Leadership Training

Just back from the Pacific AIDS Network (PAN) conference. One of the highlights for me was hearing about the Leadership Training that PAN is adopting from the Ontario AIDS Network (OAN). The logis model is well thought out and the training leaders from the community philosophy is long overdue.

It also makes me wonder why other non profits aren't doing the same. Mid and upper level managers are aging out (aka retiring) at an alarming rate. When they leave they take years of knowledge and experience with them. Succession planning ought to be at the top of all Executive Directors to-do lists.

Knowledge Network: FASD Finding Hope

Documentary: "FASD: Finding Hope", created with the support of grant funding from the ministry to PLEA Community Services Society and was produced by Force Four Productions. The film profiles the lives of four B.C. families raising children with FASD. Website includes the documentary and additional resouces/information.

CSO - Search Criminal - Provincial

"Court Services Online provides access to the public court record including the criminal court record. You will find information about who has been charged with an offence, the type of offence and the outcome of the charge.

This court record includes charges for offences under a number of provincial and federal Acts including the Motor Vehicle Act, the Fisheries Act and the Criminal Code of Canada."

Not sure how I feel about this. Yes, I like transpearency, especially in the justice system. Not sure if everyone who can now use this site/information is going to use it ethically. I can see it leeding to a lot of exclusions to housing, services and employment resulting from this.

Smallest TV ever fits on your eye | Sympatico / MSN TV Guide

This is what I would like to see.. literally at face to face conferences. Can you imagine the possibilities?

Marijuana use may increase risk of testicular cancer

"Frequent and/or long-term marijuana use may significantly increase a man's risk of developing the most aggressive type of testicular cancer, ... Chronic marijuana exposure has multiple adverse effects on the endocrine and reproductive systems, primarily decreased sperm quality. Other possible effects include decreased testosterone and male impotency.", according to a study by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

The researches point out that more research needs to be done in this area to prove conclusively that their results are valid.

However, the current body of research certainly does suggest that high levels of use on a regular basis can cause some problems that may stay with you for a very long time and at worse may just endanger your life.

My opinion on this, based on 20 odd years of following the research, is that if you have been a "wake and bake" type user since you were a teen it might be a good idea to go to your doctor, or a clinic, and ask about the symptoms of testicular cancer. If you are one of those guys who wants a large family, you might want to think about cutting down.

I'm not anti drug use, I'm not a fan of legalization either. I am all for informed choice. All plant derived substances seem to have legitimate medicinal uses. Over-use of anything causes problems. The depth and breadth of the problem(s) are impacted by your personal biology, genetics, and life experiences.

Online conference on improving traditional conferences - elearnspace

Online conference on improving traditional conferences - elearnspace

Signed up for this last night. Curtis Bonk, Margaret Driscoll, George Seimens, should be an interesting online experience.

I like the idea of being part of an online conference that focuses on face to face (f2f) conferences. From what I've seen so far the real focus will be on how to use technology and especially social media to enhance the f2f experince. (Why am I thinking of the Borg ala Star Trek?)

The conference takes place on.. or is it in(?) an Ning platform. First time I've played with Ning, looks, feels ansd works great so far.

My hope, bearing in mind I'm already converted, is that one day in the not to distant future, all f2f confernces will include: tables with pop up screens and keyboards, be preset so that people can post, interact, surf, share and save. How cool would that be?

First they came for the Jews

First they came for the Jews
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Communists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left
to speak out for me.

I think about this every time I read an opinion peice that suggests that the homeless/addicted/etc should not get the best possible services. That they have made a choice and need to deal with it themselves.

I think about it this way. If we restrict services to those whose "lifestyle" choices have caused them harm the next step is to restict services to those with heart disease, type 2 diabetes, most forms of cancer and perhaps all sports related injuries.

We all make poor choices, often before we fully realize the long term implications.

As a society, just how far are we going to go towards individual accountability?

Before you answer that, see if you can "pinch an inch". You might be the next to be on the recieving end of an opinion article saying you deserve what you get.

