Hypnotherapy for Remembering a Traumatic Event

Posted on by Dominick Flarey

Hypnotherapy for remembering a traumatic event

When some people experience a traumatic event, they repress that memory far back in their mind so they don’t have to think about it. This can result in not even remembering the trauma for most people. Unfortunately, repressing a bad event in the back of the mind can result in a lot of future problems. Each person is different, but the mind normally works in similar ways for most people. Hypnotherapy for remembering a traumatic event can be very useful.
Suppressed memories could manifest themselves into making an adult obese, untrustworthy or even a criminal. Sometimes traumatic events can subconsciously change the way a person thinks, which is why these issues arise. There are a lot of people who walk around having absolutely no idea that they had a traumatic event happen in their past. Getting help is important for anyone that wants to recover from issues they are having in the present.

 How Hypnotherapy for Remembering a Traumatic Event Works

When someone goes to therapy like this, otherwise known as regression therapy, they will be put in a relaxed state. This isn’t like hypnosis that is seen on television when someone has to walk around and act like a chicken. The Hypnotherapist will gradually work up to accessing different memories. This works much like a tape recorder does since most memories will be played back with vivid detail. The patient will still be awake and able to respond, but they will be accessing different parts of their memory.
Normally these memories are huge events that happened during childhood. This could mean being raped, being abused, having a family member die or a number of other things. The therapist is going to ask questions that will lead to the patient remembering these things from their past. Sometimes it can be too much for them to handle; which means it could take several sessions to fully get the entire story. When the patient is woken up out of the relaxed state, they will be able to remember all the memories they pulled from their past.

 How Hypnotherapy can help Someone?

This therapy can help people navigate through their past and find out why they act the way they do today. For example, some people who are dangerously obese eat their feelings because they were raped in the past. Instead of dealing with the emotions of being physically abused, they repressed all of them and started eating. Normally this is a gradual weight gain that is obvious from right after the abuse happened. This is just one example of how trauma can affect someone without them even knowing it. There are a lot of other ways this can affect each individual and change their life. In fact, many serial killers have pasts that involved traumatic events. These events and not dealing with their emotions are what make them so violent and unhinged.
Being able to work out feelings with a therapist is extremely important. Once all the memories have been brought to the conscious mind, they can start to work themselves out. The therapist is going to work with their patient to determine what needs to be done. It is going to take many sessions for most people to come to terms with the events that happened in their past. Talking out these things can make a big difference with the way someone acts in the present and future. Most patients end up shedding a lot of tears and feeling relief by letting these memories come to surface.
Therapy can result in a person having a better attitude, not being violent, quitting certain behaviors and so much more. The patient is able to talk out memories and feelings, which is probably something they weren’t able to do in the past. The therapist is going to ask a lot of questions and become an active role in their life. Having a safe space where the patient can talk about their trauma is extremely important when it comes to the healing process. After the emotions from the past have been worked out, the future can become a lot brighter. It does take a while to re-build, but it can be done with the help of a therapist. Without hypnotherapy it might be impossible for some individuals to remember any trauma at all.
Interested in learning more, click this link: Hypnotherapy

Legal Nurse Consulting: Expert Witness

Posted on by Dominick Flarey

Legal Nurse Consulting: The Nurse as Expert Witness

Exploring The Nurse As An Expert Witness

It is not unusual for an attorney to utilize a nurse as an expert witness when the malpractice issue involves another nurse. There was a time when the attorney would have sought this information from a physician, but times have changed, and many states have ruled that expert testimony about a nurse should come from a nurse. The need for expert nurse witnesses is growing, and the job is not as easy as some might expect. The requirements to be an expert witness are many, and the job responsibilities are even more demanding once received. Let us explore the journey to becoming a nurse as an expert witness.

 The Nurse

The registered nurse is a highly sought after profession that involves providing personal health care to patients in a wide range of health care applications. To be a nurse one must complete the educational requirements necessary for specific specialties and degrees. There are various levels of credentials that can be earned in nursing that cover some 200 areas of certification. The more credentials a nurse have the better should they desire to become an expert witness.

 The Nurse As An Expert Witness

Some believe that an Expert Witness Nurse must be credentialed as a Legal Nurse Consultant. However, the two are not necessarily the same. The legal nurse consultant may well be an expert nurse witness. But, conceivably, any nurse may serve as an expert witness in a malpractice case and deliver an expert opinion.  An expert witness must maintain all of their existing credentials, qualifications, and be clinically active at the time of testifying. It is best if the nurse is certified, and current on the most recent procedures and related information. The basic mission of the expert witness is to conduct a review of the case and decide if the case should be pursued.
Should witness testimony be required from the nurse, they would utilize their experience, training to provide a scientific and technical opinion on whether or not there were deviations in the heath care standards surrounding the issue involved. Some malpractice areas where the expert witness nurse might be required include falls, misuse of medication, bedsores, or any deviation in the nurses function of adhering to applicable health care standards.
The expert witness is often used to show that the patient was not protected because a colleague administered substandard care. They may also determine if charts were accurately filled out, and to report incompetence by the nurse involved in the issue.

 The Role Of A Nurse As An Expert Witness

The expert nurse will review all records associated with the medical issue in question, and then provide their professional opinion to the retained attorney, as to whether or not the given case should be pursued. This requires a great deal of research to ensure the expert can see all aspects of the case clearly. In most cases the expert will review the Administrative Code of the Board of Nursing for the state in which the issue occurred. Any pertinent information discovered by the expert witness should only be provided to the attorney on the case.
Many states ask that a Certificate of Merit be filed by the expert witness. This will be used by the state to determine if the case should be pursued. The expert will either need to deliver a written or oral report on their opinion. They may need to gather information involving the relevant standards regarding the issue in question. All information must be handled with care. Court decisions have been decided all too often because paperwork was mishandled or filing dates were not met. The expert must be prepared for extensive questioning on the stand in reference to their credentials and professional opinion.
It can easily be determined that the responsibilities of an nurse as an expert witness is not easy in any form or fashion. These expert witnesses can earn a lot of money for their efforts, but they develop a sound reputation for honesty, and sustain the credentials to back up their testimony. Whether they work for the defense or the prosecution, it is imperative that their homework has been done. A malpractice decision may very well rest on the expert opinion they provide.
Registered Nurses may learn more about doing expert witness work as well as legal nurse consulting by access information: click here.

Legal Nurse and HIPPA

Posted on by Dominick Flarey

Legal Nurse Consulting Corner

HIPPA Privacy Rules In Simple Terms

HIPPA stands for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. This act, which was passed into United States law in the year 1996 under the mandate of President Bill Clinton, is intended to do several things at the same time. HIPPA is a very complex act that can seem inaccessible and difficult to understand to patients, entities and even some physicians. HIPPA privacy rules for health care are simply, when it comes down to it, a federal law used to protect patients from their information being used or released without their consent to other entities. This article discusses issues related to HIPPA as a review for practicing legal nurse consultants.

What Is Covered Under HIPPA

All your medical charts, your medical history, any conversation you might have with a medical professional, your billing information and any information on your insurance company’s computer systems are all protected by HIPPA from being shared to anyone unless it is necessary to do so.

When Is It Necessary?

When it comes to your care, if you are ever in an emergency, HIPPA allows for your medical history and information to be shared. Your information can be shared with your family or other caretakers, but you can stop this by putting a request in writing. Health professional are also allow it to be shared for billing, to protect the public’s health (if they think you might have an infectious or highly contagious disease, like the virus that causes SARS) or for the police to make reports on wounds. Doctors are not allowed by law to share any of this information with your employer and the information cannot be given to third parties that would use it for marketing or advertising.

Who Is Governed by HIPPA?

Not all health organizations that you are involved it will answer to HIPPA. Doctors, hospitals and insurance companies will, but if any other companies have your information like the place where you purchased life insurance, your employer, your school or even state agents, they do not have to abide by HIPPA.

What Are You Entitled To?

You can see your health records whenever you want, but you must submit a written request to get this done. You must say how you are going to use this information and who is going to see it. You may be charged for copies of your records.

What is a HIPPA form?

Health care providers need to inform patients how their information will be used and could possibly be shared. Health care providers must also ensure that the patient is always aware of his or her rights. This would usually be done in a HIPPA form. This is a document written in simple and straightforward language and it should ensure that the individual knows of his or her right to complain about any information being shared regarding medical records.

What Constitutes As A HIPPA Violation?

You might be accidentally violating HIPPA if you show your own medical records to a friend after having obtained them. Doctors and health insurance companies might be committing one if they are discussing your condition verbally or in a written form without your consent. A good indication of a HIPPA violation is if your medical records have been accessed too many times – this can happen due to curiosity and patients with very rare conditions are particularly vulnerable to this type of HIPPA violation.
Since its start, The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) has been a rather controversial law. Although many patients like the protection it provides, it can be difficult for physicians to make the right judgment calls when they do not have all the information available to make a difficult decision. There can be a court summons of someone’s medical records, but this is a complicated and very long process that hinders how effectively doctors can do their job.
It has also affected some medical researches because they are no longer allowed to look at statistical data on medical charts to provide a historical sample of significance in their studies. This means that doing a historical study of a particular type of disorder or disease could be near impossible.
Additionally, HIPPA is very complicated and it can be quite difficult to follow. That is why many people in the health industry need to have extensive training when it comes to it. Many legal nurses are well versed in HIPPA and provide consultations to health care organizations regarding the many issues involved in the Act. They also provide staff education and training seminars related to HIPPA issues. To learn more about legal nurse consulting, access here.

How To Deal With Grieving Children When A Pet Dies

Posted on by Dominick Flarey

Pet Loss Grief

The final ending of life is death. This concept may be easy to grasp but its effect may leave people devastated. The bond between children and their pets are unique and special. For a child his pet may provide companionship, love, entertainment, friendship etc. A child may consider his pet to be the closest living thing with which he can share his secrets, emotions, thoughts and such other feelings. Pets for children may be a perfect example of unconditional love, affection and loyalty. Children generally spend a lot of time with their pets, like playing with them, going for a walk with them, sleeping with them, watching television with them and so on. When the beloved pet of a child dies the special bond that they shared is broken and the child does not know how to tackle the situation. This article offers some suggestions for how to deal with grieving children when a pet dies.
Parents may ask how to deal with grieving children when a pet dies? The reality is there is no definite answer to this question as different children may react in different manner, depending upon the depth of the relationship that they shared with their pets, their age, and personality. A child on the death of his pet may feel sad, guilty, depressed, lonely, angry, betrayed and anxious, all at the same time. Such a situation is very tough for a child to handle and parents must provide the utmost support, understanding and sympathy.

 Feelings of Grief

In order to comfort their children parents should not give them false hopes, or try to replace the old pet with a similar looking one. The death of the pet may be a good time to reveal the true facts about life. The example of changing seasons can be a good way to make a child understand about life and death. The spring season can be compared with birth and winter season with death. Small children at first may not be ready to accept the truth and they may ask numerous questions. It is very important to answer these questions with patience and honesty.

After the death of their pets some children may exhibit drastic behavioral changes like getting angry regarding trivial matters, isolation from friends and family etc. Parents should note these changes and take time to talk with their children. Children should be encouraged to speak about their emotions, to express their fears and sorrows. Criticizing or judging a child for his reactions may not give favorable results. Grief is the natural outcome of the death of a loved one; therefore children should not feel ashamed to cry as it is a natural process to vent such feelings.

Parents must involve their children and ask for their suggestions regarding the funeral or memorial service for their pets. Family members and friends can write special massages regarding the good moments that they had spent with the pet. The child whose pet has died can be encouraged to write a good bye letter to his pet. It is very essential to make the child realize that the pet was loved by the entire family and everyone is sorry about the loss. Parents often have video recordings of special times that their children have spent with their pets. Showing such recordings can bring back the sweet memories which can be comforting for the child.

 Strategies to Deal with Pet Grief

Drawing pictures of the pet, placing a headstone at the site of burial, planting small plants in memory of the pet, donating money to charity for animals etc. are activities that a child can do in memory of his dead pet. Children may have their own ideas of what would give peace to the spirit of their dead pet. Parents should not ridicule should ideas. As a way of comforting their children parents can also share their stories of how they reacted to the death of their favorite pet or how they dealt with the situation.
Time is the biggest healer and this is the foremost point that should be considered while answering the question of how to deal with grieving children when a pet dies. With time the child will learn to live without his pet but the memory will always stay. Sympathy, love and compassion of parents can quickly heal the wounded heart of a child who has lost his or her beloved pet. To learn more about pet loss grief counseling, access here.

What Is The Difference Between Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy?

Posted on by Dominick Flarey

What is the difference between hypnosis and hypnotherapy? This is a common question that most of us ask while seeking options to better our health and our lives in general. Although these two terms sound just about the same, each stands for an entirely different meaning, with the common relationship between the two being that they both refer to ways of altering the state of the mind. So, what exactly is the difference between these two terms?
The Difference between Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy
The simplest way to go about expressing the actual difference between hypnosis and hypnotherapy is by defining them. The definitions provide a hint for the different meanings of these two terms in relation to the mind and consciousness.
To start with, hypnosis is simply a consciousness state where your mind becomes receptive and open to suggestions. It is a state of mind that most of us go through on a daily basis, for instance when daydreaming, when watching a movie, or when you fall asleep while reading a book!
Hypnotherapy, on the other hand, is a therapy form whereby a hypnotherapist and you both apply the hypnosis technique to try and identify your false beliefs with an intention of changing them so that you may move on in life.
Using a garden analogy to explain the difference in the above definitions, hypnosis is like sowing the seed and watering it so that it can germinate and grow in to a healthy plant. Hypnotherapy, on the other hand, is like weeding the garden so that you can remove any unwanted plants, the weeds.
What do each of these techniques do?
With hypnosis, there is an induction process, just like the process of sowing a seed, where you move in to a state of consciousness and through positive affirmations and suggestions, you change the things in your life that you are ready to change. You can get in to this conscious and relaxed state yourself or through the help of a therapist. The end result is a relaxed mind, a pleasant feeling, and openness to thought and behavioral changes.
Though not a substitute to professional medical and health care but a complimentary procedure, hypnotherapy is used to help people improve their lives through a number of ways. These include simple stress reduction and relaxation, helping individuals to withstand and manage pain, helping with trauma, coping with medical procedures, reducing functional disorder symptoms and the general well being of a person. It is a therapy option used to help people cope with emotions and trauma.
Who practices these techniques?
Anyone can go through hypnosis without the assistance of a second party. It is a relatively simple technique that can come in to play even when one is doing the simple daily activities like watching movies or reading books, with better effects being achieved if it is practiced consciously. However, a person who practices hypnosis on others is called a hypnotist.
With hypnotherapy however, you need the help of a hypnotherapist, who is a trained person to assist others with this technique. Besides hypnotherapy, a hypnotherapist usually has certifications and qualifications in some other professional training like mind science, counseling and therapy.
These qualifications allow a hypnotherapist to provide very in-depth inquiries and consultations before the actual therapy sessions so that they can tailor the most appropriate care procedures for a particular patient. Actually, most of these hypnotherapists work together with physicians where they receive referrals for patients who need such care.
Good to note here is that hypnosis should not be confused with the kind of hypnosis employed in entertainment, otherwise called stage hypnosis. This discussion focuses on the therapeutic hypnosis that helps a person to improve on a certain area of their life by clearing their mind and concentrating on activities and a mindset that may lead to possible solutions to their problems, which is more like meditation.

Are these techniques right for you?
Truth be told, hypnosis and hypnotherapy have had their share of controversies. However, they have been proven, time and time again, to produce much better results in resolving some disorders and diseases. For instance, hypnotherapy has been shown to be more effective than medication at treating irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). These methods are safe, side effects free, and if anything, they lead to a better sleep and a more relaxed you.
To answer the question of what is the difference between hypnosis and hypnotherapy, we can simply conclude that it is the approach and the intended purpose, with the basics being almost the same. For information on hypnotherapy courses, access here.

What is a Living Will?

Posted on by Dominick Flarey

Legal Nurse Consultation

One of the most difficult things that a family member can go through is having to make a important medical decision regarding a loved one who is unable to speak for himself or herself. The stress of making such a decision in a hospital or nursing home can be overwhelming to those making the decision. Additionally, if there is any disagreement within the family about what course of medical action to take regarding the loved one, the situation can only become worse. The living will can help relieve some of the burden in difficult times when a difficult medical decision is required.
The living will is a type of advanced health care directive used to instruct medical personnel about what measures to take on a patient who is incapacitated and unable to make informed decisions about his or her healthcare. Two other forms of advanced health care directives include a power of attorney and a health care proxy. The various directive forms work alone or in tandem to provide instruction to doctors and nurses. It is important not to confuse a living will with a living trust, which is a form of estate planning that distributes a person’s assets after his or her death. This information is brought to you by our legal nurse consultation post on our blog.
It is essential to have a living will because it informs medical personnel and your family of what kind of medical treatment you want in case you are unable to speak for yourself. This can include instructions for what you want to happen in the event of an accident that leaves you in a permanent vegetative state or instructions how to handle your medical care if you have a terminal illness which progresses to the point of you being incapacitated. A living will should be written by a lawyer to ensure that it is legal and will serve its purpose if the need arises.

Understanding the Living Will

A living will generally describes the types of treatment you desire in the event you become incapacitated. For example, if you are in a vegetative state after an accident or other medical event, a living will can instruct your doctors whether or not to keep you alive through the use of ventilators, feeding tubes or other medical means. Other treatments often described in a living will include whether to administer pain relief, perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or provide hydration.
The living will only becomes effective if a doctor certifies you as being terminally ill or otherwise permanently incapacitated. For example, if you have a heart attack and are unconscious laying in a hospital, but expected to recover and regain consciousness, your living will does not come into effect. You will still receive life saving medical treatment even though your living will stipulates that you do not want life prolonging medical procedures. That is an important distinction and essential to understand. A living will only comes into effect if you are terminally ill, in a permanent vegetative state or permanently mentally incapacitated.
If the situation ever arises where you are incapacitated and unable to speak for yourself, but your medical condition is not terminal or permanent, you should use a health care power of attorney or a health care proxy. Either one of these documents allow you to provide a third party, usually a family member or close friend, the legal authority to make health care decisions on your behalf in the event you are unable to express your wishes.
Being proactive and having both a health care proxy and the living will is both a responsible and loving thing to do. It removes the burden of making extremely difficult decisions from your family members if and when the time arrives. You do not need to be terminally ill to have the living will.

Creating a Living Will

To set up the living will and health care power of attorney, consult a lawyer who specializes in these documents in the state where you live. But before you consult with a lawyer, talk to your doctor about the different scenarios when a living will might be needed and what your options are for each scenario. It’s important to make an informed decision now, so your wishes are known in the event the living will becomes effective. Each state has slightly different variations in terminology and living will laws so a lawyer’s help is crucial. Additionally, once your living will is written, keep it in a safe place. Make sure your doctor and the person you select to have health care power of attorney know of its existence. Your living will does no good to you if nobody knows that it has been written. For more information on health care directives, you may want to consult a legal nurse consultant.

How to Write a Grief Sympathy Letter or Note

Posted on by Dominick Flarey

 Dealing with the Grief of Others

A sympathy letter is a formal and sincere way of sending your condolences to a grieving family member, friend, or colleague. It is usually sent or emailed during the first few days after the death of an individual. Sending a sympathy letter is a great way to empathize and give comfort to a person who has just lost a loved one.  Dealing with grief is a challenging journey. Those who grieve are generally very appreciative of the notes of condolences they receive.

 How to Begin the Letter

A grief sympathy letter often opens up with the writer acknowledging the death of the person. The writer may do this with lines such as “I am so sorry to hear of your loss,” or “I was shocked to hear about X’s death.” If the writer is writing on behalf of a group or company, he or she may write something like this: “I am writing on behalf of Y company or X’s friends to express our condolences for X’s passing.”  These lines not only serve as an appropriate opening for the letter, but also set the tone for the entire sympathetic theme.

 Acknowledge the Loss

After acknowledging the death of the person and the loss of the grieving party, the writer then expresses sympathy in the succeeding sentence or paragraph. The writer may say “Please find comfort in the love and good memories we have of X,” or “I want to express my sincerest sympathy for your sad loss.”  In this part of the letter, the writer condoles with the grieving party and offers words of comfort to the bereaved family.

Share Wonderful Memories of the Deceased

A sympathy letter should also have a few lines about the deceased person as described by the writer. These lines usually enumerate the good qualities that the writer admires and will miss about the deceased. The writer may say, “X was such a sweet and hardworking colleague, and I will miss him dearly,” if the deceased was a colleague, or “X was a sincere, loyal, and trusting friend,” if the deceased was a friend. In the next line, the writer shares a wonderful memory of the deceased to the grieving party. This is an opportunity to highlight the good qualities of the person who has passed away. The writer may cite how he or she met the deceased, their friendship, working relationship, or how the late person spoke affectionately about his or her family.

