Rothschild, B. (2006). Help for the helper. The psychophysiology of compassion fatigue and vicarious trauma. New York. W. W. Norton & Company.

Burnout, compassion fatigue and vicarious trauma are risks that, as therapist we are aware of however whilst many of us have a toolbox full of techniques to assist our clients, we often fall short in caring for ourselves.  One of the most important tools in our arsenal is ourselves – the therapist as a person – and if we don’t take care of ourselves then the therapeutic alliance will not work.  This is where a book such as Help the Helper by Babette Rothschild becomes such an invaluable resource.

Rothschild begins her book by promoting the use of common sense.  Something that she believes is lacking in therapist training and professional development.  And perhaps she is right.  While therapists are taught many theories of human development and therapeutic technique, we should also be taught to trust in ourselves, our intuition and practice common sense.  Rothschild looks at how we develop empathy with our clients and how these ‘ties that bind’ if left unchecked can quickly contribute to the aforementioned risks of burnout, compassion fatigue and vicarious trauma.

Help for the Helper offers self care strategies ranging from the simple to the complex.  The book is well set out with a mix of case vignettes and easy to follow exercises.  In each chapter she effortlessly melds psychological theory with common sense tactics for therapist skill building. Help for the Helper is aimed at working professionals however it would be a valuable addition and supporting text for those undertaking therapist training.

Reviewed by Ms Anda Davies BSSc MA Lecturer AIPC

Buy this book on Amazon

If so, we still have a handful of places left in our Semester 1, 2012 intake for the Bachelor of Counselling and Bachelor of Psychological Science.

But they won’t last long, so you must act now.

If you want a secure future doing something you love, then a career in Psychology or Counselling could be ideal for you.

You can submit your obligation free expression of interest (or enrol) in the Bachelor of Psychological Science here: www.aip.edu.au/lz

And the Bachelor of Counselling here: www.aipc.edu.au/degree

Our unique learning model means you can earn-while-you-learn, so you don’t have to give up work to fit in your studies.

• Study externally from anywhere in Australia, even overseas.
• Fund your tuition with Fee-Help.
• [Psych] Save up to $40,000 on your qualification.
• [Couns] Save up to $11,300 on your qualification.
• Start with just 1 subject.
• Online learning portal with access to all study materials, readings and video lectures.
• Attend residential schools to integrate your learning.
• Learn in a friendly, small group environment.

If you’ve been thinking about a career in psychology or counselling, please submit your interest now to avoid missing out.

More information on the programs:

Bachelor of Psychological Science: www.aip.edu.au/lz

Bachelor of Counselling: www.aipc.edu.au/degree

Build a Practice – Basic Foundations

This 1-Day Workshop provides the “ins and outs” of starting a practice, looking at issues related to setting up a practice such as:

• Identifying Competition
• Naming and Branding
• Positioning
• Costs
• Policies and Procedures
• Location
• Business structures
• Business Plan
• Note taking
• Insurance
• Documentation
• Confidentiality issues
• I.T.
• Business Cards
• Basics of Marketing

Marketing Master Class

This 1-Day Workshop provides information on how to “get it right the first time” to succeed and grow. This Master class focuses on strategies related to:

• Marketing a non tangible service
• Butterfly Effect
• Brochure and Printing design rules
• How to identify trends & new markets
• Niche markets – tomorrows market for allied health providers
• Marketing fallacies – what’s true and what’s not
• Keeping Clients – being good is not good enough on its own
• Advertising – what works and what doesn’t

This is an ACA activity and all ACA participants will receive 12 OPD points per activity.

Workshop presenter: 

Philip Armstrong is the current CEO of the Australian Counselling Association he also holds the position of Secretary General of the Asia Pacific Rim Confederation of Counsellors and Chairs the current steering committee of the Counselling and Psychotherapy Association of Commonwealth Nations. Philip has won several prestigious awards for his work in developing counselling services including twice winner of Quest Business Achievers Award for Professional Services. Philip has also published several best sellers including “Establishing an Allied Health Service” (been in print for over 5 years) and “The Practice of Counselling” both published by CENGAGE.

