PSYCHOTHERAPY

“Psychological treatment of emotional problems in which a trained person deliberately establishes a professional relationship with the patient in order to: (a) remove or modify or retard existing symptoms; (b) mediate disturbed patterns of behaviour; (c) promote positive personality growth and development.” (Wolberg, 1995)
MYTHS AND MISPERCEPTIONS ABOUT PSYCHOTHERAPY:
“Only weak minded people need therapy. Anyone who goes to a psychologist is weak and can’t handle problems.”
Fact- Therapy is meant for all, starting form children to parents to elderly. It is for all those who realize that they are not able to cope with the present situation all by themselves.

"Therapy takes forever. For every decision to be taken, the client becomes dependent on the therapist and rushes for help.”
Fact- Depending on the aims of therapy, motivation of the client and the extent of distress, the number of sessions are tentatively arrived at. Since psychotherapy aims at self-efficiency, the client is guided by the therapist in becoming more responsible for his/her life.

“The therapist will see things in me that other people can't see and may not like me.”
Fact- Therapists are not mind readers. They understand behaviour by noticing non-verbal cues, history reports by patients as well as informants, but they do not know what is going on in one’s mind until one tells them. Therapists are trained not to blame, ridicule, or pass judgment on clients but to accept them unconditionally.

“Therapy will completely change my personality.”
Fact- Personality is formed over the years as a result of genes, interaction with environment, exposure, etc. Changing it completely or having an overall reversal is never aimed at. Rather therapy emphasizes accepting oneself and being more at ease with the way one is as it helps one accept the losses more gracefully, evaluate the possibilities more openly, and participate more actively in life.

“All that I tell my therapist will be told to family or he/she may laugh over coffee discussing my case with colleagues.”
Fact- Therapists are legally bound to hold everything that a client says in complete confidence with some exceptions like ongoing sexual abuse, intent to harm self, etc.


Compiled by:

Bandna Rekhi

Stress Management

In this competitive world, stress and stress management has become a vital factor of peaceful living- this is the routine opinion we come across.

In reality,if we plan ourselves,we can challenge the stress by facing it and coping up with it successfully. The process of taking up the stress

management may be with thorough planning and proper preparation. The power of stress can be of positive and negative by the way of one's perception.

It may result positive,when it is taken as the perception of challenge with resistance........

- PLEASE FIND THAT STRESS IS VERY USEFUL FACTOR OF DEVELOPMENT IN THE HISTORY OF WORLD AND THE SPECIES OR THE LIVING ORGANISMS HAVE SUFFERED

SO MUCH OF STRESS TO SUSTAIN IN THIS SURVIVAL FIGHT AMONG THEMSELVES.

- WE CAN WIN THE BATTLE OF STRESS VERY EASILY BY UTILIZING THE POSITIVE RESISTANCE OF IT, BUT IT SOME NEEDS PATIENCE TO OVERCOME.

- IT IS THE REALITY OF THE WORLD THAT STRESS IS A COMMON SITUATION IN EVERY BODY'S LIFE, WHICH CAN BE MANAGED AND OVERCOME.

- IT IS NOT AN IMPOSSIBLE TASK IF YOU BELIEVE IN YOURSELF AND EXPERT, WITH A STRONG DESIRE TO WIN OVER THE STRESS.

- STRESS IS A SUCCESSFUL FORMULA OF LIFE, IF WE UTILIZE THE POSITIVE SIDE OF IT(YOU CAN TAKE HELP WHEN ITS BEYOND YOUR CAPACITY).

The action steps are as follows, when it is NOT manageable on your own...........

-understand stress how it comes to you eg: by an issue or person or situation or place etc.

-identify the stress factor, why and when it comes to you- at what situation you feel or foresee the stress.

-locate the real problem behind stress factor-it varies from person to person -honestly verify and accept the fact.

-once the root cause of the stress is found it is easy for anybody to find the solution of the stress.

-find out the probable solution of the stress either individually or by the help of expert (or matured family member).

Finally contact the nearest subject EXPERT or counselor or psychologist as there are a lot of ways and tips to manage or coping with it.

Hence, stress can be managed by physical and mental or psychological activities along with the EXPERT'S guidance and counseling.

So,BE HAPPY...DO NOT WORRY....THE SCIENCE,ALONG WITH YOUR COMMITMENT & BELIEF WILL SAVE OUR WORLD FROM S T R E S S.........