How to End the Letter

Grieving families will appreciate hearing words of love from just about anyone, particularly from people they know. This may be as simple as words of encouragement. One rule of thumb, though- never make any offer that you can’t fulfill. Some lines that writers can use for this part are, “If there is anything that I can do, I am just a phone call away,” or “Don’t hesitate to call me up if you need anything from me during these tough times.”  As a closing line, writers may end their letter with phrases such as “love,” “truly yours,” and “affectionately yours.”
Here’s a sample of a short but sincere sympathy letter:
“I am saddened by X’s death. No words are adequate to describe just how special a person he was. He always had kind words to say about everyone in the office. He also often told us how he loved you and his children. If there’s anything we can do for you, just give us a call. Our thoughts are with you and your family during these difficult times. Sincerely, John.”
Oftentimes, when one is faced with a friend who is grieving, it is hard to know what to do. Knowing how to write a formal sympathy letter can help one organize one’s thoughts and feelings in a coherent manner. For someone who is mourning the loss of a loved one, reading a simple sympathy letter is sure to make the loss a little easier to bear.
If you would like to learn more on how to become certified in grief counseling, then please review.

How Stress Management Therapy Can Help

Posted on by Dominick Flarey

Stress Management Therapy

Stress management therapy in it’s various forms, has the potential to do a lot of good in people’s lives. This is because stress can adversely effect our overall health for long periods of time, and have a large detrimental impact on our health during the course of our whole lives.
Many illnesses and ailments can be traced back to stress as a significant underlying cause. Increased stress levels can be a contributing cause or exacerbating factor to heart disease, irritable bowel syndrome, high blood pressure, frequent colds and many other illnesses.
Not only does stress effect us physically, but also mentally. The symptoms can limit people’s lives by causing them to avoid situations where triggers for their stress might arise. If an individual suffers from anxiety attacks or panic attacks, this can lead to them avoiding public places and becoming prisoners in their own homes.
Stress management therapy may not completely cure all the symptoms, or the underlying causes of the stress factors for everyone, but it can help people get to a stage where the effect of stress on their lives is diminished to levels where it is minimal. This will mean the impact on their lives from stress is vastly reduced, and both their physical and mental well being can improve dramatically.
It can encompass many types of proven techniques to help people suffering from stress to control and reduce the amount of stress they feel.

Stress Therapy Interventions

Relaxation therapy is one of the main forms of stress management therapy. This can help individuals feel relaxed in their normal daily lives, but it can also give the individuals a set of techniques that may help reduce their stress once the symptoms have been triggered. When a person feels a panic attack or an anxiety attack starting to occur, they can use relaxation techniques to head-off the problem before the symptoms culminate into a full-on attack.
Just as emotional stimulation can cause these attacks, there are relaxation techniques that can help manage them and prevent them from becoming a problem.
As mentioned earlier, these therapies do not only help at the time of the attack, but also help the patient be more relaxed during the course of their daily lives. A person who is in a relaxed state of mind is far less likely to suffer from these attacks. Relaxation therapy helps people reach this state of mind by simply teaching them how to relax. It sounds very simple, but during modern living we often forget how to relax. These therapies can give a person techniques to practice at home to help them maintain a relaxed and healthy state of mind.
There are many different therapies that come under the umbrella of relaxation therapy, some will be of far more benefit to one individual than to another, so different techniques can be used to tailor relaxation therapy to the individual.
Aversion therapy can also help. Some people self-medicate with various substances to help them cope with their stress. Aversion therapy helps them by forcing the mind to associate the addictive substance with a negative stimulus.
Therapy which uses a positive stimulus to help someone associate that with desirable behavior can also help. This is similar to aversion therapy in the way it works, but rather than a negative stimulus being used to prevent undesirable behavior, a positive stimulus is used instead to reinforce desirable behavior or feelings. This can help the mind change the way it feels about the triggers of your stress, and associate them with something pleasant.
Hypnosis can also help, this causes the mind to be “reprogrammed” on a subconscious level, which can both reduce stress and reduce the symptoms and frequency of the attacks themselves.
There are many more techniques that can be used. All of them can help a person manage their stress to prevent it becoming a problem. Some people turn to a pharmaceutical solution for their stress, this can help but it is only a short-term fix. It does not teach people how to manage their stress. Prescription drugs also often have serious side effects that can cause problems in other areas of your life, as well as health problems.
A comprehensive program to help people with their stress, is the best solution to the problem. If you suffer from anxiety attacks, panic attacks or other forms of stress, stress management therapy can make a major positive influence on your life.  To learn about stress management education courses, access here.

What Is The Need For Pastoral Care Of the Dying?

Posted on by Dominick Flarey

Pastoral care of the dying is a special type of counseling by chaplains, pastors or other religious leader to dying persons and also their friends, families and relatives. The pastor or the chaplain provides comfort, hope as well as assurance during a time of uncertainty. We all know that death is the ultimate conclusion to our earthly life and it is a phase that every living being has to go through some day or the other.
However embracing one’s own natural death or accepting the loss of a dear one is much difficult and so in such a situation we turn to religious teachings and religious leaders to find solace. The subject of death, both physical and theological has been the center of attention in the Bible. The main essence of pastoral care of the dying is showing spiritual love for fellow humans and forms an integral part of Christian teaching.
For a professional person who provides emotional and spiritual support to the dying it is very important to have a proper understanding and realization of thanatology. A person who is in his death bed looks to the chaplain or pastor for spiritual assurance and company to overcome loneliness and fear. The pastor or chaplain should help the dying person to communicate with his loved ones. The minister should also help the dying man to reflect on the quality of life that he has lived and at last prepare the person to face the final transaction of leaving the earthly body. The duty of the minister or pastor does not end here as he also needs to act as a pillar of support for the dear and near one of the dead person. The pastor can also help the bereaved family members to make various arrangements like burial, funeral planning etc.
The question of when to call for pastoral care of the dying may arise in our mind. There can be no single definite answer to this question. Pastoral care of the dying can be called for when a patient is informed of having some serious illness like cancer, AIDS etc. This type of help can be called for if a patient is in his death bed or is worried about some surgery that is going to take place in the near future. Pastoral care of the dying can be called for if the family member of a patient who is seriously ill wants spiritual guidance and support.
In the western countries pastoral care ministers constitute the health care departments of most hospitals so patients as well as their families can easily ask for their guidance. Different people have different point of view regarding death. Some view death as an unwanted intruder that hampers the natural process of life while some view death, suffering and pain as integral and unavoidable aspects of living life and a suitable ending to the journey of life. The view of a person regarding death is largely molded or shaped by different factors like social customs, religious faith or belief, cultural background, personal way of thinking etc. People who believe in the existence of God or are followers of Christianity generally call for pastoral care when they or some of their loved ones are nearing death.
For a dying man and his family a pastor or chaplain is not only a spiritual bridge with God and after-life but also a social supportive agent. When a man nears death his opinion of life can greatly change, all the materialistic things that seemed very important to him at one point of his life may then seem to be of no great importance. The person may feel a great desire to purge himself of all the sins that he has committed in his life time and so getting pastoral care for the dying can be of great help. In such critical situations friends and family of a dying man feel very close to the pastor. They start relying on the pastor for his guidance and help. The pastor may be requested to give his opinion regarding crucial matters like family, medical, moral and ethical issues. Many people believe that religious faith can work miracles where medical science fails and so they can call for pastoral care of the dying during such situations.

Grief Counseling – What is it and how can it help

Posted on by Dominick Flarey

Grief counseling is in high demand today. The loss of someone close to you is a painful experience and can create many emotions such as anger, shock, sadness and guilt. Within this period, you may feel as if these emotions may never let up and come to an end. Loss is a tough thing to handle but it is something that most of us will have to face several times within our lives. These feeling are often categorized as grief and you may find it challenging to move past this phase alone. For such instances, it is recommended that you seek grief counseling.

 What is grief counseling?

Grief counseling is a type of theory that focuses on a person or people suffering from the feelings of grief and helps them get through their feelings. Often, grief counseling takes place with a group of people as opposed to individually as working through this process with loved ones will often help this process. The most common reasons that require grief counseling come after a death of a loved one; however it is not uncommon for people to seek this form of therapy after a divorce, the loss of a job, or the diagnosis of a serious disease, such as cancer and more. In any of these situations, grief counseling works to help that person or people cope with their emotions.

 Grief counseling in groups

As mentioned, grief counseling often takes place in a group setting. This is because the involvement of your peers, who can better understand what a person is going through, will minimize the feelings of isolation that is prevalent among grief stricken people. An added benefit is also that your friends and family will be able to stay with you outside of the sessions, something that a counselor is not able to do.

 What are the goals of grief counseling?

The main intent of this therapy varies depending upon the person and situation. The end goal is to best help that person recover emotionally from the particular situation. This form of counseling does not attempt to change what that person feels they want or need, however they do attempt to console and support that person as they are dealing with their intense emotions. More often than not, the simple act of talking about the situation will go a long way in helping a grief stricken person recover. For this reason, a therapist’s main intent is to accompany that person and encourage them to talk about what is going through their head. Getting that person to talk about it and having someone listen and converse with them about is the main role of a grief therapist.

 I am suffering from grief, how will counseling help me?

When a person looses someone close to them, or they go through an emotionally intense situation, they will often receive a lot of attention from their friends and family. After a few weeks, however, those people will be ready to move on with their lives even though that person may not yet be ready to. This is where grief counselors play an important role. Today, most of the theory behind grief counseling is based on the work of Elizabeth Kubler Ross, a famous Swiss psychiatrist who was able to identify the different stages of grief that a person will go though. Her findings showed that grief is not a straight line process and is not easily understood by the people who are not also going through the same feelings. This makes it difficult for a grieving person to find the full support they will need from friends and family members alone. Grief therapists are trained to work with and identify the stages of grief that a person may be going through and is better able to walk them through the entire process over the course of several weeks or months.
If you are suffering through feelings or grief, or know someone that is, it is important to seek some form of grief counseling as it is the best way to get through your emotions in the most healthy way possible. It is important to surround ones self around loved ones and continuous communication between the two parties will go a long way in helping that person recover from such emotions. You may also consider learning more about grief and strategies to deal with it. There are online grief counseling courses you can take to expand your knowledge in this area of specialty care.

Child Grief and Bereavement Counseling

Posted on by Dominick Flarey

Everyone deals with death in their own way, but children are a bit different. Most young children really don’t understand death, even those who do can have a hard time dealing with their feelings. It’s important to make sure kids are getting the care they need during a time when they lost someone close to them.

Child grief  and bereavement counseling is something that any parent should seriously consider. This is a great solution since most kids don’t want to talk to their parents or other family members about their feelings. Most parents don’t even know what questions to ask to make sure their child is dealing with their feelings in a healthy manner.

 How Counseling can Help Children through the Grieving Process

Professionals have the educational background to help children deal with this sort of situation. Each child is going to grieve differently depending on their age and experience with loss in the past. If a child doesn’t feel like they have support they could end up keeping their emotions bottled inside, which could have really dire effects in the future. When kids have a third party to talk to they will be able to let their emotions out and talk about what they are dealing with on the inside. At first these visits might be difficult if the child is resistant, but in time they will get better. Some kids might end up speaking freely; it varies from each different person.
Counselors are going to ask questions to the child that do not scare them. Their main goal is to get an idea of what is going on in their head. The answers that the child gives will help the counselor tailor their questions and conversation for the appointment. Professionals do understand that each child is different, so they don’t handle each one in the same way. When a kid feels comfortable with someone, they will be more encouraged to speak with them about what is going on. No matter what type of death is being dealt with, a child needs to speak with someone about it. Child grief counseling can make all the difference with how someone grows up and deals with other situations. When parents aren’t able to get a child to talk, counseling is a great option to consider. This is a sensitive subject that many parents are uncomfortable dealing with since they aren’t sure what they should do or say.

 What Children Will Learn by Going to Child Grief Counseling

Losing a parent, grand parent, sister, brother, or other family members is going to be really difficult for any child. When they go to see a professional counselor they can actually come out of the experience a lot stronger than they were before. This can help them deal with death in the future, since it’s inevitable. Most kids will cry and talk about their feelings, but they need to have a well-rounded idea of what death is and how it will change their life forever. A counselor will be able to explain what death really is and help them learn tools for dealing with grief. A child needs to know that it’s alright to cry and that they should talk to someone about their feelings. When they know that it’s alright to let their feelings show, they are less likely to bottle them up inside. If they don’t feel comfortable talking with a family member, a counselor is a great alternative.
Some tools that can help any child grieve include: to be honest about their feelings, realizing that death is a part of life, crying is good and memories can help out a lot. Children can easily learn how to cherish memories and feel good about them instead of feeling sad. Some kids end up keeping a journal filled with their emotions while others find a friend they can talk to. Either of these are great to have when it comes to grieving. These tools are going to help any child deal with death instead of constantly feeling depressed.
Child grief and bereavement counseling is something that any parent should consider for their child. This will give their son or daughter a safe space where they can talk with someone about what they are feeling. They will learn tools that help them feel better about the situation. Although it’s a sensitive subject, it has to be taught to kids to give them a brighter future.

The Role Of A Nurse Educator

Posted on by Dominick Flarey

The role of a nurse educator is growing in importance today. A nurse has several different imperative roles in today’s health care system, one of which is to inform patients and their families of the diseases that they are faced with. A step above that is a nurse educator. This nurse is using all of their clinical experience and skills to properly prepare their students. They also do a great job of mentoring and teaching fellow nurses who may be new or have less experience. A nurse mentor leads a very active and fulfilling life as they are both informative and emphatic.
Nurse educators are traditionally in charge of structuring, implementing and revising the type of educational materials that fellow nurses receive. This material fits a wide range of uses, from a more academic and scholarly feel to a more concentrated and specific approach for individualistic issues. Nurse educators are often a great sounding board for issues that arise for another nurse that they may be unfamiliar with and have not dealt with in the past. Nurse educators are the keys to assuring quality and factual based content is taught to the entire department.

 Practice and Goals

Because health care is such a diverse and constantly changing field, it is important that those in this position are comfortable with constantly learning and growing. New information and changes in procedural patterns are inevitable so a nurse educator must be willing to easily adapt. Being a leader is usually at the forefront of a nurse educators job. They practice in all type of health care facilities and are generally working with fellow nurses and patients alike.
A nurse educators primary goal is to create a set of curriculum and material that is all encompassing and helpful for their students. Because of their involvement in teaching and being of service to fellow nurses, future nurses and patients, nurse educators often experience a high level of job satisfaction. They take pride in their role of helping another person learn, grow and ultimately succeed in the nursing field. Being of service to others is why many people become nurses in the first place, this just adds to that principle by helping and encouraging others who have that same deeply engrained belief.
There are tremendous benefits for those who choose a career as a nurse educator. The medical field is one of the most stable markets because certain ailments are inevitable. So no matter how badly the economy is doing, surgeons, doctors and nurses will still be around to take care of the sick and dying. Because of this, nurse educators will also always be needed. Another huge benefit of choosing this particular work as a career is the cutting edge technology and information that will be available to you. Wouldn’t it be great to be one of the first people to know about a certain procedure? What about being able to read information about a unique and rare disease? These are the types of things nurse educators do on a daily basis.
Nurse educators are always learning something new and interesting. They are apart of an ever changing and growing workplace that is perpetually knowledge based and intellectually stimulating. Usually nurse educators work in a specific field of study. They often have specialties similar to those that doctors have. These fields can range from cardiology, family health, pediatrics and much more. A general comprehensive background is necessary but usually whatever concentration you are most familiar with is the one you teach. The type of qualifications needed to become a nurse educator usually require a master’s degree but there are some exceptions to this rule.
As a nurse educator you are also entitled to a pretty flexible schedule. Many choose to teach just part time in junction with their other work. Whether that be clinical work or actually working in hospitals directly with patients. Assessing the learning and knowledge of nurses is also a duty that many nurse educators carry out. Making sure that the nurses in the field and those who deal with patients every single day are well informed and knowledgeable is imperative to the quality of care that the patients receive.
There are many different things that nurse educators do but one of the most important is that they are there to teach, answer questions and to really listen to their students and patients. The role of a nurse educator is an important one and those who are willing to do the job are needed. To learn about becoming a nurse educator, access here.

Spiritual Counseling: Rediscover Your Inner Power

Posted on by Dominick Flarey
By: Zendra Marks

What is Spiritual Counseling?

Spiritual counseling considers the soul, instead of the body and mind, as the commencing point for the sense of your true self. It has an enhanced view of life, acknowledging that this world is often confusing mystery. It considers self-belief systems, universal and personal energy systems, karmic interplay, instinctive psychic realities, subconscious states of mindset, spiritual theology, metaphysical experiences, spiritual existence and higher self-cosmic relationships.
Spiritual counseling views why life is instinctively personal and why individuals want to develop their own distinctive, graceful relationship with it, naturally and without forcefulness. As the soul is considered as the beginning point, consciousness comes from the heart, while not overlooking the head or brain, and from this heart space care for the blessed interdependence of all living existence comes to the surface.

 What does Spiritual Counseling involve?

Spiritual counseling involves a process where one person reevaluates who he or she feels about and themselves and about other persons. Care for self and care for others is the primary concept of the personal and combined growth. As the spiritual counseling is holistic, there is no separation and division, no dichotomy between individual or collective opinions and response, all is fundamentally correlated. Spiritual counseling brings about a realization that life experiences grow into the supreme tool, with the incorporation of personal problems and personal venture. The main objective of taking spiritual counseling is to convey themselves and their own world with long cherished wisdom, spiritual consciousness and personal realism using integrity.
Spiritual counseling involves the process of developing consciousness of a spiritual identity. It does so by reminding the fact that all the human beings are more than their personalities and their problems.
It gives faith in oneself so that people have within themselves the knowledge and understaning to make the right decisions in life.
Spiritual counseling also ensures that people have faith in their potentials. That means each situation has a prospect of growth for them.
It enables people to have belief in the journey which indicates human lives haves some deep meanings.
Spiritual counseling also makes people realize that that all people are in fact spiritual beings.

  Why might one seek out a Spiritual Counselor?

A spiritual counselor helps people to learn how to handle the challenges of daily life in relationship with the spiritual world. Most of the people are accustomed to thinking of themselves as alone in the world. People tend to think that they need to figure things out on their own, and fight for survival.
After spiritual counseling, people would begin to understand that spiritual togetherness is real. Then they would start to see that life can be different. They will learn that they are not alone, because everyone belongs to one world – but during the times of stress or difficulties they may forget this. That is why spiritual counseling is so important, as the long years of habit can be difficult to undo all by oneself.
A Spiritual counselor helps people to meet the challenges of life from a new consciousness of collective existence. It offers support to be a whole person – the soul and spirit, emotions, mind and body, and the practical life here on the Earth.

 What are the qualities of an expert Spiritual Counselor?

A spiritual counselor needs the cross cultural consciousness, a deep understanding around spiritual sphere and other matters of spirituality. They are well aware of, and they are devoted to a spiritual passage in their own lives as well as the lives of others. By concentrating on their deep inner relationships, forming an open connection and a unique mindfulness state, they produce a holding and blessed space for the individual and collective growth of their clients.
Finally it can be said that the divine journey can be delightful and arising, however it can also be demanding, frightening and solitary. Anyone might have the spiritual experience; however holistic self-consciousness is a completely different thing. Spiritual development best happens at the point while the soul is strong enough to take a little bewildering.
As a result, spiritual counseling can be a great tool to rediscover the potentials one have and find greater meaning of the life. However, as it deals with the deep consciousness of the mind and soul of a person, an experienced and qualified counselor can make things much easier and comfortable. To find out more about spiritual counseling and to preview online courses, you may access here.

What is Crisis Intervention Counseling?

Posted on by Dominick Flarey

Crisis intervention counseling is short term counseling that addresses emergency situations for people in crisis. A counselor will either speak to a person on the telephone (emergency hotline situation) or face to face, but it is better for people in crisis to have the one on one counseling, which allows the counselor to get a better gauge of the client’s demeanor.
It is difficult for a counselor to deal with a crisis over the phone because they cannot read the client’s body language or see the expression on their face; however, hotlines are important because they are a means in which to calm a person down and stop them from taking drastic and irreversible action.