Dates and Locations:

Melb: Thursday 8th March – Basic Foundations
Melb: Friday 9th of March -  Marketing Master Class

Syd: Thursday 15th March  – Basic Foundations
Syd: Friday 16th March  – Marketing Master Class

Bris: Thursday 22nd March  – Basic Foundations
Bris: Friday 23rd March – Marketing Master Class

All workshops will run from 9.30am to 3.30pm. Venues TBA.

Investment:

AIPC Student or member:
1 x day = $300.00
Both days = $500.00
Register before January 16th:  $450 for both days

ACA member:
1 x Day = $250.00
Both days = $400.00

Non AIPC or ACA member:
1 x day = $350.00
Both days = $600.00
Register before January 16th:  $550 for both days

Includes: Morning, afternoon tea and lunch, copy of PP presentation. First 10 registrants per city will receive a free copy of “The Practice of Clinical Supervision” worth over $40.00.

How to register:

Fax (07 3356 4709) or post (ACA PO Box 88 Grange QLD 4051) the following information to the ACA:

Full Name:
Contact Phone:
Contact Email:

Registering for (tick 1 or more):

• 1 x day Friday – Foundation workshop __
• 1 x day Saturday – Master Class workshop __
• 2 x days Both workshops __

Membership/Student Discount (tick only 1):

• I’m an AIPC Student:  __  Enter your Student Number  ___________
• I’m an AIPC Member: __  Enter your Member Number ___________
• I’m an ACA Member:  __  Enter your Member Number ___________

Date of the workshop/s you have registered for:  __ __ & __ __ March 2012.

Payment Method:

Cheque or money order (make out to ACA Inc) __
MasterCard __  or Visa __

Card number __ __ __ __ / __ __ __ __ /__ __ __ __ /__ __ __ __
Expiry date __ __  /__ __

Name on card: ___________________________________

Amount to be debited: $ _____ .00

If you have any queries please send them to  philip@theaca.net.au

Refund policy:

ACA will refund 75% of your payment for refunds requested prior to 14 days before the booked workshop, 50% of payment for refund requests prior to 24hours before the workshop no refunds within 24 hours of the workshop.

Not sure if you need to attend Seminars? Click here for information on Practical Assessments.

Below are the seminars dates for the first semester of 2012. To register for a seminar, please contact your Student Support Centre.

To access the full list of 2012 seminars, visit: www.aipc.net.au/timetables.php.

BRISBANE

DPCD Timetable

Communication Skills I – 03/03, 26/05
Communication Skills II – 04/02, 21/04, 23/06
The Counselling Process – 11/02, 28/04
Counselling Therapies I – 24-25/03, 16-17/06
Counselling Therapies II – 14-15/04
Case Management – 18-19/02, 14-15/06
Advanced Counselling Techniques – 25/02, 09/06
Counselling Applications – 10/03

CDA Timetable

Communication Skills I – 03/03, 26/05
Communication Skills II – 04/02, 21/04, 23/06
The Counselling Process – 11/02, 28/04
Counselling Therapies I – 24-25/03, 16-17/06
Counselling Therapies II – 14-15/04
Legal & Ethical Frameworks – 12/05
Family Therapy – 02/06
Case Management – 18-19/02, 14-15/06

GOLD COAST

DPCD Timetable

Communication Skills I – 25/02, 19/05
Communication Skills II – 17/03, 16/06
The Counselling Process – 21/01, 21/04
Counselling Therapies I – 23-24/03
Counselling Therapies II – 25-26/05
Case Management – 30-31/03
Advanced Counselling Techniques – 20/01
Counselling Applications – 03/02

CDA Timetable

The Counselling Process – 21/01, 21/04
Communication Skills I – 25/02, 19/05
Communication Skills II – 17/03, 16/06
Counselling Therapies I – 23-24/03
Counselling Therapies II – 25-26/05
Legal & Ethical Frameworks – 20/4
Family Therapy – 15/06
Case Management – 30-31/03

