Psychological Therapies

The Opening Micro-skills

This article was published on Monday, April 23rd, 2012

“First impressions stick.”
“You never get a second chance to make a first impression.”

If there is any truth in these two popular notions, then anyone working with a helpee (e.g. a therapy client, a friend, a family member, etc.) within the context of providing mental health support should not underestimate the usefulness and importance of opening micro-skills.
Appropriate use of non-verbal micro-skills tells care recipients that you are with them and ready to listen. When you use opening micro-skills, you are inviting them to tell you more. While these are technically commands, they are “soft” ones, in that they are presented to the helpee in a manner that communicates, “It is okay to decline”. They help to create comfort in the helpee because they foster the courage to confide. The purpose of openers is to encourage disclosure without dominating the conversation. There are two broad categories of these skills: “encouragers”, such as “door openers” and “minimal encouragers”, and questions. First we consider t he encouragers.

The Micro-skills of Non-verbal Language

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The Micro-skills of Non-verbal Language

This article was published on Thursday, March 22nd, 2012

The American National Science Foundation discovered that we form an impression of someone in just three seconds (personal communication, 1984). Social scientists also claim that at least 80 per cent of our communication takes place on the non-verbal level (Young, 2005), with only 7 percent of emotion being conveyed by verbal means. Of the rest, 38 per cent is conveyed by voice, and 55 per cent by facial expression (Mehrabian, 1972). Beyond that, researchers have come to appreciate non-verbal behaviours as important channels of communication, serving the functions of:

Regulating conversations
Communicating emotions
Modifying verbal messages
Providing messages about the helping relationship
Giving insights into self-perceptions
Providing clues that people are not saying what they are thinking (Highlen and Hill, 1984).

Fundamentals of Stress and Anxiety

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Fundamentals of Stress and Anxiety

This article was published on Friday, March 9th, 2012

Although never quite adequately defined, vague generalisations such as “stress and tension are normal reactions to events that threaten us” are used to describe it. Such threats can come from accidents, financial troubles and problems on the job or with family and through our emotional and physical reactions to the given situations, we become what is termed ‘stressed’. Not that long ago, the terms of worry, anxiety, fear, impatience, and anger gave way to what has been formally termed ‘stress’ and its offshoots, stressful, stress-related, and stressed-out. Further complicating matters is the fact that different people react to the same “stress” in unpredictable ways.

Six Anger Management Strategies for Clients

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Six Anger Management Strategies for Clients

This article was published on Monday, March 5th, 2012

Counselling Techniques to Reduce Stress

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Counselling Techniques to Reduce Stress

This article was published on Monday, January 16th, 2012

How do we cope with stress? There are literally thousands of books, articles and websites that cover stress and stress management. However, the ancient and natural ways are probably still the best ways towards peace and serenity. The old adage, ‘prevention is better than cure’ is certainly true for stress management. Below are three counselling techniques counsellors can utilise with clients:

Psychological Therapies

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Psychological Therapies

Humanistic Therapies

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Humanistic Therapies

Cognitive and Behavioural Therapies

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Cognitive and Behavioural Therapies

Information about cognitive and behavioural therapies:

Behavioural Therapy

Behavioural Therapy is effective for individuals who require treatment for some sort of behaviour change, such as addictions, phobias and anxiety disorders. Based on the principle that behaviour is learnt, and can therefore be unlearnt, or reconditioned, Behavioural Therapy concentrates on the 'here and now' without focusing on the past to find a reason for the behaviour.
The most famous examples of conditioning are those of Ivan Pavlov and B.F Skinner.
An experiment conducted by Pavlov demonstrated how ringing a bell close to dinner time caused dogs to associate the ringing of the bell with the expectation of food, which made them salivate even if no food appeared. The importance of this experiment is that the conditioned response (the dogs salivating) decreased in intensity the more times the conditioned stimulus (ringing of the bell) occurred without the appearance of food.