There are many situations that can be considered a crisis for people. These could include:
• A woman who has been beaten once or repeatedly by her spouse. She takes the opportunity to call a crisis line while her partner has left the home, or possibly while he is pounding on the door to try to get to her and hit her again. The counselor can offer telephone support while contacting 911 and dispatching them to the address, if the counselor can manage to extract that information from the client;
• Someone who lives with a person who has a drug or alcohol problem, and they need someone to speak to because they do not know what to do about the problem;
• A person who has lost their job and is facing financial problems, including foreclosure, debt collectors and bankruptcy. Perhaps this person is unable to train for a new job and has no other prospects for employment;
• A teenager who is being bullied at school and is either terrified to go to school, or is thinking of taking their life;
• A man has just found out he has terminal cancer and has two weeks to live. He is unable to tell his family about the situation and needs to speak to someone about it. He is worried about his family and how they will get by in the future without him.
While it is not the role of the crisis counselor to “fix” the problem, they do have an obligation to provide support and explain to the client that the feelings that they are experiencing are completely normal. It is also important to point out to the client that the situation is temporary and that the crisis will eventually pass.
Crisis counselors can help their clients to develop certain skills that allow them to better cope with a situation. By open dialogue and careful discussion, they can help the client to explore various solutions to the problem while helping them to deal with the stress and think in a more positive way. The problem in a crisis situation is that people have complete tunnel vision, and they forget that there are other aspects to their life that are positive.
When a person is suicidal, they are only thinking of the current situation and how to get out of it. They are probably not thinking very clearly, and they are certainly not considering the effect that their death would have on others around them, such as guilt and remorse. The counsellor would point out all of those things to the client and help them to think of other ways to work through the situation.
People in crisis can learn skills that give them the ability to recover from their situation, but it is up to the crisis counselor to provide them with the guidance and resources to accomplish this. One important aspect of the process is for the counselor to have the client face the crisis head on, and try to move past it. The longer that the situation is prolonged, the less chance that the client has of dealing with it. Sometimes it may be necessary for some sort of confrontation to take place in order for the client to move on with their life. This can be very frightening and difficult, but the counselor is there to assist with the process.
If there is a cycle of behavior that continues to lead to crisis, it is up to the counselor to encourage the client to recognize and change that behavior. One very good example of this would be a drug or alcohol addiction and the cycle of destruction that goes with the addiction. The client is routinely causing extreme emotional pain to those around them, but they refuse to take responsibility for their part in the crisis. The counselor works with the client to break those cycles and heal the pain between the client and their family members and friends. To learn more about crisis intervention, click here.

Learn to Meditate

Posted on by Dominick Flarey

With life becoming more busy and hectic these days, it is important to take the time to care for yourself, center your body and your mind and your spirit, and the best way to achieve this is when you learn to meditate. Meditation is the process of clearing your mind of all thoughts and clutter, and relaxing into a state of clarity.
Many of us are constantly on the go, with work, children and activities outside of the home, and we tend to get extremely stressed out which has a very negative impact on our body. The body is designed to withstand a certain amount of stress; however, when we are under “attack” from every angle, our bodies can start to give in to the effects of stress. This makes us more open to disease and illness, and it is simple to avoid this by learning meditation techniques.
There is no big secret to mediation, and if you want to learn to meditate, you simply need to have an open mind. There is a certain spiritual aspect to this activity which you will tap into even if you are not the least bit spiritual. You need to find a space in your home that is quiet and well ventilated where you can sit alone for as much time as you need without being interrupted.
All that you need to do is sit in a quiet area, in a comfortable position, usually on the floor with your legs crossed. Closing your eyes, you will deep breath for several seconds, up to one minute. You will then tense up your body and then allow it to relax, letting the tension leave you with the breath you exhale as you relax. While you have been concentrating on your breathing, you can now just put that aside and let it happen naturally. You will simply think of one single thought and nothing else. Some people smile when they are meditating, while others may weep. It is a state of complete relaxation that is time you take for yourself.
If you want to learn to meditate, you must practice each day for as much time as it takes for you to feel relaxed. Taking this time for yourself will allow you to feel more peaceful and give you a much more positive outlook on life.

 Benefits of Meditation

There are so many benefits to meditation, and it is free and takes less than 20 minutes per day. Your body will reap many wonderful benefits from this practice, including:

• Increased blood flow and a slower heart rate;
• Slows down the aging process;
• A known cure for headaches and relief from migraines;
• Weight loss benefits and the normalization of your weight;
• A significant reduction in free radicals, reducing damage to tissues;
• Beneficial and lasting changes to the electrical activity in the brain;
• A significant decrease in muscle tension
• Lowers your consumption of oxygen;
• Can improve and speed up post- operative healing;
• Decreases perspiration (for those who sweat excessively);
• Can dramatically improve your immunity.

The brain is an extremely powerful organ, and when you learn how to relax it and provide it with much needed rest, it can use that reserved energy to heal other parts of your body. Stress increases the presence of free radicals and speeds up the aging process. This is why people who are under intense stress all of the time just look that much older.
In addition to the physical changes you will experience when you learn to mediate, you will also find yourself with more confidence, a greater ability to focus and concentrate and better moods. When you are in a better and more positive state of mind with good moods all of the time, you will simply feel like participating in life more. This is why mediation is a good solution for people who find themselves susceptible to depression.
Meditation can also help you to develop your creativity if you are artistic, help you to retain more (memory), help you to develop your intuition and help you to feel rejuvenated. You will gain the ability to react more effectively to stress, instead of absorbing all of the stress, you will be able to redirect it and expel it through meditation.
If you are person who worries a lot, meditation can help you to deal with your worries and fears. By centering your thoughts and focusing on yourself and positive things, you will be able to dispel all of the negative feelings and replace them with peace of mind and happiness.

Attention Deficit Disorder

Posted on by Dominick Flarey

Attention Deficit Disorder is a behavioral pattern characterized by hyperactivity or hyperkinesias of brain activity resulting in inattentive and impulsive behavior. Officially, Attention Deficit Disorder is called Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (A.D.H.D.), but commonly people use the term A.D.D. to refer to the disorder.
Typically A.D.D. is a psychiatric disorder diagnosed and treated in children. This is important because it is a developmental disorder that can have unhealthy effects into adulthood. Many people that have been diagnosed in childhood with A.D.D. tend to lead chaotic lifestyles and become much disorganized at times. Most of these symptoms go untreated which can lead to unhealthy choices such as reliance on non-prescription drugs and impulsive behavior, especially under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
It remains unclear how many adults are diagnosed with A.D.D. because many people were not diagnosed as children. It is known however that boys have A.D.D. three times as much as girls according to the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. It’s also known that A.D.D. crosses all ethnicities and countries in about the same numbers.
The causes of A.D.D. are still relatively unknown, but the Professional Group for Attention and Related Disorders have noted that scientific studies show that the disorder is genetically transmitted and result in a chemical imbalance and deficiency in neurotransmitters. A study completed by the National Institute for Mental Health concluded that the rate that the brain uses glucose, its primary source of energy, is lower in children with A.D.D. Although it is not officially known the direct cause, a number of detailed studies have shown A.D.D. is not environment based, and therefore not caused by parents or teachers.
What are the symptoms of A.D.D.?
The three main signs of Attention Deficit Disorder are inattentiveness, hyperactivity, and impulsiveness. While usually focused on a child’s behavior, these signs can apply to adults as well.
Inattentiveness
– Does not pay attention to detail and make careless mistakes in schoolwork or menial tasks.
– Does not listen when directly spoken to.
– Does not follow through with instruction and fails to finish schoolwork or assignments.
– Has difficulty organizing tasks
– Easily distracted by small stimuli
– Forgetting tasks in a daily routine
Hyperactivity
– Fidgets with hands and feet
– Talks excessively
– Always “on the move” to do something new
– Restlessness in adults and excessively running and movement in children
Impulsiveness
– Often intrudes and interrupts
– Acting before thinking
– Difficulty waiting one’s turn
– engaging in risky behavior
It is important to note that most people experience these symptoms from time to time. Some people many exhibit this behavior consistently. It does not mean these people have A.D.D. People including parents and teachers, should not be making any diagnosis themselves. Those concerned with the potential of the disorder should seek a medical professional.
How is A.D.D. treated?
Standard treatments for Attention Deficit Disorder are medication and counseling.
Medications
Medications are only prescribed when diagnosed by a doctor. If needed, a doctor will prescribe either a stimulant, non-stimulant, or anti-depressant based on the person’s condition and medical history. As with any medication there can be side effects but with A.D.D. medications they are rare if taken properly.
Counseling and Social Training
There are various types of counseling available to treat A.D.D. sufferers and their family members. These include family therapy, behavioral therapy, psychotherapy, parenting skill training and social skills training. All of these treatments tend to be successful as it involves all members of the family working with mental health professionals.
Support Groups
These can be a great source of comfort for parents or adults with A.D.D. to bond and sort out issues affected by the disorder. Fears, concerns and other problems can be addressed in a compassionate environment where everything can be voiced and no one feels alone.
Attention Deficit Disorder is a real concern for parents with children that excessively display the signs of the disorder. At a crucial developmental stage, this disorder can have lasting effects. It’s important to seek a mental health professional if the behavior is unmanageable.

Hypnotherapy and Hypnosis Explained

Posted on by Dominick Flarey

If you are curious about hypnotherapy and hypnosis, wondering how they work, this article will give you a basic understanding of the subject and enable you to decide whether it’s for you.
Hypnotherapy is an effective method of resolving some psychological problems and assists in personal development. As the term suggests, hypnotherapy is a combination of hypnosis and therapy. Hypnosis is used to induce relaxation and make the mind more receptive to therapeutic suggestion. It is not associated in any way with stage hypnosis which has different aims.

 Is Hypnotherapy for You?

People who choose hypnotherapy are seeking to change the way they feel, think, or behave. They may wish to lose weight, quit smoking, be more confident or perform better. They might want to develop particular personal qualities or change unhelpful patterns of behavior, which they see as necessary to move forward in life. If this strikes a chord, hypnotherapy may well be for you.

How Does Hypnotherapy Work?

Having a clearly defined goal is the first stage in the process and provides the direction your therapy will take. If, for instance, your goal is to be more assertive it should include how you will feel, and the ways in which your life will be different, once you have achieved it.
Hypnotherapy can be used to overcome the blocks to achieving your goals, in a number of ways. It builds self confidence and esteem, can help you change limiting beliefs, and resolve underlying issues. The roots of any block lie beneath conscious awareness. Hypnosis enables access to the unconscious mind so therapy can be applied to the problem at this fundamental level.
The therapeutic process may involve direct or indirect suggestion, visualization or imagery, story-telling metaphor and a range of other techniques designed to bring about psychological change.
Hypnotherapy re-programs your mind and modifies feelings and behavior in alignment with your goals and wishes. The internal changes produced then need to be grounded in real-life situations for the process to be complete. If your goal was to lose weight, you will need to weigh and measure yourself, and buy smaller clothes to know how much lighter and slimmer you have become. If your goal was to overcome your flying phobia, you will need to experience a flight to know you are now a confident air traveler.

 What is Hypnosis?

Hypnosis is an altered state of consciousness experienced as deep relaxation with a focused awareness. It is induced by shifting the activity of the brain from the left, more logical side, to the right side. Here the unconscious mind can be accessed, and creative solutions to problems sourced. This shift can be achieved in a number of different ways including the use of relaxing music, descriptive imagery, rhythmic phrasing, suggestion, or plays on words to induce the hypnotic state.
While you are in hypnosis you may have useful insights or recognize truths which help you change in the way you desire. However, healing can take place and problems be resolved without you being aware of such processes.

How is Hypnotherapy Delivered?

There are three ways to receive hypnotherapy. You can visit a qualified therapist who tailors the therapy to your individual and specific needs. You can buy and listen to hypnotherapy audio recordings which deal with your particular problem. The therapy content is necessarily generalized to suit the majority of users, but it can still be effective. You can also learn self hypnosis and apply your own therapy.

Will it work for You?

Hypnotherapy has much to offer as a tool for healing and personal development. If you have a clear goal, are motivated to change and willing to try something new, you have the ideal conditions for it to work for you. This may be the life-changing catalyst you are looking for. You may also search out hypnotherapy courses that you can take from a qualified provider of education.

The Role of The Legal Nurse Consultant

Posted on by Dominick Flarey

Whenever some medical-related litigation cases occur, it is often the job of the legal nurse consultant to work hand in hand with attorneys to be able to review and evaluate the case. They usually deal with medical and nursing malpractice, personal injuries or almost any medically-related case which calls for a sufficient medical knowledge from the field. But before anything else, perhaps you might be wondering what these legal nurse consultants are and what they tend to do for a living. To provide insight into their practice, let us take some time to understand this practice specialty.
A legal nurse consultant is a registered nurse and will be the one to perform such tasks as critical analysis of clinical and administrative practice and deal with any other healthcare issues. They act as the bridge between the medical and legal system. They often possess professional insight in both health and medical aspects and legal guidelines at the same time. However, you have to take note that these consultants are nursing experts and not merely paralegals. That is, they specialize more on the field of nursing and health care and are often considered to be experts in these fields.

 What are the roles of a legal nurse consultant?

There are indeed a lot of important roles of the legal nurse consultant. To provide you with a deeper understanding of the various important roles that a legal nurse consultant plays, let us review them.

1. Reviewing and Researching Medical Records

Medical records are among the most important things to consider in any medical-related case. As legal nurse consultants, it is their responsibility to review and research medical records which are relevant to the case. This will help in determining the type of medical negligence as well as to identify any medical records which might possibly have been missing or else tampered. The medical records in turn will also provide the legal nurse consultant additional knowledge regarding the type of service being provided to the client. They will often develop time-lines for the incident of care in question so that attorneys may better understand the process of care and determine issues of negligence.

2. Investigation and Thorough Analysis of the Case

It is very vital for a legal nurse consultant to make several investigations and analysis of a particular case. Being a case investigator, there are in fact a lot of services which a legal nurse consulting should be able to provide to his/her clients. These may include such services as the investigation of any fraud within the government funded agencies and also researching whether or not the victim is applicable for compensation and claims. They particularly focus on standards of care related to the case they are working on. They provide expert analysis on defining the appropriate standards of care and assisting the legal team to identify the types of testifying experts to call into the case for deposition and trial testimony to support allegations of deviations from standards of care.

3. Expert Witness Testimony

Attorneys frequently hire legal nurse consultants to provide actual expert witness testimony. In such cases, the legal nurse will provide a deposition and actually testimony in trials. In these cases, the legal nurse may only testify to deviations from standards of nursing practice and not issues of medical standards of care. They may be retained to provide testimony for either defendants or plaintiffs. Their testimony can be invaluable to the outcomes of such cases.

4. Deposition and Trial Consultant

It will be somewhat challenging for an expert attorney doing all of the tasks themselves regarding a particular case. That is why retaining a legal nurse consultant can be extremely beneficial. Legal nurses assist in the preparation of depositions for trial. They assist attorneys in developing appropriate questions to ask in depositions related to the medical and/or nursing aspects of the case. They are frequently seen with the attorney’s team in the court room during a malpractice or personal injury trial.

5. Research and Education

One of the primary roles of the legal nurse is to conduct extensive research for the legal team. Along with this role they also function as primary educators for the legal team. They will review and study many sources of standards of care and then educate the team on how the standards related to the case in question. They teach the legal team the meaning of important medical terms related to the case as well. The legal nurse is the health care expert on the team and her/his knowledge and research and teaching abilities are central to the legal team pursuing a litigation or a defense.

Where do they Practice?

There are many areas that legal nurse consultants practice in today. Some include the following:
In their own practices as independent contractors
In legal firms
In hospital risk management departments
In personal injury and malpractice insurance organizations
In nursing education and staff development
In government agencies
In firms specializing in trial consulting
In legal research departments
The role of the legal nurse consultant isn’t just an ordinary practice. It is a high-level practice that merges the legal world with the health care world. Over the years more and more registered nurses are choosing to enter this specialty practice. While the stress in this position is very high, the rewards and economic benefits can be excellent. Do you want more comprehensive  information about legal nurse consulting? Access here

CASE MANAGEMENT in NURSING

Posted on by Dominick Flarey

Case Management in nursing is an evolving practice specialty. The role of nurses in case management is to supervise and coordinate healthcare for patients with long-term illnesses. Such patients require long-term therapy and careful planning of all aspects of treatment. For instance if there is a patient suffering from cancer , the nurse who is assigned the role of the nurse case manager must arrange for doctor’s appointment, drugs, radiation, surgery or chemotherapy. A nurse case manager usually works in a specific practice specialty such as cancer, pediatric or cardiovascular disease.
Among the goals of case management nursing is to coordinate the care of patients. Since there are other specialists involved such as therapists, surgeons and other doctors, a nurse in case management will coordinate and keep the records of all their activity while updating the patient accordingly on the progress. According to the health problem at hand, the nurse can also decide what the other specialists should examine the patient so that there is collaboration of efforts by all. The nurse also ensures that all the procedures performed on a patient are at the highest level, increasing the chances of the expected outcome. In so doing, all the resources are used efficiently without any wasted or over usage of care resources.

Case Management in Nursing

The role of the nurse in case management can be defined in 3 basic ways, or a combination of any, according to the individual hospital setting as follows:

Quality Management

In larger hospitals, this aspect of quality management may be separated from the normal case management. The nurse is assigned the role of ensuring that all the services provided are of high standards. In smaller hospitals though, the finances may not allow for separation of duties and the case management nurse does all the work involved. The nurse is responsible for the general quality of health care being delivered, and can also assist in the risk management office when legal matters arise during a patient’s treatment.

Utilization Review

This type of case managers review different elements of the various hospital systems, guided by the terms of the hospital or the insurance company that is in charge. Prompt service delivery as well as adequate and safe utilization of the service is also a responsibility under this docket. The nurse is specially of essence in relation to insurance, because he/she approves and certifies acute and non-acute admissions. This information is then passed on to the insurance company under which the patient is covered. The nurse uses what is known as ‘InterQual Criteria’ which is a standardized method of identifying diagnoses, probable complications, procedures required and the timelines during which to account for a shifting diagnoses.
The Utilization Review nurse coordinates with the quality manager physician to administer high quality services to the patient. For instance if the patient has improved and no longer needs acute care, the nurse can consult the QM physician to see if the patient can be transferred to outpatient care or other suitable services. Before making a decision, the physician will review the patient’s chart, current situation and discharge plan. If in agreement the recovering patient can be moved to a lower level of care. To qualify for a post of Utilization Review Manager nurse, a three-year experience in  an acute hospital setting is advisable.

Discharge Planning

The role of this nurse in case management is to coordinates all the elements of admission or discharge of a patient. According to the InterQual Criteria, this nurse deals with the high risk patients with chronic diagnoses such as complicated pneumonia or stroke. The nurse combines all the available social and financial services to come up with a viable and safe discharge plan. A discharge planning nurse can cover up to forty patients at a time depending on the individual hospital policy. It is ideal however to have no more than twenty patients. Past experience together with assessment abilities are used to review the patients current situation, medical history and family support before formulating a discharge plan. A discharge planner should be familiar with Medicare guidelines, InterQual Criteria as well as fees for service items that enable a patient to be given a different level of care. These are some of the important things that should be known.
Nursing case management is a growing practice specialty. Many registered nurses are taking advanced case and care management programs to increase their knowledge and skills to practice in this area. As health care continues to reform, we will see this nursing specialty increase in demand and in importance.

Holistic Nursing

Posted on by Dominick Flarey

Holistic nursing is a type of nursing in which the care and wellness of the patient as a whole being is provided. This means that the nurse will provide healing for the full body and not just one part that regular nurses may attend too. This type of nursing encompasses the full body and all of its functions including the body, mind, spirit, relationship and environment. A holistic nurse is an instrument of healing for the patient and they will ensure that the patient is being treated from all aspects including the inner and outer body. The mind and spirit will also play a large part in the therapeutic healing that a holistic nurse will provide.
Holistic nursing has been around for many years but was first recognized as a valid nursing practice in 2006 by the American Nursing Association. The training for a holistic nurse is similar to that of a regular registered nurse in addition to having training of other types of therapies that may be experimental. These can include several types of complimentary alternative modalities such as acupuncture and aromatherapy. The training of this type of nurse will also involve understanding the connectedness of the body, mind, spirit and environment and it’s effects on a patient’s health and well being.

 Holistic Nursing and the Body-Mind Connection

One of the most important aspects of being a holistic nurse is understanding your patient and the way that their body and mind interact with each other. This is one of the most important aspects of understanding what types of treatments will best work for the patient. They will also ensure that the basic care and medical procedures are completed and used to ensure that the patient is receiving the best care and attention that they need in addition to offering healing and care for the mind and consciousness. It is a well documented fact that healing and health is entwined and an important part of the healing process is believing that the treatments in which you are receiving will work for you. This is why a holistic nurse takes the time to get to know her patient’s body, mind and soul. They will use many alternative therapies in a patient’s care like the use of water therapy.
Nearly all types of patients and diseases can benefit from the care of a holistic nurse. They take the level of care and attention to their patients back to the first days of medicine. They offer the attention and understanding that a lot of doctors these days do not have. They also provide the patient with someone that understands what they are going through and is there to lend a calming hand to them during the treatments that they are receiving. Holistic nursing is available for all types of patients including children and the elderly.
But it is not all alternative therapies and understanding that this type of nurse provides. They also understand and administer all the normal aspects that a registered nurse would do for a patient. The level of care that they provide is half alternative methods such as water therapy and understanding the patients needs and half approved medical care such as setting bones and taking vitals and updating patients charts. There is a balance of medical and alternative methods that you will receive from this type of nurse and they are on the same level as receiving care from a registered nurse. They just provide some added alternative therapies like acupuncture that may also aid in the wellness of a patient. Some of the more common therapies that they will use are massage, water therapy, acupuncture, meditation, relation and exercise therapies.

