Author Topic: Practical help  (Read 94483 times)

sevenofwands

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Practical help
« on: January 28, 2009, 01:54:38 PM »
I found this and perhaps it might be of help to those of you who need support in the form of a counsellor, in the midst of your grief and related problems.  The suggestions here might be helpful particularly for those who would find paying for therapy an excessive financial burden:

Here goes:

Affordable Mental Health Care: How to find free or reduced-fee treatment in your area
Jan 14, 2009 11:52AM - 5 comments


Affordable Mental Health Care: How to find free or reduced-fee treatment in your area

The following is a guide to finding affordable psychological and psychiatric services in your area. Many people call or write me asking how they can find treatment if they do not have insurance or can not pay their deductibles. It is extremely frustrating to need help and not be able to afford it, even if you have insurance. It is sad that many insurance companies do not cover psychological and psychiatric services to the extent that all of their subscribers can access care. Unfortunately, many psychologists can no longer afford to participate with insurance companies or Medicaid/Medicare. The reasons for this include low reimbursement rates, frequency of denied payment for services, and the burden of insurance related paperwork. While the situation is problematic, there is no reason to assume that you can not get the care you need.

On the bright side, if you can take the time and energy to search, you have a good chance of finding someone who can help. First, here are some terms to be familiar with:

Sliding Fee Scale—this means that the clinician will adjust the price of services in accordance with your ability to pay
Community Mental Health Center—a public, non-profit agency that provides mental health treatment
Pro Bono Services—Free services offered to those in need. The ethical code of the American Psychological Association encourages psychologists to do pro-bono work, and most do some form of uncompensated service.

Do not be shy about asking clinicians if they can accommodate your financial situation. If they can not, they should be able to refer you to someone who can provide you less expensive treatment that would meet your needs. You may also find that a psychologist will agree to conduct a short-term, focused treatment on a specific problem. Ask if you can come every other week or monthly. Ask if there is a payment plan. Some psychologists are willing to provide therapy over the phone or through the computer if your work schedule makes it difficult to attend sessions.

Here are some ideas for where you can find free and affordable mental health care:

1. Call your general practitioner. Your physician should have a list of places he or she is comfortable sending you.
2. Contact an advocacy group’s local chapter. Organizations such as the National Alliance on Mental Illness (http://www.nami.org/Template.cfm?section=your_local_NAMI, Alcoholics Anonymous (http://www.aa.org/lang/en/meeting_finder.cfm?origpage=29), or the Association of Retarded Citizens (ARC) in your area will be able to help find treatment for specific needs. Advocacy groups typically maintain lists of local community therapists and respite care providers.
3. Contact your local hospital. Hospitals take insurance, including medical assistance. Call the Behavioral Health or Outpatient Psychology/Psychiatry department. Teaching hospitals (those that train student psychologists and psychiatrists) may be particularly good sources of less expensive care.
4. For urgent matters, try a crisis hotline. Even if you are not in immediate danger of harming yourself, they can still help. The people who answer the phone will have lists of places you can go where you can be seen as quickly as possible, even if you can not pay.
5. Ask your child’s school guidance counselor or school psychologist. Part of that person’s job is to refer students and families to local mental health care services.
6. Contact your local division of social services. You can often find this through your county’s website, or through private social service organizations such as Jewish Social Services (jssa.org).
7. Private ‘find a therapist’ websites such as www.therapists.psychologytoday.com/ will let you search for providers who are willing to offer sliding scale or pro bono care.
8. Local colleges and universities often maintain clinics that provide care to the general public. These clinics can be contacted through the departments of Psychology, Counseling, or Social Work. For example, if you went to the George Washington University Center for Professional Psychology website, you would find a link to the Center Clinic (http://www.gwu.edu/~cclinic/PsydCenterClinicContactUs.html). The Center Clinic is an example of a training clinic staffed by doctoral students who are supervised by licensed psychologists.
9. If you are a member of a religious community, clergy members can often refer you to pastoral counseling or other mental health care providers who have a spiritual orientation to treatment.

sevenofwands

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Re: Practical help
« Reply #1 on: February 08, 2009, 08:31:34 AM »
I think this is rather good.

http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2008/02/06/10-common-reasons-to-lie-to-your-therapist/

""The truth is that psychotherapy is complex and challenges both the psychotherapist and the client to work outside their comfort zone. Change and progress takes effort, and that sometimes means not always being entirely truthful with a professional. But it also means challenging ourselves to try, even when it doesn’t feel natural or easy.""



sevenofwands

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Re: Practical help
« Reply #2 on: February 11, 2009, 05:12:19 PM »
THE STRENGTH OF LIVING IN THE PRESENT
by Sharon S. Esonis, Ph.D.



