Behavioral Activation as Effective as CBT for Depression

From the University of Exeter

Behavioral Activation as Effective as CBT for DepressionA simple and inexpensive therapy is equally as effective at treating depression as the ‘gold standard’ of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), a large-scale study has concluded.

Behavioural Activation (BA) is relatively simple, meaning it can be delivered by more junior staff with less training, making it a cost-effective option. It is around 20 per cent cheaper than CBT, meaning it could help ease current difficulties in accessing therapy, and could make it more realistic to deliver for a wider range of countries worldwide. BA encourages people to focus on meaningful activities driven by their own personal values as a way of overcoming depression.

Led by researchers from the University of Exeter, the multi-centre COBRA study is one of the largest in the world to assess psychological treatments of depression through a randomised controlled trial, by comparing different treatments between groups.

The study was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment Programme and published in The Lancet. A collaborative team of researchers from the Universities of Exeter, York, Kings College London and Tees Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust worked with clinical services, to investigate the effectiveness and cost effectiveness of BA. The treatments were delivered by NHS mental health workers and therapists in NHS Mental health Trusts in Devon (Devon Partnership NHS Trust), County Durham (Tees, Esk and Wear Valley’s NHS Foundation Trust) and Leeds (Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust).

Professor David Richards, NIHR Senior Investigator at the University of Exeter Medical School, led the study. He said: “Effectively treating depression at low cost is a global priority. Our finding is the most robust evidence yet that Behavioural Activation is just as effective as CBT, meaning an effective workforce could be trained much more easily and cheaply without any compromise on the high level of quality. This is an exciting prospect for reducing waiting times and improving access to high-quality depression therapy worldwide, and offers hope for countries who are currently struggling with the impact of depression on the health of their peoples and economies.”

Clinical depression is the second largest cause of disability globally, affecting around 350 million people worldwide. The impact on economic output across the world is projected to be US$5.36 trillion between 2011 and 2030. Although CBT is known to be effective, access is often restricted, with long waiting lists. In England, 1 in 10 people have been waiting over a year to receive talking therapy, whilst in the USA, only about a quarter of people with depression have received any type of psychological therapy in the last 12 months.

Yet, until now, the UK’s National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has said there is insufficient evidence to recommend behavioural activation as a first-line treatment in clinical guidelines, and has called for more robust research to investigate the benefits. The Cost and Outcome of Behavioural Activation versus Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Depression (COBRA) trial, one of the largest of its kind in the world, was designed to meet this need.

The trial recruited participants from primary care and psychological services in three sites in Devon, Durham, and Leeds. The 440 participants were split into two groups — 219 were given CBT and 221 received BA. The groups were followed up and assessed at six, 12 and 18 months. The researchers found no difference between the groups at follow-up, providing the strongest evidence to date that BA is just as effective as CBT.

Behavioural activation is an ‘outside in’ treatment that focusses on helping people with depression to change the way they act. BA helps people make the link between their behaviour and their mood. Therapists help people to seek out and experience more positive situations in their lives. The treatment also helps people reduce the amount of times they avoid difficult situations and helps them find alternatives to unhelpful habitual behaviours.

In contrast, CBT is an ‘inside out’ treatment where therapists focus on the way a person thinks. Therapists help people to identify and challenge their thoughts and beliefs about themselves, the world and their future. CBT helps people to identify and modify negative thoughts and the beliefs that give rise to them.

A year after the start of treatment, BA was found to be non-inferior (not worse than) than CBT, with around two-thirds of participants in both groups reporting at least a 50% reduction in depressive symptoms. Participants in both groups also reported similar numbers of depression free days and anxiety diagnoses, and were equally likely to experience remission. Cost of delivery for BA therapy was found to be around 20% cheaper than CBT.

In line with other trials of a similar nature, drop-out rates were around 20% and around a third of participants in both groups did not attend the minimum number of therapy sessions.

Dr Peter Aitken, Director of Research and Development at Devon Partnership NHS Trust, said: “Research into psychological therapies and mental health is incredibly important and we are always looking for treatments and approaches that offer people better outcomes and, wherever possible, improved cost efficiency. Last year our Depression and Anxiety Service in Devon, which supports people with mild to moderate needs, received 20,000 referrals and we know that the incidence of depression is steadily increasing. Contributing to the research agenda and taking forward treatments such as Behavioural Activation is vital if our services are to keep pace with this rising demand and offer value for money.”

Dr David Ekers, nurse consultant from TEWV, who led the Durham study site, said: “The practical nature of BA and the relative simplicity of delivery makes it an attractive option for NHS services. We have already seen considerable interest within TEWV to make this effective intervention more available to its service users. Whilst we must ensure ongoing quality to reflect what was provided in the COBRA study, this intervention will offer a cost effective option to provide evidence based psychological interventions for depression across a range of clinical teams.”

Related Continuing Education Courses

In the Zone: Finding Flow Through Positive Psychology is a 2-hour online continuing education (CE) course that offers a how-to guide on incorporating flow into everyday life. According to the CDC, four out of ten people have not discovered a satisfying life purpose. Further, the APA reports that most people suffer from moderate to high levels of stress, and according to SAMSHA, adult prescription medication abuse (primarily to counteract attention deficit disorders) is one of the most concerning health problems today. And while clinicians now have a host of resources to mitigate distress and reduce symptomatology, the question remains: how do clinicians move clients beyond baseline levels of functioning to a state of fulfillment imbued with a satisfying life purpose? The answer may lie in a universal condition with unexpected benefits…This course will explore the concept of flow, also known as optimal performance, which is a condition we are all capable of, yet seldom cultivate.

 

Everyone occasionally feels blue or sad. But these feelings are usually short-lived and pass within a couple of days. When you have depression, it interferes with daily life and causes pain for both you and those who care about you. Depression is a common but serious illness. Many people with a depressive illness never seek treatment. But the majority, even those with the most severe depression, can get better with treatment. Medications, psychotherapies, and other methods can effectively treat people with depression.Some types of depression tend to run in families. However, depression can occur in people without family histories of depression too. Scientists are studying certain genes that may make some people more prone to depression. Some genetics research indicates that risk for depression results from the influence of several genes acting together with environmental or other factors. In addition, trauma, loss of a loved one, a difficult relationship, or any stressful situation may trigger a depressive episode. Other depressive episodes may occur with or without an obvious trigger.This introductory course provides an overview to the various forms of depression, including signs and symptoms, co-existing conditions, causes, gender and age differences, and diagnosis and treatment options.

 

Nearly every client who walks through a health professional’s door is experiencing some form of anxiety. Even if they are not seeking treatment for a specific anxiety disorder, they are likely experiencing anxiety as a side effect of other clinical issues. For this reason, a solid knowledge of anxiety management skills should be a basic component of every therapist’s repertoire. Clinicians who can teach practical anxiety management techniques have tools that can be used in nearly all clinical settings and client diagnoses. Anxiety management benefits the clinician as well, helping to maintain energy, focus, and inner peace both during and between sessions. The purpose of this course is to offer a collection of ready-to-use anxiety management tools.

