Search Results for: blog are we as therapeutic to them as they are to us

The Weight Watchers Diet

Weight Watchers is one of the most well-known diets. This is due to how long it has been in existence and its advertising efforts. Is it the best diet for you? Before beginning a new diet, it is a good idea to speak with your doctor. What is the Weight Watchers Diet? Weight Watchers is a diet that uses a points system. Recently, Weight Watchers changed their points system to a new one called SmartPoints. Their new points formula looks at the type of fat in a given food, with saturated fat pointed more heavily. Lean protein has fewer points … Continue reading →

Special Need Podcast Roundup – Week of May 21, 2012

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Every week, the Special Needs Podcast Roundup brings you brand new episodes of podcasts that talk about topics that are relevant to parents of children who have special needs. The subjects could range from autism, to special education, to advances in health and science that could one day help kids who have physical disabilities. PBS NewsHour released an episode on May 16, 2012. This episode is called “Paralyzed Woman Powers Robotic Arm With Her Mind”. This episode talks about a tiny electrode sensor device that was implanted into a person’s brain. The sensor picks up brain waves, and sends them … Continue reading →

Are We as Therapeutic to Them as They Are to Us?

It’s been a week since Murph’s cast has come off, but he hasn’t quite been the same. In fact, I’d venture to say he’s been a little depressed. His appetite’s still okay, and his ears perk up at the offer of chewie sticks or Scooby Snacks, but he just hasn’t quite been himself. Even with the cast on, he’d been kind of rambunctious. Especially in the last couple of weeks before it came off. It was clear he was feeling better and getting his pep back. He’d go search out one of the many sympathy toys he’d been given, bring … Continue reading →

Mental Health Week in Review: May 19-26

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This week we spent time looking at the anger that accompanies incidents of sexual abuse. In Anger and Sexual Abuse (1), we looked at how the twin themes of guilt and anger join together to keep a victim of sexual abuse caught in a horrific internal limbo of pain. Guilt and anger can co-exist inside the mind and body of a sexual abuse victim, but once the guilt is released, often through therapy, then anger and rage really come to the fore. Yet even then it may take two different forms, internalized anger and externalized anger. The latter may be … Continue reading →

The Rejuvenating Power of a New Pair of Shoes

What is it about shoes? I think next to a new hair cut, getting a new pair of shoes can be rejuvenating, healing, and therapeutic–not to mention it can just be the thing to lift a person out of depression and back into the world. Even children benefit from a new pair of shoes… The other day, I was having lunch with an old friend at a lovely little café–we were talking about the challenges of having nearly grown children and comparing memories of when our children were much younger. The young son of the owner was playing nearby and … Continue reading →

Cleaning as a Group—Even When They are Older

When my children were preschoolers and early elementary-aged, we did a lot of our cleaning together. Cleaning up the playroom or their bedrooms was something we did together so that I could teach them and model for them and I hoped to set a precedent for housekeeping expectations. It just didn’t work to send a four-year-old into a room and say “Clean this up”—it was too vague and too overwhelming. Over the years, and with plenty of modeling and organization, my kids have learned what is expected and have become pretty decent housekeepers. We still have a tendency to clean … Continue reading →

Scrapbooking Week in Review for January 14-20, 2008

With all of the cold weather that is hitting all over the US, hopefully you are able to get some scrapbooking done. Basically its a great time to stay inside, keep warm and work on getting caught up. Here’s what has been happening in the scrapbooking blog this week. File Formats For Digital Scrapbooking Layouts (2) We have been discussing file formats for digital scrapbooking layouts and here are a few more to understand and become familiar with. .TIFF or .TIF A .TIF file is a non-lossy file format for saving graphic files. File Formats For Digital Scrapbooking Layouts (1) … Continue reading →

Therapeutic Writing

Dealing with emotions and issues and concerns can be difficult for single parents. We might have a great deal we need to process, but dealing with the realities of every day can be consuming. With busy schedules and limited time to decompress, writing in a journal or therapeutic writing can be a great way to work through issues and have someone to “talk to” when we think we are going to burst… Without another adult in the home to share ideas and parenting struggles with, one can feel isolated and lonely. Even with great friends and a good support system, … Continue reading →

Music Therapy

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Music as a form of therapy is a powerful aid to stress release and is useful for a number of conditions including anxiety disorders, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, even autistic spectrum disorders. The value of music therapy was first documented after WWII when doctors serving at medical outposts noticed that shell-shocked soldiers recovered more quickly and to a greater degree when exposed to the calming sounds of music. Researchers have also used music to help the developmental progress of autistic children, but the field of music therapy has expanded from its initial narrow application to include many forms of mental … Continue reading →

Abusive Foster Homes

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Last November, Mesa Family Services, a company that licensed and operated foster homes in the Dallas area, lost its permit because two children had died violently in separate incidents in their homes in the last four years. A company called Therapeutic Family Life took over one hundred of their homes. Apparently, there was little improvement in supervision and conditions. A five year old girl has been violently murdered in one of those homes and her foster mother has been arrested. Apparently, her teenaged son, who has been arrested for murder, had been beating the little girl and her siblings. Police … Continue reading →