Sunday, May 16, 2010

Joy and healing through movement in Philly

Toni Bergins lead two JourneyDance™ sessions in Philadelphia this weekend. People came all the way from DC and NYC to be part of this experience. I have attended Toni’s classes for two years and notice that Toni is adding new dimensions to her unique yoga derived dance sessions that balance the chakras.

Influenced by many teachers such as Vinn Marti, Toni teaches skills that students pick up naturally in just one session. The essence of these skills is authentic movement that inspires other students to move with their natural energies.

In the workshop on Saturday, Toni added touch as a dimension that I had not experienced before. Touching has nurturing properties that calm the mind, it is also a rich exchange of information that opens up the senses. Towards the end, the group had created a beautiful energy. It was at this point that Toni added the element of touch. It felt incredible, like we were creating a piece of art.

Personally, this practice opened me up to forgotten levels of my inner self and the ability to communicate and have a deep experience with others. It is no surprise to me that JourneyDance™ sessions such as the one at Dhyana Yoga in Philadelphia have unique healing properties that create a sense of community and wellbeing.

Links:

Monday, March 29, 2010

Psychotherapy Networker Symposium 2010 – Jerome Kagan Leaves a Lasting Impression

Fellow Healthy Panda, Raymond, and I attended this year’s Pyschotherapy Networker Symposium. Even though we were only able to make the Saturday session, we had a great time, met many incredibly wonderful people and learned a heck of a lot. We splurged for the luncheon lecture by Psychiatrist Jerome Kagan and it was worth every penny.

The very unassuming Kagan took the stage and warned that he would read his 45 minute talk in order to limit his penchant for tangents. While I initially feared a snooze alert, I was soon deeply taken in by Kagan’s lecture - barely realizing his 45 minute allowance ended up being 75…

For the last 30 years Kagan’s studies have focused on understanding how both nature and nurture play a part in mental illness. He illuminated this idea with an excellent example… Kagan studied a group of suburban children for almost 18 years - from 4 months old to 18 years of age. He discovered with his initial assessment at 4 months which children were “high reactive” (easily susceptible to over-stimulation) and “low reactive” (more difficult to over-stimulate). What Kagan ultimately found was that high-reactive children have a physiological difference - a thickening of part of the brain in the right frontal lobe (don’t quote me on this fact). These high-reactive suburban children were also much more likely to have Social Anxiety Disorder. While this correlation alone is a great conclusion, Kagan goes a step further. He refutes that this physiological difference causes Social Anxiety Disorder; many other factors need to come into play - how each child grew up, their birth order, etc. The way our suburban society works allows this disorder to be a common occurrence among children with this physiological difference. He stated that if a high-reactive child grew up in different surroundings, illness would present differently - perhaps as phobias if the child grew up in a jungle with dangerous animals. Overall, Kagan’s point was that before making a diagnosis and deciding upon treatment, many factors need to be considered - not just genetics, but also surrounding & upbringing - in order to obtain a complete understanding of an illness.

Overall, Kagan’s lecture was so logical that it was eye-opening. As progress is made, the simplistic idea of looking at the “whole picture” becomes obfuscated by scientific advancement and progressive treatment options. Thanks, Dr. Kagan for sharing your incredible insight!

What are your thoughts on Kagan’s findings and theses? If you were at the Symposium, what was your favorite part?

-Tom

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Website Usability Review: Belmont Behavioral Health

As of an ongoing series, every few weeks I will be reviewing various psychology and psychiatry websites with an eye towards user centered design and usability. Hopefully, you'll be able to get some ideas on what to do and what to avoid when it comes to your own website

This week: Belmont Behavioral Health (http://www.einstein.edu/yourhealth/behavioral/index.html)

This site is one component of the Einstein Health System. It seems to be a comprehensive in/out patient center providing all sorts of treatment. It is a danger in this type of offering that you need to be all things to all people. However, from a usability point of view, this is one of the best sites I've ever seen.

On the front page, there are four colored boxes, each with a clear title. What makes it so special is that the titles aren't "Symptoms" or "Diagnosis". They are "I am feeling..." with links that say "Sad", "Anxious", "Stressed", "Angry" and "view More Choices." This is fantastic, because it speaks specifically to visitors in a heightened emotional state. Rather than having 20 choices on the front page, there are just 4, with a link to seeing more.

