By Lissa Hunsicker, LCSW

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When a child gets killed, it gets our attention. Consider the words of Nicholas Scopetta, former Executive Director of The Administration of Children’s Services: “people may not understand the intricacies of the system, but they certainly know when a child is killed.”

It’s true. We put down our coffee cup, lift our heads from the paper, take pause in our morning commute. With friends and co-workers, we debate (institutional reform vs. personal responsibility); at home, we reconsider our practice of discipline; in our minds, for the briefest of moments, we become aware of the horror of losing a child and we are enraged. But in time—in a week or two—we move on. As we have to. Read the rest of this entry

A GoodTherapy.org News Headline

A while back, we reported on a clinic in China that was attempting to treat young people whose parents believed they were suffering from “internet addiction,” defined as spending six or more hours per day online, accessing games or pornography rather than studying material, and becoming upset if access was cut off. The clinic was engaged in administering electro-convulsive shock therapy to its clients, a treatment that had many commentators concerned over the therapy’s severity and doubtful efficacy. As ABC News has reported today, the clinic has halted its ECT-related activities, likely causing relief for a range of Chinese adolescents.

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

A GoodTherapy.org News Headline

The Wall Street Journal’s health blog has picked up on recent concerns over the effectiveness of state-mandated mental health care for outpatients. A New York law established to protect citizens and ensure that those in need of therapy and other treatment modalities receive proper attention, “Kendra’s Law” has been raising questions about whether forced treatment, often involving medication, can ever be an ethical program. Meanwhile, Duke University has recently produced a study showing those treated under the auspices of the law are much less likely to be hospitalized. The final verdict isn’t in, but the argument about Kendra’s Law is certainly heating up.

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

A GoodTherapy.org News Update

The idea of the mystery shopper is fairly prevalent within the world of retail; paid professionals wander stores, seek employee assistance, and go through the motions of making a purchase, all with the intent of scoring the performance of the store involved and filing a report which can help the store to find new ways to improve. Those who are “tested” by mystery shoppers tend to be of mixed in their reaction to the idea; some see it as an honest opportunity to find potential problems, while others feel that it is an infringement on their trust and is a poor way to assess performance. Whether you’re for or against this method, if you’re a mental health professional, you may be hearing about it a lot more often.

The idea of the mystery shopper is being transferred to the platform of mental health treatments, wherein “fake” clients would be staged in care facilities and other treatment settings for the purpose of investigating the quality of care and the professionalism of those involved. The idea, strongly supported by Arthur Lazarus, an important figure within the psychiatry community, has been discussed in the journal Psychiatric Services, and may gain momentum in coming months as more and more therapists and mental health clinics seek to improve their offerings, both on the basis of integrity and under the increasing competition for clients.

Those who oppose the idea have suggested that the practice could present ethical problems within the sphere of psychotherapy and mental health treatment, including the possible issue of mystery clients using resources that those genuinely seeking help could otherwise use. Read the rest of this entry

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

A GoodTherapy.org News Update

Aversion therapies can be successful in helping people with addictions, who also wish to free themselves from the related behaviors, overcome their difficulties. Such therapies are commonly administered after a more psychodynamic approach is taken; the exploration of the causes of the addiction itself and its role within a person’s life is often able to facilitate positive change, but is sometimes ceased in favor of the more invasive and direct approach of aversion. Such therapy is, for the most part, handled with extreme care and is carried out by seasoned experts, as the potential for psychological harm is a concern.

All the more concerning, then, is the news recently developing in China in regards to a pediatric “internet addiction” clinic which claims to use aversion therapy to help kids kick the online habit. A growing complaint among the country’s parents is the time and energy children spend surfing the web, playing video games, and communicating with friends online, and some parents are apparently desperate for help. The Center for Curing Internet Addiction, located at a hospital in the eastern province of Shangdong, claims to be able to rid children and teens of undesirable internet-related behavior, but its staff as well as its methods are highly suspect. The clinic administers electro-convulsive therapy, or ECT, to children over a course of four and a half months, charging parents extra for early withdrawal from the program. Read the rest of this entry

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

A GoodTherapy.org Featured Column written by Judith Barr, MA, LMHC

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Recently the U.S. backed President of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, reportedly signed a law which legalizes the rape of a wife by her husband by not allowing her to refuse sex, and prevents women from leaving the house without a man’s permission. This is a blatant attack on womanhood…and another example of the abuse of power that is rampant in our world. But this abuse is now out in the open, ready, waiting, and even screaming to be healed.

Rape is an act of power and control. The act of rape is often a defense against ancient inner wounds to a man’s relationship with his own mother, and a reaction to the feelings of powerlessness he may have had in childhood. How could a man be willing to treat women like this . . . unless he’s still angry at the first woman in his life, his mother?

And why would we, women and men, stay silent and allow such an act to go unchallenged? This too has its roots in childhood wounding. Healing this vacuum where effective use of power needs to be cannot stop at the here-and-now level. We all, men and women, need to heal our own early wounds around being powerless – with mother and anyone else in our childhood, whether it be a particular person, a family tradition, a cultural norm. Read the rest of this entry

A GoodTherapy.org Featured Column written by Cedar Barstow, M.Ed., C.H.T.

