white paper - successful interventions

White Paper - Addictions

Amanda Doerr

KEYS TO A SUCCESSFUL INTERVENTION

When many lay people talk about having an intervention with someone about their behavior, they tend to bring up scenes of verbally abusive behavior that is expressly prohibited by the ethical guidelines of the APA. Obviously there must be something wrong with this idea of ambushing a person with their bad behavior and beating them over the head with their flaws. Such behavior sounds more destructive than therapeutic. And indeed, described that way it is, this model of intervention sounds far more satisfying to the participants than useful to the recipient.

But then why do we have interventions and confrontations still in use? The answer is that professional interventions have developed a great deal since the Synanon program and its "attack therapy" as developed by Chuck Dederich in 1958 (Polcin, 2003). At that time, it was believed that the release of emotional energy would release tension and break down denial, thereby allowing a more honest discussion about the addiction and the behavior that resulted from it. The goal at the end was to reaffirm the confronted person's importance to the group. However, many criticized this technique as a replication of the abuse many of these clients experienced in their past. The same criticism could be applied to the early therapeutic communities that use humiliation and punishment to change the addict's behavior. Faced with the alienation by the respected mental health professionals, some therapeutic communities began to use group feedback methods in the 1970s and 1980s. This moved the focus from "breaking down the denial" to confronting the dysfunctional behaviors caused by the addiction. Other factors that brought about this transformation in methodology were: the increasing number of dual-diagnoses of addiction and mental illness, the desire to be allied with 12-step programs, and the research showing that addictions were fueled by core emotional issues.

While there are still disagreements as to what one means by "confrontation", some researchers and program directors prefer to define it, more or less, as "someone being approached, in a realistic but not punitive way, that 'bad things' might happen if they don't make changes in regards to their addiction" (Polcin et al, 2006). Personal attacks are discouraged, as well as other forms of disruptive confrontation. Perhaps the term "therapeutic confrontation" should be used more often to distinguished from the more hostile versions of confrontation, such as the "beat them into submission" type.

Studies show that successful interventions usually generate gratitude and good feelings towards the confronters by the confronted (Polcin, 2006). Given the all too human reaction to be offended when someone tells us we're wrong, how is this created in a confrontation?

One element is the relationship of confronters to the client. The closer the relationship, the more successful the confrontation because the information given is seen as more valid (Malis & Roloff, 2007). Among not so close peers, a great deal of face work has to be done to create enough of a valid bond for their views to be considered. In fact, that bond often has to be there before a peer will even consider confronting someone with their addiction. With therapists, this would be the creation of a therapeutic alliance. While some practitioners claim that this is not necessary, research shows that is does help and never hurts. A study by Miller, Brown, Simpson, Handmaker, Bien, Luckie, Montgomery, Hester, and Tonigan found that there was a strong positive correlation between supportive and empathic approaches and positive outcomes (Polcin, 2003).

To up the odds of an effective confrontation, many current professional intervention programs first educate those of the confrontation team how to phrase their concerns in "a realistic but not punitive way". Alanon facilitation and Johnson Institute interventions are ways that this is done (Polcin, 2003). While the Johnson Invention has high relapse rates, it has a higher rate of getting clients into treatment and still retains clients (Loneck et al, 1996). A more effective training program for the family and friends of a client is the Community Reinforcement and Family Training (CRAFT) program, which teaches behavioral change skills. According to Bob Poznanovich, CEO of Addiction Intervention Resources, they go even further and assess the situation of the family (Conan, 2008). In fact, Poznanovich claims that they work more with the family than with the addict, because family can often enable addictive behavior without realizing it. He calls it a "family illness" and points out that many people are given bad advice about how to deal with addiction, such as it is just a matter of will power or that there is nothing that can be done.

Another important element is the timing of the confrontation (Polcin, 2003). Light to moderate drinkers gain less from interventions than problem drinkers, probably because the concerns seem less valid. However, light to moderate drinkers do respond favorably to the more empathic therapies. Addicts with major cognitive impairment from the drug they're taking, respond better after a period of detox. Addicts already in being treated in a facility benefit more from a therapeutic confrontation after they have been there long enough to emotionally stabilize. Otherwise, they will flee or regress in response to the confrontation. In many programs, the client is educated about the positive role confrontation can play in their recovery. This preparation not only makes the confrontation less traumatic, but also puts the client in a mindset prepared to make the most of the information given to them during the confrontation.

It should be noted that some addicts, because of comorbid conditions, may not be good candidates for intervention. One cannot expect a paranoid or antisocial personality disorder to respond favorably to confrontations. Nor can one expect someone with diminished cognition to fully comprehend what they are being confronted with.

The most important element is the focus of the confrontation. According to a study by Polcin, Galloway, and Greenfield (2006), when the message was on the behaviors and potential problems, clients consistently said that they were more likely to have a positive experience with confrontations. Remarkably, the more frequent the confrontations, the more individuals involved, and the more sources involved, the more positive was the views of the confrontations. Thinking distortions can also be addressed as part of the confrontation.

An element of choice also makes an intervention more successful (Conan, 2008). When the addict is allowed the choice of whether to get better or suffer from their own behavior, and then chooses to get better, they are more committed to the change. Even if the addict chooses not to change at first, some will change their minds later as the "bad things" they had been warned about happen to them.

A skilled counselor should be directing the therapeutic confrontation, in case emotions run too high or a deep issue is triggered (Polcin, 2003). The counselor should be able to switch from a confrontive stance to a clinical exploration of the issues exposed. A far cry from the "beat them until they see the errors of their ways." Modern interventions are more about support for reducing dysfunctional behaviors, than they are about making the recipient admit that they are an addict.

In summary, a successful intervention requires: a trusting and supportive relationship between the client and the intervening group; focusing on the dysfunctional behaviors and possible bad outcomes from the addiction; the client and interveners to be prepared to make the most of the situation; and a facilitator to handle any problems. Education for the family, friends, and client increases the chances that the intervention will be more effective as does the number of confronters and interventions. While old fashion interventions might make for great television drama, forcing the client to admit that they are an addict or otherwise personally attacking them, is more likely to impede than to help the situation.

Resources

Conan, N. (2008). Addicted Loved Ones: When to Intervene?. Talk of the Nation (NPR), Retrieved April 17, 2009, from Newspaper Source database.

Loneck B; Garrett JA; et al (1996). The Johnson Intervention and relapse during outpatient treatment. American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 22(3):363-375. Retrieved April 17, 2009, from Academic Search Premier database.

Malis, R., & Roloff, M. (2007, January). The effect of legitimacy and intimacy on peer interventions into alcohol abuse. Western Journal of Communication, 71(1), 49-68. Retrieved April 17, 2009, doi:10.1080/10570310701199186

Polcin, D. (2003, January 15). Rethinking Confrontation in Alcohol and Drug Treatment: Consideration of the Clinical Context. Substance Use & Misuse, 38(2), 165. Retrieved April 20, 2009, from Academic Search Premier database.

Polcin, D., Galloway, G., & Greenfield, T. (2006, February). Measuring Confrontation During Recovery From Addiction. Substance Use & Misuse, 41(3), 369-392. Retrieved April 20, 2009, doi:10.1080/10826080500409118

being a fully functional person

Being a Fully Functional Person

Here is where the two books I am reading intersect in purpose. In Rituals of Healing: Using Imagery for Health and Wellness, the idea is to increase one's physical functionality. In On Becoming a Person, the idea is to increase one's mental and emotional functionality. So far, with the help of the first book, I have created a breathing routine, or ritual, which has helped me a lot with lower my stress and tension, as well as with my asthma problems (though it doesn't completely rid me of them). I still have yet to work on something for the chronic pain, which is a revelation in itself, since I had the underlying belief that taking care of the stress and lessening the fatigue would reduce the pain. So sometime this week, I will have to rethink my chronic pain.

Ever since my late twenties, I had often expressed the desire to be a fully function human being. But looking back, I'm not sure I really knew what I meant by that, outside of the wish to feel compentent and secure--and the ability to keep up on housework. And yet nothing I did seemed to be enough. Instead of feeling more human, I found myself feeling less and less human. Carl Rogers, based on his observation of his clients, defined being fully functional as "being the self one truly is". This means to accept that there are some things I am good at and some things that I am not good at. I have always understood to a point that I had to play with my strengths, and have even had some success with it.

