldbch)

"the research on venting is pretty clear. Venting negative emotions leads to an increase in their intensity. This is especially true when dealing with anger... To be truly therapeutic, venting must be used as a catalyst for identifying patterns and gaining insight..."

Therapy-Interfering Behaviors?
Practice Wisdom (Natalie L. Hill, LICSW)

"... both client and therapist can engage in these kinds of behaviors... Linehan identifies three categories of "therapy-interfering" client behaviors...Behaviors that interfere with the client receiving therapy... Behaviors that burn out therapists..."

Trauma-Informed Social Work Practice: What Is It and Why Should We Care? (post) and podcast
@SWSCMedia (Dr. Nancy Smyth)

"... trauma-informed practice is policy and practice based on what we know from research about the prevalence of trauma and about how affects people... Trauma-informed organizations ensure that every staff member, from the receptionist to the executive director, understands trauma and trauma reactions..."

Traumatic Brain Injury
Trauma & Attachment Therapy (Robin Shapiro, LICSW)

"Traumatic brain injuries are head injuries that can occur from a direct blow to the head, in an accident, sports, or assault (how most civilians get them), or from the shock waves of an explosion (how many military people get them)..."

We have to start by claiming our failures
Classroom to Capitol (Melinda K Lewis)

"To fully transform our nonprofit social service organizations into effective advocacy forces... we have to admit the truth: Our services, our programs, our intense direct services, are failing... measured against the scope and scale of the problems we face... "

What is yoga?
The Zen Social Worker (MSW Student, Tim)

"When you do yoga poses, you are making the ultimate expression of yourself. Sometimes in yoga our bodies appear contorted, they depict duality. This duality is a great metaphor for understanding what yoga is..."

Women's Experiences in Street-Level Prostitution: Implications for Court-Based and Social Service Programs (part 1 of 2)
Living Proof Podcast (UB School of Social Work, Dr. Shelly Wiechelt and Dr. Corey Shdaimah)

"In Episode 92, Drs. Wiechelt and Shdaimah explain the importance of debunking popular myths related to this population, and emphasize why trauma-informed services rather than punitive and shaming responses are warranted..."

World Social Work Day 2012
A Social Worker's View (Sharon Wangene)

"Every third Tuesday of March... celebrate World Social Work Day (WSWD)... This year, the theme is Social Work: Building Relationships, Strengthening Communities and Partnering for Change. Gary Bailey, President of International Federation of Social Workers shares his message in this video..."

You. Social Justice. Thailand Summer 2012
The Nudge Patrol (Laura, MSW student)

"JustIFi recently announced dates for summer trips abroad to Thailand. The trips are designed to provide participants with opportunities to study the human trafficking trade, work directly with local non-profits, and to engage with Thai children who have been directly afflicted..."

Psychology:

10 Phrases That Every Child Needs to Hear From the Adults in Their Lives
Creativity Queen (Dr. Laura Dessauer)

"No matter what, you are lovable. You do not have to do anything or be anything more than what you are to be loved and to be lovable... At moments life is painful... It just feels bad and I am here to be with you..."

The Anger Debrief for Teens
Teenage Whisperer (Sam Ross, BSc, MSc, Cert EP (YJ))

"Particularly with the more emotionally volatile ones [teens], simply asking them about their triggers will probably not get you to the absolute root of their anger. Yet by letting them voice their surface grievances uninterrupted... the real underlying cause..."

Creating a Healthy Night Ritual (audio)
Sounds True (Dr. Rubin Naiman)

"As... Randy Roark says, “Dr. Naiman integrates what he’s learned from modern scientific studies and ancient spiritual perspectives..." ... how to create a “sacred nighttime ritual” that can transform our experience of sleep and dreaming."

Dr. Joseph Burgo: After Psychotherapy - Now What?
Best People We Know (Audio Interview by Deb Scott)

"Dr Burgo shares some thoughts about: what it's like to work with yourself on a day to day basis after you're done with psychoanalysis, how you're never really done working on yourself, his notion of shame, why he started his blog..."

Electroconvulsive Therapy For Depression – How It Works
A Friend to Yourself (Sana Johnson-Quijada, MD) - link to MNT article

"Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) works by altering how different parts of the brain involved in depression communicate with each other...When a patient has depression, parts of the brain that control mood... have an overactive connection - ETC "turns down" that connection..."

Emotional Healing – Why an Awareness of ‘How’ You Deal With Stress is Essential, 2 of 2
Neuroscience and Relationships (Dr. Athena Staik)

"Your subconscious mind manages your stress by tuning in to your most deeply held perceptions, core beliefs. Your responses are always shaped by what you believe, your perceptions or interpretations, or how you explain your problems to yourself..."'

The Hunger Games, Dissociative Identity Disorder, and PTSD
HealthyPlace (Holly Gray)

"...there’s something special about The Hunger Games that impresses me: its remarkably deft portrayal of the immediate and long-term effects of trauma... Collins also touches on complex issues like identifying with the aggressor and survivor’s guilt..."

It Will Be Okay
Dr. Ann Becker Schutte

"Life throws us challenges and we’re measured by how we respond to them... I may hurt right now, but there is a path through the pain. I just have to keep moving (or, sometimes, stop moving) and let the healing take place... I am recognizing that this will pass..."

The Narcissistic Mother
After Psychotherapy (Joseph Burgo, PhD)

"When parents have poor boundaries... or struggle with separation issues, they may... regard their children as an extension of themselves, not truly separate... One type of narcissistic mother uses her children as a narcissistic feed; another type abandons them in her solipsistic pursuit of admiration, attention from men, etc..."

Parents in Prison: What’s to Become of the Children?
ACA (Nancy White)

"One in every 28 children has an incarcerated parent (3.6%)... we can.... become more knowledgeable about the criminal justice system. Learn about what the parent is living through, what the child sees when they go to visit, and what programs, if any, may be available to the children... to help them cope..."

Psychologically Equipped? – White Paper Series #3
Mindfulness for NGOs (Alessandra Pigni)

"In chapter 3 of the White Paper Series on the psychological preparation of humanitarian professionals and volunteers, I... look at of the main approaches that I use in my work when training and supporting frontline staff: Mindfulness-based Interventions..."

Self Harm: Know the Signs, Help a Friend
The Trauma and Attachment Report (Jeanine Tang)

"An individual might self-harm because they feel unbearable tension, depression, loneliness, or rage... often a way of regulating emotions that the person can no longer deal with internally... unexplained burns or clusters of scars or cuts..."

Why Dieters Struggle: A Cognitive Behavioral Viewpoint
Beck Institute Blog

"In this video clip from her “Beck Diet Solution” workshop, Dr. Judith Beck explains that it isn’t the fault of dieters that they fail; rather, no one ever taught them the cognitive (thinking) and behavioral skills they need to make permanent changes in their eating..."

Working Through
sgbrownlow.com (Steven Brownlow, PhD)

"Venting (catharsis) alone does not work... A common strategy is attempting to avoid the painful emotion... The process of working through begins when avoidance ends. The counselor assumes the role of caregiver and helps the client explore, express, and regulate the intense emotion..."

Nonprofit:

Diana’s Big Move: The job search begins
Idealist Blog (Diana Hsu)

"I love Idealist and I’ve loved working with people like you, but life is taking me away from New York and I’m officially looking for a new gig... If you’re lucky to be in a workplace like mine, you might want to disclose your decision to move on relatively early in your process..."

2012 SXSW Interactive Roundup
NTEN (Amy Sample Ward)

"Last week, I was down in Austin, TX, for the 2012 South by Southwest Interactive Festival... the nonprofit technology contingency... had a strong showing with many social good focused sessions on the agenda... I posted notes from sessions..."

Private Practice:

Got Links? Who’s Linking To Your Website?
Private Practice Toolbox (Julie Hanks, LCSW)

"Check Alexa.com and see how many sites are linking... One of the simplest ways to increase links is to incorporate a blog on your website and write weekly..."

Stand Out: Do Radical Ethical Awesomeness
Dr. Susan Giurleo

"Be radically ethical. Insist on wholly permission-based marketing... Radical Ethical Awesomeness builds thriving businesses. Because when you treat people well and not like a number in your marketing funnel, people REALLY trust you..."

Thinking, and Just Thinking
Gamer Therapist (Mike Langlois, LICSW)

"Creating and growing your business involves taking risks, trial and error, and most importantly sustained effort that is not entirely cerebral... you won’t think your way into a successful practice, but you may succeed in thinking yourself into a bankrupt one..."

Please share any thoughts or comments you have below. Also, feel free to mention any great posts that I may have missed.

You May Also Enjoy:
Best in Mental Health (wk of 3/12/2012)
Best in Mental Health (wk of 3/5/2012)
Best in Mental Health (wk of 2/27/2012)
Art Therapy and Social Work
Exploring Career Paths in Social Work
Family/Couples Therapy - Improving Relationships

Best in Mental Health (wk of 3/12/2012)

noreply@blogger.com (DorleeM) — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 18:15:00 +0000

I'm watching twitter, google+ and the web so you don't have to...

This post is part of a weekly series, Best in Mental Health, featuring the best posts of the week, in social work, psychology, evidence-based practice/healthcare and private practice concerns on Social Work Career Development.

To get a quick idea of the topics covered in this week's round-up, please see the above word cloud :)

Evidence Based Practice/Healthcare:

“Feel Rich – Health is the new wealth”: Moving beyond raising awareness to creating culture change
Occupy Healthcare (Vinu Ilakkuvan)

"As opposed to your typical public health campaign centered on facts, stats, and do’s and don’ts, Feel Rich is attempting to first foster a desire for health (in other words, crafting an attitude and creating a culture that sees health as critical and desirable as wealth), engaging urban youth in a meaningful way that speaks to their interests..."

Web-based CBT is equal to face-to-face CBT at reducing anxiety in adolescents
The Mental Elf (Andre Tomlin)

"This approach [online delivery of CBT] offers a credible alternative to clinic-based therapy, with benefits of reduced therapist time and greater accessibility for families who have difficulty accessing clinic-based CBT..."

Social Work:

But Not Your Thoughts: Social Media & Children
Gamer Therapist (Mike Langlois, LICSW)

"In a video blog, Mike addresses parents' concerns about monitoring their children's use of social media... and suggests that we consider the potential future effect of OUR comments/pictures about our children in facebook without their consent..."

CMI Men’s Retreat 2011
N.A.H. (Relando Thompkins, MSW)

"During the retreat, I co-facilitated a workshop called “The Tipping Point” in which I was able to engage young men of color about those “crossroads” we might encounter in life in which we are forced to make tough choices..."

