Teen Run Group - Team Unbreakable

The GBFHT in Collingwood is running our third running group for youth struggling with depression, anxiety, and suicidality. Call 7054445885 if you live in the area and are a high school student. Bring a friend! You don't need to be a runner or even know how to run.

Olympic Fever

Ever wonder how the athletes keep their focus and motivation? Check out this link that outlines research and CBT strategies that help our athletes to be competitive.

I'm thinking, if it's good enough for them, it's likely good enough for us! 

http://www.slideshare.net/uzabeaga51/cognitive-behavioural-therapy-effects-on-athlete-performance-12522935

SHC

@brainsciencenew

Visit @brainsciencenew on Twitter for great updates on brain research and it's impact on behaviour, mood and relationships.

Use Mindfulness to cope with Depression

For years and years, people have used mindfulness to cope with various aspects of mental health and wellbeing.

Once again, there is a current shift toward coping using mindfulness techniques, or skills if you will.

There are several apps, online videos (Youtube), CD's and website that can help you get started.

Check out this link - ignore, if possible the advertisements throughout:

http://www.depression-self-help-info.com/coping-with-depression.html

Also, visit your App store on your computer or device and enter search words such as: relaxation; mindfulness; meditations.

Same goes for Twitter - which has great '1 liners' and good links to various self-help tools.

Warm regards this November,
Sarah

So, who needs therapy?

So, who needs therapy?- people who value their emotional well-being
- people who want to live life to the fullest
- people who want to learn alternative ways to solve problems
- people who want to learn more about themselves
- people who realize that it is okay to look for help in dealing with issues that are too difficult to deal with on their own
- people just like you!

SAD - Seasonal Affective Disorder

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a type of depression that typically begins in the fall and lasts through the winter. Do you notice symptoms like low mood, feeling hopeless, being on-edge, little energy, leaden feeling, social withdrawa...l, oversleeping, loss of interest, appetite changes, craving carbs, weight gain, and limited concentration??... recurring in the same cycle annually?

Visit the Mayo Clinics website at: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/seasonal-affective-disorder/DS00195

MH Twitter Feeds

Looking for Twitter feeds related to mental health and wellbeing?
Try following these folks:

• mindyourmind;
• psychalive;
• CAMH Foundation;
• kidshelpphone;
• rural mental health;
• and , psychology today.

Engaging Traumatized clients who Avoid Attachment

I just sat through an excellent course by Rob Muller. If you are a professional in mental health it was well worth the experience. If you are an individual who has experienced a traumatic event , or a professional in the field, you may enjoy the following blog and twitter feed:

Http://trauma.blog.yorku.ca

Or at twitter: trauma and attachment report.

Rob Muller describes the attachment system as "a behavioral system oriented toward seeking protection &maintaining proximity to the attachment figure in response to perceived threat or danger.

Someone who is avoidant in their attachment may: deny feelings of vulnerability; deny hurt; deny loss; devalue intimacy; minimize negative experiences; put a positive spin on negative experiences; and will idealize people or experiences.

Read more in Muller's book Trauma and the Avoidant Client.

Teenage Brain program

http://youtu.be/GJkavNtK5uE    
Worth checking out! This was a great program and can be found at The Nature of Things CBC website.
 

Sexualization of girls

Check out this special on Global TV with Ann Marie MacDonald - troubling but worth the watch -
Sext up KIDS exposes how growing up in a hyper-sexualized culture hurts our kids.
http://www.cbc.ca/doczone/episode/sext-up-kids.html

Neuroplasticity workshop

Great workshop for professionals in the field: Neuroplasticity and the brain, Nov 1-2 @ the Ontario Science Centre. For details visit kmtlearning.com.

Teen Run Therapy Group

I attended an interesting meeting today about a program facilitated by Cameron Runs of Toronto. It sees youth bridging therapies with running. Perhaps this program will become a reality in Collingwood.

Wait list

Hi Folks,
Just want you to know that i won't be taking new clients again until the Fall of 2012.
However, if you are with one of my EAP companies - I do have spots for you.

Be well,
SHC

The Teenage Brain

http://youtu.be/GJkavNtK5uE

If you missed the featured Teenage Brain episode on the Nature of Things a month or so ago - it is really worth viewing. Check out this link and then google the Nature of Things at CBC and see you if can view the progrm on line.

SHC

More useful Websites - Anxiety

The following are websites that people in the mental health/wellbeing field have recommended to me over the last few years.

hope.vancouver.bc.ca

anxieties. com (practical)

panicattacks.com.au

socialphobia.org

freedomfromfear.com (self-help)

socialanxietyinstitute.org

social-anxiety-network.com

Happy searching....
SHC

Websites

Try out these websites for helpful tips related to mood and self-esteem.

mindyourmind.ca (particularly good for teens)

selfesteem2go.com

Disordered Eating

Carol Normandi and Laurelee Roark, in their book "It's not about Food", say:

"The issue of food and weight is serving an important function in your life and you have no chance of letting it go until you understand what that function is. This does not mean that you have to understand every emmotional reason why you are over or under eating. But it does mean that you need to realize you've been trying to help yourself the only way you know how".

