ACA Blog

At the beginning of a web seminar on counseling couples, a nationally known presenter said that only after she discarded everything she had learned in graduate school about counseling couples was she able to be effective in counseling couples.

I’ve been seeing Tessa for approximately 5 months and each session was structured for her, something I didn’t realize I was doing, was it comfortable for her or me? Her mom told me she has been lying and manipulating and I wanted to talk about these issues with her before we did any play. I was way off my mark because she came into the office and sat on the couch and I told her what her mom said she had been doing. She looked at me with fear in her eyes and said emphatically “NO, I come in and sit on the couch and you bring the table over and put paper on it, then you get the markers and then you ask me to draw something and I do and THEN we talk. Wow, I was taken aback with this coming out of a 5 year old’s mouth. I didn’t realize how my routine affected her. I replied to her, “is that what you want me to do” and she said “YES”.

Three major divisions of the American Psychological Association (APA) – the Society for Humanistic Psychology (Division 32), Society for Community Research and Action-Community Psychology (Division 27), and Society for Group Psychology and Psychotherapy (Division 49) – sent an open letter to the DSM-5 Task Force and the American Psychiatric Association expressing several criticisms about DSM-5.

Open Letter to the DSM-5 Sponsor Society for Humanistic Psychology, Division 32 of the American Psychological Association, in alliance with Society for Community Research and Action: Division of Community Psychology (Division 27 of APA) and Society for Group Psychology and Psychotherapy (Division 49 of APA). We invite mental health professionals and mental health organizations to sign on in support of this petition to the DSM5 Task Force of the American Psychiatric Association

One of the great things about our jobs is that if we are paying attention to our clients, they are often teaching us while we attempt to educate them. One of the reasons for this is that we spend so much time listening to our clients and helping them explore options that we are exposed to situations, conditions and things that are beyond our personal lives. Sometimes these situations come far closer to home and we may realize something about ourselves as we help our clients learn more about their lives.

October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month. The official 2011 theme for NDEAM, announced earlier this year by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy, is “Profit by Investing in Workers with Disabilities.”

For those of you who have followed my blog for the past several months, you've probably noticed that my postings have drastically decreased lately. It's fair to say that you'd be right, and there are a few good reasons. For those of you that do not know, Jen and I returned back to Active Duty service with the Army a little over a month ago. As a family, we are in the middle of transitioning into the Army after working within the civilian sector.

When I first started my counseling masters degree roughly three years ago, I remember distinctly being told the importance of “doing your own work.” Quite honestly, I felt perplexed. I was under the impression that I really had my self together – why would I need counseling? I did not feel the need to talk with anybody about my life, my family, my past and especially not how I was feeling. I realize now that my sense of self, while developed, was a long way from how I understand my self now, after almost four years of study and reflection.

Last week I discussed a bit about managed care and preparing to make the clinical review call. This week I will finish discussing ways to increase effective communication and results with managed care by explaining and focusing more on the review process itself.

As the revisions process for the DSM-5 continues, criticism remains regarding the introduction of the dimensional assessments within the DSM. I find the introduction of the dimensional assessments very interesting; however, something that is interesting is not necessarily effective. At first glance, the assessments might appear to be a great tool to use in diagnosing; however, controversy exists regarding the development of the assessments. Allen Francis in his Psychiatric Times article entitled “DSM5 and dimensional diagnosis: Biting off more than it can chew,” states that despite being a good idea, the assessments are “poorly done” and that testing them in field trials “would not be worth the effort.” Dayle Jones in her ACA blogs and Counseling Today articles has also voiced concern about the complexity of the proposed assessments and examination of their psychometric properties.