MELBOURNE

DPCD Timetable

Communication Skills I – 05/02, 03/03, 14/04, 06/05, 03/06
Communication Skills II – 8/01, 11/02, 04/03, 15/04, 12/05, 09/06
The Counselling Process – 13/01, 04/02, 02/03, 01/04, 05/05, 02/06
Counselling Therapies I – 14-15/01, 18-19/02, 17-18/03, 21-22/04, 19-20/05, 16-17/06
Counselling Therapies II – 21-22/01, 25-26/02, 24-25/03, 28-29/04, 26-27/05, 23-24/06
Case Management – 28-29/01, 31/03-01/04, 30/06-01/07
Advanced Counselling Techniques – 12/02, 13/05
Counselling Applications – 28/01, 14/04

CDA Timetable

The Counselling Process – 13/01, 04/02, 02/03, 01/04, 05/05, 02/06
Communication Skills I – 07/05, 05/02, 03/03, 14/04, 06/05, 03/06
Communication Skills II – 8/01, 11/02, 04/03, 15/04, 12/05, 09/06
Counselling Therapies I – 14-15/01, 18-19/02, 17-18/03, 21-22/04, 19-20/05, 16-17/06
Counselling Therapies II – 21-22/01, 25-26/02, 24-25/03, 28-29/04, 26-27/05, 23-24/06
Legal & Ethical Frameworks – 12/02, 13/05
Family Therapy – 26/02, 10/06
Case Management – 28-29/01, 31/03-01/04, 30/06-01/07

NORTHERN TERRITORY

DPCD Timetable

Communication Skills I – 14/04
The Counselling Process – 25/02
Counselling Therapies I – 17-18/03
Counselling Therapies II – 28/04, 05/05
Case Management – 11-12/02
Advanced Counselling Techniques – 10/03, 09/06
Counselling Applications – 12/05

CDA Timetable

The Counselling Process – 25/02
Communication Skills I – 14/04
Communication Skills II – 23/07
Counselling Therapies I – 17-18/03
Counselling Therapies II – 28/04, 05/05
Legal & Ethical Frameworks – 16/06
Family Therapy – 21/04, 15/09
Case Management – 11-12/02

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

DPCD Timetable

Communication Skills I – 04/02, 24/03, 19/05
Communication Skills II – 05/02, 25/03, 20/05
The Counselling Process – 18/02, 01/04, 02/06
Counselling Therapies I – 28-29/04
Counselling Therapies II – 25-26/02, 23-24/06
Case Management – 03-04/03
Advanced Counselling Techniques – 28/01, 05/05
Counselling Applications – 11/02, 16/06

CDA Timetable

The Counselling Process – 18/02, 01/04, 02/06
Communication Skills I – 04/02, 24/03, 19/05
Communication Skills II – 05/02, 25/03, 20/05
Counselling Therapies I – 28-29/04
Counselling Therapies II – 25-26/02, 23-24/06
Legal & Ethical Frameworks – 29/01, 06/05
Family Therapy – 12/02, 17/06
Case Management – 03-04/03

SUNSHINE COAST

DPCD Timetable

Communication Skills I – 19/05
Communication Skills II – 20/05
The Counselling Process – 31/03, 30/06
Counselling Therapies I – 17-18/03
Counselling Therapies II – 26-27/05
Case Management – 23-24/06
Advanced Counselling Techniques – 28/04
Counselling Applications – 14/07

CDA Timetable

The Counselling Process – 31/03, 30/06
Communication Skills I – 19/05
Communication Skills II – 20/05
Counselling Therapies I – 17-18/03
Counselling Therapies II – 26-27/05
Legal & Ethical Frameworks – 14/04
Family Therapy – 02/06
Case Management – 23-24/06

SYDNEY

DPCD Timetable

Communication Skills I – 20/01, 25/02, 27/03, 28/04, 05/06
Communication Skills II – 21/01, 29/02, 28/03, 05/05, 18/06
The Counselling Process – 14/01, 02/02, 18/02, 05/03, 26/03, 21/04, 12/05, 04/06, 21/06
Counselling Therapies I – 30-31/01, 02-03/03, 23-24/04, 15-16/06
Counselling Therapies II – 16-17/02, 29-30/03, 17-18/05, 29-30/06
Case Management – 09-10/02, 02-03/04, 22-23/06
Advanced Counselling Techniques – 23/02, 07/05
Counselling Applications – 24/02, 08/05