Psychoanalytical and Psychodynamic Therapies

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Psychoanalytical and Psychodynamic Therapies

Information about psychoanalytical and psychodynamic therapies:

Psychoanalysis

Freud is widely regarded as being the founder of modern psychology, developing the therapy known as psychoanalysis. This therapy is based on the idea that a great deal of an individual's behaviour and thoughts are not within their conscious control. Psychoanalysis attempts to help clients develop insight into deep-rooted problems that are often thought to stem from childhood.
Psychoanalysis is based on the principle that our childhood experiences have created our current behaviour patterns and thinking process. These thoughts and feelings can become repressed and may manifest themselves as depression or other negative symptoms.
By talking freely about thoughts entering their mind, the client reveals unconscious thoughts and memories that the analyst will seek to interpret and make sense of. Deeply buried memories and experiences are often expressed during this time and the opportunity to share these thoughts and feelings can help clients to work through these problems. These thoughts can be analysed through free associations (the client says whatever comes to mind during the session, without censoring their thoughts), dreams and fantasies, which all allow the analyst to clarify the client's unconscious thoughts.

Psychological Therapies (others)

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Family/Systemic Therapy

Where is the love

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Where is the love

January 24th, 2012 by Angela Dierks, BA (Hons), MStud (Oxon), MA Integrative Counselling, MBACP

Couples Counselling

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Couples Counselling

Couples Counselling, previously known as marital therapy or marriage guidance, addresses the problems arising from adult sexual or intimate relationships. The relationship, rather than the two individuals, is the 'client'.
Our very closest relationship: a marriage; co-habitation or civil partnership, is based on intimacy and trust. When it stops working we are affected deeply and our health and happiness suffer. Our sense of identity and self-worth often rests on the strength of our relationships and we can despair when our prime relationship fails.
Pressures of work, family, money and health all take their toll. Suddenly the relationship that once recharged us leaves us drained and disappointed.
Patterns of behaving that we learned as children often re-emerge in our adult relationship. A childhood 'scapegoat' may start to feel blamed for everything by the partner who once adored them.

Signs you have relationship problems

communication breaks down
sex has ended or causes problems
arguments continue without resolution
violence erupts
depression or other health problems recur
the bond of trust is eroded or broken.

7 secrets of good relationships

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7 secrets of good relationships

April 24th, 2012 by Rachel Shattock Dawson BA (Hons), MA, MBACP

Selasa, 29 Mei 2012

What is mental illness?

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What is mental illness?

Illness is like the street you've driven down your whole life. So familiar you've never bothered to look around. We've all experienced illness, either first-hand or via someone we know, but rarely do we stop to wonder what it really is.

You might say it's when something mental or physical isn't working as it should be. But then who is to say how things should be working? This is easier to answer in relation to physical health, but still tricky. Pain, a loss of ability, a shortening of life expectancy, perhaps? These criteria seem far from satisfactory. Pain is highly subjective and can be triggered by mundane ailments like toothaches or stubbed toes - are they really illnesses? Loss of ability seems more objective, but is surely only a necessary rather than sufficient criterion. After all, temporary fatigue and age both cause a loss of ability. Similarly, driving cars fast and other dangerous hobbies will likely shorten your life. These philosophical conundrums are magnified when it comes to mental illness. When does a hobbyist collector become a compulsive hoarder? How tightly do the shackles of shyness have to constrain a person before he or she is considered ill? What if the solitude of the social phobic allows them to pen great poetry or novels - is that adaptive or maladaptive?

Harsh discipline makes aggressive children worse

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Harsh discipline makes aggressive children worse

Parents should avoid harsh, combative ways of disciplining their aggressive children. That's according to psychologists whose new research shows that harsh parenting makes children more aggressive in the long run.

Michael Sheehan and Malcolm Watson followed 440 children and their mothers for five years. On four occasions during that time, the mothers answered questions about their own style of parenting and their children's behaviour. At the start of the study, the children's average age was 10 years and by the final assessment their average age was 15.

People Smile When They Are Frustrated, and the Computer Knows the Difference

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People Smile When They Are Frustrated, and the Computer Knows the Difference

ScienceDaily (May 28, 2012) — Do you smile when you're frustrated? Most people think they don't -- but they actually do, a new study from MIT has found. What's more, it turns out that computers programmed with the latest information from this research do a better job of differentiating smiles of delight and frustration than human observers do.

The research could pave the way for computers that better assess the emotional states of their users and respond accordingly. It could also help train those who have difficulty interpreting expressions, such as people with autism, to more accurately gauge the expressions they see.

