The examination candidate is not a very normal person for the simple reason that he is under severe pressure, although he is alert and his pulse is fast, he is liable to commit elementary errors without knowing it.

Thus, he may repeat or omit one word, miss the spelling of another, or interchange the position of two words. If he reads over, which he hardly ever does, he may see what was originally in his brain rather what is on paper. So, most errors escape him.

More alert than at ordinary times though, his brain maybe; it can play funny tricks in the examination hall. Thus, while struggling with the question, he may suddenly recall an old joke or a long forgotten and obscure incident right there in the examination hall while his pen is dancing furiously on the paper, the candidate may remember beautiful tune as if his mind is saying: “forget this task, enjoy some music”. Happily, these do not usually disrupt the exercise at hand: the task goes on while the candidate may smile to himself at the strange recall of the joke or music.

The brain can play a different type of trick. A fact long stored up and remembered a short while before the examination can suddenly evaporate. All attempts to recall it may prove unsuccessful. Usually: till the paper ends. The fact remains elusive only to resurface much later when not needed.

The candidate does not fare better in an oral examination. His problems are heightened by the fact that his fate depends entirely on the examiner’s assessment of him rather than what he writes down himself. The facial appearance of the examiner is also a strong factor since a stern, unsmiling examiner can be intimidating.

Yet, an examination candidate need not be frightened. He needs all the calmness he can muster. He should sleep soundly before the exercise trusting that all the preparations he made earlier will not fail him at the hour of need. The fact is that one forgets more when one is tired, especially when one panics unnecessarily.

I am Mufutau Wasiu, from Nigeria, Oyo state, in Ibadan city. I was born 0n the 27th of April, 1983 attended primary and secondary in the city of Ibadan now working in a re-known fish farm in Moniya (Tropical Aquaculture Limited. Am living in number 6 off police barracks road Akiyele Local Government Moniya.

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If your response to all the above questions is yes, then you are an ideal fit for the role of a Respiratory Therapist.

Respiratory Therapists (RTs) are also known as Respiratory Care Practitioners. They evaluate, treat, and provide care to patients with breathing or other cardiopulmonary disorders. Their work involves practicing under the supervision or direction of doctors. They also work closely and often supervise respiratory therapy technicians.

What does an RT do?

The American Association of Respiratory Care describes a day in the life of a Respiratory Therapist including activities like:

1. Diagnosing lung and breathing disorders.
2. Recommending treatments for respiratory disorders.
3. Conducting chest examinations on patients.
4. Analyzing breath, tissue, and blood samples of patients.
5. Managing ventilators and artificial airway devices for patients.
6. Educating patients and their families about lung diseases.

Respiratory Therapists provide care to patients ranging from premature babies with under developed lungs to older people suffering from lung diseases. They also respond to emergency situations like heart attacks, strokes, or shock.

How do I become an RT?

The minimum qualification to become a Respiratory Therapist is an associate respiratory therapy degree. Although an associate’s degree in respiratory therapy may be enough to enter the profession, RTs need to earn a bachelor’s or master’s degree in respiratory therapy for career advancement.

In addition to the degree, all U.S. states except Alaska and Hawaii require RTs to have a valid license from the National Board for Respiratory Care (NBRC). The board confers the Certified Respiratory Therapist (CRT) credential to students who graduate from entry-level or advanced respiratory therapy program and pass a licensure exam.

CRTs that complete advanced respiratory therapy programs and pass two separate exams are eligible for a Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT) certificate from NBRC. However, students must ensure before enrolling in a respiratory therapy program that it is accredited by a recognized accrediting body like the Commission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care (CoARC) or Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges (ACCSC).

What Will I Learn?

As part of their education, students of a respiratory therapy degree learn topics such as cardiac & renal anatomy & physiology, cardiopulmonary pharmacology, pulmonary anatomy & physiology, pulmonary function testing, respiratory care protocols, polysomnography, and many more.

In addition to these clinical concepts, respiratory therapy graduates also learn management principles that respiratory care practitioners need to perform supervisory roles. These subject areas include management planning, psychology of motivation, business law, organization design and change, etc.

At the end of their program, graduates have the skills and knowledge to meet the everyday challenges that the work of an RT throws up – be it at a hospital treating patients with chronic breathing problems or responding to emergencies or at a patient’s home providing preventive care.

If you want to stand shoulder to shoulder with the best brains in medical science and assist them in the delivery of health care, if you want a career that is both fulfilling and rewarding, and if you want a job with multiple advancement opportunities, then respiratory therapy is just what the doctor ordered for you!

California College San Diego (CCSD) has trained graduates for new careers in high demand jobs since 1978. This California College, located in San Diego, offers Associate, Bachelor and Graduate degrees in healthcare, business, computer and graphic arts. CCSD also provides accelerated degrees with its FastFlex option. In-demand college degree program offered by CCSD are strictly accredited to meet the accreditation standards set by U.S. Dept. of Ed.

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The important role psychological diversity plays in behavioral science is one of the seven principles of Perceptual Style Theory or PST. Exploring principle #2 of PST:

Principle #2: Differences in perception result in psychological diversity, and psychological diversity is the most profound diversity there is.

People’s psychology is built on their perception of the world around them. People make decisions about how to be and act in the world based on what they perceive. Because perception is different from person to person, people’s psychology is also different. This perceptual difference results in a psychological diversity that is the most important kind of diversity because it is hard wired, not changeable, and not overtly apparent. What this means is that without an understanding of psychological diversity there are many people whose actions, views, and approaches to life will make no sense to you. You may ascribe this disconnect to some more obvious difference between you such as “she’s a girl and I’m a boy and so she doesn’t get it.”

The reality is psychological diversity cuts across all other types of diversity and it is at the core of human differences. Believe it or not, you will find like-minded people (meaning people who see the world just like you do) in every other category of diversity. It’s not uncommon to feel more than a little surprised when this happens to you. So why is that?

Why Can’t We All Just Get Along?

Society provides a non-stop barrage of labeling people into groups. We do it in sports (”the fans of xx team are always exceptionally rowdy”), politics (”all the XX party people are nuts”), age (”Baby boomers just don’t get it, Gen X understands”), etc, etc, etc. At the heart of any labeling is an attempt to qualify, quantify, or explain why there are differences between people.