I assume that the 4 links in each box on the front page are either the most frequently needed, or the 4 main specialties that the center wants to be known for. However, by having a "View More Choices" displayed so prominently, if I don't feel sad, anxious, stressed, or angry, I know instantly that I can see they have what I'm feeling. They avoid medical jargon and stick to language patients would actually use.

They also have the call to action, the thing they want you to do, displayed prominently on every page. The telephone number appears on the left, in big, bold letters, and at the end of each description of symptom or diagnosis.

In addition, the frequent use of customer stories, personal reflections, and specific examples are brilliant. It helps visitors identify and understand the point the center is trying to make.

This isn't the prettiest website in the world. In fact, it looks like someone made it years ago and it hasn't been updated since. However, the quality of the experience offsets any lack of polish on the design.

But heck, that's just my reaction. What do you think?

Monday, March 22, 2010

Character Strengths: What are Your Top Three?

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the science of happiness and positive psychology. I attended a lecture by Christopher Maxwell entitled, Building on Your Strengths: Lessons from Positive Psychology. Prior to attending the lecture, I completed a survey that identified my character strengths. Take the Via Institute on Character survey of character strengths test here. The test is long, but well worth the time. It is the world's most scientifically validated tool for measuring character strengths.

At the end, you receive a summary of your 24 character strengths in top-down order. Although there were few surprises in my summary, it was a fun test to take and I recommend this assessment to learn more about your strengths (if only so you can respond to that dreaded interview question about strengths/weaknesses) .

The Positive Psychology research suggests that focusing on our strengths, helps us not only endure/survive, but to flourish. That seems like common sense. But is it realistic to be positive all the time?

Well, of course not. In fact, according to Barbara Fredrickson, negative emotions help to promote survival. Fredrickson has conducted extensive research on this subject and suggests that you need a 3:1 ratio of positive to negative emotions to reach a state of flourishing mental health. You can take a positivity ratio test to find your ratio for the day. Today, my ratio is 3:7. Clearly, I'm not flourishing at this moment and can benefit from building on my strengths.

How do you emphasize and build upon your character strengths? Did your top character strengths surprise you?

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Mental Health Parity Act: A New Day For Behavioral Health Services

On February 6, 2010 the feds inked preliminary final regulations for the revised Mental Health Parity & Addiction Equity Act. By as early as July 1, 2010 companies with 50 or more employees must offer mental health and substance abuse benefits that are comparable to their health and surgical benefits - meaning that behavioral health services can be no more restrictive than medical services.

While the finalization of this act will be no more than a quick blip in the news, psychologists and therapists need to realize the huge benefits this act will have on their practices. No longer do your patients have to deal with ridiculous benefits limits for behavioral health services. Going to the psychologist should now, in theory, be as easy as going to the doctor for any other illness. Also, most limits restricting services will be lifted – meaning your patients are no longer limited to X amount of sessions per year.

On a personal note, I think it’s about time mental health was taken as seriously as physical health...at least in the eyes of insurance coverage. I hope people can now feel more financially comfortable getting the help that they need.

For psychologists, now is a great time to embrace this drastic benefits change and start promoting these new, more lenient reimbursement and coverage regulations to current and future clients. A great way to do this would be to build a website for your practice or update your existing website and discuss the benefits of these changes. Also, I’d highly suggest listing your practice in an online therapy directory – this is becoming a more and more popular way for patients to find therapists. A great free therapy directory is HealthPanda - sign up today and get ready for a nice influx of new patients when this act goes into effect in July!

What are your thoughts on the Mental Health Parity Act? As a therapist, how do you think this act will affect your practice? As a current or possible future behavioral health patient, how do you think this act will affect the services you use?

-Tom

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Soul Motion with Vinn Marti - Experience Your Whole Being

... become aware of the space behind you (the past), in front of you (what is to come), above you (the people that stand on your shoulders), beneath you (the people on who's shoulders you stand), and besides you (the people you travel with).