"The goal is to help people with face-to-face communication," says Ehsan Hoque, a graduate student in the Affective Computing Group of MIT's Media Lab who is lead author of a paper just published in the IEEE Transactions on Affective Computing. Hoque's co-authors are Rosalind Picard, a professor of media arts and sciences, and Media Lab graduate student Daniel McDuff.

Jumaat, 25 Mei 2012

Positive Psychology and Resilience

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Positive Psychology and Resilience

Posted in Blog Posts, Professional Development on May 10, 2012 0

By Mrs Toula Gordillo
What makes one person ‘bounce back’ following adversity and another person seem to ‘crumble in a heap’? This question has always posed a fascination for me. I have often wondered whether individuals are simply born with the skills to cope with the difficulties that life often presents or whether there are a set of stress-coping skills that individuals can learn. I love Martin Seligman’s response. As the founder of the modern Positive Psychology movement approximately 20 years ago, Seligman believes we can create our own happiness. That is, we can all learn how to become more resilient. I agree. I believe that individuals can learn the skills needed for a more positive life. I also believe that we, as counsellors, particularly need to learn and apply these skills in everyday life. We owe it to our clients.

School Bullying

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School Bullying

This article was published on Thursday, May 13th, 2010

There is a plethora of information available on the topic of bullying. There are many different types of bullying including; child or school based (schoolyard) bullying; workplace bullying; cyber bullying; military bullying and hazing. The purpose of this article is to focus on child or school-based bullying as opposed to any of the other types of bullying.

Working with Young Children

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Working with Young Children

This article was published on Monday, May 24th, 2010

It is important that children are able to express and understand how they are feeling. Some children feel uncomfortable talking about their feelings, therefore combining discussion with an external activity will often help them open up about their feelings. It is important when working with children to remember to apply the strategies and techniques that work best with the child. For example, a toddler may be able to express their feelings using a finger puppet or a stuffed animal whereas pre-school aged children like to express their feelings through creative imagery, drawings, and feeling charts.
Sessions with children tend to be short and brief. When identifying the issue, keep the idea simple and at the level the child can identify with, e.g. a little boy called Tim wanted to get rid of his fears of vampires and monsters. In the session Tim indicated that he liked chocolate, therefore he was asked by the counsellor to make all the monsters into chocolate and place them in the sun and make them melt. This gave Tim control over the monsters as he could watch them melt away (Baumgardner, 1989).

Khamis, 24 Mei 2012

Hey 'Revenge' writers: be careful how you portray mental illness

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Hey 'Revenge' writers: be careful how you portray mental illness

Date: May 2, 2012 - 7:52AM

What the hell is with the Tyler Barrol character in <i>Revenge</i>?

What the hell is with the Tyler Barrol character in Revenge?

I love television, everything from Mad Men to Game of Thrones to sitcoms like New Girl. Lately, I’ve been watching the latest hit drama to come from the States, Revenge, along with about 2 million other Australians, apparently.
It’s got everything; sex, drama, swapped identities, bitchy mother-in-laws… and you could play a serious drinking game with all the meaningful glances and the staring-apprehensively-over-the-shoulder-of-the-person-you-are-hugging-because-you-are-hiding-such-a-terrible-secret-ness of it all.
But one thing is really bothering me – and at the risk of sounding too PC I think I should call them on it.

Five-star divorce

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Fairfax Media

Five-star divorce

Date: April 28, 2012

Freedom … for some, a visit to the Divorce Hotel is a reason to celebrate.

Jim Halfens launched his “divorce hotel” concept in the Netherlands on February 14, 2010. The businessman thought a Valentine’s Day launch was fitting for his brainchild – a “more positive” alternative to the standard divorce model. In Divorce Hotels, Dutch couples check in on Friday afternoon, sleep in separate rooms, and by Sunday night have agreed on support payments, property division and custody arrangements. The divorce is finalised, pursuant to Dutch law, with a mere formality, when the settlement documents are presented to a judge. (Prices start from €2499, roughly $3150.)

When your friends lust after your partner

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When your friends lust after your partner

Date: May 14, 2012 - 8:01AM

"The idea that other women might find him attractive really hadn’t occurred to me at all."