Resilience and Heritable Traits

Ok, I think I wrote this, as a forum post for my psych 101 class last year. And yes I just took psych 101, wanted to see what all the fuss was about. No, I didn't like it, got little value out of it and will not return to take psych 102 lol

When I say "I think I wrote this", I mean it. I have a really poor memory, especially for things I write. (the poor memory could explain part of my issues with psych 101). Anyway, if I have inadvertently stolen this from someone I really do apologize.

Inherited Resilience?

When we think of resilience we most often think of it as something that is learned, mostly through healthy parenting and early life experiences that provide support for challenges. In this article James Neill defines psychological resilience as an “individual's capacity to withstand stressors and not manifest psychology dysfunction, such as mental illness or persistent negative mood.”

Twin studies estimate the heritability of major depressive disorder at 0.36 to 0.70. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?db=OMIM Depression, negative mood, schizophrenia, psychosis, autism and even binge drinking have been recently linked to the neurotransmitter serotonin. http://www.nature.com/mp/journal/v3/n4/pdf/4000412a.pdf
5-HTT is a serotonin transporter that plays an important if not critical role in regulating the reuptake of serotonin.

It seems, based on what I can understand about the research, that some people about 57% inherit 5-HTT with a long alleles and 43% with a short alleles. Those with 2 long alleles seem to have an edge when it comes to resilience and those with one or two short alleles seem to be more prone to depression after a triggering event.

This web page titled “5-HTT: The Gene for Susceptibility to Depression?” was produced as an assignment for an undergraduate course at Davidson College. It provided me with the most understandable version of the research and clarified the “short/short” vs. “long/long” allele hypothesis.

R. J. O’Hara for the Collegiate Way (link here) discusses the interrelatedness of genes and environment in children who have been abused. He makes an excellent point in that despite being dealt the genetic equivalent of a poor hand of cards providing support for abused children can mediate the effects of a short/short 5-HTT gene.

What appeals to me about this line of research is the positive side of the double edge sword debate. Some have said that being able to predict a propensity for such things as depression or resilience can have negative effects such as self fulfilling (negative) destiny or the potential that people would be unable to access job opportunities or insurance.

The other side of this is being able to inform people of why they need to take care of themselves. One of the questions most often asked by clients in counseling is “why”. Why is this happening to me? Why do I feel this way?

I think for many people it is comforting to know that it is just the way they are built. In the medical community physicians recognize and incorporate an inherited possibility of cancer, heart disease, etc and help patients manage their lifestyles to mediate the inherited risk. Psychological health is as, if not more, important.

Day Two WCYFA - Resilience

Day two began with a Plenary about Resiliency with Kimberly Schonert/Reichl

My first question.. Bearing in mind the room was filled with Youth Workers. How many Youth Workers does it take to define Resilience? Punch line - 1 and 25 people to support them.

Ok, if you have a better punch line that (in some weird way) defines the essence of resilience, please send it to me.

And if you are offended by that, please don’t be, it may just be that it missed a lot in the translation from my head to the typed word.

Ok, we began the plenary with an exercise on gratitude. More accurately, our first task was to focus on something we were grateful for this week. The idea behind the exercise was to shift our focus from a risk model to strengths model. It also allowed us to be reminded that gratitude was one way to build resilience.

The other way to build resilience is through relationship. The act of “seeing” children/people differently, seeing their strengths, even when they don’t, builds resilience, said the presenter.

Kimberly went on to say that their were three guiding principles in building resilience: Attending to the development of the whole child, attention to context, and relationships as central.

She really was preaching to the choir. We all know this; at least everyone in the room knew this. And that’s not a bad thing. Knowledge doesn’t have to be new to be worthwhile.

Kimberly went on to talk a bit about risk, noting that 1 in 6 children live in poverty in Canada and sadly (shamefully) 1 in 4 lives in poverty in BC. She also noted that 1 in 5 youth experience mental health problems.