CDA Timetable

The Counselling Process – 14/01, 02/02, 18/02, 05/03, 26/03, 21/04, 12/05, 04/06, 21/06
Communication Skills I – 20/01, 25/02, 27/03, 28/04, 05/06
Communication Skills II – 21/01, 29/02, 28/03, 05/05, 18/06
Counselling Therapies I – 30-31/01, 02-03/03, 23-24/04, 15-16/06
Counselling Therapies II – 16-17/02, 29-30/03, 17-18/05, 29-30/06
Legal & Ethical Frameworks – 23/01, 24/03, 26/05
Family Therapy – 24/01, 31/03, 01/06
Case Management – 09-10/02, 02-03/04, 22-23/06

TASMANIA

DPCD Timetable

Communication Skills I – 25/03, 24/06
Communication Skills II – 05/02, 06/05
The Counselling Process – 19/02, 20/05
Counselling Therapies I – 17-18/03
Counselling Therapies II – 29-30/04
Case Management – 14-15/04
Advanced Counselling Techniques – 26/02, 17/06
Counselling Applications – 01/04

CDA Timetable

Communication Skills I – 25/03, 24/06
Communication Skills II – 05/02, 06/05
The Counselling Process – 19/02, 20/05
Counselling Therapies I – 17-18/03
Counselling Therapies II – 29-30/04
Legal & Ethical Frameworks – 27/05
Family Therapy – 11/03
Case Management – 14-15/04

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

DPCD Timetable

Communication Skills I – 07/01, 11/02, 10/03, 28/04, 26/05, 07/06
Communication Skills II – 08/01, 12/02, 11/03, 29/04, 27/05
The Counselling Process – 14/01, 18/02, 17/03, 14/04, 12/05
Counselling Therapies I – 21-22/01, 21-22/04, 09-10/06
Counselling Therapies II – 25-26/02, 05-06/05
Case Management – 28-29/01, 19-20/05
Advanced Counselling Techniques – 19/02, 16/06
Counselling Applications – 18/03

CDA Timetable

The Counselling Process – 14/01, 18/02, 17/03, 14/04, 12/05
Communication Skills I – 07/01, 11/02, 10/03, 28/04, 26/05, 07/06
Communication Skills II – 08/01, 12/02, 11/03, 29/04, 27/05
Counselling Therapies I – 21-22/01, 21-22/04, 09-10/06
Counselling Therapies II – 25-26/02, 05-06/05
Legal & Ethical Frameworks – 03/03, 02/06
Family Therapy – 04/03
Case Management – 28-29/01, 19-20/05

Important Note: Advertising of the dates above does not guarantee availability of places in the seminar. Please check availability with the respective Student Support Centre.

During the holiday season Head Office will be accepting completed assessments however you will need to allow a little extra time for their return.

Please remember that if you are receiving Centrelink benefits whilst you are completing your course, you will need to submit your assessments in accordance with the due dates on your Course Outline.

The Closure dates for each Institute Student Support Centre are:

Regional Qld – 5.00pm, 09/12/2011 (Re-opening 9.00am, 03/01/2012)
Brisbane/NT/TAS – 12.30pm, 16/12/2011 (Re-opening 9.00am, 03/01/2012)
Regional NSW – 5.00pm, 16/12/2011 (Re-opening 9.00am, 03/01/2012)
Sydney – 12.30pm, 21/12/2011 (Re-opening 9.00am,03/01/2012)
Melbourne – 12.30pm, 21/12/2011 (Re-opening 9.00am, 03/01/2012)
South Australia - 12.30pm, 21/12/2011 (Re-opening 9.00am, 03/01/2012)
Western Australia – 12.30pm, 21/12/2011 (Re-opening 9.00am, 03/01/2012)
Head Office – 12.30pm, 21/12/2011 (Re-opening 9.00am, 03/01/2012)

From the AIPC Team Australia-wide, we wish you a great festive season and fantastic start of 2012!!

