Book Review 1

As I've already blogged about here on this site, I love to read and I love books.  So what would be more appropriate than sharing some of my favorites and my thoughts about them?  I've started today with just some of my favorites in the category of depression/anxiety/self-esteem.  These books would be appropriate for the counselor, and well as a self-help book.  I hope these books help you as much as they've helped me.

Depression/Anxiety/Self-Esteem


Burns, David D. (1999). The Feeling Good Handbook. New York: Plume

The Feeling Good Handbook is a companion piece to the author’s Ten-Days To Self-Esteem.  This is a self-help book with the goal of helping people overcome depression, conquer anxiety, and enjoy greater intimacy in life. The first third of the book runs parallel to the self-esteem workbook, with chapters addressing and explaining symptoms of depression, anxiety, and panic; explaining how to change the way you feel; conducting mood inventories; illustrating ways to untwist distorted thinking and negative self-talk; revealing self-defeating beliefs; explaining how cognitive therapy works; and dealing with procrastination. This portion of the book can seem quite redundant to anyone participating in the self-esteem support group. However, the redundancy also serves as a good memory device for learning to concepts and skills.

The last two-thirds of the book differs from the self-esteem workbook somewhat, while incorporating much of that learning. There are chapters that address the fear of death, public speaking, interviewing, test and performance anxiety, dealing with difficult people, depression and anxiety medication, and good and bad communication, which are not addressed in the workbook. Each chapter integrates tools and techniques learned in the workbook and in the support group. However, these chapters apply the techniques to other areas of life and work not addressed in the workbook.

Burns, David D. (1993). Ten Days To Self-Esteem. New York: Quill

Ten Days to Self-Esteem is a workbook for groups developed by Dr. Burns in the Pennsylvania Medical Center in Philadelphia and used with inpatients in a psychiatric hospital. The concept is based on the cognitive approach, and links depression, anxiety, and relationship satisfaction to self-esteem and how a person feels about themselves. Originally developed as a ten-day treatment program, the workbook is now used with group over a ten-week period. The participants are asked to commit to group meetings and the homework each week. They are also required to complete three mood inventories each week, measuring progress in the areas of depression, anxiety, and relationship satisfaction. Each week focuses on a different dimension of self-esteem: procrastination, perfectionism, self-defeating beliefs, distorted thinking, and the idea that there is no such thing as self-esteem at all. The material is also centered on the idea that individuals can live successfully with depression and anxiety without the use of medication. The underlying premise of the curriculum is that you can change the way you feel by changing the way you think.  This is one of my favorite resources and I use it in its entirety, as well as using individual chapters.

Hollander, Eric and Bakalar, Nicholas (2005). Coping with Social Anxiety: The Definitive Guide to Effective Treatment Options. New York: Henry Holt and Company

As I work with many clients who live with anxiety disorders, I have found Coping with Social Anxiety to be another good resource in this area of mental illness. Coping with Social Anxiety covers the familiar ground of who, what, when, where, and the why of anxiety; current resea

rch findings; treatment options; selecting the best treatment; and the link between depression and anxiety. The book spends time explaining the difference between shyness and social phobias, and includes shyness inventories, such as the Social Phobia Inventory, the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale, the Social Thoughts and Belief Scale, the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory for Children, and the Brief Social Scale.

Other good reads in this category not yet reviewed:


      

The ABCs of Counseling

I thought I would take this opportunity to review some basics about counseling, or therapy.  I often assume (incorrectly) that because counseling has become more exceptable in recent years, that most people know what it is and how it works.  So this is a refresher course for all of us today.

First, a clarification of terms.  A counselor is a professionally trained person who provides services for people who are in need, like a Rehabilitation Counselor, Marriage and Family Therapist, School Counselor, or Mental Health Counselor.  A psychologists refers to a professional who applies knowledge about the mind and the brain to areas of human activity, including issues related to daily life - family, education, and work - and the treatment of mental health problems. A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in treating mental disorders.

A counselor - also knows as a therapist, a Marriage & Family Therapist, or a mental health counselor - should have an Bachelor's or a Master's degree in the counseling, or a counseling related field, such as psychology.  They may or may not be licensed.  If they are licensed, they will often have a long list of initials after their name, like LMHC, LMFT, LISW, or LMSW.  It is highly recommended to ask your counselor these questions before entering into a therapeutic relationship.  It is not impolite to have this information before you get started.  In fact, if your counselor does not want to give you this information, that should raise red flags.