These are things that put children at higher risk. I personally don’t think it’s a direct correlation. These are factors that increase the likelihood of other factors that cause direct harm. Low economic status in and of itself does not cause problems for children, the reasons for poverty (i.e. parents who are not able to care for themselves or their children due to substance abuse and/or mental health issues) and the reduced opportunities that come from living in poverty however do increase risk.

Resilience doesn’t reside in the child. It occurs in context. Although some of the ingredients of resilience are heritable AND heritable traits are impacted by environment. (See next post for more about heritably of resilience.)

The focus of course needs to be on the context, the environmental factors that increase resilience, because this we can impact. Fifty odd years of research have proven time and again that things like early attachment, school experiences, family dynamics, community and neighborhoods are the differences that make the difference in building and destroying resilience.

We also know from research on the impact of early trauma that those who have experienced trauma, even at an early age, manage to not just survive but (some) to thrive IF they have one person in their life that genuinely cares about them. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmy_Werner and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_resilience

The question raised was - How can agencies and programs create opportunities for mentorship and help youth learn resiliency and relationship skills?

As the discussion evolved a participant raised a good point by quoted Bruce Perry saying, “Children are not born resilience, they are born malleable”.

The gist of the answers we came up with involved the most basic principles of positive psychology: maintain a view of the person’s potential regardless of their current behaviour, mentor, model and teach, be the change you want to see. You know, all the good stuff.

Related links: http://traumatreatment.blogspot.com/

http://www.childtraumaacademy.com/ offers free online courses about childhood trauma developed by Bruce Perry.

Supershrinks - Part Two

The afternoon session began with a video of “Wendy” a bona fide Supershrink, based on her Outcome Rating Scales (ORS) compared to others also using the ORS.

We watch and listen as Wendy questioned her abilities and list what we notice about her. Of course, modesty floats the top of the list. The other trait, or perhaps it’s a state (nature/nurture question) that is apparent is that she continually focuses on what is NOT going well in the therapeutic process.

Notice, I didn’t say she focuses on what was not going right with her clients, she focuses on what is not going right in the process, or more to the point, she notices and focuses on what she is not doing right.

I think this is what’s hard about the counseling or human helping human process. It’s having to hold and be comfortable with seemingly conflicting beliefs. On the one hand, many in the field have embraced a positive psychology stance. In it’s essence that means focusing on strengths, the client’s strengths, what they do well. But to be really effective and to continue to grow as a helper, one has to focus on their own shortcomings. Can you see the conflict in this? It kinda feels like “do what I say, not what I do” or what’s good for the goose isn’t good for the gander. It can create dissonance. I think many professional helpers struggle with this, maybe not concretely, but buried, deep within.

Ok, back to Wendy. As the video continued she said the things like: when I can’t figure something out with a client I always ask for help from others, I’m always learning, I spend most of my time getting on side with a client, I can make mistakes because the client is onboard. What was also clear, from her use of “I” was that she took ownership of problems.

When she talked about the ORS she said: this is not about feeling good, high scores don’t mean much, this is crucial to my personal development, it helps me to develop, the small stuff (small changes in scores) is important.

Research using the ORS suggests strongly that positive client outcomes are indicated not by high scores alone, but rather, the best outcomes are related to low initial scores followed by higher scores. (See slide 12 in the Supershrinks handout 2 for the graph.)

The big message here is, if something is going right, it’s all about the client. If something is going wrong, it’s all about the therapist.

This may not be true, in fact it’s probably some kind of cognitive distortion, however, it is critical to be able to use this kind of distortion as a mental strategy in order to truly become a Supershrink.

This was not a new idea to me. My (ex) father in law, Terry Billingham, who passed away a few years ago, taught me that very principle. Terry, was like me, a grade eight drop out. He left school early to help support his family; I left school early to get high (now referred to as the experiential part of my addictions counselor training). I liked Terry; we talked a lot as I spent many weekends with him and my mom in law, Eunice. I had grown up without parents and I found them quite interesting.