The other day, I heard some news about my husband that surprised me an awful lot.
“Oh my god your husband’s hot,” a female friend said to me. And then - before I could check that she was talking about the right husband – she pointed straight at him and added, “I would do him for sure.”
I nearly fell over (and not just because we’d had a couple of drinks). My husband is hot? Really? I mean... it’s not that I don’t consider my husband to be attractive. He obviously does something for me or I wouldn’t have married him. But I kind of assumed that my man was uniquely to my taste. The idea that other women might find him attractive really hadn’t occurred to me at all.

Compromising positions

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Compromising positions

Date: May 23, 2012 - 9:05AM

"[Relationships] are terrifying because when we are in them, we are completely exposed as our true self to another human being." Photo: Getty Images

Okay, everyone. If you read this website I presume you have heard of a woman, Bettina Arndt? Yes? If not please Google "Bettina Arndt + sex + men", and lots of stuff will come up and you can make up your own mind regarding her opinions on men and women and sex. Just kidding! I'm here to put my own spin on it and so will help make up your mind for you! Please do not think that you could be so stupid as to do your own reading and draw your own conclusions. You are a girl (probably!), don't forget.

Why is self-harm spreading?

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Why is self-harm spreading?

Date: May 24, 2012 - 7:45AM

We still don’t have all the information about why self-harm happens, and who is doing it.

Self-harm can spread like a virus through friendship networks. And now, new research shows it seems to be spreading throughout NSW.
As I reveal in the Herald today, figures released on the Health Statistics NSW website* show the rate of people being hospitalised for self-harm has more than doubled in NSW over the past 10 years.
And the driver? Young women, where rates increased from 145 hospitalisations for self-harm for every 100,000 women aged between 15 and 24 in 1991, to 352 in 2010.

Improving couples’ attachment security, intimacy, stability and satisfaction

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Improving couples’ attachment security, intimacy, stability and satisfaction

June 2012 | Knowledge Share

Barry G. Ginsberg

Working with couples and families requires a different stance from working with individuals. I like that I can experience the relationship dynamics directly by being in the same room with the couple. It’s so different seeing the dynamics in action as opposed to having one individual describe it to you from her or his view. With couples work, you can witness how quickly one person’s response is cued by the other. Before you know it — before the couple knows it, for that matter — they launch into defensiveness and negativity almost as if you weren’t there. When you try to mediate, it either makes it worse or they both become angry with you. It quickly escalates.
I have learned to cope with this by acknowledging from the beginning that the relationship (or as Harville Hendrix has called it, the “in-between”) is my client. I like to think of it as a circle, the reciprocal nature of all relationships — in this case, close and intimate relationships.

Rabu, 23 Mei 2012

Food fight or romantic dinner? Communication between couples is key to improving men's diets

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Food fight or romantic dinner? Communication between couples is key to improving men's diets

Selasa, 22 Mei 2012

A Person Centred Approach to Grief and Loss

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Author: Liz Jeffrey
Maggie is a 35 year old woman who came for counselling six months after the break up of her nine year marriage to Michael, the father of her two children, Josh aged 6 and Joseph aged 12 months. Currently both children are in Maggie’s sole care. Maggie has been referred to counselling by her General Practitioner whom she has been seeing for a number of minor physical ailments and early signs of depression.
For ease of writing the Professional Counsellor is abbreviated to “C”.

A loss like no other

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A loss like no other

June 2012 | Cover Stories

Although loss is a universal experience, every person’s grief process is unique, meaning practitioners are wise to leave behind one-size-fits-all approaches to grief work

Lynne Shallcross

Imagine this scenario: You are a counselor, and you have two clients. They are the same age and same gender, and both experienced the death of a partner at roughly the same period in life. So, you can reasonably expect that both will have similar reactions to that parallel loss and both will benefit from similar counseling techniques to deal with the residual grief, right? Not likely.

Ahad, 13 Mei 2012

How to Be a Successful Person

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How to Be a Successful Person

Success comes with hard work. To succeed you must have the desire and the determination. Not all people will be successful in life, but success can be achieved. Here are some tips to succeed.