Debate on: The Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development – and World Social Work Day 20-March-2012
@SWSCMedia (Claudia)

"Next week...number of events... to celebrate Social Work Week beginning with World Social Work Day (Tuesday, 20 March) to United Nations’ Social Work Day (Monday, 26 March). Therefore, our topic for next week’s debate (20-Mar) at 4:00 PM EST is the ”Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development”..."

In search of adaptive capacity
Classroom to Capitol (Melinda K Lewis)

"The challenge... for nonprofits engaging in advocacy... is to figure out what adaptive capacity looks like, for them, and how to build it... It means understanding how to really diagnose the political context... and how to leverage your assets..."

Mandatory Reporting Laws
Child Protection Lessons (Peter Choate)

"There is often debate about whether mandatory reporting laws should exist. Should mental health, medical, education and other professionals be required to report cases where they suspect that child abuse is occurring?..."

More Than the Pain, More than the Problem
Hope Forward (Melissa Groman, LCSW)

"moving forward sometimes requires looking backward. That there is relief and progress not just from the talking and listening, but from a good discussion of what is, what was and what could be because we are more than the problem, more than the pain..."

National Social Work Month (Infographic by the USC School of Social Work)
Jae Ran Kim

"March is National Social Work Month, sponsored by the National Association of Social Workers (NASW), and this year’s theme, ”Social Work Matters” is meant to showcase the impact of more than 642,000 professional social workers in America..."

Nuances in Countertransference
Practice Wisdom (Natalie L. Hill, LICSW)

"Subjective countertransference comes out of our own issues and histories, rather than the client's... Objective countertransference is elicited by the client, out of their own issues and histories. It gives us information about their emotional state, unconscious material, and/or how they may be experienced by others..."

Should social work be more social? a simple answer yes! #12thMW
Connecting Social Care and Social Media (Shirley Ayres)

"The use of social technology and social networking enables people to collaborate, build relationships and share information and resources... Social media is a new way to applying the communication skills which are an essential skill for all social workers..."

Stumbling Upon Multiple Personalities in One Body
From Where I Stand (Andrea B. Goldberg, LCSW)

"Almost 20 years ago I worked with my first client with dissociative identity disorder (DID), what was then called multiple personality disorder (MPD). I stumbled upon the realization that she was DID six months after I started working with her..."

How can I change the world? Or Thoughts from #TedxObserver
The Not So Big Society (Ermintrude2)

"So what did I learn from TEDx ? – that we can all be more and do more to effect positive change in the world that we share. We don’t need to start companies or charities with heaps of money behind us, it can be the small actions that start the change..."

Update on Licensing: Reports from State Agencies Show Significant Challenges as Exemptions from Licensing Law End in 2013
NASW-NYC (Robert Schachter, DSW, LMSW)

"In recent months, several State agencies produced reports on their respective workforces, often reflecting the number of staff who are doing psychotherapy, diagnosis, treatment based service plans, and assessments. These reports include..."

Walking in Circles
What a Shrink Thinks (Martha Crawford, LCSW)

"In therapy, we are always talking in circles – repeating the same core narrative over and over again, trekking along looping and overlapping trails... Sometimes, the encircled thoughts are erecting an essential defense..."

What Homosexuality Is Not!
A Social Worker's View (Sharon Wangene)

"many of us have chosen to hate and discriminate with no backing. Here I am, helping you to educate yourself and hopefully it will lead to acceptance... I found this video on what homosexuality is not as I was reading on a documentary by Ryan James Yezak..."

Psychology:

Ten Ways Your Local Grocery Store Hijacks Your Brain
The Mindful Self-Express (Melanie Greenberg, Ph.D)

"10 examples of how consumers get baffled by branding into parting with their hard-earned cash... Having to walk down the aisles to get to your basics makes it more likely you'll pick up some delectable, yet expensive impulse buy, placed precisely at eye level, along the way..."

An Introduction to Self-Care | Journal of Participatory Medicine
A Friend to Yourself (Sana Johnson-Quijada, MD)

"For my patients, I explain that self-care is living consistently with the belief that they are a friend to “Me,” or in other words, to themselves... Self-care also entails the practical: review of sleep patterns, prescriptions of medicine, and monitoring of diet and exercise..."

The Anger Balancing Act: sanctions vs relationship?
Teenage Whisperer (Sam Ross, BSc, MSc, Cert EP (YJ))

"The challenge when dealing with the fallout of an anger outburst is that we need to teach angry teens that destructive anger outbursts are unacceptable, while at the same time preserving a good working relationship... a scale of sanctions... a sense of responsibility, of self-control and choice..."

Creating Space
Dr. Ann Becker Schutte

"...your challenge for this week is to look for a space that you can reclaim for one of your needs. Maybe you’ll go to bed ten minutes early to get some extra sleep... You don’t have to spend more than five to ten minutes doing this... Don’t let your fear of not doing “enough” prevent you from doing something..."

Emotional Healing – Why Tune Into Your ‘Inner-World’ More & ‘Outer-World’ Less, 1 of 2
Neuroscience and Relationships (Dr. Athena Staik)

"you have all the equipment you need inside to self-direct healing of anxiety or depression, and similar emotional disturbances. Emotional healing involves accessing your body’s intelligence in a conscious way to let go of limiting fears and promote emotional attunement..."

Join the Revolution
NIMI (National Institute of Mental Health) (Thomas Insel)

"Neuroscience is changing the way we think about ourselves, overthrowing many of the facts we have all been taught about the brain and the mind... Neuroscience is not only changing the way we think, it is changing the way we think about thinking..."

Language, Stigma and Political Correctness: How We Talk about Mental illness
NAMI (Bob Carolla)

"NAMI recently engaged in a dialogue with National Public Radio (NPR) over language, stigma and mental illness. It in turn led to discussion of what is meant by “political correctness.” ... One of the best strategies in fighting stigma is to turn protest into dialogue..."

The need to find time to consult with other professionals
ACA (Doc Warren)

"Mostly consultations are just routine: fellow clinicians checking up on a client that they both treat (with proper releases as needed), sometimes it is to pick the brain of a colleague about a case they are working on or one of many equally benign reasons..."

Overcoming Depression Interview at HealthyPlace.com
Dr. Deb (Dr. Deborah Serani)

"HealthyPlace.com is the largest consumer mental health site, providing comprehensive, trusted information on psychological disorders and psychiatric medications from both a consumer and expert point of view..."

Re-thinking the Tiger Mother: Protecting Our Kids from Failure
The Trauma and Attachment Report (Chloe Li)

"It is clear that Chua wants her children to be successful, that she believes everything she does is for their benefit. However, it is precisely this wish, taken to its absurd conclusion -protect your children from failing at all costs- that gets Chua into trouble..."

Use Mindfulness to Manage ADHD
Laura Schenck, M.A.

"You have more power than you may realize; genes alone do not determine one’s destiny... the hallmark traits of ADHD are (1) inattentiveness, (2) hyperactivity, and (3) impulsivity... mindfulness is abundantly rich with... tools to address each of these..."

Vacation Breaks in Psychotherapy and Defenses Against Need
After Psychotherapy (Joseph Burgo, PhD)

"Clients often begin to express doubts about the value of therapy just before a therapist’s vacation, or they come back for their first session afterward doubtful that they want to continue. “I’m not sure what I’m getting out of it,” she might say..."

Private Practice:

Four Ways to Combat Therapy Marketing Fear
Therapy Marketing, SEO, Tech and Fun! (Elizabeth Doherty Thomas)

"The field of mental health, in my view, still has TONS OF GAPS... With a good marketing plan, it’s easier to fill a gap than to be the 1,293 person in your 15 mile radius who “works with couples.”... Find a buddy; This could be an ally to the group you serve, or it could be another therapist..."

My Practice is Growing But I am Stuck
Dr. Susan Giurleo

"If you are a student, pay attention to what specialties are successful and get your training there... This issue is much bigger than me and my practice... We need to remember, we train to do a job, not create a hobby doing only the things we “like to do.”..."

Please share any thoughts or comments you have below. Also, feel free to mention any great posts that I may have missed.

You May Also Enjoy:
Best in Mental Health (wk of 3/5/2012)
Best in Mental Health (wk of 2/27/2012)
Best in Mental Health (wk of 2/20/2012)
18 of My Favorite Reader Comments from 2011
20 Inspirational Quotes for Social Workers
Social Media and Social Work Education: Like Oil & Water?

11 Tips for Employing Art Therapy Techniques

noreply@blogger.com (DorleeM) — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 22:26:00 +0000

Would you like to employ some art therapy** techniques with some of your clients?

This third post of the art therapy series will be providing you with 11 key learnings on engaging clients with art therapy. These posts are based upon the 14 week graduate class I'm taking in art therapy.

11 Tips About Conducting Art Therapy** with Clients:

* After giving a client an art task, let the client work. Do not interrupt or ask questions. Observe the client in the process of making the art task. If client says that he/she cannot do X, encourage client to give it a try for at least another five minutes.

* Once time for project is up, start with something like: Is there anything that you'd like to share about your picture? about the process of making it, what he/she likes or dislikes or would change, etc.

* Stay client-centered; in other words, focus on the client's associations and projections.

* Be careful with therapist associations; avoid them unless they will add value to or feed the life of the material.

* Make neutral observations about the picture as opposed to praise or criticism (for example, about the shape, size, use of space, focal point, what is in the edge, what colors are used).

* Emphasize emotional content and process vs. a focus on how the product came out or its specific content.

* Use third person language as in "what is that person/animal/character doing?" vs. "what are you doing?"

* Identify metaphors and use them, play with them, to go deeper.

* Ask questions about the picture to help the client tell a story about it such as: "If you were to step into this picture, where would you go? ...what would you do?" (Avoid the question "why they did X in the picture?" - clients will tend to have a hard time being able to answer. It is better to ask whether X has any meaning.)

* Discover the surprises in the image by asking the client to really look at what he/she created. Is it what he/she expected? If not, how is it different from what he/she intended to make? The meaning of these surprises may be messages from the unconscious.

* Respect your client's artwork and involve client in all decisions about what to do with his/her art. This means that if you your client wants you to save it, keep it safe and only display it with his/her permission.

To share a personal illustration of an unexpected surprise, we were given an inkblot exercise for the experiential portion of class. This entailed our being told to pick a sheet of paper in a color that speaks to us and then we were asked to pour a bit of ink out on this paper and smear it.

