Addiction can tear families apart. It can lead to broken homes, abuse and theft. How to approach a loved one who is addicted is a tough situation. In some cases, the person may be a spouse, parent, sibling, or teen. This greatly affects the dynamics of the relationship. However, it is important to deal with the situation.
Helping family through addiction can be difficult. It can also be difficult to know where to draw the line. Please also review AIHCP’s Substance Abuse Counseling Program
The article, “Dealing with a Loved One’s Addiction” from Island Now, looks at some important aspects of dealing with a loved one who is facing addiction. The article states,
“Addiction can be a challenging condition to deal with, especially when it concerns a loved one. The addiction process is gradual, so family members or friends rarely recognize it till it’s too late. In most cases, they subconsciously adapt to these changes till the addicted individual begins to exhibit extreme behaviors.”
To read the entire article, please click here
Please also review AIHCP’s Substance Abuse Consulting program and see if it matches your academic and professional goals. The program is online and open to qualified professionals seeking a four year certification in Substance Abuse Counseling.
Celebrating the Holidays while grieving is a difficult paradox. It is a time of spiritual and social renewal when families come together to celebrate religious and family traditions, but it also can be a time of great pain for the grieving who have recently lost a loved one.
For many, the holidays can be a painful time because of a recent loss of a loved one
The contradiction of joy and grief in one time and space is confusing to the bereaved and can lead to a myriad of raw emotions. Emotions of regret, guilt, anger, and intense sadness. Memories of past holidays and the love and good times shared are very present and raw in the emotional heart. These memories resurface for even grievers years after, but are far more present and graphic for recent grievers.
This can lead grievers during the Holidays to avoid celebration or even withdraw from family life for the season. This is not necessarily a bad thing for a person who has lost a loved one recently. This is especially true if the lost is within the calendar year and this is the first Holiday season without the deceased.
Many may withdrew the first Christmas from social gatherings to mourn the loss of a loved one
It is important to allow the individual to express his or her grief in solace and silence if necessary. It is important to give the griever the space one needs to deal with the lost in one’s own way. It would be unwise to force traditions or gatherings upon this individual.
Likewise, if a griever chooses to be around family and friends and wishes to celebrate, it is wise to gently accommodate the needs of the person with sensitivity and kindness. Ultimately, the griever must choose the path that is best for the griever. Nothing should be forced, refused or restricted.
The biggest thing one can do for the griever during the Holidays is to check on them and be there to listen. Listening is the greatest gift and simply checking in. Whether that is through a call, or by leaving a cookie trey, or a simple card. These small gestures carry weight and can help the griever through these difficult times. Avoidance is the worst thing anyone can do for the griever. A balance and discretion are required to know how much to say or how much to do.
One cannot know the first Holiday season if the griever is naturally experiencing grief in its raw form or pathologically and this is why checking in and listening is so critical in helping the bereaved. In time, the secluded bereaved may become more present during the Holidays. They may seek other family and friends and wish to again immerse themselves in traditions, dinners and gift exchange. Or, they may seek to find new traditions, or even wish to commemorate the deceased.
These are healthy advances in any direction. They show a respect for the past, a continuation in the presence and hope for the future. Old traditions may end or they may not, or new traditions will emerge after the death of the deceased, but ultimately, individuals who lose a loved one learn how to incorporate the loss of a loved one into the current and future Holidays. No story is the same and not outcome is right or wrong. The way Holidays are celebrated after the loss of a loved one are never the same afterwards emotionally but that does not mean they do not continue into new ways.
Holiday depression due to loss is common and everyone will experience it in life. Please also review AICHP’s Grief Counseling Certification program
Losing a loved one is traumatic any day of the year. Whether it is during the Holidays or before, there will be emotional grief reactions. These reactions will always exist no matter the year, but they become less intense each year. This is not to say the pain is erased and the love vanishes, it just means that people adjust and adapt to loss and learn how to cope with it, even during the Holidays.
If you would like to learn more about the process of grief, please review AIHCP’s Grief Counseling Training Program. Qualified professionals can apply and become certified in Grief Counseling.
Integrative and holistic medicine can help many individuals who suffer from chronic diseases. A qualified healthcare professional can help navigate the person’s health plan, incorporating western medicine as well as holistic and alternative therapies. This will ensure the medical safety of the patient and lead the patient to the proper medications and therapies.