Learn how you can become MHSS Certified here: http://mhfa.aipc.net.au/lz

Why do you want to become a mental health social supporter? Are you caring for someone now? Is it a relative or friend? If you are supporting someone, why are you doing it: do you want to, or do you feel obliged? Maybe you’re a founding member of a community chapter of Gamblers Anonymous, and you reluctantly front up to the meetings because – even though you’re a long-ago recovered gambler – the group would falter if you didn’t lend your energy…

Or perhaps you are supporting your friend who is caring for a chronically ill parent. The support work is intense, but you do it because you just want to help – and your friend has always been there for you. There are so many reasons why we do the things we do. Here we look at some typical motivations for being a mental health social supporter. With each one, we’ll discuss first the need or motivation that a support person may have for helping, and then alert you to a possible “hidden” motivation (often, hidden from even the helper) that may lie within the more obvious need.

You need to care for other people

You may be a natural counsellor-type. You may have the experience that, since your pre-teen years, people have come to you to unburden themselves of life’s problems. They may find in you a compassionate heart, a fabulous listener, and a genuinely non-judgmental friend. Congratulations! Those are wonderful qualities you bring to the helping situation. What is also possible is that, from well before your pre-teen years, your family was teaching you how to be a helper, because the family dynamic required someone (and you were somehow “elected”) to stabilise the family system. And therein lies the problem of needing to care for other people. There is nothing wrong with being a natural carer. It is a special and valuable calling, but beware of…

Rescuing: If caring for other people is not just something you like to do, but a compulsion, a “have-to-do”, ask yourself: are there people in your life whom you can turn to when you need help? Or is it all just one-way caring? If you just like to help out, but are well-connected with people who can reflect your helping attitude back to you, providing emotional support when you need it, then you don’t need to read the rest of this paragraph. We are not talking about you. But if your worth is dependent on you being able to help another, and you find you generally don’t get cared for much in return, you might want to pay special attention to the sections on balancing care for others with self-care.

You need to move on from old hurts

Some helpees naively believe that their helper will have perfect mental health, with all emotional wounds completely healed. That would be great. All too often, however, people are drawn to the fields of mental health helping not in spite of their own hurt places, but because of them. Like Chiron, the wounded healer, they are fascinated by how someone goes from “hurt” to “healed”, and they want it, badly. Such people may have genuine natural healer tendencies, but their unconscious motivation stems more from the desire to understand and heal their own pain, so they should beware of…

Trying to heal through the helpees: Sometimes a troubled individual may be studying to become a helper, but will be less effective because of not realising social support work with others triggers more of their own deep pain: pain which they are unprepared to examine.

You need to be needed

Most helpers probably have to own some of this motivation. For most mental health social supporter, and for many helping professionals as well, the material returns are not great. But we continue to offer helping services, partly because of strong altruistic urges, and also because the feeling of being appreciated/needed/valued is such a top-level reward. Imagine. You are sitting there with Sarah, a newly disabled young woman to whom you have been giving emotional and career support, and she looks up at you with immense gratitude in her eyes and says, “You have helped me so much. I don’t know where I’d be without you!” There are few who wouldn’t find that to be a heart-melting moment. There is nothing wrong with being appreciated, but as helpers we must all beware of...

Creating dependency in the helpee: Helpees can, without realising it, become too dependent on the helper. It is one thing to give a hungry person a fish (and much of mental health social supporting may be about that), but if we get too ambitious about continuing to secure fish, we end up only helping the helpee to forget how to fish for themselves. Sarah at some stage needs to work out for herself how to plan her next career moves, and comfort herself when things don’t go to plan. Apart from that, needing those continual “pats on the back” from others (including helpees) is not a rewarding way to live!

You like to make a difference

You may have seen helpers with this need. If this motivation applies to you, you gain much satisfaction from seeing that you are having a positive influence on people’s lives. Knowing that you are making an impact keeps you going. Having this need can serve you in mounting the necessary energy to begin and maintain a helping campaign, but do beware of…

Disillusionment: If the intended recipients of your care don’t respond or improve in the way that you hope, your disappointment may cause you to become impatient, or even question your purpose in helping. If this relates at all to you, don’t be discouraged. But do pay special attention to the sections that ask you to examine how you create meaning in your life.

