Psychotherapy | Hawaii Psychiatric

Treating Depression

Depression is a common psychological problem that nearly 17 million Americans face each year. Depression causes emotional stress as well as affects the lives of those around you and your life as well. You may feel down quite often, but when you have depression, you are constantly in a sad state, making it hard to function properly because nothing seems to matter anymore. There are several different ways you can treat depression.

Often times, depression is treated with drugs. These drugs work with your body to release chemicals that will help balance your mood. There are several different types of drugs you can take, but everyone reacts differently to each drug. You should talk to your doctor to know which one is right for you.

Psychotherapy can also help patients with depression. Psychotherapy works by meeting one on one with a professional to help you sort out your problems. Usually, you will find some sort of relief by having a professional help you out.

An easy way to help treat depression is to simply exercise. Exercise helps to release chemicals in the brain that put you in a good mood. If you are severely depressed, you may not be able to rely completely on exercise as a remedy, but it will still help.

Other than these options, there are plenty of other ways to treat depression including natural ways. You may have to work with a variety of these treatments to get over your depression such as exercising and seeking psychotherapy. Other treatments include eating a balanced diet, getting a decent amount of sleep, and receiving routine massages.

Filed Under: Health, Mental Health, Treatment Tagged With: Health, Mental health, Psychotherapy

Recreational Therapy for Mental Health

: Image via Wikipedia

Recreational Therapy is a type of medical treatment or modality that uses leisure education, recreation and other resources in order to help the patient achieve their social, emotional, physiological, spiritual and physical goals.

For patients with mental health disorders, recreational therapy can be of great benefit. Therapy begins with leisure education and determining what the patient’s specific goals are. Oftentimes the patient with a mental illness has become socially isolated and they have forgotten or have never learned what kind of activities they’d like to be involved with. The therapist may engage in recreational activities with the patient to bridge the gap from isolation to a social setting.

Once the patient has acquired basic communication and interaction skills, the recreational therapist will help the patient find community activities that they may be interested in. Activities such as volunteer work, social groups and classes can provide daily structure and help to establish independent support systems. They can also provide a sense of worth and meaning and help strengthen the patients sense of self and help they develop their identity.

Recreational Therapists also motivate patients to participate in physical activity. It is well known that exercise can help improve mood but it also gives patients a sense of accomplishment. Exercise boosts the sense of well-being which always has positive effects on mental illness patients. Exercise may come from a simple walk in the park to more vigorous activities such as cycling or anything else the patient may be interested in.

In teaching patients the importance of leisure and recreation they will hopefully gradually become self sufficient and be able to source out their own outlets for social interaction. Recreational therapy is slowly becoming a widely accepted form of non-drug based therapy and it is showing great results with patients.

Filed Under: Health, Mental Health, Psychiatric Consultant Tagged With: Health, Mental disorder, Mental health, Mental health professional, Patient, Physical exercise, Psychotherapy, Recreation

Is your new therapist “The One”?

: Image by samhsa via Flickr

If only therapy was just a little bit more like fairy tales! You’d see your new therapist from across a crowded room, birds would sing and the incidental music would swell. By perfect coincidence your therapist would hand you your missing shoe in your introductory session-a perfect fit! Happily ever after.

Naturally, it’s far more difficult to tell if your therapist is a perfect fit to your mental health needs. Without a background in psychology, it will be hard to tell whether any initial discord is due to a bad match or simply the uncomfortable beginnings of a new course of therapy.

You can help yourself to go through therapy less blindly by taking a proactive approach. After you’ve told the counselor a bit of your own story and needs, you should know a bit about her as well. Instead of letting the counselor ask all of the questions, have a few of your own ready.

1. Can your counselor describe the course of initial therapy she’d be trying with you? It’s extremely helpful to have an overview of your counselor’s plan.

2. Can your counselor help you to set reasonable goals for your work together? If you are goal-oriented, it may help to work with a counselor who has a similar mindset.

3. What are typical sessions like? What does your counselor hope to achieve in each one? This will help you to know what to expect when introductory visits have concluded.

After your visit, when you evaluate your counselor, ask yourself the following about her.

1. Does your counselor seem to provide support by listening and analyzing, or by assigning actions for you to take? Some people genuinely need counseling foremost as an outlet for guided analytic self-expression; others want the structure of practical restructuring steps.

2. Does your counselor’s communication style work well with your own? Do you and your counselor seem to understand each other well?

3. Does your counselor make you feel safe and comfortable? It is hard to establish a good counseling relationship if you are too uncomfortable to share your emotions.

Filed Under: Mental Health Tagged With: Counseling Services, Family therapy, Health, Mental health, Online, Practitioners, Psychotherapy, Relationships

Journal Writing For Better Mental Health

: Image via Wikipedia

Even if you’ve never fancied yourself a writer, you are the best historian of your own life. Journal writing is a fun way to analyze and celebrate your own life. If you’re undergoing a course of therapy, journaling can also act as an excellent supplement to the emotional work you’re undertaking in your sessions.

Journal writing helps you to take notice of your emotions. A starting point for many therapists is to get you to recognize and honor your own emotions. You’re asked to check in with yourself, see how you’re feeling. Journal writing helps you to become adept at recognizing and articulating your own emotions, both to yourself and eventually to others.