However, looking over my past efforts, I approached them more as a problem in engineering, than a progression towards personhood. Instead of being more efficient, I might have been more successful if I questioned the "shoulds" more, fought the facades being placed on me in an effort to please and meeting the expectations of others. That might to make it easier to follow my own direction, with all the complexity that is me. That doesn't mean that I can ignore the expectation of others completely, but I can certainly be more picky as to which expectations I accept and those I don't.

Life is not a steady state. Years ago, I wrote the following mission statement for myself: "Everything deserves respect and an opportunity to develop itself to its fullest potential, including me. This can be achieved most effectively when the forces of our lives are in balance. Imbalance causes stress and a system in stress must compensate for that stress. This is the way of nature, whether it occurs in an ecosystem or a test tube or someone's life. My body and mind are ecosystems in themselves and need to be kept in balance. This balance is not a steady state, but a fluid, living thing that requires adjustments from time to time."

Becoming a Person

Becoming a Person

A summary by A. Doerr over Chapters 5, 6 & 7

 

[Yes, I am a few weeks late with this.  I have been reading the material, but not writing on it.  I will hopefully correct this oversight during the next few weeks.]

 

What does it mean to become a person?  Aren't we already a person because of our humanity?  While this makes sense logically, intuitively, most of us know that this isn't true.  For what every reason, many of us have experienced blocks to feeling that we are actually people and deserve to be considered as such.  The idea of taking "quiet pleasure in being" ourselves is a foreign and almost blasphemous concept, one often confused with pride and boastfulness.  Yet, there is a difference between the loudness of boasting and the quietness of acceptance--to accept that we have just as much right to exist as anything else in this universe.

 

According to Carl Rogers, the inner most core of a person is basically socialized, forward moving, rational and realistic.  But to get there, people must accept that they are human organisms, with the realistic ability to control themselves and socialize.  To quote Rogers, "There is no beast in man.  There is only man in man."  And when humans are less than fully human--when they deny various aspects of their experience--then there is reason to fear their behavior.  Such people cannot make adequate judgments because they have contorted their own data.

 

So, what are the traits of a fully emerged person, according to Carl Rogers?  First, an openness to experience.  This doesn't necessarily means to seek out new experiences, as it does to actually be open to what we are currently experiencing and seeing it without preconceived notions.  To take the situation as it is, without distorting it.  Second, trust in one's self.  To believe that we are capable to make correct choices and behave in a satisfying manner in a situation.  Third, to evaluate ourselves using an internal standard than to constantly compare ourselves to others.  This includes accepting responsibility for our actions.  Finally, to be willing to accept that we are always a work in progress and never a finished product.  We constantly flow with life and its events.  We don't jump from plateau to plateau.

 

To be able to achieve these traits, we have to move from being remote to our feelings to being able to accept them, even in ambiguity, as we feel them. We accept new experiences within their own existence, without imposing the structure of the past onto them.  We reconsider our mental constructs.  We are not threatened by other possibilities.

 

I personally believe that by lessening our frustrations created by incompatible self-perceptions, we lessen the stress that needs to be released and are more able to release it in a controlled manner that have it corrosively seep out our seams or blows up in our faces.

The Helping Environment

A Helping Relationship

 

For those who haven't heard of Carl Rogers, here's a summary of what research has found to be of the most help in counseling: That the client feels that his/her therapist is trustworthy, that the therapist tries to understand them, and that the therapist is being genuine with them.

Techniques and teaching methods alone do not bring about improvement. It's hard to trust the process, if you don't have faith in the person putting you through it. This is true for most relationships, even those that you may not consider personal. Take calling up customer service for help, for instance. If the representative doesn't seem to care about your problem or doesn't seem to understand, you're not likely to have much faith in what they tell you--especially, if like me, you normally find that this type of customer service representative is far more likely to tell you something that causes more harm than good. Not getting enough data will give diagnoses that may be very wrong and don't fit in with the other things the client is experiencing. It's hard to give sensitive information to someone whom you don't trust, even if you know intellectually you should. It's a matter of self-preservation.

But if one has the knowledge, they can tell you what's wrong. And knowing what's wrong is half the battle, right? To such a question, I answer, "Only if the diagnosis makes sense to the one it's being applied to." Though to be honest, I still believe that a diagnostician who doesn't have the client's trust is working under a handicap. Anyway, no diagnosis will help a client to make any significant change to their lifestyle if they don't comprehend it. I can't find my book right now, but I believe it is in John Bradshaw's Healing the Shame that Binds You where the author gives the example of a preschooler being reprimanded for riding their tricycle beyond the corner, after being told several times not to. While the parent was engage in rage, the terrified child looked up and asked, "What is a corner?" No one can follow instructions they can't understand.

Another situation that many people are probably more familiar with: someone is in a very abusive relationship, who really should leave, but doesn't--or if they do leave, they return to it after a while. Most people who have been on the outside looking in, often give up on the person, saying things like, "They want the abuse." "They're idiots." "They're just hopeless." However, what often happens is these people don't leave because they really cannot comprehend how to live differently. Sometimes financial or cultural issues keep them there. Sometimes they don't understand the help they can receive. However, some of them stay because of beliefs that the relationship will change if they just work hard enough at it, or love the person more, or that they are the ones at fault. These people can be pressured into leaving their abusive significant other, but they do it to please those pressuring them, not because they themselves believe the abuser is horrible. In fact, being insulting about the abuser is more than likely to bring out the protective response in them. As long as they see some hope in the relationship, they won't give it up easily. Only they can make that decision and make it stick. After all, if you are demanding them to get out of the relationship, you might appear just as bad as the abuser they are dealing with. That's not to say that you shouldn't tell them that there is something wrong, if they appear open to it. Nor am I saying that you shouldn't interfere if it becomes a matter of life and death. However, when all is said and done, only the person can finally cut those ties.

What has worked the best for me when in such a situation is to emotionally support the person in their decisions and let them know that I am there for them, even though I don't agree with them. Usually when they no longer feel pressured to defend the abuser or the relationship, they are able to make the decisions necessary for their own happiness and there are no "What if I had tried this or that?" regrets to contend with. When all is said and done, they need the support more than they need the problem labelled, though the label can help them to address the problem.

Grossly simplified: diagnosis is not the same as therapy. This is a particularly sore spot for me because as someone who intends to become certified as an art therapist, one of the greatest frustrations I have is getting people to understand that when I speak of doing art therapy, I am not talking about using the client's art to see what's wrong with them--I'm talking about the client using their art, especially the process of making it, as a means towards self-understanding and growth. Yes, it is possible to diagnose certain conditions through artwork. Studies have shown that schizophrenics often draw in a certain manner and that sexually abused children will often exaggerate certain body parts when drawing people. However, studies have also shown that it is what an individual personally attaches to an image that matters when it comes to a therapuetic art process. And non-directive therapuetic artmaking works better in most cases than telling the client what to draw, even though directive artmaking is not without some benefit.

The research on Carl Rogers' person-center therapy has been so convincing and thorough that almost all schools of therapy promote using it in addition to their methods and philosophies. But how does one foster this trusting and safe environment with a client? Not without a lot of soul searching on the part of therapist. To be able to provide a safe environment to allow the client to explore the dark and scary parts of their own psyche, the therapist has to be able to not only deal calmly with the client's fears and anger, but their own. We are never truly as good about hiding things as we often belief we are. Things slip out at times and if we do not handle those feelings with genuiness, then we give our clients very good reasons to feel at least a little unsafe around us. They will hold back telling us about certain feelings and thoughts to keep the therapist from reacting badly. However, if the therapist also has shown that they believe in the client's abilities to grow and be stronger, then the relationship has another mooring to keep it in place. Likewise, an understanding of the problem as the client experiences it creates yet another mooring.

In a way, the therapuetic relationship is like scaling a cliff with the therapist as a guide and safety line. Both therapist and client has some treacherous terrain and loose rocks to look out for, but a skilled therapist, like a mountain guide, makes sure the safety lines are in place and knows not only how to handle the situation when the client slips, but what to do in the hopefully uncommon situations when both do.

 

Symbolism and Imagery

Sources:

Rituals of Healing: Using Imagery for Health and Wellness by Jeanne Actherberg, Ph.D., Barbara Dossey, R.N., M.S., FAAN, & Leslie Kolkmeier, R.N., Med.

