Hello Sports Fans!
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Hello again Sports Fans!
Ahhh here is a topic that I could and have talked about for days! I don't know how many papers I've written or how many group lectures to staff I've given on this very topic. But here it is again one more time! Reason #1 ~ When you are talking with a professional in the mental health field you might be speaking with a medical assistant, physicians assistant, case worker, social worker, counselor, therapist, psychologist, psychiatrist or even just an MD ... and ALL of these have VERY DIFFERENT educational requirements and professional concentrations which in turn creates VERY different understandings about what 'mental health' issue are as well as VERY different ways to go about treatment. Reason #2 ~ Compounding Reason #1 is WHEN the person you are speaking with went through school, as depending on the era they attended school, the core concepts and overall focus (such as behavioral vs cognitive) could have been VERY different than that of current understandings as well. This is a KEY reason for the overall lack of understanding in things like Epigenetics and Neuroplasticity by many professionals as these terms are just now making their way into MY textbooks! (Although the field itself has been out there for more than a decade). Reason #3 ~ The lack of interdisciplinary education ... meaning that case workers don't really learn much about the psychology of behavior, and medical workers learn even less about psychology. Most don't learn about the developmental aspects of psychology or behavior or the biology of behavior and they miss most of the social and cultural aspects of behavior. So even if your path is 'clinical' it could still miss major parts of the overall understanding of 'why' the person in front of you is experiencing what they are experiencing. Reason #4 ~ The REALLY good stuff comes on your way to and AFTER you become a doctor! Awesome topics like psychoneuroimmunology, neuropsychology, Epigenetics, Nutrigenomics, Endocrinology, and the rest of the never ending list of $10 words ... only really go in-depth on Post Masters and ABOVE! So although I give people LOTS of shit about not knowing these things ... they are truly just ignorant of the information as they didn't come across it in school. Reason #5 ~ Not everyone is a psychology super freak like me! Not only have I studied that LONG list of topics under "about us" but I've read SEVERAL books on each one of those topics. Take developmental psychology for example ... I've studied FIVE different textbooks on it. Why? Because each one points out slightly different things and depending on when it was printed, each one stresses certain factors over others (See Reason #2). And, as I've pointed out in the past, I read research for fun, so it is EASY for me to stay up to date on things and get both sides of the coin on the understanding of things ... because I dig into the research for MYSELF and don't just accept what is 'spoon fed' to me through isolated research or biased findings. Hello again Sports Fans!
Why does our mental health treatment (as well as physical health but that's for another blog) fail so damn always?! Reason Numero Uno! ~ Because it's run by insurance companies who don't even agree between themselves as what is "best practice" or "needed" for treatments. Bean counters in some far away company that has nothing to do with mental health should NOT have the final say in what is needed for someone's treatment! Reason Number Two! ~ Because "mental health" type issues are NOT physical issues and can't be looked at, thought of, or treated in the same way you would treat a physical health problem. This means you can't use the 'medical' model in 'mental' health treatment! Period! In addition, there are NO mental health issues that can be 'solved' or more to the point, 'healed' by taking a pill. Compounding the issues is the fact that no mental health issue can be diagnosed effectively in a 10 min visit. Reason Number Three! ~ Because the majority of those professionals who are in the mental health field fail to use current evidence-based treatment models (this is based on my own personal experience and the research from empirical studies on the use of evidence-based practices that shows that 1/2 of even licensed professionals don't use current treatment methods), as they ignore decades of current evidence-based research that contradicts old methods and instead continue to use their own biased and ignorant ideas about the outdated understanding of mental health issues and therefore the treatments for them. Reason Number Four! ~ Because the foundation of mental health treatment is based on the strength and quality of the therapeutic relationship, which is grounded in empathy, acceptance, non-judgement, real listening, and gaining a real understanding of the person ... and that simply doesn't happen in today's fast-pasted and ego driven mental health profession. Reason Number Five! ~ Because mental health involves understanding EVERYTHING in a person's life! It involves their activity levels, their eating habits, their sleep patterns, their social circles, their socioeconomic status, their education level, their experience in life ... their HISTORY of ALL of that ... AND how they currently think and feel about ALL of that as well! This means that a really effective 'therapist' needs to be a mix of: a personal trainer, a nutritionist, a religious/spiritual leader, a motivational coach, a mentor, a teacher, and oftentimes a parental figure. And the reality is most people in the helping profession don't even have a solid grasp of psychology more less everything else. Hello again Sports Fans!
