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Understanding CBT and Counseling Techniques used for Better Mental Health

Posted in daily writings and musings of the psychologist, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 11, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Cognitive Behavior Therapy is recommended to clients to get the necessary treatment for their negative thoughts to bring about the desired positive change .

The key principle behind CBT is that our thought patterns affect our emotional understanding of the events which, in turn, can affect behavior and subsequent interaction with the people we interact with .

CBT also is believed to make us aware of our own negative emotions influencing our thought patterns .CBT helps us analyse and understand others behaviour as elicited by our own emotional understanding of the situation.

CBT highlights how negative thoughts can bring about negative feelings and actions.Similarly how negative emotions can interpret a positive event ,in negative tones . But, if we reframe our thoughts in a more positive way, it can lead to more positive feelings and helpful behaviors.Or if we work on developing positive emotions about ourselves and situations the thoughts will become more accepting .

While conducting CBT the therapist trains the patient to recognise such negative reading by his mind and how to reinterpret the situation with a positive frame of mind. The patient can continue to use these skills so learnt, in all difficult situations and overcome depression,anxiety or other mood disorders .

Depending on the issue the patient is dealing with and the expected specific goals of the CBT , the therapist can make use of several ways to administer CBT. It will basically involve :

  • identifying specific problems or issues in the client’s day to day life.
  • Helping the client become aware of unproductive thought patterns and how they can impact his or her life
  • identifying negative thinking and reshaping it in a way that changes how he or she feels
  • learning new behaviors and putting them into practice

After speaking with the client and learning more about the issue the client wants help with, the therapist will decide on the best CBT strategies to use.

CBT involves making use of the appropriate combination of a few the following 9 strategies:

1. Cognitive restructuring or reframing

This involves taking a hard look at negative thought patterns. When we tend to over-generalize, and apprehend that the worst is about to happen , or tend to get into too much details for every thing we do we find it difficult to act. Our thoughts can prevent us from doing what we want to do and create havoc in our life.

The therapist in this situation will help us identify the negative patterns of our thoughts and inaction . He trains us as to how to reframe those thoughts so they’re more positive and productive and propel our action taking connative behaviour.

For example: “I am not valued in my office because I’m totally useless” can become “I may not be the best worker , but I’m as valuable an employee as can be and I contribute the same way as others do .”

2. Guided discovery

In guided discovery, the therapist will acquaint himself with our viewpoint. Then he will ask questions designed to challenge our beliefs and broaden our thinking.

The client might be asked to give evidence that supports clients assumptions, as well as evidence that does not.

In the process, the client will learn to see things from other perspectives, especially ones that he or she may not have considered before. This can help client choose a more helpful path.

3. Exposure therapy

Exposure therapy can be used to confront fears and phobias . The therapist will slowly expose you to the things that provoke fear or anxiety, while providing guidance on how to cope with them in the moment.This can be done in small increments. Eventually, exposure can make us feel less vulnerable and more confident in our coping abilities whenever the anxieties build up.

4. Journaling and thought records

Putting down your thoughts in writing is a very simple yet effective way of getting in touch with your emotions.One can list down repeated negative thoughts that occur frequently and disturb your homeostasis .It will certainly help to write down your positive thoughts also as would be the inclusion of new thoughts and new behavior for day to day interaction.

5. Activity scheduling and behavior activation

When you are in a negative frame of mind you tend to put off activities in fear or in anxiety.Writing schedules of such activities and visualising them before you begin practicing them can give you the confidence .With such a positive confidence it becomes easy to overcome negative emotions connected with such activities.

6. Behavioral experiments

Behavioral experiments are used for anxiety disorders that involve catastrophic imagining . The psychologist here asks you to express your apprehension as to what will happen if you perform the given task that you otherwise have been dreading to perform. Once you have (reluctantly ) completed the given task you are asked to talk about whether the apprehension came true. Over time, you may start believing that your apprehensive anxiety is not very valid as nothing that you expected to happen actually took place.

7. Meditation, Relaxation and stress reduction techniques.

Perceptive meditation, progressive muscle relaxation and positive imagery building exercises are undertaken to bring about a total positive control over mind ,body and soul to eliminate the phobias,fears anxieties and depression.

8. Role playing

Role playing can help us overcome negative thinking , apprehension and work through difficult relationship and situations. A role play out done with the help of therapist can lessen fear and can be used for:

  • improving problem solving skills
  • gaining familiarity and confidence in certain situations
  • practicing social skills
  • assertiveness training
  • improving communication skills

9. Successive approximation through small successes

This involves taking tasks that seem overwhelming and breaking them into smaller, more achievable steps. Each successive step builds upon the previous steps so you gain confidence as you go, bit by bit.

