Colours of the Rainbow Are the Same, Everywhere

Posted by: Priya Senroy on July 24, 2014 3:37 pm

June and July have been vibrant months in the city of Toronto, colors are not only showcased by the nature but is found regularly on the streets- World Pride was one of them. This summer has also been colorful for a LGBTQ group that I sometimes facilitate workshops for. The group is mixed in ages, sexual orientation , ethnicity and cultural upbringing. There were many differences, many similarities and the diversity was overflowing. They all had one thing in common- they wanted to use the summer months as a way to symbolize the process of coming out-some of them are already out, some of them can never ever while some are contemplating. Whatever their stages of ‘coming out ‘are, the group shared a sense of struggling with their identity.

So delving in suing creative arts, the group explored some creative art therapy interventions which they could relate to , especially the ones who were struggling with identity. I have used these activities with clients with disabilities, clients with gender abuse etc.

The activity “Inside Me, Outside Me” is one example, in which the client creates two self-portraits—one of the publicly presented self, the other of the private, internal, self. For the clients in the early phases of coming out, these may be two very different portraits. The idea of creating self-portraits has been used by many clients in art therapy as a means for externalizing feelings and qualities of the self that are too delicate to expose verbally This activity may use a variety of media or take different forms, such as a mask or box (using the inside as well as the outside). These portraits were used as a gateway for discussion and reflection. Another activity involves puppet making, in which the created puppet “speaks” for the client. When the process stopped, there were sighs of relief and a sense of letting go, which some felt were equivalent to coming out in a safe and non threatening environment. Taking a step forward, the group felt that their personal journeys that they had explored during the workshops could be showcased or just simply shared with other groups. So role plays, movement and embodiment were used to create plays which the group are working on for informal and private sharing in the future.

Articles:

http://www.plumeriacounseling.com/coming-out-through-art-a-review-of-art-therapy-with-lgbt-clients/

http://www.lianalowenstein.com/article_gender.pdf

BY: Priya Senroy

*The views expressed by our authors are personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CCPA

Self Harm and Creative Arts

Posted by: Priya Senroy on July 24, 2014 3:34 pm

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I could not find any metaphors to tie these two-I am sure there are many…for me at times its best to keep it as simple and direct as possible keeping in mind the sensitivity of the topic and the young clients that I work with. Summer has had an influx of teens that are as they say “being discovered’ by their parents or other faults as having self harm behavior-and they blame it on the weather and their clothing….no matter what the reasons are…one thing is sure that this needs to be addressed and expressed in many ways and creative arts has been a window of opportunity for some of these youth who have chosen to explore this medium. Some techniques that are based on the technique of focusing can be modified and used in various ways. I have found useful are:

Creating a Safe Space: Using art materials an image of the felt sense of the safe place is created. Once the client does this step, it may be fine to just stop here. This is an important step in creating a safe place within that the client can always choose to return to, whenever she or he needs to. The client can also embody this safe space and using movement, music and gestures could use it either as an intervention technique or calming technique.

2. Safe Space/Creating Distance: Once the client creates the safe space, and can clearly make connection to it when she or he needs to, then the client can move to place all the things between her/him and feeling all fine. Beginning with the safe place, in the art form, the client uses the art materials to symbolize the issues in the way of feeling all fine. Possibilities include, drawing symbols of each issue, or writing, onto pieces of construction paper; tearing or cutting into shapes papers to represent each issue; or using clay, beads, or other objects to symbolize the issues. These objects or papers are then placed at a distance that feels right to the client, from the safe place. The client resonates, or checks inside for a feeling of rightness as well as to check whether there is some more space inside. If the client connects with the image/art piece, it may be helpful to have the drawing/image present during subsequent sessions. When the client focuses on the experience, invite the client to sense the whole feel of it in her or his body.. While creating the art, the client resonates the handle (image/symbol), checking for a right fit.

More information on self harm and creative arts can be found in:

http://www.lianalowenstein.com/Self-injury.pdf

http://www.dtaa.org.au/download/Thematic%20Unfolding.pdf

http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/pdf/self-harm%20distractions%20and%20alternatives%20final.pdf

BY: Priya Senroy

*The views expressed by our authors are personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CCPA

Summer is for Reading

Posted by: Dawn Schell on July 8, 2014 4:09 pm

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It happens to me every time I attend a conference or workshop. And I know I’m not the only one who did this at the recent IAC/CCPA conference. I saw other people doing the same thing.

There we were walking around the book table, eyeing up the goods, calculating how much room there was in the budget, justifying a need versus a want, rationalizing the purchases and then leaving with an armload of books and a contented smile.

Over the years I have tried to curb this habit. Put restrictions on myself such as “you can only buy one” or “no more till the current ones are gone”. I swear it’s not an addiction. I just happen to love books. Maybe someday I’ll get an e-reader but for now I will continue to enjoy the feel of paper and the smell of newly printed books.