After we had our "inkblot," we were instructed to look at our respective inkblots and see what we see (without putting too much thought into it) and then to use any of the materials that were laid out (colored pencils, oil pastels or colored chalk) and help whatever we saw in the inkblot become further defined.

I chose a green sheet of paper and thought that I saw the face of a teddy bear through my smeared dots of ink. I then proceeded to take a brown crayon and bring out the teddy bear's features.

However, as I continued, for some reason, I was compelled to give the teddy bear "unteddy bear-like" ears and eyes. Suddenly my teddy bear had evolved into a smiling figure looking down at me... At first, I didn't recognize or realize who this person was because I didn't have a chance to finish the picture.

All I knew during class was that the teddy bear was no longer a teddy bear but someone who was smiling at me and making me feel very happy inside. It was only later that I realized that I had drawn my late beloved grandmother.

As this example demonstrates, the inkblot projective exercise can be very powerful. A person brings to the exercise the current thoughts/emotions and/or unconscious needs he or she has.

It so happened that I was about to embark on a difficult journey to someone dear to me who is battling cancer and my late grandmother's supportive "visit" from my unconscious was a most timely gift.

What are your thoughts about art therapy? Does this field look appealing?

To the art therapists, what questions would come to your mind had I drawn my grandmother in a session with you (to help me further tease out any important messages)?

You May Also Enjoy:
Art Therapy and Social Work
Children’s Growth Through Art
Art Therapy - The Power of Art in Healing
Social Work and Music Therapy
20 Motivational Quotes for Job Seekers

**Caveats:
1) I am a social worker and not an art therapist. The above information is only meant to be seen as a taste of what is involved in art therapy.
2) Please do not substitute material on this site for consultation with an art therapist or mental health professional. It is not intended to serve as mental health advice, let alone assessment, diagnosis, or treatment.
3) Before practicing art therapy, one must obtain sufficient training, supervision and licensing. So You Want to be an Art Therapist, Part Two: Art Therapy Education describes some of the different paths available to those interested in art therapy as a profession or as an additional technique for those who have a master's degree in licensed mental health professions like counseling and social work.

References:
D. Fagen, LCSW, LCAT, ATR-BC, Creative arts therapy in clinical social work lecture, February 27, 2012.
Rubin, J. (Ed.) (2001). Approaches to art therapy: Theory and technique. New York: Brunner-Routledge.

Best in Mental Health (wk of 3/5/2012)

noreply@blogger.com (DorleeM) — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 21:24:00 +0000

"Healthcare costs should not be the determining factor that force our families and communities to decide on what they should or should not do to positively impact their health...But this is happening all the time..."

Well conducted studies are urgently needed to assess the adverse effects of antipsychotics in children and young people
The Mental Elf (Andre Tomlin)

"A group of Canadian researchers conducted a comprehensive literature search and found 64 trials and 17 cohort studies for inclusion. They reported that the quality of the evidence was poor, with many RCTs suffering from inadequate sequence generation..."

Social Work:

The 80/20 Rule: An End to Perfectionism's "Grade Inflation"
Practice Wisdom (Natalie L. Hill, LICSW)

"let's say I'm cleaning the kitchen. I could spend 1 hour on it (20%) and have it reasonably clean (80%)... If we allow 80% to be good enough, we will be happier and more productive. It's time to end the (metaphorical) grade inflation, and return to the days when 80% was a darn good result!..."

Acting from identity
Classroom to Capitol (Melinda K Lewis)

"in Switch, (which is super worth reading) there was a really fascinating insight into why people come to advocacy and collective action... What we have to do... is help people forge identities as advocates, because, once they see themselves as the kind of people who take actions like this, then they will..."

Advocacy is at the heart of social work
The College of Social Work (Ermintrude2)

"When I think about some of the most satisfying tasks I undertake as a social worker, I can’t help but come back to advocacy... By doing so, the first thing she [a client I had worked with] had chosen to do was to make a complaint about me not visiting her frequently enough..."

Conflicting Feelings
I See Things Upside Down (Brandi E McNeil, MSW Student)

"I work primarily on delinquency cases, but the organization also represents children in abuse and neglect cases. Throughout my time, I've always seen the value in representing youth in delinquency proceedings and wanted to do it..."

Good self, bad self
This Is Me (spldbch)

"There is this side of me that is impatient, demanding, intolerant, and unyielding. This part of me wants everything my way and only my way... Who is this person? I don't like the inevitable answer: she's me. Or at least she's a part of me..."

“It’s Women’s Day, Rudy.”
SocialJerk

"The theme this year is “Connecting Girls, Inspiring Futures.” Feminism is an integral part of working with girls. We can act like it’s an option, but it’s really a requirement... These girls aren’t stupid... they know on some level when they encounter inequality..."

Motivational Interviewing Implementation and Practitioner Skill Acquisition in an Agency Serving Sexual Minority Youth
Living Proof Podcast (UB School of Social Work, Dr. Shelley Craig and Dr. Brett Engle)

"In episode 91, Drs. Engle and Craig discuss their training and research study in which they adapted Motivational Interviewing (MI) skills to a strengths-based case management already in place at an agency..."

Opensourcing Professional Social Media Principles for Social Work
Connecting Social Care and Social Media (Ermintrude2)

"If you are happy telling the person sitting next to you in the pub about what you do and who you are, there’s no reason to fear it particularly in a social media setting – but the limits of oversharing, giving personal information or revealing details of the work you do remain in place..."

The ‘Politics’ of Social Work
@SWSCMedia (Nushra Mansuri @BASW_UK)

"the Code of Ethics reminds us that Social Justice... is a social work value and we have a duty to bring to the attention of our employers, policy makers, politicians and the general public situations... where distribution of resources, policies and practice are oppressive, unfair, harmful or illegal’..."

Social media, social work and the College of Social Work
Martin Webber's Blog (@mgoat73)

Next Tuesday afternoon (13th March) a workshop at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, will bring together social work academics, practitioners and social media experts to discuss ... using social media as a means of continuing professional development (CPD) in social work... we will be live tweeting using the hashtag #12thMW... between 2.00pm and 4.30pm.

What a social work degree included… From beginning to end
Andrew Ellery - Really, Anything and Everything

"Social work appears to differ in practice terms across the globe... but in my opinion has one specific aim; to equip people with the necessary tools to bring about positive change for themselves and others..."

Yoga for Anxiety and Stress
The Zen Social Worker (MSW Student, Tim)

"Jon Kabat-Zinn is a world renowned mindfulness meditation author and researcher. I frequently reference his academic writing in my studies but I highly recommend this simple article that he wrote on his own personal experience with meditation and yoga..."

Psychology:

6 Surprising Benefits of Getting Angry
Laura Schenck, M.A.

"The emotional experience of anger has the potential to serve a constructive purpose in a variety of potentially surprising ways. Anger can be motivating... Angry people are more optimistic... Anger can help relationships... Anger provides insights intro yourself..."

Acquaintance Rape: A Matter of Consent©, Part 5
Heal My PTSD (Dr. Amy Menna)

"Survivors need a strong support system in order to work through rape... Part of the foundation of recovery is to be able to soothe yourself when you are feeling anxious or just “out of sorts.”... When survivors keep things to themselves, they deny themselves help..."

Bad Emotions
sgbrownlow.com (Steven Brownlow, PhD)

"Emotions were designed to assist survival... When emotions arise in humans independently of any conscious cognitive processes, they are more likely to assist survival. To the extent that such emotions are used as informative sources of data rather than behavioral prescriptions, they can be considered good, even if they are painful..."

Discover Your Sweetness, Value, That is To Say
A Friend to Yourself (Sana Johnson-Quijada, MD)

"Even when we are not behaving well, when we don’t look good and when we drop the price of real estate, we have value... We will have to in humility and wisdom, like Jean’s or my dad’s wisdom, find the sweetness in Me..."

How Eating & Drinking Nutritionally Smart Positively Affects Emotional Health (And Relationships)
Neuroscience and Relationships (Dr. Athena Staik)

"Chronic inflammation is now recognized as the leading contributor to the breakdown of the body, with serious physical consequences to include diabetes, cancer, heart disease and obesity. Its effects on mental health run parallel... Avoid processed sugar and processed foods..."

Lean on Me: Healing Domestic Abuse through Group Therapies
The Trauma and Attachment Report (Jana Vigor)

"Many women feel intense isolation and disconnection as a result of their experiences with domestic abuse and for this reason, psychiatrist Judith Herman at Harvard University says group therapy with other women survivors holds a special place in the recovery process..."

Mental Illness and Stress
HealthyPlace (Natalie Jeanne Champagne)

"Stress is uncomfortable for everyone, yes, but these feelings are more important when you live with a mental illness... Stress can signal relapse. If it seems to creep on you, or attack you quickly, it’s crucial to pay attention to it..."

Play: Reduce worry and power struggles
Creativity Queen (Dr. Laura Dessauer)

"When problems arise, I often prescribe play to help children self-regulate their behaviors and emotions. Here are some common concerns that parents have regarding their children and some ways that play and exercise can be used therapeutically to benefit your child..."

Reading Anger: performance or rage?
Teenage Whisperer (Sam Ross, BSc, MSc, Cert EP (YJ))

"More often than not, the anger you see will be primarily about manipulation and will be a performance... The beginnings of rage are usually identifiable when verbally expressed anger becomes physical- when violence is expressed... or when the angry crying starts... Your top priority at this point is to de-escalate... "

Reduce “Resistance”, Inspire Change & Motivate!
ACA (Barbara Jordan)

"MI [Motivational Interviewing] requires that you relate to your clients in a non-judgmental, collaborative manner... Reduce any resistance by asking your client about his past successes. For example, ask, “What did you do that was successful that might work today?”..."

Self-Disclosure in Psychotherapy: The Three-Second Rule and the Law of Diminishing Returns
Dr. Greg Hinkle

"Therapists who violate professional boundaries often start with “harmless” self-disclosures that slowly and inexorably shift the relationship toward a role reversal, where the client is taking care of the therapist..."

What Do You Need?
Dr. Ann Becker Schutte

"When you are dealing with full or partial responsibility for someone else, it is easy to lose sight of your own needs... When we neglect our self-care, we are adding to the burden that our loved one feels, because they blame themselves for our stress and struggle..."

Private Practice:

Epic Departure
Gamer Therapist (Mike Langlois, LICSW)

"Last but not least, I’ll be going to a presentation called "Rethinking Gaming Addiction in Psychotherapy," mainly because I’m presenting it... I’ll be Tweeting from SXSW... and you can find out more about the presentation at #mindgames..."