To know more about CBT and undertake the same ,please get in touch with us mansikpramarsh@gmail.com

917314263087

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Autism Spectrum Disorder: Managing Behavioral Difficulties in ASD Children

Posted in daily writings and musings of the psychologist, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 10, 2021| Leave a Comment »

We regularly get queries from young parents asking for support to understand the behaviour of their wards suffering from Autism Spectrum Disorder and the behaviour difficulties faced by the affected children.

Children suffering from ASD have behaviour issues which are quite common. These issue relate to more about their communication, social interaction,working within the structured schedule and processing of the sensory information.However if parents are trained and equipped with the appropriate strategies , much of the stress and strain can be reduced bringing relief to the family and the child.They can often be managed through effective activity and behavior management.

There are many difficulties, ASD children face in their behaviour. These issues can be identified as difficulties in communication, issues of  sensory processing, social interaction, and physical balance issues that can make active play more difficult for these kids. Parents and caregivers need to understand that  such behaviours as appear inappropriate are in reality symptoms of the difficulties the child with ASD is facing in his her day to interaction and communicate with others .

Understanding the Causes of Inappropriate Behaviour

The main causes of behavioral difficulties are generally as follows:

Difficulties with communication: Children with ASD struggle with both verbal and expressive language, understanding what is being said to them, and comprehending non-verbal communication cues. This can, become quite frustrating for both the communicator and the child .The child may not be into problem behaviour but to the other person it would appear so ,which causes frustration at both ends.

Difficulties with social situations: The difficulties presented by social situations for a person with ASD are much more than mere communication; people with ASD struggle to understand others’ points of view and grasp the “unspoken rules” of social interaction that state when to, begin and when end a conversation. They are in no position to get the emotional nuances of social communication. Due to all of this, children with ASD may avoid social contact, and they are more likely to experience being harrassed and feel overwhelmed by unnecessary intervention by others in their life .

Difficulties with unstructured time: People with ASD have a hard time dealing with situations where there is no set schedule, as their brains have a hard time sequencing activities on their own out of the given timetable and schedule. Due to this some of the children with ASD are more likely to act out during the period which is not scheduled earlier eg.free period or suddenly declared break times, as they feel confused and frustrated.

Difficulties processing sensory information: Those with ASD often have over or under-sensitive senses, leading to a tendency to get overwhelmed or to seek attention to such a degree that it becomes embarrassing for the accompanying parent and the person interacting with the child.. ASD affected child may react strongly to an unwanted touch, be very selective and particular food eater, get largely disturbed and irritated by loud noises ( be it a noise coming from far off .The child feels unable to concentrate on account of background noise and reacts adversely.

Additionally, one should always remember that people with ASD do not easily adapt to change.Parents managing their ASD ward should be aware of the changes being brought about in their environment or schedule that can trigger problem behaviours.A sudden bout of Illness (especially seizures, which ASD individuals may be prone to) can also trigger adverse reactions as the child with ASD cannot give verbal expression to his or her pain. Doctors advise parents to use picture posters or diagrams to help children express where they are feeling pain.

Dealing with Problem Behaviour

It’s key to understand that the child is using these behaviours to try to communicate something to you, or to achieve some specific function. It’s vital to look under the surface of these behaviours so as to discover the unaddressed needs below. Try to asses what you child is trying to tell you, rather than reacting to the behaviour itself (resist “punishing”; few ASD children actually understand the cause and effect implied by it). It’s also advised to keep a “behaviour diary” or chart so that one can identify patterns in a child’s behaviour and from there, isolate what’s triggering the child’s episodes. One can then develop strategies to avoid or manage the triggers (be sure to introduce these slowly, as sudden changes in routine will do more harm than good). Likewise, expect the child to initially resist the change; stay patient and be consistent with it regardless, and make sure that other family members, teachers, and caregivers are also keeping consistent with it.

One should also develop supportive therapies to help the child shed his or her frustration; these typically include: exercise, brief time out periods in a quiet, darkened space, and relaxing activities. Set achievable treatment goals and don’t push too hard for rapid improvement, as people with ASD can struggle to integrate new knowledge and change behaviours.