Social differences such as language, culture, values, economic class, and religion are real, but they are the result of circumstance, environment, and learning. Other diversity categories are facts of birth. And, most importantly, so is psychological diversity. The way you perceive the world is innate. You are born with it, and it is an integral part of who you are and how you experience life.

Physiological diversity is at the core of explaining the differences between people. All other types of diversity are secondary – literally layers on top of psychological diversity.

I am a partner at Vega Behavioral Consulting, Ltd, where I’ve been advising and mentoring people in all areas of life for the past 20 years. I enjoy helping people gain recognition for their natural strengths and talents, and helping to set them up for lifelong success in work, relationships and social interactions. Together with my business partner, Lynda-Ross Vega (who brings more than 30 years of experience to the table as a business executive and management consultant, specializing in human and technical systems) we’re on a mission to help people and companies focus the right talent on the right tasks, and succeed.

If you’re interested in how all of this works, visit us at http://www.VRFTSuccessForLife.com. You’ll have the opportunity to take our Success for Life personality inventories and get started with the tools you need to uncover and utilize your greatest personal and professional strengths.

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School Psychologist- Over the last few years, this career option in psychology has gained enormous popularity. Today many schools across the world are utilising the skills and training of school psychologists. Many school psychologists go into this area of psychology as they wish to work with “early interventions with young people”.

Forensic Psychologists – These are psychologists that apply psychological principles to different legal issues. Their expertise is often vital in court. They often carry out research on jury behaviour or eyewitness testimony. These days, many forensic psychologists also train in both law and psychology. The demand for forensic psychologists is also very high.

Clinical Psychologists- These professionals generally perform their key role in mental health clinics, hospital settings or private practice. Their key role revolves around the assessing, diagnosing and treating clients suffering from psychological disorders. Today it is considered as one of the single largest employment areas within the field of psychology.

Sports Psychologists – This is another career option that has also gained in popularity and up-coming as a major career option. Their role revolves around helping athletes or sportspeople in refining their focus on competition and winning. They motivate competitors and utilise methods that assist in how to deal with the anxiety and fear of failure that can often come with sports. In the last few years, as sports become more competitive this psychological field has also become more and more popular.

Industrial-organisational Psychologists – This field primarily concentrates on workplace behaviour. Today many companies use industrial organisational psychologists to boost their employees’ productivity.

Research Psychologists – As the name suggests they primarily carry out research at corporations, non-profit organisations or for the universities. They usually look at the patterns of humans’ behaviour and try to study variations of effects of drugs, motivation, neurology, genetics and similar other factors.

These are some of the career options in the field of psychology that have gained wide popularity in recent years, so if you are looking for a career in psychology these are some of your options.

Join ATI, a specialised Psychology training institute in Ireland for career focused Psychology degree Bachelor programs.

If you want to become a competent Counsellor or Psychotherapist, you can enroll here for Psychotherapy courses Ireland.

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Regression therapy is a therapeutic process that uses one’s earlier life experiences as source material to resolve current problems. This concept is similar to psychodynamic therapy. However, regression therapy is more solution-focused, whereas psychodynamic therapy is more interested in the process and the experience. Past life therapy encompasses all the same techniques and theories as regression therapy, however, the boundaries are lifted from the conscious mind, enabling the client to explore a past-life.

Regressing someone back to his childhood or a past-life is by no means a phenomenon. If you listen carefully, people regress all the time, whether it’s at a casual party or standing in line at a grocery store. In a therapeutic setting, a therapist will help a client regress and to make the unconscious conscious. By using different therapeutic techniques such as hypnotherapy, guided imagery, relaxation exercises or just talk-therapy, a client can be regressed into a past memory that may be influencing his present life in a negative way.

Unlike many traditional talk-therapy modalities, hypnotic techniques help bypass the client’s analytical mind, thus enabling the therapist to elicit forgotten memories, including suppressed and repressed issues. The more unconscious identification there is, the less our ego is able to assert and defend itself against the inner compulsions and beliefs. Many forgotten memories, especially traumatic ones, are instilled in the unconscious mind. We all have defense mechanisms that shut down our innate ability to tap into our emotions due to our inability to cope with stress, fear, or pain. Compartmentalizing or trying to forget painful experiences is usually our natural tendency. After years of repressing these issues, the actual facts of the event and the emotions that are associated with the event become fragmented – waiting to be unleashed and reconciled.

Studies show that generally a strong experience of catharsis is needed to alleviate one from unwanted beliefs, complexes, or destructive behaviors. Pioneer of psychology Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) learned hypnosis from Joseph Breuer (1842-1925), who had treated a young woman suffering from neurotic symptoms, which they diagnosed as hysteria in 1880. Breuer had the patient discuss past events in a state of deep hypnosis. She was able to recall traumatic events from her childhood, which she could not remember in her conscious state. She was able to integrate the experiences and connect them to her emotions. The end result was that her neurotic symptoms disappeared. Breuer and Freud’s earliest technical efforts were referred to as the “cathartic method” (Brueur and Freud, 1893-1895). Sources say that Freud was not good with hypnosis and found it to be confusing and embarrassing and his success rate with such hypnotic techniques was very poor. He finally abandoned hypnosis and worked mainly with free association for memory recall and to explore the unconscious. Freud’s condemnation of hypnosis combined with the growing reputation of psychoanalysis caused the medical profession to reject hypnosis. Milton Erickson (1901-1980) was trained as psychiatrist, but was most known for his innovative techniques in hypnotherapy, which helped revive hypnosis. It was not until the middle of the 20th century that hypnosis was again accepted as a valuable technique in therapy and for medical and clinical applications.

The framework in facilitating a proper regression is to encourage a client to reenact or experience a traumatic event to as if it were happening and being experienced again. The client is guided to stay focused on all the sensations and feelings that come with the experience on a physical and emotional level. The objective is to get the client passed the point of his conflict, confusion or fear. What makes the experience different and healing for the client is he is able to got honor his true emotions and perceptions of the event without being judged or criticized. The therapist provides a safe space for the client to reconnect and integrate his emotions with the event. When the client moves through his discomfort, this creates the turning point where the client releases or gains better understanding with whatever issues have been constricting him.