My New Take on Social Media
Dr. Susan Giurleo

"I’m shifting my use and my focus so that I am more mindful, strategic and planful about how and when I engage on social media...Overall, I use social media less...Dialing back my presence on social media has not hurt my client attraction one bit..."

SEO For Shrinks: Can Potential Clients Find Your Practice Online?
Private Practice Toolbox (Julie Hanks, LCSW)

"Even a single page site with your photo, practice description and contact information is better than nothing!...most common... mistakes that therapists make... not understanding how crucial keywords are...and omitting location..."

Please share any thoughts or comments you have below. Also, feel free to mention any great posts that I may have missed.

You May Also Enjoy:
Best in Mental Health (wk of 2/27/2012)
Best in Mental Health (wk of 2/20/2012)
Best in Mental Health (wk of 2/13/2012)
Menopause and Pleasure: An Oxymoron?
Facing the Past as You Help Others Heal
Social Work in Advocacy and Public Policy

Best in Mental Health (wk of 2/27/2012)

noreply@blogger.com (DorleeM) — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 19:55:00 +0000

I'm watching twitter, google+ and the web so you don't have to...

This post is part of a weekly series, Best in Mental Health, featuring the best posts of the week, in social work, psychology, evidence-based practice/healthcare, non-profit and private practice concerns on Social Work Career Development.

To get a quick idea of the topics covered in this week's round-up, please see the above word cloud :)

Evidence Based Practice/Healthcare:

Functional analysis may be a promising alternative treatment for challenging behaviour in dementia
The Mental Elf (Andre Tomlin)

"Functional analysis is a behavioral intervention that involves a therapist considering why a person with dementia is behaving in a particular way. The purpose and meaning of individual behavior is investigated and family and carers are given strategies to help them reduce the distress, agitation or aggression..."

Sometimes the connection really matters
Occupy Healthcare (Dr. Miller)

"My point here is that as we become more sophisticated in our mobile applications, electronic medical records and eventually healthcare robots, we not lose sight of why we are wanting to be better connected: we want a relationship..."

Social Work:

Answers to Questions about EMDR
From Where I Stand (Andrea B. Goldberg, LCSW)

"EMDR reprocessing involves brief retrieval of a traumatic memory with delineation of all of its component parts (sensory, cognitive, affective and somatic aspects). Bilateral stimulation is added to facilitate reprocessing that updates the memory..."

Can Yoga Heal?
The Zen Social Worker (MSW Student, Tim)

"For years I've attended regular yoga classes, developed my own practice at home... and becoming a yoga teacher/enrolling in yoga teacher training really immersed me in yoga and deepened my knowledge of it... It's a feeling of... inner contentment..."

Dear colleagues: there is no more money! Time to redesign dementia services
@SWSCMedia (Dr. Karim Saad)

"How to improve a service for a disorder we’ll be seeing more of, with less funding?... By intervening earlier and smarter we may delay the onset of dementia, empower our service users and improve crisis management..."

Inner Door
Hope Forward (Melissa Groman, LCSW)

"Inside the inner door is the place within us where we find serenity in knowing that we have made, can and do make mistakes, but we are not awful because of them, but human... Inside the door, it's okay to be okay. It's okay to have value..."

Motivation and Emotion
This Is Me (spldbch)

"This happens a lot: a person starts to feel a little better and decides he doesn't need treatment anymore. Granted, feeling better can be an indication that a patient's issues are resolved and that treatment can be terminated..."

Religious Child Maltreatment: Interview with Janet Heimlich
The Social Work Podcast (Jonathan Singer, Ph.D., LCSW)

"[In episode 71,] Janet defines religious child maltreatment, we talk about religious authoritarian cultures; discuss examples of religiously motivated physical, emotional and sexual abuse, and medical neglect..."

Social work and health inequalities
Martin Webber's Blog (@mgoat73)

"Social workers typically work with the poorest in society and therefore have an important role in tackling health inequalities... Firstly, there is lots of evidence that children in care have poorer educational and health outcomes than other children..."

Some thoughts on forgiveness
Cathy Hanville, LCSW

"You can't experience the feelings associated with the event until you have acknowledged the harm you have experienced. Often it is the desire to avoid experiencing those feelings that causes people to deny the harm that has been caused them..."

Systems at Work
Practice Wisdom (Natalie L. Hill, LICSW)

"with individual work, we intervene with one person, as both an individual system, and part of larger systems (family, group, organization, community). It behooves us to remember that systems strive to maintain equilibrium, and therapy often functions to destabilize the system's balance..."

Teaching and Learning Dignity
The Not So Big Society (Ermintrude2)

"I think the needs of older adults should be reflected far more in social work training and not marginalized... One thing I am very sensitive to is dismissive language... To some, an affectionate and endearing ‘old dear’ might be a term of respect but to some..."

The Evidence on E.M.D.R.
New York Times (Dr. Francine Shapiro)

"The effectiveness of E.M.D.R. therapy has been well established as the result of about 20 randomized controlled studies. Only one of the randomized trials was conducted by me; it was published in The Journal of Traumatic Stress in 1989..."

The monster at the end of this blog
SocialJerk

"Parents who hit their kids are most often people who were raised with physical discipline, and are using it excessively themselves, or are parents who have snapped. The two aren’t mutually exclusive... I’m not defending murder, child abuse..."

Psychology:

10 Ways to Improve Body Image
Laura Schenck, M.A.

"Rather than view parts of your body that you dislike with disdain or rejection, try mindfully directing love and gratitude toward them instead. Take a moment to thank your legs, stomach, or arms for all of the hard work they do to move you through the world..."

Are Drug Treatments for Depression Causing More Harm than Good?'
The Trauma and Attachment Report (Crystal Slanzi)

"Anti-depressants, are commonly prescribed by family doctors, practitioners with limited training in psychiatry. Medications are often provided as a singular, long-term treatment for depression, with little or no attention paid to... the patient’s unique background..."

Art Therapy: There’s an App for That
The Healing Arts (Cathy Malchiodi, PhD, LPCC, LPAT)

"While there is little research on the effectiveness of touch technology and art making apps with client populations, without a doubt Gen Z is expecting it as part of art therapy and as a 21st century language for self-expression... There is even an app for art therapy—well, sort of, depending on how you define art therapy..."

Emotional Dependency in Psychotherapy
After Psychotherapy (Joseph Burgo, PhD)

"... for psychotherapy to be effective, a degree of emotional dependency is inevitable... resistance to dependency is often one of the first issues that comes up in therapy: despite the... pain they may be feeling... many clients don’t want to become dependent..."

Finding Healing Through Food
Heal My PTSD (Katie Brind'Amour)

"When coupled with exercise, counseling, medication, or alternative therapies, eating to beat PTSD symptoms can be an empowering way to regularly give your brain the best chance at healing itself – and in doing so, the best chance at healing you..."

Is The Field Of Psychotherapy In Crisis?
American Counseling Association (Natosha Monroe)

"...the majority of everyone in my cohort—and those above and below us—chose to become, guess what? “Solution-focused counselors.”... Dr. Yalom’s book...is to be seen as a gift to us too, showing us the gift of the therapeutic process as well...

March 1st is International Self Injury Awareness Day
Dr. Deb (Dr. Deborah Serani)

"Self-injury has a paradoxical effect in that the pain self-inflicted actually sets off an endorphin rush, relieving the self-harmer from deep distress. It's important to note that self-injury does not involve a conscious intent to commit suicide..."

Proof of Change in Abuser’s Behavior
HealthyPlace (Kellie Holly)

"If your abuser truly seeks change, then they will pursue it whether you are physically with them or not... Your best move during your abuser’s process of change is to leave the home and witness the process from a point of safety..."

Putting Up With Things, Part II: Values and Trade-offs
Dr. Greg Hinkle

"the client is most likely putting up with this (whatever “this” is) because putting up with available alternates seems far worse... approach the client with genuine curiosity: “What makes this seem like the best choice?" That question helps the client feel respected..."

Science vs. Myth: Research on Internet Gambling (Webinar)
National Center for Responsible Gambling (Dr Sarah Nelson)

Mar 6, 2012; 2-3PM: Dr Sarah Nelson's latest findings reflect actual gambling behavior patterns, and the webinar will give participants a deeper look at the characteristics of people who have gambled online.

What I Like About Me: A Self-Care Exercise
Dr. Ann Becker Schutte (and Elena)

"It is not easy to think about the aspects of yourself that you truly like. Things that don’t have a “but” attached to them... There is no right or wrong way to put this together. The only important thing is that you BELIEVE in yourself enough to compile the list..."

Nonprofit:

16 Ways Blogging Can Enhance Your Nonprofit Career
Rosetta Thurman

"Blogging can help you "get seen" in the nonprofit field, even if you have an entry-level job... Blogging is a great way to reflect on your day to day activities in the pursuit of social change... [you can] develop a professional identity outside of your nonprofit job..."

Private Practice:

Do You Have a Uniqueness Hang-up?
Marketing a Private Practice (Juliet Austin)

"... differentiating yourself from others does not necessarily mean that you’re “better” than other therapists (although you may be)... Regardless of how similar you think you are from others in your field, there will always be ways that you are DIFFERENT... "

Health Care Blogging: Your Voice
Dr. Susan Giurleo

"When writing a blog, you need to consider your voice carefully, as it will reflect a great deal on how people perceive you and your services... A blog directed at the general public will often do well with what I call a “smart-casual” tone..."

How To Create A Vision Board To Build Your Private Practice
Private Practice from the Inside Out (Carolyn Tucker, LAPC and Donna Terrazas, L.Ac.)

"To create a vision board to support your ability to cultivate the practice of your dreams, begin by choosing words, phrases, and pictures to represent the practice you desire. Be specific about the kind of clients you want, how you want to grow your practice..."

Please share any thoughts or comments you have below. Also, feel free to mention any great posts that I may have missed.

You May Also Enjoy:
Best in Mental Health (wk of 2/20/2012)
Best in Mental Health (wk of 2/13/2012)
Best in Mental Health (wk of 2/6/2012)
Art Therapy and Social Work
Feeling Too Much Empathy
How To Start Up a Private Practice

Meditation and Stress Management

noreply@blogger.com (DorleeM) — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 19:28:00 +0000

Is there a part of you that is seeking more balance in your life? Would you like to experience more joy?

If yes, you may want to consider meditation... And if you've never done it, that's fine :) As Sharon Salzberg states in her book "Real Happiness," "if you can breathe, you can meditate."

Meditation may be viewed as one of the secrets to managing the stresses of life. While it cannot eliminate pain or difficulties from your life, it can help you become more resilient so that you are better able to roll with the punches and feel less defeated.