 

This CE test is based on the book “The Mindfulness Workbook for Addiction: A Guide to Coping with the Grief, Stress and Anger that Trigger Addictive Behaviors” (2012, 232 pages). This workbook presents a comprehensive approach to working with clients in recovery from addictive behaviors and is unique in that it addresses the underlying loss that clients have experienced that may be fueling addictive behaviors. Counseling skills from the field of mindfulness therapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, and dialectical behavioral therapy are outlined in a clear and easy-to-implement style. Healthy strategies for coping with grief, depression, anxiety, and anger are provided along with ways to improve interpersonal relationships.

 

Professional Development Resources is approved to offer continuing education by the American Psychological Association (APA); the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC); the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB); the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA); the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA); the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR); the Alabama State Board of Occupational Therapy; the Florida Boards of Social Work, Mental Health Counseling and Marriage and Family Therapy, Psychology & School Psychology, Dietetics & Nutrition, Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, and Occupational Therapy Practice; the Ohio Counselor, Social Worker & MFT Board and Board of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology; the South Carolina Board of Professional Counselors & MFTs; and by the Texas Board of Examiners of Marriage & Family Therapists and State Board of Social Worker Examiners.

 

Lack of Sleep Increases Risk for Emotional Disorders in Children

From the University of Houston

Lack of Sleep In Kids Increase Risk for Emotional DisordersChildren who experience inadequate or disrupted sleep are more likely to develop depression and anxiety disorders later in life according to recent research. The study seeks to determine the precise ways inadequate sleep in childhood produces elevated risk for emotional disorders in later years.

Candice Alfano, a clinical psychologist and associate psychology professor at the University of Houston, says children who experience inadequate or disrupted sleep are more likely to develop depression and anxiety disorders later in life. Funded by a grant from the NIH’s National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), the study seeks to determine the precise ways inadequate sleep in childhood produces elevated risk for emotional disorders in later years.

“In particular, we are interested in understanding how children appraise, express, regulate and later recall emotional experiences, both when sleep is adequate and when it is inadequate,” said Alfano, who is the principal investigator of the study and director of the Sleep and Anxiety Center of Houston (SACH). “We focus on childhood, because similar to problems with anxiety and depression, sleep habits and patterns develop early in life and can be enduring.”

Alfano and co-investigator Cara Palmer, who is a postdoctoral fellow at SACH, are identifying distinct emotional processes that, when disrupted by poor sleep, make children vulnerable to developing anxiety and depression. To pinpoint these cognitive, behavioral and physiological patterns of emotional risk, they are temporarily restricting sleep in 50 pre-adolescent children between the ages of 7 to 11.

Their findings reveal that inadequate sleep impacts children’s emotional health not only by creating more negative emotions, but also by altering positive emotional experiences. For example, after just two nights of poor sleep, children derive less pleasure from positive things, are less reactive to them and less likely to recall details about these positive experiences later. When their normal nightly sleep habits are adequate in duration, however, they’re finding these emotional effects are less apparent.

“Healthy sleep is critical for children’s psychological well-being,” Alfano said. “Continually experiencing inadequate sleep can eventually lead to depression, anxiety and other types of emotional problems. Parents, therefore, need to think about sleep as an essential component of overall health in the same way they do nutrition, dental hygiene and physical activity. If your child has problems waking up in the morning or is sleepy during the day, then their nighttime sleep is probably inadequate. This can result for several reasons, such as a bedtime that is too late, non-restful sleep during the night or an inconsistent sleep schedule.”

Alfano says studying the link between sleep disruption and maladaptive emotional processing in childhood is essential, because that’s when sleep and emotion regulatory systems are developing. The increased need for sleep and greater brain plasticity during childhood suggests this to be a critical window of opportunity for early intervention. The combined societal costs of anxiety and depressive disorders are estimated to be more than $120 billion annually, underscoring the need for early identification of risk factors and effective intervention methods.

A recent article appearing in the journal Sleep Medicine Reviews authored by Palmer and Alfano reviewed the scientific literature on sleep and emotion regulation, partly to inform the methods of their NIH study. Their article provides evidence that without adequate sleep, people are less likely to seek out positive or rewarding experiences if they require effort, such as social or leisure activities. Over time, they say, these behavioral changes can elevate risk for depression and an overall poorer quality of life.

“There are multiple emotional processes that seem to be disrupted by poor sleep,” Alfano said. “For example, our ability to self-monitor, pick up on others’ nonverbal cues and accurately identify others’ emotions diminishes when sleep is inadequate. Combine this with less impulse control, a hallmark feature of the teenage years, and sleep deprivation can create a ‘perfect storm’ for experiencing negative emotions and consequences.” Original Article

Related Continuing Education Courses

Improving Social Skills in Children & Adolescents is a 4-hour online continuing education course that discusses the social skills children and adolescents will need to develop to be successful in school and beyond. It will demonstrate the challenges and difficulties that arise from a deficit of these crucial skills, as well as the benefits and advantages that can come about with well-developed social skills.This course will also provide practical tools that teachers and therapists can employ to guide children to overcome their difficulties in the social realm and gain social competence. While there are hundreds of important social skills for students to learn, we can organize them into skill areas to make it easier to identify and determine appropriate interventions. This course is divided into 10 chapters, each detailing various aspects of social skills that children, teens, and adults must master to have normative, healthy relationships with the people they encounter every day. This course provides tools and suggestions that, with practice and support, can assist them in managing their social skills deficits to function in society and nurture relationships with the peers and adults in their lives.

 

Children with difficult temperaments and those with developmental delays may have learned to express their dissatisfaction with challenging and defiant behavior like whining, anger, temper tantrums or bad language. They sometimes engage in negative behavior or “misbehave” because they do not have the necessary skills – communicative or otherwise – to make their needs known. The purpose of this course is to teach clinicians effective and practical strategies to manage challenging and defiant behavior in their young clients. The course will also focus on how clinicians can educate parents on how to manage difficult behavior and avoid power struggles at home. The dynamics and techniques described in this course are intended for use with typically functioning children and those with developmental or language delays. They are not generally adequate or even appropriate for children with serious behavior conditions like oppositional defiant disorder or conduct disorders.

 

It has long been observed that there are certain children who experience better outcomes than others who are subjected to similar adversities, and a significant amount of literature has been devoted to the question of why this disparity exists. Research has largely focused on what has been termed “resilience.” Health professionals are treating an increasing number of children who have difficulty coping with 21st century everyday life. Issues that are hard to deal with include excessive pressure to succeed in school, bullying, divorce, or even abuse at home. This course provides a working definition of resilience and descriptions of the characteristics that may be associated with better outcomes for children who confront adversity in their lives. It also identifies particular groups of children – most notably those with developmental challenges and learning disabilities – who are most likely to benefit from resilience training. The bulk of the course – presented in two sections – offers a wide variety of resilience interventions that can be used in therapy, school, and home settings.

 

Professional Development Resources is a Florida nonprofit educational corporation 501(c)(3) approved to offer continuing education by the American Psychological Association (APA): the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC); the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB); the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA); the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA); the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR); the Alabama State Board of Occupational Therapy; the Florida Boards of Social Work, Mental Health Counseling and Marriage and Family Therapy, Psychology & School Psychology, Dietetics & Nutrition, Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, and Occupational Therapy Practice; the Ohio Counselor, Social Worker & MFT Board and Board of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology; the South Carolina Board of Professional Counselors & MFTs; and by the Texas Board of Examiners of Marriage & Family Therapists and State Board of Social Worker Examiners. We are CE Broker compliant (all courses are reported within one week of completion.

