The purpose of this post is to give a list of the variables that I believe impact a person’s mental health. As a therapist, I help people to augment their abilities in the below attributes. Therapy is very often thought of a means of intervening to assist people who have significant mental health concerns… I […]
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Is Depression the Result of Self-Centeredness?
In this post I will be laying out a hypothesis for how the US’s value of freedom and individualism may be affecting our national depression rates.
Systemics in Psychotherapy
Systems therapists are interested in helping a family, couple, community, school system, country etc. to function with dynamics and structures which best support the well being and potential of the pieces which make up the system. Systems theory taken to a radical (and dichotomous) position would state that problems do not exist within individuals; instead, ‘problems’ are the result of a systems inability to effectively attend to the needs of the individuals in the system… labeling a person as the problem is a symptom of the systems inability to augment its strengths and to adapt in ways that facilitate dynamics and structures which are best suited to the ‘pieces’ (people) in the system.
Hope affects outcome… why?
If I were to tell you that hope affected outcome most of you would have no difficulty accepting this statement as truth. What we might all have a bit of difficulty agreeing on is why… why does hope affect outcome? I asked this question to a very intelligent person the other day and that person […]
Overcoming feelings of Shame | Shame avoided will stay quite the same…
Guilt is mixture of melancholic anxiety that steps from a remorse held for an action engaged in… shame is a deeper depression accompanied by a degree of restless self-hatred which arrives when we cannot accept and forgive our self – when we essentially feel uncomfortable with who we are as opposed to feeling unrest for an action we partook in.
The Sex vs. Emotional Intimacy debate | how to make both partners feel loved in a relationship
Whether a person feels loved by receiving sex or by receiving emotional availability the simple truth is that these are simply activities that require very little time and effort if done with consistency, open-mindedness, humility, unconditional love, and complete undivided attention to your partner in the moment of engagement.
Relationship feel stuck? Try pretending that you don’t know everything about your partner
So what is the solution… pretend that you don’t know your partner at all… the more that you can honestly engage in this suggestion the more you will find that you actually don’t know your partner as well as you thought (in a good way).
Mind won’t stop ruminating? Take your shoes off to encourage a state of mindfulness
A state of mindfulness is when you are entirely in the present moment… this means that 100% of your attention is on your sensory, cognitive, and emotional ‘unconditionally accepting’ observations of the moment that is happening (as opposed to being distracted by focusing your attention on the past or the future). To encourage a state of mindfulness I often try and remove anything that would be an obstacle or a distraction from the present… sometimes my shoes are such a distraction… so I remove them and free my feet to observe the present moment.
Teenage Drinking | Solving Youth Substance Abuse | restraint theory, individuation, overpopulation, cultural priorities and freewill
Quick summary: I will be offering a brief discussion on what some of the factors are which seem be contributing to excessive teenage drinking in the United States. I will follow each proposal with a solution.
Support group for teens with type 1 diabetes
Quick summary: Research has shown that support groups for teens with type one diabetes are extremely beneficial to the participants overall well-being. In fact, people who have diabetes tend to have lower incidences of mental health concerns as compared to the general population – this is thought to be because of the amount of familial, social and individual supports that are made available. I starting a support group (May 2010) in both Longmont and Denver Colorado… as I have already done quite a bit of research I thought that I might offer my group template to any psychotherapist that might want to start such a group in their own area. If you know some one who might be interested in this group (or other therapy services) – please send them to my web page – www.whbtherapy.com – for more information. To clarify this is a support group and not a psycho education group – this means that the therapist will be there to support you, to link themes, to create a feeling of safety, and to offer topics… they are not necessarily there to teach you in a directive fashion.
Vengeance and the Ego
Quick summary: Vengeance is a tool which creates instability in an attempt to create a stable ego.
Logical Reason to Change – The Inevitability of Anxiety Whether You Change or Not
Quick summary: Most people have something about themselves or their life situation that they desire to change. Unconsciously and consciously we avoid change because there is anxiety and perceived difficulty inherent in the process of changing. My purpose here is to point out a very common misconception – the misconception is that you can avoid anxiety by avoiding change. When you have a desire to change there is a degree of unrest or dissonance (in this context this means that there is a conflict between who you are and who you wish to be) that you are already carrying – this unrest… this dissonance carries anxiety with it. Therefore it is logical to change as anxiety is a constant… meaning you will carry anxiety whether you change or not. Change will likely bring positives to your life and the anxiety of that change will cease to exist once the change has manifested… once your desire becomes reality there is no longer a reason to change and therefore the anxiety will go away as there is no longer dissonance or the process of change.
Why Feeling Questions? – Emotional Expression Enhances Bonding
Quick summary: Exciting new research done by therapists such as Dr. Sue Johnson (the pioneer of emotionally focused therapy) have added efficacy to therapeutic interventions which help clients to express emotions. By sharing your most intimate feelings to your partner you can increase the overall intimacy and relational strength of your union. This makes common sense if you think about it – when you decide to trust someone and to confide in him or her – most believe that this makes you closer or more bonded to that person.