| Hi everyone I wanted to let you know about the 4-session group I will be offering in September. There are early registration deadlines and I wanted you to be able to take advantage of them. I have also had some requests to do smaller groups sooner and if you are interested I am in the process of putting those together, give me a call or email. ph: 310 828-1256, info@TherapyMarketingCoach.com or go to my website for more information about my marketing, to sign up for my newsletter and sign up for the group. www.TherapyMarketingCoach.com I look forward to working together. Warmest Regards, Licia Ginne, MFT www.LATherapists.com www.TherapyMarketingCoach.com Starting Friday September 10, 2010, @ 9:30 am Having 4 sessions to work we can go over the material together, write and edit, set up workshops, sign up for CEU provider status and much, much more. Design your private practice Listed below are the topics for the two groups I usually offer separately. I am combining them to offer this 4-day workshop. 2 hours each Private Practice Development & Marketing – offers an overview of practice development and management. This group is geared for all levels, student, intern, newly licensed or those wanting to expand or develop their private practice. We cover a lot of material in a short period of time and workbook included.
Creating Your Marketing Plan & Materials Now that you have the basics under your belt are you ready to start writing and designing?
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September 2010 – Private Practice Development Have your Marketing & Business Plan in place for 2011.
Category Marketing, Mental Health, Private Practice Development, Psychotherapy Marketing, Therapy Marketing, Uncategorized
Psychotherapy Interrupted by Addiction
Category Addiction, Alcohol Addiction, Alcohol abuse, Drug Abuse, Drug Addiction, Mental Health, counseling, health, personal, psychotherapy, relationships
Over the years I have changed my feelings about addiction though what follows is a traditional approach to addiction and abuse. Yet one of the beliefs I now have is that substances or processes are used to regulate one’s feelings. So processes can mean so many different kinds of things. What I see so often is the shame of having feelings and the need to get away from those feelings as soon as possible. Often the focus of my work now is how we are all human and we humans have all sorts of feelings and if you have never been taught to value feelings or have compassion for yourself it is pretty hard to tolerate those feelings. Yet when someone is actively using you walk a fine line where the emotional world can set that person off into their mode of medicating and it is a balancing act.
Addiction is behavior that is repeated over and over again despite undesired consequences, it co-exists with feelings of shame, despair, low self-esteem and uncontrollable cravings. Whether the person is using substances or processes there is still a sense of a mind altering experience. I personally cannot explain why one person can sip one beer through the evening and not want another one and the alcoholic will drink till there is nothing left. Is it physical? Genetic? Emotional? I really don’t know, I just know from experience one person can walk away and the other can’t.
There can be a difference between abuse of and addiction too. One can use lots of cocaine, lets say, and when they are ready to stop, the drug abuser can. Whereas someone who is addicted may go through periods of abstaining but in the long run cannot stop and may lose much in the process
I have always used the definition of is it an addiction by does it create problems in one’s relationships, work life, social life, spiritual life, feelings of vitality, physical problems or create legal problems. Most often the high comes in the planning and searching, the actual use can be a let down and lead to great feelings of shame or remorse that might start off another attempt to escape the feelings by using again.
Different types of Addiction
Substances can include:
· Alcohol
· Drugs: amphetamines, caffeine, cannabis, cocaine, hallucinogens, inhalants, nicotine, opiates (street drugs or prescription drugs)
· Food
Processes can be:
· Food; restrictive eating, compulsive eating, binging and purging.
· Gambling
· Internet use
· Money & Finances
· Sexual activity; anonymous sex, pornography, strip clubs, compulsive masturbation, multiple partners, prostitutes
· Love addiction; infidelity, obsession with partner (stalking type behavior), relationship after relationship, being in love with love
· Work
· Exercise
· Religion
Relationships can be:
· Co-dependency
· Co-sex addict
· Traumatic bonding relationships
· Love
· Romance
Licia Ginne, MFT
LATherapists.com
TherapyMarketingCoach.com
Relationships
Category Mental Health, contemporary psychoanalysis, counseling, health, personal, psychotherapy, relationships
I heard a snippet of a review of the new Lisa Oz book, Us Transforming Ourselves And The Relationships That Matter Most. It sounded to me like she was going to talk about how we need to learn about ourselves before we can begin to understand ourselves in the context of a relationship. So I purchased the book and thought the forward by her husband Mehmet C. Oz, M.D & her introduction were fabulous. I believe we are relationship with everyone and everything. If we can learn how to be in relationship we can improve our lives in all areas. The relationship we have to our jobs, selves, friends, romantic relationships and the world at large.
