Psychology Articles

Ethics plays an important role in psychology from the beginning of the treatment process through rehabilitation. There are many ethical concerns that can arise all of which must be dealt with along the way. These various concerns can also vary from one psychological setting to another. These settings include: hospitals, physical rehabilitation centers and facilities specializing in chronic diseases to name only a few. As the number of psychologists and other professionals working in this field increases, so does the need to focus on areas of ethical concern (Lucignano and Lee). The ethical issues that can arise reach far beyond the medical setting and are present in other situations as well.

Important Ethical concerns include: role delineation, working within the medical model, taking on multiple responsibilities and maintaining confidentiality (Lucignano and Lee). Before any ethical issue can be recognized it must first be clearly defined. Though this article cannot encompass them all, those listed here are commonly encountered and must be dealt with on a regular basis.

The first ethical concern that will be discussed is role delineation. This is a primary concern because it lays the ground work for the responsibilities and expectations of the psychologist; however, there is not a consensus on specifically what constitutes the role of the psychologist in a medical setting. Since many psychologists work in the medical profession, this can present somewhat of a gray area. Instead, diverse terminology has often been used to define this particular role. Terms used include: health psychology, medical psychology, clinical psychology and behavioral medicine. This has presented past arguments over whether or not this lack of clarity in actual definition of terms is more than semantic confusion (Lucignano and Lee). The primary argument here is whether a psychologists’ actions and activities are included under one of these terms that are, for the most part, considered to be unstandardized in this context.

Working within the medical model is another ethical concern that must be considered in the medical field. In these instances, psychologists are usually working on teams that include a physician, social worker, speech pathologist, physical therapist and occupational therapist. Though all teams may not include every role listed above, it is very likely there will be at least two members on each. When this is the case, it is necessary for each person to work within his or her role in order to provide maximum treatment. Ethical awareness is an essential part of providing psychological treatment within the medical model. In a hospital, for instance, unique areas of stress may be present which effect both patients and members of the treatment team (Lucignano and Lee). As a result, there may be difficulties when it comes to the overall decision making process. There may be several causes for this because many people are working to rehabilitate one person. There are several patients so that team may, in effect, be responsible for rehabilitating a wide range of people all of whom are dealing with very different situations. Team members will not always agree on everything and important issues may need to be carefully examined by each team member when it comes to resolving them.

Taking on multiple responsibilities can also bring up ethical issues for psychologists no matter where they work. When treating patients, psychologists take a look at each as an individual and treat each situation accordingly. There are, of course, many responsibilities that come with providing treatment and the solution to a particular need may not always coincide with traditional means and methods of resolution. A psychologist in this type of situation may feel pressured by the many responsibilities he or she must tackle on a daily basis and may be torn between handling a specific one through traditional means or in a way that is unique to the situation. The more administrative duties the psychologist is given, the less time he or she will be able to spend rehabilitating patients. While this may not be an issue that is of top concern, it can arise nonetheless and will need to be dealt with in a way that allows the psychologist to take care of important job-related duties and provide the best treatment possible to all patients.

Maintaining confidentiality is a very important concern. While psychologists don’t have a problem keeping important patient details confined within the facilities with which they are employed, ethical issues can arise when it becomes necessary to discuss certain situations with other professionals. When this occurs, the psychologist involved must decide whether or not the information needs to be passed onto the person requesting it or if a particular piece of information needs to be disseminated to someone else for treatment purposes.

In other situations, a psychologist may be asked for specific information about a current or former patient. While the information in question may be important in the given context, the confidentiality of the patient may be breeched if it is provided. Here the psychologist is faced with a moral dilemma of sorts. He or she knows the information is important and the person requesting it probably should be made aware, but is under a professional obligation to the patient to keep from sharing it. Should this occur, the psychologist can talk to the patient about the situation, informing him or her of the request and why it was made. The final decision of whether or not to provide the information will then be left up to the patient who will be responsible for its dissemination should this be the end result.

When it comes to solving ethical dilemmas, it is important to first understand the code that has been established. When going to work for a particular entity, psychologists will receive information that will instruct them on the various policies and regulations. In order to solve the issues that are bound to arise at one time or another, they will need to assess the individual situations and make a determination on what to do based on the ethical principles that have been set forth. Some dilemmas will be easier to solve than others and will be based around more black and white issues of right and wrong. Other times, distinguishing between right and wrong will not be so easy to do. In some cases, the answer will not lie in a simple context of right and wrong, but instead will be specific to the various factors involved. When this occurs it is often not quite so easy to make the determinations that solve these ethical dilemmas. When this happens, psychologists depend heavily on the ethical principles they have learned as well as the specific policies established by the entities for which they are employed.

