Psychotherapy’s image problem

My son Chris has benefited from psychotherapy, as he has benefited from many other interventions that he has undertaken on the road to wellness. He was exposed to psychotherapy at the day program he attended from 2004 -2006 and has been doing it weekly beginning in 2006 with Dr. Stern. As you can see, psychotherapy is no quick fix. It is lengthy, and obviously, expensive if your insurance company does not take the long term view. Judging from the sheer number of psychotherapists in the city directory, psychotherapy has no image problem where we live, in contrast to the Op-Ed piece in the New York Times (below). It’s not really for me to say whether or how much Chris has benefited from any of the many treatments and therapies, I just know that today he is much more “together” than he was ten years ago. A problem with psychotherapy, in my opinion, is that is is open to longer term abuse, unlike other one-off or short term therapies that Chris was able to walk away from, having reaped the benefits. With psychotherapy, you are under the spell of the therapist, who dictates when the patient is “ready” to stop therapy, which, of course, means a drop in income for the therapist. In other circles this would be considered a conflict of interest.

Op-Ed Contributor

Psychotherapy’s Image Problem

By BRANDON A. GAUDIANO

Published: September 29, 2013 197 Comments

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — PSYCHOTHERAPY is in decline. In the United States, from 1998 to 2007, the number of patients in outpatient mental health facilities receiving psychotherapy alone fell by 34 percent, while the number receiving medication alone increased by 23 percent.

This is not necessarily for a lack of interest. A recent analysis of 33 studies found that patients expressed a three-times-greater preference for psychotherapy over medications.

The future of healing

I normally don’t like to post video or audio links, but I thought I’d make an exception this time to show the best way I know how families can support recovery and become fierce advocates for our relatives. See the link below. While you’re at it, check out more of Dr. Breggin’s interviews. He’s not just that guy who warns about the dangers of psychiatric drugs.

The Dr. Peter Breggin Hour – 09/11/13

This is the future of healing. My guest Jennifer Maurer is Managing Director of Mother Bear: Families for Mental Health–the good family support network that is helping families heal together with respect and empathy for all. Learn about MotherBearCan.org. You may want to participate or to support this incredibly forward-looking nonprofit network of caring human beings.

Taxidermy as an alternative therapy

One of my favorite humor blogs is NAMI Dearest, the laboratory creation of a certifiably mad genius. Somehow I missed this latest post.

Preserve Those Cherished Memories…and Your Loved One, Forever!

Posted on August 30th, 2013

Who better understands your frustration with non-compliant mentally ill family members than we do here at NamiDearest?

As leaders in mental illness advocacy and policy, we devote the weight of our enormous moral authority and hand-wringing sob stories to the advancement of best practices in mental health care. Some of these best practices include fewer patient privacy rights, lower civil commitment standards, forced psychiatric drugging and ECT, as well as the progressive Assisted Outpatient Suicide program, otherwise known as The Permanent Solution.
But how do we handle the grief of losing our loved ones once the treatments have cured their genetically transmitted, psychiatric brain diseases?

Yes, there is always Zoloft. But in addition to chemically numbing the symptoms of Grief Disorder, many NamiDearests are finding Taxidermy Therapy to be an effective adjunct to their personal recovery regimen.

Read the rest here

All over the map, but not really

Chris (and therefore, I) has had an emotional few months. Let’s see. It started with his breaking up with “Jenny,” back in July. His decision, not hers. A decision which had all the appearances of being taken for the right reason but a decision he immediately regretted. For someone who has spent a lifetime avoiding decision-making, I was thrilled that at least he had made one. I was not so thrilled that he immediately began to second guess himself. But, no matter, after an intense week of taking his own pulse and talking to people who would listen, he righted his sails. I’m pleased that he is finally getting around to taking a stand, on something! I loaded him up with lots of books on boundary issues, and I pointed out that he tends to have rather fluid boundaries and anybody can invade his space. “You’ve got to know your limits,” I counsel him, “and respect them.” He can also invade other people’s boundaries by being too caring. He can’t assume that other people want his help or sympathy.