The Power of Symbols by A. "Mandy" Doerr, http://ldsconnections.livejournal.com/277.html 

 

Okay, I'm going to be a little lazy here.  I am going to reprint what I wrote years ago in The Power of Symbols because after rereading it, I realized that I would be hard-pressed to improve it.  (Though I have added a clarification or two as a footnote.)  After the essay, I will write a few paragraphs on the technicalities of imagery.

 

    Simply said, a symbol is something that represents something else. The letters you are reading now are visual symbols (or physical symbols if you're using a Braille reader) of verbal words which in turn are auditory symbols of concepts, ideas, objects, actions, people, etc. Numbers symbolize relationships and amounts. Individually, letters and numbers are very simple things, but put them together in patterns and manipulate them and you have the ability to communicate the depths of the soul or discover the secrets of the universe.
    Carl Jung would probably have cringed at my discription above, for I included what he termed mere "signs" in my definition of a symbol, in addition to his definition of a word or image that "implies something more than its obvious meaning." (From Man and His Symbols.) I do this because my inner engineer sees no point in the distinction when she is manipulating concepts. My inner poetess does agree with Jung, but finds what the inner engineer comes up with very intriguing and will rarely protest. The inner matriarch, however, will put her foot down if she thinks the other two are getting out of control.
    So despite what my inner engineer thinks, it is still a very good distinction to make. While signs relay only information, symbols affect us on a much deeper level. Quoting from Man and His Symbols again, I give you Jung's explanation:
    It has a wider "unconscious" aspect that is never precisely defined or fully explained. Nor can one hope to define or explain it. As the mind explores the symbol, it is led to ideas that lie beyond the grasp of reason. . . . Because there are innumerable things beyond the range of human understanding, we constantly use symbolic terms to represent concepts that we cannot define or fully comprehend.
    About this time my inner poetess smiles in smug triumph and my inner engineer goes, "That's what you think, buddy." At which point the inner matriarch gives them both cookies and milk and tells them to be quiet for a few moments.
    The point is - a symbol carries not only a meaning, but a set of related meanings, some which may not be apparent at first. Furthermore, there are different sets of meanings that exist for a symbol depending on the context it appears in - just as there are different means for many phrases depending on the context surrounding them. Alter the context just a little and new connections become apparent. Alter too much and it all becomes meaningless.
    "But how can one be sure of the correct context?" asks my inner engineer. To which my inner matriarch answers, (after smacking the back of the engineer's head for talking with a mouth full of cookie crumbs), "By finding the symbolic constants and manipulating them until everything falls into place." My inner engineer then takes a large sip of milk and starts talking excitedly about mathematical atomic models and how they progress over history, until they become better and better at predicting atomic behavior. My inner poetess sets down her cookie and asks, "And how do you know when you have reached the truth of what an atom is really?"
    My engineer blinks and says, "Well, it's impossible to know what an atom is really like because we can't see it. We can only construct mathematical representations that explain the behavior we see through experimentation."
    "Then Jung was right," my poetess says. "Man cannot understand everything. Even you must relinquish the concrete for the symbolic."
    My engineer shrugs. "I'll give you that, but it does show that signs can work the same way as symbols." 
    "I think the mathematical signs you're referring to could also be considered symbols," return my poetess. My inner matriarch hushes both up again before they get into an argument.
    There are symbolic constants that exist through the collective conscious of humankind. They are called symbolic archetypes and we have only begun to meticulously identify them in the past century or so. Many psychologists are rediscovering the power in them and more personal symbols in the transformation and maturing of self - knowledge once widely accepted among ancient cultures. After discovering that man is made up of atoms and their bodies planned through DNA, we are just now starting to appreciate that the human mind is a symbolic entity.
    This should not come as a surprise. The cornerstone of intelligence is the ability to make connections and identify patterns. That is what a symbol is - a concentrated module of connections and patterns. Some of us have just set that part aside in the pursuit of the concrete. Because of the concentrated nature of symbols, they can be very powerful things if used just right. They can explain processes, sway opinions, give direction and even predict certain events.**
    In its own way, science has stumbled across the dual nature of man. The carnal, concrete being and the spiritual, symbol-driven one. Through the use of symbols, we learn to access our spirit - to either use it or abuse it at our whim. Properly harnessed, the spirit is stronger than the body. Studies on survivors show that the factors that determines who will survive and who will not is not their physical attributes, but their emotional and mental ones.
    We as individuals are very much like symbols - we too are much more than what is obvious at first glance.

** When I refer to predictions, I mean as a mathematical model predicts behavior.  Those who have been keeping track of the recent fMRI research or read the science headlines, have probabling already seen the articles about areas of the brain becoming activated when it anticipates needing those areas.  Also, many IQ tests rely on our ability to predict the next symbol in a series.  In fact, some people insist that prediction is a major part of intelligence.  Probably a really good example of what I am talking about is one of the basis of Isaac Asimov's Foundation series, specifically the concept of psychohistory as a mathematical science.


Okay, now on to the terminology and such of imagery in a healthcare setting.  I must apologize, but after reading everything, I decided I would be better served with a vocabulary list, then an essay on imagery.  I sort of consider imagery as the practical application of symbolism.  I could share some of the data I've found in the past on the effectiveness of visualization exercises and such, I suppose.  However, this is already pretty long. 

 

Types of Imagery

Receptive Imagery - images the come into the mind of their own accord and not consciously created.

Active Imagery - images consciously and deliberately created.

Concrete Imagery - technically correct (or real-life) images.  Sometimes referred to as biologically correct imagery.

Symbolic Imagery - images that represent something else in a symbolic way.

Process Imagery - imaging step by step to the final goal.  Often uses concrete imagery.

End State Imagery - images that represent the final healed state of the individual.

General Healing Imagery - images that are involved in the healing process without being part of the process or end state imagery.

Preverbal Imagery - images that have more of a connection with the physical body than language can express.  Can include other senses such as touch and hearing.

Transpersonal Imagery - images that represent connections to other people or another power outside of one's self.

Package Imagery - imagery created by someone else to use in an exercise.

Customized Imagery - imagery created specifically by the person using it, which is unique to them.

 

Chapter 5 and 6 of Rituals of Healing cover things like relaxation exercizes and and creating your own imagery.  On pages 77 and 78, it discussed the Imagery Assessment Tool (IAT) for determining the dynamics of a patient's imagery.  There is also a list of conditions where imagery often becomes of limited usefulness, such as an inability to concentrate because of depression, pain or medication being taken; lack of motivation and/or time; or an intense need to please others with the images, instead of accepting what comes to mind.

I create art too.

I have put up some of my art for sale. Feel free to look at it and send your friends to it.

Original Art - http://amandadiane.etsy.com
Prints - http://mamaslyth.deviantart.com/store/?utm_source=deviantart&utm_medium=userpage&utm_campaign=storefront
Merchandise - http://www.cafepress.com/adbarncord

Carl Rogers

A brief background summary by A. Doerr


[Sources used: On Becoming a Person by Carl Rogers (Preface, Introduction, and Chapter 1); Wikipedia Entry on Carl Rogers; and "WE OVERCAME THEIR TRADITIONS, WE OVERCAME THEIR FAITH" by Dr. William Coulson.]


Carl Rogers was the fourth of six children from a relatively well-to-do and affectionate family. His parents were very protective and created a very rigid religious environment to raise their children in to keep them uncorrupted by worldly things. To this extent, the family moved to a farm when he was twelve. There his father, a prosperous business man, farmed as a hobby and the children were encouraged to do the same. On the upside, this installed Rogers with a strong conscience and gave him a strong animal science background. On the downside, this upbringing convinced Rogers that people were inherently good and that strict religious systems were harmful to an individual's personal development.

This last belief was further strengthened after he changed from a degree in agriculture to history and joining the ministry. He felt that he was being indoctrinated more than taught. In 1922, Rogers went with a Christian student group to France and Germany after World War I. It was then that he was exposed to the concept that very honest and good people can believe very different things. After further religious study, he became convinced that it was "a horrible thing to have to profess a set of beliefs, in order to remain in one's profession." (Rogers, 1961, p 8) This eventually lead him to becoming a children's counselor and then a very successful psychologist when it came to dealing with neurotic patients.