One common problem that occurs is in solving particular ethical dilemmas by using the principles when the situation is not completely clear. Sometimes problems arise that call for extensive decision making based on individual factors that cannot be figured into the original ethical principles. Each situation is different and must be treated as such and therefore, will have an individual set of issues that may arise. When this occurs, the psychologist must make a determination based on the specific factors involved while using the ethical principles in a way that will solve the problem without causing an ethical conflict.

Ethics are present for a reason. They are necessary when solving a wide variety of problems that may arise on an individual basis. Though these issue are just that, individual, a uniform code is needed to help psychologists understand and deal with certain types of situations. The place of ethical concerns in psychology applies to psychologists both as researchers and practitioners. Ethics are present in every aspect of psychological practices and must be adhered to in every context. A set of ethical guidelines has been established to aid psychologists in figuring out what to do when these situations arise. All psychologists are bound by these guidelines.

Though ethical guidelines have been established, there is often a debate on whether or not certain issues fall within them and what psychologists should don when they occur. Still, the place of ethics in psychology is not newly found. Aristotle made several important psychological observations concerning the limits beyond which humans cannot control their own behavior, sanity and their capacity for emotional response (Upton). Though these principles have been studied for many years, other issues have arisen specific to new situations and debates. That is why understanding the code of ethics and why it has been established is essential to solving various issues that can, and often do occur.

The code of ethics outlines the responsibilities of the psychologist and establishes what is considered acceptable and unacceptable in regards to the practice of psychology. This code of ethics is multi-dimensional and must be adhered to in order for a psychology to maintain his or her license (Kafka). Since licenses are granted by each individual state of residence, a psychologist working in any particular location is bound by the specific practices established in that place. This practice is defined through roles and obligations a psychologist will possess so there will be consistency within the field. Likewise, the license a psychologist obtains will have meaning to the public who can easily learn what is expected of a professional working in the field.

The main goal is the psychological code of ethics is to insure that all clients and patients are treated in a professional, lawful and respectful manner when seeking treatment (Kafka). Here behaviors are defined that specify how the psychologist will handle the various situations that may arise during the course of treatment for all clients or patients. The ethical code regulates the way in which many behaviors are dealt with and how situations may be resolved. This includes both the private and institutional practice of psychology. This guarantees that anyone who receives service from a psychologist who is adhering to the code of ethics is insured professional, humane treatment that causes no psychological or physical harm. Should the ethical code be breeched for any reason, the situation is investigated and handled accordingly.

The code of ethics is also designed to protect the public from uses and abuses that may result from the mishandling of a particular situation. These protections include: physical, emotional or even financial and cover a wide range of factors related to the practice of psychology. The code contains numerous clauses that clearly specify practices that are considered to be acceptable in regards to billing procedures, file maintenance procedures and even what should occur during appropriate therapy termination. Many aspects include: job handling, office management and client handling. The acceptable versus unacceptable behaviors are defined as well as what actions should be taken if any part of the code is breeched.

The code of ethics directs both the psychologist and client or patient away from conflicts of interest. The existence of dual roles is one conflict that can occur when inappropriate relationships are established between psychologists and those they serve. The ethical code specifies how these situations should be handles and helps both parties in maintaining lawful, socially responsible behavior. This insures the psychologist will be able to treat clients or patients in a positive manner that will promote rehabilitation while clearly drawing the line for those receiving the treatment that clearly defines the appropriate relationship of psychologist and patient. While there may be many arguments surrounding specific situations and what actually constitutes an ethical dilemma, the code is clearly defined and should be closely followed at all times. There are many situations that can certainly present ethical dilemmas, but the code remains in place to help guide psychologists when they must deal with issues that may prove rather difficult. This well-established code not only serves as a guide but also as a way of protecting everyone involved in the treatment process. The ethical code is an important part of the psychological practice because it clearly defines how to deal with important issues that can arise during the course of treatment. This aids psychologists in making important decisions and helps them to better understand the psychological professional as a whole.

REFERENCES

Kafka, Pauline. May 7, 2008. Psychologist Code of Ethics
Understanding the Professional Conduct of Psychologists. Taken from http://clinical-psychology.suite101.com/article.cfm/psychologist_as_professional

Lucignano, Geraldine, Lee, Sandra. Ethical Issues Involved in the Role of Psychologists in Medical Settings. Taken from http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&se=gglsc&d=5002168429.

