Registered Psychotherapist plus

Adler School of Psychology - catching up notes I promised you more notes from conferences etc.and then I want to return to my abnormal psychology notes. It has been awhile since I was invited back to Adler. The last time there was a focus on coaching which is not my interest. However, I did meet many interesting people. But I did find some notes from previous lectures there and I thought I would talk about that and sum it up. They were discussing Cognitive Behavi...Continue reading

Notes: The speaker was Dr Allan Peterkin, McGill, Psychiatry, Mental Health, He has written 14 books for adults and children. Journal of Medicine, Narrative group for HIV for 14 years. Dr Peterkin reported that medical students inquire about spiritual care. What Dr Perkin does is he gets people to write their stories. It helps them for us to be narratively cognitive. His own father is a physician and his mom is a writer. He is both. His dad informed him he shouldn’...Continue reading

It is not a secret about how concerned I am that marijuana is legal in my country. I am even more concerned that there is a hint of persons/institutions trying to legalize other drugs, even more powerful. When I decided to begin caring for people with mental health concerns, addiction was not in the forefront. I had no interest in dealing with addiction. However, that is in my opinion not possible. I therefore have one stipulation. Do not see me if you are under the inf...Continue reading

Depersonalization Persistent or recurrent experiences of feeling detached from, and as if an outside observer of one mental processes or body (eg. feeling like one is in a dream). during depersonalization, experience reality testing remains intact. depersonalization causes distress or impairment in social etc..... Dissociative Fugue predominant disturbance is sudden, non expectant travel away from home or (customary place of work, with inability to recall one’s past). confusion about personal identity or assumption of a new identity (partial or complete). disturbance does not occur exclusively during the course of Dissociative Identity Disorder and is not due to the direct physiological effects of a substance etc.or medical disorder. symptoms cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational or other important areas of functioning. Dissociative Amnesia The predominant disturbance is one or more episodes of inability to recall important personal information usually of a traumatic or stressful nature, that is too extensive to be explained by ordinary forgetfulness. ok, this is the end of my second notebook for abnormal psychology. There is a lot more and a continuation of dissociative amnesia. You can look up references at http://www.cmhc.com/disorders/sx24.htm. During my first psychology course Basic Psychology we were warned not to see the symptoms in ourselves. Physicians too when studying have to ensure that they do not internalize the same for physical symptoms. I find that many outside of the fields begin to believe they have a disorder because they see symptoms which they believe they have and then self diagnose. I do not recommend this. When I think I have a client with a disorder or a client believes she or he has a disorder, I request that their physician refers them to a psychiatrist. This is a physician with three years of psychology. Many have not had a physical for years and this is my first recommendation. Next week I shall continue with theology which I post on my blog only. I shall probably continue with notes from seminars which I have not yet shared with you. As you know if you have been reading my notes, I type out my written notes for myself to clear all my paper. Now I can destroy this notebook or leave it outside once the snow clears for someone to pick up along with my other recycling material. Remember also that my notes were written before there were revisions to the DSM. However, I consider the information quite beneficial. This is also a refresher for myself. Writing notes rather than typing them has better retention value.

#BELLLETSTALK Today is Bell Lets Talk focusing on stopping the stigma of getting help. Sgt Kerry Schmidt, OPP, a familiar face on the Toronto news was also answering questions when asked about three OPP officers who committed suicide last year. I decided to write this today because five cents is going to go for funding regarding mental health issues and as a Registered Psychotherapist and Registered Marriage and Family Therapist, I support ending any stigma regardin...Continue reading