A GoodTherapy.org News Summary

There have been many studies and proposed programs suggesting that the incorporation of exercise into one’s regular routing can go a long way towards both warding off depression and treating it in those already exhibiting symptoms. The positive effects of exercise on mental health are well-documented, but the precise ways in which physical activity can aid in the fight against depression may not always be exactly clear. It is for this reason that a study conducted at the University of Nottingham in the UK has been especially well-received. The study worked with a selection of women indicated for feelings of depression, and chose a certain number to participate in regular exercise treatment routines, while the study group was introduced to a supportive regimen of counseling and exercise.

The study was in part established based on the notion that standard gym exercise routines often fail to produce positive results for those with depression because of the relative isolation of the activity. To counteract this isolation, the study group was given extensive motivational counseling sessions before each period of physical activity, and participants took part in low-impact exercise on treadmills in communicative, supportive groups. Emotional support was on-hand throughout the exercising segments to allow for extra encouragement and help as needed. Read the rest of this entry

© Copyright 2009 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Longwood Bureau - All Rights Reserved.

A GoodTherapy.org News Headline

Taking a leisurely stroll at sunset or starting off the day with a brisk walk has often been hailed as a healthy and invigorating way to incorporate exercise into a healthy lifestyle. Increasingly, the benefits of walking and other forms of exercise are being recognized as useful components of the healing process in clients with feelings of depression. Suggesting that the adoption of an exercise regimen –even if it simply consist of enjoying some therapy sessions while taking a quick jaunt out of doors- can have a significant impact on recovery, especially in clients experiencing emotionally-related lethargy and other undesirable symptoms. The growing acknowledgment of these benefits may lead more mental health professionals to take their work on an amble.

© Copyright 2009 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Carlsbad Bureau - All Rights Reserved.

By Debbie Devine, MS, LPC

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“In the depth of winter, I finally realized that deep within me there lay an invincible summer.” A. Camus

Let’s face it, life throws us curves sometimes. We all experience the ups and downs that lead some of us to seek the help of a therapist or counselor: relationship issues, money problems, job struggles, grief and loss. Add any of those stressors to our current economy and it becomes even more challenging to stay positive and thankful! And yet, an optimistic focus is an essential quality for mental health and happiness. What do we do?

The Practice of Optimism

The alarming thing about tough times is that negativity feeds on itself. As we “talk fear” to others, we contribute to THEIR anxiety. They then spread that talk to more people, keeping us all in a state of uneasiness. Negativity is truly contagious, a “mental virus” spread by thoughtless conversation, news stories, and emails. Before you know it, a whole nation is panicking, which helps cause the very hard times we fear.

What we Focus On, Grows…

An ‘attitude of gratitude’ simply means that we make a conscious choice to put our attention on what we like about our lives. One easy exercise is to list the three best things that happened to us today, and then note why they happened. The “why” is usually because we chose to make an effort to improve our lives, whether it’s the good feelings we get from working out, or the pleasure of calling a friend. This helps us see that we are not victims and we are not powerless. There is always one small thing we can do to improve our present circumstance and ease our anxiety. Some ideas: Read the rest of this entry

A GoodTherapy.org Featured Column written by Sarah Jenkins, MC, LPC

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I am writing this article as the plane I’m on rises to join a sky that clamors to support and embrace it. And as I struggle to wrestle my unruly, petulant judgments about air travel, I find myself reflecting on the actual journey that I have taken. Not a vacation, but my return to from where I lived most of my years as a young adult. I had returned to Virginia to help my mother, and all of her memories packed in unassuming boxes, as they travel to their new home in Arizona.

The process of moving my mother, and our history in Virginia also comes on the heels of a dear friend’s request to write a letter for his parents as part of a scrapbook in celebration of their anniversary. And as both of these experiences ask for my reflection upon “the past,” I find that they also make me consider the idea of “attachment” and “impermanence.” Maybe you can relate.