Anyway, one afternoon, as my girls were playing quietly for a change, Terry and I began talking about his work. He worked in a mill and for many years as a part time ambulance attendant. Recently he had begun teaching Industrial First Aid. He had been having some problems with one of the examiners. He felt that it was a personal thing between this particular examiner and him.

During this conversation I had one of those “world standing still” moments. Terry said, and I’ll quote because I can still hear his voice and see him sitting in his gold recliner, “When a student of mine fails an exam it is never about them not being good enough. It’s about me not teaching them good enough”.

At the time I had no idea why this particular conversation and piece of wisdom was so important. I just new it was. And, many years later, Terry has passed away and I have become a trainer and counselor, I still hold that piece of wisdom to be the foundation of both my practices.

Soapbox moment: I also hold society (with myself as a part of society) responsible for at least 50% of a client’s behaviour. It’s our failure to protect and embrace children (and adults) who are in crisis that co-creates their self destructive and destructive behaviour. I think everyone knows this; it’s just really hard to sit with.

Meanwhile, back at the conference, Scott finished off the Supershrinks session by focusing on how to become better at whet you do. Deliberate practice is the key. Again, not a new idea for those of us in the adult leaning/teaching trade. One of the best programs I’ve taken is the Professional Instructor Program at Vancouver Community College. During that program I learned the value of deliberate practice. I video taped myself facilitating, watched myself, first with the sound off, then listened with the picture off and then watched and listened at the same time, all the while critically self assessing in the third person. I then threw out every outfit I wore during the video taping and went on a diet. And I got better. I know deliberate practice works. So why do I not do it in counseling?

I mean, I do to a point, but not with the same fervor, the same dedication to improved practice. Perhaps part of the reason is confidentiality. Not sure how video taping my sessions would go over with my street entrenched, often running from a warrant, type clients.

Well, Scott had the solution for this conundrum. www.myoutcomes.com provides a system, an elegant system, of tracking not only client outcomes but by using the A.S.I.S.T software built into the My Outcomes system, those using it will be prompted to practice and their practice will be tracked. I can’t really do the system justice in words alone so again, download Scott’s handouts and go to the websites, www.talkingcure.com and www.myoutcomes.com to get a fuller picture of what is available.

That wrapped up session 2 of Scott Miller’s Supershrinks session.

Supershrinks - Part One

When I teach facilitation skills one of the first activities we do in class is called “Describe the best teacher you ever had”. It’s a chance to model a “think-pair-share” process and provides the basis for the learning outcomes.

Groups invariably come up with a list of behaviours and qualities that, most people would agree, describes a Superteacher. Things like open, approachable, available, funny, genuine, they cared, went above and beyond, challenged me respectfully, passionate, always seem to make the list. Knowledgeable is mentioned but not nearly as much as you would think and never ranked above characteristics that make one likeable.

So, it was no surprise when Scott Miller began the session on Supershrinks by asking a similar question - “What makes some people better at some things than others? Of course, we were a room full of counselors, social workers and therapists so we re-worded the question in our heads and came up with lists of some things that made some counselors, social workers and therapists better than others.

Our combined (aggregated) lists looks suspiciously like my facilitation skills list and low and behold, knowledge didn’t really float to the top here either. What did come up was, charisma, passion, likability, belief that you care, unconditional personal regard, client centered, the ability to connect with clients. When knowledge did come up it was in the form of “being able to draw from many hats”, not expertise in one model or process, more of a generalist’s knowledge.

Interesting stuff that I didn’t know:

Medication generally helpful only when given by high ranked therapists.

Freud used a couch because he didn't like looking at his patients for extended periods of time. (his pathology became a treatment approach)

Person Centered Therapy was originally a placebo that was manualized for consistency. A placebo folks! And as a placebo it was as effective as anything else.

The big message here was and is - “It’s not the tool - it’s the hand that wields the tool.”

Scott went on to provide us with some enlightening (although confusing to me) aggregated statistics. Face it, as a field, we have been studying and researching what we do for a long, long time. The bad news, we suck overall.

