Tag Archives: techniques

February 6, 2013 · 9:57 am

Guest Post: All About Psycho-Social Rehabilitation (PSR)!

All About Psycho-Social RehabilitationHello from the Potato State! My name is Stacey and I am co-runner of a little Idaho blog called: A PSR Gathering. I am here today to give a little insight on what we do!

In Idaho we have an awesome service offered to children and adults called PSR or Psycho-Social Rehabilitation. PSR is not available to everyone (it is a Medicaid only service and not in every state) which examples the blank stares I often get when I tell people what I do. Katie and I work with children (ages 4-19 is the general range of clients) but, adult services are available! Clients who qualify for PSR have been diagnosed with a Serious Emotional Disturbance (SED) for children, or a Severe and Persistent Mental Disorder (SPMD) for adults. I am going to keep this simple and sweet for you today, if you have a questions feel free to ask!

Who?

Have a Bachelors degree (in Social Services, Early Childhood Education, Sociology, Social Work, Psychology, and the like)? You can do PSR! You will have to gain a USPRA certification though, if you wish to work in the state of Idaho. Some states even require a master’s degree.

About us:

Katie (on the left): I graduated with a BAS in Child Care and Development from Boise State University in 2009. I have lived in Boise the majority of my life, am married with two dogs and with what spare time I can find love to travel, run, camp and read.  I have worked with kids for about 15 years in many different ways, from camp counselor to tutor to Pre-school teacher! I have been working as a PSR Specialist for about two and a half years now, and am just feeling like I’m getting the hang of it!

Stacey (on the right): I graduated from Boise State University in 2010, with my B.F.A in Drawing and studies in Psychology and Art Therapy. My family moved us to Boise when I was 10 and we have been here ever since. I just bought a house a street over from my childhood home and live there with my boyfriend of many years and our bully breed pup, Penny. I have too many interests to list but the tops are: creating, motorcycles, bargain hunting and kicking back! I have always had a passion for helping others, which has given me the opportunity to work in an array of jobs.  From working with animals, to slinging coffee or advising college students… I’ve done it all! I have been a PSR specialist for going on two years and can’t wait to see where it takes me.

What do we do as PSR workers?

PSR is individual skill based training, such as anger management, social skills emotions recognition, etc.

When do we work?

Each client qualifies for about 4-5 hours per week. We work in the community so our hours are outside of school hours–afternoons, night and weekends. As you can imagine we love summer for its flexibility!

So…an office? School?…where do you work?

PSR is a community-based position, no office (unless your car counts–I haven’t used my trunk for purposes other than hauling around ‘PSR’ tools for 2 years now-ha!). We work in the homes or take them out into the community to work. Libraries, malls, Barnes and Noble, coffee shops, parks–you get the idea.

Why?

Our goal(s) in PSR are simple. When a client comes into PSR a treatment plan is designed that consists of measurable and behaviorally specific objectives. PSR is there to build skills to better communicate, interact within society, build relationships, handle situations and overall be the best kiddos they can be!

How?

We do an array of activities with clients (based on age, understanding and needs). Being out in the community and in the homes, we get a good glimpse on what our clients are like when their ‘guard’ is down, which lends to a lot of  ‘real life training.’ We also get to be silly kids our selves by using play and art to teach our clients new skills! Check http://www.psrideaweb.com/for awesome activity ideas!

PSR Gathering

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January 23, 2013 · 10:57 am

Activities to Inspire and Motivate Teachers

I often receive excellent questions from readers and have decided to start posting some of them so we can all learn something! If you have a question, please don’t hesitate to email me!

I recently received this question from LaMonica, a school social worker in Chicago (one of my favorite vaca spots!):

inspire and motivate teachers 2

I am a school social worker in Chicago and love your blog :)   I am sometimes asked by my principal to give a short staff development activity to our teachers, and I would love some new ideas.  Generally when this happens I am not given a specific directive about a topic, but rather I am just asked to ‘do
something social/emotional’, often not something relating to students per say but rather about how to inspire and motivate teachers during the middle of the year when they are stressed to the max, etc.  Do you have any advice?