The decision to no longer see Jenny lasted no more than a month and now they seemed to be locked in an on-again/off again thing. Not my business, except that Chris wants to talk to me about it, so, reluctantly, I’ve been dragged in, despite my protests that his relationships are his business. I’ve had a few rough sleeps that have actually had me praying for morning to come. If I step back from the drama of it all, using “conscious refocusing,” I can truthfully say that Chris may be going through a rough patch, but he is learning to take risks, to make decisions, and to live the consequences of his decisions. He is maturing.

Having a girlfriend has prompted him to realistically assess his marital prospects. His future earning ability is not promising, at this time. Here’s where we get around to discussing the need to go back to school to prepare for entry into the job market. “If you would like a future with Jenny or anyone else, Chris,” isn’t it time you got real about your education?” I think he may be finally getting the point.

Necessity, the mother of invention.

Getting to know you

Knowing a little bit about his personal number 3 has helped my son, Chris, get a clearer understanding of who he is and what he was put on earth to do. Learning that he is a number 3 has helped me better appreciate Chris’s strengths and the areas where he may struggle a bit. The ancient Chinese astrology, Nine Star Ki, digs a little deeper, using three numbers associated with the atmospheric conditions present on the day, month, and year of one’s birth. It is based on the observed cycles of nature ( life force “ki”), which are nine year cycles comprising smaller cycles of nine months and even smaller cycles of nine days.

Numbers and astrology can be especially important to people who have experienced a prolonged mental health crisis. I believe cycles of nine resonate at the vibrational “gut” level, complementing compassionately spoken and intuitive words. Recently I had the pleasure of enrolling in the online Recovering Our Families course. One of the first reading assignments was authored by psychologist and activist Pat Deegan, and included the following quote:

“The goal of recovery is to become the unique, awesome, never to be repeated human being that we are called to be.“

Determining the awesomeness of who we are and who we are meant to be is never an easy task, and one that is particularly hard for people who have been diminished – physically, emotionally, and spiritually – by a lengthy mental health problem.

It’s not just the person experiencing the crisis who has been diminished – families empathy for, and expectations of, the person have also taken a grave hit. Many of us are more used to seeing violent and angry outbursts from our relative, silly or naive behavior, dependency, apathy, lack of self-confidence. We adopt a vocabulary of despair.

The course encourages the participants to try to consider ourselves or our relative in a different light, to see strengths instead of focusing on deficits.

We call our newfound attitude “conscious refocusing.” The course got us all started by giving us practical examples what it looks like to focus on strengths when the habitual response might be the opposite.

Example: “He is alone and isolated” becomes “He is an individual who has a rich inner life and follows his own path.”

But, here’s the thing. Knowing the numbers will bolster any flagging conviction you may hold that you or your relative is beyond hope. It will bring you further down the road of practicing recovery and helping you or your relative become that awesome, never to be repeated, human being.

Chris’s numbers are an instantly recognizable portrait of himself, and believe me, he is unique and awesome. He is a quiet presence, a deep thinker, who has a great need to serve humanity. He is a skilled manager, and a hard worker, something I had almost lost sight of about him. The early stages in particular of his crisis made me forget that he was once well-organized. He is extremely capable today, assuming charge of household chores while taking on more managerial volunteer jobs.

My middle son Alex’s numbers are a recognizable portrait, too, of an awesome, never to be repeated, individual. Had Alex been the one who underwent a mental health crisis, I’ve always thought that he would be a less gentle presence than Chris. We would have had many violent altercations, until we learned how to work together. His numbers do not lie. Amongst his other attributes, Alex’s numbers reveal that he doesn’t like being told what to do. Duh! I’ve known that since he was a toddler. Properly channeled, being aggressive and not taking crap from anyone, is a positive thing, an entrepreneurial skill, but there is also a less positive side. The numbers also reveal where Alex goes when under stress, another recognizable self-portrait. Where we go under stress is never a good place, and not the side we wish to present to the world, but it’s instructive to how to handle our baser instincts, and the numbers help us out there, too.