Numerous studies have been able to provide scientific evidence that meditation leads to strengthened areas of the brain associated with memory, learning, emotional flexibility, compassion, and our feelings of well-being (or happiness). These strengthened areas, in turn, build up our resiliency and immune system (as per Richard Davidson, Ph.D in Salzberg, 2011; p. 28).

Furthermore, as Sara Lazar (Salzberg, 2011; p. 28), states: "as with physical exercise, the more you practice meditation, the greater the benefit." In other words, the more you meditate, the more you will get out of it.

It is because meditation has the promise of all these benefits that upon hearing that Sharon Salzberg (a well-known mindfulness teacher and author) was giving a talk with Allan Lokos (another meditation leader and author), that I made sure to attend this talk and buy her book. While I have been practicing guided meditation since May last year, I felt that I could benefit from a tune-up.

Can mediation provide you with sustained happiness?

As Sharon explained during her talk, meditation can help provide the cultivation of the ground so what we want may emerge. She doesn't believe that you can truly experience nonstop happiness but rather moments of pleasure, as well as a feeling of contentment.

You can't keep the feeling of peace or happiness indefinitely but you can renew it with meditation training. Similar to the process of focusing your attention on your breath while meditating, you let it go and begin again.

Below is a video clip from the talk with Sharon Salzberg and Allan Lokos:

So what is meditation?

It isn't a religion - you can meditate and still practice your own religion (or no religion).

It doesn't require special skills/knowledge - you don't need to be already serene.

It doesn't demand a lot of time on your part - the goal is 20 minutes/day but if you can only do 10 minutes/day, that is fine. Establishing a daily meditation practice is key (regardless of length).

It isn't an attempt to stop thinking - Meditation is a way to help us learn to recognize our thoughts (and habits of mind), observe them and then to allow us the space in time to choose whether and how to respond to what we are seeing more skillfully.

As Sharon describes meditation, it is "the simple and direct practice of moment-to-moment awareness." To meditate, "we first train our attention by focusing on a single chosen object (most often our breath) and repeatedly letting go of distractions in order to return our attention to that object. Later we broaden the focus to include whatever thoughts, feelings or sensations arise in the moment (Salzberg, 2011; pp. 7-8)."

For those of you who are new to meditation, as well as those of you are experienced but want a refresher/tune-up, Sharon provides a 28 day program (a 4 week program) in her book through which she gradually walks you through four different types of meditations and addresses the questions that typically come up as you practice meditation.

My plan is to embark on this program and see how my meditation experience changes, if at all, and then follow-up with a post on the topic.

What are your thoughts and/or concerns about trying out meditation? If you meditate, in what way(s), has meditating been helpful?

You May Also Enjoy:
10 Take-Aways from Workshop on Neuroscience, Meditation & Health
Spirituality, Compassion and Gestalt Therapy
Reflections about Thoughts, Feelings and the Law of Attraction
Understanding [Public Documents]: A Privilege or a Right?
Eating Disorders Are About Relationships

Reference: Salzberg, S. (2011). Real happiness. New York: Workman Publishing.

Best in Mental Health (wk of 2/20/2012)

noreply@blogger.com (DorleeM) — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 19:41:00 +0000

I'm watching twitter, google+ and the web so you don't have to...

This post is part of a weekly series, Best in Mental Health, featuring the best posts of the week, in social work, psychology, evidence-based practice/healthcare, non-profit and private practice concerns on Social Work Career Development.

To get a quick idea of the topics covered in this week's round-up, please see the above word cloud :)

Evidence Based Practice/Healthcare:

ABCs of Web Literacy: Interactive Tutorial
University of Pennsylvania

"If you are going to use the web for research, don't be duped by what you find out there. Learn five criteria for evaluation of information on the web..."

How to speak to your psychiatrist: are we ready for shared decision making in mental health?
The Mental Elf (Andre Tomlin)

"The evidence-base around shared decision making in mental health remains fairly sparse... Training in shared decision making was highly accepted by patients and changed attitudes toward participation in decision making..."

Satisfied? If not, do something
Occupy Healthcare (Dr. Miller)

"You have a role to play in healthcare too whether or not you admit it. Once we as a society stop seeing the healthcare system for only being about sickness, there will be a significant shift in our satisfaction of that system..."

So Much For “Everyone Can Get Care In An Emergency Room”
The Health Care Blog (Aaron Carroll)

"At least half of all hospitals nationwide now charge upfront ER fees... Hospital officials say the upfront payments are a response to mounting bad debt caused by the surge in uninsured and underinsured patients..."

Social Work:

Disproportional Suspension Among African American Youth: The Experience of Kinship Caregivers
Living Proof Podcast (UB School of Social Work)

"Dr. [Priscilla] Gibson speaks [in this 90th podcast] about her research exploring the experiences of kinship caregivers parenting African American children, who are disproportionately suspended under school zero tolerance policies..."

Don't Say "I Know" to a Client
A Case Manager's Verse (Anatolia)

"I have said "I understand" in the past but I've been told by a coworker that this may be tricky too because I don't really understand a situation... Our goal is to support the client to address her problem (and encourage her to do this on her own)..."

Human Trafficking - some interesting data
Child Protection Lessons (Peter Choate)

"... it now represents the second or third most profitable crime worldwide. It is the fastest growing crime and represents about $10 billion... This is a global problem in which technology has assisted in the ease of communication and movement..."

Intuition
This Is Me (spldbch)

"Everyone has intuition. We differ in how readily we recognize it, how comfortable we are with it, and how confident we are of its reliability... Notice your hunches, especially those that ultimately prove to be accurate. Become familiar w/the physical sensations..."

Perfectionism: Mastery Gone Awry
Practice Wisdom (Natalie L. Hill, LICSW)

"... perfectionists are often paralyzed by their perfectionism: they either spend an inordinate amount of time on one task or activity trying to get it just right, or they don't even start a task or activity because they know they can't meet their own standards..."

Psychologically Equipped? – White Paper Series #2
Mindfulness for NGOs (Alessandra Pigni)

"I shall explore the idea that aid workers may be greatly supported by practical psychological tools of self-awareness and by mindfulness practices that can help them to more fully know themselves, before they are exposed to trauma, crises and intense external stress..."

Reversals
What a Shrink Thinks (Martha Crawford, LCSW)

"There are times when we don’t carry our caseload, our caseload carries us... I am expected to be well. To be intact. To bear up. To be able to think clearly and feel deeply. And the expectation summons my strengths..."

Safety First…well, maybe third
SocialJerk

"Safety is an important topic in social work. We work in volatile situations with people who have difficulty controlling themselves... I recently canceled a home visit for the first time ever due to safety concerns...But that day, I had the uh-oh feeling..."

Seeking transformational solutions in a transactional world
Classroom to Capitol (Melinda K Lewis)

"Transforming our society by rethinking the systems that govern our lives... falls to all of us... It’s not enough for me as a social worker to be skilled at getting more for my clients, when I know that more is owed to many..."

Student power…? A personal response to the debate on student leadership
Social Work/Social Care & Media (Sasha Williams)

"Being proactive on your own behalf and that of your peers should not only improve the quality of your social work courses but it may also prepare you better for your role as advocate for service users..."

Trust, Anonymity and Authenticity
Connecting Social Care and Social Media (Ermintrude2)

"I’m moving away from ‘anonymity’ as a default and my defense of pseudonymity is fading. I feel comfortable standing publicly by the words I publish and I write as if I had my name attached in any case..."

Psychology:

3 Mindfulness Exercises to Soothe an Anxious Mind
Laura Schenck, M.A.

"Consider the information embedded within your subjective experience of anxiety… what is the experience trying to tell you? The next time you notice yourself experiencing your familiar cues of anxiety, make the choice to mindfully pause, breathe, and rest in the present moment..."

Five Factors That Bump Up Levels of Toxic-Stress in Your Body & Mind, 2 of 3
Neuroscience and Relationships (Dr. Athena Staik)

"the ‘American Diet’ is poison to the body... avoid inflammatory foods like the plague, and replace them with foods rich in nutrients... Exercise is also a critical component that factors into your level of mental and physical health..."

Nine Essential Qualities of Mindfulness
The Mindful Self-Express (Melanie Greenberg, Ph.D)

"Developing an observing mind that watches your own daily experience, notices your automatic patterns, and gently redirects attention to the present moment is the beginning of growing a "mindfulness muscle" to help you navigate the... stresses in your life..."

Anger is my friend
Teenage Whisperer (Sam Ross, BSc, MSc, Cert EP (YJ))

"If you really want to help me, you need to treat my anger for the friend it is... What you've got to do is help me come to realize that the way my friend treats me isn't helping me in life... that there are better friends out there for me, other options..."

Do One Thing
Dr. Ann Becker Schutte

"If you’re struggling to get out of a slump, it’s not helpful to give yourself a huge “to do” list... So, I ask my clients to identify one single action that they can take toward forward progress... If you get that one thing done, you have succeeded..."

Mindfulness Practice for the Treatment of PTSD
Heal My PTSD (Wayne Nadler)

"In Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, a person is left in a state of hypervigilance and hyperreactivity, always in a state of readiness to respond to attack... Mindfulness practice helps with PTSD by calming the nervous system..."

Patient Suicide: Part Five--Treat People Like They Matter
The Irreverent Psychologist (Jason Evan Mihalko, Psy.D)

"My patient who killed herself told me once that when she died she wanted no obituary... no marker of any sort that made mention of her life... My patient is etched in the record of my heart. I wish I had thought to tell her this when she was alive..."

Performance Anxiety and Shame
After Psychotherapy (Joseph Burgo, PhD)

"When toxic shame becomes non-toxic — that is, when it becomes bearable, it means you can still develop an authentic self-esteem that is entirely different from a narcissistic defense against shame...”

Self-Talk: Managing Your Inner Voice
HealthyPlace (Natasha Tracy)

"Self-talk can be used to lift yourself up, make you resilient and help you get on with your day or self-talk can work to tear you down... while self-talk can seem automatic and even partially unconscious, we do actually have control over our own inner voice..."

Spotlight on Eating Disorders
National Institute of Mental Health (Thomas Insel)

"What is the most fatal mental disorder? The answer... is anorexia nervosa... While many young women and men with this disorder die from starvation and metabolic collapse, others die of suicide..."

When To See A Psychiatrist
A Friend to Yourself (Sana Johnson-Quijada, MD)

"When we find that we can’t do what we want, don’t respond the way we intend, have negative emotions and behaviors we didn’t invite, see the associated deterioration in our connections and quality of life – when we are suffering, we need to look for help..."