The classic saying about change is that change is the only thing that is truly predictable; nevertheless, and as my trip to Virginia serves to remind me, no matter what one is attached to, it is not “permanent.” Thought it may be uncomfortable, and illicit strong reactions as you consider it, impermanence is what is permanent. Everything, and anything in life, is temporary, even this very moment. For while we may seek to get attached to things, people, events, substances, emotions, money, objects, beliefs, perceptions of others, even memories of the past, and ourselves, it is predictable that things do end. We just do all that we can to avoid it. Read the rest of this entry

A GoodTherapy.org News Update

Meditation is a practice that has seen a significant boom in the West in recent decades. Appealing to the modern mind, body, and spirit, so often caught up in the fast pace and frequently stressful environment of everyday urban life, meditation offers a way to achieve calm, focus, and a decidedly lighter mood. But as one recent study has suggested, meditation –or at least, specific kinds of meditation– may be highly advantageous in improving visuospatial memory, as well. As more and more people become aware and concerned about the implications of memory loss and lack of focus, such a study offers a practical and potentially very powerful method for taking control, not to mention its possibilities within the realm of therapy. Read the rest of this entry

© Copyright 2009 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Albuquerque Bureau - All Rights Reserved.

By Sherry Gaba, LCSW

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Remember that famous quote from Varuca Salt in “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory”. That reminded me of how we all feel sometimes when we don’t get what we want and are thrown into reality once again that things don’t always come how or when we want it. There is a force at work greater than ourselves and what we may hope for may present itself or not, but if it does, it is not exactly always in the form we want it to appear and usually when we least likely expect it.

This month’s challenges for me got me thinking about Varuca Salt. It also reminded me of my father’s famous quote, although I don’t know if he made it up or not….”Sherry,” he would say, when I would be disappointed about not getting something I desperately wanted, “Expect for the worst, hope for the best, and you will end up somewhere in the middle.” Now, that seems reasonable, doesn’t it or does it? It certainly doesn’t go along with the whole law of attraction principal that whatever we think, we will attract. Read the rest of this entry

By Jason Wasser, LMFT

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A few weeks ago, I read that Warren Buffett, one of America’s most influential investors, likened this country’s escalating fiscal woes to “an economic Pearl Harbor”. In my practice, I find that my clients are handling the financial crisis in ways that they never thought they would. Some talked about screaming at their spouses and children, while others talked about drinking to take the edge off at the end of the day. But the majority talked about the depression they are trying to fight. Feeling stuck and overwhelmed, their resources seem limited given all that is going on in the world. And no one ever wants to feel like they are stuck where they don’t want to be. Doing something for themselves can sometimes seem out of the question.

A different Buffett, Jimmy, the musician and savvy businesman once mused, “if life gives you limes, make margaritas”. Inspired by the words of the Mayor of Margaritaville, today I did just that! A close friend of mine and I closed up shop and headed down for a daycation to the Florida Keys to enjoy the therapeutic healing of the water, sun, sand and good conversations with friendly locals. Read the rest of this entry

A GoodTherapy.org Featured Column written by Sarah Jenkins, MC, LPC

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As a young child growing up in the hills of North Wales, Great Britain, my imagination assured me that the small, brown, dark circles dotted across the fields were truly doorways into other worlds. Skipping in circles, dancing to the harmony of the breeze caressing the trees, I was certain that, at any minute, I would be whisked away into the worlds in between this one, and the next. And, in between those worlds, I could find mystery and magic.

I held onto my belief in the world of fairies until I was about seven-years-old. My neighbor, innocently enough, burst my bubble of fantasy when he innocently told me that fairies weren’t real. Fairy rings didn’t exist. Though the Celtic folklore surrounding the land of fairies was generations old, the dark rings were, in fact, a unique moss that grew in circles amongst the green hills of Wales. I was crushed. The land in between worlds, the place that I believed I could travel to, became a cherished reminiscence. I grew up, and thought my imagination would forget about it. Read the rest of this entry

A GoodTherapy.org News Update:

Anyone with even an amateur interest in psychology will quickly be able to impart that the brain is a fascinating organ. The prefrontal cortex, a part of the brain that allows us to consider past memories and ponder what the future holds, as well as to perform complex reasoning, is also responsible for enabling us to over-analyze and to hold onto emotional responses well past the point at which they’re actually useful. Paradoxically, the same part of the brain that has bestowed us with the means to think more has also given us the opportunity to blunder, worry, and fear — and this affects not only our thought processes themselves, but our overall happiness in general.

