Monday 13 July 2015

Family Therapy Can Work Well for Furthering Resolution of Family Issues

Family therapy is a type of psychotherapy that aims to resolve family problems via enhancing and altering family communication. Multiple or all family members are involved in a family therapy to provide a space to explore and change familial dynamics. Family therapy can be to address problems such as family conflicts, divorce, parent-child bonding, discipline, mental health concerns, addiction, and sibling rivalry.

What does family therapists do?

Family therapy sessions have assisted thousands of households live together happily. A family therapist working from a family systems perspective assesses the family as a whole and tries to facilitate subtle changes in the way the family functions as a whole. This can facilitate better communication and the overall balance and harmony in the family.

Family therapy is beneficial in that in alters the communication dynamic from the start and can allow members of the family system to further assess the role they play in family disputes and troubles. Often the greatest difficulty can be getting all of the family members to agree to attend a session. A good way to get everyone to agree to attend a session is to point out the importance of any reluctant family member’s role in the ongoing struggles and more importantly to express how helpful they would be to another family member if they attended session. This can lessen stress about attending session, particularly of a family member is concerned they will be blamed for the current problems.

Family therapy in Pasadena is available for:

• Family counseling for child-parent clash. Child-parent relationship struggles are very normal and can happen because of inherent temperament differences between parents and children, differing parenting approaches from one parent to the other, concerns about fairness and dividing time between siblings. Often having a therapist present can aid the family in identifying where communication has gone awry and further mend bridges between family members by aiding everyone in feeling heard and understood.

• Family counseling for marriage problems can improve tense relationships by furtheringfamily bonding and aiding in creating mutually agreeable resolutions. Couples counseling can work to re-establish intimacy and connection, but can also be a place to begin a mutually agreed upon separation.

• Family sessions following a divorce can be for the purposes of navigating custody arrangements, facilitating parental consistency, furthering communication between parents, and providing a space for the children to gain a better understanding of the new familial dynamics at play.

• Family counseling for chronic illness or disability can facilitate weathering a quickly changing family dynamic. Therapy can aid in smoother transitions in navigating new roles and providing support for all of the family members during this challenging time. Family therapy can also be helpful in beginning to have some challenging conversations about caretaking and the future.

Friday 10 July 2015

Child Therapy May Be the Answer for Your Child’s Behavioral and Emotional Struggles

When your child is struggling with behavior or being overwhelmed by their emotions it can be challenging for parents to know what to do to help their child. While changing one’s parenting style can sometimes help, there are times when a child benefits from therapy to learn new coping skills and ways of processing their emotions. Parents can also learn new ways of addressing problematic behaviors. A therapist’s office can serve as both a safe haven and classroom to further improve familial struggles and overall wellness and health.

Individual therapy for children often involves learning to manage worries and social troubles. Whether it’s learning to make new friends, reduce anxiety, calm impulsivity, or learn self-soothing techniques therapy can be advantageous for children. Hence, one area that child therapy can assist is in nurturing improved responses to social circumstances either with friends at institution, or with other siblings. Techniques to manage conflict and learn about behavioral and though patterns that are problematic can be quite helpful.

One most crucial element to productive child therapy Pasadena is to ensure that the therapist, and the child are a good fit. While therapeutic alliances can take some time to establish, it’s helpful if the child is comfortable in the therapeutic space and is willing to engage with the therapist that’s a good start. However, it’s important to recognize that with younger children it’s not so important that they talk in therapy, but rather that they play. Even an absence of play can be indicative of the child working through their emotions about interacting with others or processing their emotions. As such, it’s helpful to allow the therapist to create a safe and confidential space with your child in order to further their comfort and engagement.

Play is a way younger children explore their emotions and ways of navigating their environment. Play therapy candevelop a safe space that allows the child to feel free to explore their problems and for the therapist to facilitate resolution of the same. Behavioral therapies are also useful when determining how to resolve troublesome behaviors like not completing homework, refusing to go to school, or getting into arguments with other children. Cognitive-behavioral, mindfulness techniques, and acceptance and commitment therapies can also be advantageous for some children.