No real improvement in outcomes since the 1960’s. And that’s across all treatment models, and we have lots of models. What’s more, as we continue to research new models of treatment we are consistently finding that compared to other models, including placebos, there is really no difference in outcomes. Bottom line, there is no little white pill type model of addictions treatment that works really well, most of the time for most people.

Ok, before you decide to become a plumber (cos they have excellent outcomes) there is some good news. Regardless of the models you use, if you are an effective therapist aka Supershrink, your clients can achieve 50% or more improvement and you can have 50% or less dropout.

Naturally this leads to next topic - What exactly do Supershrinks do?

Well, turns out our little brainstorm at the beginning of the session wasn’t too far off the mark.

Supershrinks:

a. Seek, obtain and maintain consumer engagement - They connect with their clients. Their client like them. Their clients come back.

b. Are exceptionally alert to the risk of drop out and treatment failure. - They notice and make explicit problems in sessions and in the relationship. They own and fix those problems.

c. Push the limits of their current realm of reliable performance. - They actively work to get better at what they do. They ask for feedback and use it as a tool to improve what they do.

Scott quoted David Orlinsky - “The quality of patient’s participation in therapy is most important..”. I found this article online but most of the others required membership or payment (that’s another blog topic).

So, the word of the day became “alliance”, or more accurately, therapeutic alliance. That’s what works. To drive this point home a bit more we watched some video clips.

The first was of a client (Anna) reflecting on her experiences in therapy. She stated that the one thing that made the most difference in her therapy was.. wait for it… her chats with the cleaning women.

She explained (thankfully) that the reason the chats with the cleaning woman were so beneficial was that the cleaning woman treated her like a real person, not like a patient. The cleaning woman shared parts of her life with Anna. In short she didn’t maintain those all important professional boundaries.

Anna went on to describe a turning point with one of her therapists.. again.. wait for it… it was when her therapist ordered some food in and they ate a meal together. How’s that for busting through professional boundaries.

Now don’t get me wrong, I think boundaries are important. The client’s boundaries are sacred and should always come before my professionally enforced and codified professional boundaries (aka policies, rules and other crap stuff) that gets in the way of building and maintaining therapeutic alliance.

That ended the first session. Stay tuned for part two.

Again, you can download the presentation Scott Miller used at this conference here. It’s a very large download, three parts, and well worth it.

Western Canadian Youth & Family Addictions (WCYFA) Conference

First day of the Western Canadian Youth & Family Addictions (WCYFA) Conference. I should add the first day of the first ever WCYFA conference and that it was sold out well before the registration deadline. The planning committee had members from all over Western and Northern Canada. Notably, ASAPBC, the Centre for Addictions Research, VIHA, Alberta Health Services, Northern Health, BC Mental Health and Addictions, the Province of BC and a few others partnered to put on the three day event. Big kudo's to Stacey LeBlanc (of ASAPBC), event coordinator, for pulling it all together.

As with most conferences it was opened by someone who introduced the person who did the opening blessing (Dear Song with drum, very nicely done), who was followed by Michelle Dartnell, the planning committee Chair, who introduced Scott Miller who did the Opening Keynote.

About two minutes into the Keynote it was clear that Scott Miller was going to keep everyone's attention. He's dynamic, funny, genuine and clearly one of the best presenters I've been been privy to. In addition he knows how to use a PowerPoint.. Lots of pictures and sounds, not so much writing. He even had a pop quiz. You can download the presentation he used in the Keynote and the sessions on Supershrinks from here but note that it is a big download, in three separate pdf's. Takes a few minutes even with a fast server, but don't give up, it's worth the wait.

Many things caught my attention while Scott told engaging stories, poked fun at CBT (and every other model you can think of) and educated the very large group on the importance of effect size and the difference between evidence based practice and practice based evidence. The most notable "ideas" and quotes follow.

Quote: "Treatment planning is not science, it's science fiction... (Start treatment planning sessions with) in a galaxy, far, far away.."