To get the best out of a child with ASD, it’s often helpful to employ the following strategies:

  • Speak clearly and precisely (and use short sentences) in order to work around the difficulties that arise with complex verbal communication.
  • Use visual supports. Many children with ASD process visual information more easily than other forms of information. Timetables can be helpful to assist children in understanding schedules.
  • Create “social stories”. These are brief descriptions (using words and images) of situations, events, or activities that help tell a child with ASD what to expect during an upcoming social situation.
  • Help the child identify his or her emotions. This is often challenging to a child with ASD; use visual aids (such as “stress scales”) to help the child quantify what he or she is feeling and how intensely, and help the child learn via physical associations, such as showing him or her that anger connects to a reddening of the face, stomach pain, the urge to cry, etc.
  • Help them learn to relax. Children with ASD find it hard to relax, and can be very “intense” and obsessive in their interests. Try to work relaxing activities or some quiet “alone time” into his or her daily routine.
  • Make their environment more soothing. As children with ASD can become overwhelmed by sensory information, it’s important to ensure their environments are as free as possible of sensory irritants. Flickering lights, devices that give off background noise, scented candles, etc., should be removed.
  • Give praise, in the form your child likes best. Praise is as important to an ASD child’s learning as it is to most children’s learning, but depending on their unique needs, praise may have to be modified to suit the child. For example, some may not like hugs, some may not recognize verbal praise. Often visual cues like stickers on charts or time doing a favourite activity as a reward are effective forms of praise. Praise should be as immediate as possible so that the child can assess cause and effect.

Seeking Help

 If your child’s behaviour is placing him or herself at risk, or others at risk, you should seek professional help by a psychologist or psychiatrist, rather than trying to handle the situation on your own.

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How Do We Manage Anxiety in Children

Posted in daily writings and musings of the psychologist, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 5, 2021| Leave a Comment »

We often think that our children have better resilience to their anxiety and they become normal once we have either given them positive strokes, bought them a chocolate, a gift or diverted their attention by permitting them to play video games. But it needs to be understood that anxiety doesn’t happen to the kids like the way we experience it happening to us adults. Anxiety in children can trigger, in panic attacks, in their tantrums, in their sudden rush of energy or it may occur in the untimely defiant behaviour. We as parent just push it aside by ascribing it to their misbehaving or being in the company of wrong friends. However, children may react differently depending on the immediate situation, past incidents or future anticipations.

As psychologists counsellors and family therapists we have to deal with couples, parents and other family members of our clients who always appear to be suffering from anxiety, In most such cases their children too suffer from similar anxiety or otherwise children from families where there is a good coordination amongst parents struggle with anxiety too.

Some parents would pretend and hide their issues of anxiety and other concerns from their children. Even when kids are understanding the parents would try to act as if everything was fine. These parents would do everything they deem fit or within their reach to calm their wards and reset their nervous system through various practices of calming. Children can pick up anxiety from their parents through the verbal communication, through the body language of their parents, through their mood disorders or the kids themselves can react to any general event in the family and develop a full or partial panic attack.

We have seen many a parents fighting and undermining each other when they come to us. They fail to realise that when they behave so their children too suffer mental agony and a fear of being abandoned by either or both of their parents. Children feel abused when their parents fight. They feel cheated by their parents. Children want to live in a typical family life environment irrespective of the riches or poverty. Any thought of living without a parent causes them much mental pain and that triggers anxiety. To them, their family is their safety nest. Their family enables them to play, to study, to make friends. It helps them grow. It is the reason of their being here in the world. To them family is the only reality, rest all is just make believe. Any iota of doubt on family’s continuity causes deep anxiety.

Parents should remember that their children would always pick up the stress and trauma that their parents experience and exhibit. The parents may think that their children are safe and that children have not been exposed to any kind of stress, physical, sexual, or emotional or personality abuse. They may believe that they are offering their children a great childhood compared to parents’ own childhood or other experiences that parents had to suffer. But actual truth is far from this. Children can become anxious for many reasons triggered by the parents’ obvious circumstances or not so obvious happenings within the family. Some of these reasons could be the actual and some could be as perceived by the children. To us adults many of those reasons might not be major, but to a child they become quite significant in triggering insecurities and anxiety thereof. Should the parents happen to be separated or divorced the self-blaming mind of the children would always be devastated by the memories of the times when the family was together. They would not understand the sudden blow of isolation and the non-availability of the parental umbrella. They struggle to be emotionally available to the single parent they now live with and at the same time add on a make believe relationship with the parent they have been separated from which they continue to believe was on their account. A two edged anxiety of this kind breaks them. It shreds the very fibre of their mental balance.

Children are often left heartbroken if there happens to be a fight in their family. They tend to believe that all tension is on account of their being a cause of distress to their parents. Often they are left with a broken trust. They feel guilty with their self-confidence devastated by the memories of parents shouting at each other. They are afraid of the sudden isolation caused by such disputes amongst their parents.