Here are a few ideas that came to my mind to help inspire and motivate some of Chicago’s amazing, but stressed out, teachers!
1. Sand Tray Activity: This might be fun if you already have sand tray materials. Get a couple sand trays (keep it simple with a tupaware box and minimal sand) and some miniatures. Ask the teachers to get in groups and, using the miniatures, create a picture in the sand of one side that pictures their best day and one side that pictures their worse day. Have them share with others when they are done and talk about those together. Sharing their bad day side will give them a sense of support and there will likely be a bit of humor. Sharing their good days will encourage them and remind them why they entered education in the first place. It will also allow you an opportunity to learn more about the needs of your teachers.
2. Stress Relief Education and Exercises: Talk about various ways to relieve stress in and out of the school. You can teach deep breathing and even go through a meditation activity. Inner Health Studio has a large variety of guided imagery scripts and worksheets on stress, anxiety, anger, and more. Your teachers would love you if you dim the lights and talk them through a guided imagery to relax and refresh them!
3. Tell Them How You Can Help: This is a great way to share all the many ways a school counselor or social worker and be of assistance to the teachers and other staff. I found this article, The Top 10 Ways School Counselors Can Support Teachers, to be a very straight forward list of how you can support the teachers. I suggest giving this as a handout as you go through each one on the list.
4. Anger Balloon Activity: I love this video on Anger Balloons because it is a fun demonstration of how anger can build up inside and explode if we don’t deal with it regularly. I use this in counseling and have the clients tell me what makes them angry and blow a little into the balloon with each thing. I suggest having one teacher blow into the balloon while the teachers shout out frustrations and things that stress them out throughout the year. Once the ballon is full, then you can continue with the demonstration about what would happen if you didn’t relieve some of the air (aka stress).
5. Filling Their Buckets: I wrote a post on bucket filling last year that I think would be a great activity to do with the teachers. I suggest getting the book. Read the book out loud for them. It’s a child’s book, but adults love getting read to! Then, have each teacher write down compliments, encouragement, and other bucket-filling statements for other teachers in the room. Depending on how many teacheres are there, you can have them all share in the meeting, or wait until afterward. You can even go so far as to get a “bucket” for every teacher so that others can drop special notes of encouragement for them over the next week, month, or semester.
If you are reading this and have ideas to share, please leave your comment!
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May 7, 2012 · 5:30 pm

Is It Possible to Choose Our Mood?

Many therapists at some point in their practice, myself included, espouse the idea that people can make a choice about how they feel and how they respond to circumstances.  For example, when I am getting ready for the day tomorrow, I can proclaim that I choose to be in a good mood and when something does not go as planned, I can choose to respond positively and rationally. Psychology Today even has a blog post out titled Stress Is a Choice: How to Give Up Getting Worked Up. It’s a great post that highlights how people can choose whether they will feel stressed. As I was reading this piece, automatically nodding my head in agreement, I paused and thought “Boy, I wish it were as easy as it sounds. I would be stress free and happy 24/7!”

Cognitive behaviorist believe whole-heartedly that your thoughts will directly affect your mood.  Let’s say you have a co-worker who is always in a negative mood in the morning. If you think to yourself, “Her mood ruins my morning every day,” then you will feel frustrated and crabby. If you think to yourself, “Her bad mood sure does make for a hard day for her. I’m glad I choose to be happy,” then you will feel less frustrated and probably happy!