Instructions

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  First, you must believe in yourself and your ability to succeed. Without believing in yourself you have already lost the race. In everything you do you should exude a high level of self-confidence.
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  Work hard and be very disciplined. Success do not come overnight; you must work hard for it and be disciplined. Without these two, it is almost impossible for you to be successful. It won't be easy, but it can be done. As the famous quote goes, "Heights of great men reached and kept were never attained by sudden flight, but they, while their companions slept, kept toiling onward through the night."
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  Balance your life. It is important to remember that even as you work hard you should take some time to have fun. There is time for everything; set a time to have fun and never neglect your family and friends. It is also important to remember that you should get the work done first, and then have fun.
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  Have good manners. An individual should always show respect to other people and distinguish oneself as ladies and gentleman. As a famous Jamaican proverbs goes, "Manners carry you through the world and back without a penny."
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  Take time to educate yourself and become qualified. Never assume that you learn as much on the job. In this global economy, for anyone to succeed they must have the necessary tools to be successful, and that includes having an education.
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  Do not let the pass define who you are; you define who you are. No matter what your background is you can break through any barriers if you just follow these steps.
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  Never forget where you're coming from. Many people, who after achieving some success, bad mouth where they come from. This is a sure recipe for failure in the future as the same ones you talk badly about now can be the ones who rescue you in the long run.

Sumber: http://www.ehow.com/how_5346366_successful-person.html
Read more: How to Be a Successful Person | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_5346366_successful-person.html#ixzz1unM4tXF8

Ten Ways to Be Successful

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Ten Ways to Be Successful

Successful people understand the importance of balance.

How to Have a Successful Life

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How to Have a Successful Life

Having a successful life requires work.

"Capital isn't scarce; vision is," said WalMart founder Sam Walton. Achieving financial success is never out of reach if you are willing to put in what it will take to make it happen. The bigger the dream, the more time and effort it will take to achieve, so only take on as much as you are willing to make time for.

How to Maintain a Happy Relationship When Your Partner Gets Laid Off

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How to Maintain a Happy Relationship When Your Partner Gets Laid Off

Maintain a Happy Relationship When Your Partner Gets Laid Off

Financial issues are some of the biggest points of contention within relationships. With our economy in recession--money worries are high in most households--and when money worries are high--the potential for relationship strain is high too. If your partner loses his or her job, you may need to cultivate some added awareness and sensitivity to ensure that your relationship doesn't head south as well. I hope these tips help you maintain happiness within your relationship when your partner gets laid off.

How to Motivate a "Don't Worry Be Happy" Type

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How to Motivate a "Don't Worry Be Happy" Type

A "no worries" type usually inspires just that in supervisors.

If you're a supervisor, then you know that motivating employees is one of the most difficult tasks that falls under your purview. All employees are different, so a "one-approach-fits-all" style rarely succeeds. You especially have your work cut out for you if you have an employee who frequently espouses the "don't worry; be happy" or the "no worries" retort to your directions. What this kind of employee is subliminally telling you is not that she is footloose and carefree, but instead needs an infusion of focus and discipline and probably some sharper time-management skills. And you, as her supervisor, are in a prime position to provide it.

How to Not Worry and Be Happy

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How to Not Worry and Be Happy

Bobby McFerrin's Don't Worry Be Happy will cheer you up.

Keeping a positive attitude makes you a healthier, happier person and easier to be around. Not to mention this is one of the easiest things you can change about yourself and you can do it instantly!

Instructions

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  SMILE - Recent studies have shown that smiling causes natural body chemicals to increase that can increase your good health. You receive the same benefits whether you feel like smiling or not. Smiling also benefits everyone that sees it. Smiling at others makes them feel good too. So smile, fake or not, it is good for you and good for your recipient.

How to Stop Worrying About What People Think of You

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How to Stop Worrying About What People Think of You

Stop Worrying About What People Think of You

I cannot think of anything more psychologically and mentally debilitating than always being overly concerned about what other people think of you. Often referred to as being "in people bondage", it's basically a condition where you live in a constant state of uneasiness due to your thoughts about how other people perceive you. You worry about how you look, how you sound, how you walk, what you say, on and on, for the sake of making sure that everyone likes you or approves of you. I have found this to be a colossal waste of time, and I wanted to share some of the tips (and the mindset) that I have adopted to be able to stop worrying about what people think of me, and I believe that these tips will be helpful to you as well.