Holistic and alternative healthcare practices can help with chronic conditions. Please also review AIHCP’s Integrative and Holistic Healthcare Specialist Program
If you would like to learn more about holistic health care and how to help others deal with chronic conditions, then please review AIHCP’s Integrative and Holistic Healthcare Specialist Program and see if it meets your goals. Qualified healthcare professionals such as nurses and physicians are accepted into this online program.
Exercise should be part of everyday life. When someone exercises consistently, there are changes throughout the body are beneficial. Consistency and proper technique are important for the overall culmination of health
Getting back to shape can be difficult especially after the pandemic. Please also review AIHCP’s Health Care Life Coaching Program
The article, “How exercise changes your body after a day, a week, a month, a year” by Sophie Aubrey looks at the benefits of exercise as days and weeks and months go by, helping individuals see the transformation of overall health to the person. She states,
“When you take a break from working out, your body shrinks muscle fibres and breaks down blood vessels in the muscles that are no longer being used. “The body is always trying to conserve as much energy as possible,” Robergs says. It means when you return to exercise, you’re fatigued because high demand is being heaped onto your heart and lungs to increase blood flow through your contracting muscles, but your body has become less effective at doing this.”
Getting back after into shape, especially after the pandemic will present new challenges indeed. To read the entire article, please click here
Please also review AIHCP’s Healthcare Life Coach Program. The program is online and helps train qualified professionals in the area of healthy living and how to help others achieve that standard.
Children and their experience with loss usually begins with the death of a pet. Helping a child understand the finality of death but also allowing the child to express grief is key to this learning process, albeit, as painful as it may be to the entire family.
For a child, the loss of a pet is sometimes the child’s first experience with loss. Please also review AIHCP’s Pet Loss Grief Support Program
The article, “How to deal with the death of a pet when you have kids” by Mel Ritterman looks at this difficult and painful process. He states,
“Having to say goodbye to your dog is like losing a family member and your best friend all in one. It’s heartbreaking and so incredibly emotional. Then throw kids into the mix and it is just so much harder. How do you explain this to your children? How do you grieve when you have to be the parent? How do we explain death to kids?”
Pet loss and children enter into types of loss. One the loss of a pet and second the particular loss from the view of a child. These things make the loss no easier and require parents and caregivers to mourn but also teach their children the nature of loss in life.
Grief that transfers to work from home can be counter productive to the office or work place, but it is a natural occurrence and managers must be aware. Managers can help limit the issue by actually addressing it and helping employees deal with grief. Support and understanding are key elements in helping an employee function at work while dealing with grief.
Grief follows employees to work. Helping employees with grief is important. Please also review AICHP’s Grief Counseling Certification
The article, “How To Help Others Manage Grief: 16 Lessons For Business Leaders” from Forbes, looks to address the issue of helping employees deal with grief. The article states,
“Working through feelings of grief and mourning with your team can not only improve everyone’s mental health and overall satisfaction, but can also provide valuable insights to help you become a better leader. Below, the members of Forbes Coaches Council share 16 important lessons that business leaders can learn from the principles of grief management.”
Please also review AIHCP’s Grief Counseling Certification and see how it can help you learn more about grief or progress within your professional career. Understanding grief in the work place is a critical leadership quality that needs to be utilized especially during the pandemic.
Children grieve and process loss differently than adults. This a critically important concept for all grief counselors to grasp in their understanding of helping children deal with grief. Children depending on their age as well as mental and emotional maturity all process grief differently. Understanding this key concept can prevent numerous errors in child development when helping a child a through the process of grief.
It is important to teach children about the nature of loss. Please also review AIHCP’s Child and Adolescent Grief Counseling Program
In the past, emotional and mental barriers to development of children were innocently but ignorantly created by concerned caregivers seeking to shield children from loss. Children were denied final farewells at death scenes, or prevented from attending a funeral. Hiding death, even that of a family pet as simple as a fish, were all considered important steps in protecting a child’s innocence from death.
In reality, sparing children the realities of death, or diminishing the event of death caused more damage to the mental and emotional development of children. Children would then inherit improper coping mechanisms as adults when dealing with loss. They would also have grief complications with past losses. The inability to say good bye, find closure, or fully understand the nature of the loss crippled their abilities to deal with grief as adults.