First let me say that I strongly believe in the cognitive behavioral thearpy techniques and apply it in my own life, as well as teach it to my clients. However, I also think you should get a disclaimer first. The truth is, choosing our moods, thoughts, and behaviors is not easy! In fact, it takes a lot of practice and mental energy, especially in the beginning. There are so many factors that affect our moods (or so we are led to believe) that it often feels like you are constantly playing defense against the environment. There will always be factors out of your control, such as your c0-worker’s mood, or whether the printer jams when you have a deadline to meet. The goal is to make your responses thoughtful, and then emotional, rather than emotional first. Secondly, recognize that there are circumstances which are extremely difficult to nearly impossible for one to choose their thoughts or mood. These can include serious mental illness, hormonal imbalance, and substance use.

Before I get emails about the simplistic manner in which I presented Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, I must mention that this therapeutic intervention entails so much more than this post give credit. For more information, you can visit PsychCentral and the National Association for Cognitive Behavioral Therapists.

To answer the title of this post… Yes, I believe it is possible to choose our mood in most normal every day circumstances. Remember, practice makes for more success!

What about you? Do you think this concept works?

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April 9, 2012 · 5:30 pm

Ask “What hasn’t changed?

We often think of people feeling depressed or angry about events in their life that are out of the ordinary. However, I have been working with several clients on issues related to areas in their life that don’t seem to change. Those things that continue to be a problem or a hassle for them and they begin to feel helpless to make changes. When I think about it, it’s those difficult and challenging constants that can wear on a person and really cause negative feelings, like anger and frustration, to build up inside.
I often ask a client at some point during the session how things are going and if there is anything new that happened since our last appointment. I was running into a road block with some not sharing much, so, I decided to start asking them what has stayed the same for them lately. Wow, I have been quite pleased with how much we can learn from that simple question.
Here are a few examples of how this worked out:
Me: “So, what’s new since our last session?”
Client: “Nothin”
Me: “Hmm, Ok so let’s talk about what’s not so new. Talk to me about what kinds of things haven’t changed. What is the same?”
Client: “Well, my mom is still nagging me and I’m still deciding to ignore her” (client says with grin on face). “And she still pays attention to my brother all the time…” And the conversation went on from there.
In this first scenario, we identified a pattern with the client and their mother. Recognizing patterns in your life are very powerful when it comes to making changes.
Me: “So, how have things been? We didn’t see each other last week. Are there any updates with your situation?”
Client: “Not really”
Me: “Ok then, tell me about what is the same with you/your situation?”
Client: “Well I’m still playing video games a lot. Oh yea, and someone is still stealing my bike and I have to punch him all the time to get it back.”
In the second scenario, the client was able to share about ongoing bullying they face. This ends up being a key component to their feelings of anger and reasons for their recent behaviors.

As you can see, we were able to get at a lot more by talking about what hasn’t changed

Parents, if you are having a difficult time getting through to your child or adolescent, consider talking to them about those areas of their life that aren’t changing. Consider what may be so persistent in their life that they feel hopeless for change. You may actually hear some really good things as well!

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March 31, 2012 · 2:20 am

A Therapist’s Tote of Techniques: Deep Breathing!

When I mentioned I was going to be sharing my “best therapeutic techniques,” I imagine some of you were surprised when I said deep breathing would be first on my list to share. This should tell you how important it is to know good breathing technique and how often it is used in treating all kinds of symptoms- anxiety, anger, nervousness, worry, and so on. (By the way, this image is meant to get you in the mood to relax!)

I’ll also share some fun ways to teach kids about deep breathing exercises!

5 Reasons to Practice Deep Breathing

  1. It’s FREE! There is no cost for you to learn or apply this technique and it is an excellent tool for stress and anger management.
  2. It tricks your body into thinking it is in a calm state (as opposed to the fight or flight state).When we are in a state of stress, our bodies are in a “fight or flight” response, meaning it is reacting as if there is a threat present and we either need to stay and fight the threat or run away. When our bodies are in this state, our heart rate rises and our breathing becomes rapid and shallow.
  3. Deep Breathing gives you energy! The act of breathing deeply helps to deliver nutrient rich oxygen throughout your body.
  4. This delivery of oxygen also helps to eliminate waist in the body an help maintain healthy cells.
  5. It’s a useful technique to have ready when the time comes. Practice now so when you are feeling angry, anxious, etc., you will be prepared to use it!

