Patterson Counseling

A Must-Read

2011-10-18T15:23:00.000-07:00

This article was fowarded to me from a friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend, etc., and I think it is a brave, grounding, truth-telling must-read for parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, caregivers, and anyone else who is capable of forming a loving bond toward another person.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/16/opinion/sunday/notes-from-a-dragon-mom.html

"Recent studies suggest that talk therapy may be as good as or better than drugs in the treatment of depression, but fewer than half of depressed patients now get such therapy compared with the vast majority 20 years ago."

2011-03-06T19:23:00.000-08:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/06/health/policy/06doctors.html?hpw

This is an article from The New York Times that helps illuminate the issues faced in giving and obtaining balanced care when taking medications for depression, anxiety, ADHD and other mental health issues. Insurance companies are reimbursing psychiatrists at lower rates, and as a result, many psychiatrists are spending less time with their clients.

Medications alone might help make the issues and challenges easier to cope with, but often it is merely a band-aid or temporary fix. The inclusion of talk therapy in treatment is essential to learning how to manage overwhelming emotions and move forward.

Family Art Group!

2011-03-04T14:17:00.000-08:00

Wow, I'm a bad blogger, so I guess it's okay if no one sees this... However, I do work part-time at a wonderful community mental health agency called Friends of Youth, and I will be running a 5-week curriculum-based art group focusing on building communication skills in families using art-making. So spread the word!

Why Antioch?

2010-05-25T14:31:00.000-07:00

Hey, I'm in a video promoting Antioch's Clinical Psychology program! (And they also have a great Art Therapy program as well...)

Antioch University Seattle - Couple and Family Therapy from Psychology In Seattle on Vimeo.

Poor, neglected blog...

2010-05-17T11:42:00.000-07:00

Apparently discipline as it relates to actual blog posting is not one of my strong suits. How many other bloggers have made this same statement? That is likely a high number. In my quest to blog more and more effectively, I think I need to treat myself and my blog with the lesson I have been offering to my clients:

Learn to treat yourself with COMPASSION (a feeling of deep sympathy and/or empathy {being aware of/sensitive to someone else’s emotions, thoughts, experiences} for someone else’s distress, along with by a strong desire to “make it better”).

The Dalai Lama writes beautifully about compassion:

http://www.dalailama.com/messages/compassion

So my new goal is to be more compassionate with myself, my blog, my practice, my clients, and my personal life. No big deal, right?

Creativity in Navigating Separation and Divorce with Kids

2010-04-28T09:29:00.000-07:00

Separation and divorce can be a messy, stressful, overwhelming time for a family. Changes in communication patterns, behaviors, physical health and emotional reactions that would usually get noticed right away might be overlooked, and as the family structure and organization become altered, it can make everyone feel off-balance. As this is happening, children’s dependency on the primary parent might also be intensified. Becoming a single parent might leave you feeling used up, alone, and stuck with a new, unfamiliar role. In the midst of this storm, it is important to remember to take the extra time to check in with yourself as both an individual and as a parent so that you can then check in with your kids and their emotional and communication needs.

Checking-in might include talking, family game night, family meals, or creative projects and activities, and may help to prevent behavioral, social, or academic problems. Sometimes your child may refuse to share equal time with you and your estranged partner, or try to take sides. If this happens, try not to take it personally (easier said than done!). Be firm about maintaining the visitation schedule and the importance of the positive involvement and parenting skills of both parents.

Conflict between adult partners can have a huge impact on kids, sometimes beyond childhood, even without their direct experience of the conflict. Children can sense the stress their parents are experiencing and might not have the emotional vocabulary to express what they are noticing. As a parent, it is important to check in with your child’s feelings as well as their understanding of what is happening, and to encourage their self-expression. When a parent models effective and honest communication, their child learns that it’s okay to talk about it, and gains the vocabulary to do so. Bedtime offers an opportunity to connect with your child, and might include giving each child 10-20 minutes to do an ‘emotions scan’, to get rid of any worries before going to sleep. Routine is important to kids, and doing this regularly will help them to feel safer as well as strengthen the parent-child connection.

When conflict between parents is unavoidable, it is important that problems remain between adults and not as a part of parent-child interactions. Leave any feelings of blame for the other parent or family members out of your conversations with the kids. Keep the focus on the children and each family member’s love for them. Reassure the kids “it’s not your fault”; talk through this with them, and tell them both parents, no matter what, love them. Kids need to be able to own this statement. They need to believe it and feel comfortable saying it. Don’t just ask them “do you understand” or “are you okay”; they might “yes” you to avoid this emotionally difficult conversation. Be gentle, be honest, and let them know that it is okay to be sad, angry, hurt, or disappointed.

