Staff Perspective: Coping in our Post-9/11 World - Part 2, Working with Clients
In part 1 of this blog, I explored how my colleagues and I have been personally coping with the elevated risk of terrorism and v
Blog posts with the tag "Treatment"
Staff Perspective: The Treatment Rationale - Blueprints of Psychotherapy
Imagine that you want to build a house -- or better yet, that you NEED to build a house to get respite from the elements and to feel safe and comfortable. Unsure where to begin, you seek out a builder to help guide you in this process. You might feel a sense of trepidation. What if this builder doesn’t understand your needs or the kind of house you’re hoping for? Worse yet, what if the houses they build aren’t solid, long-lasting, and sound? Now imagine meeting with that builder and getting vague and confusing details about the building plan with no glimpse of a blueprint, but having to consent to the project. Oh... and you also are required to put down a significant deposit.
Staff Perspective: Pondering the question of prescribed cannabis use and the potential effect on Trauma and Stressor-Related treatment (Part 1)
Frequently, in the past couple of years a question has emerged regarding how to handle a very specific situation in mental health treatment. That situation is what to do when a patient appropriate for PTSD treatment is also taking medicinal grade prescription cannabis for other issues such as chronic pain, anxiety or insomnia. What makes this question unique from the issue of any substance use/abuse during mental health treatment is the unknown quality of this substance. For instance, if a patient states they drink 2-3 glasses of wine approximately 3 nights a week, we have a good idea of how this substance use may affect their ability to process cognitions and emotions. However, with cannabis there are many questions.
Staff Perspective: Patients Recording Sessions – Anxiety All Around
Recent events where patients covertly recorded behavioral health sessions has brought these chronic concerns to the forefront for many providers. Providers seem conflicted about where they stand on patients secretly recording sessions. But advancements in technology have enhanced the anxiety as people can now splice recordings in ways that misrepresent what actually happened. For some, these advancements lead to the belief that secret recording should be illegal. For others, it is yet another factor in their conflicted feelings and the struggle between patient and provider rights.
Guest Perspective: Understanding and Treating Traumatic Brain Injury
A U.S. Veteran, I’ll call him Steve, walked into my office following his third and final military deployment. He was referred to me for an evaluation of a potential traumatic brain injury (TBI). As a member of an artillery unit, traveling across Iraq in convoys, Steve, who is a composite, not an actual person, witnessed many deaths and injuries; he felt lucky to have returned safely home without significant limitations, other than post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).