Integrative Care

Providing both medical care and alternative therapies for patients makes the job of a holistic nurse the overall best type of care for any patient. No matter if the disease is new or in a well advanced stage the level of care that is provided will help to calm the patient and keep the spirit of the patient intact. This is one of the most important parts of being a holistic nurse. A holistic nurse not only treats the body but also treats the mind and the consciousness by offering other ways to administer medicine and care to their patients.
If you are thinking about becoming a holistic nurse it is important that you understand to be successful it is vital that you have the right mindset. This will include high levels of patience, understanding, a great bedside manner, and great organization and critical thinking skills. To learn more about holistic nursing, click here.

Substance Abuse Addictions Counseling

Posted on by Dominick Flarey

Prescription drugs when misused can cause serious addiction problems. Please also review AIHCP's Substance Abuse Counseling CertificationThank you for visiting our AIHCP web blog. This category of the blog focuses on the specialty practice of Substance Abuse Addiction Counseling. Our blog provides our visitors and professional members and students an ever expanding platform for related articles, information, discussions, event announcements and much more. We invite your participation by posting comments, information, sharing and authoring for our blog. Please visit us often and be sure to book mark us!

Stress Management Consulting

Posted on by Dominick Flarey

Companies need to help employees succeed with better stress management in mind. Stress kills output and companies should seek to limit stress as much as possible for their employees

Thank you for visiting our AIHCP web blog. This category of the blog focuses on the specialty practice of Stress Management Consulting. Our blog provides our visitors and professional members and students an ever expanding platform for related articles, information, discussions, event announcements and much more. We invite your participation by posting comments, information, sharing and authoring for our blog. Please visit us often and be sure to book mark us!

Spiritual Counseling

Posted on by Dominick Flarey

pray togetherThank you for visiting our AIHCP web blog. This category of the blog focuses on the specialty practice of Spiritual Counseling. Our blog provides our visitors and professional members and students an ever expanding platform for related articles, information, discussions, event announcements and much more. We invite your participation by posting comments, information, sharing and authoring for our blog. Please visit us often and be sure to book mark us!

Pet Loss Grief Support

Posted on by Dominick Flarey

Children need help grieving pets. Please also review AIHCP's Pet Loss Grief Support

Thank you for visiting our AIHCP web blog. This category of the blog focuses on the specialty practice of Pet Loss Grief Support. Our blog provides our visitors and professional members and students an ever expanding platform for related articles, information, discussions, event announcements and much more. We invite your participation by posting comments, information, sharing and authoring for our blog. Please visit us often and be sure to book mark us!

Pastoral Thanatology

Posted on by Dominick Flarey

Palliative Care addresses serious illness at any phase. Please also review our Pastoral Thanatology Program and see if it matches your professional goalsThank you for visiting our AIHCP web blog. This category of the blog focuses on the specialty practice of Pastoral Thanatology. Our blog provides our visitors and professional members and students an ever expanding platform for related articles, information, discussions, event announcements and much more. We invite your participation by posting comments, information, sharing and authoring for our blog. Please visit us often and be sure to book mark us!

Nurse Patient Educator

Posted on by Dominick Flarey

young african nurse helping senior woman with medical formThank you for visiting our AIHCP web blog. This category of the blog focuses on the specialty practice of Nurse Patient Educator. Our blog provides our visitors and professional members and students an ever expanding platform for related articles, information, discussions, event announcements and much more. We invite your participation by posting comments, information, sharing and authoring for our blog. Please visit us often and be sure to book mark us!

Meditation Instruction

Posted on by Dominick Flarey

Consider becoming a certified Meditation Instructor and bring the health and benefits of meditation to multiple clientsThank you for visiting our AIHCP web blog. This category of the blog focuses on the specialty practice of Meditation Instruction. Our blog provides our visitors and professional members and students an ever expanding platform for related articles, information, discussions, event announcements and much more. We invite your participation by posting comments, information, sharing and authoring for our blog. Please visit us often and be sure to book mark us!

American College of Legal Nurse Consulting

Posted on by Dominick Flarey

Nure next to a scale and gavelThank you for visiting our AIHCP web blog. This category of the blog focuses on the specialty practice of Legal Nurse Consulting. Our blog provides our visitors and professional members and students an ever expanding platform for related articles, information, discussions, event announcements and much more. We invite your participation by posting comments, information, sharing and authoring for our blog. Please visit us often and be sure to book mark us!

American College of Hypnotherapy

Posted on by Dominick Flarey

two heads full of gearsThank you for visiting our AIHCP web blog. This category of the blog focuses on the specialty practice of Hypnotherapy. Our blog provides our visitors and professional members and students an ever expanding platform for related articles, information, discussions, event announcements and much more. We invite your participation by posting comments, information, sharing and authoring for our blog. Please visit us often and be sure to book mark us!

Holistic and Integrative Health Care

Posted on by Dominick Flarey

Please also review our Holistic Nursing Certification for nurses and see if it meets your goals and needs

Thank you for visiting our AIHCP web blog. This category of the blog focuses on the specialty practice of Holistic and Integrative Health and Nursing Care. Our blog provides our visitors and professional members and students an ever expanding platform for related articles, information, discussions, event announcements and much more. We invite your participation by posting comments, information, sharing and authoring for our blog. Please visit us often and be sure to book mark us!

Health Care News

Posted on by Dominick Flarey

Thank you for visiting our AIHCP web blog. This category of the blog focuses on the latest health care news from around the world. Our blog provides our visitors and professional members and students an ever expanding platform for related articles, information, discussions, event announcements and much more. We invite your participation by posting comments, information, sharing and authoring for our blog. Please visit us often and be sure to book mark us!

Health Care Life Coaching

Posted on by Dominick Flarey

Wellness goals can be reached with life coaching help. Please also review our Healthcare life coach programThank you for visiting our AIHCP web blog. This category of the blog focuses on the specialty practice of Health Care Life Coaching. Our blog provides our visitors and professional members and students an ever expanding platform for related articles, information, discussions, event announcements and much more. We invite your participation by posting comments, information, sharing and authoring for our blog. Please visit us often and be sure to book mark us!

American Academy of Grief Counseling and Program in Grief Counseling

Posted on by Dominick Flarey

Prolonged Grief Disorder and Major Depressive Disorder are different but closely related. Please also review AIHCP's Grief Counseling CertificationProgram in Grief Counseling

Thank you for visiting our AIHCP web blog. This category of the blog focuses on the specialty practice of Grief Counseling. Our blog provides our visitors and professional members and students an ever expanding platform for related articles, information, discussions, event announcements and much more. We invite your participation by posting comments, information, sharing and authoring for our blog. Please visit us often and be sure to book mark us!

In the meantime, please review our program in Grief Counseling and see if it matches your educational and academic needs.

Practice of Grief Christian Counseling Blog

Posted on by Dominick Flarey

Practice of Christian Grief Counseling Blog

Many church candles in yellow transparent chandeliers

Thank you for visiting our AIHCP web blog. This category of the blog focuses on the specialty practice of Christian Grief Counseling. Our blog provides our visitors and professional members and students an ever expanding platform for related articles, information, discussions, event announcements and much more. We invite your participation by posting comments, information, sharing and authoring for our blog. Please visit us often and be sure to book mark us!

American Institute of Funeral Service Associates

Posted on by Dominick Flarey

Grieving and funerals during COVID face challenges for the bereaved to properly express themselves. Please also review our Funeral Associate CertificationThank you for visiting our AIHCP web blog. This category of the blog focuses on the specialty practice of funeral services. Our blog provides our visitors and professional members and students an ever expanding platform for related articles, information, discussions, event announcements and much more. We invite your participation by posting comments, information, sharing and authoring for our blog. Please visit us often and be sure to book mark us!

Forensic Nursing Specialty Practice

Posted on by Dominick Flarey

Thank you for visiting our AIHCP web blog. This category of the blog focuses on the specialty practice of Forensic Nursing. Our blog provides our visitors and professional members and students an ever expanding platform for related articles, information, discussions, event announcements and much more. We invite your participation by posting comments, information, sharing and authoring for our blog. Please visit us often and be sure to book mark us!

 

Crisis Intervention Counseling

Posted on by Dominick Flarey

Thank you for visiting our AIHCP web blog. This category of the blog focuses on the specialty practice of Crisis Intervention Counseling. Our blog provides our visitors and professional members and students an ever expanding platform for related articles, information, discussions, event announcements and much more. We invite your participation by posting comments, information, sharing and authoring for our blog. Please visit us often and be sure to book mark us!

Trying to recover from PTSD can be delayed over distortions about the event. Licensed counselors through Cognitive Restructuring can help individuals find the truth to move forward. Please also review AIHCP's Crisis Intervention Program

 

Child and Adolescent Grief Counseling Education Program

Posted on by Dominick Flarey

lonely sad girl on the dark beach

Thank you for visiting our AIHCP web blog. This category of the blog focuses on the specialty practice of Child and Adolescent Grief Counseling Education Program. Our blog provides our visitors and professional members and students an ever expanding platform for related articles, information, discussions, event announcements and much more. We invite your participation by posting comments, information, sharing and authoring for our blog. Please visit us often and be sure to book mark us!

To become certified by the Child and Adolescent Grief Counseling Education Program, one needs to take the core courses.  Those qualified can become certified. Certification lasts three years and must be renewed.

Also keep in mind, the program is for certified grief counselors who wish to make child grief a specialty area.

American Academy of Case Management

Posted on by Dominick Flarey

Nurse Discussing Records With Senior Female Patient During Home VisitThank you for visiting our AIHCP web blog. This category of the blog focuses on the specialty practice of Case Management. Our blog provides our visitors and professional members and students an ever expanding platform for related articles, information, discussions, event announcements and much more. We invite your participation by posting comments, information, sharing and authoring for our blog. Please visit us often and be sure to book mark us!

Attention Deficit Consulting

Posted on by Dominick Flarey

Thank you for visiting our AIHCP web blog. This category of the blog focuses on the specialty practice of Attention Deficit Consulting. Our blog provides our visitors and professional members and students an ever expanding platform for related articles, information, discussions, event announcements and much more. We invite your participation by posting comments, information, sharing and authoring for our blog. Please visit us often and be sure to book mark us!

Christian Spiritual Counseling

Posted on by Dominick Flarey

Christian Spiritual Counseling Program

Thank you for visiting our AIHCP web blog. This category of the blog focuses on the specialty practice of Christian Spiritual Counseling. Our blog provides our visitors and professional members and students an ever expanding platform for related articles, information, discussions, event announcements and much more. We invite your participation by posting comments, information, sharing and authoring for our blog. Please visit us often and be sure to book mark us!

Christian Spiritual Counseling is a specialized form of counseling that focuses on Christian morals and theology to handle personal problems.  The Bible and Christ are the sources to this type of counseling.

To become certified in Christian Spiritual Counseling at AIHCP, one must be qualified as a minister, in ministry, or have the proper academic background.  After completion of the courses, one can become certified.

In the meantime, if you have any questions please let us know.  Enjoy the blog!

How Injury Lawyers Expose Gaps in Everyday Safety Systems

Posted on by Joseph Gerard

Wooden judge gavel, calculator and stethoscope on table. black background, the concept of medical malpractice, a workplace lawyer. fraudulent activity patientsWritten by Marko,

You don’t think about it because that would make you paranoid and crazy, but that sidewalk outside your apartment building might be a lawsuit waiting to happen, and your workplace could end up injuring you even if you work in an office. 

Most people assume that these types of places are safe because they should be. Hospitals should follow procedures, your landlord should fix the steps if they’re broken, etc. That should be the deal.

But these places aren’t exempt from serious injuries, and it’s rarely one giant disaster that causes them. It’s a series of little things that are problematic, like the handrail that’s been wobbly for years. Everyone knows about it, yet nobody’s fixing it.

Falls are the leading cause of all nonfatal injuries in the U.S. – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Small things tend to pile up, and once they do, it can easily end with someone seriously injured and a lawyer getting involved in a situation.

How Small Issues Turn Into Big Problems

Injuries are a big deal, so when you think about how they happen, you naturally think of something dramatic, like someone running a red light. 

This makes sense because the issue is simple and obvious, but for the most part, that’s not how real life works. Real-life injuries and everything involving them are messy, and the cause isn’t always as obvious as you’d expect it to be.

Each year, 44,000+ deaths and millions of injuries in the U.S. are caused by preventable incidents (e.g., falls). – Injury Facts

So while you’d think that one big bang caused the person to end up in a full-body cast, the reality is that it was a series of little issues nobody paid attention to that were responsible for the injury.

Miscommunication can be enough of a reason for an accident.

Communication failures are the leading root cause in 60+% of all serious medical errors. – Joint Commission International

A nurse tells something to the tech, but the tech is already stressed, so they can’t even hear the whole thing properly. They both go on about their day, thinking two different things while at the same time believing they’re in perfect agreement. The information simply got lost somewhere along the way, and they won’t have any idea of it until someone gets in trouble.

Then there’s the “it’s always been fine before” mentality, and this is a big one.

Let’s say you’re a warehouse manager and you skipped the monthly safety check because there’s simply not enough staff for it. 

Nothing happens. Goodie! 

Next month rolls around, so you decide to skip the safety check yet again. Things are still fine. Fast forward a few months, and you’ve skipped that safety check so many times that you don’t even remember to do it. And then one frayed cable reminds you why you shouldn’t have skipped the first one, let alone every other that followed.

Another big part of this is routine. 

People are creatures of habit, and when you do the same thing 100 times, you stop really seeing it. Your brain goes on autopilot because that’s what’s efficient, but this is horrible for safety. 

Habitual behaviors can reduce active attention and situational awareness. – Stanford University

You can’t catch small issues on autopilot, and if you’re under pressure already, then you can’t even pay attention properly. As a result, you take shortcuts over and over until they start to feel like normal work instead of shortcuts.

It’s important to note that nobody WANTS to hurt someone else; none of this is done intentionally.

 But if nothing bad happens right away, then things seem to work the way they are, so why change them? This goes on for a while until the day when all hell breaks loose, and someone ends up in the ER. And that’s when it hits you that it wasn’t that teensy little detail that was the problem, but a bunch of missed steps coupled with stress that caused the disaster to happen. 

And do you want to know the really scary part in all of this? It happens everywhere.

What These Situations Say About How Systems Really Work

When a person gets hurt, it’s only natural to look for who messed up. 

One person, one mistake, it’d be great if it were that simple. 

But the smarter thing would be to step back and look at the whole system because that’s when you can truly see the whole story. You’ll probably see the same issues repeating over and over, just in different places and involving different people. 

That means that it’s not the individual who’s at fault here, but the way the system was built at its core.

Most errors result from flawed systems and processes rather than individual negligence – Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

Here’s a quick example to illustrate:

Most businesses will have certain ‘safety measures’ in place to help prevent harm. And while they are effective, they’re written for ideal conditions. This means full staff, lots of time, no distractions, etc. But we all know that this isn’t how real life works. So what ends up happening is the rules sit on a shelf somewhere while people on the floor make do with what they have.

Training can also be part of the problem because most people learn how things go when everything is normal. But that means that they don’t get to learn how to spot the small warning signs before something goes awry.

So when a problem does arise, it’s not unusual to see lawyers getting involved, especially law firms that specialize in these types of accidents/cases, such as Slip and Fall Injury Lawyers.

Where Things Usually Start to Go Wrong

Injuries don’t appear out of thin air, and if you take the time to trace them back, you’ll see that things start to go wrong days (or even weeks!) before. 

But nobody noticed at the time, so here you are.

Communication Slips

We’ve all been there. You tell someone something, you assume they understood, but they heard something completely different, and you found out about that too late. This happens all the time, especially in workplaces. 

For instance, a supervisor might ask you to check the back stairwell, but they’ll forget to mention that the tenant complained about the railing being loose, and now you’re in a cast and on painkillers.

And before you ask about maintenance, the guy didn’t see that anything was off, so he figured there was nothing to fix.

The Space Itself Is Risky

Sometimes, the problem is the way people behave. 

Other times, the problem is a dumb setup, like a parking lot that has no lights in the corner or a staircase that looks like a joke with all the mismatched step heights. You probably don’t look at any of that and think it’s dangerous, but it is because those spaces have an impact on what you do.

If the entrance has no mat, people track water inside, and the floor stays wet the entire day. When there’s clutter in the hallway, people step around in all kinds of ways to get through. 

You might not notice it, but your surroundings almost force you to behave in a risky way, and you have no idea about it.

People Not Following the Process Exactly

Sane people don’t plan on doing their jobs wrong, but processes change little by little. 

So you skip a step because you have no time for it, and nothing bad happens. You figure, why not skip it again? Less work for you, and everything stays okay. But then skipping steps just becomes the way you work, not because you’re lazy, but because that seems more efficient.

Let’s say you work at a store where the rule is to rope off spills right away. 

But you’ve done that 10 times already for tiny spills that get cleaned up in 2 minutes, and it feels like overkill. Next thing you know, you’re not using the rope anymore, and it works until the one time when you get distracted, and someone walks right through it.

People Get Overloaded

There’s only so much you can pay attention to; that’s just the reality of being human. 

When there’s not enough staff or you’re behind schedule, the only thing that seems to help is doing more than 2 or 3 things at once. But if you go down this road, you’re bound to forget something here and there. You forget to lock the gate, you miss the wet floor sign, you tell yourself the loose tile can wait until later, etc.

And then later never comes because your brain literally can’t keep track of everything when you’re stretched that thin.

No One Is Responsible for the Problem

This one’s everywhere because who’s responsible for the crack in the sidewalk in front of the office building or for the leaky ceiling in the entryway? Everyone knows about these problems, and you think someone even mentioned it way back when, but whose job is it to fix these?

Nobody’s, it would seem. So it all stays there, week after week.

Conclusion

The most concerning thing about these injuries is that most of them happen because people haven’t been paying attention to everything that isn’t working. 

The truth is, all those inconveniences like cluttered halls and dark corners are accidents waiting to happen. And you can’t say it’s hiding in plain sight because it isn’t actually hiding. It’s all there; everyone can see it.

The fix isn’t rocket science, and it doesn’t need a huge budget. 

Just build systems that match how people work, not how you wish they worked. That’s really all there is to it.

Author Bio 

Marko is an adamant and eager content writer with a decade of experience in various niches,  with healthcare being one of them. With his way of implementing storytelling, comparisons, and examples into hard-to-grasp topics, Marko’s able to make complex things sound interesting and relatable – key ingredients to make something understandable. As a hobby, Marko enjoys offroading, board games, and spending time with his family and his dog Cezar.

2 Interlinking Opportunities:

From https://aihcp.net/2022/10/18/how-nursing-management-can-help-lower-serious-safety-events/ with anchor prevented and reduced

From https://aihcp.net/2026/03/06/3-signs-a-patients-case-calls-for-extra-vigilance/ with anchor prevent complications and ensure patient safety

 

 

Please also review AIHCP’s Legal Nurse Certification program and our CE courses as well, to see if they meet your academic and professional goals.  These programs are online and independent study and open to qualified professionals seeking a four year certification

Spiritual Direction: Spiritual Planning Strategies

Posted on by Mark Moran

The secular world voices concerns over many types of planning.  Financial planning dominates most venues as critical to one’s security and future retirement.  Commercials flood the television with various firms that can assure oneself and one’s family’s future through the guidance of financial advisors.  One also sees the shift of importance to health and dieting, as well as intense workout plans.  Life coaches, personal trainers all help create unique physical and dietary plans to the needs of one’s personal goals and health number parameters.   Such concern over health and financial security is important and should be on the top of everyone’s list but in the secular world, seldom does one hear of spiritual planning.  If one’s bodily health, or financial security or stability of one’s retirement in the temporal realm is important, where is the more pressing concern of one’s spiritual health, spiritual security or heavenly retirement?  In the secular world, as St Teresa of Avila points out, so many exist outside the interior castle of the soul and its inner monologue and relationship with God.  The soul is so blinded by the needs of the body that it forgets itself.  Instead it ONLY sees the needs of the body, its health, its security and its future at the expense of the soul’s eternal salvation.  When imbalance of such exists, then these physical goals and planning become illusions and false idols that detract from one’s final end.   This is a very perilous life style.

Spiritual planning based upon God’s will is key. Spiritual planning should be as primary a concern as any financial planning. Please also review AIHCP’s Christian Counseling Program

In this blog, we will look at Spiritual Planning and how to implement some the most basic elements of it to provide spiritual growth and stability and a closer relationship with God.  In this blog, our financial planning is interest in grace not money, growth in virtue not assets, security in God not bonds, and retirement in heaven not Florida.  This blog in itself could be a long manuscript on such a broad subject, but will attempt to keep the subject as compact as possible with also consideration to other blogs and concepts, as well as texts, within AIHCP Christian Counseling as well as Spiritual Direction resources that have already touched on similar concepts found in this blog.

