For my licensed mental health readers, you might be interested in checking out Physicians For Human Rights (PHR) an organization that helps asylum seekers get proper evaluation as part of determining their application for asylum. PHR has an “Asylum Network” that you can join for free and be contacted if there is a case in [...]
Entries from October 2009
October 27, 2009
Dichotomy vs. Trichotomy?
In the world of Christian counseling past, thinkers (philosophers, theologians, model builders) pondered whether it would be good to consider humanity in two parts (body/soul) or three parts (body/soul/spirit or psyche). These days I can’t recall anyone even raising this as an issue that competent counselors should consider. This absences does beg the question(s): Is [...]
October 26, 2009
PTSD and surgery mortality rates
Today I begin “Counseling & Physiology”, a crash course (6 weeks!) for my students to explore the mind/body connections and how counselors pay attention to the body even if not their primary focus.
Last week I saw this news item on my Medscape.com feed: “Veterans with PTSD twice as likely to die after surgery”
Here are some [...]
October 23, 2009
The practice of unlicensed counseling
The practice of counseling, therapy, psychotherapy and other related terms is restricted to those with proper licensing in most, if not all, US states. Makes sense on most levels, right? You wouldn’t want to go to an unlicensed doctor for your appendectomy. In opposition to Holiday Inn’s ads, you wouldn’t want just anybody doing professional [...]
October 22, 2009
Remembering Little Albert
The latest issue of American Psychologist has a very interesting story about the search for John Watson’s baby Albert. Remember from your Psych 101 class that John Watson, a behaviorist at Johns Hopkins in the 1920s, attempted to condition the infant to be afraid of white rats by pairing scary sounds with the presentation of [...]
October 21, 2009
A friend sent me a book review of Philip Zimbardo’s The Lucifer Effect by a therapist and former educator named Stephen Prichard, MDiv. In the review Prichard picks out a quote that Zimbardo uses (by C.P. Snow in Either/Or). Got that? Prichard quotes Zimbardo who is quoting Snow…
“When you think of the long and gloomy [...]
October 20, 2009
Diane Langberg on the web
Dr. Diane Langberg now has her own website. Check out www.dianelangberg.com for more information about her speaking (both schedule and available audios–both free and for purchase) and her counseling practice. You can see a list of her associates and their specialties. Her resources page has lots of good book, article, and website suggestions regarding a [...]
October 19, 2009
Theological thoughts on intersex and gender
For those in the Philly area, you are invited to come to Biblical to hear a guest lecturer speak on the subject of intersex. Megan De Franza will be guest lecturing in an MDiv theology class, Tuesday, November 3rd, starting at 6 pm. She is a doctoral student at Marquette University and writing her dissertation [...]
October 17, 2009
The most important counselor capacity
Okay, so really there are a number of important counselor qualities and skills. You have to be able to be quiet and listen, to have good questions, and comments, to be able to follow a line of thinking, to have some idea of a goal, etc. But, maybe the most important quality is the ability [...]
October 16, 2009
Retreats
Going on a retreat today with my students this weekend. Sadly, it will be a beautiful spot but rainy and cold. Could be worse, it could snow…
Retreats are to be a time away and a time to reflect. But usually retreats are filled with sounds, with information, with relating. All good, but I’m not sure [...]