Upton, Candace L. The Journal of Ethics. Virtue Ethics and Moral Psychology: The Situationism Debate. Taken from scienceofvirtues.org.

For more information, please contact Dr. Joseph Coleman at jcoleman05@bellsouth.net or via phone at (504) 621-0966

You’ll manage to coax someone to trust you if you follow a few basic behavioral rules. In order to do so, you have to study behavioral psychology, or behaviorism.

You can learn even more, if you learn what exists inside the human psyche thanks to the vision given to you due to the results of long researches conducted inside the human brain through scientific dream interpretation.

This way you’ll understand why the human being has certain reactions, and therefore, how to provoke, or avoid them.

If you are imagining that you’ll be able to manipulate other people and oblige them to do what you want, you have to understand that this is not what you should desire first of all, and secondly, you have to understand that you are too ignorant to know what will be good for you and for other people, which means that you cannot decide what you should coax them to do based on your opinion.

It doesn’t matter if you are only trying to sell your products. You have to understand behavioral psychology if you want to coax someone in a way that will be positive for them. This is important if you want to have repeat customers, who will always trust you.

You should learn how to translate the meaning of your own dreams, and have the guidance of the wise unconscious mind showing you what to do, with my dynamic method of dream translation.

Even by being able to translate the meaning of a few dream symbols, you’ll already be helped by this knowledge, the same way that you are already helped with the knowledge you have of a foreign language when you visit a country where it is spoken, and you are able to communicate with other people, even though you cannot speak it fluently.

Exactly the same happens with the dream language. In the beginning you’ll only understand the meaning of a few dream symbols, and the general intention of the unconscious mind that produces your dreams. Later, you’ll understand it completely and you’ll be able to immediately translate all dream images into words that you can understand.

However, the translation of only a few dream symbols will already show you many things about how to coax and influence other people, in a way that will be beneficial for them and for you too.

You’ll realize that you have to:

- Create trust and confidence by being sincere and helpful
- Eliminate all fears by repeatedly showing understanding and sense of responsibility
- Focus on benefits and positive results for the other person

Begin creating the right atmosphere for easily coaxing everyone to trust you by following these basic rules. You have a lot more to learn though, because our personality is shaped by the psychological type we belong to.

The unconscious mind will show you how to persuade someone to accept your ideas and plans, by explaining to you to which psychological type they belong.

This means that you’ll be able to predict their reactions, and show the behavior they admire.

After learning behavioral psychology according to the unconscious’ guidance, you’ll learn how to influence other people positively, helping them feel comfortable with you, easily agree with your conclusions, and prompting follow your advice.

Christina Sponias continued Carl Jung’s research into the human psyche, discovering the cure for all mental illnesses, and simplifying the scientific method of dream interpretation that teaches you how to exactly translate the meaning of your dreams, so that you can find health, wisdom and happiness.
Learn more at: http://www.scientificdreaminterpretation.com
Click Here to download a Free Sample of the eBook Dream Interpretation as a Science (86 pages!).

Mental illnesses are sneaky diseases that don´t appear on in the conscious surface and that are not apparent immediately in the patients´environment. However, various behavioral abnormalities gradually take off their mask of “normal person”, reflecting their neurosis, psychosis, schizophrenia or similar mental illness.

If you want to understand whether someone is mentally ill before waiting for various facts that will reflect psychological abnormalities in order to verify who they really are, you have to learn how to analyze the human behavior and observe the signs that indicate lack of balance, and absurdity.

This is very important, because you may trust a schizophrenic without knowing what you are doing, and decide to get married to a person that will only torture you, or have a negotiation with someone who is totally absurd and will ruin your business, but may mislead you with false impressions of sensibility and honesty.

There is a very big danger concerning business relationships with people you don´t really know, especially because mentally ill patients never show signs of abnormality in their work, but only in the moments when they are alone, or when they are with their family, and so on. So, it´s harder to discover signs of schizophrenia in a business partner than to perceive them in a future husband or wife, for example.

However, the bitter truth is that if you are not well informed, you will never be able to perceive important signs of abnormal behavior in a certain person, even if you are near them for many hours, because they can hide their absurdity from your eyes very easily. They act like normal people in too many ways, being absurd in only a few points that you may never notice before having a tragic surprise.

The details that reflect abnormal behavior and work like visible signs for the eyes that have learned how to recognize them are many, depending on the psychological type of each person. This means that if you want to have a total vision about the behavioral abnormalities that reflect psychological disorders, you have to learn everything about the psychological content of the human being.

