Vivamus Psychologist Blog
The Psychological Effects of the Olympics.
Date: 23/04/2012
The Olympics are coming to town. Like it or not, the next few months will see an influx of excited spectators and anxious athletes in and around the city. Some thrive in the knowledge that London will be at the centre of the World’s attention over the next few months, while some are taking steps to leave town, returning only when things have returned to normal.
A little known group of people are significantly and negatively affected by the Olympics and do not have the luxury of choosing the extent to which they are affected in this way. I’m referring to the hundreds of men, women and children who will be trafficked to London and surrounding areas over the course of the Olympics.
In my work in Amsterdam I work with victims of human trafficking and forced prostitution in helping them to overcome the complex and multiple psychological and physical traumas they endured. Yet this is not a problem isolated to Amsterdam and its Red Light District. This is an issue affecting numerous Western cities and London, while already hosting such a crime, will see a significant increase in human trafficking over the course of the Olympics.
And why is this? The more people flock to a city the more the demand for sexual and domestic services increases. A sad fact. Furthermore, the more the spotlight is directed on a country the more people in certain parts of the world consider it an option favourable to their own, making them vulnerable to the traffickers’ false promises of a better life and employment opportunities. People who are trafficked agree to go with their trafficker because they believe that in so doing they will be able to work in a bar, restaurant or hotel and of course the Olympics provides great demand for such jobs. But when they arrive they see they have been deceived but by this point it is too late; the trafficker forces their victims to work, for example, as domestic or sex slaves by using physical force and threats of violence and death to the victim and victim’s family.
In working with this population my eyes have been opened to this heinous crime and the psychological and physical impact being trafficked and forced into prostitution has on a person. For those who are rescued or escape, the effects of the experience do not end. Symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression and anxiety are common and as such, while the experience itself is over, these women are plagued by constant images of the trauma for years to come.
I’m sorry to paint such a bleak picture, but to blog about this topic in a cheery positive manner is in my opinion an insult to those who fall victim to this crime.
But that said, there is hope. I am struck by the strength of these women. Women who find it within themselves to confront the memories of what they have endured in order to be free of their mental health symptoms in order that they may truly move on with their lives.
Treating victims of human trafficking has provided me with an understanding of the impact of trauma on individuals and they way in which psychological treatments can be extremely effective in making a positive and tangible difference to people. I have found that EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), CBT (Cognitive Behaviour Therapy) and NET (Narrative Exposure Therapy) can be effective ways in which to address symptoms of PTSD.
And I am gladdened to know that the United Nations are on this. The UN are running a campaign to increase awareness of this problem in London in the build up to the Olympics and you too can be involved. For more information as to how you can help reduce human trafficking during the Olympics please see http://stopthetraffik-news.org/D5L-L6ME-931KM19A61/cr.aspx
For more information on human trafficking and its psychological effects, please consult the following websites and publications:
http://www.stopthetraffik.org/
http://genderviolence.lshtm.ac.uk/files/health_risks__consequences_trafficking.pdf
Dr. Marie Thompson
Clinical Psychologist
Managing Stress: It is not events that cause us to feel stressed, it is our perception of those events that lead to a stress reaction.
Date: 02/04/2012
Many people are drawn to our practice in London, Brighton, Amsterdam and The Hague due to stress. Which prompted me to blog about this multi national, highly prevalent issue. It’s something that affects us all at some point and to varying degrees. But at what stage does it become a problem?
I am often invited to give workshops and talks on stress, and I always start by making the point that stress per se is no bad thing. In fact stress can be a good thing: it helps to motivate us to get us out of bed in the morning, to achieve and to be productive. However too much stress can have the opposite effect, causing us to be overwhelmed, to have difficulty in making even simple decisions and leading to a decrease in motivation to achieve anything. The approach I use is to help people find the balance between a good amount of stress and too much stress. When people have this optimal level of stress they can be the productive, efficient individuals they are.
And how is this done? By addressing either the triggers and/or our resources to cope with the triggers.
