1.07.2013
My Hand Dealt Sucks Dick!
Truth That Hurts......
Toni L.Vossen 2012
PTSD can occur when people suffer or witness a traumatic event in which they are threatened with death, injury, or physical violation. During the time of the trauma these people respond with horror, fear, or helplessness. The symptoms of PTSD include some of the following:
Now, back to the conference. There were multiple sessions that mostly reviewed the effective treatments for PTSD. Not surprisingly the therapies that work are based on mixtures of cognitive and behavioral therapies. These approaches have stood the test of time and science. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) has been used to successfully treat a wide range of emotional and behavioral problems.
It’s fun when …
orderline Personality Disorder and Anxiety
When the topic of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) comes up, you’ll probably hear the conversation focusing on the issue of anger and rage. Indeed, people who suffer from BPD often struggle with explosive emotional flare-ups. Those episodes capture everyone’s attention.
Other symptoms of BPD such as self-harm, impulsive actions, and unstable relationships stand out as well. However, people with BPD also suffer greatly from profound anxiety. Some people with BPD describe their anxiety as excruciatingly painful and debilitating. Quite often their anxiety centers on deep fears of abandonment. They believe that others will inevitably leave them and, once that happens, they will be left totally unable to cope.
Other symptoms of BPD such as self-harm, impulsive actions, and unstable relationships stand out as well. However, people with BPD also suffer greatly from profound anxiety. Some people with BPD describe their anxiety as excruciatingly painful and debilitating. Quite often their anxiety centers on deep fears of abandonment. They believe that others will inevitably leave them and, once that happens, they will be left totally unable to cope.
PTSD and Evidence Based Practice
Like many professionals, clinical psychologists take advantage of continuing education to keep up with new advances in the profession, develop new skills, broaden their knowledge, and keep their license to practice. Frankly, after attending hundreds of hours of continuing education, I can tell you that some conferences are decidedly better than others. I can think of one conference that I sat in the back row and amused myself by counting the heads in front of me that dropped and bobbed.
Last week, I attended a well orchestrated day long conference on treating people with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Organized by Dr. Rex Swanda from the New Mexico VA, the content of the conference primarily focused on therapeutic practices that have been studied and found to be effective in treating those who suffer from this disorder. Treatments that are considered evidence based have been subjected to at least several independent research studies, compared to other types of treatment, or to no treatment. Here is an abbreviated description of PTSD.PTSD can occur when people suffer or witness a traumatic event in which they are threatened with death, injury, or physical violation. During the time of the trauma these people respond with horror, fear, or helplessness. The symptoms of PTSD include some of the following:
- Re-experiencing the trauma: through dreams, flashbacks, unwanted thoughts, or distress when reminded of the trauma.
- Numbing or avoiding: attempts to avoid situations, triggers, or thoughts about the trauma, feelings of detachment from others, loss of interest in activities, beliefs that their lives will be short, and restricted emotions.
- Hyperarousal: problems with sleep, easily irritated or angry, problems concentrating, and jumpiness.
Now, back to the conference. There were multiple sessions that mostly reviewed the effective treatments for PTSD. Not surprisingly the therapies that work are based on mixtures of cognitive and behavioral therapies. These approaches have stood the test of time and science. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) has been used to successfully treat a wide range of emotional and behavioral problems.
It’s fun when …
When the brain sounds a false alarm
Anxiety disorders, like most mental disorders, involve multiple causes including genetic, biological, social, and learning. And successful treatments sometimes target psychological or biological systems. Nevertheless, it is useful to consider that for most people with an anxiety disorder, there are false alarms sounding in the brain that set off a spiral of effects on the body that can lead to significant health concerns.
Let’s start at the beginning. Most people are frightened or startled by:
The problem in anxiety disorders is that this system in the brain is turned on when there are no slimy snakes, roaring elephants, or dark and scary places. The fears and worries that people with anxiety have often involve anticipatory worries-or “what if?”
Being in this constant state of false alarm (imagine a fire signal blaring continuously in your brain) increases anxiety and can also damage your body. People with chronic Post Traumatic Stress Disorder have been found to have decreased volume in certain areas of the hippocampus (an area that is associated with memory). Physical costs of anxiety are far reaching, but surprisingly, so are the financial costs. One study in the Netherlands reported in the Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology found that anxious children cost society 21 times more than those children not judged anxious. Adults with anxiety disorders are more likely to have high blood pressures, diabetes, thyroid disease, gastrointestinal disorders, and cardiac disorders.
With all of the costs, including emotional, financial, and physical, treatment is …
Let’s start at the beginning. Most people are frightened or startled by:
- loud noises
- sudden unexpected movements
- dark unfamiliar places
- large animals growling
- suddenly appearing snakes
- precarious heights
The problem in anxiety disorders is that this system in the brain is turned on when there are no slimy snakes, roaring elephants, or dark and scary places. The fears and worries that people with anxiety have often involve anticipatory worries-or “what if?”