If we to inject the generation cycle theory put forth in the book Generations by William Strauss and Neil Howe, we can easily place Rogers in the G.I. Generation due to his birth. The quote from Wikipedia that states: "[a]ll of them entering midlife were aggressive advocates of technological progress, economic prosperity, social harmony, and public optimism" does fit Rogers a great deal. He was very optimist about human nature and social harmony. However, perhaps due to his very protective upbringing, Rogers also shares many traits of those in the Silent Generation, advocating "fairness and the politics of inclusion, irrepressible in the wake of failure."


I've included this sociological information to help explain Rogers' fame and infamy. Peter Kramer's posthumous introduction to Roger's book On Becoming a Person mentions that in some ways, Rogers was what Isaiah Berlin would call a "hedgehog"--he knew one thing, but he knew it so well that it became his world. Most of Rogers ideas were good and are still in use today, especially his push to get the field of psychology to rely more on scientific methods and studies, but his own work was mostly for neurotics. His success there was worthy of the fame he received. It was when he tried to apply his theories to people who weren't neurotic that things fell apart.

To quote Neils Bohr: "An expert is a person who avoids small error as he sweeps on to the grand fallacy." Rogers' grand fallacy was the IHM Nuns controversy. Dr. William Coulson, an assistant of Carl Rogers who was personally involved in this experiement, has spoken on the subject with much honesty and clarity. Though, like Rogers, the "all or nothing" thought distortion sometimes raises its head. Though I'm not really sure if it is them actually, or the people who are presenting their work to prove their own agenda. It is my impression that the cause of this disaster in the field of psychology was based on the following factors:


1) Rogers did not stop to consider how his own issues were being triggered. After all, the Catholic school acted much in the way his own mother did towards him and his siblings. Of course, the feedback from the progressive faction of the IHM only helped to feed his biases by suggesting that things did need to be changed. However, even though a lot of something can be bad, that doesn't mean that any bit of it of all is also bad. In fact, some of it may actually be necessary.


2) Rogers believed that all people were good. As Maslow said, there was great danger in his assumption that there weren't paranoids, psychopaths or other destructive people that would mess things up for him.


3) Rogers' own belief that people should ultimately be their own authority backfired on him. In his assumption that all people were inherently good, it had never occurred to him that not everyone had a conscience as well-defined as his, even though Abraham Maslow warned him of the evil that can exist and the failure of his methods when Maslow tried to use it with his own students. So, while the encounter groups ran by Rogers and those who were afraid of Rogers no one wandered into sexual misconduct, other facilitators were not as restrained. In fact, Rogers and Coulson were unaware that of "the reports of seductions in psychotherapy, which became virtually routine in California."

Coulson summarizes this backfiring better than I could: Rogers didn't get people involved in sex games, but he couldn't prevent his followers from doing it, because all he could say was, "Well, I don't do that." Then his followers would say, "Well, of course you don't do that, because you grew up in an earlier era; but we do, and it's marvelous: you have set us free to be ourselves and not carbon copies of you."

4) There was several older nuns and priests looking into feminism and other social reforms who neglected to provide any real guidance to their students, who were lead to believe that they would receive sound guidance. So instead of being liberated, the students were actually abandoned. Granted the studies about the human brain not being fully developed until age 26 probably weren't available at that time and the leaders didn't quite comprehend that their charges were still developing judgment skills.

5) The popularity of humanism was at its height and coupled with drug use in many cases. While Rogers had troubles with even putting soda pop in his body as a young adult, I wouldn't be at all surprised if some of his followers considered drug use as a means to overcome obstacles to being one's self.

6) California is not really a place to find "normal people" in large numbers. (I was borned there and live only a few years there and even I can't claim to be a "normal" person.) Rogers probably should have been suspicious when he couldn't get the same study to work in Wisconsin because the participants kept dropping out when they realized what was going on. Instead, he found a group willing to invite him in to do this. That in itself should have been a red flag. However, I will not judge him on that matter, considering the fact that humans have a wonderful tendency to ignore red flags and I have done it a time or time myself.

Even though this became a total failure as an attempt to improve the lives of the nun, it did eventually improve and support the ethical guidelines for psychologists. Counselling students are now taught that it is unethical to try to change a client's religious beliefs, to have sexual interactions with the client, and to be aware of one's own issues enough to know when they should refer a client to a professional without the same issues. Rogers did realize his own folly. So, while he did fall into Bohr's definition as an "expert", he and the field of psychology did learn from his mistakes.

From now on, I will be focusing more on what Rogers got right. Having accepting his human fraility, I will start on his brilliance.

Essay on the purpose and basics of rituals

Essay on the purpose and basics of rituals

A. Doerr

 

Based on the text: Rituals of Healing: Using Imagery for Health and Wellness by Jeanne Actherberg, Ph.D., Barbara Dossey, R.N., M.S., FAAN, & Leslie Kolkmeier, R.N., Med. 
 

 

For the intents and purposes of this essay, I will define a "ritual" as a planned set of symbolic actions.   Otherwise, I am going to end up writing a treatise and I don't want to.  As you will notice, I'm not being extremely scholarly about this essay, either.  If we're going to talk about the ways rituals help us, then I might as well explain the one I am performing right now.  One of my rituals is to take material that I read and see how it integrates into my already acquired knowledge and personal experiences.  I am what some call an "experiential learner".  My ritual of ingesting information by using it in the form of an original writing, organizing it in some way, or just finding a practical use for it in my own life, helps me to retain and understand the information better.  This is really the purpose of rituals--to help.  Whether by controlling anxiety through organization, recognizing achievement, dictating social actions to make things go smoother, or creating social bonds, rituals are usually established as a helpful mechanism for life's changes and challenges. 

 

In general, a ritual has three major phases to it--separation, transition and return.  I was first introduced to the structure of rituals when I was taking my bereavement class as an undergrad.  It fits for funerals, weddings, commencement ceremonies, inaugurations and even my little ritual here.  In all cases, a significant amount of planning is involved.

Separation can be either voluntary (such as becoming a graduate or a bride) or non-voluntary (such as a griever of a loved one who died).  In this phase, the major participants of the ritual become marked as different from the rest of society.  While mostly symbolic, this separation can also be a physical one.  In many cases physical separation serves a purpose.  Grieving, depressed and ill people need to conserve their energies to deal with their tribulation.  Graduates, engaged couples, presidents elect and students like myself need time to organize and plan without distractions. 

Transition is the formal part of the ritual where the participants change from their former lives to their new lives.  The grieving say goodbye to the deceased.  The bride and groom become wife and husband.  The undergrad becomes the graduate.  In other cultures, a child becomes and adult.  And I become more educated.

 

Return is the re-entry into daily life as dictated by the new social role.  In my case, it is the sharing of my knowledge with others.   However, my "re-entry" is atypical in its shortness.  For most rituals, the return to daily life can take a while as the person adjusts to their new life.

Healing rituals have a few other commonalities.  The first part if the "naming" of the problem.  Talk to any person who has finally gotten a diagnosis for an illness, and you will find that a sense of empowerment and relief often comes with it.  (I had a friend who used to tell me that I was the only person she knew, who was happy to find out I was clinically depressed.)  There are obviously some exceptions to this, but in general it is true.  However, the naming of the problem must come from someone the person trusts or it's not going to help at all.  (Like the fictional Dr. House who refuses to believe that he has lupus.)  In a way this is the medical part of the separation ritual.  By having a name for your problem, you become part of a definite and separate subgroup from the rest of society.  Part of the transistion phase of a healing ritual includes many common steps of recovery, helping the participant to live a healthier life.  Effective healing rituals help to create stronger support systems for the participant, making the return to daily life a more stable one.

Self-made class

Extracurricular Reading in Mental Well-Being
Spring 2009 - First 8 weeks
Syllabus
A. Doerr


Goal: To consider the implications of Carl Rogers’ view of psychotherapy and explore the use of healing rituals as they are presented to the nursing field.


Basically, both of these books have been waiting for me to get round to reading them. I chose to do these two together because the combination is a balance of theory and application. The dates listed are the completion deadlines for each set of assignments. Supplemental reading is not mandatory, but we’re talking about me here, so it’s pretty much a given. Essays will be posted on http://cosmicsiren.blogspot.com. Diary and ritual work will be summarized to protect privacy. Images may possibly be scanned and also posted. Readers of the blog are more than welcome to follow along themselves, and civilized questions and comments are more than welcomed.