You need variety and want flexibility

The real world of Mental Health Social Support contains many cultures, issues, types of people calling out for help, and helping circumstances in which to work. If you genuinely desire to help, the possibilities for loaning your energy and skills are limitless. So, too, is the variety of ways in which you can gain meaning from your work. As a volunteer, for example, you can sometimes choose your hours – and also your disasters! Social intimate helpers may feel channelled into a particular type of helping routine, but even in this case, a mental health social supporter can sometimes choose the services you give, and the ones you give away to others to do.

You may still be able to choose how you organise your helping schedule. And you can always choose what this very personal work means to you: what purpose it meets in your helpee’s life, and in yours. Otherwise, if you get stuck in an inflexible, unvarying routine, you may be vulnerable to…

Meaningless, automatic helping: The risk with this is not managing boredom and lack of stimulation so that you go out of real relationship with your helpee and become a resentful helper, who would also be out of relationship with yourself. If you relate to this at all, don’t worry; there is a fix.

The need to give back

Maybe you acknowledge how much help others have given you in the past. Perhaps you have been positively influenced by a mentor, teacher, therapist, favourite aunt or uncle, or some other helper in your life. Now it is your turn to help; you want to do your share to make your community a better place. “Surely there is no problem associated with this very pure motivation?” you ask. And that is almost true. The desire to inspire and assist others just as one has been inspired and assisted, is a high-minded, generous aspiration. There is no intent here to make it wrong, but you might like to take note of…

Idealising transference: We’ll be exploring what transference is about in the next part, but suffice to say, if you feel compelled to respond exactly as your role model Coach Jackman would have done, you may be serving your helpee adequately. After all, Coach Jackman had winning ways with his athletes. But remember: they were his ways; they are not yours. While imitation may be the highest form of flattery, it also can be limiting. By idealising and then imitating someone else in order to give back as they did, you are missing the opportunity to be in unique relationship with this person right in front of you: you being you, and the helpee being themselves.

Putting even a “great” person on a pedestal may keep you from developing your own individual brand of helping. And your helpee could miss out on unique contributions that you might have been able to offer, if you had been able to be yourself (Framework of needs adapted from Corey and Corey, 2007, pp 4 – 7).

Mental health social supporters have many motivations for offering help, most of them altruistic and genuinely supportive. Occasionally, however, the desire to help arises from unmet needs, such as a compulsion to care for others, or a strong need to be needed. This is completely natural, and even inevitable, for as human beings – even helping ones – we all have unmet needs. But mental health social supporters need to be wary of acting from drives that they are not conscious of, as these may not help their helpees.

Help those around you suffering mental illness in silence: http://mhfa.aipc.net.au/lz

Mental illness is the third largest contributor to the total national health burden (13.2%), yet only receives a measly 6% of the health expenditure. And the majority of that expenditure is on clinical service provision, not early intervention. It’s a band aid solution, provided way too late.

TO HIGHLIGHT why we believe it’s so important that you get MHSS certified we like to use the analogy of pool fencing.

Before we had mandatory legislation to fence pools there was a relatively high incidence of drowning deaths. These deaths were skewed to 0 – 5 year olds that ‘wandered’ into the pool.

The obvious and pragmatic solution was to create a barrier to stop this high risk group gaining access to the dangerous pool zone.

Would it be an effective solution to increase funding to paramedics to reduce accidental drowning?

No, it wouldn’t. Paramedics do a wonderful job, save lives, and no doubt require additional funding. But in the specific incidence of reducing deaths of 0 – 5 year olds by drowning, increased funding for this purpose would not deliver a substantial improvement.

Pool fencing legislation does not diminish the important work of paramedics, nurses and doctors. It is however effective in reducing the volume of drowning related incidences they need to deal with.

You can think of MHSS training in a similar context.

