A GoodTherapy.org News Summary

In many different specific fields, counselors can provide their clients with valuable mental health services that can have a positive and profound impact on personal health and well-being. But sometimes, those without proper training, education, and experience are allowed to practice professionally in situations that may be misleading or dangerous for potential clients. In an effort to create a standard of quality for counseling and to ensure that professionals receive the resources and background they’ll need to effectively meet their clients’ needs, many public administrations are considering tighter regulations for counselors. In the state of Oklahoma, it was recently announced that certified drug and alcohol addiction counselors will soon be subject to a new set of regulations that the state says is designed to improve the quality of care and create a rational schedule of pay rates.

The regulations are set to come into effect at various intervals, some as early as July of 2010, and focus on the need for certified counselors to provide only basic services, allowing those with more advanced degrees and qualifications to offer more involved treatment. In particular, the regulations describe a need for counselors hoping to provide psychotherapy services to obtain licensure, which itself requires a master’s degree. Some opponents of the measure suggest that the move is merely a problem of semantics and will prevent local clients from receiving the care they need as specialists become more rare and many area professionals return to their schooling. But supporters note that a higher level of understanding, experience, and knowledge can only ultimately be of benefit to those who receive help from counselors. Read the rest of this entry

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

By Ernest S. Schmidt, LCSW

Click here to contact Ernest and/or see his GoodTherapy.org Profile

Choosing the right therapist really depends on your needs and the counseling style that will work best for you. There are several steps that you should take if you want to find a counselor that will truly make an impact on your life. These steps include:

Step 1 to Choosing the Right Therapist: Go with your gut. Many people pick a therapist who makes them feel at ease, so pay attention to the way you feel when you’re talking to a potential therapist. Keep in mind, though, that this is only the first step in choosing the right counselor for you. Because while you do need to have a good amount of comfort and trust with your counselor, you also need to be certain that you’ll get results or you could find yourself wasting years of your life with no significant improvement. Since therapy is personal, you do need to feel your therapist is the right fit in terms of comfort, but this shouldn’t be the only criteria. Read the rest of this entry

A GoodTherapy.org News Headline

In any capacity, being a member of the armed services is associated with daily exposure to a great deal of stress and strain. Whether deployed in the field and engaged in active warfare or confined to a base and living through the realities of military life, the experience of being a soldier or other type of military asset can be a harrowing one. Recently, many stories have come to the surface surrounding the instances of PTSD, or post-traumatic stress disorder, that is evident among army troops returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. With alarmingly high rates of this often debilitating mental health concern along with increased rates of suicide, the military and Department of Defense have been focusing their attention, as well as their funding, on addressing better measures to help screen for signs of mental health difficulties among soldiers, and to intervene as necessary to prevent not only a loss of quality of life, but of potentially dangerous incidents as well. Unfortunately, new measures towards this end have not come fast enough for a group of army personnel working out of Fort Hood, in Texas. Read the rest of this entry

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

By Holly Holmes-Meredith, D. Min., MFT, Board Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist, Hypnotherapy Topic Expert Contributor

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

There are several styles of hypnotherapy that are commonly adopted by practitioners and not all styles work well for all clients. One way to access what style might work best for you is to respond to this question: How do you normally respond to people telling you what to do? If you are the type of person who feels secure when you have instructions and direct requests, the directive approach will most likely work for you. If you find you are rebellious when people tell you what to do, a more permissive approach will suit you better. When you interview a prospective hypnotherapist you might want to question her about her training and style to discover if you will feel comfortable and be responsive to her approach. The following is a basic overview of the different styles of hypnotherapy to help you understand your options.

Directive Approach

In the directive approach, the hypnotherapist guides the client into a state of hypnosis and the hypnotherapist gives the client suggestions. People are most familiar with this approach to hypnotherapy because it is the technique that is most similar to what we witness with stage hypnosis and see in the movies. And, clients expect that if they go for a hypnotherapy session that the hypnotherapist will give direct suggestions. Read the rest of this entry

By Dana Vince, LMHC, Infidelity Topic Expert Contributor

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

Where do you begin when you’ve just found out your spouse has had an affair? Or, what if you are the one who’s had the affair and your partner has just found out?

If you’ve just found out your partner has had an affair, be prepared for the roller coaster of emotions. It is not a time to make any permanent life-changing decisions. Here are some important things to consider:

• You do not have to know right now if you are going to stay or go. You are in crisis and may feel like the rug has been pulled out from under you. Give yourself time to make important decisions. Emotions are very raw right now so it’s okay to not know which direction to go yet. Read the rest of this entry

A GoodTherapy.org News Summary

The prevalence of anti-depressants and other psychiatric medications has experienced a great increase recently, and many concerns are rising in response to the growing dependency on such substances. While there are some medications that have proven to be helpful in improving the quality of life for pregnant mothers and young children, some in the mental health professions remain skeptical over the ultimate utility and safety of such medicines. Adding support to this camp, a study at Georgetown University Medical Center has recently suggested that medicines indicated for mood issues, pain, and epilepsy, when administered to pregnant women or to infants and young children, may cause mental health concerns at a later age.

The study focused on animal models, specifically working with rats in a laboratory setting, but suggests that the issue is likely a prominent one for humans, as well. After administering various modern treatments for mood issues, as well as those indicated for pain and for epilepsy, researchers monitored laboratory rats, finding that those animals which had been treated with the medication were more likely to exhibit signs of mental health complications as adolescents and adults. Read the rest of this entry

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

By Elinor Nygren Szapiro, MA, LPC

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

Although we no longer expect to see a hypnotist wearing a top hat and swinging a watch on a chain, hypnosis still conjures up images of mystery and loss of control. Don’t worry; you won’t be leaving your therapist’s office clucking like a chicken. However, you may be surprised to find some very pleasant changes occurring after a hypnotherapy session.

An often-asked question is: What actually happens in a hypnosis trance? How does it feel to be in one? Read the rest of this entry

A GoodTherapy.org News Summary

The push for greater licensure measures and controls across the country has been given diligent effort in recent months and years, as professionals work towards encouraging the integrity of the mental health professions and creating a national standard for identifying effective, positive training and professional support. As reported by the California Coalition for Counselor Licensure on Monday, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed SB 788, a measure that will require all counselors operating within the state to obtain regulated licensure before working with clients. Read the rest of this entry

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

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.

By Roni Weisberg-Ross, L.M.F.T., Abuse Topic Expert Contributor

When we think of children who have been sexually abused, we think of fear, anger and violence. Most sexual abuse survivors talk of the terror and disassociation surrounding the abuse. Many still feel that way as adults and don’t enjoy sex now, even in a loving relationship. But there are those who have a more complicated story to tell. These survivors may have hated their abusers but experience an unspeakable shame over the fact that their bodies responded sexually to the abuse. They cannot live with the knowledge that they were sexually stimulated even as they were being raped. Now they are not only healing from the abuse but from the additional belief that they were partially responsible for the abuse – and that they may even have deserved it.

While adult survivors can intellectually understand that as children they were victims of their abuse, they don’t always feel that way. And they certainly can’t accept that fact if they responded sexually. Many of them can’t imagine how a child could respond sexually. So they believe that not only are they dirty, but that they are freaks as well. Yet children do have sexual feelings. Toddlers can sexually arouse themselves. And as they get older, many of them experiment and discover that their bodies respond. The myth that hormonal changes occurring at adolescence are the beginning of sexual feelings is just that, a myth. Read the rest of this entry