We always assume that our children are understanding. They adjust to the life as they grow. That they have stronger plasticity. This could be applicable in some way but it is not the complete truth. They are not as strongly fortified against anxiety as we tend to believe. Children do build up their defence mechanisms but these defence mechanisms may prove more damaging to their growing personality during adolescence and later on in their grown up relationships. We often come across young persons and old people alike who suffer from the traumas of their growing up years in anxiety.

We give hereunder some of the symptoms that we have witnessed in children while counselling the families .

1) Dissociation: Children have exhibited dissociation by completely cutting themselves off mentally from what is happening in their families. They form their own make believe world to hide the pain. Though parents may believe that the child is being creative, when the child speaks to and play with imaginary characters. Riya 6 years is one such case. Her parents do not see each other eye to eye. Their constant bickering causes much anxiety to the child. The child is seen talking to her doll most of the times and refuses to part with the doll when she goes to school or goes to bed. Her parents eventually brought her to the counsellor when her teacher noticed the child talking to the doll she had brought into her school bag to the classroom.

Monty’s (9 years) parents had been advised by the psychologist that their child suffers from ADHD because that’s the only way he can get their attention and evoke sympathy from them. His parents both working, hardly find time to spend with their child. Their occasional outbursts cause him such a deep distress. He exhibits his anxiety by getting irritated, by indulging into hyperactivity, impulsiveness and inattentive behaviour.

Depression was diagnosed in Deepa (10 years) as a mood disorder because the chronic emotional outbursts indulged in by her grandmother and mother in their interactions caused much disturbance to the child.

2)Gastrointestinal: Meenu’s (5 years) anxiety has been cropping up in her difficult behaviour to ease up herself. She holds up her anxiety in her abdominal area. In spite of her feeling pressure on the stomach she would refuse to sit on the pot to clear her stomach. She suffers from constipation. Her bowel training has been conducted a few times. But whenever she needs to clean her bowels, she holds on to her stool and often soils her clothes. A better approach would be to ensure the child is offered a better protective environment at home free from tension and stress. We noticed she catches on to her parents’ anxiety and expresses her own in the manner described.

3) Obsessive seeking of Validation: Divya (11 years) exhibits lack of self-confidence. She most of the times struggles to express herself confidently. She would often speak in almost inaudible tone She needs to be reassured that others are paying attention to her and she must speak louder with confidence. She always needs validation from her mother.

Children themselves may not be aware of their anxiety but parents and the teachers need to read the symptoms and signs that speak of anxiety in the children.

If you can be aware that a life experience has created anxiety in their lives, you can bring attention to it and help them cope with that anxiety. You must take your child to a psychologist for evaluation and necessary counselling wherever needed. The psychologist may have to counsel the parents too.

Just being aware that your child can suffer from your chronic circumstances and catch on to anxiety should be taken as an initial step to prevention. Take them to a psychologist whenever or if they exhibit symptoms of anxiety. Whenever possible speak to them about their fears, concerns and phobias whether implied or implicit. Children should be trained and encouraged by both parents to discuss, open up and ask questions from parents should there be any stressful occasion in the family. This will help them to understand that there can be differences of opinions, arguments and even conflicts within the family but that you will always protect them and be with them to take care of them.

Family is Everything
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Stress Awareness:an insight into the same

Posted in daily writings and musings of the psychologist, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 22, 2021| Leave a Comment »

We reproduce below the interview of our Ramneek Kapoor Psychologist and Family Therapist once again for the benefit of our readers and clients.

1 .What is ‘stress’

“I would refer to stress as “the mental, psychological, intellectual, emotional and physical unease to the personal situation and the expectation rose either by the self or by others to face/handle the situation “.

  1. Are all kinds of stress bad? How do we identify between good and bad stress?

“All kinds of stress is not bad, only the distress caused is bad. Eustress is a good stress that gives a high and stimulates the adrenaline. When you feel good about certain situation and event and feel you are able to handle it, you look forward to such a situational stress which results into a moral boost and good emotional physical feeling”.

  1. Do you think people are aware what stress does to their mind, body and soul? Do you think that once they realise how negative stress has adverse effects on them, they will be in a better position to manage it?

“Only a limited few numbers of people could be aware of the negative effects of the stress on their physical, mental, social, spiritual and emotional well being. Mere realisation that the stress is bad will not be enough. We need to also educate and inculcate in them the stress relieving self empowering meditation exercise routine on day to day basis. Preksha Meditation (perceptive meditation on the psychic centres) under the guidance of trained teacher will go a long way in relieving stress.

