November 2008

Quote of the Month:

“We do not remember days, we remember moments.”

~ Cesare Pavese

In this newsletter:

1) Fast Help: Mindfulness
2) Therapist Q&A: Parent-Teacher Communication
3) Psychology News In Brief – Two new staff members added!
4) Programs To Help You
5) Reading Recommendations

1) Fast Help: Mindfulness

Mindfulness is a term you may have been hearing more and more about in recent years. Mindfulness, simply defined, means to bring our awareness or attention to the present moment. Mindfulness has long been a part of life. Examples of mindfulness are meditation, prayer, deep breathing, and yoga. Being mindful or in the moment, allows us to “let go” and become more aware of and appreciate our senses, such as listening intently to the sound of the rain or the crunching of snow under our feet, or the smell and taste of a favorite treat.

The study of mindfulness has gained widespread attention, study, and use in our western society by physicians and psychotherapists. Many of these mental health and medical practitioners are trained in mindfulness techniques to help their clients and patients. The premise of mindfulness training is to increase awareness of “what is.” That is, what is in the present moment. Mindfulness is clinically proven to be effective in the treatment of an increasingly wide array of psychological problems such as depression, stress, and anxiety, as well as with medical disorders.

For example, a person with anxiety can experience relief from racing thoughts by being trained to release thoughts as just that, only thoughts. He begins to realize that his thoughts are just thoughts and have no bearing on who he is as a person. Thoughts are only temporary. As he becomes able to release his thoughts and let go of the past and of worries about the future, he begins to appreciate the present moment, and as as a result, a reduction in his anxiety. He also gains the wisdom that the present moment is the only moment we ever have, whether that moment occurred in the past or occurs at a future time, we always only live in the present.

Mindfulness does not have to be a complicated process or a complete session of sitting and meditating alone, for example. It can be done simply by bringing one’s attention back to what is happening in the present moment. This can be practiced by re-focusing our attention on our breath and tuning into our senses. This can enable us to live more fully in the “now” and with less stress.

2) Therapist Q&A: Parent-Teacher Communication

Can you give me some pointers for effective communication with my child’s teacher?

This is a concern of many parents. Parents love and care for their children, but oftentimes don’t know how or what to communicate to teachers. Sometimes parents may be confused as to academic expectations or developmentally appropriate behaviors. You obviously want your child to succeed, do their best, be healthy and develop strong skills and meaningful friendships. Below are a few tips as to how to communicate with teachers in order to help your child succeed.

Be proactive: Early on, introduce yourself to your child’s teacher and open the lines of communication. This way, you will have a working relationship with the teacher in place, before any problem may arise. This is much easier than being reactive and having to spend more time and energy in order to solve an already existing problem.

Be an advocate for your child: Communicate early to teachers any academic or social concerns you may have for your child. Don’t wait to until it’s time for parent-teacher conferences or until report card time.

Don’t be intimidated: If a teacher or school counselor uses terms or language that you don’t understand, ask for clarification. Teachers and counselors know that you love and care about your child and they want your child to succeed, but they also want for you to succeed as a parent.

Work as a team: Ask your child how you can help him or her succeed. Also, ask the teacher or school counselor for recommendations to try at home. If you are all on the same page, this will increase the chances for your child’s success. If there is miscommunication or resentment on the part of anyone, your child is the one who could suffer. Always try to make it a win-win situation for your child.

Please feel free to consult our professionally trained staff with any concerns you may have regarding your child or their success. We have therapists who are trained to work with the concerns of all stages of childhood and adolescence.

3) Psychology News In Brief

Researchers are suggesting that intellectual work causes people to eat more. In a study published in September 2008’s Psychosomatic Medicine, researchers measured caloric intake from college students after performing three different tasks: “relaxing in a sitting position; reading and summarizing a text; and completing a series of memory, attention and vigilance tests on a computer.” The study reports that the most caloric intake occurred after the summarizing and computer tasks. The study suggests that this may be a factor of the obesity in industrialized nations. (From Monitor on Psychology, November 2008).

CPA adds news staff members! CPA is pleased to welcome staff therapists Jennifer Spotts, Ph.D. and Kim Gorecki, Psy.D. to our team. To read more about these therapists and their specialty areas, please see visit profiles on our website: http://www.clinical-psychology-associates.com.

4) Programs To Help You

In addition to the traditional counseling services we provide, at Clinical Psychology Associates we also offer the following:

• Depression Screening
• Anxiety Screening
• Marriage/Relationship Enrichment Program
• Smoking Cessation
• Career Counseling and Testing

For information regarding any of these programs or to schedule a confidential consultation, please contact our programs coordinator, Chris Lerner at lernerc@hotmail.com or 262-251-1112, ext 8. For a full listing of the services we offer, please go to http://www.clinical-psychology-associates.com/services.htm.

5) Reading Recommendations

Staff therapist Martha Jackson Oppeneer, D.Min., LMFT recommends:

Markings on the Windowsill; A Book About Grief That’s Really About Hope by Ronald Greer
Rev. Greer is a Pastoral Counselor and Marriage and Family therapist whose two-year-old son was killed in an auto accident. Many years later, Greer wrote this book, which chronicles his slow path toward healing and shares insights about how he and his family found ways to make meaning out of tragedy, strengthen their faith and offer support to others as a result of their loss.

Solitude: A Return to the Self by Anthony Storr, M.D.
Storr is a psychiatrist who writes about the fundamental human need to find time for solitude. Storr suggests that solitude offers us the opportunity to heal, discover and express creativity, commune with a higher power and connect with our deepest selves. Although more clinical than other books on our reading list, this is worth wading through if the topic is of interest to you.

We welcome the titles and authors of any appropriate books you have found to be particularly useful. We may then share them in this newsletter and on our website (your name will be withheld for confidentiality purposes). If you have a book or similar resource you would like to share, please email the title, author, and a brief description to cpa@wi.rr.com.