 

Did Prince Really Die from the Flu Virus?

By Sara G. Miller

Did Prince Really Die from the FluPop music superstar Prince died yesterday leaving behind a legacy of musical inspiration.

Exactly what caused the death of singer-songwriter Prince yesterday (April 21) at age 57 is still unknown; however, some reports suggest that he may have died of the flu, which he was hospitalized for several days ago, his publicist told news sources.

People often underestimate how deadly the flu is, said Dr. Amesh Adalja, an infectious-disease specialist and a senior associate at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center’s Center for Health Security. Adalja has not treated Prince and was not involved with his case.

“Flu is a deadly infectious disease that kills thousands of people every year,” Adalja told Live Science. But because these deaths occur mostly in the very young and the old, people don’t really think about it in terms of a 57-year-old, he said. However, dying of the flu is something that can happen easily under certain circumstances, he said.

There are several different ways that flu can kill someone.

One way is directly from the virus, Adalja said. The flu virus can cause such overwhelming inflammation in a person’s lungs that they die due to respiratory failure, he said. The influenza virus can damage the lungs to the point that it becomes impossible for enough oxygen to pass through the lung tissue and into the person’s blood, he said. When death occurs this way, it usually happens very quickly, he said.

People can also die of a secondary bacterial infection, Adalja said. When someone is sick with the flu, they may become more vulnerable to a bacterial infection that can cause pneumonia, he said. During the 1918 flu pandemic, the majority of deaths were caused by such secondary bacterial infections, he added. Death from secondary infections take a bit longer than death from the virus itself — usually about a week or so — because it takes a while for the secondary infection to set in, he said.

Flu can lead to deaths in other ways as well, Adalja said. For example, people who are sick with the flu can experience organ failure throughout their body. Doctors call this “multiple organ failure,” and it can lead to death, he said.

The number of deaths from the flu in the U.S. varies widely from year to year, according to a study that looked at flu deaths between 1976 and 2007. Flu-associated deaths in a year ranged from a low of about 3,000 to a high of about 49,000, the study found. Original Article

Ways to Improve Your Mental Health for 2016

By Lindsay Holmes

Improving Mental Health for 2016New Year’s resolutions often focus on improving physical health, but what if you focused on mental health this year?

While the culture at large often dismisses mental self-care, in part because of the stigma against those facing mental illness, emotional well-being is a priority for everyone: One in four people globally will experience a mental health issue at some point in his or her life.

But even if you aren’t facing an issue like anxiety or depression, focusing on your mental well-being could still make 2016 the best year yet. Mental health affects how you think, feel and act on a daily basis, as well as influences how you handle stress, make decisions and connect with others.

If you’re set on making a vow for improvement next year, add mental health to the top of your priority list. Here are some easy ways to do that:

1. Talk to your doctor.

The first initial step of any health transformation is to consult a medical professional about the appropriate steps to take. General physicians are able to offer depression screenings (in fact, some even recommend that they should be a requirement) and mental health consultations. They can then refer you to a clinician who is able to tailor to your specific needs.

2. Practice gratitude.

Life’s so much better when you’re acknowledging the bright side. Research suggests that expressing what you’re thankful for — from your dog to your favorite song on the radio — will improve your mental well-being. Looking for some suggestions? Here are 100 things many people forget to be grateful for on a regular basis.

meditation3. Try meditation.

Meditation is no longer some New Age fad that’s too intimidating to try. The practice has a host of health benefits, from better concentration to — yep — improved mental well-being. There are multiple methods of meditation that offer varying degrees of investment. That being said, the practice doesn’t have to be complicated: Try just setting aside five minutes for meditation when you wake up or before you go to bed. You’ll likely either start or end your day on a positive note.

4. Write in a journal.

Putting pen to paper can be a liberating and cathartic experience. Try keeping a journal or even just writing your anxieties and tossing them in the trash. A 2012 study found that writing what’s stressing you out and then physically throwing it away may help clear your mind. Experts also suggest writing when your worries are keeping you up at night.

5. Go to therapy.

Speaking of therapy — do it. Seriously. Just like you’d see a doctor for a physical illness, the same standard should apply to mental illness. There are multiple methods, from talk therapy to behavioral therapy, and a mental health professional can help you figure out the avenue that works best for you.

“Talking about your issues and problems out loud can be very helpful. It gives some perspective,” Gregory Dalack, chair of the department of psychiatry at the University of Michigan, previously told HuffPost. “Talking with somebody who is trained to understand anxiety and depression can be even more helpful to help manage those symptoms, reframe some of the negative thoughts we tend to have and move us to a place [mentally] where we can cope with those difficulties.”

6. Exercise at least a few times per week.

Endorphins are magical. When you exercise, your brain releases the feel-good chemicals, giving you an instant mood boost. Additionally, try to take your workout outdoors. Research suggests group walks (yes, walking is considered exercise) in nature can help ease depressive symptoms.

7. Lean on your support system.

After all, what are friends for? A 2011 study found that spending time with your BFF can reduce stress. Research also shows that social connection is imperative to mental health. Spend as much time as possible with your loved ones, whether it’s going to dinner or just watching a movie together.

educate yourself8. Educate yourself.

About mental health and about the world around you, that is. Mental health conditions are much easier to manage when you know what’s really happening inside the mind. For example, did you know that some disorders may be genetic? Did you know that many conditions have physical symptoms? Learn as much as you can about what you’re dealing with or what your loved ones are experiencing.

“It’s important to get educated and empowered,” Mary Giliberti, executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, previously told HuffPost. “Learn about the conditions and seek out assistance from a professional and other people.”

Additionally, keep an insatiable appetite for knowledge in general. Read a book, go to a museum or pick up a new language. Research shows continuing to learn beyond the boundaries of school can help keep your mind sharp.

9. Adopt a well-balanced diet.

Put good in, get good out. Eating well is key to overall health, including your mental well-being. Try incorporating fruits and vegetables in your diet more often along with brain-boosting foods like walnuts and spinach.

10. Listen to sad music.

Go on, sing (and listen to) the blues. Letting yourself indulge in melancholy melodies may actually help perk you up in the long run. Research shows sad songs may help you heal after a breakup. They also may prompt a few tears — which science says is good for you. One recent study found that a good cry can help boost your mood.

11. Travel.

Sometimes a change of perspective involves a change of scenery. There are many testimonies from people who have said their wanderlust has changed their life for the better. Science seemingly backs this up: Research suggests that planning a vacation can increase your overall happiness as you anticipate your trip. If you’re looking for travel suggestions, someplace with water may be a good place to start. Studies show being near the ocean can make you calmer.

12. Sleep more.

Who doesn’t love an excuse to sleep in? A lack of sleep doesn’t just wreak havoc on your physical health, but it seriously messes with your mental health. Research shows sleep deprivation can make it difficult for someone to regulate their emotions. Poor sleep is also a sign of more serious mental health problems. Try going to bed just 10 minutes earlier every night (and use one of these sleep tips if you’re feeling too anxious to drift off) and work your way up to a healthy amount of sleep.

13. Do a digital detox.

Social media is basically just a highlight reel of someone’s life — but that most likely doesn’t stop you from feeling a pang of envy every time someone posts a photo of their fabulous party, their new car or their shiny engagement ring. Research suggests that people can feel depressive symptoms from scrolling Facebook, likely due to the internal social comparison that’s taking place. The antidote? A break. Ditch those devices every so often for the sake of your mental health.