If you are one such parent struggling with your child’s behavioral and emotional issues, then don’t feel shy to get in touch with an expert child therapist.

Thursday 9 July 2015

Cognitive-BehaviorTherapy – TheBasics

Cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT) has been employed to aid individuals suffering from depression and other mental health struggles.

When going through CBT a professional aids the individual in identifying and altering trouble some thought patterns. CBT attempts to challenge automatic thinking that fuels depression or anxiety. CBT can reduce panic attacks, social anxiety, performance anxiety, depression, and even procrastination. Thinking patterns and sentiments play an important part in human behavior and said patterns can be modified.

There are increasing numbers of people who are experiencing depression and anxiety and while many believe medication may be adequate, numerous studies have indicated that cognitive behavior therapy is more successful for long term remission. No doubt, a lot relies on the individual’ sreadiness and receptiveness to engaging in therapy. A trained therapist can help an individual to process past experiences & situations, to examine their responses and alter their patterns of behavior.

Cognitive behavior therapy Pasadena has turned out to be a means of comprehending the link between inner thoughts and sensitivities and human behavior. If you’re an individual who’s experiencing depression or anxiety or any other type of psychological issue finding a therapist trained in using CBT can aid you in making changes to your life.

Self-help books can serve as a useful starting point for your own personal therapy. David Burns, Judity Beck, and Aaron Beck all have useful books about CBT and many of them serve as a helpful adjunct to individual therapy. Often working with your own individual therapist furthers one’s ability to apply CBT techniques and feel better sooner.

Thursday 2 July 2015

A Brief Guide to ADHD Testing

Troubles with attention and concentration are pervasive in our society. The demand to stay focused for long periods of time, but also to remain attentive to numerous things at once, is common place. We are staying in school longer, working more jobs, and managing more daily responsibilities than ever. At the same time, research suggests that struggles with mental health are on the rise. With all of the demands placed upon us and our children, it can be challenging to discern the cause of any struggles we may be encountering. I often hear clients complain about their inability to focus, plan, and organize their daily lives. Similarly, parents will often describe observing their child’s difficulties with completing homework assignments, doing well in school, or keeping their bedroom organized. The question I’m often asked is: Is this ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder)?

ADHD symptoms can include troubles with both attention and hyperactivity/impulsivity. Inattentive symptoms of ADHD include making careless mistakes, trouble sustaining attention, not listening to directions, struggling to organize and plan, disliking tasks that require sustained attention, losing things, being forgetful and easily distracted. While hyperactive/impulsive symptoms include either overt difficulties with remaining still or trouble with an inner sense of restlessness, interrupting others during conversation, trouble waiting for one’s turn, and appearing to have excessive energy. Generally speaking, ADHD is diagnosed during childhood, but it can be diagnosed for adults as well. When diagnosing ADHD, symptoms like the above would need to have been present since the age of 12. Nonetheless, there are other reasons that ADHD symptoms may arise after that age, and ADHD testing can facilitate clarity in diagnosis and treatment.

While ADHD has be diagnosed based on an interview, there are many conditions and situations that can cause symptoms similar to ADHD. Discerning if attention and concentration troubles are, in fact, ADHD can be done via psychological testing. Testing typically involves an interview in the office and completing some diagnostic questionnaires, which can be provided to both the individual and any other individual who has observed them at home, at work, socially, or at school. It can also include computerized testing and assessments of executive functioning, working memory, and cognition. For those struggling in school, a Learning Disability assessment is also appropriate.

If you are seeking reliable ADHD testing in Los Angeles, VOBH can be of service. We have psychologists trained in psycho-diagnostic testing who specialize in discerning ADHD and who can also make treatment recommendations related to ADHD or any other diagnoses.