On this note, if you are struggling with body image or eating concerns, consider things like: feeling insecure, relationships, identity, need for love, reassurance, security and soothing. We often deal with emotional struggles and relationship insecurities/family dysfunction by placing them on to our bodies. Sometimes the only way we know how to soothe ourselves is to eat, but the only way we know how to be accepted, as women in this culture, is to "control" our weight.

Food for thought.
SHC

Separation Anxiety in Children

At this time of year, with new beginnings and transitions, I often hear about parents and children struggling with separation anxiety. The following is important information for parents. It may be useful to educate oneself about the issue in order to be tuned in to what is happening for one's children.

The key feather of this issue is excessive anxiety related to being separated from those to whom the child is attached.

Things to watch for include irrational fears, nightmares, emotional conflicts, and school refusal. Domestic issues may be related to or could amplify the child’s emotional and behavioural problems.

It is important to explore possible triggers such as losses, stressors, and changes. Issues such as substance abuse and parental conflict may be triggers. Consider nightmares, fears that accompany separation, fear of being alone, and irrational fears and beliefs.

The child needs to attend school. Let the staff know and, together with them, create a plan to manage the child. When dropping off, use positive comments and reaffirming messages such as “mommy, will be at work, but will be here at___”…. And “Everything is the way it is supposed to be.” Do not get caught up in child’s tangential comments or tactics to get you to stay. Be firm and kind with your words, pass child off to staff, and walk away. Your child will rally and will cope once you are gone.

Separation anxiety is normal in young children, however when it interferes with age-appropriate tasks such as attendance, peer interaction or activities, it should be dealt with proactively.

Parents who are reluctant to let their children “go outside”, develop independence, play out without adult supervision, feel anxious/unsafe themselves, will impose anxiety onto their children. This can occur as a result of children feeling as though such activities are seen as unmanageable for their parents. Further, children pick up the message that coping with these stressors is so difficult that avoidance or having a stern set of rules is the only way of managing. This creates a position whereby children are not encouraged to develop skills to manage and cope with risk on their own.

(see S. L. Johnson, 2004)

The Mental Health Benefits of Summer Camp

In addition to the sheer joy of attending summer, camp there are several mental health benefits built into the experience of such outdoor experiences. On so many levels, there is evidence that summer camp promotes social, emotional, physical and intellectual growth. The camp experience offers new social opportunities, situations that foster the development of life skills, confidence, courage, and success in trying new things. Camp offers exposure to new activities and thus an introduction to potential interests or recreational outlets. The predictable, structured environment of summer camp offers opportunity to live with in a group, form productive relationships, recognize benefits of good choices and experiences consequences to poor choices. Reconnecting children to humanity and the planet through outdoor education provides a chance for children to rejuvenate themselves. On a spiritual level camp brings rest and relaxation that a busy soul requires to remain stable.




Several research endeavours have demonstrated the significant benefits of camp. In his paper, Social Justice Summer Camp: Critical Pedagogy in Action, Jim Shee(M.Ed) found that camps can assist in the development of citizenship and hope, and work toward the development of personal agency, creating a society of greater justice, freedom and dignity.



Research completed by Stephen Fine (PhD) demonstrated that camp, or “residential outdoor experiences” (ROE) lead over time to an affirmation of self that is inclusive of society and the environment. He reports that ROEs contribute to the learning of self-concept, self-regulation, self-efficacy, peer teaching, cooperation, team building, modeling, celebration of social-cultural diversity, and respect for the environment. Fine found that these lessons have been shown to transfer successfully to later life situations, making camp a long term beneficial experience for children of all ages. Fine’s article is titled “Contextual Learning within the ROE: A Case Study of a Summer Camp in Ontario” and can be found by googling his name or by visiting the Ontario Camping Association website.



Finally, PhD candidate Gaven Watson of Toronto, Ontario found that summer camp and environmental education significantly facilitate and assist in developing campers’ relationships with nature. As several children’s mental health professionals have come to report, nature works to settle and ground children in their world.



Consider sending your children to camp. There are several options with various cost points both in Canada and the US. There are also several organizations which work to financially support children to attend at camps all over the country. Visit the Ontario Camp Association for more information.

The debate about Parental Alienation Syndrome

The following link to CBC's the Current (may 17, 2011) provides some interesting up to date information on the issue of parental alienation syndrome - a set of symptoms which feuding parents impart on their children.

http://www.cbc.ca/video/radio-popup.html#networkKey=cbc_radio_one&programKey=calgary

Happy listening.
SHC