Enter Madison University Communications Psychology professor Richard Davidson, whose journey to helping develop new tools for greater mental control and happiness began with a visit to the Dalai Lama. The famed exiled spiritual leader of Tibet, the Dalai Lama exemplifies the Buddhist values of peace, compassion, collectedness, and, despite his separation from his homeland and his people, of happiness as well. Davidson wanted to investigate how monks’ mental exercises and daily practices physically effected their brains, and was assisted with the help of several Tibetan Buddhist masters hand-picked by the Dalai Lama, all of whom had spent tens of thousands of hours meditating. Read the rest of this entry

© Copyright 2009 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist San Antonio Bureau - All Rights Reserved.

By Lori Granger, LMFT

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Mindfulness is everywhere, and it seems to work like magic for everything from high blood pressure to low self-esteem.

You read about it in the last edition of this newsletter, last month’s Psychology Today, you may even have casually caught Jon Kabat-Zinn - the father of mainstream mindfulness - on Oprah a few months ago guiding a meditation for millions.

You may even have heard Jon define mindfulness as “paying attention, on purpose, in a particular way and non-judgmentally”. You may have read the outcome research on the effectiveness of mindfulness interventions in reducing stress, chronic pain, lowering blood pressure, increasing immune system function, reducing heart disease and alleviating GAD, panic, depression, mania and preventing relapse from addictions. Thinking “…wow! I’ve got to try this!” you may, in fact, now guide your clients in short mindful exercises that you learned in a day long seminar for CEU’s. Read the rest of this entry

By Sherry Gaba, LCSW

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Beginner’s Mind

“In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but it the expert’s there are few.” ~Zen Master Suzuki Roshi

As I reflect on the New Year, I find myself thinking about the concept from Buddhism “Beginners Mind.” The concept is to put aside old ideas and beliefs and see things as if for the first time. It is about opening up your mind to new possibilities rather than being trapped by old messages and belief systems that no longer serve us. This frame of mind allows us to be open, flexible and non judgmental of ourselves and others and remain teachable.

Often we create New Year’s resolutions as intentions or goals that we want to achieve in the New Year. We take an inventory of the previous year and decide what we would like to improve upon or change whether it is to lose weight, go back to school, become more charitable, re-examine a relationship, quit a job, start a business and the list goes on. That in and of itself is fine, but it becomes a problem when we begin to judge ourselves as bad-good, right-wrong, should-shouldn’t because we did or didn’t do something the previous year. Our judgmental mind takes over and suddenly our self esteem has taken a dip. Read the rest of this entry

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

Several studies demonstrate the profound benefit of meditation on emotions, the brain, and mental health. The use of sophisticated technologies has made it possible to prove empirically what many therapists have believed for years – and what Buddhists, Hindus, and other religious and spiritual schools have taught for millennia.

Regular meditation in particular has a measurable effect on a several brain structures related to attention, and can actually change the physical structure of the brain.

In September, a team of Emory University researchers reported that people using Zen Buddhist techniques were much better than control subjects at refocusing their attention on their breath. The study, “‘Thinking about Not-Thinking:’ Neural Correlates of Conceptual Processing During Zen Meditation,” was published in the Internet journal PLoS ONE. Its conclusion that “meditative training may foster the ability to control the automatic cascade of semantic associations triggered by a stimulus and, by extension, to voluntarily regulate the flow of spontaneous mentation,” added force to similar findings at Emory last year. Read the rest of this entry

A GoodTherapy.org Featured Column written by Sarah Jenkins, MC, LPC

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“When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.” - C.S. Lewis

After my childhood, then teenage years, my musings and passion for creative writing “grew up,” succumbing to the norms that college and graduate school required. My journals, having unceremoniously insisted that they be my comfort and companion through every experience, were buried under my “adult” responsibilities.

I meant to write and I was inspired to. Nevertheless, I rarely did. My muses stood by, impatiently, in the unemployment line, eagerly waiting for the next job. Mostly, they waited for me to find the “right” time to pit pen to paper. Granted, words would often materialize, unexpectedly, as if apparitions out of thin air. Joyous and full of energy, they eagerly sprung into step, as if dancing around a maypole, circling me in celebration of me joining them. But, there were many times that I consciously ignored them. At least they trusted that I would return to play with them. I did, albeit twelve years later.

