what about Environment + personality types...

Dear r(eader)

the post today is a complicated thought process, like the rest of them, that resides in my brain mostly and I communicate onto electronic paper-> therefore its accuracy may be dubious and is suspec to criticism and multi-dimensional correction.
that being said...

I've been thinking about the development of psychotherapy, and the tendency of its practicioners, "followers" and benefactors to be interested in all things psychological. In other words what I mean is - many people who go through therapy become therapists, or have already had some interested in psychology and the like studies. What does this suggest, are we treading on well-worn ground and do we not access the other populations that we so hope to reach [such as politicians, judges, school teachers, and many others].
I'd like to do a study, collecting the numbers of people from various social classes, settings, regions, professions, blood types, and other variables who come for and benefit from treatment.

For now, I'm just looking to meet up with some corporate executives who'd like treatment.
let me know

peace,

little criticisms

Dear reader

I'd like to address in this issue something I recently learned.

I think it takes a special kind of situation, and a particular built-up strength or stamina, to handle criticism. Just think of it - someone tells you that you're doing something wrong and you have to respond to it. You can
1. ignore it
2. deny your error
3. submit to reparative action
4. contest the entire thing
5. you get the picture

So what comes next? If the person (boss, friend, lover,..) tells you something very large that incorporates many actions/thoughts/emotions -it is difficult to translate it into a cohesive thoughtful response. For example, it might take you a while to get around to realizing what happened if someone breaks up with you suddenly. On the other hand, if that someone says "Don't do that!" while you are driving on the wrong road side of the road, it's a bit easier to adjust.
What that adds up to is the following: depending on our state of mind, the person saying it, and
the situation our response is very different. In daily life this would mean that a person giving us a kind remark (with some reproach) would have a greater effect if we were ready to hear it - warmed up so to speak.
So my advice, or the recipe, is to give comments gently, in bite size pieces. That way your warm and caring attitude opens up the person (slowly) to receiving a comment or remark about something you'd like them to do differently.

that's it!

Meaning of Money

Dear blog reader:

This week I would like to comment on a particular issue, which sits at the heart of much treatment debate, controversy, and lamentation.

I think we have all heard of the shortage of money in regards to public funds for mental or physical health. There is always some bureaucrat stating that "we need to curtail spending," or "create sustainable treatment programs," or the worst "achieve cost-efficiency." One might think that on the outside looking in, it may make sense that spending money needlessly is a stupid endeavor. In fact, that has some validity.
However, when one also begins to examine the large amounts of money that is made from the health industry and then poorly redistributed, it is difficult to look at the same argument and not feel a bit nauseated. For example, heatlh insurance companies notoriously make very large profits from the healthcare industry and simultaneosly willingly provide petty sums for mild preventative treatment (to the nearly healthy) and carefully limited amounts the most exacerbated patients who can no longer be denied healthcare services.
The most upsetting part of this picture is that if the system goes under reorganization - it would be possible to provide better treatment at cheaper prices to a larger portion of the population. Of course this is difficult because there are so many points of view about treatment, health insurance, money allocation, etc.
If you dear reader are interested in learning about how to make treatment successful and how to teach others empathy all the while empowering them to work with oppressed populations - please read Tracy Kidder's Mountains Beyond Mountains.
The book is the story of Paul Farmer, an American doctor who has done much to encourage others to help the poor. He has done it by providing an excellent level of care to a very disadvantaged population -mostly through hard work and a devotion to making others around him realize this is possible.

So what is the point that I am belaboring: I think we need to make more effort to change the general viewpoint that mental health is unachievable, too expensive, or unworthy. In fact if enough of us make an effort to work with oppressed populations we can create pathways, beliefs, and points of attentions that others can focus on and elaborate over time.

anyway - just thinking out loud.
take action!