In her introduction, Lisa Oz states: This is not actually a book about “relationships.” You won’t find any tips on dating or rules for attracting the opposite sex here. This is instead a book about being in relationship. …We all exist in relationship; we can’t not. It’s like magnetic force. Every object, by its very nature, exerts a pull on every other object. And whether we are aware of it or not, we are in relationship with all things in this universe…
…,understanding the nature of our interactions is important because the quality of our existence is determined by the quality of our relationships. What we believe, who we are, and who we can become are all manifest through our dealings with others. It is here that thoughts and emotions become actualized and our true self revealed. Our behavior is the only real measure of our character, and 90 percent of the time our behavior involves someone else.
Then she launched into her philosophy of how to achieve this insight and this is where we parted ways. Let me say some of her exercises are helpful and I believe in doing all sorts of things to help become introspective, to get curious about yourself, your behaviors, your choices, feelings and thoughts. Being a therapist for over 25 years and being a client for even longer my growth comes from the various relationships I have formed for over 35 years of seeking personal growth and happiness. In my journey I covered a lot of territory and approaches to therapy. It has been in the last 10 years where I discovered Contemporary Psychoanalysis, which you can read more about on my website LATherapists.com, where I believe deep personal change can happen. To have someone try to truly understand my experience in the world and relate to me for who I am has been the most valuable experience, in other words to feel loved. I think when you peel away all the layers you find not feeling loved as the common experience of our discontent. I don’t take good care of myself because I don’t feel loved, I don’t make good choices for myself, I stay too long in relationships that hurt me. It is not easy to see these things when not feeling loved colors my view of the world and me. For example, It is not always my responsibility to take care of everyone in my world even though I may feel it is expected and when I don’t I feel scared and uncomfortable. Though if I continue to explore this belief and can correct myself with different choices maybe I will have a different outcome.
So the difference between Lisa Oz and me is I think the growth comes from within a relationship. I have found within Contemporary Psychoanalysis that I have been able to discover these false beliefs that my perceptions have been built upon and that they may not always be true. If we are lucky enough to grow up in a family that can recognize us we will find out who we are, what we like and what we want. From birth we start learning who we are from how our primary caregiver reacts to us. When I first saw Beatrice Beebe, PhD present her video work with different mother and infant attachment styles, the lights went on. Seeing the video’s showed me how the infant will learn to adapt to the mother. If the mother is a needy mother the infant will accommodate to the needs of the mother. If the mother can recognize the infant’s need the infant has the opportunity to learn self-regulation. I don’t do the work justice in this brief comment, I encourage you to read her book or look for a presentation by her, you can read Infant Research and Adult Treatment: Co-Constructing Interactions, by Beatrice Beebe & Frank Lachmann.
Licia Ginne
LATherapists.com
Finding Balance
Category Mental Health, contemporary psychoanalysis, counseling, health, personal, psychotherapy, relationships
This is my first blog posting. I am sure there is a learning curve to writing so hang in there. Last week I presented my marketing workshop to the Annual Conference of CAMFT (California Association of Marriage & Family Therapists). CAMFT has been experiencing quite a bit of dissent within the membership. I wonder has this dissent always been there or do we know about it because of today’s fast moving information systems. It was an experience working with the CAMFT system and I am always learning about organizations and my reactions to them. As I said in the title it is about finding balance and I am trying to find the balance between how I think things should go and how they do go. I think like many of us I have found reward in my work and also a place to hide at times. As my life is changing and other obligations have moved into the foreground I have found it necessary to shift my priorities. I have cut back on work and have found myself feeling lost at times. I realized I had made myself so busy that I wasn’t allowing myself to rest or to spend more time with friends. I love my clinical work and have put that first and what has to be put second is my marketing work, I love the computer, I love marketing work and love teaching it. So for right now I have narrowed down the workshops I am doing and cut back on the writing I have been doing. Trying to find the balance in my life with health, friendships, work, everyday living and growth. Growth is very important to me and falls into each of the other categories. What brings balance and peace in my life, what brings vitality and passion, what brings joy and excitement. I am sure I am leaving something out, but for right now this is what comes to mind. My training at the psychoanalytic institute has brought growth, joy and discomfort but keeps my work filled with vitality and passion, the people I work with inspire me and our relationships are filled with meaning. My relationships are important and I don’t think I allow people to know me as much I would like them too, nor do I think they know how important they are to me. It is an area of my life where I struggle and I think I hide too much in work and now that will change. Since the marketing person in me doesn’t go away, I can say that letting people know you and your work is what builds a strong practice. Finding your passion and vitality is what makes you a better therapist, friend, lover, and citizen of the world. So how do you find balance? What brings vitality and passion to your life?
Licia Ginne