Instructions

- 1
  
  Realize that nobody is perfect. If you're sitting there on pins and needles trying to make sure that everyone approves of you, you have to ask yourself what kind of standard you are supposed to be living up to. Is it absolute perfection, or flawlessness? If so, you and everyone else on the planet are already in trouble. Nobody is perfect. The people that you are concerned about impressing, are they flawless? Do they have their lives all together? I'm 99.9999% positive that they don't have it all together, even if they appear to be that way. They may not have the same shortcomings or problems that you have, but rest assured they do have shortcomings. So keep that in mind, and realize that the very people you're trying to be perfect in front of have imperfections themselves.

How to Know If You Need Counseling

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How to Know If You Need Counseling

Counseling sometimes has a stigma behind it and some people get uncomfortable with the mention of the very word.

Instructions

- 1
  
  Knowing when you need to actually go and talk to someone else about what your going through in your life or relationships is very important. If you say "I don't need counseling," I am sorry to break the news but you most likely do in fact need counseling. Most of the time the one's who are most resistant to facing a third party are people who genuinely should go but fear,anxiety,denial,selfishness, or pride keep that from happening. One must at least see a need to see a counselor

Penuhi hak jiran, beri kelapangan kepada masyarakat

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Penuhi hak jiran, beri kelapangan kepada masyarakat
Oleh Ibrahim Abdullah

2012/05/06

JIRAN atau tetangga adalah orang pertama yang mengetahui dan merasakan kebaikan dan juga gangguan kita. Kerana itu adab mulia berjiran sangat ditekankan dalam syariat Islam. Memenuhi hak jiran yang pintu rumahnya lebih dekat dengan rumah kita diutamakan berbanding yang jauh.

Daripada Saidatina Aisyah, dia berkata: “Wahai Rasulullah, saya mempunyai dua jiran, yang manakah lebih aku berikan hadiah terlebih dulu? Baginda menjawab: Yang lebih dekat dengan pintu rumahmu.” (Hadis riwayat Bukhari)

Begitu pentingnya memuliakan jiran tetangga sehingga Jibril mewasiatkan secara khusus hal itu. Daripada Saidatina Aisyah, Nabi SAW bersabda yang bermaksud: “Jibril sentiasa mewasiatkanku untuk berbuat baik terhadap jiran sehingga aku mengira tetangga juga akan mendapatkan harta waris.” (Hadis riwayat Bukhari)

Ubat kerinduan orang tua sebelum ajal menjemput

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Ubat kerinduan orang tua sebelum ajal menjemput
Oleh Hizbur Rahman

2012/05/13

ISLAM amat memuliakan ibu dan kemuliaan ibu menduduki tempat kedua selepas mentaati Allah SWT. Justeru, Allah SWT mewajibkan anak memuliakan dan menghormati ibu sekalipun berlainan pegangan agama.

Allah SWT juga secara tegas mengharamkan segala bentuk penderhakaan kepada kedua-dua orang tua selagi ibu bapa berada atas landasan syarak.

Ini ditegaskan dalam firman-Nya yang bermaksud: “Dan Tuhanmu telah perintahkan, supaya engkau tidak menyembah melainkan kepada-Nya, dan hendaklah engkau berbuat baik kepada kedua ibu bapa. Jika salah seorang dari keduanya, atau kedua-duanya sekali, sampai kepada umur tua dalam jagaan dan peliharaanmu, maka janganlah engkau berkata kepada keduanya sekalipun perkataan ‘ah’, dan janganlah engkau menengking mereka, tetapi katakanlah kepada mereka perkataan yang mulia.” (Surah al-Israa’, ayat 23)

Budaya penagih di tempat kerja

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Budaya penagih di tempat kerja

SUMBER manusia adalah aset terpenting dalam menentukan kemajuan sesebuah organisasi. Oleh itu setiap pengambilan pekerja perlulah dilakukan dengan teliti agar ia menepati kehendak majikan dalam melaksanakan tugas yang akan diamanahkan.
Bagaimanapun, bukan semua kakitangan yang diambil mencapai tahap prestasi yang memuaskan.
Adakalanya sesetengah majikan terpaksa berhadapan dengan beberapa tingkah laku kakitangan yang kelihatannya seperti tidak masuk akal, cuai atau menyusahkan.
Di Malaysia, penagihan dadah bukanlah satu masalah baru. Kemunculan dadah sintetik yang popular dalam kalangan remaja dan awal dewasa memburukkan keadaan kerana mereka adalah majoriti kepada kumpulan pekerja.