Worrying Yourself Sick: A Personal Account
The Trauma and Attachment Report (Jeanine Tang)

"Their [anxiety disorder] effects can be pervasive and severe, both physically and psychologically... Left unchecked, stress can have serious negative consequences on health and well-being... Unfortunately, this is precisely what happened to my mother..."

Nonprofit:

Three Powerful Career Questions from Google
Allison Jones

"These three characteristics of their [Google's] ideal employee struck me as characteristics we all should be developing as we navigate our careers and lead in the nonprofit sector... do you know your field...can you apply what you know..."

Wisdom 2.0: Balance in A Hyper Connected World
Beth's Blog (Beth Kanter)

"The Wisdom 2.0 Conference is a one-of-a-kind event in Silicon Valley that brings together an unusual mix of technology leaders, Zen teachers, neuroscientists, and academics, to explore how we can live with deeper meaning and wisdom..."

Nonprofits Want Talent, Not Cash
The NonProfit Times

"The Washington Post published an article today by Jean Case, CEO of the Case Foundation, in which she discussed the nonprofit sector's need for more talent in strategic areas of importance..."

Private Practice:

Peek Inside An Office Overlooking A Lake!
Private Practice Toolbox (Julie Hanks, LCSW)

"Our first virtual office tour is the office of Peter Hannah MA LMHC, in Seattle, WA...I have to admit that I am SO jealous of his view. Water is amazingly therapeutic..."

Health Care Blogging: Choosing Topics
Dr. Susan Giurleo

"Your patients and clients are telling you what to write and how to write it. They come to you every day with questions, complaints and confusion that you then explain to them face-to-face. Your blog topics come for those conversations..."

When They Hate You
Gamer Therapist (Mike Langlois, LICSW)

"Would-be presenters please take heed. When you put yourself out there, people will take shots at you... In my opinion, part of what makes a person an effective speaker is also bound to make them hated: namely, their passion and conviction..."

Please share any thoughts or comments you have below. Also, feel free to mention any great posts that I may have missed.

You May Also Enjoy:
Best in Mental Health (wk of 2/13/2012)
Best in Mental Health (wk of 2/6/2012)
Best in Mental Health (wk of 1/30/2012)
Integrating Theory With Practice
Spirituality, Compassion and Gestalt Therapy
A Talk about Upward Mobility and Technology in Social Work

Continuing Education: Optional or Obligatory?

noreply@blogger.com (DorleeM) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 22:11:00 +0000

Do you find the whole continuing education maze a bit confusing? Are you wondering whether you need to need to fulfill continuing education requirements to maintain your LMSW or LCSW license?

Figuring out your continuing education (CE) requirements can be a bit puzzling, particularly because the answer varies according to your jurisdiction.

Association of Social Work Boards' Rules

According to the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB), nearly every jurisdiction that issues social work licenses requires continuing education courses for renewal. However, the requirements vary from one state to another from the number of continuing education (CE) hours required to the type of courses that must be taken.

To find out the CE requirements for your jurisdiction in the United States and Canada, check them out at ASWB here.

For example, I live in New York and according to the ASWB, there are no CE requirements. However, if I lived/worked in New Jersey, I would need to complete a minimum of 20 credits and at least 10 out of the 20 credits must be directly related to clinical practice.

The Association of Social Work Board's ACE (Approved Continuing Education) program has a list of Approved Providers . If you have any question about whether your board will accept a particular CE program, make sure to seek clarification from the board before taking the course.

To ensure your ability to get proper credit for fulfilling your CE requirements for your licensing board, make sure you receive a signed certificate of completion for the program you participated in, as well as a detailed description of the program (including syllabus, outline and bibliography as applicable). Please check to see any special requirements needed for your jurisdiction here.

Ethical Considerations

Aside from the (potential) licensing requirement for CE, there are also ethical considerations for social workers to take into account.

According to the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Code of Ethics:

"The primary mission of the social work profession is to enhance human wellbeing and help meet the basic human needs of all people, with particular attention to the needs and empowerment of people who are vulnerable, oppressed, and living in poverty."

Furthermore, the mission of the social work profession is rooted in the following set of core values:

service
social justice
dignity and worth of the person
importance of human relationships
integrity
competence.

As you can see, competence is one of the core values for social workers. The ethical principle supporting this value is that social workers practice within their areas of competence and develop and enhance their professional expertise.

In addition, according to NASW's code of ethics 4.01 section (b)

"Social workers should strive to become and remain proficient in professional practice and the performance of professional functions. Social workers should critically examine and keep current with emerging knowledge relevant to social work. Social workers should routinely review the professional literature and participate in continuing education relevant to social work practice and social work ethics."

Professional Growth

Last but not least, you may want to take additional courses for your own professional growth - irrespective of whether you need CE credits for your jurisdiction.

In my case, for instance, I don't have the CE requirement because it's not mandated for New York. Nevertheless, I have quite a list of various courses that I want to take so that I have a nice toolkit of methodologies and techniques to be able to apply with my clients. I also love learning :)

What are your thoughts about continuing education requirements? If you work for an agency, how does your employer support your interest/requirements for continuing education? What do you feel are the most important skills or knowledge clinical social workers need to have/build in today's times?

You May Also Enjoy:
Career Advice from a Dean of Social Work
Social Worker Pay By Setting, Practice & Region
8 Steps to Obtaining Your LMSW
Social Work Licensing - Part I
Tools to Help You Pass the LMSW Exam
34 Social Work Career Development Resources

Sources:
The Association of Social Work Board (ASWB) at www.aswb.org
National Association of Social Workers (NASW) at www.naswdc.org/pubs/code/code.asp

Best in Mental Health (wk of 2/13/2012)

noreply@blogger.com (DorleeM) — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 18:08:00 +0000

I'm watching twitter, google+ and the web so you don't have to...

This post is part of a weekly series, Best in Mental Health, featuring the best posts of the week, in social work, psychology, evidence-based practice/healthcare, non-profit and private practice concerns on Social Work Career Development.

To get a quick idea of the topics covered in this week's round-up, please see the above word cloud :)

Evidence Based Practice/Healthcare:

Different types of psychotherapy for different types of depression: a summary of best current knowledge
The Mental Elf (Andre Tomlin)

"Cognitive behavior therapy, interpersonal psychotherapy, problem-solving therapy, non-directive supportive therapy and behavioral activation therapy are all effective treatments for adult depression. Differences between types of psychotherapy are small..."

Healthcare (re)design
Occupy Healthcare (Dr. Miller)

"Healthcare is currently built around the wrong things. We know that the system is not built for the patients, but rather the companies who often pay for healthcare services. We know that it is more profitable for providers and hospitals when people are sick versus when they are well..."

Social Work:

A Social Worker’s Guide to Social Media
NASW-NYC (Shyvonne M. Noboa, MSW)

"Now that you are online and connected with others through social media, take the time to share the good work you are doing... If you are an expert social worker in a specific area of practice, you could & should use social media to share your knowledge..."

EMDR: An Evidence-Based Treatment for Trauma
From Where I Stand (Andrea B. Goldberg, LCSW)

"EMDR uses brief exposure to the traumatic event, combined with bilateral stimulation (eye movements, tones, vibrations or tapping) and sensory, cognitive, affective and somatic components, to facilitate adaptive information processing (AIP) and reconsolidation of the traumatic experience..."

I Come To Praise First-Person Shooters, Not To Bury Them
Gamer Therapist (Mike Langlois, LICSW)

"I find that where gamer solidarity is starting to fall apart is around the more specific attacks... around FPS [video games known as first-person shooter] and violent games... I want to ask a different...question: What’s wrong with being aggressive?..."

Mission-driven, Committed to Clients…and we VOTE
Classroom to Capitol (Melinda K Lewis)

"For many nonprofit employees, our jobs are callings. We live our missions every day at work, and we bring them home with us... we can take them into the voting booth... we should... Because when we do, we will be a force with which to be reckoned..."

Overworked? Join the self-preservation society
Teenage Whisperer (Sam Ross, BSc, MSc, Cert EP (YJ))

"if you are to preserve yourself and refuel, body and mind, consider what you like to do with your spare time. What do you just love doing for its own sake, that is raw ultra-nourishing soul food for you?..."

Providing Therapy Across Different Cultures (podcast)
npr (Stacey Lambert and Karen Hanscom)

"When they [immigrants] do seek counseling, they often encounter a cross-cultural struggle to understand and be understood by American practitioners."

Setting Boundaries with your children
Cathy Hanville, LCSW

"When your children are under 18, you cannot be both a friend and a parent... Children need boundaries. I have often had children tell me in different ways how they really want their parents to set and enforce rules. Yes, even teenagers..."

So what is burnout and what can I do to avoid it?
The Zen Social Worker (MSW Student, Tim)

"Burnout manifests itself in a variety of ways including physical, mental and emotional exhaustion, mistrust and anger can also be product of burnout... The prescription for avoiding burnout and overcoming it [is] self care..."

Social work doctorates: let’s share the knowledge
Martin Webber's Blog (@mgoat73)

"One way we can help to improve the dissemination of social work doctoral research... is to make it available to practitioners... Therefore, if you are a social worker...are interested in sharing..., please email... If you are interested in reading my PhD thesis..."

The racialized classroom
JaeRan Kim

"it doesn’t matter how much a group is politically and intellectually like-minded, race and culture are always present in the conversation... how are social workers of color supposed to see themselves reflected in the profession... if all our textbooks... operate from a traditional “diversity” model..."

Women’s Pay More Equal to Men in Social Work | Social Workers Speak
Adventures of a (not so) Cheap Social Worker

"Unfortunately, this NASW study shows that the median salary of female social workers is $11,000 lower than male social workers ($53,000 and $64,000, respectively). This difference is significantly higher than 2%..."

Why Social Care needs Social Media …
Connecting Social Care and Social Media (Ermintrude2)

"There is... a much freer flow of information between university academics and researchers and front line practitioners which has allowed me access... about the most current research which has significantly fed into my practice... understanding..."

Psychology:

12 Tips to Enjoy Exercise – And Make It Part of Your Lifestyle!
Neuroscience and Relationships (Dr. Athena Staik)

"In order to make lasting change, your brain must record positive associations between exercise and how you feel experientially (feelings and physical sensations)... start off easy and light.. keep it fun... Identify possible obstacles... find ways to..."