Which leads me to my goals for the summer. Last year I focussed on improving my digital career literacy (a work in progress). This summer I will be reading my new acquisitions as professional development.

These are not all newly published books. I keep a list of books that others recommend or are by authors I know or that sound interesting. See, I have learned restraint when it comes to book buying.

Here’s what I will be reading this summer:

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*The views expressed by our authors are personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CCPA

Meaning Matters

Posted by: Farah Lodi on July 8, 2014 4:04 pm

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When I work with couples in marriage counseling one of the first questions I ask is “what does marriage mean to you?” Marriage therapist Dr. John Gottman focuses on identifying shared life dreams as a glue that can hold marriages together. Both partners need to support each others’ life dreams, and ideally these should be compatible, have some overlap, and be motivational and inspirational for both. Life dreams reflect a shared meaning in life.

But what happens when culture influences a life dream, and both partners are from different cultures? A couple comes to mind, where the husband is from a traditional Eastern mind-set: marriage means being responsible, a care-taker and good provider. To him, these main factors qualify him as a good husband. But his wife was raised in the West, and to her marriage means loving compassion and respect for each other: it’s not what you DO for your partner but how you make them FEEL. And though she’s well provided for, she doesn’t feel the love.

Psychologist Robert Sternberg said loving marriages need friendship, commitment and passion. My multicultural couple can’t relate to this – except for commitment based on the needs of their children, they can’t agree on what friendship and passion even mean. Marriages where there are no shared life dreams, are on shaky ground. When the very definition of marriage holds different meanings, how useful is my therapeutic intervention: “so, what does marriage mean to you?” This vital question needs to be discussed BEFORE getting married. The meaning of marriage in many cases has already been formed through learning from the parental model of marriage, and through the process of enculturation. Doesn’t it make sense to explore these concepts before tying the knot, so a couple can develop a common, mutually agreed upon life dream – one that forms the foundation for spending their life together meaningfully?

*The views expressed by our authors are personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CCPA

Protective Factors Around Child Sexual Abuse

Posted by: Asa Don Brown on July 8, 2014 4:01 pm

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“The very first part in healing is shattering the silence.”~ Erin Merryn

While the awareness around Child Sexual Abuse, CSA has increased over the past decade; the prevalence of CSA continues to be a problem throughout our society. CSA has no economic, political, religious, cultural, or racial preference. CSA has, and does, occur in all aspects of society. The effects associated with CSA most commonly have a profound impact on the physical, psychological and emotional and general wellbeing of the individual. “The wounds arising from childhood sexual abuse take many forms, but they all represent profound changes to the individual’s experience and her (his) relationship to the world.” (Fisher, 2005)” (Brown, 2005, p. 21) For children, distinguishing between those you can trust and cannot trust is challenging. As parents, while we need to reinforce the goodness and purity of our children; we must also equip our children with effective tools to distinguish between good and bad behaviors, communications, and personalities. It is never too late to teach our children to be his or her best advocate.

ACTIVELY COMMUNICATE WITH YOUR CHILDREN

“It is a wise father (mother) that knows his (her) own child.” ~ William Shakespeare

As fathers and mothers, we need to actively listen. Active listening is the ability, the skill, technique, or an inherent trait whereby, a person is purposefully and intentionally focusing on the communications being sent by another person or persons. An active listener not only listens and receives an intended message, but is capable of paraphrasing what messages he or she has received back to the communicator. An active listener recognizes that not all communication is verbally spoken, but is often communicated through verbal and nonverbal transmissions. It entails good physical posture, gestures, and purposeful eye contact.

As an active listener, you will align your body towards the intended recipient. You may lean towards the sender or receiver, maintain active eye contact, posture your body in an open form, and be relaxed while nonverbally communicating. Active listening is also being capable of reflecting any verbal or nonverbal communication that is communicated.

As fathers and mothers, our active listening should be purposeful in our actions, reflections, and all forms of communications. We need to seek to hear the verbal and nonverbal communications being projected from the lives of our children.

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*The views expressed by our authors are personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CCPA

Multiple Income Streams

Posted by: Andrea Cashman on July 8, 2014 3:55 pm

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Building a private practice financially is not easy. It is financially wise to have multiple income streams in order to stay afloat and cover overhead costs involved in running your business. Not only is this important in your transitioning to a full time counsellor but this can help balance costs when there are lulls in client appointment bookings. Utilizing these available time slots to generate other means of income may be a smart thing to do not only for cost but as a marketing strategy as well. Personally, I continue to be a registered nurse as well as work for EAP companies.