  1. In the world we are living in today, how important is it to spread awareness about stress? Are there any statistics that reveal how serious the problem of stress is one’s life?

“The very fact that more than 50 percent people suffer from the depression, anxiety and stress sometimes or the other in their life with no trained professional help to cope with this reflects the pitiable position of the awareness amongst common people. In fact no official statistics from any governmental source are available on the subject nor has any NGO worked on the subject authentically”.

  1. How do you think our previous generations managed stress better than today? Even with the state of the art technology and advance in medical sciences, why have we as humans not been able to cope/ deal with stress?

“It is a fashion to always refer to the better life of the previous generation. The fact is that the technological advancement has also brought with it the person related emotional, psychological and physical maladies in addition to making life easier. The state of art tech development has brought about personal isolation, in the midst of many. The person today is cut off and alienated from the self. He or she is always lost into an uncalled for competition with the others on the social media and into the realms of the imaginary virtual world.

  1. Do you think people today are ignorant about stress? Ignorance is bliss, but is this kind of bliss worth it?

“No they are not ignorant. They prefer living in the comfort of uncomfortable stress. The rat race takes its toll and the victims enjoy the bites of killing stress and anxiety and many other mental ailments. Eventually the person ends up with either cardiac problems or the chronic depression and anxiety will take toll on such persons “.

  1. Are there some observable and prominent symptoms a stressed individual will experience? Such as physical, mental, emotional, physiological etc.?

“Yes ;the breathing discomfort , sleeplessness , insomnia, loss of memory, eating disorder either binge eating or not getting hungry, social anxiety, irritation , unmanaged anger, repeated headache, psychosomatic pains , and weight gain/ weight loss are some of the prominent observable symptoms”.

  1. Who are the most stressed people according to you? What could be the causes for them being the most stressed?

“Adolescents, working women, housewives, company executives and even professionals with deadlines of times to meet are always under stress. But the large share of the stress cake goes to adolescents in the modern times. With the race to always look outwards and keep pace with the demands of peer aping the adolescents find it difficult to cope with the stress. This generation is neither amongst the younger generation nor are they amongst the adults. The social media, the rigid demands on their performances in academics and career aspirations’ of the parents for them, are some of the major reasons for this generation being most stressed

  1. What according to you triggers ‘stress? Do you think by being aware of the triggers we can be in a better position to manage stress?

Triggers of stress can be any event or situation that threatens the mental and physical equilibrium (homeostasis) of the body . The events can be either external or internal

. External can be the political, social, economic, competitive, family, academic, or work atmosphere. While internal triggers will relates to irresponsible behaviour, uncalled for self expectations, negative attitude towards life in general, and looking for perfectionism in self or others.

  1. What can be some of the long-term effects of stress? How does stress affect a person physically, mentally and emotionally?

The long term effects of chronic stress can be

  • Chronic sadness and depression. (2.) Chronic mental and physical fatigue. (3.) Chronic stress related illness (consistent headache, stomach ache, bowel problems, social anxiety) and other psycho somatic physical illness. (4) Isolating self, withdrawal, self destructive nihilistic thoughts .

Physical problems of the stress can be , sleep disorders, back, shoulder or neck pain, migraines , headaches, acidity, upset bowels, constipation, weight gain or loss, hair loss, loss of libido.

Emotionally the person can become nervous, edgy, depressed, moody, phobic, and not be able to focus and eventually suffering from Nervous breakdown.

  1. Please mention 5 useful tips for fighting/ managing stress? How can one follow these in his/her daily schedule and busy day?
    1. Accept life as it comes.
    2. Accept your self.
    3. Identify “ME” and try to become “ME” rather than becoming him, her ,they or she.
    4. Accept that perfectionism is a myth and utopia.
    5. Follow a healthy diet plan, an exercise and meditation routine to keep your heart health and positive.
  1. According to you, how can one prevent stress in everyday life? How do we know that the levels of stress have crossed the healthy limits? Until when can a person manage it on his/ her own?

“Stress is a natural occurrence but taking on too much can be avoided . Relax whenever you feel mentally, physically or emotionally exhausted before your stresses break you down”.

  1. Stress does not tend to only affect one person; its effects tend to spill over to the people around them. How do you think that we as a friend/ family member help a person dealing with stress?

“Stress is a personal problem but its manifestation can be felt and definitely seen in the family, friends and other areas of one’s life. The friends and family too should know that the life has to be lived in positive moments and as such the negativity should be eliminated from the life completely.

  1. What message would you like to give to our readers this Stress Awareness Month?

“Live life in positive emotions, the negatives are not meant for the living “.