""The present is where adversities and challenges – faced head on – teach us strength and mastery. It’s where we discover that we can be subjected to pain and suffering, and yet endure, even thrive. It’s where persistence and intelligent decision-making become the norm and where problems are solved, learning takes place and memory is enhanced. It’s where we can have sensory experiences of a thousand kinds. It’s where we have the power to promote physical and mental well-being, even when the body and mind have been plagued by illness. It’s where we engender hope and aspire to fulfill dreams for the future.

sevenofwands

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Re: Practical help
« Reply #3 on: February 12, 2009, 08:21:34 AM »
http://www.chetday.com/fearofchange.htm

      “Life is change. Growth is optional. Choose wisely.”

      “We cannot change our past. We can not change the fact that people act in a certain way. We can not change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude.”
 Charles R. Swindoll quotes (American Writer and Clergyman, b.1934)
 

sevenofwands

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Re: Practical help
« Reply #4 on: February 22, 2009, 02:12:25 PM »
Why me, Why this, why now?
by Robin Norwood.

A reader says:


"I have been asking the questions this book trys to answer all my life. I found the answers challanging all my beliefs but I could not put the book down. I recommend this book for anyone that finds life unfair and is in search of answers to what life is all about. "

"She touches on any number of personal crises that almost anyone can identify with and introduces some very thought-provoking theories of her own. A small book, densely packed with wisdom and sane perspective."

sevenofwands

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Re: Practical help
« Reply #5 on: March 06, 2009, 07:10:05 AM »
http://www.howtoremarry.com/widowers-remarriage.html

Extract:

"Widows and widowers considering remarriage may face conflicting emotions. Finding love again and remarrying after you've lost a spouse can give you a whole new lease on life. You should celebrate this new step and know that you deserve to be happy, but tread lightly in a few areas that may be sensitive.

When true love is discovered by a widow or widower, there are frequently family members, such as children or in-laws, or even friends who may raise objections. They may feel it's a betrayal of your lost spouse, that it's too soon to be remarrying wisely or that your new love doesn't compare well to the spouse you've lost. ""

And, some food for thought, or even a smile!

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/30/weekinreview/30zernike.html
 ;)


sevenofwands

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Re: Practical help
« Reply #6 on: March 10, 2009, 07:23:22 AM »
http://www.articlesbase.com/advice-articles/dealing-with-emotional-stress-3048.html


"However, emotional stress does not arise from a sudden shock.  It can also arise from a total emotional strain that adds up to an overwhelming strain that prevents a person from thinking about anything other than the problems that seem to have no solution.  Then, as the stress mounts, the mind is left in its own cocoon of stress that can only call attention to itself, cutting the person off from the world outside.  Thus, emotional stress can lead to detachment, and inability to concentrate, fatigue, and even memory problems.



""Unfortunately, emotional stress also increases moodiness, which can often make things worse.  In fact, those attacks of emotional excess can turn emotional excess up to unbearable levels, leading to further attacks.  Then, as these bouts of emotional stress keep adding up, it all becomes too much and the sufferer is left almost completely lost and alone in their own cycle of emotion that hammers incessantly at the brain.

In order to deal with emotional stress, the person who suffers from it needs to take a break from everything that is creating all the emotions.  For instance, going on a vacation can be an excellent diversion, as it provides the brain with new inputs that are not charged with associations.  By leaving the so-called "scene of the crime" the person who suffers from emotional stress will be able to remove some of the emotional stress by removing its triggers.  Then, hopefully, the loop will be broken, allowing the person to start fresh.""


sevenofwands

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Re: Practical help
« Reply #7 on: March 19, 2009, 05:05:35 AM »
Overcoming Loss and Bereavement

""Bad sleep and dysfunctional dreaming are at the heart of how the brain manufactures depression feelings – including those that arise and persist following a bereavement or other great loss.

In this download you will learn of the three factors which are maintaining your depression. You will be able to identify the importance of each of these as contributing to the depression which is persisting and perhaps even deepening since your loss. And there is advice and tools and therapy to help you heal and move on.""

http://www.yetanotherbookreview.com/title.aspx?titleId=7302

sevenofwands

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Re: Practical help
« Reply #8 on: March 21, 2009, 03:27:09 PM »
This is, IMO, a very worthwhile read.