Today, there are still mixed opinions about the efficacy of regression therapy. There are non-believers who feel that regression therapy is unnecessary and that the therapist is planting information in the client’s mind. Some feel that it is like brainwashing. These are just myths caused by misinformation and inept therapists. Whether a client is under hypnosis or in a trance, he is fully conscious and in control at all times during the session. He can reject whatever is being said to him. In a properly facilitated session, a therapist will elicit or evoke information that only comes from the client. Every experience is subjective. The only way to truly judge whether or not regression therapy is effective is by one’s own experience. The most important ingredient of any type of therapy is the interpersonal relationship. The technique is secondary.

Ray Doktor is a clinical hypnotherapist, past-life therapist, spiritual counselor, and life coach. He has a B.A. in human behavior and a M.A. in counseling psychology. Currently, he is a pre-doctorate candidate in clinical psychology and working on his licensure.

While under supervised training, Ray’s education included training in EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), Gestalt therapy, and Milton Erickson’s techniques. He also had the opportunity to have been personally mentored by world-renowned therapist, Dr. Morris Netherton. This training included assisting Dr. Morris Netherton in conducting workshops and lectures around the world. Ray has lectured and provided demonstrations at workshops on stress management, sexual abuse recovery, trauma, addictions, health issues and surgeries, prenatal period and birth, past-lives, and spirituality.

Ray has been a practitioner for over 11 years, learning, teaching, and combining hypnosis with other energetic modalities. Visit his website at http://www.wholeminds.com

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The purpose of this article is to show how bullying and other antisocial behaviors at school are preventable by looking at school culture and climate.

There are quite a variety of classroom and school-wide “stop bullying” programs and materials. These programs are useful for raising awareness and providing new skills for students, yet many ignore deeper, necessary improvements to actually prevent antisocial behaviors at school.

The goal of this article is to go a little deeper and look at some fine tuning of school climate and culture as a means to lasting change.

What is School Culture?

School culture is a model or a mindset by which actions are taken in the district, building or classroom. This model of action is based on the past experiences within the district. Thus, new employees or new students become indoctrinated into the culture, learning “how we do things around here.” This is the nature of any culture and explains why it is so pervasive, yet hard to see. It just seems like the right way to do things.

Any school’s culture can be observed in at least three contexts 1) the design and maintenance of physical spaces, 2) the values expressed (either intentionally or unintentionally) by the adults at school and 3) the beliefs that are taken for granted about human nature.

It is difficult to say any part of the school’s culture is good or bad but some elements can contribute to or reinforce antisocial behavior. For example, cramped physical spaces with too many students are ideally designed for bullying behavior. The target can’t escape and the bullier can go unnoticed.

Teachers who turn their back on antisocial behavior or simply stay in their rooms while trouble is outside the door express – probably unintentionally – a value about how students should be treated in this school.

What is School Climate?

Although there is not a consensus on the meaning of school climate many definitions focus on the “feel” of school and the human/social atmosphere. There are four components commonly discussed in regard to climate: 1) physical environment, 2) social environment, 3) affective environment and 4) academic environment.

Like culture, climate can influence or may actually be the root cause of antisocial behavior, like bullying. Each of the four components below can either hinder or help. Problems that can foster bullying are…

• A physical environment that is overcrowded, certain places hidden from view and congregating areas poorly supervised.

• A social environment where interaction is limited, students self-segregate, harassment and other forms of dominance are ignored.

• An affective environment where students are subject to favoritism, most feedback is negative or punitive, and families are excluded from the school community.

• An academic environment where expectations are low, learning styles are not taken into consideration and a sense of community is not part of the learning process.

These components of climate are interconnected. Social interactions are either enhanced or inhibited by environment. The affective environment helps the academic environment because students and families feel more a part of the school.

Prevention

The concepts of culture and climate are critical to the prevention of antisocial behavior at school. Student-centered activities like posters, slogans and assemblies are useful but won’t override the power of school culture and climate. These are forces that will swamp most programs, even those that work on social skills or language.

If bullying is a problem at your school and if you mean to put a stop to it, some changes to school climate or culture must occur. And the tricky part is that it’s the adults, not the just kids that need to make some changes.

Changes to Prevent Bullying

Many of the solutions needed to change school climate are known to us. Nevertheless, they seem too big, too expensive or simply hard to believe these types of changes will make much difference (after all our belief system is a major ingredient in school culture).

If we look at a culture and climate as key mechanisms in prevention then there are some clear opportunities for improvement:

• Leadership from administrators and site based management teams. Culture and climate changes are the work of the collective body of adults in school. Change is most likely to occur when there is a coordinated effort aimed at particular improvements.

• Regain control of student-run areas of school. Schools buses, playgrounds, lunch lines, lunch tables and hallways are just a few spots where kids set the rules. Who goes first, who sits at this table, who gets to play and so on. This is the breeding ground for hierarchy and control. Improvement requires more training and supervision by adults, less standing around and waiting by students and a better appreciation of kid’s time and personal space.

• Support student feedback and reporting. Subtle elements in the school culture discourage reporting. Concepts like tattling teach youth that grown-ups don’t want to be bothered. Repeated surveys of students show that most kids believe adults won’t help with bullying. And over 65% of bullying happens when adults can’t see it. Reporting is critical.

• Work to build a community. A community of people is united pulling toward common goals. Too often schools are cliques and subgroups – both adults and kids – vying to move up a hierarchical ladder. People need to see and experience the commonality of the school community. We see this coming together at times around tragedy or sports teams but it needs a more uniform presence.

A Complex Society

School districts and buildings are really complex societies where bullying is one in a set of potential antisocial behaviors. Bullying is about hierarchy and when kids (or adults) assemble hierarchies form. Sometimes these hierarchies are benign or occasionally positive. Unfortunately, too often, the hierarchies within groups of students are negative and damaging to some.

To effect change in these societies we need to operate at a deeper level, at the level of culture and climate. Understanding how bullying operates with concepts like victim, bullying and bystander or helping students be more assertive in the face of this aggression is important but not sufficient. These strategies place the burden of change on the children, when really it is only the adults that have the power to make significant improvements.

Since the Columbine tragedy in 1999 there has been more attention paid to bullying. This attention has heightened awareness but sadly has not reduced the incidence of bullying in schools nor relieved the pain for many US school children.

What can be done?

What can be frustrating about school climate or school culture for any one teacher or parent is they seem too big to influence. Nevertheless, change can happen with your best efforts. Here are some suggestions:
• Do some research, asking students, where bullying usually occurs. The results are always compelling and clearly show that “place” is the key ingredient. Make these places safer.