Counseling is for anybody and everybody. Anyone can benefit from counseling if they are truly interested in change and personal growth, or if they are experiencing difficult times.  The way I think about it, there are three different ways or categories in which counseling can help.  The first category is severe or diagnosed mental illness, such as Bipolar Disorder, Schizophrenia, clinical depression, severe anxiety (ie. PTSD), eating disorders, substance abuse, and childhood disorders (autism, etc.).  It is not uncommon for a therapist who specializes in one of this disorders to work together with a psychiatrist or physician to help manage symptoms.

A second area in which counseling can help is in maintenance and wellness.  This is a category is characterized by problems such as situational depression or anxiety (ex. empty nest syndrome, post partum depression, etc.) or a life skills refresher (ex. organizational skills for an adult with ADD, cognitive exercises and coping skills for those with depression and anxiety symptoms, etc.).  These may be people who at one time fit the criteria for the first category, but have learned to manage their disorder, and check in regularly to monitor and improve their situation.

Finally, there is the category that I call "normal people going through difficult times."  This group can apply to most people, and characterizes most of my clientele.  This category can look like grief or bereavement, divorce/separation/loss, career guidance, self esteem, anger management, stress, life transitions (ex. relocation, new job, etc.), parenting, and spiritual growth.

I am a firm believer that all people can benefit from counseling at some point in their lives.  I think most of my clients would tell you, a year after counseling ended, that the best thing about the experience was having a place to vent and someone to listen to them.  Other ways that counseling can help include helping to process information and make a decision; brainstorming; support and encouragement; receiving guidance from an impartial third party; and experiencing personal growth.  Counselors are trained to ask appropriate questions and introduce new problem solving strategies.  Counselors are also trained in communication and listening skills, so it's not just like talking to a friend or family member.

Make the most of your counseling hour by making sure your counselor is the right fit for you and your personality - interview your counselor, ask questions, and find out more about their professional background.  It is always important to view counseling as a tool for change and to bring the right attitude to counseling.  Even if you don’t want to be there, you are the customer, so ask yourself - how this can work for me?  Be open minded about it and who knows - it might be the best experience of your life!

Divine Questions

A couple weeks ago, one of my supervisors presented a topic for discussion: "What makes Christian counseling Christian?"  Strangely (or not, if you believe, as I do, that it's a God thing) that same question was presented to me by my Bible study group just the week before.  So I've been giving it some thought lately, and this is what I've come up with...

I was taught, and have come to believe, that by nature of the fact that I am a Christian, I bring God with me into the counseling setting.  And if nothing else of a spiritual nature happens during that hour, it is Christian counseling.  However, because I believe that God is with me everywhere I go, including the counseling office, I tend to draw Him into the experience because that is what my faith is to me - active and personal. 

Many clients seek me out, not because they have an active faith, but because "Christian" counseling sounds nice and safe.  For these clients who are not interested in having faith, spirituality, or Christianity integrated into the counseling session or into how they think about their life or their problems, at the very least, I pray for them.  I pray for them silently during the session, and I remember them in prayer between sessions.  Some clients are very clear and adamant that God not be mentioned, and that's fine.  My job as a counselor is to meet the client where they are at, in a non-judgmental way.   

Some clients may not have an active faith, but they have a church background or attend church reguarly.  These clients are more open to my mention of prayer or the Bible as good ways of coping with life's challenges.  I believe that the Holy Spirity prompts me to be more open and candid about my belief system with certain clients, and have not offended clients at the mention of church or faith.  For those clients who are believers, or Christ-followers, very often we incorporate God's story and character into their story, and connect together as counselor and client on a different spiritual level. 

Because of my faith in Jesus Christ, my way of thinking about people - their value, their worth, their eternal significance - is going to be different.  However, regardless of where the client is in their life and in their walk, my relationship with the client is the first priority.  Christian counseling does not mean that I preach at anyone.  If I can't connect with the client and build trust and rapport, there is no counseling period, let alone Christian counseling.

This is how it works for me:  Yesterday I happened to come across II Peter 1:5-15 while I was waiting for a client.  Not just a happy accident.  "So make every effort to apply the benefits of these promises to your life.  Then your faith will produce a life of moral excellence.  A life of moral excellence leads to knowing God better.  Knowing God leads to self-control.  Self-control leads to patient endurance and patient endurance leads to godliness.  Godliness leads to love for other Christians, and finally you will grow to have genuine love for everyone.  The more your grow like this, the more you will become productive and useful in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ...I plan to keep on reminding you of these things - even though you already know them and are stainding firm in the truth..." (NLT)  This passage has stuck with me as a reminder of how God and His word apply to my work, and my life.  Made me sit up a little straighter - and wonder how God would be "reminding" me.