So the question has been asked ~ "how to attain the flow state" in other things. Very good question! To adequately answer it one must first understand what a 'flow' state really is as there are variances in overall understanding and check marks to make sure you are in a 'real' flow state ... as some advocate that you MUST be 'doing' something not just participating in something ...wfte Einstein ... Look, this is life and not some scientific study so just understand that flow state happens when you lose track of time. AND when do you find yourself losing track of time? For some people its having conversations with friends around a fire pit while drinking a few brews. For others it is having a meaningful conversation with a loved one. Yet others find flow while preparing meals. Many find it while playing video games. And others find it while hiking, or riding motorcycles, riding horses, or surfing, or sailing ... or Doing something that they enjoy doing, that they can do well, that is challenging but not so challenging that they really have to think about doing it ... AND (often as a culmination of all these things) something that they are NOT constantly judging and therefore ... They are LIVING where their feet are! They are 'in the moment' and NOT in the past or in the future ... but right here, right now! So to create flow ~ one needs four main things:
When these four things fall into place we find ourselves truly living in the moment and in a natural state of flow! Hello again Sports Fans!
This is a question I used to ask all the time in my groups ... what are you doing today to change? I feel that it is of some importance for people to understand 'why' things don't just change by themselves. First, we as people run on auto-pilot for about 90-95% of our day. This means that we aren't really paying attention to what nor why we are doing what we do ... this is also why the practice of mindfulness is so important in making changes. Second, the auto-pilot state is 'run' by what has become your current 'hardwired' neurological programming. This means that your brain is literally just following 'old' programming from life, environment, beliefs, social influence and so on ... this is why just 'abstaining' from a task or substance doesn't fucking work. Third, in order for a new neurological network to form one must first 'consciously' think about what they want think or do or would rather think or do vs what they have done in the past ... AND they must hold onto that thought for roughly 18 seconds so that a neural connection actually takes place ... this is why the training of your attention span is so important as a normal attention span is only about 8 seconds so we need to train it to double the norm! Fourth, the 'brain' or 'ego' LIKES the 'known' or what it considers the known, even if that known is painful, destroying us, killing us or otherwise. This means that your automatic thoughts aka your 'old programming' is going to kick in and TRY to make you think or feel how you NORMALLY think or feel even when you are WANTING to try and make a change ... this is why DOING something EVERYDAY is so important as you MUST make the 'unknown' and 'uncomfortable' known and comfortable if you want to get your brain on your side! Fifth, unless you have moved your environment, social group, and daily routine are going to reinforce the OLD and resist the new. This means that every time you see someone that makes you feel how you used to feel or speak in a way that you used to speak or fall into one of those old programs its going to reinforce the OLD and resist the new ... this is why changing people, places, and things is so important ~ and something that the 12-steps actually advocates correctly. There is much more to it but these are some of the main reasons to keep constantly WORKING at change! Hello again Sports Fans!
Well I can say for certain that if you do Wim Hof RIGHT after eating it is going to probably impact your scores in a negative way lol! I had just stuffed myself with some vanilla ice cream and some real maple syrup and then tried to do my breathing and it didn't work very well. Breathing Holds by Round:
Hello again Sports Fans!
If more people understood that 'everything' is 'interconnected' and that we aren't just a bunch of independent people running around ... what a wonderful world this could be. Lets take a look at what I'm talking about ... Your environment you live in directly impacts you, your many different social circles directly impact you, the food you eat the water you drink and the air you breath directly impacts you ... But WAIT that's not all! It also keeps spinning in reciprocal, reinforcing, and compounding ways ... Your environment impacts how you behave in the environment, your social circles impact how you behave in the environment, and what you eat drink and breath impacts how you behave in the environment ... But WAIT that's not all! It CONTINUES to spin and reinforce and compound ... as EVERYTHING above in both lists is ALSO compounded by HOW you THINK and FEEL about all of those things! And the circle just keeps going round and round like a merry-go-round with the environment reinforcing the body which is reinforced by the thinking which is compounded by the behavior ... and on ... and on ... and on. What you DO matters, what you SAY matters, what you THINK matters what you CONSUME matters and your ENVIRONMENT and SOCIAL GROUPS ... ALL MATTER! EVERYTHING is impacting your genetic expression and influencing your neural networks through the impact of neuroplasticity by the reinforcing or changing of subconscious routines, reinforcing or changing of beliefs, and the overall influence of the environment and social groups. |
Who am I?I'm Dr. Reverend Guru Davis. Archives
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