14. Express kindness toward someone else.

Want to feel good yourself? Make someone else feel good. Studies show that kindness can be cyclical. When you do a good deed for others, that makes them happier, which in turns make you happier, too. Even the smallest gesture can make a difference. Pay it forward every so often and reap the benefits.

15. Learn to say no.

It may be just two tiny letters, but this is your gentle reminder that “no” is a complete sentence. Burnout happens easily — in the office and outside of it. Make sure to spend some time alone and prioritize your well-being. If you don’t want to go to a party, don’t do it. If you feel overwhelmed by your workload, speak up. Self care is not selfish.

16. Talk to others about mental health.

You never know who you may be helping by opening up about your own experience. Celebrities from Demi Lovato to Colton Haynes and brave projects like documentaries and photo series have all addressed mental health issues this year alone — and our society is much better for it.

The only way our culture is going to be eradicated from the stigma of mental illness is if the conversation continues. You can be part of that change.

Here’s to 2016 being the year of you!

Original: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/how-to-improve-mental-health_56684e10e4b0f290e52154ba?utm_hp_ref=mental-health

Related Continuing Education Courses of Interest

Rebecca E. Williams, Ph.D. is a licensed psychologist, clinical supervisor, and award-winning author. She specializes in recovery from mental illness, addictions, and life’s challenges. Dr. Williams received her master’s degree in Counseling and Consulting Psychology from Harvard University and her Ph.D. from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She is currently a clinic director at the Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System.

 

This is the first course in a three part series and includes the story of Deirdre Rand’s journey with her animal companions and the lessons learned from the challenges and rewards of those relationships. Also discussed are temperament, socialization and training; the role of the neurohormone oxytocin in strengthening the human-companion animal bond; the founding of the three major organizations which register volunteer handler/therapy teams, along with the contributions of key historic figures in developing animal-assisted therapy as we know it today; examples of animal-assisted interventions with dogs, cats and other animals; and attributes of a great therapy animal and a great handler.

 

The breath is intrinsically linked to the nervous system and has a powerful effect on both the mind and body, yet has been largely overlooked as a mechanism of change within medicine and mental health. This course is based on an audio book by Andrew Weil, MD, Breathing: The Master Key to Self-Healing (1999), in which he describes the physiological mechanisms by which the breath affects the mind and body. After an introductory lecture, he teaches several calming, relaxing breathing techniques, as well as an energizing breathing technique. This audio book is a valuable resource for therapists and medical professionals to learn these techniques and to use with clients.

 

This CE test is based on the book “A Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Workbook” (2010, 224 pages). Stress and pain are nearly unavoidable in our daily lives; they are part of the human condition. This stress can often leave us feeling irritable, tense, overwhelmed, and burned-out. The key to maintaining balance is responding to stress not with frustration and self-criticism, but with mindful, nonjudgmental awareness of our bodies and minds. Impossible? Actually, it’s easier than it seems. In just weeks, you can learn mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), a clinically proven program for alleviating stress, anxiety, panic, depression, chronic pain, and a wide range of medical conditions. Taught in classes and clinics worldwide, this powerful approach shows you how to focus on the present moment in order to permanently change the way you handle stress. As you work through A Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Workbook, you’ll learn how to replace stress-promoting habits with mindful ones-a skill that will last a lifetime.

 

Physical inactivity is among the most critical public health concerns in America today. For healthcare professionals, the creation and implementation of sustainable fitness solutions is a relevant cause. This course will help you become familiar with the physical and psychological rewards involved in the activity of running, identify risks and the most common running injuries – along with their symptoms and most probable causes – and describe strategies that can be used in preventing running injuries and developing a healthy individualized running regimen.

Professional Development Resources is approved to offer continuing education by the American Psychological Association (APA); the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC); the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB); the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA); the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA); the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR); the AlabamaState Board of Occupational Therapy; the Florida Boards of Social Work, Mental Health Counseling and Marriage and Family Therapy, Psychology & School Psychology, Dietetics & Nutrition, Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, and Occupational Therapy Practice; the Ohio Counselor, Social Worker & MFT Board and Board of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology; the South Carolina Board of Professional Counselors & MFTs; and by the Texas Board of Examiners of Marriage & Family Therapists and State Board of Social Worker Examiners.

How Health Food to One Can Be Junk Food to Another

By Alice G. Walton

How Health Food to One Person Can Be Junk Food to AnotherJust as one size does not fit all when it comes to almost any pursuit in life, the same is true for dieting – in fact, nutritionists have observed that what may work for weight loss for one person doesn’t always work for another. And now, a study in the journal Cell begins to figure out why this is the case. It turns out that people metabolize food very differently depending on their individual makeup – and the makeup of their gut microbes. What may lead to a slow, steady rise in blood sugar for one person may lead to a bizarre spike in blood sugar for another. So knowing that foods that are healthy to one person may be unhealthy to another could lead to a fundamental shift in the way dietary recommendations are made moving forward.

Researchers from the Weizmann Institute measured a number of variables in 800 people: From physical measurements to glucose levels to gut microbes through stool samples to blood tests. They sometimes gave people identical meals to measure how each person responded to the same food, and provided them with a mobile app to keep tabs on the foods they were consuming in their daily lives. Their main aim was to monitor how each person’s blood sugar responded after they ate a given food.

As you’d expect, things like body mass index and age affected how people’s blood sugar response. But there were many individual differences beyond those basic variables. For instance, one woman who’d struggled with weight her whole life had a particularly strong blood sugar spike after eating tomatoes, which she regularly ate. Which is all the more bizarre since tomatoes are typically considered a low-glycemic food, meaning that they very definitely don’t spike blood sugar.

“For this person, an individualized tailored diet would not have included tomatoes but may have included other ingredients that many of us would not consider healthy, but are in fact healthy for her,” said study author Eran Elinav. “Before this study was conducted, there is no way that anyone could have provided her with such personalized recommendations, which may substantially impact the progression of her pre-diabetes.”

What this means is that what’s a healthy food for one person may not be so good for another.

To understand more about why these difference exist, the team analyzed stool samples from the participants: They wanted to determine the makeup of their gut microbes and see how it related to glucose response. The team was then able to come up with an algorithm, which could predict how any given person would respond to any given food. They created individualized diets for a group of new participants, and lo and behold, their bodies, including their blood sugar levels after meals, responded accordingly. And over time, their gut microbes also shifted in a similar direction, despite being fed very different diets.

And again, this research expands on what healthcare professionals have already noticed: That not everyone responds the same way to a given diet. And, of course, most anyone who has tried various diets to lose weight can personally attest to that reality. But the new study starts to understand more about why this is true metabolically, and offer some sense of where nutrition might go in the future.

“After seeing this data, I think about the possibility that maybe we’re really conceptually wrong in our thinking about the obesity and diabetes epidemic,” says author Eran Segal. “The intuition of people is that we know how to treat these conditions, and it’s just that people are not listening and are eating out of control—but maybe people are actually compliant but in many cases we were giving them wrong advice.”

Hopefully as more studies like this come out, we’ll understand more about individual differences in dieting. In the meantime, if one diet doesn’t appear to be effective for you, it might make sense to switch to another. Keep in mind that all diets are not created equal, and it may just be a matter of playing around till you find a better match.