Penurunan testosteron akibatkan kemurungan

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SAYA bagaikan mendapat kehidupan baru yang lebih indah," ulas Andrew Ooi Kuan Jim, 45, individu yang mengalami penurunan testosteron tatkala diajukan soalan bagaimana kehidupannya hari ini.
Tanpa berselindung, Andrew menceritakan perubahan dirinya berlaku sekitar penghujung tahun lalu di mana tahap kemarahan tidak lagi dapat dikawal dan individu yang sering menjadi mangsa ialah anak bongsunya.

Selasa, 1 Mei 2012

Menangani tekanan

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FENOMENA stres atau tekanan bukanlah perkara baru yang terjadi dalam masyarakat. Stres amat berkait rapat dengan gaya hidup, perwatakan seseorang, faktor keluarga, tekanan pekerjaan dan kejutan budaya.
Sekiranya tekanan gagal dikawal, ia akan memberikan kesan yang negatif kepada kesihatan emosi, mental dan fizikal. Orang yang tidak mampu mengawal tekanan, ditambah pula dengan iman yang kurang akan cenderung untuk berputus asa dan kecewa.

Memperkasa minda remaja

3:17 PTG

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MINDA atau akal adalah sesuatu yang amat penting bagi remaja. Ia adalah alat berfikir mendapatkan maklumat. Ia adalah sumber penting menjana ilmu. Dari minda ia memiliki upaya kognitif melakukan sesuatu dengan rasional dan logik.
Berfikir rasional yang dipandu dengan etika yang baik bakal memperkasa jalur berfikir remaja. Al-Quran memberi pedoman tentang pentingnya minda itu diperkasakan. Al-Quran menyebut tentang afala ta'qilun (tidakkah kamu menggunakan akal), juga afala tatafakkarun (tidakkah kamu mempunyai daya fikir) serta afala yatadabbarun (tidakkah kamu kaji selidik).
Asas-asas ini penting bagi remaja kerana berfikir itu tidak sahaja suatu aktiviti minda tetapi ia dipedoman dengan etika.

Elak serangan jantung

3:14 PTG

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Rashid yang berusia lewat 30-an sentiasa sibuk dengan tugasnya sebagai ketua pegawai eksekutif di sebuah syarikat. Terlalu sibuk hinggakan tidak mempunyai masa untuk menjaga kesihatan diri.
Pada suatu pagi, sewaktu Rashid hendak ke pejabat, dia mengalami rasa sakit dada yang amat sangat. Rasa sakit itu menyebabkan dia sukar bernafas dan tiba-tiba pitam.
Apabila Rashid pulih dan sedar semula, dia mendapati dirinya berada di hospital. Apakah yang telah berlaku?
"Rashid, anda telah mengalami serangan
jantung . Saya dapati serangan jantung berpunca daripada tabiat merokok anda," terang doktor.
Kisah Rashid adalah lazim bagi kebanyakan penghidap sakit jantung tetapi belum lagi didiagnosis. Orang seperti Rashid menjalani kehidupan harian tanpa menyedari bahawa mereka sedang menghidap penyakit ini.

Kesedaran lelaki tentang barah payu dara

3:13 PTG

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Kesedaran lelaki tentang barah payu dara

SALAH satu kebimbangan utama wanita Malaysia jika disahkan menghidap kanser payu dara ialah kemungkinan mereka ditinggalkan atau diabaikan oleh suami mereka.
Kebimbangan ini lazimnya menyebabkan mereka keberatan untuk menjalani pemeriksaan kanser payu dara secara berkala.
Justeru, diagnosis dibuat hanya di peringkat akhir di mana dalam keadaan ini, kejahilan nyata membawa kemudaratan sedangkan kanser payu dara terus menjadi kanser paling utama di kalangan wanita di Malaysia.