As we “grow up” the playful and creative activities we once loved are often the first to be tossed overboard if the ship goes down. Yet, is in the act of playing that you can find what your spirit hungers for. The most playful, creative, inspiring and “childish” activities can offer a life preserver, to carry us from all of those “have to’s.” They ask that we remember what it feels like to have fun and color outside the lines of expectation and judgment.

Writing is good for me; it feeds me. At the same time, perhaps like you, there are so many other things to juggle. This phone call. That person. That deadline. This meeting. You name it; there is always “something” that has to be done. Nevertheless, we should also allow ourselves to do what is playful and nurturing; we need it to find balance in our lives. At the same time, some activities are just good for us, period. Kind of like broccoli, you know? You don’t ask “why,” you just know it is.

“We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.” - George Bernard Shaw Read the rest of this entry

By Lisa Brookes Kift, MFT

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From the time we are born, relationships are one of the most important things to all of us. Our behavior has the power to either bring people closer to us - or push them away. Consider for a moment the people in your life; your family, friends and intimate partnerships. What is the quality of relationship you have with them?

Are there people in your life who are behaving in a way towards you that causes distress, sadness, confusion or anger? Is there not a shred of evidence to support the possibility that they take responsibility for this and/or willing to make changes for the sake of the relationship? Ask yourself whether this works for you. Read the rest of this entry

A GoodTherapy.org Featured Column written by Sarah Jenkins, MC, LPC

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“You can outdistance that which is running after you, but you cannot outdistance that which is running inside you.” -African Proverb

My soul thirsted for down time, as if it was parched for the very fundamental nature of itself. Two weeks off from all that was my daily life and practice. Read. Write. Rest. Heal. Yet, as my soul and body thirsted for it, my ego struggled with the decision. My mind knew that I needed the time away to recover from a medical procedure. Not a big deal; it knew all of the valid reasons for it. I couldn’t imagine that my ego would argue with me. But, it did. And it yelled loudly.

The Hurricane

When is the last time that you focused on really, truly, not “doing” anything? My ego wanted me to stay busy, do usual activities, drive forward, and, ultimately, keep things the same. It was becoming agitated by the very stillness that the absence of those activities would create. Yet, my soul knew that the calmness was exactly what was necessary. And, by wanting to keep things the same, my ego wanted to distract me from whatever it was that I could not outdistance. Oscar Wilde once said, “Nothing is so aggravating than calmness.” For the first few days of my down time, I agreed with him. Read the rest of this entry

By Jennifer Lehr, MA, MFT

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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

By Jeanine Austin, Ph.D.

Because most of us like to think of ourselves as nice, thoughtful and kind, saying no may be something that can be difficult for us. We all seek behavior that is consistent with our self concept. If we think that saying no makes us unloving and unaccommodating, therefore in conflict with our valued self image, we will struggle with saying no.

I recently saw the movie 10 Questions for the Dalai Lama. In the movie the Dalai Lama, the leader of the Buddhist religion, turned away interviewers who seemed disrespectful or disingenuous. This was a revelation for me. I was surprised somehow because I believed that he would most likely entertain anybody who asked. It was personally liberating to see that he didn’t suffer fools gladly. He quickly sent away those people he felt were wasting his time. In other words, he said no. Read the rest of this entry

By Jennifer Lehr, MA, MFT

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“I am in the middle of my beautiful life”. I tell myself this on occasion, and it always moves me into gratitude and also opens me up to feeling. It is a way of honoring my life, with all of its complexities, flaws, joys, heartaches, etc. Even the parts of me that hurt or are small or broken are part of the beauty of my life. It moves me out of a perfectionistic attitude and into an owning of what it is to be human: beautiful and amazing, yet imperfect and wounded. It allows me to see my life stretched out from infancy to a future I have not yet created. I honor this life, this moment, this journey that I am on. This moment is part of a bigger picture, a bigger pattern, a bigger life than I may realize. I open up space for myself. I create grace. Read the rest of this entry

By Sarah Jenkins, MC, LPC

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“When I counted up my demons I saw there was one for every day. But with the good ones on my shoulder, I drove the other ones away.” – Coldplay