• Organize other concerned adults to speak with either the principal, site based management team or the school board. Help them understand the role of the climate and culture.

• Make a practice of listening but not necessarily reacting, to all student complaints or concerns. School staff unintentionally creates buffers around themselves because they are often too busy to attend to students’ issues. Instead of pushing them away, develop a repertoire of simple responses to minor issues so that the major issues reach your ears.

• Avoid creating dominance hierarchies. This includes public embarrassment, clearly identifying people’s skill or intelligence (or lack of) relative to others or simply using belittling language.

References

Astor, R.A., Meyer, H., & Behre, W.J. (Unowned places and times: Maps and interviews about violence in high schools. American Educational Research Journal (1999) 36: 3-42.
Espelage, D. L. & Swearer, S. M. Bullying in American Schools. New Jersey: Lawrence, Erlbaum Associates, Inc., 2004.Gibbs, Jeanne. Tribes: A New Way of Learning and Being Together. Windsor, CA: CenterSource Systems, LLC, 2001.
Gonder, P.O., & Hymes, D. (1994). Improving school climate and culture (AASA Critical Issues Report No. 27). Arlington, VA: American Association of School Administrators.
Reinke, W. M. & Herman, K.C. Creating School Environments that Deter Antisocial Behaviors in Youth. Psychology in the Schools, (2002) 39: 549-559.

About the Author: Contact Brian at http://www.k12associates.com

Brian Koenig, M.S., is the President of K12 Associates. He has been a trainer, speaker, and consultant since 1983 and has worked with more than 100 districts to prevent antisocial behaviors at school. Starting in 1998, Brian developed and implemented The Keep It Safe Project, a five-year pilot program to prevent bullying and other antisocial behaviors in three Wisconsin school districts, funded by the Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual Assault (WCASA). Through this project he discovered that in order to significantly reduce bullying, school districts needed to improve the overall climate of their schools. School districts that over-emphasized bully, victim, bystander programs without looking at the broader climate saw little or no decrease in bullying behavior. In 2003 he followed up The Keep It Safe Project with a new pilot called A Climate of Respect. This work was also funded by WCASA with additional funding from The Centers for Disease Control. From this grant Brian wrote the guidebook called Creating a Climate of Respect, and then a follow-up ebook.

In collaboration with Melissa A. Keyes, Ph.D. and Dorothy Espelage, Ph.D., Professor and Associate Chair in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Illinois, he developed a set of popular school climate surveys currently used by more than 75,000 students, in 50 school districts nationwide. Brian is a graduate instructor through Viterbo University of La Crosse Wisconsin. He has been a presenter at the Wisconsin School Counselors Conference, Association of Wisconsin School Administrators Conference, the Standards of the Heart Conference, and various other state and regional conferences. He has co-authored a variety of articles published in a variety of academic journals, primarily in collaboration with Dr. Espelage at the University

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There is so much fuel for thought in this book, that you will have the opportunity to read several articles as my mental juices are stimulated.

As a Mind-Body Psychotherapist I work with the concept and the emotion of fear. From the lowest level of anxiety to full blown panic, this emotion can cause the heart to race and one to shudder in anticipation of the possible event that one’s life feels out of control.

Decisions made when in a state of fright are not, by their very nature, rational. It’s an emotion, not logic.

The amygdala in the limbic brain becomes activated when we are overwrought. The cortex, the rational part of the brain takes a back seat. The admonition to be reasonable has no effect other than to induce anger in someone in a state of severe agitation.

Let’s look at the word “epidemic.”

Do a “gut check” right now. Just reading the word, does your abdomen twist a little, perhaps even hurt? Do you want to act on emotion or are you calm enough to look beyond the hype to the facts and evaluate the pros and cons of your actions.

Think of your beliefs regarding this word bandied about by FOX, CNN and other national and local news sources. Looking in the thesaurus, one of the phrases is “widespread disease.” That’s what the “ordinary” person thinks of. The mind then runs to such things as the plague, AIDS, SARS, bio-warfare, H1N1 and so on.

People are in such panic they are ready to take any vaccine the pharmaceutical industry dishes out, even though it has not been tested, to avoid getting sick.

What does “epidemic” mean to epidemiologists. Alcabes, who is an associate professor of Urban Public Health at Hunter College of the City University of New York, as well as a visiting professor at Yale’s School of Nursing, describes it as a “disease” appearing more often than usual.

When flu season hits, the outbreak hits the news. When another teen dies in an automobile accident, unless he or she is prominent, the family grieves privately. The number of teens who loose their lives on the road while in a car is four or five times that from illness. Yet the tragedy of the lost future in our youth is not continually in public awareness.

The flu outbreak is unusual. The death from another car crash is tragic but not unusual.

How we handle the out of the ordinary depends upon our own beliefs as well as the attempt of public agencies to influence feelings and actions.

The question for you to examine is, “Are you able to gather information before following the hysteria driven sound bites, or do you allow yourself to be swept away in the artificially created tsunami of fear?”

Cathy Chapman, Ph.D., LCSW is a licensed clinical social worker assisting people achieve their dreams of health, wealth and abundance through Mind-Body Psychology. She works from a spiritual and energetic model employing BodyTalk and Psych-K to balance the body and change beliefs. Cathy offers free of charge a powerful spiritual healing tool anyone can use. Get your Soul Healing Prayer now at http://www.distancegrouphealing.com.

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Feminist Therapy
Feminist psychology grew from the influences of the women’s movement of the 1960’s. This movement was a grassroots one; therefore, no one particular theorist can be named the originator of feminist therapy. Feminists tried to keep elements of other psychological theories that worked but attempted to get rid of sexist aspects of the theories. They then tried to explain some of the common experiences and difficulties associated with the social roles that women endure that may be blocking their growth and development. The focus is mainly on helping women in areas such as assertiveness, communication, self-esteem, and relationships. Feminist therapy also focuses on empowering women by helping them see the impact of gender issues. The aim of therapy is change rather then adjustment. It is important to acknowledge sex roles, minority status and socialization in society as possible sources or causes of psychological difficulties. A core concept is equality; therefore, the therapist is seen as equal in the relationship with an outside perspective who provides guidance and new information but the client is seen as having the power to create his or her own desired outcome in themselves and their lives. Reclaiming personal power is a key concept. A task of the therapist is to help individuals explore and understand what is causing dysfunction and unhappiness and then to help develop strategies to overcome these difficulties…

Feminist therapy is not just suitable for women, men can benefit from this therapeutic process as well. Men also deal with social and gender role constraints such as the demands of strength, autonomy, and competition. In addition, they are limited by the notion that they should not express vulnerability, sensitivity, and empathy. Both men and women are exploited by a patriarchal society and limited culture and gender stereotypes. Men can benefit from therapy by working on these issues and by learning new skills to help them understand and explore issues involved with emotions, intimacy, and self-disclosure.