Sometimes the trigger is easy to address: you might think about saying no to extra demands while working to achieve a particular deadline. Or you might delegate more within your team until after the meeting you need to invest all your energy in. However, it is not always possible to control the triggers. For example, the experience of moving house, planning a wedding, relationship breakdown can not be delegated elsewhere. In these circumstances, it is important to focus on our resources.
And by this I mean pay attention to the negative thoughts you have in relation to a situation. When you notice yourself feel stressed ask yourself what thought or image went through your mind. By identifying these thoughts you can start to make sense of what exactly the stressful situation means to you, and it often means slightly different things to different people. Thoughts such as “I’m a failure” … “I will never get this done” are closely linked to emotions such as fear, sadness, anxiety, anger. And when we feel like this we act accordingly. We might withdraw from social situations or avoid a deadline completely. These ways of behaving often cause us to feel more stressed and we find ourselves in a vicious cycle.
Addressing these negative thoughts and images is key and you can find more information on how to do this by reading our Top Tips for Managing Stress http://www.vivamuspsychologists.co.uk/top-tips.php
It is also important to increase your ability to manage and respond to stress by looking after yourself. Do things that work for you. Spend time with people who make you feel good about yourself, do things you know you’re good at. Keep the balance to life. Again you can find more information and ideas about this on our Top Tips for Managing Stress
http://www.vivamuspsychologists.co.uk/top-tips.php
Wherever I am working, whether it is in the UK or The Netherlands, with individuals or whether speaking to large groups delivering stress management workshops, the message to me is clear: Stress affects us all. Learn to manage it and it need not be a problem.
If you would like to know more about how our psychologists can help you or your business deal with stress, you can contact us at info@vivamuspsychologists.co.uk and you can follow us on Twitter @ VIVAMUS_Psychs
Dr. Marie Thompson
Clinical Psychologist
Approaching Chronic Conditions in Childhood
Date: 05/03/2012
As unaccustomed as I am to blogging (this is my first ever blog), I feel compelled to do so by the article I read in this month’s Psychologist – ‘Coping and acceptance in chronic childhood conditions’, by Jeremy Gauntlett-Gilbert and Hannah Connell, pp. 198-201. As someone working in the field of ‘pain management’ – in my opinion a totally inappropriate phrase to describe the actual focus of what I do – I found the article reinforcing, elaborative and thought provoking. I want to use my first blog to explain why – though blogging about this feels rather egocentric to me in my blog-novice status! Any way….
Reinforcing, in that as I have read a lot of the literature and evidence base as to the relevance of mindfulness / Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) based approaches to chronic conditions, and applied their modalities and their spirit first hand to therapeutic benefit, I am pleased more air time is being given to the application of such approaches in direct clinical settings – for it is only in the context of the setting that they start to make sense, it is a lived approach.
Elaborative, in that the article as well written as it is, with its humility to other more dominant approaches acknowledged, offers a more dynamic, yes I mean dynamic , elaboration of human experience through the conceptualisations of ACT it outlines, than those often offered by straight Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) conceptualisations themselves. Though I feel it is important to recognise that CBT has gone a long way in our socio-political context to revitalise and ask questions of the profession of Psychology as a whole – you can’t have a third wave without a second!
Thought provoking, in that with my social constructionist hat on, ACT like CBT seems to be trying to encounter truth’s in experience, something I find hard to engage with given my lived therapeutic experience of exploring macro and micro co-constructed relational meanings with others – in relation to the article one might ask why is being anxious, resisting or indeed ‘suffering in the rain’ bad? Could this be a construction of experience rather than the experience itself – in the moment! I wonder then if given that younger people (children) may have taken on less of the social constructed prescriptions through which to interpret their own experience, they might actually be better placed to manage chronic conditions than adults – not because they are naïve as to the ‘true’ meaning of illness as often proposed, but rather because they are open to more fluid meanings – psychological flexibility in the terminology of ACT – they may thus be more resilient than we give them credit for, reflecting our own ‘psychological stuckness’ in the construction of childhood .