Books: On Becoming a Person by Carl R. Rogers
Rituals of Healing: Using Imagery for Health and Wellness by Jeanne Actherberg, Ph.D., Barbara Dossey, R.N., M.S., FAAN, & Leslie Kolkmeier, R.N., Med.

Week 1 - 1/16/09
Reading: Rogers - Intro, Preface and Chapter 1 “Speaking Personally”
Actherberg, et al - Chapters 1 & 2 “The Healing System”
Assignments: Essay on Rogers’s reputation and background
Essay on the purpose and basics of rituals

Week 2 - 1/23/09
Reading: Rogers - Chapters 2, 3, & 4 “How Can I Be of Help?”
Actherberg, et al - Chapters 3, 4, & 5 “Connecting Body-Mind-Spirit”
Assignments: Essay on the characteristics of a helping relationship
Essay on imagery and symbolism

Week 3 - 1/30/09
Reading: Rogers - Chapters 5, 6, & 7 “The Process of Becoming a Person”
Actherberg, et al - Chapters 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, & 13 “Anxiety, Pain and Procedures”
Assignments: Essay on what it means to become a person
Do a “diary symptom chart” (p 98) for the week

Week 4 - 2/6/09
Reading: Rogers - Chapters 8 & 9 “A Philosophy of Persons”
Actherberg, et al - Chapters 14 & 15 “Healthy Breath”
Supplemental Reading: The Palette of Breath - Facts About Breathing by Lauren Robbins
Assignments: Essay on being a fully functional person
Create and use a personal breathing ritual; chart its effectiveness; and critique the process and your participation in it

Week 5 - 2/13/09
Reading: Rogers - Chapters 10, 11, &12 “. . . Research . . .”
Actherberg, et al - Chapters 16, 17, 18, 19 & 20 “Healthy Heart”
Assignments: Discuss the implications of the person centered approach in research
Based on the diary symptom chart, create a ritual for your most significant health concern and evaluate the ritual using the imagery assessment tool on pages 77 & 78.

Week 6 - 2/20/09
Reading: Rogers - Chapters 13, 14, & 15 (Education)
Actherberg, et al - Chapters 21, 22, 23, & 24 “Healthy Abdomen and
Reproductive System”
Assignments: Essay on person-centered education
1st week of full ritual with diary entries

Week 7 - 2/27/09
Reading: Rogers - Chapters 16, 17, 18 & 19 (Interpersonal)
Actherberg, et al - Chapters 25, 26, & 27 “Healthy Immune System”
Assignments: Discuss the aspects of interpersonal interactions
2nd week of full ritual with diary entries

Week 8 - 3/6/09
Reading: Rogers - Chapters 20 & 21 “The Behavioral Sciences and the Person”
Actherberg, et al - Chapters 28, 29, 30, & 31 “Peaceful Dying”
Assignments: Essay on personhood and behavioral science
Ritual reflection paper

Well...

I found out where it went and I deleted the obsolete blog, but I can't convince Google to post to this one. I might need to try this again later.

Okay, found it again. Apparently Blogger is ignoring my request to publish directly to the blog.

I'm trying to figure something out.

Basically how the "publish to blog" feature works from Google Documents. At the moment, I've posted two items and I have no idea where they are. Perhaps I have to wait for an update cycle or something.

Or maybe the stuff is being posted to somewhere else. I hope not, because it would make it a lot easier to post stuff here if I could just do it from Google Docs while working on school papers.

Studying for tonight's test

Freud’s psychosexual stages of development, including the “developmental tasks”

Oral Stage
Tasks - get basic nuturing.

Anal Stage
Tasks - learning independence, accepting personal power, and learning to express negative feelings such as rage and aggression.

Phallic Stage
Tasks - gaining love and approval of the opposite gender parent.

Latency Stage
Tasks - socialization and making friendships.

Genital Stage
Tasks - investing sexual energy into more acceptable outlets, such as forming friendships, engaging in art or sports or preparing for a career. Later, the move to adulthood and caring for others.

For the record, I agree with the author of my textbook. Freud's stages do have some value, but Erikson's psychosocial stages give a more complete picture. Together, they work well.




Defense mechanisms

Repression - the involuntary removal of something from consciousness.
Denial - closing one's eyes to reality.
Reactive formation - defending against an impulse by actively expressing the opposite impulse.
Projection - attributing to others one's own unacceptable desires and impulses.
Displacement - discharging an impulse by shifting it to a "safe" target.
Rationalization - manufacturing a reason to explain away bruises to the ego.
Sublimation - diverting the energies from an impulse into an acceptable outlet.
Regression - reverting to an immature stage when there were fewer demands.
Introjection - "swallowing" the standards of others.
Identification - identifying with a cause or larger group to have feelings of self-worth.
Compensation - focusing on certain strengths to call attention away from weaknesses.


Evidence for postulating the concept of the unconscious
Dreams, slips of the tongue, posthypnotic suggestions, free-association material, projective material and the symbolic content of psychotic symptoms.

Therapeutic techniques
(I'm not posting the answers here because I don't have the time to write them out.)

· Object-relations theory

· Ego psychology

· Brief psychodynamic therapy (BPT)


The “fundamental rule” for the client in psychoanalysis

To say whatever comes to mind without self-censorship.


The basic aim of psychoanalytic therapy

To make the unconscious, conscious, and to strengthen the ego, so that behavior is based more on reality and less on instinctual cravings or irrational guilt.

Six Apart is Clueless about its Users

It really is. Even though the adult LiveJournal users have tried to educate them on their LJ user base, they still don't get it.

I have a Live Journal (actually more than one) and a Vox account, in addition to this blog and several other portals for my thoughts online. I like playing around with features to see what things can do.

And there is a reason I use Live Journal more. It is more useful. Don't get me wrong, I am fond of this little blog here, but it's rather limited in features and until recently, getting in to make a simple post required me to go through several pages until I could type in text.

The one thing I absolutely LOVE about LiveJournal is the LJ-Cut feature. This allows you to hide part of your post under a link that readers can click if they actually want to read more. Yes, I know, some of you use RSS feeds with just the first few lines displayed, so hiding large posts under a cut wouldn't make a difference to you, but that is the small view of this feature. You can also use it for punchlines, large images that may crash your low bandwidth visitors, NSFW stuff, or anything you really want people to skip over if they aren't that interested in it - like quizzes and memes.

And I like being able to read my friends journals, along with my rss feeds, on my friend list, without opening another application or going to another site. I'm not always at my computer, so it's nice to have something that is web based.

Now, does Six Apart recognize the niftyness of these features? Apparently not. Because their idea of a more adult version of LiveJournal is Vox. Where do I begin in my disappointment with Vox?

First off, comparably speaking, customizing Vox sucks. Your options are almost all pre-canned stuff. You can make some changes, but apparently as an adult you can't be trusted to add your own widgits without special help and you must abide by limits in posting book recommendations and such per post. It would seem that Six Apart believes that adult internet users are inept. And my neighborhood page is just too cluttery for reading. I am glad that they have something that tells me when there are new posts on it, because I almost never check it. I am even more grateful that my LJ doesn't have this feature because it wouldn't fit in one weekly email.

Don't get me wrong, Vox has done some improvements in the past year, but it's still more of an adult version of MySpace than LiveJournal. And I do wish I could use the autolink feature for books and albums. That is about the only thing about Vox I really am impressed with. But Vox needs something more than this to get adults to leave LiveJournal for it.

Though I still don't understand why Six Apart is so keen on trying to widen the generation gap more. Chase the regular adults away and what you get are the perverts who lie about their age. Keep us regular ones around and we can spot a fake a lot faster than some heart-broken teen. It's isolation that makes these kids vulnerable. Besides, I know families who use LJ to keep in touch with each other.

Why this little rant?

Well, today Six Apart lost power to their data center. Their first priority was their Typepad clients, which after looking at the costs for Typepad services, makes sense. Their second priority appears to be Vox, even though last I knew, there are no paid accounts for it.

I have a paid LiveJournal account. Even those account that aren't paid generate some revenue since they've added ads to them. So, why is Live Journal the last system they are trying to get up?