Riding the Train

I stood on my yoga mat, the sound of my breath pounding in my ears like the thunderous sound of a train in transit. Each wayward thought competed to hijack the breath and the mantra of “peace” that I started my yoga practice with that day. My sense of calm desperately clamored to stay onboard, while my thoughts gallivanted about like wild monkeys wrestling to derail it. “No, lets go here.” “Yep, wander off. Get distracted” And witnessing it, with loving kindness, I would have to bring myself back to my breath. I would find “peace” in the spaces in between the thoughts; they were heavenly “stops” where my “monkey mind” would just rest and let me focus on riding the breath. Course, they started again. You know they always do. But those moments were magnificent, and the very essence of “peace” that I sought. I just had to trust that more stops would come. And they do. So, I returned to my breath, and followed it, back to true myself again. And the journey continues.

Showing Up

So, lets just put this out there; anyone who says that mediation, yoga, or other activities that promote mindfulness are “easy,” just haven’t experienced them. You and I both also know that it can initially take a greater sense of effort to just “be in the moment” than to just allow the monkey like thoughts to take over. But, many find that the benefits of showing up for such practices can far outweigh the effort that it can take to just get on the mat in the first place.

Don’t get me wrong; I am no yoga instructor, but I am a trauma counselor who cherishes yoga, especially what it offers clients and myself. I especially encourage my clients with trauma histories to consider a yoga practice as part of their daily living, and here is why. Read the rest of this entry

by Noah Rubinstein, LMFT
Executive Director GoodTherapy.org

The GoodTherapy.org Team received a question today from Brit, a visitor to GT, in response to the featured article, “50 Warning Signs of Questionable Therapy & Counseling.”

Brit writes, “Should a good therapist in the beginning stages of the therapy request a historical summary of the client in order to provide good counseling? I have a friend in counseling and the therapist did not ask for historical family information. This friend comes from an alcoholic family…..Should we be concerned?”

My guess is that there are many answers to this question. With so many different philosophical orientations, different approaches, and models of therapy, not to mention different generations of therapists all trained differently to some degree, the range of responses might be quite varied indeed. Some therapists spend hours gathering historical data and completing initial evaluations, others work in the here-and-now, preferring to dive into the work on the first meeting, and others are somewhere in the middle. And of course, a lot of what a therapist begins with depends on the presenting problems and the client’s needs.

I was initially trained as a family therapist, and in my early years of practice I would spend many hours gathering information in an attempt to get a clear picture of what was contributing to the client’s issues. I approached my intake assessments the way an investigator might, searching for some thread that might tie things together into a neat little package. Sometimes my efforts helped and things became clearer for me. Sometimes my insights actually benefited my clients. But more often than not the information I gathered was more helpful for my inner investigator than for my clients. As the years went by I began to realize that no matter how much I figured out, it did no good for my clients if they weren’t also figuring things out for themselves. I know, you think this would be obvious to a young therapist, but it was one of my many blind spots. So, nowadays I spend much less time gathering information in the beginning than I used to. I tend to begin where my clients want to begin.

If the presenting problem requires asking more questions or asking about family history, then I might take the time to ask. But most people, when allowed to lead, will take you right were they need to go –to the heart of the problem–, and will disclose the most important information as they go there. By letting a person unfold naturally we are communicating to them that we trust them to unfold on their own and that they have what it takes to heal or to figure things out themselves. With this said, I’m sure there are situations and persons, perhaps those experiencing serious mental illness or substance abuse, who are not ready to unfold on their own and who need more direction, guidance, and history taking.

But this is my bend; what’s your approach to starting with new clients? Do you take a history? How much do you rely on historical data? If you do take extensive histories, what are the benefits as you see them? If you don’t, why not? And what are the benefits, in your view, of not leaning too much on history taking? Thanks for taking the time to chime in! Noah :)

©Copyright 2008 by Noah Rubinstein, LMFT, LMHC. All Rights Reserved. Permission to publish granted to GoodTherapy.org. The following article was solely written and edited by the author named above. The views and opinions expressed are not necessarily shared by GoodTherapy.org. 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 Noah and/or see his GoodTherapy.org Profile