Ask the family to brainstorm with you ways to deal with the hurt feelings and sadness. Creative projects can help family members to communicate feelings without words, and the process of making art might allow for a chance to identify, express, understand, and eventually master those feelings. Possible projects you could do together are: draw pictures of things you like to do together, write and illustrate a story about a happy day, write or draw what makes you angry on a piece of paper and shred it or safely burn it in the fireplace, make a ‘hope’ jar. Talk to the kids together if possible; and try to keep the conversation civil and compassionate without anger, blaming, or accusatory statements.

As much as possible, maintain schedules and routine, as kids thrive on stability and consistency. If you can, give them a head’s up about any changes that might be happening in their world so they have time to absorb the information and ask questions. Kids take in information at different rates and in different ways. Be aware of how your child adapts to change: what is their communication style? Do they avoid, pretend everything is fine, try to please, or confront? Do they need to take space, do they need time and if so, how much to absorb information before they react, process, are able to discuss or ask questions. Talk to them about these needs. Tell them how you communicate best and worst. Create a ‘safe word’ to end arguments and take self-imposed timeouts. If you can and it seems appropriate, make them feel included in any decision-making. This will also help you take the time to slow things down, remember to breathe, and make space for the big emotions that come up for both you and your children.

Be truthful. Avoid euphemisms, as kids are highly adept at sensing insincerity. Discuss what is happening in age-appropriate terms, filter information while maintaining honesty, let them know that you are also experiencing a lot of different emotions and that is normal and okay. As much as you can, model this for your kids.

Be ready to answer difficult questions, let them know if it is a hard topic for you to talk about, but don’t avoid. Always remember that kids are more perceptive than we give them credit for! Be aware of changing roles as the new family structure takes place, and talk about this with your kids. Taking over adult roles such as caretaking and discipline for younger siblings are behaviors to look out for, as they are often not age- or role-appropriate. Allow them to be helpers, but be sure you and your partner maintain your position as parents. Explain what new expectations of jobs, chores, and roles are, for them, yourself and your estranged partner. Tell them what they need to know to feel safe and loved, and don’t overwhelm them with superfluous and overly emotional or personal details. For the younger kids, keep it simple and straightforward.

Validate their feelings, let them get it all out, and then have them problem solve with you. Have them tell you what they need to be safe. Be a good listener, talk about expectations that are or are not realistic and the reasons. Discuss the real scenario, and take time to hear what they wish, and talk about ways to make it less sad, angry, disappointing or hurtful. Try to avoid “because I said so”. Take a time out for yourself if necessary, and explain beforehand that you might need to do this and why.

If you don’t have the answers, be honest. Avoid the temptation to make promises that you can’t keep. Try to be hopeful and find time for play. Explain that it sometimes takes time to feel better, to be less sad, angry, anxious, disappointed, frustrated, and that it can happen differently for different people. Find ways for your children to grieve and how to process the grief and loss as a family.

Know that sometimes kids need people to talk to other than their parents. Some may avoid talking about how they really feel because they feel guilty adding to their parents’ problems. They might more easily express themselves with someone outside the situation, such as a friend, teacher, relative or counselor. Talk to them about this, and together work out whom it is okay to talk to and what the boundaries of that relationship are. Make sure that you have someone to talk to. Don’t use your kids for your primary emotional support. If they try to fill this role for you, thank them and refocus them on their own feelings. Look for support groups, online resources, and see a counselor or therapist. Most importantly, trust your instincts and remember that your psychological and emotional health is important too.

••••

Project Ideas:
Project Ideas are suggestions for creative activities that families can do together to promote and facilitate positive and productive discussion of feelings and communicate hopes and fears. Creativity can allow for expression of feelings using metaphor and symbolism. Art Therapy is used with families, couples, and individuals of all ages, and can provide distance and structure for coping with overwhelming, scary, or confusing emotions. For more information on the benefits of Art Therapy, please visit www.internationalarttherapy.org, www.arttherapy.org, or www.pattersoncounseling.com.