By
P.N.V.RAMANA,

Street children and substance abuse

Today children living and working on the streets are vulnerable to violence, exploitation and substance (inhalants) abuse. These children are coming under the influence of the substances like whitener which is named solution in the streets. Poverty, unemployment, family breakdown, child abuse and neglect are the main factors that cause minors to roam the streets. To cope with their above mentioned problems, some street children resort to substance abuse. Studies carried out indicate that inhalants top the list of drugs consumed. Children chew, swallow or sniff inhalants (whitener and other substances) to deal with the hunger, pain and violence they are exposed to on the streets. Inhalants (whitener) are preferred because they are cheap, their effect is long-lasting and its withdrawal symptoms are mild. Whitener is usually consumed in groups. Many youngsters also consume tobacco, cannabis and over-the-counter drugs. They are generally unaware of or indifferent to the numerous risks connected to substance abuse.

A substance in order to achieve alterations in psychological functioning has been termed as substance use. WHO estimates that globally, 25% to 90% of street children indulge in substance use? According to UNICEF, there are more than 5, 00,000 street children in India who live and work in inhuman conditions and are at high risk of substance use.

Using a substance can have many different consequences. Some of the consequences are insignificant and some are extremely serious. These substances have effects on the body of the user as well as consequences on the life of the user and the whole community. The consequences can be physical like accidents convulsions and coma, malnutrition damage to body parts eg. liver, lungs, nerves etc .cancer Death Psychological restriction of interests and lifestyle depression memory and concentration problems delirium (confusion and hallucinations) Psychosis (fixed false ideas; hallucinations; grossly abnormal behavior Social rejection by peers, family, employers exploitation and violence (including murder) by drug syndicate Inability to work and loss of income legal problems due to: Behavior under the influence of substances Crimes committed to obtain substances.

Abusing substances among the children had emerged as a big problem all over the world; this problem needs to be looked into, so that children can be stay away from this problem.

By
Reema Pandey

PERCEPTION AND PERSONALITY

“We are, what we think we are”, this famous quote is solely based on figurative perception, which extends to our outlook to external world as well. Every person has a unique assessment of self and direct environment. Usually, perception of one is also limited by age groups such as perception of children is mostly based on fantasy and imagination which later develops the base of reality. When we talk about perception of old age group, their perception is based on their life experiences and learning. Some of the perceptions are universal, others are based on age factor and REST are unique in their own way.

Perception plays an important role in formation of personality which is derived from a Greek word means “Mask”. The perception toward the external world formulate our outer personality which can be observed by others, on the other hand perception towards self leads to understanding of our true self, which may or may not be alike our external personality. But, when we enter into any working sector, we are expected to present a certain type of personality. Portraying a ‘different’ personality as expected by certain type job position and title often makes us act differently. Most of the times, these actions become a part of our life and we start taking them for granted. Hence these forced actions eventually chalk out our perception of how a self and others should behave. But, we forget that we only have control of self and not our direct environment, and these unharmonious actions slowly start developing stress. Additionally, peer-competition also creeps in and we further act stretching beyond our limits. These unsought actions harden our impressions, and often we try to direct our actions through our perceived distorted picture.

Distortion in perception leads to many psychological problems. For example if a person perceives oneself as inferior (internal perception) and perceives own life’s situation unsatisfactory (external perception) leading to depression and adjustment problems. For healthy mental health Positive Perception towards self as well as external world is essential for understanding of our potential to achieve growth and development. Hence, correct perception is essential in being able to directing positive energy of self and being able to utilize its full potential, knowing what is our limit as well.

Generally positive perception is described on basis when we say that glass is half full of water instead of half empty, but even when we are saying that the glass is half full, we are still neglecting the half part! There should be acceptance and fullness in the perception, which means we should perceive positive as well as negative aspect so that we can modify it into a positive one. In order to create balance in our life we have to perceive every paradigm of a situation, analyze it thoroughly, develop learning out of it, and act accordingly. There are no rules, but just knowing the self…and that is true personality.

By
Lohit Balani

Telephone therapy is ‘as good as face-to-face consultations

Telephone consultation can be as effective as face-to-face discussion in the treatment of clinical depression, a new study suggests. Experts from Brigham Young University conducted a trial run, which included 30 people newly diagnosed with major depression. Instead of eight scheduled visits to the clinic, the participants covered the same material during a series of phone calls with the therapist. The length of calls ranged from 21 to 52 minutes. Also, the patients did not receive any antidepressant medication.
After six months, it was noted that 42 per cent of participants had recovered from depression. In comparison, similar therapy conducted in person has a 50 per cent recovery rate.
Diane Spangler, a BYU psychology professor and a co-author on the study, said, “Offering a phone or webcam option for psychotherapy does appear warranted from an efficacy point of view. It’s more user-friendly, does not require the patient to commute, offers more flexibility of place and time and also, it has no side effects.”
However, one-third of participants declined the option for telephone consultations, choosing to directly interact with the psychotherapist.
Researchers suggest that for people who are comfortable with phone calls, therapy could soon be cheaper. The researchers cited a previous antidepressant drug trial that happened to include a telephone counselling component.
In that trial, the added benefit from phone counselling matched the results attained by the new BYU study.