This is possible thanks to the vision given to you by the scientific method of dream interpretation, since it shows you an internal map of the functionalism of the human brain and psyche, explaining you how the human behavior is determined by the various characteristics of each one´s personality.

You learn how to prevent the craziness contained a priori in the wild side of your conscience to invade the human side of your conscience.

There is too much absurdity accumulated in the anti-conscience, our primitive conscience, and this is why everyone is too vulnerable to mental illnesses.

By learning how to prevent and also cure all mental illnesses, you´ll be able to analyze everyone´s behavior, even if you won´t care about learning how to translate your dreams according to the scientific method.

If you care about interpreting your own dreams, the unconscious mind will give you objective information about other people in a symbolic form.

You only have to learn the dream language. This is not difficult as I have transformed dream interpretation based on long comparisons of dreams, into a fast and instant dream translation from images into words. Since I give you the meaning of the most important dream symbols, which you recognize in various dreams, you can discover the meaning of the other components that are not part of the symbol collection.

Christina Sponias continued Carl Jung’s research into the human psyche, discovering the cure for all mental illnesses, and simplifying the scientific method of dream interpretation that teaches you how to exactly translate the meaning of your dreams, so that you can find health, wisdom and happiness.

Click Here to download a Free Sample of the eBook Dream Interpretation as a Science (86 pages!).

Personality is a collection of characteristics that defines the person’s behavior, and gives them an aspect. It is the way someone reacts before the stimuli of their environment, their personal answer to all challenges of life, their personal way to think, feel, guess and sense everything.

It is also the way they express what they are thinking or feeling. Personality is the image that defines an individual’s specific behavior, giving a certain meaning to their presence, and to their actions.

Most people don’t have a strong personality, because they simply follow the behavior patterns they have inherited as human beings, and the general conceptions of life that belong to the mindset of their time and civilization.

However, everyone has certain peculiar characteristics, which they have inherited depending on their psychological type. There are differences in the various personalities of our society, even when the people we are analyzing simply follow the general philosophy of life of the place where they live, without adding anything personal to their judgment. They do have their personal way to follow what everyone else does.

Everyone inherits a well-defined personality, even though everyone also already inherits many characteristics that belong to the human race.

Besides being influenced by the psychological function that is more developed in our psyche (thoughts, feelings, sensations or intuitions), each one of us has the tendency to care more about our personal judgment if we are introverted, or care more about the general approval of our judgment, if we are extroverted.

If you want to build a strong personality, avoiding behavioral disorders and becoming really unique, you have to learn how to develop the parts of your brain that belong to your primitive conscience, the anti-conscience, which is still in a wild condition, and negatively influences your behavior.

You have to learn how to set yourself free from the pre-determined behavioral patterns that are not good for you, because they were formed due to the existence of your wild side.

Translating the meaning of your dreams, you’ll learn how to be as introverted as extroverted, and find psychical balance. This way your personality won’t be threatened by behavioral distortions.

I was saved from schizophrenia by interpreting my dreams according to the scientific method.

I was constantly dreaming about invaders that had no blood, and where everywhere around me. They were parts of my personality. Therefore, I had no blood, because I had no feelings. I was extremely irrational.

I learned how to pay attention to my feelings, becoming sensitive, besides thinking logically. Then I helped many other people find mental health and happiness thanks to the instant translation of the meaning of their dreams.

Everyone learns what is necessary for them in order to transform their personality, becoming wiser with all the knowledge they acquire.

You can start building your unique personality today, no matter how old you are. This day will mark a new beginning for you, and give another dimension to your existence.

Write down your dreams, and begin like an artist, always looking for perfection. In a while you’ll enjoy verifying how much the extraordinary power of your unique personality will give inspiration and hope to other people, because you’ll be wise. They will admire you for your capacity to be always so balanced, and always find bright solutions for all problems.

Christina Sponias continued Carl Jung’s research into the human psyche, discovering the cure for all mental illnesses, and simplifying the scientific method of dream interpretation that teaches you how to exactly translate the meaning of your dreams, so that you can find health, wisdom and happiness.
Learn more at: http://www.scientificdreaminterpretation.com

Click Here to download a Free Sample of the eBook Dream Interpretation as a Science (86 pages!).