Because Six Apart in their ignorant snobbery assumes that LiveJournal users aren't as important. Even though many journals show competency in designing their own cascading style sheets, they think that geeks want to pay an arm and a leg for a blog or just have bare bores and adults want limited features. So LiveJournal users aren't worth their effort.

Someone need to get their head out of the sand. This ain't Logan's Run, people. Even not counting the middle-aged people like me on there, the teenagers have to grow up. Are we seriously expecting them to leave enmass to Facebook when they turn 18? And then go on to another product? Why this ageism?

I swear people are so stupid at times...

Video Playlist of the Domestic Tension project

I wanted to set the videos up so one can watch how things progress from beginning to end.

Playlist: Wafaa Bilal's Paintball project

wafaabilal.com
Iraqi born artist Wafaa Bilal has become known for provocative interactive video installations. Many of Bilal's projects over the past few years have addressed the dichotomy of the virtual vs. the real. In Domestic Tension, viewers can log onto the internet to contact, or shoot, Bilal with paintball guns.

Domestic Tension

A performance art/experiment by Wafaa Bilal

But before you participate, you might want to check out the following first:

Interview with Wafaa Bilal - Lessons about dehumanization and technology from a man living under the gun

http://www.crudeoils.us/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AkwY9g-iDA
And the rest at http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=mewafaa

Essay for Arts and Human Values

Thomas Moran’s The Lava Flows has always been my favorite piece of the permanent collection at the Oklahoma City Art Museum. This approximately 18 by 24 inch, oil on panel painting was done in 1889, as an illustration of the lava flows on Mount Etna for the Scribner’s children’s magazine St. Nicholas. The white glowing lava flows down the pitch black mountain and around jagged black rocks, unifying the painting in a river of light. It is a visually powerful piece, full of energy, despite its black and white color scheme, due to its high contrast and the motif of irregular, triangular shapes. Its main focal point is at lower left, third by third division point, and consists of a triad of triangular rock formations, creating another triangular unity through their proximity and similarities in form. Combining the triadic groups, with thirds placements and triangular forms gives a firm grounding to the jagged lines and other irregularities back lit by the glowing lava. It is to my great disappointment that prints are not available of this striking painting. While earlier issues of St. Nicholas magazine are available online through Project Gutenberg, the 1889 issues have yet to be added.

Viewing other examples of Moran’s works, it becomes obvious that this is an atypical piece for him for various reasons. First, it is not of an American landscape, but an European location, a slight departure of subject matter for a painter who was hailed as the “dean of American landscape painters” and “father of the National Parks”. Though Moran was well-traveled and did do the occasional painting of old world scenes, the main focus of his works was the New World his father emigrated to from Great Britain when Thomas was still a boy. However, considering that St. Nicholas was a magazine that aspired to bring the best of culture and knowledge to American children, it is quite understandable why Moran would agree to paint for it. Second, it is done in stark black and white, instead of the realistic colors of his other nature pieces. Other artists who show his ability with colors, often have difficulty bringing the same intensity and clarity into a monochromatic format. Third, it is more claustrophobic in its focus, unlike the panoramic views of the American West that Thomas Moran is more famous for.

The piece in its atypical nature is an excellent example of just how talented Moran was as an artist. His use of contrasting values demonstrated a deep understanding of printed works, probably developed from his early years as a wood engraver’s apprentice. The placement of his focal point and use of unifying factors exemplified one who was well-schooled in formal design and composition, which he likely learned from his elder brother, Edward Moran, a well-known marine painter, and other artists such as J. M. W. Turner. While others would probably prefer his masterpieces of Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon on display at the U.S. Capitol, I think this little painting is just as worthy of admiration.

Possible research for a psych paperhttp://www.post-gazette.com/ae/20010930artprison0930fnp2.asp

If not art, then what?
Sunday, September 30, 2001
By Tim Menees, Post-Gazette Editorial Cartoonist
Post-Gazette cartoonist Tim Menees spent several days inside penitentiaries in Pennsylvania, California and New York, three states that provide arts programs for their inmates. Today, Menees focuses on prisoners' art and writing. In the Daily Magazine on Tuesday, he brings us music and theater.



Murderabilia

Fascination with serial killers is an American pastime, spurring a profitable underground trade. Some people are so obsessed with the subject that they carry on correspondence with men behind bars, design trading cards or board games, or indulge in a more expensive hobby: purchasing art made by killers or depicting their murders. Several collectors have expressed the idea that having something a murderer made protects them in some way.



Effects of art therapy with prison inmates: A follow-up study
David Gussak, Ph.D., ATR-BC

Artist report for my Arts and Human Values Class

Antony Gormley
Arts and Human Values


British artist and sculptor Antony Gormley was born August 30th, 1950, as the youngest of seven children, to prosperous family in Hampstead, England. Gormley studied at Ampleforth College; Trinity College, Cambridge; and various other colleges in London, before completing his education with a postgraduate course in sculpture at the Slade School of Art. In the middle of his artistic education, he spent five years in India and Sri Lanka to study Buddhism. In 1994, Gormley won the Turner Prize with Field for the British Isles. He is currently a trustee of the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art.

Though he has been known to work in several media, (such as terra cotta, wood, and bread and wax) Gormley is mainly known for using metal castings of his own body. According to radio interviews with the BBC, Gormley prefers to actually be a part of his work materials while creating his pieces, to truly feel the experience he is trying to inspire. His casts are done with the help of his wife and a workman. He is first covered in cling wrap (i.e. plastic wrap), which provides a better barrier between him and the plaster than Vaseline does. Then his wife applies the plaster and after it dries, she cuts him out of the mold. Then fibreglass and metal (usually lead) is used to create the figures. Gormley feels the skin-like nature of his sculptures is so important that he will often list "air" as a material used.

Gormley is known for making the setting part of his works. In Total Strangers (1997), his metal figures are placed not only in the museum, but outside as well, with one figure looking at another through a window. In Land, Sea and Air II (1982), he has three figures in various positions on a beach, contemplating the elements. Scuplture for Derry Walls (1987) has three sets of double figures, standing back to back, one always facing towards the Catholic regions of Ireland, while the other faces the Protestant regions. Each figure gives the impression of setting a boundary and blocking the way. A piece I find most intriguing is Learning to Think (1991), which shows five figures hanging from the ceiling as if their heads were above it. Better know works of Gormley include his Field series, Iron: Man (1993), Another Place (1997) and Angel of the North (1998). An apparently lesser known piece is the Oslo Holocaust Memorial (2000), where he forgoes his normal penchant for human forms and has six empty chairs instead.

Antony Gormley firmly believes that art is meant to be a universal experience and not just something for people with disposable income. Art has the potential to connect people to the real world and themselves. The redemptive qualities of art cannot fully be realized in specialized settings such as an art gallery or museum or other refined spaces. Art galleries have an important part in the art world, however they should not be the final goal, but as a means to get art into the real world, where it can work on the souls of everyone.

[side note: you can find the works mentioned if you go to Antony Gormley's main site and click on "walk through".]

Geek Nirvana

As of today, I have become the answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe and everything. My baby sister even gave me a towel to celebrate.

Common traits of creative people and a few words about intelligence

According to Csikszentmihalyi (1997):

1. Creative people usually have a broad range of knowledge about a lot of subjects and are good at using mental imagery.
   
   
2. Creative people aren't afraid to be different -- they are more open to new experiences than many people, and they tend to have more vivid dreams and daydreams than others do.
   
   
3. Creative people value their independence.
   
   
4. Creative people are often unconventional in their work, but not otherwise.
   

Number four is something I've noticed a lot. So many people who live unconventional lives are so limited in true creativeness in problem solving and in understanding views different than their own in an objective manner. Yes, they do things different that the "mainstream", but they imitate each other rather faithfully and appear more threatened by those who variate from their variation. This goes for extreme "fundamentalists" as much as it goes for radical "alternatives". Neither group is actually living a conventional lifestyle. When all is said and done, both are trying desperately to set themselves about from the common person.

I think for the deliberate unconventionalist, it's a matter of trying too hard. They are so frantically trying to be "different" that they do not take the mental space and time to actually let their mind give "birth" to new concepts and ideas in a natural manner. And they are so afraid of being "normal" that they don't have the courage to walk down an accepted path to see if there may be something useful there that can be modified into something worthwhile.