Article Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2015/11/20/why-a-healthy-food-for-one-person-may-be-unhealthy-to-another/

Related Continuing Education Courses

So often, we think of nutrition and its relationship to our bodies from the neck down. How it affects our heart, how it affects our colon, for example. Why do we not acknowledge its impact on our brain health as well? If a patient were to undergo an elective surgical procedure, he or she may be advised to lose weight, gain weight, or avoid certain medications or herbs beforehand. These recommendations are made to help ensure maximum recovery with minimal complications. Why would we not take this approach when dealing with mental illness as well? Shouldn’t we try to achieve optimal nutritional health of the brain if we are trying to heal it?This course discusses how good nutrition impacts a person’s mental health and well being. Includes discussions on “mental wellness” versus “mental illness,” hypothyroidism and it’s impact on mental health, neurotransmitters and amino acids, glycemic index, vitamins, fatty acids, caffeine, chocolate and aspartame, and herbal supplements and medications. Case studies are provided. This course will give the reader some insight into this concept, by providing the student with clinical research, anecdotal information and a good background for understanding the role nutrition plays in mental health.

 

This course is a self-instructional module that “walks” readers through the process of replacing their self-defeating weight issues with healthy, positive, and productive life-style behaviors. It moves beyond the “burn more calories than you consume” concept to encompass the emotional aspects of eating and of gaining and losing weight. Through 16 included exercises, you will learn how to identify your self-defeating behaviors (SDBs), analyze and understand them, and then replace them with life-giving actions that lead to permanent behavioral change.

 

This is a test only course (book not included). The book (or e-book) can be purchased from Amazon. This CE test is based on the book “The Spectrum: A Scientifically Proven Program to Feel Better, Live Longer, Lose Weight, and Gain Health” (2007, 387 pages). Lifestyle changes, including diet, nutrition, exercise, yoga, and meditation, have been proven in research to have multiple beneficial effects on health, including preventing and reversing heart disease, reducing cholesterol, lowering blood pressure, encouraging weight loss, preventing and reversing type 2 diabetes, and preventing and ameliorating cancer. The Spectrum is a research-based lifestyle change program which has been proven effective for multiple health conditions. This course includes a description of the major components (nutrition, stress-management, and exercise) and mechanisms of action. Research on The Spectrum is also described. The book is accompanied by a guide to cooking, 100 easy-to-prepare recipes from award-winning chef Art Smith, and a DVD which provides instruction in meditation. By taking this course, clinicians will learn how to prevent and treat some of the most troubling illnesses of today through lifestyle changes, while avoiding the need for expensive surgery and medication.

 

Statistics report that Americans are an increasingly overweight population. Among the factors contributing to our struggle to stop tipping the scales is the component of “emotional eating” – or the use of food to attempt to fill emotional needs. Professionals in both the physical and emotional health fields encounter patients with emotional eating problems on a regular basis. Even clients who do not bring this as their presenting problem often have it on their list of unhealthy behaviors that contribute to or are intertwined with their priority concerns. While not an easy task, it is possible to learn methods for dismantling emotional eating habits. The goals of this course are to present information about the causes of emotional eating, and provide a body of cognitive and behavioral exercises that can help to eliminate the addictive pattern.

These online courses are offered by Professional Development Resources, a non-profit provider of continuing education (CE/CEU) resources for healthcare professionals. Professional Development Resources is approved to offer continuing education by the American Psychological Association (APA); the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC ACEP #5590); the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB Provider #1046, ACE Program); the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA Provider #3159); the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR Provider #PR001); the Florida Boards of Social Work, Mental Health Counseling and Marriage and Family Therapy (#BAP346), Psychology & School Psychology (#50-1635), Dietetics & Nutrition (#50-1635), and Occupational Therapy Practice (#34); the Ohio Counselor, Social Worker & MFT Board (#RCST100501); the South Carolina Board of Professional Counselors & MFTs (#193); and the Texas Board of Examiners of Marriage & Family Therapists (#114) and State Board of Social Worker Examiners (#5678).

How Obesity Can Lead to Diabetes – These Men Ate 6,000 Calories a Day

Related Popular CE Courses

Diabetes mellitus refers to a group of diseases that affect how the body uses blood sugar (glucose). Glucose is vital to health because it’s an important source of energy for the cells that make up the muscles and tissues. It’s also the brain’s main source of fuel. Chronic diabetes conditions include type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes. Potentially reversible diabetes conditions include prediabetes — when your blood sugar levels are higher than normal, but not high enough to be classified as diabetes — and gestational diabetes, which occurs during pregnancy but may resolve after the baby is delivered. This course describes the rationale and goals for providing medical nutrition therapy (MNT) for the treatment and prevention of diabetes mellitus. Included are: recommendations for specific nutrient modifications; nutrition assessment, diagnosis, intervention, monitoring and evaluation; exercise and stress; gastropathy; enteral nutrition; testing and classifications; medications and insulin; blood glucose meters; and methods of meal planning. Nutrition education tools and handouts are provided to assist the dietitian in counseling clients.This course was developed by the Florida Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics for their Manual of Medical Nutrition Therapy to provide Licensed and Registered Dietitian/Nutritionists (RDNs) and technicians with evidence-based, non-biased information on nutrition education for diabetes mellitus.

 

Effective treatment of eating disorders requires multidimensional and individualized interventions. Education that addresses the normal nutritional needs and the physiologic effects of starvation and refeeding is a critical component of treatment. Management often requires long-term nutritional counseling of the patient which may extend several years. This course will describe the rationale and use of providing Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT) for the treatment of Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified, and Binge Eating Disorder. Included are: Criteria for Diagnosing Eating Disorders; Role of Dieting in the Development of Eating Disorders; Symptomology; Treatment Overview; Nutrition Therapy; Reconnecting with Hunger and Satiety; Use of Exercise; Working with a Therapist; Pharmacotherapy; In-Patient versus Out-Patient Treatment; Refeeding; Establishing a Dietary/Eating Pattern; Comparing Traditional and Health at Every Size (HAES) Approaches to Health Enhancement; Recovery from Eating Disorders; Nutrition Care Process; and the Core Minimum Guide. This course was developed by the Florida Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics for their Manual of Medical Nutrition Therapy to provide Licensed and Registered Dietitian/Nutritionists (RDNs) and technicians with evidence-based, non-biased information on nutrition for eating disorders.

 

Susan Moyers, PhD, MPH, LD/N Overweight and obesity constitute one of the nation’s ten leading health indicators with nearly two-thirds of adults in the United States now classified as either overweight or obese. Before any diet and physical activity program can be personalized and imple­mented, a nutrition assessment is needed, along with an understanding of the individual’s readiness to change and motiva­tion. This course was developed by the Florida Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics for their Manual of Medical Nutrition Therapy to provide Licensed and Registered Dietitian/Nutritionists (RDNs) and technicians with evidence-based, non-biased information on the prevention and treatment of obesity in adults. Topics covered include: obesity synopsis; reimbursement considerations; nutrition assessment (diagnosis, intervention, monitoring and evaluation); pharmacotherapy for weight-loss (prescription and OTC); and physical activity. Nutrition education handouts are included at the end of the course.