Numerology and astrology, for Chris and me, is much more than a frivolous pastime; it has proved to be a useful strategy that helps us both to maintain a positive outlook.

NIMH Director Thomas Insel’s latest thoughts on long term use of antipsychotics

Recently, results from several studies have suggested that these medications may be less effective for the outcomes that matter most to people with serious mental illness: a full return to well-being and a productive place in society. Read the full post here.

It was only a short while ago that the National Institute of Mental Health Director was singing a different tune, that schizophrenia and other mental health disorders were developmental brain disorders that needed better drugs to target underlying causes. He was describing the problem from a purely scientific perspective:

We must address mental illnesses, from autism to schizophrenia, as developmental brain disorders with genetic and environmental factors leading to altered circuits and altered behavior. Today’s state-of-the-art biology, neuroscience, imaging, and genomics are yielding new approaches to understanding mental illnesses, supplementing our psychological explanations. Understanding the causes and nature of malfunctioning brain circuits in mental disorders may make earlier diagnosis possible. Interventions could then be tailored to address the underlying causes directly and quickly, changing the trajectory of these illnesses, as we have done in ischemic heart disease and some forms of cancer. For serious mental illness, this is a new vision for prevention, based on understanding individual risk and developing innovative treatments to preempt disability.

So, his latest post shows an important shift in thinking in its questioning long term use of the drugs and acknowledging the neglected importance of what is needed to help people to achieve better outcomes – family engagement and education, employment, and therapy.

Neither first nor second generation antipsychotic medications do much to help with the so-called negative symptoms (lack of feeling, lack of motivation) or the problems with attention and judgment that may be major barriers to leading a productive, healthy life. Family education, supported employment, and cognitive behavioral therapy have all demonstrated efficacy in reducing the likelihood of relapse events, increasing the ability to function in daily life, and improving problem-solving and interpersonal skills.

He ends on a humble note.

These new data on the long-term outcomes for people with “schizophrenia” remind us that 100 years after defining this disorder and 50 years after “breakthrough” medications, we still have much to learn.

My next post will highlight the” Recovering our families” on-line course that I find, from my own experience, to be the best and the most innovative guidance one can find for helping family members transform and heal from the emotional distress associated with trauma and challenges surrounding mental health diagnoses.

We see what we believe: Jeremy Narby on shamanism

Jeremy Narby quotes

“This is perhaps one of the most important things I learned during this investigation: We see what we believe, and not just the contrary; and to change what we see, it is sometimes necessary to change what we believe.”
― Jeremy Narby, The Cosmic Serpent: DNA and the Origins of Knowledge

“Shamanism resembles an academic discipline (such as anthropology or molecular biology); with its practitioners, fundamental researchers, specialists, and schools of thought it is a way of apprehending the world that evolves constantly. One thing is certain: Both indigenous and mestizo shamans consider people like the Shipibo-Conibo, the Tukano, the Kamsá, and the Huitoto as the equivalents to universities such as Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, and the Sorbonne; they are the highest reference in matters of knowledge. In this sense, ayahuasca-based shamanism is an essentially indigenous phenomenon. It belongs to the indigenous people of Western Amizonia, who hold the keys to a way of knowing that they have practiced without interruption for at least five thousand years. In comparison, the universities of the Western world are less than nine hundred years old.”

― Jeremy Narby, The Cosmic Serpent: DNA and the Origins of Knowledge

Read more quotes from anthropologist Jeremy Narby’s book, The Cosmic Serpent.

More on Ayahuasca healing

“Hell and Back,” appeared in the March 2006 issue of National Geographic Adventure. It would go on to become the most popular article the magazine had ever published, bringing in “20 times more reader response mail” than any previous article.

“For centuries, Amazonian shamans have used ayahuasca as a window into the soul. The sacrament, they claim, can cure any illness. The author joins in this ancient ritual and finds the worlds within more terrifying—and enlightening—than ever imagined.”