How Fear of Ourselves Entraps Us

http://www.mtoomey.com/fearentraps.html

Extract:

"Dependence on others when it is the outgrowth of fear of ourselves, becomes a dysfunctional dependence that stunts our growth, strips us of our power, and puts us at the mercy of others. It feeds the cycle of dysfunction that is the necessary ingredient for living in a pattern of violence and abuse. Whatever the appeal of women as naive, innocent, helpless children as an expression of female vulnerability, the price is costly, even at times to the point of being life-threatening. Interdependence and the healthy give-and-take of taking turns leaning on one another and even at times being protected by each other, is a wonderful ingredient of intimate relationships. It brings the stature of intimacy and integrity. Dependence based on fear of ourselves brings violation and oppression. It never yields intimacy, and it needs to be feared.""


sevenofwands

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Re: Practical help
« Reply #9 on: March 26, 2009, 06:49:35 AM »
Waking the Tiger : Healing Trauma : The Innate Capacity to Transform Overwhelming Experiences (Paperback)
by Peter A. Levine (Author),

"Every life contains difficulties we are not prepared for. Read, learn, and be prepared for life and healing."
- Bernard S. Siegal, M.D.,

Review:
""The book explains why humans are often frozen in trauma, unlike animals who daily cope with the unpredictability of nature and man. For humans, as is true for animals, the potential for trauma exists from birth through death, with at least one major difference - that humans have a harder time releasing trauma and many carry it all of their lives, which causes major interference with health, peace of mind and the ability to live joyfully and creatively. "

sevenofwands

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Re: Practical help
« Reply #10 on: March 27, 2009, 03:27:09 PM »
Anger seems to be such an integral part of the grieving process, intensely so.  I thought it would be interesting to read this.


http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/pto-20030812-000001.html

""In fact, sudden bursts of anger or prolonged anger are bad for you. A strong emotion that is accompanied by arousal of the nervous system, anger produces effects throughout the body. It eats away at your cardiovascular system, your gut and hijacks nervous system, often obliterating the capacity for clear thinking. And it may even grow in intensity.

But express it—and you're not necessarily better off.
"""

sevenofwands

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Re: Practical help
« Reply #11 on: March 28, 2009, 04:58:06 PM »
"The Power of Now" by Eckhart Tolle

""Ekhart Tolle's message is simple: living in the now is the truest path to happiness and enlightenment. And while this message may not seem stunningly original or fresh, Tolle's clear writing, supportive voice, and enthusiasm make this an excellent manual for anyone who's ever wondered what exactly "living in the now" means. Foremost, Tolle is a world-class teacher, able to explain complicated concepts in concrete language. More importantly, within a chapter of reading this book, readers are already holding the world in a different container--more conscious of how thoughts and emotions get in the way of their ability to live in genuine peace and happiness.""

sevenofwands

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Re: Practical help
« Reply #12 on: April 02, 2009, 04:20:12 PM »
http://www.animalsinourhearts.com/comfort/flwresc1.htm

 

   
 Flower Essences to Help Us Cope and Heal From Grief
by Teresa Wagner

 

sevenofwands

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Re: Practical help
« Reply #13 on: April 12, 2009, 04:56:45 AM »
Escaping Toxic Guilt: Five Proven Steps to Free Yourself from Guilt for Good! (Paperback)
by Susan Carrell (Author)
Your life's journey shouldn't be a guilt trip

.
Do you feel responsible for everyone around you? Do you value the feelings of others more than your own? Do you have unrealistic expectations of yourself? Then you may be trapped by toxic guilt.

.
Trying to win the approval of others--whether they are your parents, spouse, colleagues, friends, children, or church--while being trapped by toxic guilt can strain your relationships, drain your energy, and dominate your life. The five easy-to-follow steps in Escaping Toxic Guilt can liberate you from these self-defeating patterns and put you on the path to living life fully, joyfully, and on your own terms.

. .
By following this simple, effective plan, you will be able to:

. .
Recognize the difference between good guilt and toxic guilt.
Build boundaries around your time and emotions.
Weather the storm of people's disapproval.
Find freedom through forgiveness and relinquishing control.
Protect your sense of self while still caring for others
.

About the Author

Susan Carrell, is a licensed professional counselor and therapist with more than twenty years of experience. She is also a registered nurse, with a specialization in psychiatric nursing, and a former hospital chaplain.

.

sevenofwands

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