Counselors,ad the field in general, have a marketing problem.

Most change happens in the first 4-6 weeks. 1/3 of change happens PRIOR to the first session.

Success in treatment does not depend on the model used. Pretty much all models show the same rate of success.

Successful treatment, better outcomes depend on alliance aka the relationship between the counselor and the client.The better the relationship the better the outcome.

Research on Project Match and CBT says that CBT is not introduced until after the fourth session. (when does most change happen???)

Premature drop-out is the biggest problem.

To have better treatment outcomes - Change what doesn't work!

Magic Question - How was that for you?

Formalize "how was that for you using Outcome Rating Scale (ORS) ans Session Rating Scale (SRS), both available for free at www.talkingcure.com and www.myoutcomes.com .

Three steps to getting better at what you do:

1. Create a culture of feedback.

2. Integrate alliance and outcome feedback into clinical care.

3. Learn to "fail successfully".

Wisdom of Crowds reference - Compare your outcomes with larger group.

What came to mind as I listened to the Keynote was how similar this was to what I learned about facilitating or instructing. I mean when you run a group you always start with a check in that provides a sense of where the group and the individuals in the group are right now. The you get tacit and explicit feedback throughout and then again at the end, informally and formally.

Perhaps this is always done in group because a group can turn on you.. really quickly. So there is lots of pay value in engaging and maintaining a group. Not so much with individual clients. they will just not come back.

K, this is getting too long. More to follow about the actual sessions.

Wisdom of Crowds, Twitter and Bumblebbes

I was chatting with friend yesterday and during the chat I asked him if I could send him an invite to join Twitter. Below is an edited version of our conversation.

I am greatful for his questioning my enthusiasm about Twitter. Often I make gut decisions about things (thanks Malcolm Gladwell for endorsing the rightness of that lol) but until someone questions it, I fail to make the idea explicit. It remains inarticulated. My friend Joe provided me with an opportunity to really define what I like about Twitter and what I see as the potential residing within it.

Several years ago I came across the notion of Bio-teams I think I may have seen it referenced on Kolabora. Anyway, the basic premise and rule number one is - Broadcast Everything. I liked this right away. No buy-in time required for me at all. It made sense, maybe because I had just read Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities and Software by Steven Johnson.

I'm still drawn to the idea of communicating more openly because it allows for the personal aggregation of knowledge. As Surowiecki points out in Wisdom of Crowds, large non-homogenous groups, acting independently, gathering information from a wide variety of sources, make the best decisions. Better than experts, better than individuals alone.

K, that's it for now but I'll definately come back to this idea again, if for no other reason than to try and clarify it more to myself. And thanks Joe, awesome chat as always.. You make me think and I like that!

Jamie says:

I'm also on Twitter.. mind if i send you an invite to join that?

Joe says:

go ahead

Joe says:

whats twitter?

Jamie says:

Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?
Joe says:

lol

Jamie says:

it pretty cool.. cos you can update it via cell phone text message

Jamie says:

i'm going to use it more for work.. professional contacts than social.. but its a cool little application

Joe says:

no cell phone

Jamie says:

geez.. no cell phone lol

Joe says:

i knew a girl who changed her facebook status every 5 minutyes from her cell

Jamie says:

i don't have a landline.. only 2 cells.. one work one personal

Jamie says:

same idea, only simpler

Jamie says:

whats cool is you can follow people

Joe says:

it said "Jenn is getting ready for work" "jenn is leaving the house" "jenn is headed to work" " Jenn is getting a coffee" "Jenn is enjoying her coffee" and so on and so on.


Jamie says:

i follow a couple of my profs and people really active in the world i work in

Joe says:

here's a question... why?