Soul Motion

Last week I attended one of the soul motion workshops with Vinn Marti. It was an experience of a lifetime. Vinn embodies his practice, which radiates through his dedicated following.

In just a few days Vinn lead us through an exploration of how to be committed, stay present, explore the omniverse, and be part of a community.

Commitment: by showing up on time and doing the work.

Staying present: by being in the moment. Not seeking (e.g., joy) rather be open to what's available. Exploring the energy: make it move you or let you be still. Be alert, be patient, and be a container for others and the entire space.

Exploring the omniverse: become aware of the space behind you (the past), in front of you (what is to come), above you (the people that stand on your shoulders), beneath you (the people on whom's shoulders you stand), and besides you (the people you travel with).

Becoming part of a community: learning to listen, to serve, to be aware of everyone, and to understand that you don't want anything from anybody (including praise). It is through the tale of your story that communication with the community occurs and the juices flow. Allowing to serve yourself by servings others.

I deeply want to thank everyone and the community that we created.

Humbly, --Raymond.

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Friday, March 12, 2010

Website Usability Review: The Renfrew Center

As of an ongoing series, every few weeks I will be reviewing various psychology and psychaitry websites with an eye towards user centered design and usability. Hopefully, you'll be able ot get some ideas on what to do and what to avoid when it comes to your own website.

This week: The Renfrew Center (http://www.renfrewcenter.com/)

This site is for a residential eating disorder treatment center. As such, it is targeted to women*. With such a clearly defined demographic, steps were taken in the design to appeal to this audience: all the photos are of women, they use "she" and "her" as all pronouns, and the color palette is pink & purple.

While they are doing noble work, there several usability issues with this site.

The immediate reaction on looking at this site is its words. There are a LOT of words on the home page, and they continue on subsequent pages. While the page outlining clinical informaiton on anorexia is fine to be very wordy, a home page shouldn't be. In "Don't Make Me Think", Steve Krug suggests that in writing for the web, you should write what you want, then cut out 50% of the words. Then cut out 50% of what's left. It isn't an easy process, but it is a powerful one. This home page could benefit from it.

Jared Spool, a noted usability guru, has a technique he calls a "5 second test". If you show someone a successful web page for 5 seconds, and take it away, they should be able to tell you where to click on next to find the information they want (or that you want to direct them to). The home page of the Renfrew Center would never pass a 5 second test. There is no clear path, no clear primary thing they want to provide.

I'd guess that if I am coming to this site, my first thing is to find out availability at the center or to make an appointment. On a number of sub-pages, the direction to action is to call the center. However, on the homepage, the phone number appears is part of logo and buried in the middle of the 6th paragraph. This page could benefit from a clear, large font, set off area that said something like "Appointments? Questions? Call 1-800-RENFREW" or somesuch.

There are two sets of navigation, one for content (Locations, Careers, &tc) and one for role (For Schools, For Family, For You). While this is good, the use of "For" threw me off a little. "For Schools" means "Information for Schools and Educators who have Students with Eating Disorders". I recognize that my title is a bit long, but at first glance, I wondered if "For Schools" meant "For Educators" or "Find Schools". If I was to put myself in the role of a teacher concerned about my students, I'm not sure that this would be the automatic place I would jump. A better suggestion: "Patients" "Educators/Teachers". Leave off the "For" and be specific about who the target of interest is.

On the location page, the locations are presented as a list and in a very strange order. Philadelphia and Radnor, PA are close to one another, but Coconut Creek, FL is listed in between. The list isn't alphabetical, it isn't geographic. My only guess is it is listed in the order that they were opened. Whatever the order, it isn't listed in any order that is meaningful to users. Much better: a map that shows the locations so a user can place herself and judge which center is right for her. Also of interest: I had no idea that they had so many centers. The title of the homepage says: "Renfrew Center Philadelphia Florida" Leaving out the 7 other states. I'd certainly want to promote that fact on the home page.

So, that's the feedback:
- very wordy
- no clear calls to action (particularly on the homepage)
- choppy navigation
- poor location information and promotion

But heck, that's just my 2 cents. What do you think?


* although they point out that eating disorders are increasingly prevalent in men.