There are four main philosophies of feminists with differing goals in therapy including socialist, radical, cultural, and liberal. First, socialist feminists emphasize the need for change in institutional and social relationships. Next, radical feminists focus on the need for change in gender relations and societal institutions. In addition, they strive to increase women’s self awareness in regards to her sexuality and her desires and views for having children. Subsequently, cultural feminists emphasize the importance of the recognition that women are devalued in society and how detrimental this is. Finally, liberal feminists focus on the individual and the biases these people face in regards to self awareness, self-respect, esteem, and equality. Many ideas and views held by these philosophies overlap and are integrated with the main focus on equality.

There are four major approaches that are unique to feminist therapy which include consciousness-raising, social and gender role analysis, resocialization, and social activism.

Consciousness-raising is sometimes held in small groups in a leaderless manner involving the discussion of women’s individual and shared experiences. Women in these groups do not have to feel that they are alone and they could listen and support others. These individuals examine how oppression and socialization contributes to personal distress and dysfunction and they talk about ways in which solutions for creating individual and social changes can be made. Consciousness-raising helps women feel more powerful to take steps against oppression by participating in social action.

Social and gender role analysis involves the evaluation of the client’s psychological distress and methods of coping. First clients will learn about the impact and affects of social and cultural norms and expectations and how negatively these issues affect society. This helps the client become aware and identify his or her own experiences in regards to social and gender role norms. The therapist helps the individual become aware of both implicit and explicit sex roles that the client may have experienced over his or her lifetime. This helps the client explore possible origins of psychological distress. Together the therapist and the client come up with ways to implement change and gain self knowledge.

Resocialization follows social and gender role analysis and involves reorganizing the client’s belief system. They learn to view things differently and they develop new coping skills and strategies. Methods are taught that increase self esteem, assertiveness, and self views. A main goal of resocialization is an overall increase in well being.

Social activism is rather controversial and not practiced by all therapists. It is embedded in the notion that “personal is political”, which is one of the basic tenets of feminist therapy. This means that there are underlying roots of client’s problems that stem from society and politics. Feminist therapy should not only help the individual but it should help all individuals. Social activism may involve participation by both the therapist and the client. This can be accomplished by speaking out, organized protests, and letter writing campaigns. Feminists agree that social change is crucial and advantageous to the mental health of all individuals.

According to Gerald Corey, feminist therapy is based on five interrelated principles:
1.The personal is political which implements social change.
2.The counseling relationship is egalitarian which encourages equality between the therapist and the client. The client should be aware that she has the power to change and define herself and the therapist is only a tool with new insight and information.
3.Women’s experiences are honored and they should get in touch with their personal experiences and intuition.
4.Definitions of distress and mental illness are reformulated involving the internal as well as external factors of distress. Pain and resistance are viewed as a positive confirmation of the desire to live and overcome distress rather than being viewed as weak.
5.Feminist therapists use an integrated analysis of oppression which means that they understand that both men and women are subjected to oppression and stereotypes and that these oppressive experiences have a profound affect on beliefs and perceptions.

These core principles set the basis for feminist therapeutic practice and it is important to acknowledge that these principles contain overlap and interrelated common ground. Additionally, Lenore Walker indicates that there are six tenets of feminist therapy theory:

1.Egalitarian relationships: this equal relationship between client and therapist models for women personal responsibility and assertiveness in other relationships.
2.Power: women are taught to gain and use power in relationships and the possible consequences of their actions.
3.Enhancement of women’s strengths: so much of traditional therapy focused on a woman’s shortcomings and weaknesses that feminist therapists teach women to look for their own strengths and use them effectively.
4.Non-pathology oriented and non-victim blaming: the medical model is rejected and women’s problems are seen as coping mechanisms and viewed in their social context.
5.Education: women are taught to recognize their cognitions that are detrimental and encouraged to educate themselves for the benefit of all women.
6.Acceptance and validation of feelings: feminist therapists value self-disclosure and attempt to remove the we-they barrier of traditional therapeutic relationships.

Feminist therapy is beneficial and needed for several reasons. The main goal is change, not just change within the individual but change in society. Gender issues need to be addressed because they can cause psychological distress and shape unwanted behavior. Our lives are affected and influenced by the stigmas and stereotypes associated with these internal and environmental pressures which can affect one’s identity. Feminist therapy recognizes this and implements these concerns in practice. Furthermore, women live in a world dominated by males and masculine patterns of thought and behavior. Until recently, psychological studies of human behavior were almost always conducted by men and on men. The results of these studies were generalized to apply to women equally. The results are biased for several reasons including the fact that men and women are not the same. They have developed differently from early childhood and they tend to view the world in different ways. The media gives young children strong gender biased messages. Boys are supposed to be independent, self sufficient, dominant, aggressive, and successful. Girls are sweet, well behaved, passive, submissive, overemotional, and attractive. There is a conflicting problem here because the same traits that are considered appropriate for little girls are considered negative and inappropriate as mature adults. Males tend to view the world in terms of competition and power, while females look at aspects of the world through relationships and connections to others. Therefore, these studies and techniques may not represent women very well.