Here are some ideas to help you get started:

– Get established with an employee assistance program (EAP) or many. You may be one of their many treatment providers that they refer clients to in the community. Many EAP companies also have consulting positions, for example, workshop presenters, return to work consultants, crisis/debriefing counsellors. Typically, EAP companies on average prefer 5 years of post graduate experience in counselling. A great webinar offered by CCPA from time to time explains the in’s and out’s of EAP companies in more detail.

– Offer to mentor/consult with other counsellors building their practice or developing their niche. Of course, you will need the professional knowledge and experience to offer this service but this could be a great additional income stream for seasoned counsellors.

– Find a teaching opportunity through schools if you have a teaching background. You may also offer workshops on your expertise. You may also offer workshops to organizations as well.

– Look into part time work with a community agency that offers counselling

– Do you have group counselling experience? Can you offer group sessions to clients in your niche?

– Assess what you are already doing now that could be turned into a potential income stream.

– Volunteer for your local counselling association. This may not be an income stream but it may generate more referrals.

– Publishing can also be another way for generating additional income through writing self-published content through the traditional means of publishing for a journal or paper or modern ways such as e-books, workbooks, creating downloadable resources such as videos, audio resources etc.,

Relying solely on direct client hours may hinder your success in developing your private practice. Client hours factor on referrals, state of the economy, time of the year etc., We counsellors need to think outside of the box in terms of generating more income as we become more established.

I’d love to hear from you about potential ideas for additional income sources. What do you think would work for you or has worked for you?

Andrea Cashman is a private practice counsellor who has founded Holistic Counselling Services for individual clients seeking therapy in Ottawa, ON. She also practices at the Ottawa Hospital as a registered nurse. Feel free to comment below or contact her at [email protected] or visit her website at www.holisticcounsellingservices.ca

*The views expressed by our authors are personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CCPA

Positivity Blog

Posted by: Reena Sandhu on July 7, 2014 2:46 pm

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Positivity is a mindset. We all have the ability to turn on positive feelings. To do so, takes honesty and an authentic look at your present state of mind to allow yourself to find the good. If you tap into what’s right about your current circumstance or what’s wrong with it, you’ll elicit opposite emotions and behaviours. Positive emotions will expand your ideas about possible action, unlike negative emotions that will narrow your ideas about your behaviour and reactions. This dependency of thinking about the positives is what makes positivity so fragile.

After ten years of research, Barbara Frederickson, a pioneer of positivity, outlined the following emotions that help elicit a state of positivity: Joy, Gratitude, Serenity, Interest, Hope, Pride, Amusement, Inspiration, Awe, and Love. Notice that happiness is not among this list, that’s because happiness is a judgment about life. Happiness is the overall outcome of many positive moments. Instead, if you focus on your day-to-day feelings, you will end up building a resource and becoming the best version of yourself. In the long-term you’ll be happier with life. Rather than staring down happiness as your goal and asking yourself “How do I get there?” think about how to create positive emotions in the moment.

12 WAYS TO BECOME MORE POSITIVE:

1. Be Open- Temporarily rid your mind of expectations and judgments. Often these cloud our ability to be open. Give yourself permission and time to experience the present moment. No matter what you encounter in your day, experiment with awareness and acceptance.

2. Create Quality Connections- Notice how different you feel compared with when you’re gossiping with or oblivious to others.

3. Cultivate Kindness- Give yourself a goal of performing 5 new acts of kindness each day. Aim for actions that make a difference and come to some cost to you, such as donating blood.

4. Develop Distractions- Distractions are important for breaking the cycle of rumination and redirecting needless negativity. The goal is to get your mind off your worries. The best distractions demand your full attention, so that when you emerge your cleansed of your negativity.

5. Dispute Negative Thinking- When a negative thought arises, dispute the thoughts with facts.

6. Find Nature- Get outside and find a few places you can get to that will connect you to trees, water or the sky. These have been researched to boost positivity.

7. Learn and Apply your Strengths- Take a free online survey from www.AuthenticHappiness.com that ranks your top 24 strengths. Allow yourself plenty of time to complete the 240 item measure. Once you have learned your strengths apply them to redesign your job and life, so that you can use them daily.

8. Mediate Mindfully- Find a quit place where you can sit comfortably without distraction. Take a few deep breathes and notice where you feel your breath. Always bring yourself back to yourself when your mind wanders. Observe your mind in action and practice being where you are now. Attending to your breathe is a vehicle for strengthen your ability to stay present.

9. Mediate with Guided Imagery- Start by focusing on your breath. Once your grounded, reflect on a person for whom you already feel warm and compassionate towards. Visualize how being with that person makes you feel. Thereafter, extent that warm feeling towards yourself. These feelings of love and compassionate will create positivity in you.

10. Savor Positivity- Remember a past moment of positivity and allow yourself time to visualize this moment. The goal is to savor these valuable good feelings in your mind.

