Our words are powerful – they can bring “life” or “death, “ “blessings” or “curses.” It is so very important for us to learn to speak in the language of the Kingdom of God. For so many years we learned how to speak the language of the kingdom or darkness, or secularism, or fatalism. But in order for us to represent the Kingdom of Light, Life, and Freedom – and to speak to others on behalf of the Great King … Read More
Depression Treatment Seminar Handouts for Tehachapi
Download and Print this Seminar Handout in PDF Format: Understanding Depression PDF Douglas Cowan is a Marriage and Family Therapist providing professional counseling to Tehachapi and Bakersfield, CA. Overcoming Depression Leads to being more sensitive to being triggered again Major Symptoms: Activation of Stress Hormones, Over-Activation of Sympathetic Nervous System Rhythmic Patterns to the Depression are common Biology of Depression: Neuro-Transmitters Neuro-Anatomy: Reptilian – regulations of body functions Limbic System – emotions, stress hormones Cortex – complex processing of … Read More
10 Power Tools to Overcome Stress | Counseling Tehachapi
Stress at Work : Causes Customers, co-workers, and real life Can we do more with less and not break? When Stress Comes : What is Happening to Me? What is the “fight, flight, or freeze” response? Physical, emotional, and cognitive responses to stress, immediate and long-term Release of Adrenalin, Cortisol, and elevated Cholesterol Power Tools to Manage and Over-come Stress Seeking Peace : “All men desire peace, but very few desire those things that make for peace.” Breathing and relaxation … Read More
8 Barriers to Counseling Even When You Know You Need It : Reason #1
30% of all people could benefit from professional counseling today. There are 8 reasons main why they won’t come. The top 8 reasons are: The advice of friends and family members; The fear of being seen as either weak or crazy; The fear of the unknown – what actually takes place in a counseling session? The fear of having to actually express emotions; Concern that counseling won’t work, and will waste both money and time; Having been “burned” in the past … Read More
Chronic Pain Treatment : “Back in Control”
I’m reading a fascinating book about Chronic Pain and how to treat it by a back surgeon named David Hanscom, M.D. You’d think that the first choice for a surgeon would be to perform surgery – and he certainly has a made a career of doing just that. But he has over the past few years come to see that surgeries only actually work at getting rid of the pain about 20-25% of the time. Most of the time the … Read More
25 Years Living and Counseling in Tehachapi
I can’t think of anything better than this. I get to live in a beautiful town with family and good friends, and I get to spend most of my time helping people. My family and I have lived in Tehachapi for over 25 years now. We live in a very quiet and beautiful place in Bear Valley Springs overlooking the valley. It’s a place of peaceful reflection, and a place to get perspective on life. Over the years I have … Read More
5 Great Reasons to Bring Your ADHD Child or Teen to Counseling
I recently wrote about this on the ADHD Information Library at http://newideas.net and I thought I’d bring the article over here to my personal site for counseling in Tehachapi. I sat in my car waiting for my son to get out of his drama class in Tehachapi, and I read an article about ADHD kids and the treatments that they receive, or don’t receive. The point of the article was that even though most kids diagnosed with ADHD will receive … Read More
500 Classroom Interventions for ADHD
The new school year is beginning, and I want to connect you with a great resource for parents and teachers to help your ADHD students to be more successful this year. http://ADDinSchool.com has been online for years with over 500 classroom interventions contributed from classroom teachers, school psychologists, and from my own folders and files collected over the years. There are separate sections for Elementary School classrooms and Secondary School classrooms. We’ve just recently re-done the website so it is … Read More
Two Types of ADHD : Simplified
A simplified way to look at the different types of ADHD. From the ADHD Information Library at Newideas.net. If we reduce ADHD to its two simplest “types” we get a Hypo-Active type and a Hyper-Active type. I discuss six different types of ADHD at the ADHD Information Library website here, but to keep things as simple as possible let’s look at just two types. In general the HypoActive type is slower moving, often late, “hurry up and get ready,” passive, … Read More
Cutting and Self-Injury : Information Sheet