In preventing these issues, adults, caregivers and grief counselors need to address loss to children. An explanation of the loss should correlate with the understanding and mental maturity of the child regarding the finality of death. Death and loss should be seen as opportunities for the child to learn about death, especially in regards to smaller losses.
In dealing with these losses, caregivers should express death clearly without any figurative language and also encourage children to express their feelings and thoughts. If a child wishes to express that is fine and if a child wishes to express less, that is fine. The importance is that children are able to express their feelings and know that life will continue.
It is critical to allow children to express themselves as they fit not only for their own understanding but also to dismiss any ill thoughts regarding the loss that may fester within the child. Children sometimes can blame themselves for the death of an individual or hold guilt that most adults would dismiss. It is hence important to discuss the death clearly but also to have a full understanding of the child’s understanding of the loss in relationship to him or her.
By responding uniquely to each child’s need during a loss based on the child’s understanding, one can eliminate any possible grief complications and also allow the child to fully express him or herself. This enables a better transition mentally, socially and emotionally.
To learn more how to speak to and understand grieving children, then please review AICHP’s Child and Adolescent Grief Counseling Program. The program is open to currently certified Grief Counselors and is offered as an advanced specialty program. Those who meet the qualifications can become certified in this advanced specialty field and learn to better help children cope with loss and grief.
A nice look about people of different faiths and how they manage during the pandemic to prayer together while apart. The pandemic has restricted some religious public worship and has limited other ways we can come together, but we can still pray and we can still pray for each other. With social distancing, we can also within the various religious traditions still come together in safely despite the dangers.
Prayer and spirituality are important during times when we cannot socially gather in worship. Please also review AICHP’s Christian Counseling Certification
The article, “Staying Apart but Praying Together” by James Estrin looks at how religious groups are remaining spiritual and strong despite covid. He states,
“The sanctuary at The Jewish Center accommodates more than 500 people but only 60 are now allowed inside at a time. Attendees must preregister online, answer a coronavirus exposure survey and have their temperature taken at the door. When weather permits, shortened services are held outside on the rooftop.”
The article covers other faiths as well. To read the entire article, please click here
Despite shutdowns, or restrictions, the faith remains strong during the pandemic and people will find a way to pray to God, whether privately or in public via safe measures. God does not wish his creation to test him but to respect the safety measures for all. This does not make one’s faith less but makes one logical. God can protect us from any plague, but we cannot as his creation test him and do foolish things that promote its spread.
Unfortunately ADHD is not just a phase but a reality that cannot be outgrown but one that needs to be dealt with. This requires not only understanding of the disorder but also application skills to better cope and when necessary, medication. ADHD can be used as a strength as well as one learns to cope with its ill effects and utilize other aspects for one’s benefit.
Is it possible to outgrow ADHD? Please also review AIHCP’s ADHD Consulting Training Program
The article, “Is It Possible to Outgrow A.D.H.D.?” by Cheryl Maguire reviews how one can learn to better deal with ADHD. She writes,
“Some adults have essentially become asymptomatic because they have been able to use coping strategies,” said Robyn Mehlenbeck, director of the George Mason University Center for Psychological Services and president of the Society for Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics.”
So outgrowing it is not truly a reality. Limiting ADHD and its affects on one is a complete possibility. Please also review AIHCP’s ADHD Consulting Training Program and see if it meets your academic and professional goals.
Too many times when mental crisis arises, law enforcement arrives. 911 cannot differentiate between crime and mental crisis. Many times, mental crisis leads to someone killed by the police. These alarming trends are part of the police reform. Crisis teams accompanying police and even better crisis training and protocol for crisis 911 calls should be employed to avoid unnecessary death.
Better training and crisis team partnerships can make sure mental situations end in arrest and not lethal force. Please also review AIHCP’s Crisis Intervention Training
The article, “When 911 Is The Only Option For A Mental Health Care Crisis” by Lisa Ryan looks at the fear and danger associated with a call to the police for a mental emergency within African American communities. She states,
“Family members of people going through a mental health crisis are sometimes reluctant to call the police out of fear for their loved ones. Violent behavior and outbursts can be met with lethal force. Mental health advocates are hopeful though that a new co-responder program – that pairs responding Cleveland police officers with social workers — may help.”
Please also review AIHCP’s Crisis Intervention Training Program to learn more about how to help individuals in crisis. With better crisis training, police and first responders can make a difference in avoiding unneeded lethal force.
