Slight change in hours, effective 1/23/12

M: 1:45-9p
T: 1-9p
W: off
Th: 9-5:30p
F: 9-2p

Notes from the Couch blog is going down for a day

According to the news, WordPress.com is going dark to protest SOPA/PIPA, the bills affecting Internet free speech/piracy issues. We should be back when the protest ends.

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wikipedia-blackout-websites-wikipedia-reddit-dark-wednesday-protest/story?id=15373251#.TxW43JjlOR0

Oops.

Sorry folks, got my postings crossed and a post for another blog ended up here, leading to some of you getting irrelevant info.  My apologies.

Listening to Music Can Reduce Pain

Image via Wikipedia

An interesting article based on University of Utah research came out that states that bringing an iPod to a doctor’s office can be helpful for reducing pain.  It is especially helpful for people who experience anxiety.

However, the jury is still out on the effect of music such as this stirring version of “Skye Boat Song” and “Amazing Grace”:

Skye Boat Song and Amazing Grace on Bagpipes

Related articles

• Music May Help Ease Pain for Anxious People (nlm.nih.gov)
• Music May Help Ease Pain for Anxious People (maboulette.wordpress.com)
• Music Soothes Anxiety, Reduces Pain (psychcentral.com)
• Study Assesses Pain Relieving Benefits From Music (medicalnewstoday.com)
• Study: Music Can Ease Pain (webmd.com)

How Psychotherapy Can Help When You’ve Been Taking Medication Alone

Following is the text from a brochure I put together for work that describes how psychotherapy can be helpful in addressing issues when you are on medication alone.  It has some good pointers for making psychotherapy work best for you as well.

How Psychotherapy Can Help

Nathaniel S. Prentice, MSW, LCSW, CAS-PC Candidate

If you are reading this, it is probably because someone suggested that you may benefit from talking with someone about things which are bothering you and causing repercussions for you in your home, your work, or among others.  It is probably not a comfortable thing to hear, but you want to feel better, so you are considering your options.  Or, perhaps you have tried other things including medication, but feel stuck and are interested in exploring other options to help you, because, after all, you want to feel better.

What are the benefits of psychotherapy vs medicine alone?  Consistently, in study after study, psychotherapy has been shown to be as effective as medication alone with many mental health issues.  More importantly, many mental health issues such as anxiety and depression respond even better to a combination of medication and psychotherapy than medication or psychotherapy alone.  Why is this?  Many people do get a sense of relief from taking medication.  However, without a skill set for dealing with underlying issues and ways of coping, people living with mental health issues have a real difficulty with coping with their symptoms when the symptoms break through the help from the medication because nothing else in their life has changed.  In addition, some ways of coping create their own problems which cannot be addressed well by medication alone, such as substance abuse (self-medicating the symptoms), yelling at family members, workaholism, etc.  Psychotherapy, because it focuses on skill development and problem solving, helps with these issues.

How do you choose a psychotherapist?  There are several kinds of professionals trained to do psychotherapy.  These include psychologists, psychiatrists, clinical social workers, and marriage & family therapists, among others.  The specific degree a person has may be less important than how experienced and skilled they are, and how comfortable you feel with them.  Some other issues to consider may be what kind of therapist you would be comfortable with in this regard may relate to issues such as gender, age, etc.

What is a typical psychotherapy session like?  Gone are the days of lying on the couch.  Today the sessions are held face to face.  The first session is usually an evaluation, where you may be asked a number of related and unrelated questions to help the therapist discern what your issues are and what outside influences are impacting on your issues.  During or after that session, a plan for addressing these issues will be created.  Therapy sessions will then focus on how you are coping with your issues, as well as reasons why you have the issues.  When you are feeling better, and are able to get a lot of support from friends and family or other supports in the community, you and the therapist may talk about ending therapy.

What are the best things to do to prepare for psychotherapy?  First, have concrete and specific goals.  “Feeling better” as a goal is not as good as “Able to reduce crying spells to less than 3x/month”.  When you frame your goals, frame them in terms of what you want to be different in your life, not what you don’t want to experience anymore.  For example, instead of saying, “I don’t want to feel sad daily”, frame it as “I want to be able to list 3 positive things per day that make me feel good”.  The problem with framing them in terms of the absence of negative things is that it doesn’t provide a direction to move towards.  Another thing that is important is to come with an open mind, being honest with yourself and open to new ways of looking at your issues.  Finally, be aware that the therapist may not be as anxious as you are to explore why you have a problem.  When I work with people who are desperate to find the root of a problem, they often end up in “analysis paralysis” because even if they know the root of a problem, it doesn’t solve the problem in and of itself.  In order to solve a problem, one must use good coping skills to put out the fire before poking in the embers.

It is hoped that this introduction to therapy is helpful, and that it answers any questions you may have.  Feel free to contact me or talk with your referring provider if you have any questions or concerns.

New Hours

Due to taking a course on Wednesday nights on Discernment for my Pastoral Counseling certificate (say hello to Ignatius of Loyola and others!), I will be changing my hours around a little bit.

Here are they new hours, effective the week of 1/9/12 through at least 4/18/12…

M: 1-9p
T: 1-9p
W: off
Th: 9-5:30p
F: 9-1p

Just so you know.

Resolutions

OK, so it’s New Year’s.

Everyone has resolutions that they want to make. Here are a couple of things that have worked in the past for me that I’d like to share with you.

1. Don’t make resolutions. Make changes that you can make in a week. That way they are achievable, and not overwhelming and easy to procrastinate or give up.
2. Write down your goals. Take them out regularly (at least 2x/month).
3. Let loved ones know what your goals are and why they are important to you.
4. Find other people who share the same goals and spend time with them working on your goals.

Hope this helps.

Nate is out from Xmas through 1/2, returning 1/3/12.

Please make a note of it.

How to cope with Thanksgiving

Focus on finding things to appreciate about the family you have, not the family you want.

Quick and Easy Way to Reduce Anxiety or Overwhelming Worry

Here is a link to a blog entry I made at the practice’s blog which I think you may benefit from as well.  It is an article describing a quick way to bring anxiety down to a reasonable level or get rid of it in the moment so you can function better.  Hope you like it, and I’d be interested in your comments.

http://blog.psychchoices.com/?p=17