Most common forms include: • Self-Cutting or “cutting” • Burning • Scratching • Hitting • Preventing Wounds from Healing Most commonly found among teenagers and young adults. 15% to 25% of adolescents and young adults have self-injured usually by cutting. 6% to 8% do so chronically. Most commonly females. Attempts to regulate emotions, often Anger, Guilt, Shame, Self-Loathing, Anxiety or Depression, Fear of Abandonment, Fear of Rejection. Some report “emotional numbness.” Deliberate self-harm “allows” them to express pain, release tension … Read More
ADHD Seminar Handouts
ADHD Seminar Handouts in PDF Format with Images, Ready to Print Out Douglas Cowan is a Marriage and Family Therapist providing professional counseling to Tehachapi and Bakersfield, CA. What is ADHD? “What is ADHD ?” ADHD is the short abbreviation for “Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder”, which is one of the most common childhood behavior disorders. It is estimated that somewhere between 5% and 9% of all children have ADHD. Of all children referred to mental health professionals, more are … Read More
Internet Addiction : Technology Time Bomb
But there are some things that are new – and they are potentially dangerous. And they are so new that often parents are unaware of their dangers, or unable to take action until it is “too late.” Technology has completely raced past our wisdom or experiences as a culture or as families. Parents are often stuck like deer in the headlights. And our teenagers are often in serious trouble. Just ten years ago the major problem from technology was … Read More
Teenagers
The teenage years can be very difficult for some. As our children become young adults they begin to ask questions like, “Who am I?” and “What is the purpose to life?” One of the most common of these questions is, “Where do I belong?” or rather, “Who do I belong to?” All too often they try to find the answers to these questions in people or places that are not good for them. As parents we may see this, but … Read More
Guilt and Shame
Note to Pastors: Whether as a pastor, or as a therapist, the most common condition that I have addressed in counseling has been helping people to overcome feelings of “guilt” or “shame” that they have carried for years. These thoughts can be tormenting, and these feelings can influence both important life-decisions and everyday choices. They distort the way that we see God, and ourselves. It is painful to see people struggling through life without any sense of legitimacy or dignity. … Read More
Depression vs. Anxiety Disorders
Depression vs. Anxiety Disorders What Are Some Similarities, and Differences? Here is some brief information for Pastors and Lay-Counselors to help in seeing the differences and similarities in Depression and Anxiety Disorders. Here are some symptoms that are common to see in both Depression and Anxiety: Sleep Disturbances: often waking up early, normal sleep cycles don’t happen to one rarely wakes up refreshed, rarely deep sleep, often awake for hours. Poor Concentration: trouble focusing, brain fog, scattered. Increased Fatigue: Cannot … Read More
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is an all too common result of being a service man or woman who has experienced combat. When in combat, it’s natural to feel afraid. This fear triggers many split-second changes in the body to prepare to defend against the danger or to avoid it. This “fight-or-flight” response is a healthy reaction meant to protect a person from harm. But in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), this reaction is changed or damaged. People who have … Read More
Anxiety, Worry, or Fear
Anxiety, Worry, or Fear Note to Pastors: Whenever there is stress, a certain amount of “anxiety” is expected. But for some people the anxiety can become excessive, and come at unpredictable times. When this anxiety becomes uncontrollable, and negatively impacts their day to day lives, we call this an “anxiety disorder.” For Christians, having an anxiety disorder is more than just disabling. Because our Lord tells us “not to worry…” many Christians will also interpret their anxiety, or excessive worry, … Read More
Depression
Depression is one of the most pervasive and crippling of all diseases. Fifteen-percent of all people world-wide will suffer from a Major Depressive Episode at some point in their lives. That means that of the 35,000 people living in the zip code 93561, over 5,000 of them will suffer from a serious case of depression during their life-times. How will you and your church minister to them? A Brief Description of Depression Depression is more common than cancer, diabetes, and … Read More
ADHD : A Brief Introduction
A Brief Description of ADHD: ADHD is the abbreviation for a long medical term, “Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.” It is very broad in scope and covers both “Hyperactive and Impulsive” and “Hypo-active (moves slowly) and Inattentive” types of ADHD. Yes, they need to rename this. ADHD is a neurological – biological disorder. Yes, it is a real disorder. There are hundreds of brain studies that demonstrate this. There are both genetic factors and neurological differences. Their brain simply is different, … Read More