Rekindle Counselling Ltd » Definitions

affect

Jerry Jordan, MBA, MEd — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 06:29:55 +0000

Mood, feeling, emotion or mood.

adaptive anxiety

Jerry Jordan, MBA, MEd — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 06:10:19 +0000

Adaptive anxiety is considered an appropriate response to given stimuli and may increase performance and efficiency.

Behaviour Therapy

Jerry Jordan, MBA, MEd — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 04:58:33 +0000

Behaviour Therapy developed from the behaviourism school of psychology and emphasises the observation and modification of behaviour, with little consideration of the mental causes of behaviour. This lack of (or lesser) emphasis on mental states distinguished behaviourism from early psychological and psychotherapy schools, such as Psychoanalysis.

Behaviour Therapy is often used to treat phobias (such as agoraphobia), anxiety disorders and clinical depression.

Aversion Therapy

Jerry Jordan, MBA, MEd — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 04:56:50 +0000

Aversion Therapy is part of classical behaviour therapy and involves providing a stimulus that a person considers undesirable at times in which undesirable behaviours are observed. The goal of pairing the negative stimulus with behaviour is to establish an association in the individual’s mind between something undesirable (the stimulus) and the behaviour, thereby decreasing the likelihood of the behaviour being repeated.

Examples include:

* Giving the individual an electric shock when undesirable behaviours are observed.
* Pairing alcohol use and vomiting through the use of specific substances that induce vomiting once alcohol is consumed.

Aversion Therapy is considered by some to be unethical.

Clinicial Depression

Jerry Jordan, MBA, MEd — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 04:56:08 +0000

Clinical depression is known by a number of terms, including:

- Major Depressive Disorder
- Unipolar Depression
- Unipolar Disorder
- Major depression

Depression is perhaps the most common psychiatric complaint and involves feelings of sadness, hopelessness, pessimism and personal uselessness. These feelings are quite normal for everyone to experience at some stage in their lives. Clinical depression, however, involves these feelings when they are disproportionate to the determined cause of the depression – being disproportionate in length of time or severity.

Intervention

Jerry Jordan, MBA, MEd — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 03:41:24 +0000

An intervention involves a group (or individual) who are concerned about the well-being of a person confronting that person with his or her need for professional help. The person who is the subject of the intervention may have emotional issues, substance abuse issues or some other issue that could be treated by health care professionals.

More specifically, in counselling and psychotherapy, intervention is a technique where the counsellor gets directly involved in the decision-making of the client. This can take many forms, such as a practical intervention, where the counsellor calls the police, an ambulance or others to help the client deal with immediate threats in a crisis situation.

Domestic Violence

Jerry Jordan, MBA, MEd — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 03:36:39 +0000

Domestic violence has been defined by the Domestic Violence Act 1995 No 86 (as at 01 October 2008), Public Act as violence within a domestic relationship, with such violence including:

physical abuse
sexual abuse
psychological abuse (including intimidation and harassment)
damage to property
threats of physical abuse, sexual abuse and/or psychological abuse

When considering the welfare of a child, domestic violence includes the above, as well as:

allowing the child to “see or hear the physical, sexual or psychological abuse of a person with whom the child has a domestic relationship” or
“puts the child, or allows the child to be put, at real risk of seeing or hearing that abuse occurring”

Note, however, that the person being abused is not also committing domestic violence by allowing the child to witness (or putting the child at risk of witnessing) the violent act.

Note also that a SINGLE act can fall under this definition OR “a number of acts that form part of a pattern of behaviour”.

The above is a summary of the Act and should not be considered authoritative. For the full wording of the Act, look here.

Resources:

http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1995/0086/latest/DLM372117.html#DLM372117
[Accessed 16 January 2009]

What is the difference between Psychotherapy and Counselling?

Jerry Jordan, MBA, MEd — Sun, 03 May 2009 03:59:41 +0000

The most direct answer to this question depends on where you live and on what side of this divide your therapist comes from. Some, if not most jurisdictions, have regulations regarding who can refer to themselves as “psychotherapists”, while use of the term “counsellor” (spelled “counselor” in the USA), in not as heavily regulated in most countries. There are exceptions to this, though, in places like the USA, where the term “Licensed Professional Counselor” (LPC) is regulated by most states.

So, what is the difference between psychotherapy and counselling? Counsellors generally involve themselves specifically with counselling, while psychotherapists often counsel, but can also be involved in research or practicing psychiatry (in the case of psychiatrists practicing psychotherapy). Psychotherapists are often required to have a minimum of a Bachelors degree in psychology, while the qualifications for counsellors can vary considerably.

If you are looking to change your life and feel like you might need a little bit of help from someone who will listen and encourage you, then why not contact us today?