A GoodTherapy.org General Announcement

The GoodTherapy.org Team is thrilled to announce that Google has recently promoted our organization’s website to PageRank (PR) Level 6. This new level is awarded on the basis of a number of things, notably: the quality of content and the number of websites that link back to us. GoodTherapy.org’s increased PageRank means increased rankings for all GT web pages, results the GT team have already seen. GoodTherapy.org is now ranked in the top 1, 2, or 3 positions in Google for nearly every location we aim to rank for. This development makes GT information about psychotherapy more visible to the general public and brings GT closer to achieving its goal of promoting collaborative and non-pathological forms of psychotherapy, all in an effort to reduce harm and to bring more “health” into the field of mental health.

© Copyright 2008 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Boulder Bureau - All Rights Reserved.

By Jennifer Lehr, MA, MFT

Click here to contact Jennifer and/or see her GoodTherapy.org Profile

I was in a therapy session the other day when the person I was working with, who had been struggling with some challenges, said that he was taught that things had to be easy to be okay. I found myself responding…it is a privilege to struggle and have the opportunity to find out who we are, what we are made of.

When life is easy, we can enjoy ourselves and that is wonderful. But what about when life is not so easy? What about when we are up against challenges that really scare or overwhelm us?

It seems that it would be great if our lives were always easy and happy rather than challenging. But if we can only feel happiness when we are in the right situations or conditions, born into the right family or the right socio-economic group, we are trapped by the external. Adversity allows us the opportunity to find out what we are capable of, to access aspects of ourselves that we did not know existed, inner resources we didn’t know we had, and to develop our strengths. Read the rest of this entry

A GoodTherapy.org News Update Presented by Daniel Brezenoff, LCSW

On Tuesday, the United States House of Representatives and Senate passed legislation to ensure parity between mental health coverage and other medical care. The law would apply to group health plans with 51 or more employees. Differences in the bills’ language must be worked out before it goes to President Bush, who is expected to sign it.

The legislation does not mandate that group health plans cover mental health or addiction treatment, only that when plans do so, the coverage must be equitable to other medical coverage.

Jim Ramstad, R-Minn., helped lead efforts to pass the bill in the House, and spoke inspiringly of his own experience as a person in recovery, ”I am alive and sober today only because of the access that I had to treatment following my last alcoholic blackout on July 31, 1981. I woke up that day in a jail cell in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and I am living proof that treatment works and recovery is possible. But far too many people in our country don’t have the same access to treatment that I and other members of Congress, other federal employees have.”

Because private companies will be able to deduct more health expenses from federal income taxes, the projected cost to the government is about $3.4 billion over 10 years. There is also a loophole in the bill that may concern mental health advocates: Read the rest of this entry

A GoodTherapy.org News Update Presented by Daniel Brezenoff, LCSW

The economic downturn has lead to a spike in the demand for psychological crisis services, according to several sources.

In New York, calls to Hopeline, a telephone crisis service for people experiencing severe depression increased by about 75 percent between the summer of 2007 and the summer of 2008. Hopeline received a record 10,368 in July of this year, and expects a continued climb as the economy worsens and financial stressors – and the incumbent potential damage to self-esteem, hopefulness, relaxation, and other areas of ego strength and functionality – increase nationwide. Read the rest of this entry

A GoodTherapy.org News Update Presented by Daniel Brezenoff, LCSW

How many people have found solace by calling a friend on the telephone in a difficult time?

Northwestern University is reporting research indicating that telephone psychotherapy seems not only to be effective, it may be an even better treatment for depression than face to face meetings. The new study was small and more research is needed to draw any certain conclusions, but the initial data are compelling. In this study, only 7.6 percent of patients ended therapy, compared to the well-established attrition rate of nearly half in traditional therapy.

And before you ask: The researchers found no indication that telephone therapy is any less effective in improving mood.

There may be other benefits, as well. Time management is less of an issue if client can get therapy anywhere they happen to be at appointment time.

Perhaps more controversially, clients who are depressed or anxious may be unmotivated, agoraphobic, or otherwise experience barriers to showing up for appointments. Phone therapy may help overcome these obstacles.

Or will it enable them? Could such an approach inhibit growth in important areas of social functioning? This study did not address the point. A skilled therapist would ideally recognize such a circumstance as distinct from those times when phone therapy is the only way to engage a client.

Past research on phone therapy has shown similar results, especially in the treatment of depression.

Click here to contact Daniel and/or see his GoodTherapy.org Profile©Copyright 2008 by GoodTherapy.org All Rights Reserved. Questions or concerns about the following article can be directed to the author or posted as a comment to this blog entry. Click here to contact Daniel and/or see his GoodTherapy.org Profile
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