Dr. Terry Boucher
Counselling Psychologist
Effects of Parental OCD on Children
Date: 28/02/2012
At Vivamus our Psychologists work with parents, children and families. One of the concern parents often express is the impact of their psychological difficulties on their children, and wondering whether they might ‘pass it on’ to them. In the latest edition of the Journal of Psychology and Psychotherapy (Vol 85, pg. 68 – 82), Griffiths et al (2012) report the findings from their qualitative research study which examined children’s experiences of living with parents with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten 13 to 19 year olds with a parent with OCD and five themes were identified:
Ø ‘control and boundaries’ (subthemes: ‘my space, my things’; ‘I’m not allowed to do that’; ‘resisting requests and creating space’; ‘my skill development’)
Ø ‘doing what I can to help’ (subthemes: ‘giving comfort and avoiding upset’; ‘taking on extra responsibilities’)
Ø ‘telling: embarrassment and pride’ (subthemes: ‘keeping it a secret’; ‘OK to share successes’)
Ø ‘do I have OCD’ (subthemes: ‘watching for OCD’; ‘It’s a family thing’; ‘Dealing with possible OCD’)
Ø ‘getting the right help for me’ (subthemes: ‘getting used to, understanding, and accepting’; ‘Kids should know more’; ‘Not just anyone can help’).
What is interesting about this study, is whilst negative experiences/consequences are discussed (as in previous studies) there are also some positive subthemes, which include the potential for pride and the desire to maintain a good relationship with their parents. Though this study only interviewed ten children, it does highlight the need for psychologists to be curious about how client’s family members are coping and not to assume that all experiences will necessarily be detrimental.
Dr. Katherine Boucher
Clinical Psychologist
Introducing Mindfulness
Date: 20/02/2012
Many of the Psychologists at Vivamus include Mindfulness techniques in their therapeutic approach. Mindfulness has been defined as an ‘awareness of present experience with acceptance’ (Germer, Siegal & Fulton, 2005) or ‘the awareness that emerges through paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgementally to the unfolding experience moment by moment’ (Kabat-Zinn, 2003). Psychologists offering a mindfulness-based intervention should seek to promote seven key qualities: non-judging, patience, having a beginner’s mind, trust, non-striving, acceptance, and letting go (Kabat-Zinn, 2001).
Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) (Segal, Williams & Teasdale, 2002) combines principles of cognitive therapy with mindfulness techniques (such as meditation skills that focus attention). MBCT has a growing evidence base with a range of conditions, and the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE, 2004) has recommended that MBCT should be considered for people who have had three or more major depressive episodes.
If you are interested in exploring mindfulness techniques with a psychologist do contact us on: info@vivamuspsychologists.co.uk or if you have any feedback about your experiences of mindfulness please tweet us @ VIVAMUS_Psychs
Dr. Katherine Boucher
Clinical Psychologist
Technological Toddlers!
Date: 13/02/2012
As a psychologist, clients and friends, often ask me my opinion on children development and what is ‘good’ or ‘bad’ for them.
In the December 2011 edition of the Psychologist Magazine, Natalie Kucirkova, examines babies and toddlers use of technology (The Psychologist (2011), vol 24 (12), pgs. 938 – 940). An interesting statistic she quotes is that in 2009, more than 47% of the top 100 selling Apple apps were targeted at preschool or elementary aged children (Shuler, 2009), and that designers of apps are free to define how ‘educational’ their apps are themselves. Kucirkova reports that there is a lack of longitudinal research in this area and thus there are not publicised guidelines for parents. The article discusses why there may be a lack of research (technology changing too quickly, adult researchers not being up to speed themselves etc.), professionals/childcare providers’ approaches to new technology and some of the skills that digital literacy might promote. Kucirkova concludes that professionals working with children need to recognise the role of digital technologies on children’s lives and the advantages of acknowledging digital media in childhood research.
So my first advice to parents would be to try to learn with their children about new technologies, and to research the impact themselves by listening and observing their children, as each child learns and responds in different ways.
Dr. Katherine Boucher
Clinical Psychologist