When To Use Deep Breathing

  • If you are nervous about an important meeting, public speaking engagement, or personal situation you are about to face.
  • When you feel angry. You may notice your heart beating faster, face getting hot, and an urge to react to the source of your anger.
  • If you are feeling an urge to do something you don’t want to do.
  • Anytime you feel the need to relax and de-stress.

Teaching about deep breathing proved to be difficult without a visual aid. Unfortunately, I could not find one that I was comfortable adding to my blog. So… for your entertainment, I made a short video of my own to teach you proper deep breathing technique (no laughing!).

VIEW MY TUTORIAL VIDEO HERE FOR PROPER BREATHING TECHNIQUE! 
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NOW, FUN WAYS TO TEACH THE KIDS!
I have found that teaching kids about deep breathing is similar to teaching them other things… you have to trick them into thinking they are not learning or practicing something important! Here are some fun activities to help your kids learn about deep breathing. Once they learn the skill, teach them how and when to apply deep breathing.
 
Blowing a Pinwheel
Such a simple, yet fun toy! Who doesn’t love to watch the pinwheel colors mix together as it spins?
  1. Have your child take a deep breath (remind them slow and deep)
  2. Hold their breath for 2 seconds
  3. Release their breath by blowing the pinwheel
  4. Repeat 2 more times

Candle and Flower

  1. Gather together a candle (you can light it if you feel your child is old enough) and a flower
  2. Starting with the flower, have your child take a deep breath (remind them slow and deep) through their nose as if they are smelling the flower
  3. When they are breathing in the flower, have them pretend they are breathing in good, calm feelings
  4. Hold their breath for 2 seconds
  5. Release their breath by slowly blowing out the candle, pretending that they are breathing out the angry, yucky feelings
  6. Repeat 2 more times

References: www.webmd.com www.kidsrelaxation.com http://www.stress-and-relaxation.com/deep-breathing.html

You may also like: A Therapist’s Tote of Techniques

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March 25, 2012 · 8:56 pm

A Therapist’s Tote of Techniques

NEW BLOG SERIES!

I will be starting a new series “A Therapist’s Tote of Techniques” to share what I feel to be some of my most important and/or most used therapeutic techniques. I am looking forward to this series because most of these are simple, easy to learn techniques that anyone can apply. Another term for this concept is “tools in a toolbox.” I don’t know about the rest of you, but I just don’t carry around a tool box as much as I do my favorite tote bags. Men can substitute “tote” for the old fashioned “tool box” if needed! :)

Some Techniques and Categories to look forward to:

  • Managing emotions
  • Managing behaviors
  • Reflecting of feelings
  • Relaxation
  • Reframing
  • Cognitive Behavioral strategies
  • Boundary setting
  • Play Therapy Techniques

CREATING YOUR OWN TOTE BAG OF TECHNIQUES:

My goal is to share with you some basic techniques so you can fill your own “tote  of techniques” to use in your daily life. It’s important for me to communicate to my clients that one size does not fit all. This means that what technique worked for your neighbor’s kid will not necessarily work with yours! And what techniques one person uses may not be one you are comfortable using. Take behavior charts for example. I have heard some disagreements with the use of this tool as a means of behavior management, some from those

who do not think they work, and others who don’t find them to fit within their frame work of parenting style. My response: then don’t add that tool to your tote bag! There are many options available and you have to find what is right for you and your family.

Upcoming Post: Deep Breathing

The first technique to be featured is Deep Breathing! It seems simple, but it’s a very important one. I will talk about why it is so important, how it works, how to do it, and when and how to apply this technique. If you are not already following this blog and want to read future posts, please follow this blog via email, twitter, or facebook at http://www.facebook.com/KimsCounseling!

You may also like to read my post about behavior modification tools.

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