I realize that I haven't really been posting from my studies here as I usually do. Some of it is a lack of time. Some of it is that I am taking studio classes and reviewing other material. And I've been posting my Art History notes on my VOX account because of certain features there. (Though I won't truly be happy with VOX until they offer full HTML support, but since it was designed for the less programming literate user, it's probably not going to happen. However, it's great for reviewing books, movies and music. If you want an invite, feel free to contact me for one.)

Anyway, I'm reviewing topics in psychology, which has been nice, since I am getting a broader overview to things I learned more in-depth before. This morning I read the section on IQ testing and again I am still extremely amused how some people cling to their IQ scores without having any real understanding of what they actually mean or represent, much less any knowledge of what the studies have shown on the subject. High IQs only predict academic success - NOT REAL INTELLIGENCE. In other words, they only predict how well you can function in this culture's educational system. It was originally meant to help identify people who needed extra help in learning in a normal school setting.

Psychologist have found that people showing high levels of practical intelligence tend to function very badly in academia. However, that doesn't mean that practical intelligence guarantees a happy and successful life either. The single most common element for those who live a full and successful life is a consistent sense of self.

For blogging critics

Answers to Common Comments about Blogging


Most bloggers are just want-to-be amatuer editorialists, who want to influence the public.
While I agree there are several blogs like this, most bloggers only occasionally embark on social commentary and usually it's just to get it off their chest. Like myself, they know that maybe a few or dozen people read their stuff and that most of them are either friends and/or the choir (as in "preaching to the choir"). Most of us do not expect our writings to be the key to social change. We're just expressing ourselves, like countless humans before us. The only difference is instead of doing it over a fence or in a barber shop or bar, we're doing it from the comfort of our own homes.


People post a lot of stupid, boring things no one else cares about.
Ego problem much? And where do you get off having the idea that everything on the Internet is supposed to cater to you and your needs? A lot of us who put up those "stupid, boring things" honestly don't want your readership. We're putting it up for our friends and family and for our own records and/or self-expression - and this is an easy way to do it. Don't like it - go back to playing World of Warcraft.


Everything looks the same.
Of course you're going to find a lot of similar stuff. We're all humans and have many similar needs and all that nonsense. You want mental stimulation, go to a library. They have these things there called "books" that are cleverly organized for locating interesting subjects with ease. Remember, the Dewey Decimal System is your friend. Learn its ways and the Universe is yours. If you want more mental stimulation, then enroll yourself into a class of something you've never studied before. If you want more than that, then you need to get off your tush and learn how to do valid reseach and start discovering your own stuff. Only you can exercise your mind.


You want emotional stimulation, go out and meet people. Better yet, become a volunteer. At the very least, call your relatives.




Cross-posted from my LiveJournal. Decided it was worth repeating.

Restraint Asphyxiation

While training in the Mandt System for work, I was introduced to a phenomenom of restraint asphyxiation where an increase of neuro-transmitters known as catecholamines can lead to a heart attack anytime upto 24 hours after being restrained.

One of the sources quote was Restraint Asphyxia - Silent Killer by Charly D. Miller, Paramedic EMS Author & Educator, and Consultant Restraint Asphyxia Expert Witness. I find all the text emphasizing more than a little distracting. So here is the section, I wish to concentrate on:

States of extreme emotional- and physical-exertion also generate excessive
production of several other naturallyproduced body chemicals; especially the
chemicals released by the "Fight/Flight" nervous system, such as adrenalin and
noradrenalin. Medical professionals call these naturally-produced "Fight/Flight"
chemicals, "catecholamines." During all of the emotionally- and
physicallyexertive activities that precede and are associated with restraint
asphyxia deaths, progressively-increasing amounts of catecholamines are released
into the Victim's system.

This creates what medical professionals call a, "hypercatabolic state" – an
"overdose" of these naturally-produced chemicals. A hypercatabolic state is a
chemical imbalance that weakens ALL of the body's muscles. But, it especially
weakens the respiratory muscles.(1,12)

A hypercatabolic state also adversely effects the HEART.(1,12)

Catecholamines cause the heart to contract (beat) faster, and with greater FORCE of contraction – exerting greater "effort" to work. Since the heart is a muscle that (like the respiratory muscles) is entirely unaccustomed to having to work terrifically hard for a prolonged period of time, the heart rapidly becomes exhausted when required to work harder than it is used to working. Furthermore; to work FASTER and more FORCEFULLY, the heart muscle requires more SUGAR and OXYGEN to fuel an increased functional performance demand.

But, when struggling against Restrainers, the Victim's extremity muscles are using up the vast majority of the body's sugar stores. So, less and less sugar is available to fuel the heart's function. AND, when struggling against Restrainers, the Victim's heart requires greater than "normal" amounts of oxygen to support the increased workload that is demanded of it. BUT, if the Victim is struggling against Restrainers who are employing a form of restraint that MAKES BREATHING DIFFICULT (such as forceful-prone-restraint), his heart receives far less than normal amounts of oxygen.(1,17,26-28,40)

The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry June 2003 has this article on the subject. The following snippet talks about Catecholamine Rush:

Massive release of adrenal catecholamines may occur in patients who are involved
in escalating agitation, struggles with staff members, and “takedowns” to the
ground or who are carried elsewhere and secured with restraints. This
catecholamine outpouring may sensitize the heart and produce rhythm disturbances
(23). Behavioural arousal and psychological stress have been shown to induce
malignant cardiac rhythm disturbances (23–25).
Neural and psychological factors have been implicated as risk factors for ventricular arrhythmias and sudden death (24–26). Neural integration of body functions takes place through a complex system of feedback loops when information from within and without the organism is taken in and catalogued by the brain. These pathways play a major role in causing sudden death in persons who find themselves in perilous
situations. Moreover, the situations need not be perilous to precipitate cardiac
arrhythmias (26). Lown and colleagues identified psychic stress as a mediating
factor for advanced cardiac arrhythmias, and it has been suggested that
emotional extremes are triggering mechanisms for sudden cardiac death (24–26).
Deaths associated with extreme physiological exertion differ somewhat.
Emergency medicine physicians recently reported cases of profound metabolic
acidosis in cardiac arrest associated with use of restraints. In a sample of
patients who died—most, but not all of whom had been under the influence of
cocaine—the recorded blood pH was 6.25. The common variable was extreme exertion from either fleeing or fighting vigorously while being subdued. The authors
speculate that psychosis and delirium, including drug-induced delirium, alter
pain sensation and may thus render patients capable of exertion far beyond their
normal capacity, leading to maximal sympathetic discharge and catecholamine
depletion (27). By provoking further struggle, physical restraint results in
overwhelming acidosis. Acidosis of this magnitude should trigger physiologic
compensatory mechanisms, but the prone restraint position may limit reflex
compensation (27).

Another article has information on it, but I would have to subscribe to read it:
Weight Force During Prone Restraint and Respiratory Function.
American Journal of Forensic Medicine & Pathology. 25(3):185-189, September 2004.Chan, Theodore C. MD *; Neuman, Tom MD *+; Clausen, Jack MD +; Eisele, John MD ++; Vilke, Gary M. MD *

Actually there are several other articles similarly protected.

Researching "Catecholamine Rush", I found a nice little article on the Science Blog, reprinted from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons:

The more calcium that the ryanodine receptor releases, the stronger the
contraction of the heart. Dr. Marks and his colleagues have discovered that
increased levels of catecholamines, chemicals such as adrenaline that help
transmit nerve impulses, can trigger the ryanodine receptor to release more
calcium.
Patients with heart failure have high levels of catecholamines in
their blood, but their calcium ion release system does not respond properly to
these neurotransmitters. This causes the nervous system to release even more
catecholamines, with little or no response from the heart muscle. Dr. Marks
discovered that a malfunctioning ryanodine receptor is the weak link in the
calcium channel release system that causes this failure in catecholamine
response.

URLs for a class article on the Anniversary Effect

Decided to go ahead and post them here before my son rearranges things on the computer.

http://www.ncptsd.va.gov/facts/disasters/fs_anniversary.html
http://mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=doc&id=9222&cn=109

It appears that everything else I've been looking at is quoting the same articles as these two sites.