Read the rest of the article here:

For important information about Ayahuasca healing, read the FAQs at Blue Morpho website.

Dr. Gabor Mate on psychedelics and the healing power of Ayahuasca

Last Friday I spent a lovely day in Vancouver with my old friend from university who I haven’t seen for many years. We talked and talked and talked. Ann, at least as far back as I can remember, has been interested in social justice issues, art and creativity, and obviously, found the right home for herself when she moved to Vancouver in the 1970s. As we sat in a coffee bar, she talked about ayuahuasca healing (there are practitioners in Vancouver) and said that renowned Vancouver psychiatrist and addiction expert Dr. Gabor Mate, is very interested in exploring its potential in healing a wide variety of human suffering that manifests as illness. So much so, apparently, that he is doing a lot of his work in Mexico, having found that his belief is increasingly in conflict with the mainstream. My curiosity was immediately piqued. I haven’t had time to explore this topic further, but I found a fascinating interview with Mate on Ayahuasca. There also a Youtube question and answer session.

Please note that I am not advocating that we throw caution to the wind and unquestioningly embark on this potentially healing but also potentially dangerous path. Anyone on antipsychotics, anti-depressants, or anti-anxiety medication is at particular risk. Cold turkeying off these medications in order to avoid adverse side effects of the tea should not be done. For most things in life, especially things we ingest, we need to do our homework.

excerpt from interview with Gabor Mate:

What if we actually got that human beings are bio-psycho-social creatures by nature, and actually bio-psycho-spiritual creatures by nature—which is to say that our biology is inseparable from our psychological emotional and spiritual existence—and therefore what manifests in the body is not some isolated and unique event or misfortune, but a manifestation of what my life has been in interaction with my psychological and social and spiritual environment?

Well, if we had that kind of understanding then we would approach illness and health in a completely different fashion.

What if, furthermore, we understood something in the West which has been the underlying core insight of Eastern spiritual pathways and aboriginal shamanic pathways around the world, which is that human beings are not their personalities, we’re not our thoughts, we’re not our emotions, we are not our dysfunctional or functional dynamics, but that at the core there is a true self that is somehow connected to—in fact not connected to but part of—nature and creation.

Gabor Mate is a Canadian physician, speaker and author of four books. He teaches and leads seminars internationally. He has worked in family practice and palliative care and for 12 years worked on Vancouver’s downtown eastside, notorious as North America’s most concentrated area of drug use. For more information visitDrGaborMate.com.

Beyond Meds Monica Cassani discusses the Big Picture

To my friends and readers who still take psych drugs (and to the whole spectrum of folks on and off meds too)

AUGUST 5, 2013 BY MONICA CASSANI

I often stop and wonder about the spectrum of readers this blog draws. I have readers who are interested in mental health and wellbeing who’ve never taken a drug, nor have they ever been subjected to any sort of coercive psychiatric care. I have readers who take meds willingly, understanding that for them at this point of their individual, personal, idiosyncratic journeys it makes sense for them to do this. I have readers who take meds but really do not want to. They have not found meaningful supports that allow them to find a way to be free of them. Then there are readers who have been on meds but have freed themselves from them. Among those readers is a huge spectrum as well. Some were coerced and traumatized in the system. Others, didn’t have terribly traumatic experiences, but they understand that for them medications were not a long-term solution. I also have readers who were coerced and traumatized and harmed who cannot free themselves from the drugs and who have admirably and painfully come to terms with this reality. I am actually in a bit of awe of such people. They do not know what the future holds but they know that for now this is what is best for them. And they move forward like we all do in the unknown. Watching life unfold.

Oh, and I do also, have some readers who are grateful for what drugs did for them. Yes. Some of these folks are still on drugs and others have come off when they no longer felt the need for that support. They understand that a dialogue with all of the players must be had and appreciate the perspective I have to offer as one of the many folks who’ve been gravely harmed by psych drugs.

The fact is I hold a space for every single one of these folks. Our journeys are long and complex and individual. I was on drugs for over 20 years. I hold a space for who I was a …….READ THE REST HERE