By undergoing MHSS training, you are effectively acting as a ‘pool fence’ amongst your family, friends and colleagues. You do not undertake the work of a counsellor or psychotherapist (paramedic, nurse or doctor) but rather serve as a protective buffer that is able to detect early onset signs of mental illness and take appropriate measures.

To incentivise you to get your MHSS certification, next Thursday 15 and Friday 16 we’re halving the price of our MHSS course. When you register on those days it’ll cost just $295 – a massive $300 saving.

You can learn more about MHSS here: www.mhfa.aipc.net.au/xmas11

• 45% of adult Australians will experience a mental illness.
• 1 in 5 will experience a mental disorder in any 12-month period.
• Mental illness is the leading cause of ‘healthy life’ lost.
• 3 million Australians will experience a major depressive illness.

And our young are most at risk:

• An astounding 26% of 16-24 year olds have experienced a mental disorder in the last 12-months.
• Mental disorders are the leading contributor to the total burden of disease among young Australians – accounting for 49% of that total.
• And 12% of 13-17 year olds have reported having thought about suicide.

The statistics really are frightening. And our mental health system can not cope. Mental illness is the third largest contributor to the total national health burden (13.2%), yet only receives a measly 6% of the health expenditure. And the majority of that expenditure is on clinical service provision, not early intervention – it’s a band aid solution, provided way too late.

That’s why we’re on a mission to stop the decline of mental health in Australia. The starting point is getting Mental Health Social Support certified.

To incentivise you to get your MHSS certification, in our Xmas promotion next Thursday 15 and Friday 16 we’re halving the price of our MHSS course. When you register on those days it’ll cost just $295 – a massive $300 saving.

You can learn more about MHSS here: www.mhfa.aipc.net.au/xmas11

PS The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that by 2020, depression will be the second leading disability causing disease in the world; labelling the dramatic increase a ‘global depression pandemic.’

PPS Join us on our important mission to plug the ‘early intervention’ hole in our mental health system. Be ready next Thursday 15 and Friday 16 to register and receive your 50% Xmas discount.

MHSS involves crucial skills that everyone needs. The more people with MHSS skills, the more eyes and ears we have out in our communities able to identify the early stages of mental illness and appropriately intervene.

Often the resulting consequences of mental illness – suicide, depression, substance abuse, etc – may have been better mitigated had they been identified earlier and appropriate measures taken.

Our population is at more risk of mental illness than physical injury. Your chances of coming across someone day to day that could be in the early stages of mental illness are very high; yet the chances of you needing to apply physical first aid are minimal. This highlights just how important MHSS skills are.

MHSS can also assist alleviate our overburdened mental health system, which is underfunded, deals with issues that are arguably unnecessarily advanced, and suffers from long waiting lists. If a larger proportion of our population gain MHSS skills, they can act as an ‘early warning’ system, intervening and referring as appropriate.

We believe it’s better to fence the top of the cliff than put an ambulance at the bottom.

And that’s we’re on a mission to get as many people as possible certified in mental health social support skills. Starting next week as a Christmas promotion we’re giving you a great incentive to get certified.

Keep an eye on this Blog or click here to receive instant email updates about this campaign. And please share this on Facebook, Google+ and Twitter!

PS We’re on a mission to plug the ‘early intervention’ hole in our mental health system. Please be ready next Thursday 15 and Friday 16 to register and receive your 50% Xmas discount.

PPS You can learn about Mental Health Social Support in this article: www.aipc.net.au/articles/?p=297

Poverty, homelessness and unemployment are often associated with this illness, but effective treatment can prevent this. If the person finds appropriate treatment and complies with it, they can make a full recovery. However people coping with the onset of first episode schizophrenia require all the support their family, community and treatment team can provide.

Psychotherapy and Psychoeducation

Therapy for schizophrenia focuses on improving cognitive functions such as:

• attention
• memory
• social skills
• uncovering and modifying negative self-appraisals
• coping with persistent symptoms
• managing stress

While psychotherapy is not the treatment of choice for a person with schizophrenia, it is useful as an adjunct to medication, helping the person to adhere to medication, learn social skills, and support and encourage activities in their community.