Anger After Trauma: Relationships as Collateral Damage
Heal My PTSD (Suzanne B. Phillips and Dianne Kane)

"After trauma, anger can be tripped by many sources and can reflect different reactions including hyperarousal, disguised grief or masked depression. Often it is driven by the feeling that someone has to be blamed..."

Are you psychologically equipped for working in aid and development?
whydev.org (Alessandra Pigni)

"Over the last months I have been collecting stories, reflections and suggestions from humanitarian professionals on the importance of staff-care, pre-deployment psychological preparation, burnout prevention training, field support... and post-deployment care..."

Identify Problematic Relationship Patterns & Break the Cycle
Laura Schenck, M.A.

"Take the time to clearly define what the problem actually is before you get carried away with trying to “fix” it. If you are able to work through this process collaboratively with your partner, try to clearly define the problem from each of your perspectives..."

Just Breathe (breathing audio included)
Dr. Ann Becker Schutte

Breathing properly is one of the the small gifts that we can give ourselves at any time, and no matter how busy we are... my challenge to you this week is to try to remind yourself at least once a day to “just breathe.”

Recognition of Irritation and Anxiety
HealthyPlace (Natasha Tracy)

"Irritation, and I mean severe, rip-your-head-off irritation, is one of the least recognized symptoms of bipolar disorder... irritation and anxiety are serious symptoms and can do serious damage to yourself and your relationships with others (and say, your job)...

Recognizing “Change Talk” in Your Clients
ACA (Barbara Jordan)

"The goal of MI [Motivational Interviewing] is to express unconditional positive regard and empathy so that we can understand why clients want to address their problem(s). It involves capitalizing on and strengthening their motivation for change..."

Shame and How It Produces Envy
After Psychotherapy (Joseph Burgo, PhD)

"Envy is a normal human emotion... it also has its value, teaching us what we want to have or to be, and thereby motivating us. When coupled with basic shame, however, it becomes toxic... Learning to accept one’s damage and limitations helps... "

Treatment Philosophy
sgbrownlow.com (Steven G. Brownlow, PhD)

"Most counselors and psychotherapists treat defenses... In my opinion, this approach is needlessly slow and inefficient... Rather than fighting through defenses to get at the core, I would much rather skip past them and change the person from the inside..."

Igniting Optimum Health in All Areas of Your Life (telesummit)
HeartMath

"A Free Telesummit with World-Class Pioneers Joan Borysenko, Bernie Siegel, Dan Millman, Mingtong Gu Harville Hendrix, John Gray, Janet Attwood and more... Through March, you will have free access to four Winter of Wellness sessions each week..."

Work can be fun!
A Friend to Yourself (DeeAnna Merz Nagel)

"I am an introvert by nature... Sometimes the challenge is not to indulge my quiet side too much. So instead of stacking my client appointments to one day a week, I found it works better for me to see clients a few days a week...."

New Age:

How to Communicate with Your Spirit Guides (podcast)
Insights at the Edge (Marie Manuchehri)

"In this episode, Marie directly answers Tami’s personal skepticism about the reality of spirit guides. She also offers a unique perspective on the concept of free will, and shares a guided exercise for opening a channel of communication to your own spirit guides..."

Nonprofit:

10 National Nonprofit Conferences Worth Attending in 2012 (Under $500)
Rosetta Thurman

"Here are 10 ... conferences that are happening in 2012 with great speakers, sessions and organizations involved... Remember to look out for scholarships, early bird discounts or opportunities to sign up as a volunteer so you can get in for cheap or even free!"

Moving Your Nonprofit Financials to the Cloud: The Do's and the Don'ts
The NonProfit Times

As a nonprofit organization, your accounting needs are more challenging than a for-profit corporation's financials... See the above link for the recording of the free webinar hosted by The NonProfitTimes and Intacct.

Private Practice:

The 9 Steps to Adding Multiple Income Streams to Your Practice
Dr. Susan Giurleo

"The fastest way to a stable income is through individual client sessions. These pay at the highest hourly rate and it can be relatively straightforward to attract 10-20 people to work with you...Have a niche and be known for something..."

20 Reasons for Writing a Blog to Connect with Counselling Clients and Increase your Online Visibility
Australia Counselling

"...the idea is to connect with your therapy practice clients on a real and personal level... A blog can be in the form of a journal, or be directly targeted for building your business... Here then... are 20 reasons why writing a blog consistently helps..."

What Your Best Friend Won’t Tell You (Because I Didn’t)
Private Practice from the Inside Out (Tamara Suttle, M.Ed., LPC)

"Its photos - professional photos! Or at least that’s what they are supposed to be. Take a look at random websites, online directories, and Meetup groups for psychotherapists. What do you notice? ..."

Please share any thoughts or comments you have below. Also, feel free to mention any great posts that I may have missed.

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Children’s Growth Through Art

noreply@blogger.com (DorleeM) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 18:25:00 +0000

Did you know there is a huge connection between the development of a child's artistic abilities and his/her cognitive development?

In fact, a child's art work is indicative of his/her developing abilities in motor skills, perception, language, symbol formation, sensory awareness and spatial orientation (Malchiodi, 1998).

As you may remember from Art Therapy and Social Work, I'm currently taking a class in art therapy for social workers. Today is a second post in the art therapy series in which I will be sharing with you some key learnings from class.

This week, as our drawing exercise, we were told to draw something that we remember drawing from childhood. I drew the above house.

The end result of our class exercise was an array of pictures that illustrated some of the stages of artistic development. Barring severe handicaps, all children go through specific stages in their drawing development (Viktor Lowenfeld, 1947).

Knowing how children draw at different age ranges gives you a basis of comparison when working with children with cognitive, developmental or physical problems and those who have suffered trauma, crisis or an emotional event in their lives.

Below is a summary chart illustrating artistic stages nearly all children go through, as well as drawings to correspond with each phase.*
Stages of Artistic Development

Many children lose interest in drawing at the stage of "dawning realism" stage because they become frustrated with their attempts at representing real life in their drawings. As a result, adults often draw at this level or slightly below because this is where they ended their art education.

*Age ranges are approximate. Each child is unique and some children may take longer than others to pass through certain stages. In addition, children may go back and forth between stages. For instance, a child in the Tadpole stage may draw human figures one day and revert back to the circles or scribbles characteristic of the Scribble phase the next day. This type of fluctuation is common and to be expected.

That said, when an eight year old child's drawing looks like a four year old child's, this could be the result of either a developmental disability or chronic trauma.

When there is no cognitive delay and there are emotional issues that are reflected as developmental delays in drawings, the developmental delays will disappear over time as you are working with the child and the concerns get resolved.

One interesting example the professor shared with us is that we may see cases where a child is drawing with us at age level and then experiences a regression with us. This could be simply triggered by a memory or a thought that occurs to the child in the midst of his/her work.

How would you detect the regression? You would see it in the child's behavior (acting out, reverting to a younger child's behavior etc.) and you would see it in the child's art work. For example, in the same drawing, one figure drawing is at the schematic level but the other figure is at the pre-schematic level.

When there is regression, it is our job to comfort the child and help the child get back together so that he/she can function again in class/outside world. For example, we could suggest drawing or doing an activity that typically is soothing or pleasing to the child. This would assist the child to forget whatever it was that had caused the emotional regression and return to his/her normal state of equilibrium.

I'm hoping that you found this information interesting and helpful. What style do you think my house drawing represents? Does knowing this information make you view your work with children any differently than before? What other thoughts or comments come to mind?

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Caveats:
1) I am a social worker and not an art therapist. The above information is only meant to be seen as a taste of what is involved in art therapy.
2) Please do not substitute material on this site for consultation with an art therapist or mental health professional. It is not intended to serve as mental health advice, let alone assessment, diagnosis, or treatment.
3) Before practicing art therapy, one must obtain sufficient training, supervision and licensing. So You Want to be an Art Therapist, Part Two: Art Therapy Education describes some of the different paths available to those interested in art therapy as a profession or as an additional technique for those who have a master's degree in licensed mental health professions like counseling and social work.

References: D. Fagen, LCSW, LCAT, ATR-BC, Creative arts therapy in clinical social work lecture, February 13, 2012.
Malchiodi, C. A. (1998). Understanding children's drawings. New York: Guilford Press.

Best in Mental Health (wk of 2/6/2012)

noreply@blogger.com (DorleeM) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 22:26:00 +0000

I'm watching twitter, google+ and the web so you don't have to...

This post is part of a weekly series, Best in Mental Health, featuring the best posts of the week, in social work, psychology, evidence-based practice/healthcare, non-profit and private practice concerns on Social Work Career Development.

Aside from @SWSCMedia's regularly scheduled weekly twitter chats at 3PM EST on Tuesdays (and other chats listed on Mental Health Twitter Chats), two new chats are starting up: a mental health chat #MHchat by @MHchat on Wednesdays at 3PM EST and a social work for social media chat #SW4SM as of February 28th as described below.

Evidence Based Practice/Healthcare:

New evidence suggests that antidepressants do not influence suicidal thinking in young people
The Mental Elf (Andre Tomlin)

"The authors set out to determine the short-term safety of antidepressants by standard assessments of suicidal thoughts and behavior in children, adults, and geriatric populations and the mediating effect of changes in depressive symptoms..."

The Role of Income in Healthcare Coverage
Occupy Healthcare

"having coverage can make a difference in not only health outcomes, but also proper utilization. As the Commonwealth Fund report highlights, those improperly utilizing emergency department services (very expensive services) often cited non-emergency reasons for their visit..."

Social Work:

A bad experience with supervision
The Zen Social Worker (MSW Student, Tim)

"I had the unfortunate experience of being bullied by a supervisor... I had tried to deal with it on my own but the power dynamic was too delicate... The worst part about this... I was asked to leave without the ability to terminate appropriately with my patients... "

Does your name say anything about who you are?
This Is Me (spldbch)

"To give a child a name is to endow him with a unique identity in the eyes of other people. This occurs long before the child develops any sense of personal identity. A person's name, then, begins to first impact his identity in the way others respond to it..."

Duty to Warn, Duty to Protect
The New Social Worker (Steven Granich, LCSW, MPA, DSW)

"Duty to protect can involve warning the potential victim, notifying the police, starting a commitment hearing, informing mental health evaluators of the threat, and utilizing professional supervision... "

Happy Birthday Charles
The Not So Big Society (Ermintrude2)

"Dickens dredges up through his fictional works, a world that is uncomfortable and unjust. It challenges us with the imagery of poverty... The perceptions of ‘deserving’ and ‘undeserving’ poor are turned on their heads. We see into workhouses and slums..."