From the first article:

Are there any empirical studies of anniversary
reactions?
There are few empirical studies of anniversary reactions. In one study, 92 widows and widowers were interviewed on the first anniversary of their spouse's death. Four of the participants reported clinically significant depression that they connected to the anniversary date (Borstein & Clayton, 1972). In a series of studies, Morgan and colleagues examined anniversary reactions in Gulf War veterans two and six years after the end of the Gulf War (Morgan, Hill, Fox, Kingham, & Southwick, 1999; Morgan, Kingham, Nicolaou, & Southwick, 1998). The researchers asked the veterans and their wives to identify the veteran’s worst month of functioning in the past year. When the researchers compared the worst month identified to previously identified dates of traumatic events that occurred during the Gulf War, they found that 38% of participants reported that their worst month coincided with the month in which their trauma occurred (Morgan et al., 1999). Veterans with these anniversary reactions had significantly more PTSD symptoms than veterans who did not have anniversary reactions, and all of the veterans who met criteria for a diagnosis of PTSD had anniversary reactions (Morgan et al, 1999). Finally, one study was done examining patterns of hospital admissions in patients with seasonal mood disorders (Beratis, Gourzis, & Gabriel, 1996). Based on chart reviews, 4 out of 41 patients with multiple hospital admissions over a seven-year period exhibited depressive or manic episodes that coincided with the time of a past traumatic event.

Now here are more unique links:

http://incestabuse.about.com/od/emotions/a/anniversaries.htm

http://www.postgradmed.com/issues/2001/11_01/pn_stress.htm

http://www.nmha.org/reassurance/ptsd.cfm

http://www.coolnurse.com/anxiety_ptsd.htm

http://www.nyas.org/ebriefreps/main.asp?intSubsectionID=2854

http://www.webmd.com/content/article/60/67146

http://www.trauma-pages.com/vanderk4.htm ==>Actually, this page is no long available, so I am going to use the archived version. Someone shared this page with me about four years ago and it is far too good to lose track of.

Five years ago...

I was working as a temporary clerk in an HR office for a contractor on Tinker AFB. It was a short term assignment - I was just helping them get caught up on some paperwork. The head HR person boarded a plane for a business meeting back east.

I was sorting papers when someone came in and said that a plane had hit one of the World Trade Centers. There were speculations about pilot error and equipment problems. I called my dad to see if he had heard about it. He telecommutes from home and often watches the news in the morning as he's working. Only this morning he had something he needed to fully concentrate on, so my call was the first time he heard about it. I didn't want to take too much time, so I told him to check out the news and went back to my papers.

There was a TV in one section of the building. I decided to take a break a few minutes later and watch the news footage for a few moments. After all, we were on an Airforce base, plane crashes were something we took an interest in. I was standing there, listening to the discussion, when the second tower was hit. The temperature of the room dropped as we all realized that this was not an accident. An older guy said it was China. I said it couldn't be. China wasn't that stupid. They knew what we were capable of doing and would never just do an attack to annoy us. They would have picked military strategic targets to keep us from retaliating. I was rather surprised at myself for speaking up like that in a place I hadn't worked even two weeks at and wasn't planning to work much longer at. But my mind was trying to process what the news was showing us.

We talked about the fact that Tinker was number Three on the strategic hit list because that's where the AWACs are stationed, but it didn't really hit us that we could be a target until the Pentagon was attacked. Then, as they say, it became personal. First we made sure the few people we had flying on business were okay and accounted for - as well as family members. After we had some idea about our loved ones, a sort of determined numbness became apparant. A lot of us decided that if we were going to go, then we were going to go down doing our jobs and supporting those who were going to fight these people. But even saying that, many of us were looking at out the windows, as if any moment another plane was going to come straight at us.

I was pretty much okay until I left the air force base, despite expecting another attack. I suddenly felt so helpless and vulnerable as I drove off base. On base, I was part of the fight, even if all I was doing was making sure the paperwork for our reservist personnel was in order and helping them to understand what their insurance would cover if their units were reactivated and called into battle. Off base, I was just a civilian target. I was angry that all the gas stations had hiked up their prices bacause I was so low on gas. But I was able to nurse it until the next morning when I could fill up at a station that had gotten the Governor's message through its head. I had to go to the temp office to pick up my paycheck. The receptionist said, "You're working at Tinker, aren't you? Are you okay?" I shook my head and bit back the tears - and then told her I felt better on base than off. Which probably explains why I was willing to wait five and a half hours to get back on the next day. The security checks were a real pain in the neck. They looked everywhere in our vehicles before letting them on base.

The other HR person I was working with handled the whole thing rather badly. She wanted everyone to stop talking about the tragedy, but she only said it to me, because I wasn't in a position to call her on it. She even said, "If you don't talk about it, it can't hurt you." Which is probably one of the most ignorant and delusional statements I have ever heard from someone, but I didn't challenge her on it. I just held my tongue as she kept snapping at me for stupid stuff, until I was starting to fantasize about strangling her. Didn't affect her, my foot. She acted worse than everyone else in the building. Denial can help in a crisis, but too much of any thing is bad. And her denial fell into that category. Her tactic of denying the attack took place couldn't hold up when part of her job was now dealing with the reality of working on an Airforce base during a time of national crisis. And as a result, she was the most messed up of everyone.

The rest of the time I worked there, until my assignment was ended, I would stare at the two watertowers near us because when the head of HR came back, she told me how she wished they would paint over the base name on them. She felt it called too much attention to the base. I'm sure that she realized on one level she was being a bit ridiculous - as did I. However, that didn't keep me from trying to calculate the damage that would happen if one of those watertowers did get hit.

I thought I had written this summary up before, but I'm not sure where I saved it. So I figured I would repost it today. A friend found a site with audio recording of people's memories of that event. My speakers aren't hooked up right now, so I'll listen to them later. A good article to read is Healing from trauma may be swiftest when it's not all about you.

I didn't listen to any of the in-depth details of the attacks until a year later, because I sensed that my family wasn't ready for it. But on the first anniversary, I needed more facts. I had been polite long enough and I needed to satisfy my curiosity and verify the theories I had. My mother actually got snippy at me when I started this search, but I told her that I had been respecting their feelings and now I had to take care of my own emotional need to know the truth. It wasn't like I was forcing anyone else to join me.

I got the factual details back then. Until this year, I haven't really tried to learn about the victims themselves, because I didn't want to be accused of being morbidly obsessed. But really this is necessary and a healthy thing to do. What's more, it's the right thing to do. 2996 PEOPLE died then - because they had been made into symbolic objects. If I don't want to be a part of that problem, then I need to acknowledge the PEOPLE and not the collective.

9/11 Tribute - Richard G. Catarelli

Richard G. Catarelli, employee of Marsh & McLennan, was a man of great faith and compassion. Prior to September 11th, 2001, he and his daughter Anamarie had just completed training to be youth ministers as a reflection of his devotion and dedication to the youth of the community. A cheerful and loving person, Richard's favorite line was "Keep Smiling" and his role model was the generous and energetic St. Vincent Pallotti.

Marsh and McLennan Companies has a very moving tribute page in his honor, with tributes from his wife and others close to him. It says more about this man than anything a random blogger like myself could ever say.

Other links about Richard:
http://www.september11victims.com/September11victims/VictimInfo.asp?ID=688
http://www.unitedinmemory.net/quilt.php?quilt=469
http://www.legacy.com/Guestbook.asp?PersonID=108361


Please read some of the other tributes written by the Bloggers for 2996.
(and if that isn't working, go here)

2,996: A Tribute to the Victims of 9/11

2,996 is a tribute to the victims of 9/11.

On September 11, 2006, 2,996 volunteer bloggers
will join together for a tribute to the victims of 9/11.
Each person will pay tribute to a single victim.

We will honor them by remembering their lives,
and not by remembering their murderers.


My person is Richard G. Catarelli, age 47.
Place killed: World Trade Center. Resident of New York, N.Y. (USA).

His tribute will be here on September 11, 2006.




If you have any questions about this project, you can probably find the answers here.

Hear the Siren

Podcast now available.

LJ Feed Button

I actually made this for another feed. I hope to have a feed for this blog too. This site has lost its objectiveness. Not that I expected it to be completely objective, but it's starting to purposely use inflamatory language.

I've been balancing my information from Cedarseed and Israel North blog. I've been occassionally checking other sources, but these two have been the most useful.

Testing

Seeing if there is a problem with Blogger in general or just my son's account.