Journal writing helps you to identify life patterns. Though everyone’s life is a tangle of emotional patterns, it’s sometimes hard for you to see your own. Do you become acutely depressed every Tuesday? Angry every payday? Sad when it rains? Having the printed record of a journal is a great first step in analyzing your life.

Journals are great spaces to practice affirmations and statements. Remember when writing lessons one hundred times was a punishment for forgetting them? Writing helps to reinforce learning. Your therapist may help you to restructure negative thoughts by making you repeat affirmations or strong statements, and a journal will allow you to repeat them to yourself in context and in writing.

Journals are a great workspace in which to evaluate your therapy. It can be difficult to talk to your therapist about the therapy process. If you have doubts or questions, a journal will help you to find words to communicate your apprehensions. This will help you to talk about them in counseling.

Journals are an excellent space in which to record triumphs. As you progress though a course of therapy, you will also progress emotionally. You’ll overcome anxieties, become more courageous and kinder to yourself and others, and you’ll become more joyful. Recording your triumphs will help you to celebrate them, and will keep your victories fresh and relevant to you as you continue on your way.

Filed Under: Mental Health Tagged With: Arts, Diary, Emotion, journal, Mailing Lists, Online Writing, Psychotherapy, Writers Resources

Surviving Your Introductory Appointments With A Mental Health Care Provider

: Image by familymwr via Flickr

You’ve decided to find a counselor. Congratulations! Recent studies have shown that a year of psychotherapy provides happiness equivalent to a $40,000-per-year raise. Self-discovery is a lasting investment in your quality of life.

However, beginning therapy can seem like more trouble than it’s worth. You are likely seeking counseling at a vulnerable time in your life. Meeting new counselors and deciding upon one seems like a huge challenge to add to your life’s existing trials. Here are a few tips to get you through.

Prepare if you prefer.

There’s nothing wrong with winging an introductory visit-you’re there to figure out if you and your potential counselor can communicate well and do constructive work together. On the other hand, if preparing for new situations makes you more comfortable, you can be ready by reviewing the primary reason you are seeking counseling so that you can present it to the counselor. Describe your goals to yourself. The complexities of your life will come out as you talk to your potential counselor.

Pay attention to your rapport.

Counseling is not always fun, but it should feel like a safe environment to you. Does your counselor make you feel more alienated, or does he seek to understand you without judging you? Do you feel intuitively that your counselor will be able to understand you as your therapy progresses? If you do not feel that you can open up to your therapist, this is a good sign that you may need to find a provider who is better suited to your personality.

Your intake visits are your counselor’s job interview.

Although you bare your soul to your counselor, your relationship with her or him is fundamentally a professional one; you employ your counselor to improve your mental health. If you don’t have a good relationship after two or three visits, you should thank them for their time; tell them that you are going to explore other options. If your counselor asks why, it’s OK to explain your trepidation to them; it may help them refer you to someone who can better meet your needs.

Filed Under: Mental Health Tagged With: Counseling Services, Directories, Health, Mental health, Navy Counselor, Online, Practitioners, Psychotherapy

How To Support a Person’s Mental Wellness Recovery

: Image via Wikipedia

If a patient enters treatment facility, there might be some initial restrictions on visitation.. Once their condition has been diagnosed and a treatment plan has been implemented, you’ll be able to resume contact with them. In fact it will be encouraged. Before visiting with a patient at a facility, there is nothing wrong with calling up their doctor and asking questions about what to expect. The last thing a patient needs is for their first visitor to be over anxious at the surroundings. Of course this doesn’t mean being in denial about what’s going on but finding that balance.

For friends or loved one who are going through therapy without a stay in a care facility, you still have a role to play in their recovery efforts. The most important thing is to support their decisions to seek help and encourage them to stick with whatever program they are working through. This transition is going to be challenging for them and they’ll need to know a normal life is waiting for them on the other side. Even small gestures like going out to lunch or a movie can go a long way to helping them resume their lives. There is no stigma with seeking help for a mental illness. If you loved the person before, you’ll love them during and after!

It’s a simple fact that mental disorders can touch all of our lives. We might know someone who is going through marriage counseling or personal therapy. There could be members of our family who are dealing with issues of substance abuse. Or perhaps a co-worker becomes burdened by stress to the point of a meltdown. At the moment of experiencing a mental disorder, these people can feel confused and anxious. Once they seek out help, they are going to depend on a tight circle of trusted allies to help them through their recovery. They won’t just be getting help from the therapists and medical practitioners but by the very people who matter to them.
If a patient enters treatment facility, there might be some initial restrictions on visitation.. Once their condition has been diagnosed and a treatment plan has been implemented, you’ll be able to resume contact with them. In fact it will be encouraged. Before visiting with a patient at a facility, there is nothing wrong with calling up their doctor and asking questions about what to expect. The last thing a patient needs is for their first visitor to be over anxious at the surroundings. Of course this doesn’t mean being in denial about what’s going on but finding that balance.
For friends or loved one who are going through therapy without a stay in a care facility, you still have a role to play in their recovery efforts. The most important thing is to support their decisions to seek help and encourage them to stick with whatever program they are working through. This transition is going to be challenging for them and they’ll need to know a normal life is waiting for them on the other side. Even small gestures like going out to lunch or a movie can go a long way to helping them resume their lives. There is no stigma with seeking help for a mental illness. If you loved the person before, you’ll love them during and after!

Filed Under: Health, Mental Health Tagged With: Mental disorder, Mental health, Psychotherapy, Substance abuse