Women’s natural gifts of being nurturing and caring do not hold much power and value in society according to our social norms. These views and norms prevent women from feeling a sense of strength and power. These characteristics should not be viewed as weaknesses yet society sees it this way. Women should be commended for all he roles that they play. It is hard to juggle a family with children and a career, then come home and do housework and errands. As society becomes more of a dual income earning community some of these issues may turn in a more positive direction. Men do not have it easy either. If a man were to stay home and raise the children and tend to the household needs, society may call him lazy or worthless. Feminist therapists recognize how these factors and they understand how much relationships, connections, and nurturance plays a huge role in individual’s lives. They consider sex bias in a male dominated society and they honor women’s experiences and instincts as being valid. Feminist therapists specifically address issues such as family and marriage relations, reproduction, career concerns, physical and sexual abuse, body image disorders, and self esteem. One of the most important concerns of a feminist therapist is the empowerment of women in today’s world. Bohan (1992) states six guidelines for feminist practitioners to follow:

1.Therapists are knowledgeable concerning gender role socialization and the impact these standards have on what it means to be a woman or a man.
2.Therapists are aware of the impact of the distribution of power within the family and power differentials between men and women in terms of decision making, child rearing, career options, and division of labor.
3.Therapists understand the sexist context of the social system and its impacts on both the individual and the family.
4.Therapists are committed to promoting roles for both women and men that are not limited by cultural or gender stereotypes.
5.Therapists acquire intervention skills that assist clients in their gender role journey.
6.Therapists are committed to work toward the elimination of gender role bias as a source of pathology in all societal institutions.
These principles are based on a gender fair ideology for counseling which may be applied to family therapists as well. These principles also apply to both individual and group therapy. The fact that many principles of feminist therapy can be incorporated into other therapies is a strength because it can broaden the theoretical base of other models and therapies. Feminist therapy aims at enriching and enlightening everyone’s lives by hopefully encouraging social activism in a positive direction.

There are some criticisms and limitations to feminist therapy. Some therapists may be too feminist and militant in their views there by persuading clients. No therapist should persuade nor tell someone the “right” way to look at things. The therapist’s task is to offer support and information to challenge the client to examine for herself which road to take. Another criticism is the biased stance that feminists take. They are not neutral. They are all for a definite change in society and they should take caution not to be too pushy with their views on clients. It is also important that clients take responsibility for actions and experiences and not just blame society. They can be aware of society’s impacts but they also need to fess up and not avoid taking personal responsibility. Another criticism is the fact that feminism originated and was developed by, middle class, white, heterosexual women. Other races and cultures were not involved. This has been brought to attention and feminists have become much more inclusive.

In summary, feminist therapy is beneficial and advantageous to today’s society. The human race will continue to evolve and new theories will also evolve to meet the needs of our unsustainable, plastic society. Feminist therapists will continue to break down the hierarchy of power by therapeutic approaches and interventions with the overall remaining goal as empowerment of the client and social positive change and transformation.

References
1.Walker, Lenore E.A. (1990). A Feminist Therapist Views the Case. In Dorthy W. Cantor (Ed.), Women as Therapists, (pp. 78-79). New York: Spring Publishing Company.
2.Hecklinger, Fred J. (2003). Training for Life: A Practical Guide to Career and Life Planning. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall Hunt Publishers.
3.Bohan, Janis S. (1992). Replacing Women in Psychology: readings Toward a More Inclusive History, (pp. 88-99). Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall Hunt Publishers.
4.Swanson, Jane L. (1999). Career Theory and Practice: Learning Through Case Studies. Thousand oaks, CA: Sage Publications
5.Benjafield, John G., (1996). A History of Psychology, (pp.321), Needham Heights, Massachusetts: Allyn and Bacon
6.Corey, Gerald (2001). Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy 6TH Edition, (pp. 341-375), Wadsworth: Brooks Cole, Thompson Learning.

Elizabeth Mahaney, MA, MHC, is a Mental Health Counselor and a Marriage and Family Therapist in private practice in Tampa, FL. Elizabeth can be contacted for questions or scheduling here: http://www.goodtherapy.org/m15_view_item.html?m15:item=elizabethmahaney%40msn.com and here: http://www.goodtherapy.org/Tampa-therapy.htm

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Today, the arena of psychotherapy encompasses a broad category of mental health professionals who help individuals and families work through mental or emotional disorders by psychological means. Though, a psychiatrist, psychologist, social worker or mental health nurse can perform the role of a counselor or psychotherapist, the mental health care professional who has undertaken a degree in psychotherapy will be in ever greater demand. So, if you are really looking forward to becoming a counselor or a psychotherapist, you must earn a degree in psychotherapy. Attaining a degree in psychotherapy and counseling can be a real benefit for you. In fact, in recent times, it has emerged as the basic requirement for a psychotherapist’s license in many European countries.

Moreover, it is also important to have the proper counseling psychotherapy training from an authentic psychotherapy training institute. The correct training can help you gain various skills that are required in this profession, for example;

* The ability to recognize fundamental theories or concepts of counseling and psychotherapy that need to be followed.

* The ability to utilise different models of counseling and psychotherapy depending upon the clinical situation.

* The ability to prepare and undertake responsibility for the application of theoretical modals, via individual client care plans that can be effectively utilized in different clinical situations.

However, the key point that one needs to understand is that psychotherapy training takes a long time and you will be required to undergo your own personal therapy. Besides this, as a trainee you may choose from a range of training opportunities from introductory counseling psychotherapy courses, through advanced diplomas, Degrees to PhD as well.

Once you complete your training and earn a degree, you can become a psychotherapist, and may perform private practice or join a larger organization. Today the opportunities for psychotherapists are numerous. All you require is a good training from a good training institute. It may take anywhere from two to five years to become a psychotherapist, depending on the level of education you wish to acquire, but after you complete your education, the rewards that you can enjoy are immense.

Looking for a sound career move? Think about becoming a Psychotherapist! Browse the site for the complete guide on Psychology courses, jobs and career information on counselling and psychotherapy for aspiring psychologists.

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As we enter the dawn of a new millennium, traditional psychotherapy-and the therapist’s role-appear caught in the sort of crisis described by Denise Breton and Christopher Largent in their book, The Paradigm Conspiracy.1 The detached, analytical approach often practiced by psychotherapists since the days of Freud no longer makes people well. In fact, this strict therapist-patient/ normal-sick paradigm may actually make them worse, contributing to deeper feelings of alienation and frustration. For our own field of addictions therapy as well as other specialties, it is evident that the time has come for a “”paradigm shift”" toward a more “”soul-sensitive”" 2 approach to psychotherapy. The need for change was championed in recent statements by Dr. Patrick Carnes at the National Council on Sexual Addiction and Compulsivity conference in St. Louis. Fr. Leo Booth echoed the view that spirituality has become the cornerstone of both our individual and collective healing when he stated that as therapists, “”We must open our mind to new ways of seeing our future…and bring to that the energy of creative positivism.”"3