 

Statistics report that Americans are an increasingly overweight population. Among the factors contributing to our struggle to stop tipping the scales is the component of “emotional eating” – or the use of food to attempt to fill emotional needs. Professionals in both the physical and emotional health fields encounter patients with emotional eating problems on a regular basis. Even clients who do not bring this as their presenting problem often have it on their list of unhealthy behaviors that contribute to or are intertwined with their priority concerns. While not an easy task, it is possible to learn methods for dismantling emotional eating habits. The goals of this course are to present information about the causes of emotional eating, and provide a body of cognitive and behavioral exercises that can help to eliminate the addictive pattern.


Professional Development Resources
is approved by the American Psychological Association (APA) to sponsor continuing education for psychologists; the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC ACEP #5590); the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB Provider #1046, ACE Program); the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA Provider #3159); the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR Provider #PR001); the Florida Boards of Social Work, Mental Health Counseling and Marriage and Family Therapy (#BAP346), Psychology & School Psychology (#50-1635), Dietetics & Nutrition (#50-1635), and Occupational Therapy Practice (#34); the Ohio Counselor, Social Worker & MFT Board (#RCST100501); the South Carolina Board of Professional Counselors & MFTs (#193); and the Texas Board of Examiners of Marriage & Family Therapists (#114) and State Board of Social Worker Examiners (#5678).

What To Know About Anxiety, In Under 3 Minutes

This goes out to those who may not understand the disorder.
 
By Lindsay Holmes
 

If you’re a human being on this planet, chances are you’ve experienced some level of anxiety at some point in your life.

You may feel it when you’re about to give a presentation or when you’re going on a first date. It might show up when you’re facing a fear or are in immediate danger. Now imagine experiencing that emotion for no reason at all, at random, for an extended period of time.

Welcome to the world of someone with an anxiety disorder — a condition that affects approximately 40 million American adults.

The science behind anxiety is difficult to grasp, regardless of if you have a disorder or just experience it from time to time. Luckily, the Life Noggin video above breaks it down as simply as possible — from why we experience the emotion to where it’s located in the brain.

In short, the narrators explain, research shows that anxiety affects the amygdala, which is a region in the brain that is responsible for emotional reactions (like fear).

“Some studies suggest that in patients with generalized anxiety disorder, their amygdala are less connected to areas of their brain that determine the importance of certain stimuli,” the narrators say in the video. “This means that it may be harder for these people to distinguish between something that’s mildly annoying and something that’s definitely worth worrying about.”

In other words, the anxiety is more than just an “emotional issue” or something that’s “all in your head.”

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/everything-you-need-to-know-about-anxiety-in-under-3-minutes_55ba4ec7e4b0af35367a7f27?utm_hp_ref=mental-health

Related Continuing Education Courses

Nearly every client who walks through a health professional’s door is experiencing some form of anxiety. Even if they are not seeking treatment for a specific anxiety disorder, they are likely experiencing anxiety as a side effect of other clinical issues. For this reason, a solid knowledge of anxiety management skills should be a basic component of every therapist’s repertoire. Clinicians who can teach practical anxiety management techniques have tools that can be used in nearly all clinical settings and client diagnoses. Anxiety management benefits the clinician as well, helping to maintain energy, focus, and inner peace both during and between sessions. The purpose of this course is to offer a collection of ready-to-use anxiety management tools.


This is a test only course (book not included). The book can be purchased from Amazon or some other source.This CE test is based on the book “Separation Anxiety in Children & Adolescents” (2005, 298 pages). The book presents a research-based approach to understanding the challenges of separation anxiety and helping children, adolescents, and their parents build the skills they need to overcome it. The authors provide step-by-step guidelines for implementing the entire process of therapy-from intake and assessment through coping skills training, cognitive-behavioral interventions, and relapse prevention. Featuring in-depth case examples, the book is written for maximum accessibility for all clinicians, including those with limited cognitive-behavioral therapy experience, who treat separation anxiety and other childhood anxiety disorders. Useful reproducible handouts include the Separation Anxiety Assessment Scales, which facilitate individualized case formulation and treatment planning.


Professional Development Resources is approved by the American Psychological Association (APA) to sponsor continuing education for psychologists; by the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC) to offer home study continuing education for NCCs (#5590); the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB #1046, ACE Program); the California Board of Behavioral Sciences (#PCE1625); the Florida Boards of Clinical Social Work, Marriage & Family Therapy, and Mental Health Counseling (#BAP346) and Psychology & School Psychology (#50-1635); the Ohio Counselor, Social Worker & MFT Board (#RCST100501); the South Carolina Board of Professional Counselors & MFTs (#193); and the Texas Board of Examiners of Marriage & Family Therapists (#114) and State Board of Social Worker Examiners (#5678).


The Wonders of Optimism – How to Think Your Way Back to OK

Wonders of OptimismBy Rena Pollak, LMFT, Relationships and Marriage

One thing that human beings have in common is the desire to feel OK. Everyone is working on it every day, whether they realize it or not. They’re trying to feel OK and to avoid feeling terrible.

Unfortunately, people often don’t realize that they are OK, until they’re not.

If you look for the silver lining in things—which I highly recommend—the silver lining of getting sick is that it helps us appreciate when we’re well. Suddenly, I’m nostalgic for those halcyon days when I could breathe through my nose. I remember myself as an agile sprite, gliding through my day, before this cursed back pain.

Then the pain goes away and I’m back to OK. Actually, I feel phenomenal about being OK. Not feeling terrible brings me great joy. But a few days pass and I slip back into the unconscious OK-ness of everyday life.

Some physical and emotional pains don’t go away so quickly, though. People want to get back to OK, but they don’t know how or how long it’s going to take. Those pains require the stamina of a mule and a few other skills, too.

One of those skills is optimism. Optimism buoys the spirit like a lifeboat on rough seas.

When you’re optimistic, you have the energy to tackle obstacles and find ways around them. You keep moving. When you’re feeling hopeless, it’s hard to put one foot in front of the other.

Optimism is the belief that things will get better.

Even if a person isn’t a natural optimist, he or she can reignite that fire using another skill called cognitive flexibility. This means being able to think about something from multiple perspectives. It means keeping an open mind. Instead of “I know …” it’s “maybe I could see this differently.”

If one way of viewing a situation makes a person feel hopeless and another way of thinking makes a person feel optimistic, which would you choose? Some people see negative beliefs as realistic and optimistic beliefs as fantasies. That’s one perspective—and not a very helpful one.

So, even if you’re pessimistic, there’s hope in the realization that you may be wrong.

If someone isn’t attracted to you, you might think, “I know I’m not attractive” and feel very discouraged. With cognitive flexibility, you can see different explanations. Maybe … she loves someone else. Maybe … I need a new pick-up line. Maybe … I’m not his or her type … but I’m someone else’s type.

If one way of viewing a situation makes a person feel hopeless and another way of thinking makes a person feel optimistic, which would you choose? Some people see negative beliefs as realistic and optimistic beliefs as fantasies. That’s one perspective—and not a very helpful one.

Another benefit of cognitive flexibility is being able to find meaning and a positive outcome from a bad experience. In other words, “When life hands you lemons, make lemonade.”

A long time ago, I pursued an acting career. That was my dream. I auditioned a lot, got rejected a lot, and wasn’t having a ton of success. Finally, one day, I got a great part at a well-respected theater. I was so happy. I thought my dream was beginning to come true. And then they had to cancel the show. I was devastated. I felt so powerless.