11. Visualize your Future- Imagine yourself 10 years from now, after everything has gone as well as it possibility could. You have worked hard on your goals and succeeded. Visualize where and how you would be if all your current dreams came true. From these dreams, draw out what purpose you want to drive you?

12. Experience the 10 Positive Emotions- Think of the 10 positive emotions and when you felt each of these emotions. Rearrange your daily routine to capture these emotions.

*The views expressed by our authors are personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CCPA

The Flu? What’s That?

Posted by: Bhavna Verma on June 26, 2014 9:15 am

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With the recent changes in weather it is crucial to keep healthy and do anything possible to protect yourself from the flu. The general rule of thumb is to drink lots of fluids, get a lot of sleep and maintain a well balanced diet. With all else being equal, what about the counsellor that follows the aforementioned rules but also has a lot of stress; be it from a stressful environment, challenging clients or unsupportive peers. Even though this person is keeping healthy with a well balanced diet, getting a lot of rest and drinking a lot of fluids, they are more likely to get the flu if they have added stress compared to their peers who do not have stress. This is because the body releases cortisol, which prepares the body to either fight or flee from a stressful event. As the body is prepared for a potential threat, heart rate and blood flow increases which temporarily suppresses parts of the immune system. The more a person feels stressed, the weaker their immune system gets. If you’re an individual who experiences regular stress, here are some tips to help reduce it!

1. Get your vitamin D levels checked by your doctor. Depleted vitamin D coupled with chronic stress can result in more colds.
2. Reduce the stress in your life or eliminate it altogether. There are multitude ways you can do this: recognize what you can and cannot control, use diaphragmatic breathing to change the oxygen and carbon dioxide ratio in your body, if you’re able to figure out the triggers and cause of your stress, come up with a plan of action to address it. Set aside a time to participate in an activity you enjoy, since the FIFA games are on right now, perhaps watch a soccer match and root for your favourite team!
3. Eat a lot of raw foods.
4. Exercise regularly- if you can’t meet the recommended amount of exercising; 3 times a week for 30 minutes, try to get at least 10 minutes of vigorous exercise in daily to improve circulation of immune cells in your blood.
5. Wash your hands often.

Following all or some of the tips mentioned above will help you from catching the flu and becoming resistant to it. If you have more tips, please comment.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/04/25/stress-and-vitamin-d-deficiency-cause-cold.aspx

*The views expressed by our authors are personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CCPA

iRobot

Posted by: Dawn Schell on June 26, 2014 9:07 am

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Recently, the Canadian Scholarship Trust (CST) put out their list of “Job Titles of 2030”. I enjoy career forecasts like this and was intrigued to see “Robot Counsellor” as one of the career options listed. [1]

My first thought was it would be a robot doing counselling. I have had online clients express relief that their online counsellor was a “real person and not a robot”. So I guess to some, robot counselling seems a natural extension of online counselling.

Reading this futuristic job title reminded me of ELIZA, the first computer ‘therapist’ from the 1960s. We’ve come a long way since those days!

It turns out that CST is predicting robots will be doing more household and caregiving work in the future and we will need counsellors to do needs assessment with individuals and families and also, prepare them for the changes having a robot will entail. And if the robot doesn’t “fit in”? Presumably the robot counsellor will assist you in sorting out your robot relationship issues or finding you a different model to meet your needs.

I was sceptical about this being only 16 years in the future and then I did some research. Starting with recent TEDTalks about robotic advancements. Oh My. If you haven’t seen it yet check out Henry Evans and his telepresence robot from Robots for humanity.[2] Absolutely mind-blowing. You may also want to check other TEDTalks about robots that show empathy, have ‘self-awareness’, and learn from humans about how to interact. Not to mention robots that dance and do magic.

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*The views expressed by our authors are personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CCPA

Why Adopt a Multicultural Perspective?

Posted by: Bradley Murray on June 26, 2014 8:58 am

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It is now widely considered to be an old-fashioned view that therapy somehow transcends culture, and that we can practice effectively as therapists if we put aside the cultural experiences of therapist and client.

To meet the demands of this contemporary view of therapy, it is essential for therapists to cultivate cross-cultural therapy skills, cultural sensitivity, and socio-political awareness. This is true whether we identify with a dominant culture or a minority culture.

One reason to cultivate a multicultural orientation is that we risk causing harm – especially to those belonging to minority cultures – if we do not practice in ways that are culturally sensitive. We may unwittingly cause clients to feel in therapy the same sense of exclusion and alienation that they feel elsewhere in their lives.

Another reason to cultivate a multicultural orientation is that doing so appears to increase the potential to help the vast majority of clients. Research by Owen et al. (the results of which were published in their 2011 Psychotherapy article, “Clients’ perceptions of their psychotherapists’ multicultural orientation”) suggests that clients’ psychological well-being benefits to the extent that they perceive their therapist as having a multi-cultural orientation.

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*The views expressed by our authors are personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CCPA