This can include education, modelling appropriate behaviour, limit setting, and reality testing. Supportive group therapy can be especially helpful in decreasing social isolation and increasing reality testing (retrieved from http://www.mentalhelp.net/).

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy

Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT), which was originally developed to treat depression and anxiety by targeting maladaptive beliefs and behaviours thought to initiate and maintain distress, has been recently applied to the treatment of psychosis, in particular delusions and hallucinations. Research shows a demonstrated effect with medication-resistant delusions and hallucinations and other acute symptoms.  In these cases, CBT has been shown to reduce distress, hospital admission time, and relapse rates (Kingdon & Turkington, 1994).

CBT is primarily used to develop coping strategies for dealing with symptoms. The aim of CBT with psychosis is to gradually promote flexibility in interpreting delusional beliefs and to generate and test alternative explanations, thereby significantly reducing distress and disability resulting from symptoms.

This approach considers delusional beliefs and beliefs about hallucinatory experiences as being on a continuum with normal beliefs, subject to the same biases and processes of evidence, and therefore changeable. In this way, CBT can be useful in acute stages of illness, rather than only when other treatments have failed. However establishing a collaborative and trusting therapeutic relationship can take time (Tarrier, Yusupoff & Kinney, 1998).

Family Interventions

This type of treatment is aimed at engaging families as active participants in treatment and improving their coping capacities. It encourages the family to convene a family meeting whenever an issue arises in order to determine the exact nature of the problem, to list and consider solutions, and to select and implement an agreed solution. Family treatments target such issues as:

• education about the disorder
• communication and problem solving
• agreeing on and pursuing goals without becoming emotionally over involved
• utilising resources in the community

Supportive family therapy can reduce relapse rates to below 10%, whereas patients who do not receive this treatment typically have a relapse relate of approximately 50 to 60% (retrieved from http://www.mentalhelp.net).

Social skills training

Even though symptoms are successfully controlled my medication, one way of helping to improve functional outcomes is through social skills training. Individuals who suffer from Schizophrenia often have poor interpersonal skills.

Social skills training aims at enabling client to acquire skills that they may need in their every day-today functioning such as employment skills, communication skills, relationship skills, personal hygiene skills and skills in managing the disorder’s symptoms and medications. Clients get to practice their new learnt skills through role playing with the therapist before moving to natural settings. Individuals who receive social skills training are less likely to relapse and need hospital treatment (Kurtz & Muesser, 2008; Butcher, Mineka and Hooley, 2007).

Relapse Prevention

Relapse prevention planning occurs following hospitalisation in order to educate the person and their family to recognise early warning signs of schizophrenia and prepare for high risk situations (Phillips, Yuen, Pantelis & McGorry, 2002). A plan of action is decided and agreed upon that will be followed if early warning signs become apparent.

This assists the person to avoid moving from a prodromal phase into the onset of acute symptoms. Education about the illness and identification of the person’s particular triggers for relapse, combined with specific coping strategies and the inclusion of the person’s social network, appears to assist in the prevention of relapse.

Supportive Counselling

This is often carried out by a case manager in the community who helps the person make plans for the future. The case manager also ensures the person has access to community services they may need and provides support and encouragement for resuming life in the community.

Prevention

The aim of is to prevent new cases of the disorder from ever developing. Research conducted in the past decade indicates that schizophrenia is due to a genetic predisposition and environmental stressors early in a child’s development (during pregnancy and birth, and/or early childhood) which lead to subtle alterations in the brain that make a person susceptible to developing schizophrenia (http://www.schizophrenia.com).

Improving obstetric care of women with schizophrenia and first degree of relatives of individuals with Schizophrenia known as primary intervention may help prevent future development of the disorder (Butcher, Mineka & Hooley, 2007).

Successful prevention encompasses both successful identification of who is at high risk and successful treatment (Doskoch, 2000). The secondary prevention involves early intervention with people that are at most risk of schizophrenia. The challenge however is accurate identification of such individuals due to current flawed screening tests (Butcher, Mineka & Hooley, 2007).

Editor’s Note: This article is an extract from Mental Health Academy’s Schizophrenia PD course.