Informed Woman Month

April is Informed Woman Month.  I have no idea what it is all about but I am completely for woman being informed.  (When looking up information I saw several links about it also being National Car Month with a lot of encouragement for woman to learn some basics about maintaining their car.) 

Information and knowledge give us the ability to make good decisions, to develop insight and live a fuller life.  One of my favorite quotes which I’m sure I’ve mentioned on this blog before is “in the times of change, the learners will inherit the earth while the learned are prepared for a world that no longer exists.” (Eric Hoffler).

So get on out there and learn something.

Middle School Transition Group

Middle School seems to be such a rough time for so many kids.  There are more demands of homework, other kids sometimes seem meaner, everything is in flux.  Parents worry about the anxiety their children have and sometimes the trouble they have connecting positively with other kids and even bullying. 

This upcoming summer I am offering a Middle School Transition Group on Friday Mornings.  For information on the group and the topics touched on go to Middle School Transitions Group.

Please contact me with any questions or for more informatin.  I look forward to working with you.

Frog Month

April is Frog Month.  I know it has no mental health meaning but I am happy for frogs to get recognition.  In fact we all like recognition and validation.   Take a moment today to “recognize” or appreciate someone in your life.  Let them know you do notice.

Random Blog on Frog Month

April is Autism Month

Find out more about autism.

Autism Society

Get Grandma a Facebook Page

It may be time to get grandma a facebook page.

Facebook for Elderly

April is...

April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month.  I can’t believe I almost forget this important month awareness.  Having worked in child welfare for 17 years I know that sometimes children are overlooked in the big picture.  Let’s do what we can to keep children safe and support parents and strengthen families. 

For more information, tips and activities visit Child Abuse Prevention.

Therapist Stands Up

Therapist Stands Up

In my opinion yay for this therapist. It is very frustrating the roadblocks put in the way to actually get helpful assistance. I know that if I thought the notes of my therapy sessions were being all sent to an EAP/Insurance company for whatever reason, I'd be much less likely to be completely open and honest. Not feeling like a person can freely share definately puts a crink in the therapuetic relationship. If the limitations and guidelines made sense and didn't appear to be more about cutting costs it wouldn't be so disheartening to see. It is especially disheartening because it puts walls to getting help to individuals and family who have given up some freedoms and comforts to serve their country.

Bi-Polar Disorder

Just sharing this because I think anytime mainstream media and/or celebrity is able to chip away at the stigma of mental illness it should be shared. 

Catherine Zeta Jones:bi-polar disorder. Her private Struggle CNN.com

Julie’s Truisms

This is really in the random thoughts of Julie Fanning LCSW category.

In session,  I know I use little clichés and metaphors as appropriate to a situation.  These beliefs illustrate a little of which my worldview consists. I am likely to say “we tend to regret what we don’t try more than what we do.” Or “Ask yourself is it better to be right or happy?”

One truism for me is that I believe a person should never utter a statement such as “how much worse could it get” or “it couldn’t get much worse.”  I think that is sort of issuing a challenge to the universe and the universe will live up to the challenge and show us just how much worse it can indeed get.

Instead (as appropriate)…

·        Try to accept a situation for what it is.  It is OK to acknowledge that a situation sucks and it is bad and feels terrible.  Sometimes we feel bad.  Sometimes we are sad or grieve or are angry.  Feeling this way is Ok.

·        Picture the situation being better.  Picture in your mind success or resolution.  If you are unable to picture a better situation then you will struggle with even believing it could be better let alone even getting to that place.

·        There is something to be said for finding positive energy and putting positive thoughts, feelings and actions out there.  It seems if we can find the positive we attract more positive to us.

Really, the bottom line for me – don’t tempt the universe if you can help it.

Just saying.

Couple's Communication

I came across this page Couple's Communication during my random perusal of the Internet.  It is basically an article on the different ways a man and a woman perceive the same conversations.  What a person says and what the other person hears are often very different.

Way back, when the book "Men are from Mars and Woman are from Venus" was popular a friend and I used to joke that we could have become wealthy if we had just written that book.  We believed it could be summarized with just the words - "Men, Women - different."  Of course it is obvious and we've all read and discussed and laughed about the differences between the genders but getting down to the day to day interactions we often forget the obvious.  Try giving the other person the benefit of the doubt.  Try not assuming the other person is being negative.  Stop.  Listen Carefully.  See what happens.