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Mindful Perceptive Compassion Focused Therapy -an act of doing good to yourself and to everyone.

Posted in daily writings and musings of the psychologist, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 31, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Meena had left her husband’s house a week ago and she didn’t want to go back.The little fight that they had , had been a routine .She felt she had been a little too hard on her husband. She wanted to atone for these bickerings by punishing herself.She wanted to stay away from her home and husband, always believing this would be her punishment .

Ravi always wanted to have some freedom and space in his busy life. He would travel to the hills once every three months. But he felt guilty of cheating on his wife,every time he did that .He did not know how to compensate his wife for this and the guilt always knawed upon his mind. He brought her number of gifts, believing that way he was paying for his neglect of her . Both the situations above indicate that,

We often take it too hard on ourselves and become compassion less for our own mind ,soul and body.We indulge into self denial ,self effacement and /or believe in self punishment .But how would such a step ever become a compensation to the other partner .Every harmful act that you think of doing to yourself either and or think that self punishment could be an act of compensation to the other partner would in fact be a compassionless act for both.

“You need to be more compassionate to yourself first before you think of developing the same for others. When you have learned compassion for yourself, compassion for others is automatic.”

What is Mindful Perceptive Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT)?

Compassion-focused therapy (CFT) aims to bring about a better mental health and emotional well-being by training and enabling people to develop a compassionate attitude toward themselves and other people in their lives .This helps the person get a better understanding of self and that of others’ intention, motivation and activities.

What does Mindful Perceptive CFT Involve ?

The therapeutic technique of CFT include five A exercises spelt out as Acceptance, Appreciation, Adjustment, Accomodation, Adoption or Adaptation.These extensive exercises, or activities emphasising the mental perception buildup of solid relationship, an individual can enjoy are undertaken during the Therapy on regular basis.

These exercises may include making a list of accepting person or things first at the face values irrespective of the likes or dislikes,Appreciation comes by taking time to savour the moment when something enjoyable is noticed, and other positive rewarding behaviours.Similarly mind then is trained to understand utilise and appreciate the concepts of other four A’s.

Mindful Perceptive Meditation is made use of in CFT is to develop a better sensory perceptive attention to the current moment in a manner that is free from any bias or prejudice. CFT makes use of Compassion-focused imagery exercises, or the use of guided memories to stimulate an appreciation of the environment .The objective of the guided imagery is the production and perception of a relational image that stimulates the calming system of the mind.

This can be achieved by perceptually imaging someone showing kindness and compassion to you and then mentally experience how that feels, with the intention that you learn how to show yourself kindness and compassion.

Disorders treated with Mindful Perceptive CFT

Mindful Perceptive CFT can be helpful to people who find it challenging to understand, feel, or express compassion in their social interaction and relationships .

Mindful Perceptive CFT can help to explore reasons ,events and past experiences that have brought about such a difficulty in developing compassion. Mindful Perceptive CFT explores methods of positive change.

This therapy can also be effective at helping people come out of their distressing thoughts, behaviours, and negative feelings of all kinds . Such MPCFT particularly is helpful when dealing with feelings associated with self condemnation,self effacement and self harm.

CFT can also help with, depression, Anxiety, shame based trauma, eating disorders, anger and self-harm.

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Mindful Perceptive Meditation and Talk Therapy can help Schizophrenia

Posted in daily writings and musings of the psychologist, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 3, 2019| Leave a Comment »

pm2Ashu (name changed) could not do anything in life ever since he had been diagnosed of schizophrenia by the psychiatrist. He had been prescribed psychotic medicines by different psychiatrist doctors wherever his family had taken him to them .Yet nothing helped. His fears and phobias had worsened with time. The voices in his head continued disturbing him. His logical cognitive ability had been completely distorted and for him all the delusions had become the real images and characters.

meditation singleSimilarly Sheena (name changed) continued with the fear and phobia of persecution at the hands of a person who had long moved out of her life five years ago. Sheena had been diagnosed of delusional disorder (a psychotic disorder).Her life had become completely miserable as she would often get lost into her phobia and would not be able to conduct her normal day to day routine life.

Schizophrenia is a psychiatric disorder that disables and distorts the logical thinking and cognition of the individual affected by this chronic brain disorder involving “positive” and “negative” symptoms.

Positive symptoms relate to hallucinations (hearing voices or seeing visions that aren’t real), delusions (fixed false beliefs), and disorganized thinking or speech. People suffering from active positive symptoms often respond to those symptoms in ways that are obvious to others around them (e.g., agitation, disorganization).Ashu, mentioned above had suffered from imaginative voices in his head hearing that someone is out to prosecute him and that he would be sent to prison. While these thoughts were not visible to others but he often complained of hearing voices and attributed the voices to one of the persons he had been dealing with in his family business.