Here’s a short primer on Cognitive and Behavioral Learning Theories

Behavioral learning theories suggest that learning results from pleasant or unpleasant experiences in life while cognitive theories of learning suggest that learning is based upon mental processes. However, in an admonishment against being too closely guided by any one set of pedagogical principles, Johnson (2003) suggests that a fixation with process oriented educational theories among those in the politics of education has not served the education community well by aligning practitioners into separate camps.

A behavioral view in psychology has held that exploratory analysis of cognition must begin with an examination of human behavior (William & Beyers, 2001). Behavioral theory has benefited from the work of early researchers such as Pavlov, Thorndike, and later on the work of B.F. Skinner. Work relating to the development of behavioral theories in educational psychology has allowed theorists to explore ways in which human action could be controlled through manipulation of stimuli and patterns of reinforcement.

Cognitive theory as it relates to epistemological processes within the individual is based upon the idea that learning comes about as a result of processes related to experience, perception, memory, as well as overtly verbal thinking. Since the 1970s, information processing theory has been a dominant focus of study for cognitive theorists. Although the list of theories associated with cognitive theory is an expansive one to say the least, for the purposes of this paper, it is appropriate to mention several contemporary theories on cognition including: information processing theory, schema theory, and situated cognition theory.

Informational processing is based on a theory of learning that describes the processing of, storage, and retrieval of knowledge in the mind. Factors such as sensory register, attention, working memory, and long term memory play a significant part in this theory of cognition. Schema theory offers that human beings interpret the world around them based on categorical rules or scripts; information is processed according to how it fits into these rules or schemes. As an epistemology, schema theory focuses on meaningful learning and the construction of and modification of conceptual networks. Situated cognition theory postulates a social nature of learning situated within a community of practice in which knowledge is socially constructed.

An important component of this type learning, apprenticeship, is informed by social learning theory. Situational cognition as a theory posits that the individual is not a passive vessel, but rather, is an active self-reflective entity; as such, cognitive processes develop as a result of interaction between the self and others.

Another loosely related concept that relates to social cognition is the construct of reciprocal determinism. This is a behavioral theory under which it is theorized that the environment causes behavior and at the same time, behavior causes the environment Under this theory, personal factors in the form of (a) cognition, affect, and biological events, (b) behavior, and (c) environmental influences, create interactions that result in a triadic reciprocality (Pajares, 2002).

References

Johnson, B. (2003). Those nagging headaches: perennial issues and tensions in the politics of education field. Education Administration Quarterly, 39 (1), pp. 41-67.

Pajares, F. (2002). Overview of social cognitive theory and of self-efficacy.

Williams, R. & Beyers, M. (2001). Personalism, social constructionalism, and the foundation of the ethical. Theory and Psychology, 11 (1), pp. 119-134.

Liston W. Bailey is an educator and training specialist living in Virginia.

Reactive Attachment Disorder arises from a failure to form normal attachments to primary caregivers in early childhood. For some children it occurs when they do not receive the love and affection that every infant needs. Studies have shown that in order for the part of a child’s brain that is responsible for regulating affection to develop normally, ‘entrainment’ between the mother and infant’s brain must occur during the child’s first 18 months of life.

Brain waves in mother and child very often come into harmony with the brain waves of the other; they are in sync, if you will. This is what happens when mothers respond to the needs of their children, and it lays the foundation for children to become happy and well-adjusted adults. When this brain wave entrainment does not have the opportunity to occur, or only happens for very brief or infrequent periods, proper brain development may be stunted in the child. These children often end up with Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD), which can leave them with serious anger and behavioral issues that can last into adulthood. Children with RAD are unlikely to seek out social interaction or to form strong relationships.

While RAD did not receive much attention in the past, it is now coming to the forefront of psychological study. This is, in part, because many more families are choosing to adopt children. Even children who are adopted as early as age two or three could have already developed RAD, since it is important for children to entrain within the first eighteen months of life. There are a few treatment options for RAD. One focuses on therapy and family support, which can be helpful. Over time, a relationship with a good therapist and a strong family background can help a child learn to form attachments and to become more socially adept. However, this treatment can be hit-and-miss, and it can take many years of therapy.

Another type of therapy that is showing promising results with children with RAD is neurofeedback. This type of therapy actually changes the way that the brain works; this is important for RAD patients because when a child is not cared for as an infant, the way that their brain works actually changes. Neurofeedback, which is a type of biofeedback for the brain, may actually re-map the child’s brain, allowing him or her function on a more normal level. Neurofeedback therapy may enable a child with RAD to gain control over their behavior and to form positive relationships with parents, caregivers, and peers.