Please also review AIHCP’s Spiritual Direction Program, as well as its Christian Counseling Certification.

A Christian Mindset in Spiritual Planning

It is imperative for Christians to remember that salvation is not an accounting book of one’s own good deeds versus bad deeds.  One cannot live a sinless life.  The fall of Adam has prevented such endeavors and as broken human beings, we need the grace of God, earned through His Son on Calvary for salvation.   One’s faith in Christ is essential for salvation, for one cannot find salvation in one’s own works.  Pelagius, an early Church heretic, attempted to heretically teach that one’s human nature was not completely corrupted and that one, albeit rare, could imitate Christ and possibly live a sinless life.  Pelagius believed works could save oneself.  This was condemned by the Church at the Council of Carthage, and equally rebuked by the great saint, St. Augustine.  St Paul indeed teaches that it is through Christ and His death and one’s faith in Christ that souls are saved, but it is important to understand that faith is more than a formal assent, but is a cooperation with the graces earned by Christ at Calvary.  Christians are not saved by faith “alone” which was never included in the original translation but through faith which encompasses a working nature. Scripture emphasizes a working faith in Christ that balances the assent of faith with its fruits and works, for St James emphasizes the balance of spiritual works in faith.   Christ, Himself, commands His followers to keep His commandments.

Hence as Christians believe that one cannot earn heaven by oneself, as if balancing a ledger, but one must completely rely on the grace earned by Christ, at such a high cost for each of us, for one’s salvation.  The fruits of the working faith, the cooperation with the grace earned by Christ for one’s salvation, does not belong to oneself but a when connected to Christ, and under the grace of the Holy Spirit, become salvific.  Spiritual Directors, as well as Christians who attempt to better themselves in spiritual life, must first come to this ultimate surrender that their salvation is not their own but a gift from Christ and applied through the Holy Spirit.  The Blood of Christ cleanses one of sin and pays the price for that Original Sin of Adam as well as the actual sins committed by oneself.  Alone, no matter what one does, like the past sacrifices of patriarchs, are insufficient, but when aligned with Christ and His death, where one’s cross becomes tied to Christ’s cross, then they become pleasing to God.   Christians are not activators of their salvation, nor are they passive recipients of it, but are cooperators with what was earned at the cross, motivated by grace to the gift of salvation.

The Spiritual Planning strategies in this blog do not replace Christ’s gift of salvation, but are grace motivated gifts of the Holy Spirit to participate in that redemption at a more efficient way.  While the soul participates, it is the grace of the Holy Spirit that encourages it, strengthens it and molds it.  Unlike physical fitness and planning, where one plays a key role in physical transformation-albeit guided and trained by another, the spiritual transformation of a soul is the work and grace of the Holy Spirit.

It is important then to find humility upon any spiritual transformation-for all virtue and grace come from the Holy Spirit that was earned by Christ at the cross.  One must come and apply the Blood of Christ and Grace of the Holy Spirit, but it is not one’s own deeds and actions but the work of God existing within one’s faith that permits such a cooperation.   So, like all endeavors, one must be mindful of pride.   Like financial planning, or physical training, pride can easily corrupt a healthy self image with vanity.  Likewise, in spiritual transformation, pride can create the illusion that one has made oneself holy and that one is more holy than other people.  Like the Pharisees, one can have one’s own spirituality become a weapon and tool for one’s own damnation.  It is so important as one enters into a deeper relationship with God to be mindful of spiritual pride and to pray daily for continued spiritual humility and complete reliance on the grace of God.  Salvation and faith is a gift from God and something earned by Christ.  We are merely partakers of this gift and must always give honor and glory to God for any spiritual gifts or insights.  With this understanding, the remainder of this blog will look at some helpful techniques in spiritual planning and growth.

Spiritual Planning

Supplied with the grace of the Holy Spirit to transform purely human thoughts and deeds into something more, one can work with those graces to better obey the commandments, submit to God’s will, grow in virtue, and enter into a deeper and more healthy relationship with God.   This direction and progression towards God is a life long process with pitfalls, crosses, joys, successes, failures and losses.  However, what it needs to be is a progression and a perfecting of oneself in virtue to have a deeper relationship that translates into the next life with God.  Padre Pio points out that progression is key.  A soul, even one that has sustained growth, that fails to continue in growth or progression becomes stagnant.  The soul, like a plant seeking light, must continue to grow in the direction of that light, guided by the light and nurtured through it.  The moment the soul stops seeking that light, it ceases to grow in communion with God.   One can consider the temporal analogy of financial growth.  If one has grown in wealth and has seen continual growth in the one’s accounts with a health market, then suddenly notices a stagnant level of return, there would be great concern.  Why not for the soul?  If growth has suddenly stopped or become stagnant with relationship with God, this should be a serious concern.  For instance, a soul that regularly attends service in Protestant churches or Mass in Catholic churches, but has no spiritual connection despite obligatory attendance has entered into a state of concern.   This is why Padre Pio reflected the vital importance of continual growth, despite setbacks, but continued renewal.   If a soul falls, does it immediately seek God’s forgiveness?  If one fails, does one immediately identify the issue and rectify it?  As sinners, we all fail, but what is critical in spiritual planning, is not only the “attempt” to limit failure, but one’s quickness to rectify it.  This again stems to one’s insight on humility and pride.  If one understands one’s nature as broken, then one who falls, falls in humility but also seeks forgiveness in humility.  One in pride who falls, has a far harder time seeking forgiveness.

All spiritual planning requires grace for we cannot earn our salvation. Spiritual planning is participating in that grace

Spiritual planning must acknowledge the reality of failure, but it almost acknowledge the life long nature of the journey.  In life, some look for quick investments without securing a solid foundation.  Others in physical training, desire a physique but lack the discipline to attain it.  Some who diet, see a diet as a temporary status to attain a particular weight to fit in that dress, instead of a life long purpose of dietary health.  Spiritual growth is not fast, it is not temporary, but it is a life style.   It not likened to a New  Years resolution, or a Lenten journey.  Lent, for many Christians, is a spiritual diet.  It lasts 40 days and then is suspended after Easter.  The spiritual disciplines of Lent should be intensified in unison with the Church and in memory of Christ’s passion, but it should not be a spiritual diet for 40 days.   The experience of more prayer, Scripture, introspection, fasting, denial, sacramental experience and spiritual growth in virtue should not be a 40 day experience but should represent the base line of all Christian life.   This is not to demean the naive view of Lent by some Christians, for it is far better to sense some need than none at all, but, as Avila points out, these souls represent the utmost basic relationship with God and His grace.  They, like a first level mansion, walk in, walk out, may peek inside its windows, but fail to grasp the greater beauty further inside the interior mansions of relationship with God.  They become distracted by the lures of the world and progression spirituality ends abruptly until a later existential emergency or spiritual feast day.

Spiritual Planning is a life long journey that is about constant growth, humility in that growth, acknowledgement of failures, and complete trust in the grace of God to allow one’s working faith to manifest fruits and a closer relationship with God; A relationship that manifests in its finality in Heaven with God.

Spiritual Planning Ideas

Counseling strategies, life coaching, and physical training plans are quite similar to spiritual training.   As Mark Walberg commonly states, “Are you prayed up”.  Spiritual Directors are Spiritual Trainers in this sense.  They are not just spiritual but also should have a core understanding of counseling techniques based in goal setting and facilitating change.  In previous blogs, we discuss the psychology of change and habit.  We discuss neuro-pathways and how habit takes time to form.  One does not suddenly become a a horrible sinner by one trip  nor a great saint by one wonderful moment, but it is a character and progress of that character that defines both virtue and vice.  As the ancient philosophers noted, character is a continual presence of a particular excellence in action that is unhindered but natural to the nature.  This is natural habit is not something easily gained, or lost.  One merely can look at the horrible nature of sin and its addiction itself.  One who works to rid oneself of vice must work with the grace of the Holy Spirit to heal, change and transform.  God can miraculously change and convert a person, but in most cases, the journey is one of a cross, one where one’s nature learns of the love of God and His continual mercy as change is undertaken and achieved.  So, suffice to say, the process of change involves counseling.  It involves goal setting.  Just like certain financial goals are discussed, set and hoped for, so certain goals spiritually must be discussed and planned.  Like exercise, the goals of a certain weight, or certain amount of reps in a particular weight training, concur with a particular habit or virtue that one aspires for.  As meticulous journals keep weight training numbers, so one may need to keep track of one’s modified behavior in recollection and examination of conscience.  How many times, did I sin today?  How many times, did I accept the grace of God and overcome temptation?  St Ignatius Loyola in his spiritual exercises in week one, challenges the person to almost scrupulously monitor and track one’s failings.  As if tracking calories, St Ignatius asks us to track sin and vice!  A working faith demands such accountability to a God who has paid such a high price for us and has made such graces available to the soul for its salvation.

Goal Planning

Goal planning is part of the counseling paradigm.  This is especially seen in behavioral therapies where behavioral change is based on how one thinks.  Behavior is greatly modified and altered by how one thinks.  Cognitive Behavioral Therapy helps individuals think differently so as to feel differently and finally behave differently.  Within the behavioral model, desired changes take time but they are planned changes in behavior starting in how we think about things.   Spiritual Directors can help individuals think differently about life through the prism of grace, God, and virtue.  In doing so, desired behavioral modifications as well as targeted virtual habit can be set in goals.

Like all behavioral modification, spiritual change shares common counseling goal setting strategies

Again, though, before any planning can be undertaken, unlike temporal planning which relies on the strengths and powers of oneself, spiritual planning must be placed entirely into the grace of God.  Goals and noble desires are attained through grace and normal actions are spiritualized and made perfect when united with Christ.  Hence no spiritual plan can have any value if placed in pride and self or the belief that one’s own works and deeds have value without the guidance and grace of God.  Without God, these works, dreams and aspirations are utterly worthless.  This is why any plan, before undertaken, must be placed within the guidance and protection of God.  Daily prayer, devotion, and commitment to God’s will is essential.  When one rises, all plans, all duties, all vocational assignments, all crosses, and all joys must be given to God.  The morning offering gives to God everything one does in a day before the day starts and unites everything to Christ to be offered to the Father as a perfect sacrifice to be guided by the grace of the Holy Spirit.  One must then relinquish control and unite one’s will with God. One must acknowledge one’s utter dependence on God and again unite one’s will to Him for transformation.  Placing one’s plan under the guidance of God and allowing it to fall under His will is a big differing point between temporal planning and spiritual planning, but for the Christian, why not submit all plans-even temporal- to God’s will!

In counseling, especially behavioral therapies, plans need to be discussed and identified.  The goal need identified but also how to attain the particular goal, the challenges to that goal, possible setbacks and time frames.   Because of the human nature, the counselor needs to curb enthusiasm so as to prevent burnout when goals become difficult.  Great zeal can quickly turn to great despair.  The counselor is trained to set intermediate goals for a person.  Little goals that track progress can help build confidence and lessen despair upon failure.  This can be seen in financial expectations, as well as weight loss expectations, or even behavioral modifications to stop smoking or drinking.  An individual with a spiritual plan to evict a vice from one’s habitual orbit, may find despair if one fails on a particular day.  Like a person who succumbs to a cigarette or donut late at night, one can succumb to a vice.  A good spiritual director can calm the person and identify why and how it occurred but also to remind one that habits take time and goals take time to achieve.  One needs to find mercy in God when one fails and not find complete pride or joy in one’s own accomplishments but to reflect all in God.

Pitfalls are part of all plans.  Individuals attempted to escape habits, fall, but what God cherishes is the choice to change and the direction.  This is why spiritual directors should encourage the soul and point out the importance of gradual change in severity and frequency and the mercy and grace of God.  Intermediate goals do not demand perfection but gradual growth.  Once intermediate goals are met, one can move forward to the next step.  Like weight training, once a certain number of reps are met, or a certain weight is attained, one is able to advance.  Like so in spiritual life.

Like all planning, it is crucial to keep the person focused but also humble and also remind one of one’s nature.  Many times during change,  individuals become obsessed more so with the numbers than the journey and end goal.  One can become scrupulous and focus more on avoiding or worry or fretting over the smallest of actions to the point it causes extreme distress, despair and guilt.  The devil can be very subtle in derailing a soul working towards God.  So it is important that whichever habit, or spiritual goal one has, to not mistaken the goal or new habit as the ultimate end.  Unlike the view of the  ancient philosophers, virtue itself is not the end goal of our worship.  Virtue is a vehicle and intermediate step to the ultimate goal which should be relationship with God.  So when one focusses more on numbers, one begins to focus more on self than God.  God is the ultimate goal in the entire endeavor of spiritual planning.  Unlike physical training, when one only looks at the body and its change, but not the overall health, then derailment can occur to various maladies.  Likewise, when virtue is sought for the sake of virtue, instead of its purpose as a vehicle to God, then it can be turned against oneself.  In this, one needs to see things that are means as means, and clearly in planning contrast it with one’s end.  Counselors help individuals navigate this, as well as spiritual directors.

Spiritual Strategies

With a stronger understanding of the nature of planning, as well as setting goals, and understanding the difference between means and ends, we will quickly review some types of spiritual plans.  In my daily life, I believe in planning.  Calendars are essential but also journals as well as notes to self, as well as self talk to keep one on track.  Life is comprised of professional, academic, family, self, physical and spiritual aspects and we need to balance these in accordance.  We need to structure these vocational duties that we owe to God, self and neighbor.  First and foremost, they must be prioritized.  Certain things on lists are non-negotiable.  They are priorities that must be met before others. Obviously physically, diet, grooming, and sleep are among those.  Spiritually, prayer, worship and communion with God should top that list.  However, in any planning, there are events, assignments, or obligations that are secondary to primary ones.  Some may be flexible and able to be moved, while others may be optional.  It is important to define these when planning.

Spiritual strength involves not only God’s grace but also an active participation of developing spiritual habits. Please also review AIHCP’s Christian Counseling Program

Planning wise, like financial plans, I like to plan by the quarterly year.  While I have daily duties, weekly duties, bi-weekly duties, and monthly duties, that lead to fulfillment of the quarter, I like to see set goals for that period.  Some goals are primary, others may be flexible, but they are listed.  The 3 month period serves as a reminder of what needs done in some cases, but also where I would like to be as a measuring stick.  Obviously one can see where this can be applied financially, physically but also spiritually.

From a spiritual context, how has one’s daily, weekly and monthly habits gradually changed over the 3 month period?  Daily journaling, weekly remarks and monthly checks can keep one on pace with possible goals.  If one is stricken with the vice of drunkenness, one can review the number of drinks a week and its gradual reduction from week to month to quarterly period.  If the goal is to reduce this habit, then one may discover a new trend that one can find solace in as recorded numbers show reduced intoxication as well drinks per week or month.  One can then ascertain if one has met the quarterly goal or not and how to access the next quarter.  Remember, this is a life style, it is a marathon, not a race, so gradual is better than nothing. This again takes one to the importance of daily and weekly monitoring, so that data and change of habit can be documented.  During this examination of conscience, at the end of each day, or week, or month, or every one quarters, one can see the weaknesses, what one can do better, and most importantly remember on one’s complete reliance in God for any change. The spiritual director can encourage the soul in this progress and also help set new intermediate goals, or re-ascertain certain strategies or time tables to help maintain the confidence of the person in this change and ultimate better relationship with God.

The spiritual director also becomes a spiritual coach in this endeavor.  Upon reflection of plans, one’s attainment, progress, or failures, a coach helps develop a person’s skills.  This may consist in different prayers or penances, or fasting that help foster a particular virtue or habit.  Particular spiritual readings of the saints and their writings, as well as Biblical books or chapters that correspond with one’s troubles can be utilized.  Goals within a particular time table may include within a 3 month span to work in charity, or read a certain amount of books, or become more acquainted with a particular book of the Bible that will help one move forward.  In may also include if Catholic, more frequent reception of the Eucharist, as well as confession.  These things not able help the soul in despair, but also give the soul sources of grace to help transform over the spiritual planning time.  Spiritual directors or confessors can become original in their ideas to share with individuals various particular deeds, or readings that meet a person’s needs and direction.

With all planning, one seeks change, and good change agents produce change.  This involves within the spiritual planning, promoting healthier communications and removal of vice associated materials.  These things that promote sin are referred to as occasions of sin.  It can be a person, place or thing.  Spiritual directors need to encourage souls to avoid places associated with particular sins.  If bars are associated with drinking or lewd conduct, then these places should be removed from a person’s habitual visit.  The same holds true for any addict of any vice.  In regards to lust, avoiding imagery or situations that promote lust should be removed from one’s life.  If a cell phone in close proximity calls one to pornographic imagery, turn off the phone or remove it from one’s reach.   Many of the saints practiced far greater mortifications, beyond what I would recommend, but one must, if seeking change, remove the occasions of sin.  Like a person a diet who removes donuts and cakes from the cabinet, one must remove occasions associated with the detrimental behavior.

Like wise positive change agents must be introduced into any spiritual plan promoting change.  Like in a diet, one supplies their refrigerator with wholesome foods, so the soul must supply the daily routine with wholesome content.  Good spiritual reading, better company, prayer, as well as support from other religious persons who share the same ends is crucial.  A clean home promotes change, so does a clean spiritual environment.  One needs to remove the spiritual filth for the soul to change.  Like a dirty body that needs cleaned to become healthy, so does a dirty soul need cleaned to move forward.  Christ’s blood and the grace of the Holy Spirit provides the solution.  One must wash oneself in these things and provide oneself with healthy reminders of those things that promote new spiritual change within oneself.  Healthy and positive change agents replace negative occasions of sin and replace maladaptive coping with healthy spiritual coping founded in prayer and faith in God.

Conclusion

Spiritual planning is a life style change that takes time and is a life change of progress towards God.  One cannot earn this change but it is gift from God that we partake in.  While the grace of God is a gift, one still must work with that grace.  Spiritual change, like any change, or plan in life, is something that one must dedicate oneself to and purposely plan to achieve with commitment and guidance of the Holy Spirit.  There are many ways to promote a better relationship with God and when we find time to plan prayer, worship and submission to Him, He will guide us in all our plans to find better communion with Him.

We should plan ahead spiritually and work on our relationship with God as much as we do with other types of financial planning or health training. Please also review AIHCP’s Spiritual Direction Program

Spiritual planning in itself should be a big part of one’s life.  It should take priority over everything else we do because our ultimate end is God.  Spiritual planning acknowledges the necessity of Christ’s death and the grace for salvation and how to apply it to our lives so when we stand before God, we will know Him well, as we enter into paradise.

Please also review AIHCP’s Spiritual Direction Program, as well as AIHCP’s Christian Counseling Certification.

Other AIHCP Blogs

Behavioral Therapies: Access here

Behavior and Change.  Access here

Theology and Psychology of Moral Actions.  Access here

Recommended Reading

Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius

Interior Castle-Teresa of Avila

Other Resources

Leontis, A. (2025). “Virtue Ethics: What it is and How it Works”. Philosophos.  Access here

“Spiritual Direction”. IgnatianSpirituality.com.  Access here

Moore, M. “Goal Setting in Counseling and Therapy”. Mentalyc.  Access here

 

The Creative Grief Cycle

Posted on by Joseph Gerard

The Creative Grief Cycle

Creation, Communication, and Rediscovery in Grief Writing 

Written by Daniel Stern

Grief disrupts the narrative of life. When a profound loss occurs, the future we imagined with that person vanishes, and the past becomes newly charged with memory and absence. 

Yet paradoxically, grief is also one of the most powerful generators of creative expression. Poetry, painting, music, and storytelling have historically emerged from loss, giving shape to emotions that are difficult to express. 

For many writers, including myself, poetry becomes the place where grief first learns to speak. 

I’m not a clinician. What I’m describing comes from my own experience writing poetry about grief. I found that creative expression did more than document loss; it initiated a cycle of emotional processing. My experience aligns with research on expressive writing, poetry therapy, and meaning-making in grief—that creative expression can help people process loss and make sense of it. 

From this intersection of lived experience and research, I began to notice a pattern in how grief can move through creative expression. I refer to this pattern as The Creative Grief Cycle. 

  1. Creation — the act of writing transforms grief into language 
  2. Communication — the work becomes a bridge between the grieving individual and others 
  3. Rediscovery — the creative work can be revisited repeatedly, allowing grief to evolve into reflection 

Together these stages form a self-reinforcing cycle that moves grief from raw emotional experience toward shared understanding and lasting meaning. 

Research on expressive writing, meaning reconstruction, and poetry therapy supports key elements of this cycle.

 

Journaling about loss is a creative and expressive way to cope with grief

Stage One: Creation — Writing as Emotional Processing

The first stage of The Creative Grief Cycle is the act of creation itself. 

When grief is written, it changes form. What was once diffuse emotional pain becomes structured language. Words, metaphors, and images impose order on an experience that initially feels chaotic. 