Negative symptoms relate to substantial decline in the affected person’s social interactions, communication, and motivation to conduct day to day affairs. Sheena had displayed negative systems when she had been referred to us for, a “split personality.” behavior, but Schizophrenia has nothing to do with split personality. She had been suffering from delusional disorder, a kind of schizophrenic psychotic disorder.

Ashu and Sheena both exhibited resistance to antipsychotic medications and their family members were definitely at a stage when nothing could help them. Ashu did sometimes show partial improvements only to go back to from where it had all started. We noticed that Sheena’s problem continued to be more chronic and affected all aspects of her life. She did not respond to any psychotic medications being administered by the psychiatrist.

But both Sheena and Ashu found it difficult to establish and maintain relationships within the family and externally. They were unable to carry on their day to day work on account of mood swings and delusions that would take a toll of their logical thinking. Both had virtually cut themselves off socially. Their disordered thought process prevented them to understand that they were not normal in their thinking faculty like other people in their lives. Their family too found it quite an uphill and expensive task   to follow the treatment handed out to them by the doctor every fortnight on account of heavy cost and also due to the patient’s refusal to take the medication.

We decided to make good use of Mindful Perceptive Meditation Therapy and Cognitive Behavior Therapy together to treat both Ashu and Sheena regularly on every alternate day basis in order to maintain regularity and without giving them a chance to revert to their pre conditioned schizophrenic way of thinking and cognition. Initially we found it difficult to communicate with the subjects as they would either not come for counseling or if they had come, they would not pay attention to what was being discussed. Gradually they started to respond to our instructions. We had begun the treatment with “Shwas Preksha ‘(Mindful Perceptive breathing exercise on the psychic centers) conducted under the watchful eye of the expert instructor. Soon we started noticing a significant improvement in both of our clients.

Thereafter we had begun with them the activities of “Mindful Perceptive Meditation” which involves both body and mind into deep meditation on the psychic centers, being fully aware of the moment and the breathe present in every living moment in its total intensity”. This continued along with the regular exercises of Kayotsarga to provide the much needed peaceful perception of the body through mind. Kayotsarga is a process of meditation that dissociates the physical body from the mind and it puts the muscles of the body to   complete rest progressively, somewhat similar to progressive muscle relaxation technique.

Peaceful-Mind-Remedies-South-Croydon-426x426Soon a very significant improvement could be noticed in certain negative symptoms, (e.g., negativity about self and family, sense of doom, lack of interest in surroundings and /lack of drive) started yielding to positive thoughts on all these issues .The clients did respond well as we noticed Ashu and Sheena both had begun looking at the positive aspects of their life. Their sense of appreciation for some aspects of their lives could be felt in their daily interaction with us. We could see their interest reviving in their day to day life too exhibiting positive symptoms.

These results had further been strengthened by the process of Mahaprana  Dhwani {greater inner sound effects  produced by the help of mouth and nose while exhaling  the breath by the patients }reformed  on all psychic centers during the process of deep perceptive breathing exercises and exhalation  undertaken by the patients.

Mindful Perceptive Meditation and CBT has been very effectively used by us in a variety of psychiatric/psychological disorders .We had used Mindful Perceptive Meditation and positive affirmative techniques to enable the affected person correct the functioning of endocrine glands producing negative steroids and emotions and subsequent faulty thought process .The practice of CBT generates critical cognition of actual position of the situation and helps analyze all kinds of thoughts with objectivity and factual back up. The Mindful Perceptive Meditation therapy supports written affirmative statements about the self and situations which would be given as homework exercises and are reviewed later with the clients. The whole process was focused on changing the negative perceptions about self and situations to positive emotions and thoughts.

Generally a patient requires 50 to 60 sessions over a period of three to four months. But in severe cases the sessions (each running for 45 minutes to one hour) can go up to 90 to 120 sessions over a period of 6 to 9 months’ time like it had been extended in these two cases for up to 6 months.

It gives us greater satisfaction and happiness that eventually after a hard work of six months , the patients had been cured of their problems to a large extent and with the help of their family and friends,  the process of rehabilitation  of both of  them into the family and society had been achieved.

We have   been making use of Mindful Perceptive Meditation and Cognitive Behavior Therapy successfully in many other cases of depression, anxiety, stress and many other psychotic disorders and many have been restored to their normal life.

Perceptive Meditation enables you live in and with your breath taking your mind away from your anxiety stress and worries of life .It empowers you to live in the moment with complete mindfulness of your soul ,body and mind “. Ramneek Kapoor.

