Behavioral health care, also known as behavioral medicine, is a special type of health care that utilizes psychological techniques and methods to help individuals recover more quickly from, or learn how to understand and better cope with, psychological and medical conditions. The goal is to help improve patients' health and overall quality of life.
Behavioral health care techniques can be used as additional or supplemental treatments to regular medical treatments. These techniques are often also successfully used as the sole treatments for many conditions, such as anxiety, depression, trauma recovery, "bad habit" reversals and other problems.
Behavioral care can also help people heal by teaching how illnesses, attitudes, behaviors and emotional states interact to affect medical conditions and also influence responses to treatment, recovery and well-being. Behavioral care shows patients how to utilize behavioral and psychological techniques and procedures to change, remediate and improve their level of functioning and alleviate distress.
Psychological and behavioral therapies and services, much like surgery or dentistry, are individualized and specialized procedures requiring specific education, training and experience to be performed appropriately. Such therapy and treatment should only be sought from properly educated, trained and credentialed behavioral and psychological practitioners.
For more information on how to choose a licensed professional who's right for you and your family, consider asking friends who have received behavioral or psychological treatment and also consider contacting the licenser board for psychologists, social workers, licensed mental health counselors or licensed marriage and family therapists in the state where you live. You can also refer to national associations such as the American Psychological Association.
WE ALSO OFFER EDUCATION AND TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES
In addition to direct clinical and behavioral services, we offer training, continuing education and office consultation to other health care professionals who seek to start or develop their services to children, adolescents and families. Some examples of this include:
Supervision, Training, Peer & File Review and Continuing Education Services:
We teach and supervise the administration of psychological assessments and also provide Case Review and Peer Review services regarding psychological and behavioral health assessments that other professionals have conducted. We also review and supervise the diagnostic, treatment planning and clinical services provided by other clinical professional regarding psychological and behavioral diagnosis and treatment. We provide these services to non-profit, public organizations serving children, adolescents and families involved with the schools, governmental organizations, insurance companies and the legal system and we also provide these services to individuals and families through their attorneys.
Clinical and Case Consultation :
We offer case and clinical consultation, assessment, case review and expert testimony, mediation and dispute resolution, and parenting assessments and coordination. We work with insurance companies, businesses, unions, municipalities, schools, governmental agencies and hospitals to provide consultation and evaluation in cases involving psychological impairment, cognitive deficits and injury, developmental delays and disability, ADHD spectrum disorders and other psychological and behavioral health issues requiring assessment and expert opinions. This includes forensic matters.
Community Involvement and Speakers Bureau :
Our speakers bureau is available to local community organizations and also provides formal and informal training, supervision and continuing education services regarding psychological and behavioral issues to legal, medical and academic organizations for case conferences, seminars and presentations. Past presentations have included: Behavioral play therapy, EMDR, REBT, public speaking anxiety, forensic psychology issues, child development, psychological assessment techniques, school and workplace bullying and ethics.
☛☛☛☛☛☛☛ AND A FEW WORDS ABOUT CHILDHOOD AND PARENTING...
BEHAVIORAL LABELING (Author unknown)
If an adult is reinforced for behaving appropriately, we call it RECOGNITION, If a child is reinforced for behaving appropriately, we call it BRIBERY
If an adult laughs, we call it SOCIALIZING. If a child laughs, we call it MISBEHAVING.
If an adult sticks to something, we call it PERSEVERANCE. If a child sticks to something, we call it STUBBORNNESS.
If an adult is not paying attention, we call it PREOCCUPATION. If a child is not paying attention1 we call it DISTRACTABILITY.
If an adult tells his/her side of the story, we call it CLARIFICATION. If a child tells his/her side of the story, we call it TALKING BACK.
If adults raise voices in anger1 we call it EXPRESSION. If children raise their voices in anger1 we call it a TEMPER TANTRUM.
If an adult hits a child, we call it DISCIPLINE. If a child hits a child, we call it FIGHTING.
If an adult behaves in an unusual way, we call him/her UNIQUE. If a child behaves in an unusual way, we refer him/her for a PSYCHOLOGICAL EVALUATION.
(Reprinted from the Colorado Society of School Psychologists Newsletter: Fall/Winter, 1991)
DON'T QUIT (Author unknown - Imprimatur:Richard Cardinal Cushing Former Archbishop of
Boston)
When things go wrong as they sometimes will, When the road you're trudging seems all uphill, When the funds are low and the debts are high, And you want to smile, but you have to sigh, When care is pressing you down a bit- Rest if you must, but don't you quit.
Life is queer with its twists and turns, As every one of us sometimes learns, And many a fellow turns about When he might have won had he stuck it out. Don't give up though the pace seems slow- You may succeed with another blow.
Often the goal is nearer than It seems to a faint and faltering man; Often the struggler has given up When he might have captured the victor's cup; And he learned too late when the night came down How close he was to the golden crown.
Success is failure turned inside out- The silver tint of the clouds of doubt, And you never can tell how close you are, It may be near when it seems afar; So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit,- It's when things seem worst that you mustn't quit.
Welcome to Holland - Emily Pen Kingsley
I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this...
When you are going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guidebooks and make wonderful plans. The Coliseum. Michelangelo's David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.
After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."
"Holland?!" you say. "What do you mean, Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy." But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.
The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.
So you must go out and buy new guidebooks. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.
It's just a different place. It's slower paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills ... and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandt.
But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say, "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned." And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away ... because the loss of that dream is a very, very significant loss.
But ... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.
Press On - Author unknown
Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence.
Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.
Genus will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.
Education alone will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.
Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.
HUGS - Author unknown
It's wondrous what a hug can do. A hug can cheer you, when you're so blue. A hug can say, "I love you so," Or, "I hate to see you go." A hug is "Welcome back again," And "Great to see you ! where have you been?" A hug can soothe a small child's pain And bring a rainbow after the rain. The hug, there's no doubt about it - We scarcely could survive without it. A hug delights and warms and charms; It must be why God gave us arms. Hugs are great for fathers and mothers, Sweet for sisters, swell for brothers; And chances are your favorite aunts Love hugs more than potted plants. Kittens crave them, puppies love them; Heads of states are not above them. A hug can break the language barrier And make your travel so much merrier. No need to fret about your store of 'em; The more you give, the more there's of 'em. So stretch those arms without delay And give someone a hug today!