Psychologist James W. Pennebaker, whose research pioneered the study of expressive writing, demonstrated that writing about emotional experiences improves psychological and physical well-being. His studies showed that expressive writing helps individuals organize traumatic memories into coherent narratives, supporting emotional processing that might otherwise remain unresolved (Pennebaker & Chung, 2011). 

Scholars in poetry therapy also describe writing as a structured way of processing emotional experience (Mazza, 2017). Neimeyer (2012) has similarly emphasized that grief often involves reconstructing meaning after loss, frequently through narrative and creative expression. 

Subsequent studies have found similar benefits. A comprehensive review in Advances in Psychiatric Treatment found that expressive writing can reduce stress, improve mood, and enhance coping with traumatic experiences (Baikie & Wilhelm, 2005). 

In grief specifically, expressive writing has been associated with meaning reconstruction, a central process in bereavement. Neimeyer (2001) describes mourning as rebuilding meaning after a loss disrupts one’s life narrative. 

These findings mirror my own experience writing poetry after the loss of my son. In one poem I wrote: 

“A poem begins in blood. 

My son is gone, yet I write— 

each word a slice of myself.” The Price of a Poem 

Writing did not remove grief. Instead, it transformed grief into something that could be examined and understood. 

Researchers studying poetry therapy describe this process as the movement “from silence to speech.” Stepakoff (2009) explains that poetry allows individuals to represent traumatic grief symbolically, making it possible to approach experiences that initially feel unspeakable. 

In The Creative Grief Cycle, creation is therefore the first step in transforming grief into meaning. 

 

Stage Two: Communication — The Social Function of Grief Poetry 

The second stage of The Creative Grief Cycle occurs when the work is shared with others. 

Grief is inherently isolating. Individuals experiencing loss often feel that their emotions cannot be adequately explained to those who have not lived through similar experiences. 

Poetry can bridge this gap. 

Because poetry communicates through metaphor, rhythm, and imagery, it can convey emotional realities that ordinary explanation cannot. Readers encountering grief poetry can recognize aspects of their own experiences within the work, creating a moment of shared understanding. 

Maybe creative expression can help individuals communicate their complex grief experience when traditional conversation is difficult.

Stroebe (2018) highlights that poetic language can complement scientific models by illustrating the lived experience of grief, bringing emotional depth to processes identified in research. Psychological frameworks describe processes of mourning, but poetry can capture the lived texture of grief—its contradictions, memories, and silences. 

This communicative dimension is visible in many grief poems. In one of my own poems, I describe writing as a way to keep a voice present in the world: 

“I write 

because my voice still walks the earth 

even when his footsteps do not.” Don’t Live Inside That Silence 

The poem becomes more than a personal reflection; it becomes a message others can encounter. 

Communication also allows grief to move across generations. In another poem, written about telling stories to my granddaughter after her father’s death, I wrote: 

“I give her my son 

the only way I still can— 

one story at a time.” Tell Me a Daddy Story 

In this moment, poetry functions as inheritance. Memory travels through language into the future. 

In The Creative Grief Cycle, this is when grief moves from private experience into shared understanding. 

 

Stage Three: Rediscovery — Revisiting the Work 

The third stage of The Creative Grief Cycle emerges and can evolve over time. 

Unlike spoken conversation, creative works endure. A poem written during an intense period of grief can be reisited months or years later. This creates a powerful reflective process. When the writer returns to the poem, they revisit the emotional state that existed when it was written. The poem becomes a preserved record of grief at a particular moment in time. 

Poetry can preserve the emotional complexity of grief in ways that allow both writers and readers to return to the experience with evolving perspectives.

In practical terms, a poem becomes an emotional time capsule. The writer who reads it years later is no longer the same person who wrote it. The grief may have softened, deepened, or transformed. 

In one poem, I tried to capture how silence evolves over time: 

“Silence becomes a cathedral, 

vast and unforgiving, 

its arches built of absence.” The Roar of Silence 

This rediscovery stage allows grief to evolve from raw emotion into reflection. 

In The Creative Grief Cycle, rediscovery completes the cycle by enabling the work to continue generating meaning over time. 

 

The Creative Grief Cycle 

Taken together, the three stages form a continuous cycle: 

Creation → Communication → Rediscovery 

  1. Grief is transformed into language through writing. 
  2. The work communicates the experience to others. 
  3. The work can be revisited repeatedly, generating new insight. 

Each stage reinforces the others. Writing enables communication. Communication deepens meaning. Rediscovery inspires further creative expression. 

This cycle offers an explanation as to  why creative work often continues long after the initial loss. Once grief has been expressed through art, the creative impulse frequently expands into other forms of expression. 

In one poem reflecting on transformation through grief, I wrote: 

“Grief softens us, 

wonder reshapes, 

creation strikes sparks 

across even the softest anvil.” The Furnace Never Cools 

Grief melts what once felt rigid. Creativity reshapes it. 

 

Conclusion 

Grief cannot be eliminated. Loss remains one of the defining experiences of human life. But creative expression changes how grief exists in the world. 

Through The Creative Grief Cycle, grief moves through a process of creative transformation:  

  • Writing transforms emotional experience into language  
  • Communication connects that experience with others  
  • Rediscovery allows the work to continue generating meaning over time 

In this way, poetry does not simply document grief. 

It allows grief to become something else: connection, reflection, and enduring voice. Loss may silence a person’s presence in the world. But through poetry, the conversation continues. 

 

About the Author

Daniel Stern is a retired engineer turned astronomer and astrophotographer whose poetry explores grief, silence, memory, and renewal. His work lives at the intersection of science and emotion, where observation becomes reflection and language reaches for what cannot be measured. He recently published The Roar of Silence, a collection of 15 poems born from personal loss and the search for meaning in its wake. He also authored Aphelion, a book of poetry fused with his deep-sky astrophotography. In his work as an astronomer, his astrophotography has been recognized numerous times by NASA (APOD). He has discovered planetary nebulae and, in collaboration with others, has been published in peer-reviewed astrophysics journals. Stern lives in Delray Beach, Florida, with his wife, Randie. 

 

Website: www.theroarofsilence.com 

Email: dstern@mea-obs.com 

 

References 

 

Baikie, K. A., & Wilhelm, K. (2005). Emotional and physical health benefits of expressive writing. Advances in Psychiatric Treatment, 11(5), 338–346. https://doi.org/10.1192/apt.11.5.338 

Mazza, N. (2017). Poetry therapy: Theory and practice (2nd ed.). Routledge. 

Neimeyer, R. A. (2001). Meaning reconstruction and the experience of loss. American Psychological Association. 

Neimeyer, R. A. (2012). Techniques of grief therapy: Creative practices for counseling the bereaved. Routledge. 

Pennebaker, J. W., & Chung, C. K. (2011). Expressive writing: Connections to physical and mental health. In H. S. Friedman (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of health psychology (pp. 417–437). Oxford University Press. 

Stepakoff, S. (2009). From destruction to creation, from silence to speech: Poetry therapy principles and practices for working with suicide grief. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 36(2), 105–113. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2009.01.007 

Stroebe, M. (2018). The poetry of grief: Beyond scientific portrayals of mourning. Omega: Journal of Death and Dying, 77(1), 3–16.

 

 

Please also review AIHCP’s Grief Counseling Certification, as well as its Child and Adolescent Grief Counseling Program, Pet Loss Grief Counseling Program, Christian Grief Counseling Program, Grief Diversity Counseling Program, Grief Perinatal Program, Grief Practitioner Program and finally its Grief Support Group Leader Program.

Grief Counseling Certification Video Blog: Fear and Grief

Posted on by Mark Moran

Fear can play a strong role in grieving.  Whether anticipatory and fearful of a future event, or fear that cripples one while grieving to express or reach out, or fear that becomes maladaptive with other types of losses, it needs addressed.  This video looks at how fear can affect grieving. Please also review AIHCP’s Grief Counseling Certification

 

Advancing Chronic Disease Management Through Remote Patient Monitoring

Posted on by Joseph Gerard

Doctor treating an elderly patient

Written by Harry Wolf,

According to the CDCP, three in four American adults have at least one chronic health condition. And over half of adults have two or more.

It should not be surprising, therefore, that chronic disease drives the majority of health care spending and hospital utilization nationwide. For clinicians and health systems, the pressure to improve outcomes while reducing avoidable admissions has never been greater.

The good news? Remote patient monitoring, or RPM, has become a core strategy in chronic care delivery… 

A Brief Overview of RPM

RPM refers to the use of connected medical devices and digital platforms to collect patient health data outside traditional clinical settings. Data flows directly to clinical teams, thus enabling proactive interventions – rather than reactive treatment.

For example, RPM programs can track blood pressure, pulse oximetry, weight, and symptom scores for high-risk cardiovascular and pulmonary patients. 

According to the National Library of Medicine, structured remote monitoring enables earlier identification of clinical deterioration and more timely medication adjustments. Earlier detection means fewer last-minute medication changes and more predictable care trajectories.

What do core RPM programs typically include the following components:

  • FDA-cleared devices that transmit real-time physiologic data
  • A secure digital platform for data aggregation and automated alerts
  • Defined clinical protocols for escalation and outreach
  • Dedicated clinical staff

RPM Can Improve Chronic Disease Outcomes

Well-structured RPM programs improve both clinical and utilization metrics. Benefits are especially pronounced in high-risk populations with heart failure, COPD, diabetes, and uncontrolled hypertension.

A 2024 systematic review, published by Springer, found that digital monitoring interventions for COPD were associated with reduced hospitalizations and improved self-management behaviors. 

Patients using structured monitoring tools demonstrated better medication adherence and earlier reporting of symptom exacerbations. Of course, improved adherence at scale directly affects readmission metrics and quality-performance benchmarks.

A 2025 multicenter study in the Journal of Medical Internet Research showed that older adults with multiple chronic conditions reported reductions in hospital readmissions and improved care coordination in RPM-supported cohorts. 

The findings showed measurable gains in transitional-care stability. For hospitals operating under value-based reimbursement models, even modest reductions in 30-day readmissions produce significant financial – and operational – impact.

Key Clinical Impact Areas

When RPM programs are designed with structured protocols, various improvements are commonly observed. Such as? Well:

  • Earlier detection of physiologic instability
  • Improved medication titration accuracy
  • Higher patient-engagement rates
  • Reduced emergency department visits

Clinical teams gain better visibility between visits rather than relying on episodic check-ins. And continuous data streams shift care from reactive to preventive.

Enhancing Adherence Through Structured Engagement

Medication adherence and lifestyle compliance remain persistent challenges in chronic disease management, as you may well be aware. RPM platforms create accountability loops that reinforce treatment plans outside the clinic.

A 2025 randomized controlled trial published in JAMIA demonstrated significantly higher monitoring adherence among heart-failure patients enrolled in structured RPM programs with defined engagement strategies. 

Patients receiving routine feedback and clinical follow-ups were more likely to consistently submit biometric readings. 

Consistent data submission… It allows clinicians to make evidence-based adjustments – rather than relying on retrospective recall. Structured engagement models typically include:

  • Scheduled patient check-ins from clinical staff
  • Automated reminders tied to device use
  • Personalized education aligned with diagnosis
  • Escalation pathways triggered by threshold breaches

High-performing programs treat engagement as a clinical function – rather than a technical add-on. Human oversight, of course, remains central to sustained participation.

Operationalizing RPM at Scale

Technology adoption alone does not guarantee clinical transformation. Sustainable RPM implementation requires:

  • Workflow redesign
  • Reimbursement alignment
  • Dedicated staffing models

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has expanded reimbursement pathways for remote physiologic monitoring and remote therapeutic monitoring – over recent years, that is. 

Policy updates published by Medtronic highlight ongoing refinements in outpatient and physician-fee-schedule structures. Reimbursement clarity directly influences administrative buy-in and long-term program viability.

Health systems evaluating RPM deployment should assess several operational domains:

  • Device logistics and inventory management
  • Clinical documentation and billing compliance
  • Data integration with existing EHR systems
  • Staff training and escalation workflows

Fragmented implementation… It can create clinician fatigue and documentation burden. Thankfully, fully-managed models often reduce internal strain by centralizing:

  • Outreach
  • Monitoring
  • Reporting

For instance, solutions such as Nsight Health’s remote patient monitoring provide fully-managed services that include patient outreach, enrollment, 24/7 clinical monitoring, FDA-cleared cellular devices, and billing support. 

Nsight Health operates with its own clinical team and infrastructure, allowing provider organizations to integrate RPM without building parallel internal departments. 

Addressing Barriers and Equity Considerations

Despite strong outcome data, RPM adoption still encounters barriers related to digital literacy, connectivity, and clinician workload. Rural and underserved populations may face additional infrastructure constraints.

User-friendly device design and cellular-enabled connectivity are essential for reducing disparities. Findings summarized by arXiv in 2024 highlight that simplified onboarding and automated data transmission improve participation among older adults. 

Device simplicity matters – when patients manage multiple comorbidities and complex medication regimens, that is. Programs seeking equitable implementation should prioritize:

  • Cellular-enabled devices that eliminate broadband dependency
  • Multilingual patient-education resources
  • Clear escalation protocols to prevent alert fatigue
  • Continuous quality-review processes

Equity-focused design increases the likelihood that RPM benefits extend beyond digitally-savvy populations. Broader adoption strengthens community-level chronic-disease management.

Data Integration and Clinical Decision Support in RPM

Continuous data collection… It only delivers value when it informs actionable clinical decisions. Remote patient monitoring programs that integrate directly into electronic health records create a unified view of longitudinal patient data, reducing fragmentation across care settings.

RPM-supported care models improve care-coordination efficiency when biometric data is embedded within shared clinical dashboards. Integrated-data workflows allow clinicians to identify high-risk patients earlier – as well as prioritize outreach based on stratified risk scores. 

For busy care teams, risk-based prioritization prevents alert overload. And it supports focused intervention – where it matters most.

Clinical decision-support systems within RPM platforms typically apply threshold-based alerts, trend-analysis algorithms, and protocol-driven escalation pathways. Structured review processes help transform raw data into meaningful treatment adjustments.

Effective integration strategies often include:

  • Automated EHR documentation of transmitted biometric data
  • Risk-stratification tools embedded within clinician dashboards
  • Tiered alert systems aligned with diagnosis-specific thresholds
  • Multidisciplinary review workflows for complex patients

Clinical leaders should also evaluate interoperability standards when selecting RPM vendors. Such as? HL7 and FHIR.

Seamless data exchange… It reduces manual entry, lowers documentation burden, and improves coding accuracy for reimbursement.

Data governance plays an equally critical role in maintaining trust and compliance. Secure transmission protocols, HIPAA-aligned storage, and role-based access controls protect sensitive health information – while enabling cross-disciplinary collaboration, that is.

When RPM data is operationalized within structured clinical pathways, decision-making becomes proactive rather than episodic. Providers move beyond snapshot-based assessments toward dynamic, data-informed management plans.

Financial Performance and Value-Based Care Alignment

Chronic disease management increasingly operates within value-based reimbursement models where outcomes, not volume, determine financial sustainability. Remote patient monitoring supports this transition by aligning real-time clinical oversight with measurable quality metrics.

For example? Well, a 2025 analysis reported by Medical Economics highlighted a Michigan Medicine RPM initiative that reduced hospitalizations among high-risk patients by nearly 60 percent. 

Patients enrolled in structured at-home monitoring experience significantly fewer acute-care episodes, compared to matched controls, that is. 

For health systems participating in shared-savings programs, reduced admissions directly influence both penalty avoidance and incentive eligibility.

Beyond utilization metrics, RPM programs contribute to improved performance of:

  • HEDIS measures
  • Blood-pressure control benchmarks
  • Transitional-care management indicators

Continuous biometric tracking supports more accurate documentation of disease severity and clinical interventions.

Financial impact areas typically include:

  • Reduced 30-day readmission penalties
  • Increased capture of reimbursable RPM service codes
  • Improved quality-measure performance scores
  • Lower total cost of care for high-risk cohorts

CMS reimbursement pathways for remote physiologic monitoring and remote therapeutic monitoring continue to evolve. 

With ongoing refinements to outpatient and physician-fee-schedule policies, regulatory clarity strengthens the business case for sustained RPM investment.

Operational discipline… It remains essential to financial success! Programs must ensure accurate time tracking, compliant documentation, and consistent patient engagement to meet billing thresholds.

When clinical outcomes improve alongside reimbursement optimization, RPM becomes more than a digital add-on. Yes indeed, it functions as a strategic infrastructure component supporting long-term value-based performance.

Redesigning Workforce Optimization and Care Teams 

Workforce shortages continue to strain areas like primary care, cardiology, pulmonology, and endocrinology practices. Remote patient monitoring offers a structured way to redistribute clinical workload – while maintaining high-touch chronic-disease oversight, that is.

Centralized monitoring models reduce the burden on in-clinic providers. How? By shifting routine data review to trained remote teams.

Programs that incorporate dedicated monitoring staff improve response times and reduce clinician burnout associated with unmanaged alert volumes. For organizations already facing staffing constraints, centralized monitoring protects provider bandwidth.

Care-team redesign in RPM-supported environments typically clarifies roles across physicians, advanced-practice providers, nurses, and care coordinators. Defined escalation pathways prevent ambiguity when biometric thresholds are exceeded.

High-functioning RPM workforce models often include:

  • Dedicated RPM nurses responsible for daily data triage
  • Clearly defined physician-escalation criteria
  • Standardized outreach scripts for symptom follow-up
  • Documented protocols aligned with payer requirements

Redistribution of responsibilities also supports advanced-practice providers working at the top of their license. Physicians retain oversight for complex decision-making – while routine monitoring and patient engagement occur through structured workflows.

Fully-managed RPM programs can further streamline operations. How? By externalizing:

  • Patient enrollment
  • Device logistics
  • Documentation support

Workforce optimization through remote patient monitoring ultimately strengthens both patient access and clinician sustainability. Structured team-based models transform chronic-care delivery into a coordinated, data-driven system – that is: rather than a sequence of disconnected visits.

Advancing Chronic Disease Management Through RPM 

Remote patient monitoring has transformed healthcare. In particular, it has matured into a clinically validated and financially aligned strategy for advancing chronic disease management. 

Evidence across cardiovascular, pulmonary, and multi-morbidity populations demonstrates measurable reductions in hospitalizations, stronger adherence, and more stable care transitions – when programs are structured around proactive oversight.

Sustainable success depends on more than device distribution, though. Integrated data workflows, risk-stratified dashboards, reimbursement compliance, and clearly defined team roles determine whether remote patient monitoring delivers lasting value. 

Was this article helpful? If so, take a look at our other informative content.

 

Author bio: Harry Wolf is a freelance writer. For almost a decade, he has written on topics ranging from healthcare to business leadership for multiple high-profile websites and online magazines.

References:

Unathored, 2025, About Chronic Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

https://www.cdc.gov/chronic-disease/about/index.html

Po, Hui-Wen, Chu, Ying-Chien, Tsai, Hui-Chen, Lin, Chen-Liang, Chen, Chung-Yu, Ma, Matthew Huei-Ming, 2024, Efficacy of Remote Health Monitoring in Reducing Hospital Readmissions Among High-Risk Postdischarge Patients: Prospective Cohort Study, National Library of Medicine.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11437225/

Mishra, Vineet, Stuckler, David, McNamara, Courtney L., 2024, Digital Interventions to reduce hospitalization and hospital readmission for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patient: systematic review, Springer Nature.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s44247-024-00103-x

Testa, Damien, Iborra, Vincent, Dutech, Mireille, Sanchez, Manuel, Raynaud-Simon, Agathe, Cabanes, Elise, Chansiaux-Bucalo, Christine, 2025, Impact of a Home-Based Remote Patient Monitoring System on Hospitalizations and Emergency Department Visits of Older Adults With Polypathology: Multicenter Retrospective Observational Study, Journal of Medical Internet Research.

https://www.jmir.org/2025/1/e64989/

Mohapatra, Sukanya, Issa, Mirna, Ivezic, Vedrana, Doherty, Rose, Marks, Stephanie, Lan, Esther, Chen, Shawn, Rozett, Keith, Cullen, Lauren, Reynolds, Wren, Rocchio, Rose, Fonarow, Gregg C., Ong, Michael K., Speier, William F., Arnold, Corey W., 2025, Increasing adherence and collecting symptom-specific biometric signals in remote monitoring of heart failure patients: a randomized controlled trial, Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association.

https://academic.oup.com/jamia/article/32/1/181/7738853?guestAccessKey=

Unauthored, 2026, 2026 updates and changes to Medicare hospital inpatient (IPPS), outpatient (OPPS), ambulatory surgical center (ASC), and physician (MPFS) fee schedules, Medtronic.

https://www.medtronic.com/content/dam/medtronic-wide/public/united-states/customer-support-services/reimbursement/crhf-medicare-outpatient-hospital-updates.pdf

Littrell, Austin, 2025, At-home monitoring cuts hospital admissions by nearly 60%, study finds, Medical Economics.

https://www.medicaleconomics.com/view/at-home-monitoring-cuts-hospital-admissions-by-nearly-60-study-finds

Jat, Avnish Singh, Grønli, Tor-Morten, 2024,Harnessing the Digital Revolution: A Comprehensive Review of mHealth Applications for Remote Monitoring in Transforming Healthcare Delivery, arXiv.

https://arxiv.org/abs/2408.14190

 

Please also review AIHCP’s Case Management Certification program and Case Management Courses see if it meets your academic and professional goals.  These programs are online and independent study and open to qualified professionals seeking a four year certification

Behavioral Psychology and Therapies

Posted on by Mark Moran

Behavioral Psychology is a branch of counseling and techniques that emphasize the direct role social experiences and learning play a role in behavior.  Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is an offshoot from it.   Behavior Therapy focuses on how current behaviors are affected through previous learning experiences and how they shaped the current behavior.  Behavior Therapy is concerned less with the subconscious and how it played a role in one’s current behavior but more so how past experiences, learning, and how classical and operant conditioning formed one’s individual behavior.  Like many schools of thought, it adheres to a strict conceptual model for its approach but for many therapists, it is integrated with other schools of thought to meet the needs of the client.   Among the many psychological schools, Behavior Therapy is the most empirically based approaches despite its limitations if used as the only lens to examine human behavior.  It perspective is a critical piece of understanding individuals and helping them find productive change and healing.  For that reason, it and many of its techniques are widely applied with other Psychoanalytic and Rogerian therapies.