Authentic Process Therapy (APT) represents such a paradigm shift in psychotherapy — combining the structure of the healing community found in 12-Step recovery programs with a facilitating therapist, and employing traditional as well as contemporary healing techniques to address the deeper issues that invariably arise in the course of long-term recovery. APT and its core concept of “”complete recovery”" grew out of my own personal struggle toward wholeness as an AIDS survivor, as a gay man, and as a person in recovery, as well as from my experience with clients from diverse cultural and transpersonal perspectives, and from the maturing recovery movement over the past 20 years. Authentic Process Therapy may offer an important alternative for treating addictions and compulsions. This article provides a summary of APT, its goals, methods, basic philosophy and spirit.
Incorporating Strengths and Acknowledging Limitations of 12-Step Programs

Since 1935, with the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous, tens of thousands of alcohol and drug-addicted men and women have begun the journey to recovery by turning to a compassionate spiritual community embodied in AA and other 12-Step programs. This approach has been unrivaled in its ability to help people stop active addictions. Yet, all too often, the process of recovery is limited in terms of healing the issues that underlie alcoholism, drug dependency or other life-threatening addictions. The realization of one of AA’s Promises, “”We will know a new freedom and a new happiness…,”"4 eludes many 12-Steppers who struggle between feelings of gratitude (thankful to have their lives back in control) and feelings of frustration and emptiness that something is still missing.

These secondary issues are profoundly important to complete recovery. Even individuals with years of sobriety can experience problems that threaten their continued recovery — among them: codependency and other secondary addictions; depression; self-destructive behavior; underachieving; fear of abandonment; lack of sexual fulfillment; and the array of challenges facing those who are also living with HIV and other serious illnesses. I can attest to the fact that issues regarding sexual orientation can be a particular challenge for recovering gays, lesbians and transgender individuals. All of these, and other manifestations of internalized dilemmas, can keep people in recovery from what we want the most: mutual trust, love, and respect.

To overcome these limitations, notable therapists including John Bradshaw and Earnie Larsen 5, 6 have suggested an expanded model of recovery that goes beyond coping with primary addictions. Authentic Process Therapy is one such approach. APT recognizes that recovery is a two-stage process. Stage One, the healing from a primary addiction to alcohol, drugs, food, sex, gambling or any other dependency, requires a committed, singular focus for at least 1 to 2 years-and more for many individuals. But overcoming an active addiction is only half the battle.

Whereas Stage 1 is “”recovery from”" addictions, Stage Two-the direct focus of APT-is “”recovery of”" fulfillment, wisdom, serenity, and emotional, spiritual and sexual wholeness.

The objectives of Authentic Process Therapy in Stage Two recovery are:

To identify and express complex feelings… A tendency to be overwhelmed by mixed feelings-gratitude and joy for one’s freedom from chemical dependency, and sorrow, grief, or even rage at past experiences-typically emerges with time in recovery. APT helps clients develop a vocabulary for talking about these feelings and coping skills to deal with them.

To connect in more meaningful ways with others in a community… APT is based on the healing community model of AA, but encourages those in recovery to create new “”facilitated communities”" to deal with specific Stage Two issues such as childhood trauma, sexual orientation and how one’s healing impacts and is impacted by culture.

To heal the internalized sexual-spiritual split… A major element of APT is devoted to resolving the conflict between sexuality and spirituality, an overwhelming problem for many individuals in recovery.

To disengage power dynamics… By encouraging clients to examine their own role in power structures of daily life, APT can help to resolve ongoing difficulties with authority figures and intimates, and foster free expression in all relationships.

To achieve a “”shame-free”" presentation of self… Through APT, recovering individuals no longer feel ashamed or embarrassed by a difficult personal history.

To discover an individual “”life purpose”"… Clients learn how to contribute more meaningfully to society, to give back to loved ones, and to help establish a better future.

Simply stated, the key to achieving the goals of Authentic Process Therapy is “”being real.”" The desire to be “”authentic”"-to present true inner feelings rather than a false front-is a minimum requirement for participation. Certain African tribal ceremonies refer to this as “”speaking from the pit of the belly.”"7 While it seems easy enough, it means more than merely speaking what is on your mind, because “”what is on your mind”" usually refers to surface issues that have been filtered through society’s value system. Authentic Process Therapy reaches down past the surface into the deep regions of consciousness to summon feelings that have long been suppressed as the ultimate means of achieving an integration of body, mind and spirit that is often unattainable in conventional 12-step settings, traditional psychotherapy or addiction counseling.

In attaining these goals a helpful device is the use of the The Living Map, in which the healing process is envisioned in the shape of a tree. This bird’s eye view can make the transition into the healing process less frightening by providing an overview of what to expect, and when things get tough, we can return to the bird’s eye view to reassess our position. Most importantly, clients’ trust of their intuition grows during Stage Two recovery, and that it can be increasingly relied on as a compass to guide the individual to wherever he or she needs to be on the tree, and to the people, communities and processes that are necessary for complete recovery.

APT utilizes “”Four Powers”" that dissolve barriers to complete recovery:

1.The Power of Community-based Healing
2.The Power of Shared Intentionality
3.The Power of Shared Belief
4.The Power of Authentic Process
We use the Four Powers to move through various stations of experience toward fulfilling the constellation of shared desires that are inherent in the human condition. Along the way the Tree of Awareness blossoms, producing wonderful and sometimes totally unexpected fruit.

The Role of the Therapist in Authentic Process:

APT is a psycho spiritual approach, meaning that it integrates varied addiction psychology and psychotherapeutic principles merged with modern day and indigenous applications of spiritual wisdom. In spirit, the role of the therapist in APT is much like a shaman. He or she must act as a facilitator, guide, role model and force for healing in both individual and group settings. As such, the therapist is not a removed, clinical authority figure but a special member of the type of therapeutic community defined by M. Scott Peck in his book, A Different Drum as:

“”…a group of individuals who have learned how to communicate honestly with each other, whose relationships go deeper than their masks of composure, and who have developed some significant commitment to rejoice together, mourn together, and to delight in each other, make others’ conditions our own.”"8

Authentic Process Therapy has its roots in the power of the healing community described by Peck, embodied in the 12-Step model and further developed in the concept of “”wisdom circles”" proposed by Charles Garfield, Cindy Spring, and Sedona Cahil.9 In APT, the therapist’s province is defined in large part by the group. A 1993 survey of 130 Stage 2 clients and workshop participants found that the most prominent needs and expectations that recovering people have of their therapists were as follows 10:

•To encourage the client to take healthy risks
•To give feedback, without which therapy would be frustrating
•To provide a role model of what a fuller recovery might look and feel like
•To be interactive and help illuminate dynamics that are debilitating
•To compassionately include and have understanding of the “”shadow self”"
•To understand that therapy is ineffective if a client is suffering an active substance addiction
•To recognize that a new approach/ strategy is required if the process becomes stagnant
•To be confrontational in a respectful manner and in the spirit of illumination

In contrast to traditional psychoanalysis, the community dynamic requires that the client view the practitioner as an advanced traveler or someone who is specially educated in this adventure of life — never as someone who is “”normal”" while the client is “”sick.”" For recovering people, a clinical setting eliminates the spiritual nurturing that leads to healing. Furthermore, the therapist’s removal of the “”self,”" as practiced in traditional psychotherapy can create a painful re-enactment of dysfunctional childhood deprivation. While this might be a treatment goal in psychoanalysis, it can be counterproductive for people in addictions recovery. Instead, in Authentic Process Therapy, therapists and clients work together without hierarchy towards mutual authenticity and community. Everything is discussed, nothing is hidden. APT is not esoteric in nature and is not elitist. People are simply encouraged to speak from the heart.

The Authentic Process approach also eschews transference, the substitution of the therapist for the object of repressed emotions and impulses, such as a parent or authority figure from childhood. This type of relationship makes recovering people feel manipulated, often clouding their continued growth with confusing power dynamics. In APT, therapists are also participants who are encouraged to share their own experiences and life challenges, when appropriate, in order to promote their clients’ progress, either by creating a natural and real relationship, reducing shame, or creating a larger framework in which to process feelings and ideas.

A Combined Approach

The combined approach offered by Authentic Process Therapy has proven particularly effective in enhancing recovery in three major areas:

Overcoming secondary addictions… In APT we recognize that addictions and compulsions are basically coping mechanisms, self-medications to help deal with and further suppress the deeply repressed effects of early and contemporary traumatic stresses, deprivations and cultural prejudices. Until the underlying chaos is released and cleared up, old addictions will invariably be updated with other primary or secondary addictions, in an effort to maintain a feeling of equilibrium and safety when faced with chaotic, traumatic conflicts beneath the conscious surface. With education and “”inner statesmanship,”" these underlying conflicts can present themselves for healing. As we are able to make it “”okay”" for them to come out of hiding, addictions fall away with each exposure.

Addressing Shame… Shame is the nemesis that plagues recovering people in their crusade toward wholeness. To understand the impact of shame-based behavior and ideation on daily life, APT utilizes John Bradshaw’s “”Externalization Process”" technique 11 to consciously make contact with one’s younger self, and with the shame that impedes its further integration. APT is a highly effective way of releasing toxic shame by exploring unconscious material and making it conscious within the safety of a healing community milieu. Carl Jung called this phenomenon “”transcendent function,”" explaining that when unconscious content becomes conscious we experience a sense of clarity, a fuller understanding of ourselves, an experience that goes beyond ordinary, everyday consciousness. 12

Expressing joy… The ultimate goal of complete recovery is the transpersonal breakthrough into what I call “”holism.”" Holism as defined in Authentic Process Therapy encompasses not only the feeling of being whole and complete in oneself, but also of being integrated into the cosmos, one with nature, and connected with all humanity. This holistic experience is accompanied by feelings of great joy, empowerment, creativity and love, from which we can meet future challenges with grace and wisdom. Yet, recovering people are often embarrassed and reluctant to share blissful feelings because they are afraid they will be misunderstood, or that the feelings will not last. Safe friends, communities, or professionals with whom to share these feelings are essential.

Open to All

The freedom to experiment with joy is a giant step beyond traditional definitions of recovery, as well as an issue with which many “”normal”" people have difficulty. Thus, it is increasingly being recognized that the same techniques which empower former addicts toward states of wholeness and happiness can likewise work wonders for those outside of the recovery community who feel empty and unfulfilled. Authentic Process Therapy shares this view and welcomes all comers who recognize the potential for greater authenticity of expression and interaction in their lives. At the same time, APT, with its emphasis on community, continues to offer an important centering point for individuals in recovery. And, because much of the healing and education can take place in groups, workshops or facilitated wisdom circles, the overall cost is less than that of individual care alone.

In helping to fully respect and appreciate one’s own complex nature, Authentic Process Therapy offers clients the opportunity to embark on a most exciting and meaningful inner journey — a path to wholeness, in which recovering individuals not only learn to chart a more effective course through their inner wilderness but to fully appreciate the unsought gift M. Scott Peck calls “”being touched by grace.”" 13

References:
1.Breton, Denise and Largent, Christopher. The Paradigm Conspiracy. Garden City, MN: Hazelden, 1996.
2.Journal of Noetic Science
3.Fr. Leo Booth, Keynote Address, 1999 New York Federation of Addictions Counselors Conference, Albany NY
4.Alcoholics Anonymous. New York: AA World Services, 1955.
5.Bradshaw, John. Healing The Shame That Binds You. Florida: Health Communications, Inc. 1988
6.Larsen, Earnie. Stage II Recovery: Life Beyond Addiction. New York: Harper & Row, 1985.
7.African ceremonies
8.Peck, M. Scott. A Different Drum [tbd]
9.Garfield, Charles, Spring, Cindy, and Cahill, Sedona. Wisdom Circles. New York: Hyperion, 1998.
10.Picucci, Michael. The Journey Toward Complete Recovery: Reclaiming Your Emotional, Spiritual & Sexual Wholeness. New York: North Atlantic Books, 1998.
11.Bradshaw, John. Healing the Shame That Binds You. Florida: Health Communications Inc., 1988.
12.Jung, CG. Psychology and Religion. CT: Yale University, 1938.
13.Peck, M Scott. The Road Less Traveled. New York: Touchstone, 1978.

Michael Picucci, Ph.D., is a psychotherapist in private practice in New York City who offers an interactive and humanistic style utilizing somatic and energetic techniques balanced with the more traditional approaches. Michael is available for consultation and can be reached here: http://www.goodtherapy.org/m15_view_item.html?m15:item=frank%40michaelpicucci.net and here too http://www.goodtherapy.org/New-Orleans-therapy.htm

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