Crisis Intervention in Counseling (Part 2)

2:52 PTG

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Crisis intervention is the most widely applied form of brief treatment used by mental health practitioners. All crisis intervention and trauma treatment specialists are in agreement that before intervening, a full assessment of the individual and the situation must take place.
In a previous article we introduced the concept of crisis intervention and looked at two approaches: Faberow & Gordon Model of Crisis Intervention and Critical Incident Stress Debriefing. In this article we explore Robert’s Seven Stage Crisis Intervention Model and overview the role of counsellors in facilitating family and community adaptation.

Group Therapeutic Factors for Change

2:50 PTG

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It is important to recognise that the success of individual group members is intimately linked to the group as a whole. Effective group therapy can help clients enhance self responsibility, increase readiness for change and establish authentic support for recovery and change. There are a number of therapeutic factors that influence the efficacy of group therapy. Yalom and Leszcz (2005) have categorised a number of factors. They are listed below:

Installation of hope
Universality
Imparting of information
Altruism
The corrective recapitulation of the primary family group
Development of socialising techniques

Pluralism: Towards a New Paradigm for Therapy

2:42 PTG

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How can we move beyond ‘schoolism’ towards a paradigm that embraces the full diversity of effective therapeutic methods and perspectives? Mick Cooper and John McLeod propose a ‘pluralistic’ approach.
Increasingly, counsellors and psychotherapists are becoming concerned that we are moving towards a therapeutic ‘monoculture’ in which cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) dominates; and in which other therapeutic orientations – such as psychodynamic, person-centred and integrative – are marginalised: freely-available only for clients who actively decline CBT, (1) or in the private and voluntary sectors.

The Important Role of Mental Healthc Social Supprt

2:39 PTG

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The mental health social supporter’s roles and responsibilities that you have identified in our previous article may be only a part of the full role. When providing social support it is also critically important to understand how your support may effectively be delivered in a community which includes professional counselling, medical services, and other care and support systems.

The mental health social supporter as a resource to the professional
How can professional and “natural” support systems collaborate with one another? One study noted that people get lots of help for personal mental-health-linked problems but not all of it from mental health professionals. Rather, people may turn to those “helping agents” with whom they have contact in everyday lives (such as the community caregiver and friends, for example).
Because informal helping networks work so well to reduce and even prevent problems, it is useful to consider opportunities for the exchange of resources between them — mental health social supporters — and professionals. It is clear that social supporters can work effectively as “complements” to formal treatment services (Gottlieb and Schroter, 1978). What follows are some specific ways that the mental health social supporter can assist the professional.

Bahaviour and Solution Focused Couple Therapy

2:32 PTG

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The practice of couple therapy has been encouraged to incorporate a more scientific model of practice and the use of research to inform the style of therapy most appropriate to use (Whiting & Crane, 2003). As a result, the discipline of couple and family counselling is moving to an evidence based focus. A number of theoretical frameworks have attempted to conceptualise dyadic relationships. Some of these theories have become foundations for the interventions that have become common in couple’s therapy today. Some of the models and theories include the strategic model, emotion focused therapy, solution focused therapy, behaviour theory and attachment theory.
In this article we overview two of these approaches.

Symptoms and Behaviours of Unresolved Grief

2:20 PTG

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Symptoms and Behaviours of Unresolved Grief

Lindemann (1944), Lazare (1979) and Worden (2005) have identified numerous symptoms and behaviours that indicate unresolved / complicated grief. While many of the symptoms identified can be considered ordinary during the more acute earlier phase of grief, they are considered major signs of unresolved / complicated grief if they remain for unusually prolonged periods of time.
Also, the more symptoms an individual exhibits, the more likely they are experiencing unresolved grief (Worden, 2005; Freeman, 2005). Some of the symptoms are listed below:

Managing Challenging Client

2:16 PTG

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Within a counselling environment, the need may arise for a counsellor to work with clients who appear resistant to change or unhappy with external assistance. Some clients, who are attending counselling due to a mandated requirement, may resent the fact that they feel coerced into attending. Such clients may cite benefits such as meeting parole conditions or court orders as their only motivation for attendance.
Consequently, many individuals can view a counsellor’s involvement in this process as an imposition of their rights and they take the view that what is happening to them is in some way the counsellor’s fault.