Being in this constant state of false alarm (imagine a fire signal blaring continuously in your brain) increases anxiety and can also damage your body. People with chronic Post Traumatic Stress Disorder have been found to have decreased volume in certain areas of the hippocampus (an area that is associated with memory). Physical costs of anxiety are far reaching, but surprisingly, so are the financial costs. One study in the Netherlands reported in the Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology found that anxious children cost society 21 times more than those children not judged anxious. Adults with anxiety disorders are more likely to have high blood pressures, diabetes, thyroid disease, gastrointestinal disorders, and cardiac disorders.
With all of the costs, including emotional, financial, and physical, treatment is …
Mentalization Based Therapy (MBT) By JOHN M. GROHOL, PSY.D.
Truth That Hurts......
Toni L.Vossen 2012
Mentalization based therapy (MBT) is a specific type of psychodynamically-oriented psychotherapy designed to help people with borderline personality disorder (BPD). Its focus is helping people to differentiate and separate out their own thoughts and feelings from those around them.
People with borderline personality disorder tend to have unstable and intense relationships, and may unconsciously exploit and manipulate others. They may find it difficult or impossible to recognize the effects their behavior has on other people, to put themselves in other people’s shoes and to empathize with others.
Mentalization is the capacity to understand both behavior and feelings and how they’re associated with specific mental states, not just in ourselves, but in others as well. It is theorized that people with borderline personality disorder (BPD) have a decreased capacity for mentalization. Mentalization is a component in most traditional types of psychotherapy, but it is not usually the primary focus of such therapy approaches.
In mentalization-based therapy (MBT), the concept of mentalization is emphasized, reinforced and practiced within a safe and supportive psychotherapy setting. Because the approach is psychodynamic, therapy tends to be less directive than cognitive-behavioralapproaches, such as dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), another common treatment approach for borderline personality disorder.
In someone with BPD, the difference between the person’s inner experience and the perspective given by the therapist (or others), as well as the person’s attachment to the therapist (or others), often leads to feelings of bewilderment and instability.
Unsurprisingly, this leads to more, rather than less, problems in the person’s life. It has been proposed that people with BPD have hyperactive attachment systems as a result of their history or biological predisposition, which may account for their reduced capacity to mentalize. They would be particularly vulnerable to side-effects of psychotherapeutic treatments that activate the attachment system.
Yet without activation of the attachment system, people with BPD will never develop a capacity to function in a healthy manner in the context of interpersonal relationships.
Mentalization, like socialization or public speaking, is a skill which can be readily learned. People who undergo MBT will find that their therapy experience focuses on learning and practicing this skill in the context not only of their social relationships with others, but also directly with their therapist.
Moral Foundations Questionnaire
Truth That Hurts......
Toni L.Vossen 2012
| Moral Foundations | ||||||||||||||
The scale you completed was the Moral Foundations Questionnaire, developed by Jesse Graham and Jonathan Haidt at the University of Virginia. The scale is a measure of your reliance on and endorsement of five psychological foundations of morality that seem to be found across cultures. Each of the two parts of the scale contained four questions related to each foundation: 1) harm/care, 2) fairness/reciprocity (including issues of rights), 3) ingroup/loyalty, 4) authority/respect, and 5) purity/sanctity. The idea behind the scale is that human morality is the result of biological and cultural evolutionary processes that made human beings very sensitive to many different (and often competing) issues. Some of these issues are about treating other individuals well (the first two foundations - harm and fairness). Other issues are about how to be a good member of a group or supporter of social order and tradition (the last three foundations). Haidt and Graham have found that political liberals generally place a higher value on the first two foundations; they are very concerned about issues of harm and fairness (including issues of inequality and exploitation). Political conservatives care about harm and fairness too, but they generally score slightly lower on those scale items. The big difference between liberals and conservatives seems to be that conservatives score slightly higher on the ingroup/loyalty foundation, and much higher on the authority/respect and purity/sanctity foundations. This difference seems to explain many of the most contentious issues in the culture war. For example, liberals support legalizing gay marriage (to be fair and compassionate), whereas many conservatives are reluctant to change the nature of marriage and the family, basic building blocks of society. Conservatives are more likely to favor practices that increase order and respect (e.g., spanking, mandatory pledge of allegiance), whereas liberals often oppose these practices as being violent or coercive. In the table below we summarize the meaning of each of the moral foundations and summarize your standing with respect to each of these domains. The graph that follows summarizes how your scores on each foundation compare with those of others who have taken this survey. Your Scores on the Moral Foundations
For more on-line personality, relationship, and political attitude tests, please visit yourPersonality.net This page was designed by R. Chris Fraley and Brian Griffin at the Department of Psychology at the University of Illinois for educational purposes. If you have questions about this page, please feel free to e-mail us. Enable tooltip |
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