If you have someone in the family suffering from any such disorder,Come and discuss with us how to proceed.

You take the first step today and  we help you  find the much needed happiness.

Call  on us @9179383554 or write to us @ mansikpramarsh@gmail.com

-Ramneek Kapoor – Family Therapist, Psychologist Counselor and Science of Living Expert.

 

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Learning Disability- Special Mansik Pramarsh Management Programme

Posted in daily writings and musings of the psychologist, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 18, 2018| Leave a Comment »

Learning Disability:What is learning disability?Learning disability is a misnomer as a difficulty that can be overcome should not be labeled such strongly.  Hence we will call it Learning Difficulty. ‘Learning difficulty’ is a general term that can be applied to different conditions with varying symptoms and severity e.g., dyslexia dysgraphia or even dyscalculia and dyspraxia or ADHD.  The underlying symptoms of the learning difficulty conditions though in all labeled situations are inter-related and are present from birth.

We at Mansik Pramarsh focus on the  all these many labels that exist as a common cause and concentrate on each person and treat their individual difficulties with a highly personalized regular  exercise Program of learning skills, counseling skills , meditation and cerebral development.

The cause of learning difficulty: a common factor in many of these conditions is a part of the brain called the cerebellum, which links to nearly all the major centers of the brain.

The cerebellum is key to the learning process, making learning; understanding skills become automatic through practice. But if the cerebellum is not working efficiently then it is very likely the child will struggle with one or more of the following – poor reading and writing, concentration, co-ordination or social skills.

Mansik Pramarsh medication-free Program consists of daily learning skills, counseling skills, preksha meditation and Kayotsarg aim to improve memory, learning ability, retention balance, cerebral and physical co-ordination, concentration and social skills.

Dyslexia

Dyslexia refers to a learning difficulty that causes problems with learning language-based skills. It is a neurological condition that affects around 10 – 20% of the population to some degree.
People who have dyslexia or dyslexia symptoms generally have trouble with their reading, writing and spelling. It can also affect: concentration, short term memory, math, and coordination and communication skills, incapable of paying attention for long periods of time, finding it hard to make friends, being prone to tantrums. Children seemingly insensitive to other people’s feelings are also indicative of a dyslexic condition.  Dyslexia has no reflection on the child’s intelligence – it is about the access to his or her intelligence. Being dyslexic doesn’t mean that a person can’t read, nor does it mean that their intelligence is impaired, but it can make learning very challenging, depending on the degree of the problem. Unless these challenges are addressed it is very likely that people will avoid anything to do with reading, writing and spelling, joining in and socializing.

Mansik Pramarsh Programme: Many of the symptoms associated with learning difficulties such as dyslexia, dyspraxia and ADHD are believed to be linked to poor cerebellar efficiency. Through our daily exercises focused on   preksha meditation, memory development , Kayotsarg,  cerebral balance, eye tracking, retaining capacity built up  and  cerebrum-physical coordination our special  Program aims to improve the performance of the cerebellum, the ‘skill center’ of the brain which makes every day learning and performing  automatic.

Dyspraxia or Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD)

Dyspraxia is an alternative name for Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD). Dyspraxia mainly causes issues with coordination resulting in clumsy type behavior on account of problems with motor skills.

Fine motor skills require precise movements like Writing, Threading beads, Tying shoelaces, Doing up buttons, Using cutlery etc.
Gross Motor skills relate to balance and coordination including: Catching and throwing, Riding a bike
The kids who have the debility often  avoid participating in sport. The signs of Dyspraxia vary with age and development. For example, young children often show delays in achieving developmental skills (e.g. tying shoelaces, buttoning shirts, zipping pants/trousers) and can appear quite clumsy. Older children often have problems with fine motor control; doing puzzles, building models or playing ball games. Many children do not show difficulties with the early milestones of sitting and crawling but show later difficulties with more complex activities – those which require the involvement of the cerebellum.
Other Dyspraxia symptoms may show in:
Coordination and balance
Awkwardness
Behavioral issues
Some have issues with noise and feeling
Extreme cases with speech impediments
These skills take longer to develop in children with dyspraxia tendencies.

Mansik Pramarsh Programme

Many of the symptoms associated with learning difficulty such as dyslexia, dyspraxia and ADHD are believed to be linked to poor cerebellar efficiency.  Our regular daily preksha meditation, science of living, Kayotsarga, exercises focus on balance, eye tracking and coordination. The program aims to improve the performance of the cerebellum, the ‘skill Centre’ of the brain which makes everyday tasks automatic.

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