Behavioral Therapy sees mental issues as issues associated with past learned behavior

Please also review AIHCP’s Behavioral Health Certifications, including Grief Counseling, Crisis Counseling, Trauma Informed Care, Anger Management, Stress Management, as well as Spiritual Counseling and Christian Counseling.

Behavioral Therapy

Behavioral Therapy emerged in the Mid 20th Century and continues to adapt and add key components from the original thought.  Key pioneers and founders of Behavioral Therapy include Joseph Wolpe, Hans Eysenck, B.F. Skinner, Arnold Lazarus, Albert Bandura and David Meichenbaum (Tan, 2022).  Traditional Behavior Therapy is based on behavior being conditioned by one’s learning and social environment.  Classical conditioning as well as operant conditioning play large roles in how behavior evolves within a person.

Classical conditioning is based off IvanPavlov and his studies on canine responses to stimuli.  In classical conditioning, the dog salivates in response to the treat or food.  The salivation is referred to the unconditioned response or natural response to the food or unconditioned stimuli.  The UCR to the UCS is a natural response to something that occurs subconsciously within any living creature.  Pavlov however incorporated a conditioned stimuli next to the unconditioned stimuli to help provoke a conditioned response.  He added the ringing of a bell during dinner time for the dogs.  The dogs continued to salivate and eat due to the food, but later when the food was removed, the ringing of the bell still conditioned a response of salivating.  A CR emerged due to the CS.   This illustrated that living things can be conditioned and behavior changed at neural level over time.

Operant conditioning also played a role for Wolpe, Skinner and other early behavioral therapists.    Operant conditioning looks to alter behavior through consequences.  Behaviors that are reinforced with pleasant stimuli or reward, or even the absence of negative stimuli constitute positive/negative reinforcement of it.   These consequences look to maintain or increase a certain behavior.  Behaviors that are met with punishment and negative stimuli look to eliminate or reduce a certain behavior (Tan, 2022).

Unconditioned and Conditioned Responses to Unconditioned and Conditioned Stimuli

Behavior modification became a key component in changing a person way of thinking and acting.  Skinner even took this a step farther than most and indicated that all behavioral events and modifications determine what a person will or shall do, even to the extent of denying free will (Tan, 2022).    Obviously, this was an extreme outlook and narrows human behavior only to present stimuli and events without considering the numerous other things at play.  Nonetheless, one cannot deny the profound effect environment and stimuli plays within the role of behavior and decision making.

As the school of thought developed, cognitive and other elements would become important tenets in Behavior Therapy.

Techniques and Therapies

Behavioral Therapy employs a broad range of techniques and therapies.   First and foremost, the therapist is more so in control than in Rogerian therapies and other Person-Centered Therapies.  The therapist takes a central role.  The client proposes the “what” while the therapist presents the “how”.   Hence, there is far less concern with the therapist-client relationship.  Although not disregarded, especially when integrated, the emphasis of healing and change is more so in the techniques and the now instead of focusing on a relationship or probing into the past.

To help understand the client, behavioral assessment is the first and key stage in helping  the client.  This involves targeting the “what” of the problem and identifying symptoms and problems of the client (Tan, 2022).   Counselors propose operant conditioning as a key element of change.  They utilize positive and negative forms of reinforcement to help the client change.  Some cases involve complete extinction of any positive or negative.  If dealing with a child’s temper tantrum, extinction would be utilized as a way to completely to ignore the outburst and when the child is again calm to implement positive reinforcement.    Punishment or aversive control can also be utilized to produce change.  Positive punishment adds an adverse stimulus, while negative punishment removes something positive.  A child may be forced to do a choir or with positive punishment associated with undesired behavior, while negative may involve grounding a child or taking away a privilege.  In some cases though, punishment and extinction can also cause unwanted desires in anger and aggression.  Because of this, positive reinforcement is seen as the best psychological tool in promoting healthy change (Tan, 2022).

Another technique utilized in Behavior Therapy is Token Economies.  This technique is a positive reinforcing strategy based on reward of token which has a symbolic value for something that can earned through good behavior.  This is a common technique used in schools which keep track of desired performance and behavior with recognition and reward.

Modeling represents another utilized strategy to help foster change.  In modeling, the client observes another person’s behavior and the consequences surrounding it.  Bandura listed certain ways modeling can be utilized in changing behavior.  He first emphasized teaching which includes simple observation and application of the model.  Second, in therapy, prompting involves the client performing a certain behavior that was observed. Motivating a client through modeling involves focus on the reward of the other person and hence motivating the client to replicate the behavior.   Reducing anxiety involves watching the model perform an anxious deed to be replicated by the client.  Maybe this involves the model dealing with something that is a phobia for the client.  Finally, live modeling involves replicating the behavior or acting it out in therapy under the guidance of the counselor (Tan, 2022).

In addition, Behavior therapies also look to incorporate certain social skill and assertiveness training.   In this, the therapist helps the client understand their current behavior and why he or she responds in certain situations and how to respond differently, utilizing a variety of modeling and rehearsal techniques.  In this way, Behavior Therapy works closely with a variety of management techniques to work on behaviors that need changed, included areas of anger, assertiveness, as well as stress management.  In addition, the counselor looks to help the client meet goals and self directed change.  Bandura believed strongly in the self efficacy of a client to successfully implement change in one’s life (Tan, 2022).  In meeting goals, self talk and other cognitive ways to help someone through a situation is encouraged.  Meichenbaum employed stress inoculation training, as a type of exposure therapy to stress itself and how one responds to stress.  This CBM (Cognitive Behavior Modification) was also utilized by the military to help soldiers in stressful situations (Tan, 2022).

Learned behaviors can be undone and replaced with new and healthy behaviors through a variety of behavioral techniques. Please also review AIHCP’s Healthcare Certifications

Behavior Therapy also focuses heavily on relation strategies which serve to relax the central nervous system and the reactions to stress and distress.  They employ a wide variety of exercises involving breathing, guided meditation and progressive muscle relation to face and deal with stress, emotions and trauma (Tan, 2022).   Mindfulness is also employed in a variety of stress management strategies.

Another key tool used in Behavior Therapy involves systematic desensitization.    Wolpe believed that exposures to phobias or traumas can help an individual modify current behavioral reactions and recircuit reactions to them. Utilizing the SUD scale (Subjective Units of Discomfort), the therapist gradually exposes the client to a phobia or issue.  For example, a person who fears a spider will be begin to be introduced to issues surrounding the spider with the therapist documenting the SUD scale input between 1 to 100 with 100 being the most anxious.  Minimal dosing with the word, moves forward to a picture, then it progresses to dead specimens to alive specimens to eventual complete exposure and touching (Tan, 2022).   Wolpe referred to this as counterconditioning a certain behavioral response with a new and healthy response.  Other forms are more intense.  Flooding involves exposure without the feared stimuli or its consequences but at a higher maximum level.  One modern utilization of this is EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing).  This technique has gained popularity in therapies facing trauma and has proved to be effective way for many clients to face trauma and phobias itself (Tan, 2022).

Moving Forward

Behavior Therapy has evolved to include many multi-dimensional aspects, included mindfulness as well as cognitive therapies.  It is a very successful type of therapy but like all therapies when utilized singularly, it can miss important aspects of healing regarding the past, or unresolved memories.  Yet despite this, it still possesses a comprehensive approach to multiple issues. It helps the person gain autonomy  and confidence through goals and freedom to reset one’s mindset to produce new desired behaviors.

Please also review AIHCP’s Healthcare Certification Programs and see if they meet your academic and professional goals.

Other AIHCP Blogs

Patient Centered Therapy:  Access here

Existential Therapy:  Access here

Reference

Tan, S-Y. (2022). Counseling and psychology: A Christian perspective (2nd Edition). Baker Academic.

Additional Resources

Cherry, K. (2025).  “How Behavioral Therapy Works”. Very Well Mind.  Access here

Gillette, H. (2025). “Your Guide to Understanding Behavioral Therapy”.  PsychCentral.  Access here

“Joseph Wolpe’s Contributions to Psychology: Pioneering Behavioral Therapy” (2024). Neurolaunch.  Access here

 

The Impact of Indoor Environmental Conditions on Mental Health Outcomes in Clinical and Home Settings

Posted on by Joseph Gerard

Clip art style image of a two people cleaning up a cluttered mind in a sunny outdoor environment.

Written by Harry Wolf,

Depression, anxiety, and cognitive fatigue… Such conditions are not shaped by psychosocial stressors alone. Indoor environmental conditions measurably influence neurobiology, emotional regulation, and treatment response in both clinical and residential settings. 

For professionals working in health care delivery and education, environmental quality has become a clinical variable – rather than a background detail.

Indoor Air Quality and the Risk of Depression 

Indoor air quality can affect cognitive clarity, mood stability, and overall psychiatric vulnerability. Indeed, fine particulate matter and elevated carbon dioxide concentrations are increasingly associated with measurable declines in executive function and increased depressive symptoms.

According to findings by Spain’s Instituto de Postgrado, cognitive performance is improved when indoor particle concentrations are reduced under double-blind conditions. 

For clinicians and administrators, those results suggest that untreated air-quality deficiencies may quietly undermine therapeutic engagement and cognitive resilience.

Diminished cognitive flexibility can translate into impaired engagement in psychotherapy, reduced medication adherence, and increased frustration tolerance issues. In home settings, especially among older adults, subtle declines in air quality may erode cognitive reserve.

Common contributors to compromised indoor air quality? They include:

  • Insufficient ventilation in tightly sealed buildings
  • Accumulated indoor particulates from cooking or outdoor infiltration
  • Off-gassing from building materials – and from furnishings

In larger homes and clinical settings, uneven airflow is more than just a comfort issue. When certain rooms receive less ventilation, air can become stale, temperatures fluctuate, and particles start to build up over time. Over time, these imbalances can start to affect how people feel, think, and respond especially in spaces meant for recovery, focus, or therapy

This becomes harder to manage when each room serves a different purpose. A therapy room, for example, may need a steady, quiet environment, while offices or living areas have different requirements. Relying on a single system often leads to some areas being overcooled while others are left inconsistent.

In situations like this, solutions such as Five-Zone Ductless Systems make a noticeable difference. They allow each room to be controlled independently while still running on one outdoor unit, making it easier to maintain stable air quality and temperature across the entire space without overcorrecting in certain areas.

Artificial Lighting and Depressive Symptoms 

Light exposure… As you probably know, it regulates circadian rhythms, melatonin secretion, and mood stability. Inadequate daylight or excessive artificial light at night alters neuroendocrine function in ways strongly associated with depressive symptoms.

A 2024 systematic review published by PubMed found that exposure to artificial light at night was associated with increased odds of depression, with risk rising incrementally per lux increase. 

Controlled indoor light modifications could improve depressive symptoms.

For shift-working nurses, inpatients under constant illumination, or residents in poorly daylit homes, light exposure patterns can directly influence sleep architecture. It can affect emotional regulation, as well. 

Circadian disruption may therefore complicate pharmacologic management and behavioral interventions.

Key lighting-related risk factors include:

  • Continuous overnight corridor or bedside illumination
  • Limited daylight penetration in deep-plan buildings
  • Blue light exposure late in the evening

Design responses extend beyond aesthetics. Tunable white lighting, access to natural daylight, and scheduled dimming protocols… They all help synchronize circadian rhythms. 

Environmental services teams and clinical leadership benefit from viewing lighting plans as behavioral health interventions. Illumination levels, spectral composition, and timing form part of the therapeutic milieu.

Environmental Noise and Anxiety Disorders 

Environmental noise acts as a chronic stressor – with measurable neurobiological consequences. Activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis under persistent noise exposure contributes to anxiety, irritability, and sleep fragmentation.

Studies show there are reported associations between long-term environmental noise exposure and increased risk of depression, anxiety, and suicidal behavior. 

A 2025 study in Frontiers in Public Health found that higher ward noise exposure was associated with increased perioperative anxiety among hospitalized surgical patients. 

For individuals already experiencing medical uncertainty, acoustic overload compounds psychological burden. And it prolongs stress activation.

Health care workers are similarly affected. Noise exposure can potentially cause elevated stress, insomnia, and anxiety symptoms among staff. Burnout risk, clinical error potential, and reduced empathic capacity may follow sustained exposure.

Common indoor noise sources include:

  • Alarms, paging systems, and medical equipment
  • HVAC cycling and duct vibration
  • Urban traffic infiltration

Acoustic mitigation strategies require interdisciplinary coordination. Sound-absorbing ceiling tiles, alarm management protocols, and zoning of mechanical systems reduce unnecessary exposure. 

Residential environments supporting recovery from psychiatric hospitalization similarly benefit from quiet zones and sound-dampening materials.

Mental health treatment does not occur in isolation. Auditory load shapes emotional tone, concentration, and sleep continuity – in both institutional and domestic contexts.

Thermal Comfort and Mood Instability

Thermal stress… It has increasingly been linked to mental and behavioral health outcomes. Elevated indoor temperatures and high humidity levels can exacerbate irritability, aggression, and depressive symptoms.

Findings by Nature show that humid-heat exposure may substantially increase the global burden of mental and behavioral disorders – under high-emission scenarios, that is. 

Additional 2025 findings using WHO-SAGE data demonstrated stronger associations between depression risk and wet-bulb temperature. For clinicians practicing in regions with rising heat indices, environmental monitoring may therefore become part of psychiatric risk mitigation.

Thermal discomfort disrupts sleep, impairs cognitive flexibility, and increases physiologic stress load. Patients with severe mental illness may be particularly vulnerable – due to medication-related thermoregulatory effects.

Thermal risk factors often include:

  • Inconsistent cooling across multi-room facilities
  • High indoor humidity during the summer months
  • Inadequate heating in winter affecting vulnerable populations

Precision temperature control reduces physiologic strain. Zoned HVAC solutions, humidity regulation, and building envelope improvements allow clinicians and facility operators to maintain stable indoor conditions. 

Residential settings caring for older adults or individuals on psychotropic medications benefit from proactive climate management – rather than reactive adjustment.

Environmental Clutter and Sensory Overload 

Visual clutter and excessive environmental stimuli can heighten cognitive load and anxiety. Overstimulating indoor environments challenge attentional filtering mechanisms – particularly among individuals with autism spectrum conditions or acute psychiatric symptoms.

In clinical environments, chaotic visual fields can similarly increase perceived lack of control and attentional strain.

Common contributors to sensory overload? They include:

  • High-density signage and visual alerts
  • Poor storage systems leading to exposed equipment
  • Inconsistent spatial organization across rooms

Environmental simplification enhances perceived safety and predictability. Streamlined visual design, concealed storage solutions, and consistent spatial layouts reduce cognitive burden and may improve therapeutic engagement. 

Behavioral health units in particular benefit from calm visual fields that support emotional regulation.

Attention to visual order does not require sterile minimalism. Intentional organization and reduced sensory noise collectively support psychological stability in both institutional and residential settings.

Wayfinding Complexity and Cognitive Load 

Navigation within health care environments is rarely neutral. Complex layouts, inconsistent signage, and visually ambiguous corridors… They all increase cognitive load and can heighten stress responses – in both patients and staff. 

Disorientation may rapidly escalate into agitation – for individuals already experiencing anxiety, cognitive impairment, or acute psychiatric symptoms, that is. Poorly organized spatial layouts increase mental effort, elevate physiologic stress markers, and reduce perceived control. 

In places like large hospital campuses and multi-wing outpatient centers, wayfinding demands often compete with clinical stressors. Therefore, it compounds emotional strain – during already vulnerable moments.

Cognitively vulnerable populations are particularly sensitive to navigational complexity. Individuals with mild cognitive impairment, dementia, traumatic brain injury, or severe mood disorders may struggle to construct reliable mental maps of confusing environments. 

Heightened uncertainty activates vigilance systems – which can worsen anxiety. And it can reduce cooperation with care processes among patients.

Here are some common wayfinding-related stressors:

  • Inconsistent signage
  • Long, visually uniform corridors without distinguishing landmarks
  • Poor differentiation between public and restricted areas
  • Frequent spatial reconfiguration without updated orientation cues

Disorientation does not merely inconvenience patients. Staff members navigating inefficient layouts can also potentially experience cumulative cognitive fatigue – particularly in high-acuity settings where rapid response is critical. 

Design strategies that improve environmental legibility can mitigate these risks. Clear sightlines, color-coded zones, intuitive floor numbering systems, and distinct architectural landmarks reduce cognitive burden. 

Memory care units often employ simplified circulation loops and recognizable visual anchors to support orientation – demonstrating how design can function as a cognitive support tool.

Predictability and clarity within built environments reinforce psychological safety. When individuals can reliably anticipate spatial outcomes, autonomic stress activation decreases. 

For health care systems focused on trauma-informed design, wayfinding coherence represents a measurable and modifiable determinant of mental health stability.

Integrating Environmental Design Into Mental Health Strategy

Indoor environmental conditions intersect with neurobiology, behavior, and treatment response – in measurable ways. Things like air quality, lighting, acoustics, and thermal stability… They all influence mood regulation, cognitive performance, and anxiety expression across care settings.

Environmental optimization should be viewed as a systems-level intervention. Meaning? Multidisciplinary collaboration among personnel like clinicians, facility managers, architects, and mechanical engineers.

Priority actions include:

  • Continuous monitoring of air quality metrics
  • Circadian-informed lighting design 
  • Structured noise-reduction protocols 
  • Zoned climate-control systems 

Environmental assessment tools can be incorporated into quality improvement frameworks alongside infection control and patient safety benchmarks. 

Graduate programs in health care administration and clinical education increasingly address built-environment impacts as part of systems-based practice.

Mental health outcomes reflect both psychosocial and physical context. Proactive environmental design reduces preventable stressors – while reinforcing therapeutic interventions already in place.

Designing Indoor Environments That Support Mental Health Outcomes

As we have seen, indoor environmental conditions measurably influence depression risk, anxiety levels, sleep quality, and cognitive performance. So, designing environments that support optimal mental health outcomes is of the utmost importance!

Health care leaders who are evaluating facility upgrades or residential care transitions should incorporate environmental audits. Attention to ventilation, lighting schedules, acoustic control, and thermal zoning will strengthen overall mental health outcomes.

Engaging environmental upgrades as part of comprehensive care planning positions organizations to support both physiological and psychological resilience – among both patients and staff. So look at which solutions you could incorporate in relevant environments.

Was this article helpful? If so, take a look at our other informative content.

 

Author bio: Harry Wolf is a freelance writer. For almost a decade, he has written on topics ranging from healthcare to business leadership for multiple high-profile websites and online magazines.

References:

  • Pérez, Ainhoa, Bordallo, Alfonso, 2024, Indoor air quality improves cognitive performance, Instituto de Postgrado.

https://www.icns.es/en/news/air_quality_improves_cognitive_performance

  • Unauthored, 2025, Humid heat increases mental health risks in a warming world, Nature.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s44220-025-00548-7

  • Chen, Manman, Zhao, Yuankai, Lu, Qu, Ye, Zichen, Bai, Anying, Xie, Zhilan, Zhang, Daqian, Jiang, Yu, 2024, Artificial light at night and risk of depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis, PubMed.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39721676/

  • Wang, Chunliang, Su, Kai, Hu, Linming, Wu, Siqing, Zhan, Yiqiang, Yang, Chongguang, Xiang, Jianbang, 2024, Exploring the key parameters for indoor light intervention measures in promoting mental health: A systematic review, Science Direct.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2950362024000122

  • Shen, Jie, Ma, Hui, Yang, Xiaohui, Hu, Mingcan, Tian, Jieyin, Zhang, Liting, 2025, Environmental noise and self-rated health in older surgical patients undergoing general anesthesia: a cross-sectional study of anxiety as a behavioral pathway for healthy aging, Frontiers in Public Health.

