research has shown that when clients are directly involved with charting the course of therapy, therapy tends to be much more effective. because of that, i use two very simple tools in my sessions that help to ensure client involvement. the one i am reprinting here is the one i give at the beginning of… Continue reading increasing psychotherapy effectiveness
Month: May 2006
mental illness, mental health, mental wellness
the public health agency of canada has a site on mental health – or mental illness, if you prefer that term. the definition is: Mental illnesses are characterized by alterations in thinking, mood or behaviour (or some combination thereof) associated with significant distress and impaired functioning over an extended period of time. The symptoms of… Continue reading mental illness, mental health, mental wellness
chronic pain – hard to understand
many years ago, when i was still in the early phases of studying, i had a telephone conversation with a friend of mine, who at that point had lived for many years with chronic back pain. inexperienced and naive, and influenced by reading louise hay, i suggested to my friend that at some level she… Continue reading chronic pain – hard to understand
suicide by a friend. or was it a stranger?
last week, a young man in his 20s, let’s call him john, ended his life. he had struggled with depression for quite a while and just couldn’t take the pain of his life anymore. he swallowed the pills he had hoarded over a few months, and then he left us. there was a memorial service.… Continue reading suicide by a friend. or was it a stranger?
getting sick
i feel a cold coming on. i could ignore it. i could go to bed. i could get all panicky. i could have a hot bath. i could listen to my body. i could feel guilty about getting sick. i could be afraid that i’ve infected my friend who is weak from chemotherapy. i could… Continue reading getting sick
hopelessness?
“research convincingly shows that people come to therapy not because they have problems but because they have become demoralized about their chances of resolving particular challenges.” this is something i brought up in one of my earliest blog entries. there, i talked about how we face problems all the time, and how the “size” of… Continue reading hopelessness?
being invisible
back in the 90s, i took a women’s studies course and as part of that, i was supposed to participate in an event during women’s day week. the report on this still evokes a lot of feeling in me about being a woman artist, being (in)visible, trying to swim against the stream… here is an… Continue reading being invisible
time, space, stories, memories
today i went to the 75th anniversary of my daughter’s elementary school. time travel! there was someone there who was may queen in 1934, a 95-year-old teacher who had taught there for many years, and of course the choir who sang right across the century, from i got plenty o’ nuttin to rag mop to… Continue reading time, space, stories, memories
overcoming alcoholism
stanton peele, north-america’s grand-daddy of progressive (and controversial) views on addiction, has this to say about success with overcoming alcoholism. The most important single prognostic variable associated with remission among alcoholics who attend alcohol clinics is having something to lose if they continue to abuse alcohol…. Patients cited changed life circumstances rather than clinic intervention… Continue reading overcoming alcoholism
the myth of keeping up
in a blog entry, the creating passionate users guys (three software/game developer geeks “passionate about how the brain works and how to exploit it for better learning and memory”) make a good point about the myth of keeping up. it’s really comforting to hear this from leading-edge people in information technology – if they can’t… Continue reading the myth of keeping up