In fact, many children who are treated with neurofeedback become calmer and less easily alarmed. They also typically become less aggressive and impulsive after just a few sessions, although it’s impossible to tell exactly how long it will take for an individual child’s condition to improve. If combined with other treatments, however, neurofeedback as a therapy for RAD may contribute to a positive therapeutic outcome in the child’s life. If you have adopted a child who is struggling with RAD, or if you are an adult whose childhood has caused social or attachment issues, you may want to consider neurofeedback as a possible add-on to psychotherapy.

For more information about Neurofeedback, go to http://www.NeurofeedbackBook.com Dr. Clare Albright is a psychologist (CA License PSY11660) and a Neurofeedback practitioner and can be reached at (949)454-0996

If someone you love struggles with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADD/ADHD, you will likely be interested in any new breakthroughs in the treatment of these disorders. For years, parents, schools, and doctors have been struggling to find a solution for attention deficit disorder, especially as more children each year are being diagnosed with one of these disorders. In any given classroom of thirty or so students these days, there will typically be at least two or three children with ADD/ADHD. Parents may feel they have very few options for treating their children who have received this diagnosis.

The traditional treatment for the disorder has been medication, Ritalin being one of the first. Since then, drug companies have produced a variety of treatments for ADD/ADHD. These medications may not treat the disorder itself, however, but merely work to curb the symptoms. They also may have many drawbacks, including short-term side effects such as fatigue, appetite loss, and personality alterations, as well as the possibility of long-term effects, some of which may have yet to be discovered.

While there are a few natural treatments available, including dietary and behavioral therapy, many of these treatments have produced limited results, because even these treatments do not truly address the problem at its core. Children and adults with ADD/ADHD have been left with little hope of any permanent resolution, and have had to face the prospect of living with the disorder for the rest of their lives. But that may not be the case for long.

A new therapy called neurofeedback, also known as ‘biofeedback for the brain’, has already dramatically changed the lives of many ADD/ADHD sufferers. In one recent study neurofeedback therapy was able to successfully eliminate all attention deficit symptoms in 80% of the participants. In addition, most of the children involved in the study experienced an increase in IQ.

Some neurofeedback therapists may recommend that ADD/ADHD patients continue with their medications for a time after they begin neurofeedback therapy but when the therapy is complete “usually after about 40 to 60 sessions”some patients should be able to live symptom-free without medication.

Neurofeedback works by helping the brain to learn the correct brain wave patterns to use for different situations. With attention deficit disorder, scientists have not pinpointed the exact cause of the disorder, but they do know that it involves a malfunction within the brain that causes the patient’s actions and thoughts to be erratic, disorganized, and hyperactive. Neurofeedback helps the brain regain normal functioning by retraining it to work within optimal wavelengths.

During the neurofeedback therapy sessions, which most patients experience as very comfortable, and even enjoyable, electrical signals from the brain will be transmitted through an EEG machine that reads brain waves. The patient will then use their brain waves to perform simple activities such as making a spaceship on a computer screen “fly.” The brain enjoys this activity, and will continue using these particular patterns until they become more permanently ingrained.

More and more therapists are seeing the benefits of neurofeedback for their patients, many of whom have been in dire need of such an alternative.

For more information about Neurofeedback, go to http://www.NeurofeedbackBook.com Dr. Clare Albright is a psychologist (CA License PSY11660) and a Neurofeedback practitioner and can be reached at (949)454-0996.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is a method for treating those people who have Bipolar Disorder or Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) that combines both traditional Western and non-traditional Eastern psychological concepts. The method was developed by University of Washington psychological researcher Marsha M. Linehan and she has experienced considerable success whenever implementing her plan of therapy.

Those with BPD have an extremely difficult time coping with any crises that may occur in their lives and they are also highly emotionally unstable. BPD is thus somewhat similar to Bipolar Disorder but the extremes of emotion experienced by BPD sufferers don’t usually last as long as those of manic-depressives. Linehan’s breakthrough came when she realized that BPD sufferers were all invalidated as children and that it is this self-destructive behavioral pattern that should be changed instead of the crises being removed.

There are two parts to DBT and both improve a patient’s mental health: group therapy and the one-on-one consultations between a BPD sufferer and their therapist. These methods are also used for bipolar patients. The group therapy sessions concentrate on teaching the patient four very specific skill sets, which are: core mindfulness skills, distress tolerance skills, emotion regulation skills and interpersonal effectiveness skills.