Hope Jar
Use an old mason jar or other container with a lid. Decorate it together as a family or make a separate one with each child, using pictures and words from magazines, tissue paper, scrapbooking materials, family pictures, ribbon/yarn, or fabric. Mod Podge craft glue works well for this project. Write ‘hopes’ on small pieces of paper and put them in the jar for safekeeping. This can be done all at once, once a day, or at the end of the week. [***This project can also be done as a ‘worry jar’]

Emotions Scan
Before bedtime, take some time to check in with your child about how they felt that day. Use words or colors to describe feelings. Start with “How did you feel in your head?” and work your way down as many body parts as you want until you get to their toes. Talk about where the feelings came from and brainstorm with your child ways to let go of any bad or icky feelings – pretend to ball it up and throw it in the trash, make up a catch-phrase to send it away, feed it to the icky-feeling recycler.

Understanding Change
Divide a piece of paper in half. Using pictures from magazines, on one side pick out and glue down pictures that show how you feel when you say “goodbye”, and on the other side, use pictures that show how you feel when you say “hello”. Images might represent fears, hopes, coping skills, wishes and goals. This can be used as an opportunity to problem-solve and develop realistic expectations and plans for the future.

What’s My Role?
On a piece of paper, draw an outline of a person. Using pictures from magazines, cut out and glue down pictures that show everything that your mom/dad/sister/ brother/grandparent/aunt/uncle/friend means to you and what they do. You can also make one for yourself, showing what you think you mean to others and what you do as a part of the family. Talk about it with your family.

Full Circle - The Beginning to the Finish

2010-03-25T09:08:00.000-07:00

Closing with clients can be a lovely, magical process in which you survey the value given and got in the process and send them from the nest to navigate on their own, or the opposite; no 'closure', no opportunity to send them off with tools and encouragement, more of an "it's not you, it's me" kind of feeling.

So who is ‘termination’ (such a hard word for what should be a delicate process) or ‘closing’ (still not the best word, but more better) really for? Some therapists emphasize that the closing process is for the client; to help them with transition, prepare them for change, make sure they are up-to-date on their skill set and using their ‘tool box’. Therapists may give referrals to make sure they have options if things get hard, or if it’s time for change – maybe the client has gotten all they can from this particular therapist and needs a new approach.

But I think it is important to know, own, acknowledge, hold, and remember that closing can be just as much for you, I, we, the therapist, counselor, professional as it is for the person who came to us for our skills and training and experience. Each client gifts us with his or her experience. They trust us to help hold the pain, sorrow, disappointment, joy, fear, and hope. As we travel on the journey with them, we also need to remember to pause and give the end of the relationship the respect it deserves. Even if and when the client chooses not to, when they cancel the last several sessions, leaving you high and dry to mourn the relationship on your own (that sounds so dramatic!), that very act of avoidance merits a moment of silence.

It’s hard to make the decision to go to therapy, to bare your soul to a complete stranger, to learn not to sit in judgment of yourself and others, if just only for an hour a week. I am grateful to all of my clients for their trust and the lessons that I have been privileged to learn from each of them, as either ‘good’ closers or avoiders.

Cell Phones and Therapy

2010-03-25T08:41:00.000-07:00

This is a very insightful article about why it's okay when your cell phone rings during a session, and how helpful it can actually be. But sometimes it's still disruptive, so you know!

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/23/health/23cases.html

Divorce and Kids

2010-02-18T17:38:00.000-08:00

Here's a New York Times article about how divorce effects kids and ways to make the process less harmful:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/18/opinion/18bettelheim.html

Understanding Asperger's

2010-02-16T17:45:00.001-08:00

The causes of Asperger’s aren't known, but it is generally characterized by a group of behaviors that may also seen in those with autistism. Understanding common traits makes it easier to relate to a child or adult with Asperger's.

Asperger’s is characterized by difficulties with communication, social interaction and imagination. Each individual might experience a different level and type of difficulty.
People with Asperger’s may speak in an unusual manner. Their tone is sometimes flat and monotonous, and they may speak slowly.
Eye contact, facial expression and body language are often misunderstood. When engaged in a conversation, a person with Asperger's could have trouble reading signs of impatience, boredom or frustration and keep talking. The person they are speaking to might have to end the conversation in a blunt or direct manner.
Children with Asperger's often become interested in a certain topic or genre, and develops into an obsession. Common obsessions include computers, gaming, electronics, collecting, and household gadgets.
Frequently, people with Asperger's misunderstand similes and metaphors. They tend to take things very literally and communication might need to be simple and direct.
Most people have an invisible barrier called "personal space". They become uncomfortable if others invade this by standing too close to them. People with Asperger’s are often unaware of this and may stand too close when engaged in conversation or standing in line.
Sensory problems are common in people with Asperger's. Triggers might include loud noises, bells, sirens, unexpected noises, shouting and laughing, and crowds. If a person with Asperger's becomes uncomfortable or triggered by any of these things, it is best to lead her to a quite place to take them out of that environment.
Clumsiness and poor coordination are common problems, and most people with Asperger’s are not good at sports. If you are a parent of a child with Asperger's, try to find a form of physical activity and exercise for your child that will make them feel successful.
Sometimes people with Asperger’s have problems falling asleep at night. Things that might help include using thick dark curtains to block out the light, removing or switching off all noise sources such as ticking clocks, televisions, radios and computers, and using heavy blankets, because the feeling of pressure or weight on their body can be comforting.
People with Asperger’s more frequently fall victim to bullies. Their differences can unwittingly invite ridicule and mocking which can sometimes escalate into violence without them fully understanding why there is a problem.