Jamie says:

connections

Jamie says:

like i say.. i can use it for work.. say i'm having a really challenging issue at work.. i can, really quickly post a .. does any one know how to .. type message

Jamie says:

and maybe get responses from people who are following me

Jamie says:

on twitter you are limited to 140 characters so no way that anyone can plug up your inbox or cell phone with too many long messages
Joe says:

i see

Jamie says:

i also use it to keep on top of what my ex profs are reading, researching, teaching about

Jamie says:

its kinda based on an organic communication model... bees, ants.. they broadcast everything.. the idea is that if people do the same they can be more informed without haveing to necissarily do more work.. ya get it
Joe says:

ya... makes me more enthusiastic about building a log cabin in the middle of the woods

Jamie says:

lol
Joe says:

and taking nothing but my fly rod

Jamie says:

k.. the irony.. i'm talking about being more organic.. being like bees and ants.. and your seeing it as the opposite.. that is interesting lol
Joe says:

and before i go i'll call my friends on the "telephone" and say "Hey... i'll be gone fishin all weekend.... talk to ya next week."

Jamie says:

animals.. nature.. intuitively.. innately follow a path of interconnectedness

Joe says:

flower it up any way you like.

Joe says:

lol

Jamie says:

people do the opposite.. seek to be disconnected

Joe says:

ya but bees are all together in one hive and they comunicate through dance patterns

Jamie says:

and then wonder why their lives don't work lol

Jamie says:

they twitter lol
Joe says:

gotcha

Jamie says:

and we all live together in one big hive too.. if more people got that idea we wouldn't be worried about global warnming
Jamie says:

cos we would all be taking better care of "our" hive

Jamie says:

geez!
Joe says:

oh my

Joe says:

i hope i didnt offend you

Joe says:

lol

Joe says:

it just sounds very busy

Jamie says:

no, not offended.. just frustrated...
Joe says:

every time i run into a problem where i need advice I plug it into a cell phone and wait to hear back from several people

Jamie says:

broadcast it once.. if you have the right loose ties, the problem will be solved with help
Jamie says:

it makes a huge difference when you are solving problems that can impact a persons life or health

Jamie says:

doctors and health professional use this kind of system all the time now.. same with police, cia, fbi etc

Responsibility and The Press

Ok, I know, it can seem like an oxymoron but I still get irked when I read articles in the press that lack a balanced perspective.

This morning as I thumbed through the local Chilliwack Progress newspaper I noticed an article on hypnosis. My first thought was, "Cool, if it's in the local paper maybe it's becoming more accepted". Of course I was only half way through my first cup of coffee at the time so a little slow on the uptake.

I read on and soon discovered it was an endorsement of "stage hypnosis". Well, that got my you know what's in a knot. Further reading revealed that the hypnotist featured was also an RCMP officer. That got me thinking about power and control issues but I won't dwell on that right at this moment.

Anyway, I felt compelled to respond so did a quick Google search for "stage hypnosis danger" and in a Google millisecond found the research paper written by Tracie O'Keefe, that I was looking for, along with several other references to court cases that were won by people claiming to have been damaged by a stage hypnosis "act". I sent off a short and very polite email to the author of the newspaper article and included the link to the research paper and a cc to my friend Sheldon Bilsker.

In a nutshell, the aforementioned research paper outlines the specific case of Sharon Tarbarn, who died five hours after attending a stage hypnosis show. In her discussion of stage hypnosis Ms. O"Keefe says,

"Hypnosis is never benign because it changes the psychological and physiological constituents of experience. To some people suggestions that are contrary to wellbeing are not harmful, since they may have the kind of psychological defence mechanisms that can reject such suggestions. For others those mechanisms may be partially inoperative for psychological or organic reasons."

I work full time as a counsellor and couldn't agree more. I see people daily who do not have the requisite psychological defense mechanisms to ward off the impact of opening up the subconscious mind. Even in a safe and controlled environment I, as a trained counselling hypnotherapist, would not attempt a trance state with these folks. At least not without first, several sessions focusing on containment, grounding and safety. And certainly not without a full history of past traumas and potential abreaction scenarios.

I'm interested to see if the newspaper reporter follows up on this, perhaps restoring a bit of my faith in the local press.. or not.