Mindfulness skills comprise the Eastern part of the therapy and pay homage to Buddhist Mindfulness Meditation techniques that teach people to calmly accept whatever happens to them without reacting emotionally to any crises. Distress tolerance skills are specifically aimed at changing behavior patterns for dealing with incidents that create stress, while emotion regulation skills help a patient control the level of their emotions by, for instance, identifying and labeling emotions and identifying obstacles that they put in the way of altering their emotions. Interpersonal effectiveness skills, on the other hand, include teaching patients when to resist changes they don’t want to happen and how to assert themselves.

The weekly individual therapy sessions put the skills learned in the group sessions to work by trying to change specific long-standing negative behavioral patterns, which behavioral patterns are always dealt with in the exact same order.

Given top priority are the parasuicidal – mild to extreme self-injury – and suicidal behavioral patterns and these are closely followed by the patterns that interfere with the patient’s therapy program and then with those that negatively impact on the patient’s quality of life. Patients are also given a chance to practice positive, life-affirming, behaviors including ways to improve their self respect and self-esteem, and ways to set and achieve their own goals.

DBT is a viable alternative to traditional ways of dealing with BPD and Bipolar Disorder by stressing crises management over self-improvement.

Author is a freelance writer. For more information please visit skyland trail.

If your public service involves interviewing surviving victims of or eyewitnesses to violent events, you will want to learn more about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and the Witness Memory Retrieval Technique and how each can impact your investigation.

Research proves there are two distinct human processes that prevent investigators and police personnel from conducting the most effective investigation when working with surviving victims of and eyewitnesses to violent crimes. Those processes have been identified as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Memory Retrieval (Recall).

What is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and how does it impact the Witness Memory Retrieval process?

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a reaction to a violent event that evokes intense fear, terror and helplessness. Many surviving victims of violent crimes…rape, robbery, murder, kidnapping, terrorism, sexual abuse and physical assault, for example, are unable to recognize the signs of emotional stress they are experiencing. Traumatic events trigger feelings in victims from which they cannot easily recover, largely because they have not been helped to recognize and subsequently deal with their emotional and behavioral changes. These feelings impede an investigators’ ability to retrieve additional significant information paramount to solving a case.

As a police officer or investigator you are often the first contact victims have following a traumatic encounter. The importance of police interaction with victims cannot be underestimated. In many instances, victims suffer what is known as second injury in their interactions with police, judges, attorneys, physicians and other public authority figures. The term “second injury” refers specifically to a psychological injury, rather than a physical injury. The event will leave the victim in a vulnerable state of mind, causing them to perceive situations in a distorted and overly negative light.

Although it is natural to establish common perceptions about the kinds of behavior people exhibit, know that things are not always as they appear. The outcome of effective police-victim interviewing can have a positive dual impact, aiding you in retrieving pertinent and factual data relevant to your case, while protecting the immediate and potential future emotional well-being of the victim.

While you certainly are not expected to be an expert diagnostician or mental health professional, you are in an ideal position to help. Acquiring even basic information on PTSD combined with practical experience and cognitive interviewing skills can be a major benefit for eliciting more precise and vital investigative information.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder manifests itself in phases beginning with the initial impact or shock the victim suffers and ultimately resulting in a healthy recovery. Dr. Calvin J. Frederick, retired Chief of Psychological Services at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in West Los Angeles, California has spent a career researching PTSD and has developed a Table that lists the phases a victim moves through and the physiological and psychological symptoms a victim is likely to display following a violent event.

In addition to becoming more aware of the signs of PTSD, there are initial intervention responses available to you. According to Dr. Martin Symonds, retired New York City Police Department psychiatrist, the first moments of police contact with a victim/witness are the most critical moments.

It is essential that the victim be provided with a feeling of trust and support and a lessening of any external threat following the trauma of a violent crime. Police officers, especially non-uniformed officers, should immediately identify themselves as such to the victim/witness. It would be helpful to include basic opening conversation such as “I’m sorry this happened to you” “It wasn’t your fault” and/or “I’m glad you’re alright.” This combined with preliminary intervention techniques will reinforce the victims’ trust that they are dealing with law enforcement officers who are sensitive to and aware of the trauma being suffered.

Lastly, the method in which a victim/witness is interviewed for police report taking is not only crucial to his/her emotional healing but also to the type and amount of investigative information you are able to retrieve.

The most widely used ’standard’ method of interviewing is a series of questions beginning with a description of the suspect(s) – sex, age, race, height, weight, color of hair and eyes and the victim’s account of the event.