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“When the generativity and responsiveness of our power is guided by loving concern for the well-being of all, we will have an ethical and sustainable world. Power directed by heart. Heart infused with power. This is the key to right use of power.” ~ Cedar Barstow

“Ethics is the ongoing process of applying principles of higher intelligence to the problems of personal and collective existence, and endowing life with values that support the well-being of all. Ethics is the care we show in affecting the lives of others as well as a sense for where one’s greatest value lies in relation to others. Ethics might be summarized as cause and effect in balance, and applied for the greatest good.” ~Glenda Green

Power and how to use it is in the news. The common concept of power as force with any other use being considered weak and naïve is breaking down and evolving up. Studies (www.nonviolent-conflict.org) conclude “that major nonviolent campaigns have achieved success 53 percent of the time, compared with 26 percent for violent resistance campaigns.” Other studies show that altruism and basic goodness are hardwired in human nature. (Shankar Vedantam, 5/27/07. Washington Post; and Cedar Barstow. (2008). Right Use of Power: The Heart of Ethics, pp. 240-244.) Read the rest of this entry

A GoodTherapy.org Featured Column written by Cedar Barstow, M.Ed., C.H.T.

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

I have been paying attention to the power paradox phenomenon since I was introduced to it by Dacher Keltner (www.greatergood.org). Having researched and studied who gets power and how they use it when they get it, Keltner learned that “the skills most important to obtaining power and leading effectively are the very skills that deteriorate once we have power.” These are qualities of modesty, empathy, engagement with the needs of others, skill in negotiating conflicts, enforcing norms, and allocating resources fairly. Given that years of social and brain research support the understanding that empathy and altruism are human birthrights, it is surprising (and clarifying) to me to discover that “once people assume positions of power, they’re likely to act more selfishly, impulsively, and aggressively, and they have a harder time seeing the world from other people’s points of view.” (Keltner) You can read more about these studies at www.greatergood.org (Greater Good Magazine, Vol. IV, Issue 3) and on pages 244-247 of my book: Right Use of Power: The Heart of Ethics available at www.rightuseofpower.com.

For those in power differential roles of trust and authority, and all of us are in positions of enhanced power in some areas of our lives, it is extremely important to understand this tendency for inborn empathy and the most effective leadership qualities and skills to deteriorate when we are in positions of power. We have good intentions. We earn power by the socially intelligent use of it. Yet when we get more power, we tend to become more vulnerable to misusing power. When we understand this tendency, we are at great advantage as leaders because we can be extra alert for changes in ourselves and self-correct around them.

Now, why does “power corrupt”? Read the rest of this entry

A GoodTherapy.org Featured Column written by Cedar Barstow, M.Ed., C.H.T.

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

“The task is to recognize our interdependence, honor boundaries and differences, and remember connectedness.” – Dyrian Benz

“Find the optimum closeness/distance to enable you to experience your OWN unique center of aliveness and awareness, as well as the other’s unique center.” – Mukara Meredith

Good boundaries are a centerpiece for safe and successful relationships. Boundaries are, as well, the space that people consider part of their identity. Skin is the physical boundary. People also have energetic and emotional boundaries. Inadvertent boundary crossings can be very upsetting. Boundaries are very individual, can be negotiated between people, are often communicated non-verbally. They are influenced by cultural values, styles and expectations. Try checking with your clients about precisely what feels to them like the right distance from you. You may be surprised about the amount of variation. Boundaries serve well to provide a consistent container that can define, contain, and limit relationships. Read the rest of this entry

A GoodTherapy.org Featured Column written by Cedar Barstow, M.Ed., C.H.T.

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

Given that brain research and universal religious values support basic goodness and natural altruism, why is it that there is so much misuse and abuse of power? This is a question I have been tracking since I was a youngster at camp and I became very distressed and just could not understand why one of my tent-mates had stolen another camper’s comic books.

This is a question that has also concerned Dr. Dacher Keltner, a professor of psychology at the University of California. He has done considerable research about who gets power and how they use it once they get it. It seems we have been “guided by centuries of advice from Machiavelli” and more recently “from Robert Greene’s The 48 Laws of Power, (for example: Conceal Your Intentions, Use Selective Honesty and Generosity to Disarm Your Victims, Crush Your Enemy Totally, Keep Others in Suspended Terror) to tend to believe that attaining power requires force, deception, manipulation, and coercion. Indeed, we might even assume that positions of power demand this kind of conduct-that to run smoothly, society needs leaders who are willing and able to use power this way.”

New research on power, supported by brain research on hard-wired morality referred to earlier in this chapter, reveals, however, that “power is wielded most effectively when it’s used responsibly, by people who are attuned to and engaged with the needs and interests of others. Years of research suggests that empathy and social intelligence are vastly more important to acquiring and exercising power than are force, deception, or terror. [However,] studies also show that once people assume positions of power, they’re likely to act more selfishly, impulsively, and aggressively, and they have a harder time seeing the world from other people’s points of view. This presents us with the paradox of power: The skills most important to obtaining power and leading effectively are the very skills that deteriorate once we have power.” Read the rest of this entry