Reading Lists

2010-02-04T18:22:00.000-08:00

At any given time, I have a stack of books that I started to read, that I couldn't help buying, and that are almost but not quite finished. Here are some of the psychology-world-related books I'm currently working through, hoarding or wishing for:

Treating Trauma and Traumatic Grief in Children and Adolescents/
Cohen, Mannarino, Deblinger
The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook/McKay, Wood, Brantley
When Anger Hurts/McKay, Rogers, McKay
Trauma Stewardship/Laura van Dernoot Lipsky
Abused Boys/Hunter
The Grief Club/Beattie
Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In/Fisher, Ury, Patton
Peaceful Piggy Meditation/Maclean
Please Tell! A Child's Story About Sexual Abuse/Ottenweller
I Thought It Was Just Me/Brené Brown
The Creative Connection/Natalie Rogers
Fears of Your Life/Loggins
What Teens Need to Succeed/Benson
Roadmaps to Recovery/Kahn
Ophelia Speaks/Shandler

Phew. That's a lot of reading. And then there's the fiction...

The Brochure!

2010-02-03T13:47:00.001-08:00

Traumatic Experiences... What Works?

2010-01-21T09:41:00.000-08:00

Check out this article online at www.psychologytoday.com that discusses traumatic experiences and how relief workers help victims to process.

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-healing-arts/201001/is-talking-about-traumatic-experiences-dangerous

Therapists Report Increase in Green Disputes

2010-01-18T12:24:00.000-08:00

How green is too green? Another thing to learn how to communicate "well" as we navigate partner relationships...

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/18/science/earth/18family.html

About Art Therapy... there's no wrong in art!

2010-01-15T17:46:00.000-08:00

Art therapy is where the creative arts and psychology intersect. Art therapy helps to cultivate self-expression, create coping skills, manage stress, and strengthen sense of self. It can be used with a wide range of client populations, including people who face terminal illness, children with behavior problems, survivors of abuse and trauma, and families experiencing transition.

Art therapists are Master’s level mental health professionals trained in psychological theory and practice in tandem with the use of art media. Art therapists work in a variety of settings including mental health agencies, hospitals, schools, wellness centers, community programs, residential programs, shelters, correctional programs, and private practice.

Materials we might use are clay, paper, crayons, oil and chalk pastels, collage, markers, paint, coloring sheets, mandalas, and mask-making. You will have the option of leaving your work with me or taking it home after each session. Choice of media and its therapeutic use will be chosen by the client and therapist together based on client goals. An open dialogue between therapist and client will determine the best artistic pathways to explore the client’s counseling needs.

More information about art therapy can be found at www.arttherapy.org.

Everyone has stuff, everybody's messy.

2010-01-15T16:45:00.000-08:00

The first thing I tell clients, prospective clients, and random (or not-so-random) people asking me about therapy and art therapy, is that everyone has 'stuff' and everybody's messy. People, communication, relationships, emotions and daily life is messy. Sometimes it's gloriously, beautifully, fantastical inspirational messiness, and sometimes it sucks. Sometimes we learn (willingly and unwillingly) lessons from our messes, and sometimes it takes a while and maybe some assistance to relearn our way out of bad habits.

Helping people navigate through the challenging messiness is something that I love to do. Translating for families or partners who have lost their way in the communication jungle is energizing and inspiring for me, and reminds me to take that extra breath before I give in to road rage or snap at my husband (not that I always do so). Guiding someone out of the messiness of old patterns and into new or renewed healthy relationships and acknowledging their power and responsibility gives hope and encourages new growth and learning.

There are issues and experiences and moments that frustrate us throughout our lives. I hope to pick apart and begin to translate them here so that we can all experience more blissful messiness and less ick.

Please feel free to ask questions, suggest topics, and correct inaccurate information (appropriately and respectfully, of course!).

And check out my website - www.pattersoncounseling.com