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2025.1652514/full

  • Hu, Xinling, 2025, Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Association between Environmental Noise Exposure and Depression and Anxiety Symptoms in Community-Dwelling Adults, National Library of Medicine.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12459723/?utm_source=openai

  • Fritz, Manuela, 2025, Beyond the heat: The mental health toll of temperature and humidity in India, arXiv.

https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.08761

  • Hopcroft, Rosemary L., 2026, A Cluttered Home Causes More Stress for Women Than Men , Institute for Family Studies.

https://ifstudies.org/blog/a-cluttered-home-causes-more-stress-for-women-than-men

  • Strachan-Regan, K., Baumann, O., 2024, The impact of room shape on affective states, heartrate, and creative output, National Library of Medicine.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10965811/

 

Please also review AIHCP’s Certification program and CE Courses see if it meets your academic and professional goals.  These programs are online and independent study and open to qualified professionals seeking a four year certification

 

Divorce and Heartbreak Grief Video Blog

Posted on by Mark Moran

The pain of a breakup and divorce has many levels of loss and secondary losses.  While each can be horrible for a person, different individuals have different experiences for a variety of reasons.  This video takes a closer look at the multiple factors in relationship loss and grief.

Please also review AIHCP’s Grief Counseling Certification

 

Three Barriers in Rehabilitation That Require Timely Intervention 

Posted on by Joseph Gerard

Planning is key in healthcare management

Written by Deepika,

In times past, the term rehabilitation had a rather simplistic meaning. You hurt, you rest, and you feel better. That sounds easy, right? Well, the same cannot be said today, as the idea of rehabilitation has evolved from basic recovery to a dynamic process. 

It is still about healing the body, but also includes care tailored to patients’ unique goals and challenges. Metropolitan areas like Denver, with a 713,000+ population, comprise a mix of patients recovering from joint replacement or healing from work-related injuries. 

Physical rehab in Denver must go beyond cookie-cutter methods to ensure meaningful patient progress. Now, growth often brings with it certain barriers. Likewise, healthcare is still striving to identify the different hurdles to patient progress for timely intervention. 

Are you aware of such barriers, particularly the most common ones? This article will focus on three main roadblocks to rehabilitation. Care teams can use the insights shared to keep the patient at the center of every step. 

 

One-Size-Fits-All Treatment Plans 

Across industrial verticals, what has helped bring about the revolution of adding value to customers? The simpler answer is personalization. Healthcare, being a largely people-oriented industry, cannot afford to neglect personalization either. 

This is crucial in light of how the definition of rehabilitation covers a holistic approach. In other words, healthcare providers must move from a disease-centered approach to a wellness-focused one. Care that is not tailored to a patient’s needs can thwart recovery and frustrate patients. 

A 2025 review of patients in exercise rehabilitation found that 27 items of evidence were identified in the form of expert recommendations and randomized controlled trials. Shockingly, none of the evidence was implemented in clinical practice. This was especially true of areas like prescription and personalized assessment tools. 

The authors of the study concluded that this lack of tailored assessment led to suboptimal patient outcomes. It only shows that the definition of rehabilitation has evolved, but only in paper, not in practice. Individualized care is a must, which may include adjusting the intensity of therapy or setting realistic recovery goals. 

In many urban areas, the needs of patients coming for rehabilitation are wide and varied. Rehabs in such settings would have to go beyond standard protocols and offer reconditioning therapy. It is an approach aimed at restoring the strength and mobility required after deconditioning. 

Total Physical Therapy shares that deconditioning happens when your body loses function in certain areas due to inactivity. What does diversity of needs have to do with this? Patients who arrive after periods of illness, hospitalization, or inactivity will not respond to generic therapy. 

So, how do healthcare professionals make treatment plans fit the individual in question? It may be done in the following ways:

  • Conducting in-depth patient assessments, including their health and lifestyle 
  • Adjusting the timing or frequency of an exercise based on patient feedback 
  • Reviewing and updating treatment plans periodically to match the patient’s progress 

 

A Lack of Patient Cooperation 

It doesn’t take long for someone in the healthcare field to understand how real the conflict between a patient and their specialist can be. Traditionally, the medical profession has worn a badge of honor that almost deifies those involved in it. 

However, discords are not uncommon, and they may range from minor disagreements to downright cases of violence. From the perspective of rehabilitation, a lack of patient cooperation acts as a major hurdle. It can not only delay the recovery process but also increase the risk of complications. 

Now, how does non-cooperation arise in the first place? It could take various forms, depending on factors mentioned below:

  • Fear of pain if a patient’s therapy involves inadequate pain management 
  • Cracks in knowledge, which can go as far as patients skipping exercise sessions because they feel no immediate relief 
  • Worry regarding the recurrence of injuries, which contributes to patient hesitancy.
  • Busy schedules, comprising work or caregiving, that lead to missing sessions or inconsistencies in treatment 
  • Psychological distress, including anxiety or depression, that lowers a patient’s motivation to participate in their recovery

We have some real-world examples to support this. As per a 2025 qualitative study, physiotherapists testified to a major lack of patient adherence. From the healthcare provider’s viewpoint, the main reasons were a lack of motivation and communication gaps. As for patients, many reported psychological factors, physical limitations, and second thoughts about rehabilitation. 

This makes for a dual approach wherein we understand how cooperation issues may emerge from both patient experience and provider interaction. So, what can be done about this? Healthcare professionals should conduct frequent reviews to detect this barrier. 

Moreover, simple and thorough instructions should be provided to patients. Just ensure the dialogue is supportive, leaning more toward patient concerns. 

 

Breakdowns in Team Communication 

Communication, be it with patients or fellow team members, is the cornerstone of high-quality care. This is not something new, but an important part of care that has been known since the time of Florence Nightingale. 

You may wonder how communication just breaks down, especially since healthcare teams are so closely knit these days. Well, the process is more of a slide than a leap. In other words, it happens so subtly and gradually that discrepancies may see the light of day only when things go haywire. 

Let’s say a patient needs to be handed over by a hospital to an outpatient rehab team. During the transition, important patient information, such as recent progress or new complications, is not conveyed. Since the new team will be clueless as to the latest health stats, their treatment may not work, or worse, negate the progress already made. 

A similar scenario occurs when different healthcare providers give instructions that contradict each other. An example would be a physical therapist who wants the patient on advanced exercises, whereas the nurse instructs them to rest due to swelling. One can only imagine how disastrous the consequences of such miscommunication can be. 

Since we are at it, let’s walk through some other communication gaps that usually take place:

  • Delays in reporting complications can prevent timely interventions. 
  • Unclear discharge plans often lead to incomplete therapy or missed appointments. 
  • A lack of distinct roles may cause each healthcare professional to (falsely) assume that someone else is handling a particular task, which raises the risk of incompletion. 

Research suggests that over 70% of adverse events in healthcare originate from communication failures. When do most of these failures happen? Not so surprisingly, at the time of handovers or transfer from one unit to another. This means nobody can say that they didn’t see an adverse event coming, at least in the majority of cases. 

Now, nurses usually act as the central link in the care team. This means they are in a solid position to remove this particular barrier. For instance, nurses can ensure that the transitioning team receives complete and accurate patient information. 

They can also clarify unclear or conflicting instructions before they affect patient care. Only when gaps are addressed at the earliest can patients experience faster recovery. 

 

Based on what was just discussed, how immune would you consider your facility to be? Indeed, immunity against poor rehabilitation care is a matter of constant vigilance. If you observe that communication between care teams is falling apart or audit a care plan only to find that patient progress is stalled, take action. 

The future of rehab is dependent on turning every possible obstacle into an opportunity for growth. Your patients are looking for meaningful recovery, something which takes time and intention. 

The journey counts, which means every small victory is important. So, which barriers could be hiding in plain sight, and how can your team pull them down for better outcomes?

Author’s Bio:

Deepika is a budding content creator who enjoys exploring various niches, be it lifestyle or healthcare. With a knack for breaking down complex topics, she strives to make information relatable and accessible to everyone. During her leisure, Deepika enjoys reading novels and practicing fine arts to keep her creativity alive. 

Please also review AIHCP’s Nursing Management Certification program and Nurse Manager Courses see if it meets your academic and professional goals.  These programs are online and independent study and open to qualified professionals seeking a four year certification

Grief Counseling: Different Grieving for Different Deaths

Posted on by Mark Moran

They say the only two certain things in life are death and taxes.  Death is indeed definite.  Ironically though is part of life.  Every breath and heart beat is determined from then on and into the future the very moment a the infant takes its first breath outside the womb and its first heartbeat within it.  Every day brings one closer to death but when living, the inevitability of death is rarely focused on or discussed.  Death anxiety is a cultural norm.  The myth and fear that one should not speak about such fearful things as to summon it remains fixed in society.  The moment of death is shunned while birth is celebrated.  Even those of faith, still fear its grasps despite the hope of a better world to come.  Due to the unknown and fear, death subjects become taboo or too morbid to discuss in some families as if the grim reaper is outside the door itself.

The types of deaths we experience in life differ objectively but also subjectively based upon multiple accidental qualities

Obviously such fears of death, or to even discuss the critical part of our entire existence is not healthy.  Death and loss occurs everyday and eventually death finds one’s family and friends.  Those who flee death are less prepared, while those who study it and discuss it understand its implications.  This does not guarantee one escapes the pain of loss associated with death of a friend or loved one, but it does recognize the reality which is crucial in understanding and coping with loss.

With every death, there is pain and loss experienced within a family, community, or culture.  It is unavoidable because with death comes change.  The change of no longer sharing a life with someone or being able to speak with someone or experience that person’s friendship.  Death of a loved one brings emptiness and sadness, but these are not adverse or pathological reactions to be dismissed, rejected, or hidden.  They are instead natural responses to losing someone that is loved.  The reactions of death and loss are a result of love.  Without love or attachment to someone, then there is no grief.  There may be the simple statement of regret for that family, or person, or at a communal level or national level, a sense of anger and injustice, but true loss and pain is directly correlated with a more intense connection.  Connection and attachment correlate with the degree of adjustment and pain in loss.

Every loss is unique and one cannot judge a mere relationship or assume connection with every type of death one experiences within a family or community.  Different deaths have different meanings for people and how they react.  One could lose a parent and be devastated over the loss, while someone estranged to a parent one never knew may feel no connection or intense pain.  One may lose a pet that was the center of one’s world, while another may just see a pet as a pet.  In other cases, one may be deeply struck by losing a grandparent, while others may not even know their grandparent.

In this blog, I preface that while we will discuss types of deaths, this is a general guide to reactions and common feelings.  It in no way attempts to say this is the way one will feel if this person or that person dies.  This should be seen as a general map of the more common grief reactions based on healthy connections without extraordinary circumstances.   So, very well, the reader may connect to one point, but completely disagree with his or her own experience in the next.   So, consider these different types of grief to different types of deaths as a general review.

Please also review AIHCP’s Grief Counseling Certification and see if it matches your academic and professional goals.

Accidental Qualities to Consider in Death and the Reaction to It

Accidental qualities are the unique elements that make deaths different for different people experiencing them.  One could classify a particular relational death but the accidental and subjective aspects the story can increase emotional intensity or decrease.  Some can complicate normal trajectory of grieving into complicated and prolonged grief disorders itself.  Here are some things to consider as accidental qualities

Sudden Death or Expected Death

This is a huge factor in complications in grieving for some.  While complicated grief is less common than normal grieving, complications are tied to sudden deaths at a higher level.  Sudden death also brings more shock and awe and denial than other types of death.  It is the sudden call on the phone at night with the horrible news.  It is the call that one wishes was a nightmare and forever changes one’s life.  One can be at work, or dinner, or at an event and the sudden news forever shatters the person.  Sudden death can also create and imprint upon the person a fearful death anxiety.  Unexpected death makes one question one’s own mortality.

Likewise, expected death while not as abrupt can bring about different reactions.  If someone is very elderly, or if someone is terminal, the death is expected.  One in fact is experiencing anticipatory grief and may be grieving already before the death occurs.  The death can be seen as a relief for caregivers, or for family members who see the deceased as free from suffering.  Some may experience guilt for this reprieve but they should not allow it to overtake them.  Others may feel the intense pain of choosing to take a person off life support or a particular drug.  The choices of palliative care can be a painful one for a family. Family should openly discuss their feelings when someone terminal or elderly finally passes.  Again, this loss could be far more intense for a child who dies of cancer, as opposed to an elderly person in palliative care.  Does this mean the loss is painless or not deserving to be experienced based on these things?  Obviously, one is more tragic, but one should not be felt to pretend to be happy merely because one is finally relieved of suffering.  There is an ambiguous as well as bitter sweet feeling when one loses an elderly family member over a stretch period of time.

Tragic Loss

Sudden loss carries with it a litany of accidental qualities added to the relationship of the death. Please also review AIHCP’s Grief Counseling Program

A tragic loss usually coincides with a sudden loss but also includes a horrible death scene, or way the person died.  This could involve war, a murder, or a tragic violent act.  This can lead the survivor into a deep sense of mourning and anger.  In addition, successful suicides can deeply hurt with with additional emotions of anger, guilt, or increased suicidal thoughts oneself.  Tragic loss does not necessarily mean complications for the survivors, but it can lead to it.

Ambiguous Loss

Some family losses remain ambiguous and one never experiences closure.  These deaths involve unrecovered bodies in war, or acts of nature.  In addition, mourning a person who is kidnapped or loss leaves a person with a perpetual what if scenario.  One cannot grieve death for fear of accepting it or even worst a horrible situation existing for a loved one.

Estranged Family Relationship

Estranged family relationships can intensify or lessen the impact of a loss.  In some cases, when a family member who passes is estranged, there can be a feeling of anger, guilt, or a mixture of sadness and anger.  Whether the justification for estrangement was legitimate or not, it can lead to an array of issues at the funeral with other family members who may feel estranged members are not welcome.

Abuse and Trauma

Abuse leaves trauma and when an abusive family member dies there may exist sadness, but also joy and justification.  Some may feel a mixture of these feelings.  Abuse can also make the abused feel guilty for the death of the abuser.

Emotional Connection

How attached to someone is essential to the equated pain, suffering and adjustment.   Some individuals are closer to siblings or cousins than others.  Some have a deeper connection to a friend than a different friend.  So the mere title of the relationship does not always entail the emotional response.  The more attached and connected to a person emotionally, physically, spiritually and financially, the more intense the change.  Loss always equals change which equals grief.

Age of the Griever 

Children grieve differently than adults.  Those with mental issues also express grief differently.   It is important to be aware of the age of the griever and their relationship with the deceased to fully understand their ability to understand death, much less express it in a healthy way.

Family Support

Support or no support plays a large role in reaction to loss.  One who loses a spouse and has no other family or friends can experience deeper loneliness and pain.  Those with support can share their grief and also receive additional care in funeral planning and post funeral life.

One can consider numerous other accidental qualities to even add to this list which make every death for someone unique and different in their grieving journey

Types of Losses to Death

Loss of a Child

From a purely objective status, the loss of the child is the greatest grief loss

This is considered objectively to be the most painful loss despite subjective accidental qualities.   Losing a child has its own accidental qualities that have a strong universal impact on any healthy parental relationship with the child.   Again, the way it occurred suddenly in an accident, or in a cancer ward, shapes different experiences, but the emptiness, pain, and life long mark upon the heart never leaves.   Losing a child in the womb, at birth, in infancy, adolescence, or young adult are all horrible in their own unique ways for the parent.  It is singularly the most destructive change agent in a person’s life.   The universal component captures the essence of unnatural.  Children bury their parents, not the other way around.  So while, some situations may give different perspectives on the loss, the grim reality remains a parent has buried his or her child.  This type of loss that individuals like to avoid to even think about.  The intense anxiety that the  thought itself produces in the mind is painful enough.  The intrusive image, or even conversation usually is immediately dismissed abruptly.  One can then only imagine the nightmare and pain a parent carries in his or her heart when this loss occurs within any accidental possibilities.  The nature of itself is horrible enough to keep one awake at night.

Loss of a Parent

Losing a parent is considered objectively to be the second most painful loss.  Again, without a variety of accidental qualities, this loss ties oneself to one’s very existence.  The caregiving and connection over life itself bonds the child to the parent.  This attachment matures and changes throughout life to different needs.  Obviously a child who loses a parent experiences a far greater blank in life.  The pain of growing up without the parent and experiencing the parent in one’s life into adulthood.  For adults who lose their parents, there is still a pain but it does follow a logical and natural course of burying an elderly parent.  This too can have complications in whether the parent suddenly passed away or was terminal.   Grievers may feel they are no orphans to the world when the final piece of source of physical existence no longer remains.  For many, this emptiness comes sooner while others are blessed to experience this pain far later, but whether sooner or later, the loss of a parent leaves a deep emptiness and existential question of self.  It also shifts one responsibility.  One becomes, in adulthood, the new patriarch or matriarch of the family and with that new responsibilities and worries.

Loss of a Grandparent

For many, the loss of a grandparent is something that occurs in younger adulthood.  Again, it can strike at any age which also creates different responses.  For some, a grandparent may have raised them while others may have rarely seen the grandparent.  Grandparents usually represent the first experience of death at a intimate and closer level of relationship for individuals.  It introduces the person to the reality of death and that everyone will eventually die.  For others, a grandparent represents unconditional love.  In many cases, one represents reprieve from harder discipline that comes from parents.  They are sources of wisdom, family history, and wit them dies a certain era and part of one’s life. Some may even feel guilt for not seeing them enough, which is a natural reaction and not one that should be allowed to fester.

Loss of a Sibling

Losing a sibling, especially, at a younger age, or in a sudden and horrible accident can have great impacts on an individual.  For many, siblings, as well as cousins, are a a loss a long term relationships that are meant to span across one’s entire life. Siblings should be a person’s first friend.  A shared story and identity in culture and family values and traditions binds brothers and sisters, and cousins, together.  The assumed outcome is a long life, but when lives are shortened, this can bring one to horrible life changes and death anxieties.    The closer the bond, even twins, the more intense the pain of loss.

Loss of a Spouse

Losing a spouse should be an intense loss equal to that a parent in some cases.  With divorce and so many bad decisions, the modern world has come to see spouses as replaceable, but for those truly in love, losing a partner can leave one truly alone in life.  A younger couple who experiences this may subjectively suffer differently from a couple with children as opposed to a couple who has spent 50 years of marriage together.  With these losses, unique challenges emerge.  Younger spouses look to rebuild, spouses with children look to raise children alone, and older spouses may very well die of a broken heart.   With these losses, roles of duties, income disparity, and other secondary losses with groups of people can all emerge and create further pain and discomfort in the new adjustment of life.

Loss of a Pet

This is the most disenfranchised of losses because according to some, pets are not people.  The connection and love that human beings share do not need to be confined to merely other humans.  In fact, many pets carry higher family values than some actual family members.  Many pets are considered children to the person and play a deep connective and important emotional role to the person.  While, pathology can exist in some extreme cases, for most pets, they are family and deserve the same love and grief when they are gone and people will grieve their pets as grieving any other family member.  In fact, this is normal in itself and should be respected.

Conclusion

Please also review AIHCP’s Grief Counseling Certification Program

While the death of a person creates loss for other people, the type of death and the accidental qualities surrounding it make one singular event a very different experience for other people.  Grief Counselors need to be aware of the whole story surrounding the grief of someone who has lost a friend or family member.  Grief Counselors can just not assume the loss will be felt in a certain way due to relationship status, but must instead understand the subjective relationship the person had with the deceased.  There will be some common threads with particular losses but there will also be numerous accidental qualities to a particular loss that can play a key role how the person reacts and how the person adjusts to the loss.

Please also review AIHCP’s Grief Counseling Certification, as well as its Child and Adolescent Grief Counseling Program, Pet Loss Grief Counseling Program, Christian Grief Counseling Program, Grief Diversity Counseling Program, Grief Perinatal Program, Grief Practitioner Program and finally its Grief Support Group Leader Program.

All programs are open to qualified clinical and non clinical professionals.

Additional Blogs

Death of a Friend: Click here

Child Grief and Death. Click here

Additional Resources

Fisher, J. (2023). 5 stages of grief: Coping with the loss of a loved one. Harvard Health Publishing. Access here

Solomon, D. (2025). Do’s and Don’ts When a Loved One Is Dying. Psychology Today.  Access here

Ten Reasons Why Losing a Grandparent Still Hurts Deeply as an Adult — Understanding Adult Grief and Ways to Cope. Grief Support Center. Access here

Bahou, C. (2025).  “Coping with the loss of a parent: Handling grief and more”. MedicalNewsToday.  Access here