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Frequent Family Arguments Increase Children's Mental Health Risks

Research by Helen Reinherz of the Simmons College of Social Work in Boston has found that frequent arguments among family members can drastically increase the children's risk of developing psychiatric disorders later in life. 

Hitting and Yelling at Children Increases Risk of Mental Health Problems

Repeatedly hitting and yelling at children can cause a significant rise in their risk of developing mental health problems.  A study by Dr. Jordana Bayer at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute showed that overly aggressive parenting is putting a lot of children at risk for future problems. 

WWND? Why I Want to be More Like my Dog.

Some people, when confronted with a paradox in life, ask themselves, "What Would Jesus Do?"  Personally, I ask myself, "What would Nisse do?"  My goal in life is to be more like my dog, Nisse (pronounced "NIS suh").  I have a lot of human mentors in my life to whom I look up to, but Nisse has a special quality I lack and want to learn. 

"That Didn't Happen": The Importance of Validating Children's Experiences

I was raised by Cleopatra, the Queen of Denial.  Now I love this woman dearly and she has a myriad of good qualities.  But dealing with reality is not one of them.  But then reality is not always easy to deal with, especially when children are involved.  There's a very fine balance between not putting your emotions on the children or processing your problems through them (especially if you are a single parent), yet still being honest with them that something is going on.  What do I mean by that?  

On Helping Others: "Give a Man a Fish..."

"...and he eats for a day.  Teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime."

  Sometimes, those of us working in the helping fields forget this.  A client pulls our heartstrings and we jump in to "save" them.  Now please don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that helping people is wrong.  It's not.  But there's a way to help people that is for them.  And there is a way to help people that is more about you.  It's important to know the difference.

"Let's You and Him Fight" - In the Workplace

In his book, "Games People Play", Dr. Eric Berne describes the game of "Let's You and Him Fight".  I see this game played out all the time in office politics.  Let's say "Joe" is upset about something that has happened in the office, usually something done by the boss or someone in a position above him.  He goes to his colleagues, Sam and Maria, to vent his frustration and to ask for advice.  What does he get?   Sympathy, for sure.  What advice may Sam and Maria provide?  "You should file a grievance."  "You should go have it out with the person."  "You should confront them about that."  "You need to stand up for yourself."  But is this really the best advice?

We Teach People How to Treat Us

I think Dear Abby said this a long, long time ago.  I've always remembered it and I use it frequently in therapy.  "We teach people how to treat us."  How do we do this?

How do we define "abnormal" behavior?

Years ago (we won't discuss how many), I sat in my first abnormal psychology class.  The professor described the medical model for diagnosing mental illness, explained that mental illness was viewed as behavior that is abnormal, then raised a question for thought,  "But how do we determine what is "normal" and "abnormal" human behavior? 

The Medical Model for Treating Mental "Disorders"

When I began working in the mental health field I began as a caseworker for the county mental health authority.  This essentially involved working under psychiatrists as a caseworker.  The system being utilized to diagnose and treat mental health "disorders" was, and still is, referred to as "the medical model".  What is the "medical model" and why is it important for the general public to understand it?

The Schizophrenic Artist

Years ago I worked in a county mental health clinic that treated serious mental health issues utilizing the "medical model".  (For more information on this model see my article, "The Medical Model for Treating Mental 'Disorders'".)  I worked with a client who was diagnosed with Schizophrenia.  I always remember his story when I hear of clients being "noncompliant" and refusing their psychiatric medications.