The Impact of the Internet on the Brain: What Do We Really Know?
Virtual Connections (Nancy J. Smyth)

"Here’s wonderfully refreshing video that reviews what the research-to-date actually tells us about the impact of the Internet on the brain. Dr. Paul Howard Jones goes through popular fears about technology and discusses what the research tells us..."

Mock Interview Panel by @Profsocialwork with @Mamiddau & @Obi1
Social Work/Social Care & Media (@Profsocialwork with @Mamiddau & @Obi1)

"@Obi1 is apply for the position of Children’s #SocialWorker within a local authority/statutory setting... We have asked ten questions between us to ensure inclusion of law, policy, social work process and knowledge as well as person specific criteria..."

The People Who Inspire Series: Tonjie Reese
N.A.H. (Relando Thompkins, MSW)

"Tonjie Reese, Community Educator for Turning Point, a domestic violence and sexual assault agency for survivors... The key to prevention is education and being an active bystander. At some point all of us have been bystanders, but how many people..."

Psychosomatic problems in abused children
Child Protection Lessons (Peter Choate)

"In a Swedish study on the connection between somatic issues with children, there was a clear link between these and children who were physically abused. It was more evident when they also witnessed inter personal violence (IPV) on top of the physical abuse..."

Recharging Your Batteries (Are You an Introvert or an Extrovert?)
Practice Wisdom (Natalie L. Hill, LICSW)

"energy flows from us to our clients... we have to find ways to recharge our own batteries... introverts, like all people, also need social support, and so we need to spend at least some of our free time nurturing real-life relationships..."

School Engagement Among Sexual Minority Students: Allies, Alliances, and Academic Outcomes
Living Proof Podcast (UB School of Social Work)

"In this [89th] podcast, Dr. Eugene Walls discusses his research on school engagement among sexual minority students... aimed at understanding the contributing roles of school climate, adult allies, and gay-straight alliances in predicting academic outcomes."

@SM4SW #SM4SW New Twitter discussion
jimmysw

"The first twitter chat using #SM4SW will be February 28th at 1pm E.T. The topic is social media and social work practice or education... interested in... insight on the subject as well as a healthy debate on whether social work should be.. invested in social media..."

Social Work Self-Care: Healthy Eating, Exercise Tracking on Lose It app
Social Work Tech Blog (Ignacio)

"Sometimes...we may overeat, overindulge, and not exercise enough... Lose It makes it easy to track calorie intake and exercise to help one facilitate healthy weight loss behaviors..."

Sometimes there isn’t much to say
SocialJerk

"I recently came in to work, confronted with the worst message I’ve ever gotten. One of my little boys, a twelve year old, was shot while playing basketball... This child did everything right... He was a child, playing with his friends... "

Psychology:

A Few Tips for Responding to a Pregnancy Loss
Dr. Ann Becker Schutte

"the heart of caring response to pregnancy loss, or any loss, boils down to: listen more than you talk (People who have had a loss often feel overwhelmed by the barrage of advice and feedback that they get from others); offer the support they need..."

Can a Client Impersonate You on Facebook? It Happened To Me…
American Counseling Association

"In the spring of 2011, a friend emailed me and asked if I was aware there were two Facebook profiles with my name... Being that it was still in the early portion of 2011, the Facebook’s current Family Safety Center did not exist..."

Cultivating Positive Discipline for Children (Webinar)
Institute of HeartMath

"Saturday, Feb 18, 2012: 2:00PM - 3:00PM EST: Parents, educators and mental health specialists among others who care for children will take away valuable tools, ideas and strategies from this hour long webinar..."

Deliver Us: thoughts on evil and psychotherapy
What a Shrink Thinks (Martha Crawford, LCSW)

"We must recognize the amoral archetype when it emerges – believe in its existence so that we can distinguish it from illness, accident, error, or a gesture borne of temporary collapse, lashing out in panic or in pain..."

Understanding the Additional Baggage When Transforming PTSD and Grief
Heal My PTSD (Tabitha Jayne)

"As we go deeper into transforming our experiences of PTSD and grief we have an opportunity not to just let go of the pain surrounding the event that triggered it... an opportunity to let go of hidden pain that is unconsciously present within our psyche... "

Love’s End: Attachment and the Dissolution of the Romantic Relationship
The Trauma & Attachment Report (Amanda Sharples)

"While this holiday [Valentine's day] can be an opportunity for those in love to express their appreciation for one another, it can also be a trying time for those who have yet to find love, or for those who have recently ended a relationship..."

Release Me from My Internal Prison
Teenage Whisperer (Sam Ross, BSc, MSc, Cert EP (YJ))

"Get me involved in activities where I have a chance to help others. Something as simple as being allowed to help my teacher get books out the cupboard to something bigger like getting involved in a community project... And you will see my self-esteem rise..."

Out-Thinking Pain: How the Mind can Control Pain (Webinar)
Canadian Institute for the Relief of Pain and Disability (CIRPD)

"Tuesday, Feb 21, 2012: 2:00PM - 3:00PM EST: Dr. Catherine Bushnell, Harold Griffith Professor of Anesthesia and... at McGill University will provide an overview of the important influence that psychological factors have on pain perception..."

The Surprising Secret to Success—Be Kind to Yourself
The Mindful Self-Express (Melanie Greenberg, Ph.D)

"While high self-esteem is generally based on evidence of superior achievement, self-compassion is a more constant personal quality, in which we value ourselves and treat ourselves kindly just because we are human..."

Understand and Prevent Teen Dating Violence
HealthyPlace (Kellie Holly)

"Most teens do not have the luxury to avoid contact with their abuser because they attend school with them and must see him/her every day... There are creative ways to avoid contact with a teen abuser, but most of the best solutions include..."

Who was talking about Avatar Therapy a decade ago?
Online Therapy Institute (Kate Anthony and DeeAnna Nagel)

"...we turned up hard copies of two articles Kate wrote...Virtual Counsellors: Whatever Next? and The Use of Innovative Avatar and Virtual Environment Technology for Counselling and Psychotherapy..."

Why do you put up with that?
Dr. Greg Hinkle

"The best therapy combines care and empathy; losing either element causes problems...when a person is stuck in a self-defeating behavior, the most effective intervention often starts with empathic connection..."

Nonprofit:

My favorite nonprofit career clarity activity
Allison Jones

"we often struggle with a. figuring out what we love (passion) and b. gaining the skills necessary to be excellent in what we love (practice)... I often recommend the Career Tracks Activity (PDF)... you gather at least 50 job opportunities that appeal to you..."

Private Practice:

Health Care Providers: Who Is Your Real Client?
Dr. Susan Giurleo

"Whether you accept insurance or not , the way to grow your practice and support people as a true client is to focus on serving their needs in a big way. Make client/customer service a priority... Make the experience of your practice an exceptional one..."

Protect Your Online Privacy: Start Blogging!
Gamer Therapist (Mike Langlois, LICSW)

"Globalization and technology have removed many of the barriers to, and some would say protections from, knowing each other... So what can you do? Well, my advice is to start blogging... Buddhism tells us to move into the places that scare you..."

Please share any thoughts or comments you have below. Also, feel free to mention any great posts that I may have missed.

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Understanding: A Privilege or a Right?

noreply@blogger.com (DorleeM) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:17:00 +0000

Is the ability to understand to public documents a privilege or a right?

As Sandra Fisher-Martins eloquently argues in the below TED talk, being able to understand public financial, legal and medical documents is not only everyone's right but a daily necessity.

The problem is that the vast majority of public documents are written in language that is too complex to understand. Just pick up a standard leasing agreement, mortgage loan document or medical waiver to get a sampling of the complex language that is typically used and you will see what she means...

The standard language that is used is complex language understood only by those employed within that specific field of knowledge but foreign to nearly everyone else.

Further compounding things is that there is a huge gap between the average literacy rate and the language level of public documents.

Sandra Fisher-Martins: The Right to Understand

Personal Vignette

Before even having the chance to listen to Sandra speak about the right to understand, the concept immediately spoke to me and reminded me of an experience I had during my first year's placement at a women's health clinic.

I met for first time a person who could not read or write in either English or her native tongue. The woman did not tell me that she could not read or write; I suddenly sensed this may be the case by the way she was responding to some of the things I was saying and/or showing to her on paper and my computer screen.

Not knowing what else to do (but needing to know to ensure her understanding of the information I was providing her), I gently asked her whether she can read and she acknowledged her illiteracy.

Without going into specifics to protect her confidentiality, I needed to give her some information which I would have normally provided in writing. However, now I needed to be able to rely on being able to provide this information only verbally and ensure that she understood it well enough before she left so that she would remember it after she had left.

Thankfully, she managed to absorb all the information I provided. Afterwards, I remember feeling shocked and upset to encounter this degree of illiteracy in today's time in our country. I could not understand how she had not been provided with some assistance in this regard.

My inclination was to want to find out about some sort of class to help her...but my supervisor restrained me because this was my need and not a need expressed by my client. I couldn't even imagine how this woman managed to get along in life being totally illiterate although she clearly did...

At the same time, I had immense respect for my client's strength and resilience because she had obviously found and developed various coping mechanisms to survive in our modern times despite this handicap. Thinking about it now, among her strengths, she probably had developed above average memory and listening skills in order to compensate for being illiterate.

That said, there is no doubt in my mind that her life and the opportunities she has available to her are severely limited as a result of being illiterate. It wasn't until my encounter with her that I realized how fortunate I was to be educated...

Going back to Sandra's TED talk, there is a huge gap between the average literacy rate and the level at which public documents are written. The personal vignette demonstrates an extreme case scenario in which a person is totally illiterate; this particular woman relies upon her husband who reads some (simple) English for comprehension of any documents.

What can we do ?

We can become more demanding as consumers and as citizens. This means that the next time (and every time) we receive a document that we don't understand, we don't just let it go and pretend that we understand. Instead we ask the banker, government official etc. to explain that part in the document, contract etc. that is unclear until we understand.

Those of us who are lawyers, public servants and writers of public documents - we can start communicating in a simple and clear way; we must write to be understood so that every reader understands what we write the first time they read the documents we create.

As Einstein once said: "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough."

How Do You Write Clearer?

As Sandra recommends, think of writing to your grandmother; that is, with respect and without patronizing her and then:

Start with what's important
Use short sentences
Use simple words

By becoming more demanding as citizens and asking for documents to be written in a clearer manner, we will be helping not only ourselves, (those of us who are fortunate enough to be educated and literate) but also those who can only understand simple documents in English; i.e. everyone!

What are your thoughts about the "right to understand?" Do you agree that the ability to understand is a right or do you think it should be a privilege?

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