But out of this disappointment I created meaning. The meaning I created was that I couldn’t rely on others to allow me to do the work I wanted to do. I realized that I had to take some power into my own hands and create my opportunities. So I wrote, produced, and performed a one-woman show. This turned out to be one of the most satisfying experiences of my life.

A terrible disappointment had a very positive impact on my life. It taught me to take action, and it taught me that I could turn a bad situation into an opportunity for growth.

It’s OK to not be OK sometimes, but it’s also a healthy instinct to try to get back to feeling good. Tools such as optimism can help people think their way back to OK.

© Copyright 2015 by Rena Pollak, LMFT, CGP, therapist in Encino, CA. All Rights Reserved.

Source: http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/wonders-of-optimism-thinking-your-way-back-to-ok-0610155

How Happy Do You Think Your Children Are?

Parents and Happy KidsParents inclined to misjudge child happiness based on personal feelings

Parents’ estimations of their children’s happiness differ significantly from the child’s own assessment of their feelings, a study has shown.

Research by psychologists at Plymouth University showed parents of 10 and 11-year-olds consistently overestimated their child’s happiness, while those with 15 and 16-year-olds were inclined to underestimate.

Published in the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, the study attributed the discrepancies to an “egocentric bias” through which parents rely too heavily on their own feelings in assessing the happiness of the family unit as a whole.

Children’s and adolescents’ happiness has gained considerable attention in recent research, however the potential problems of relying on parental report to assess children’s happiness have been overlooked.

Researchers say this latest study could provide valuable information, not only for advancing knowledge about well-being but also for improving parent-child relationships and paving the way for carrying out improved interventions.

The study was conducted by Dr Belén López-Pérez, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Developmental and Social Psychology at Plymouth University, and Ellie Wilson, a recent graduate of the BSc (Hons) Psychology course.

They questioned a total of 357 children and adolescents from two different schools in Spain, along with their parents, and their happiness was assessed using a range of self-reporting measures and ratings.

The results showed that parents were inclined to score a child or adolescents’ happiness closely in line with their own emotional feelings, whereas in fact there were notable differences in the child’s own reports.

In this regard, children and adolescents reported very similar levels of happiness, however parents also reported different levels depending on the age of their child. Thus, the study not only showed discrepancies between informants but also a decline in the level of happiness in parents of adolescents.

“Studying informants’ discrepancies and the relationship between parents’ and children’s self-reports on happiness is vital to determine whether parental report is valid,” Dr Lopez Perez says. “Being unable to read children’s happiness appropriately may increase misunderstanding between parents and children/adolescents, which has been shown to have negative consequences for parent-child relationships. Furthermore, parents might not be able to provide the appropriate emotional support or attend to their children’s needs accurately.”

University of Plymouth. (2015, July 31). Parents inclined to misjudge child happiness based on personal feelings. ScienceDaily. Retrieved August 14, 2015 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/07/150731103701.htm

Parents inclined to misjudge child happiness based on personal feelings

Related CE Courses of Interest for Mental Health

Clinicians and teachers working with students struggling at grade level are committed to raising their students’ achievement potential by creating opportunities to learn. In order to accomplish this, they need to learn new techniques that can help encourage discouraged students – particularly those who have different ways of learning – by supporting and motivating them without enabling self-defeating habits. This course will provide strategies and techniques for helping students minimize the patterns of “learned helplessness” they have adopted, appreciate and maximize their strengths, develop a growth mindset, value effort and persistence over success, view mistakes as opportunities to learn, and develop a love of learning that will help them take personal responsibility for their school work. The course video is split into 3 parts for your convenience.Course #30-75 | 2014 | 21 posttest questions Click Here to Learn More About This CE Course!

 

It has long been observed that there are certain children who experience better outcomes than others who are subjected to similar adversities, and a significant amount of literature has been devoted to the question of why this disparity exists. Research has largely focused on what has been termed “resilience.” Health professionals are treating an increasing number of children who have difficulty coping with 21st century everyday life. Issues that are hard to deal with include excessive pressure to succeed in school, bullying, divorce, or even abuse at home. This course provides a working definition of resilience and descriptions of the characteristics that may be associated with better outcomes for children who confront adversity in their lives. It also identifies particular groups of children – most notably those with developmental challenges and learning disabilities – who are most likely to benefit from resilience training. The bulk of the course – presented in two sections – offers a wide variety of resilience interventions that can be used in therapy, school, and home settings.Course #30-72 | 2014 | 53 pages | 21 posttest questions Click Here to Learn More About This CE Course!

 

This introductory course, from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), describes the symptoms and treatments for bipolar disorder (BPD) in children and adolescents. All parents can relate to the many changes their children go through as they grow up. But sometimes it’s hard to tell if a child is just going through a “phase,” or showing signs of something more serious. In the last decade, the number of children receiving the diagnosis of bipolar disorder, sometimes, called manic-depressive illness, has grown substantially. But what does the diagnosis really mean for a child? This course discusses bipolar disorder in children and teens, including signs and symptoms, differences between child/adolescent and adult BPD, diagnostic types, medications for BPD (along with their individual cautions), and other therapies.Course #10-68 | 2012 | 24 pages | 10 posttest questions Click Here to Learn More About This CE Course!

 

This is a test only course (book not included). The book (or e-book) can be purchased from Amazon. This CE test is based on the book “Treating Explosive Kids: The Collaborative Problem-Solving Approach” (2006, 246 pages). This book provides a detailed framework for effective, individualized intervention with highly oppositional children and their families. Many vivid examples and Q&A sections show how to identify the specific cognitive factors that contribute to explosive and noncompliant behavior, remediate these factors, and teach children and their adult caregivers how to solve problems collaboratively. The book also describes challenges that may arise in implementing the model and provides clear and practical solutions. Two special chapters focus on intervention in schools and in therapeutic/restrictive facilities. Closeout Course #60-95 | 45 posttest questions Click Here to Learn More About This CE Course!

 

This is a test only course (book not included). The book can be purchased from Amazon or some other source.This CE test is based on the book “Separation Anxiety in Children & Adolescents” (2005, 298 pages). The book presents a research-based approach to understanding the challenges of separation anxiety and helping children, adolescents, and their parents build the skills they need to overcome it. The authors provide step-by-step guidelines for implementing the entire process of therapy-from intake and assessment through coping skills training, cognitive-behavioral interventions, and relapse prevention. Featuring in-depth case examples, the book is written for maximum accessibility for all clinicians, including those with limited cognitive-behavioral therapy experience, who treat separation anxiety and other childhood anxiety disorders. Useful reproducible handouts include the Separation Anxiety Assessment Scales, which facilitate individualized case formulation and treatment planning. Closeout Course #60-70 | 30 posttest questions Click Here to Learn More About This CE Course!

 

Professional Development Resources is approved as a provider of continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB Provider #1046, ACE Program); by the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC Provider #5590); by the American Psychological Association (APA); by the Florida Board of Clinical Social Work, Marriage & Family Therapy, and Mental Health Counseling (Provider #50-1635) and is CE Broker compliant (all courses are reported within 1 week of completion); by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences (Approval #PCE1625); by the Texas Board of Examiners of Marriage & Family Therapists (Provider #114); by the South Carolina Board of Professional Counselors and Marriage & Family Therapists (Provider #193); and by the *Ohio Counselor, Social Worker and Marriage & Family Therapist Board (Provider #RCST100501). *Ohio MFTs: check CE accreditation statement for specific course approval – if Ohio is not listed, the course is not approved.