The second method of interviewing is hypnosis, generally performed by a specially trained forensic hypnotist. With the victim in a state of altered consciousness, the forensic hypnotist asks questions and solicits answers. This method is the least used because of the negative legal ramifications it poses within the judicial system.

The third method is the cognitive Witness Memory Retrieval Technique (WMRT), researched and developed by Dr. R. Edward Geiselman of the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). WMRT is a collection of memory-jogging techniques designed to provide investigators with an organized series of focused memory retrieval ‘cues’ and steps that help victims/witnesses retrieve and elaborate on information stored in the memory.

The theoretical support of the research and development are based on two generally accepted principles of memory:

* A memory is comprised of several elements. The more elements a memory retrieval ‘cue’ has in common with the recall of an event, the more effective the ‘cue’ is in retrieving information.
* A memory has several access routes, so information that is not accessible with one retrieval ‘cue’ may be accessed with a different one.

The purpose of the Witness Memory Retrieval Technique, when used in conjunction with the standard interview method, maximizes the quantity and quality of information retrieved while minimizing the effects of misleading or inaccurate information.

Skillful incident-specific treatment is an absolute prerequisite for effective police-victim relations and problem resolution. Determining the most reliable and effective tools available is a concern for most law enforcement investigators. Any valid interviewing instrument should be designed to deduce the pertinent facts, identifications and recollection of the event that best assist you in the apprehension and conviction of the criminal suspect(s). Essential bits of information can make the difference between the time you spend on solid leads and the time you spend following up on weak ones.

As you well know violent events happen in a matter of seconds and yet it’s amazing what the memory can store. To test your own Memory Recall for FREE and for further information on the Witness Memory Retrieval Technique training video and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder go to http://www.GiveYourselfTheInvestigativeEdge.com.

Advanced methods of obtaining more accurate and detailed information becomes critical when it is time for a witness to make a suspect identification during a lineup or ’six-pack’ photospread or when called to testify in court. The cognitive interview method can enhance an eyewitness’s ability to recall events and provide solid investigative information. Test your own memory recall for FREE at: http://www.GiveYourselfTheInvestigativeEdge.com.

When you see dreams in which you are living in your past house, wearing old clothes, or being much younger, this means that you are repeating the (usually wrong) behavior you had in the past.

Your dreams have a specific meaning, which you’ll be able to verify in practice once you learn the scientific method of dream interpretation, discovered by Carl Jung and simplified by me, who continued his research, discovering more and proving that he really discovered the right code for a perfect dream translation.

I turned his complicated method of dream interpretation into a very simple and clear method of fast dream translation that even a child can learn. The dream language is like any other language made only by words. The difference is that instead of speaking through words, the wise unconscious mind speaks through images and scenes.

You’ll observe that the unconscious mind is your protector and sends you many warnings when you are wrong, when you are making mistakes, and when you cannot see what is happening to you.

If you are living in a past situation in your dream, this means that you are still attached to your personality as it used to be when you were living the past situation you see yourself in.

This is not a good sign, unless you used to be wiser when you were younger, which is not probable. Usually dreams about past situations remind you of your childish personality, about a time when you were too ignorant and didn’t understand the meaning of your behavior.

Your behavior reflects your mental health. If you are behaving like a child, this means that you are being dominated by your primitive side, the side of your conscience that didn’t evolve like your human side that is sensitive and can discern what is good and what is bad. Your primitive, animal side, is totally immoral, cruel and sneaky like a wolf.

It imprisons you into false, inadequate and ridiculous behavioral patterns, so that it may lead you to craziness and despair, completely destroying your human conscience, and this way, control completely your behavior.

Never be indifferent to the unconscious’ warnings in your dreams!

If you are repeating a wrong past behavior, this means that you are in danger: you have to live in the present, and have a better behavior, be more mature, and more serious, so that you may escape from the traps of the absurd side of your conscience, and from the traps of the dangerous world where you are.

Face reality and abandon your childish thoughts and feelings. Learn how to automatically translate your own dreams the same way you learn how to translate automatically English to Spanish, and use this tool forever.

You’ll have constant advice and guidance in all aspects of your life. The unconscious mind will help you become more intelligent, and find real happiness, without being threatened by hidden dangers like now.

Christina Sponias continued Carl Jung’s research into the human psyche, discovering the cure for all mental illnesses, and simplifying the scientific method of dream interpretation that teaches you how to exactly translate the meaning of your dreams, so that you can find health, wisdom and happiness.
Learn more at: http://www.scientificdreaminterpretation.com
Click Here to download a Free Sample of the eBook Dream Interpretation as a Science (86 pages!).