Are We Eating Our Way to New Eating Disorders

New Eating DisordersWe’re clean eating our way to new eating disorders

Is orthorexia about to join the DSM?

Because overdoing it is the American way, we’ve now managed to warp even healthy habits into a new form of eating disorders. Welcome to the era of orthorexia.

As Heather Hansman notes this week in Fast Company, orthorexia differs from other forms of disorders in that the obsessive focus is not on how much or how little one consumes, but the perceived virtue of the food itself. As she reports, “Nutritionists and psychologists say that they’re seeing it more often, especially in the face of restrictive food trends, like gluten-free, and growing information about where food comes from, and how it’s grown and processed.” Though the term has been in use since Dr. Steven Bratman coined it in 1997, the uptick in cases is leading to a new push to formally include it in the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders – aka the DSM 5.

Along with “gluten-free,” “juice fast” and other phrases, you may have been hearing “orthorexia” a lot more lately. Last summer, popular health and food blogger Jordan Younger made headlines – and faced intense criticism – when she announced that she was “transitioning away from veganism” as she realized that she had “started fearing a LOT of things when it came to food,” and had been struggling with orthorexia. Her blog now is called “The Balanced Blonde,” where she talks honestly about her journey to wellness. In a recent post, she observed, “It. Breaks. My. Heart. It breaks my heart to see and hear beautiful, motivated, capable young women being sucked in to an extreme diet and way of life because it has been branded to them as ‘THE HEALTHIEST WAY TO LIVE’ above all else.”

It’s true, this kind of disordered mentality does seem to disproportionately target “beautiful, motivated, capable young women.” Because I like to cook and eat, and because I’ve had life threatening cancer, in recent years I’ve grown more conscious and curious about how I feed myself and my family. To that end, I read a fair number of cookbooks and food blogs, in particular those with a bent toward healthy eating. And it has not escaped my attention that there have been several wildly successful books in the past few years – often featuring pretty, thin, blond women – that I have had to put down and think, “Oh my God, these people should not be giving advice.” But the creeping fear of food isn’t just for women who look like pilates instructors. Just last week, my spouse attempted to make dinner plans with an old friend, who quickly rejected multiple suggestions of places to eat after citing a litany of foods he would no longer touch. This is not a thigh gap aspiring, crunchy young woman we’re talking about here. This is a man in his 50s.

Reading some of the “clean” living writing out there, including bestselling books by authors with cult-like followings, you can find dubious claims about “detoxing” – which is not a real thing unless maybe you don’t have a liver. Enthusiastic endorsements of extreme juice cleanses and fasting – sometimes with a side of colonics. Blanket and inaccurate statements about grains, dairy, animal products, even seemingly innocuous foods like spinach or fruit. But what’s always the tipoff for me that something is a little off is when writing about food and health veers into near obsessive mathematical precision – detailed tips on exactly how much to eat, when to eat, what to combine it with. (For what it’s worth, in contrast, I find the work of Mark Bittman and Jamie Oliver reliably sane and inspiring.)

Food sensitivities and intolerances are real, and there’s zero denying that the Standard American Diet is flat-out deadly. It’s making us fatter and sicker than we’ve ever been at any point in our history, and it’s hurting our children worst of all. But for those who are vulnerable, a quest to eat right can lead to a seriously dysfunctional relationship with food. And we need to have better understanding of eating disorders and support for those who are struggling, because being healthy of body means being healthy of mind too.

 

Mary Elizabeth Williams

Mary Elizabeth Williams is a staff writer for Salon and the author of “Gimme Shelter: My Three Years Searching for the American Dream.” Follow her on Twitter: @embeedub.
Source:

We’re clean eating our way to new eating disorders

Related CE Courses on Nutrition

 

Karin Kratina, PhD, RD, LD/N; Michelle Albers, PhD, RD, LD/N Effective treatment of eating disorders requires multidimensional and individualized interventions. Education that addresses the normal nutritional needs and the physiologic effects of starvation and refeeding is a critical component of treatment. Management often requires long-term nutritional counseling of the patient which may extend several years. This course will describe the rationale and use of providing Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT) for the treatment of Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified, and Binge Eating Disorder. Included are: Criteria for Diagnosing Eating Disorders; Role of Dieting in the Development of Eating Disorders; Symptomology; Treatment Overview; Nutrition Therapy; Reconnecting with Hunger and Satiety; Use of Exercise; Working with a Therapist; Pharmacotherapy; In-Patient versus Out-Patient Treatment; Refeeding; Establishing a Dietary/Eating Pattern; Comparing Traditional and Health at Every Size (HAES) Approaches to Health Enhancement; Recovery from Eating Disorders; Nutrition Care Process; and the Core Minimum Guide.Course #30-80 | 2015 | 24 pages | 21 posttest questionsThis course was developed by the Florida Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics for their Manual of Medical Nutrition Therapy to provide Licensed and Registered Dietitian/Nutritionists (RDNs) and technicians with evidence-based, non-biased information on nutrition for eating disorders. Click Here to Learn More…

 

Susan Moyers, PhD, MPH, LD/N Overweight and obesity constitute one of the nation’s ten leading health indicators with nearly two-thirds of adults in the United States now classified as either overweight or obese. Before any diet and physical activity program can be personalized and imple­mented, a nutrition assessment is needed, along with an understanding of the individual’s readiness to change and motiva­tion. This course was developed by the Florida Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics for their Manual of Medical Nutrition Therapy to provide Licensed and Registered Dietitian/Nutritionists (RDNs) and technicians with evidence-based, non-biased information on the prevention and treatment of obesity in adults. Topics covered include: obesity synopsis; reimbursement considerations; nutrition assessment (diagnosis, intervention, monitoring and evaluation); pharmacotherapy for weight-loss (prescription and OTC); and physical activity. Nutrition education handouts are included at the end of the course.Course #21-07 | 2015 | 18 pages | 14 posttest questions Click Here to Learn More…

 

This course is a self-instructional module that “walks” readers through the process of replacing their self-defeating weight issues with healthy, positive, and productive life-style behaviors. It moves beyond the “burn more calories than you consume” concept to encompass the emotional aspects of eating and of gaining and losing weight. Through 16 included exercises, you will learn how to identify your self-defeating behaviors (SDBs), analyze and understand them, and then replace them with life-giving actions that lead to permanent behavioral change.* Please note – this course contains common material on eliminating SDBs with Living a Better Life with Chronic Pain: Eliminating Self-Defeating Behaviors Course #50-10 | 2013 | 49 pages | 35 posttest questions Click Here to Learn More…

 

Professional Development Resources is approved as a provider of continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB Provider #1046, ACE Program); by the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC Provider #5590); by the American Psychological Association (APA); by the Florida Board of Clinical Social Work, Marriage & Family Therapy, and Mental Health Counseling (Provider #50-1635) and is CE Broker compliant (all courses are reported within 1 week of completion); by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences (Approval #PCE1625); by the Texas Board of Examiners of Marriage & Family Therapists (Provider #114); by the South Carolina Board of Professional Counselors and Marriage & Family Therapists (Provider #193); and by the *Ohio Counselor, Social Worker and Marriage & Family Therapist Board (Provider #RCST100501).