In May 2013 the American Psychiatric Association published the newest diagnostic tool for mental health, the DSM 5. This is the fifth major publication of what many consider to be the Bible of mental health. It is used by mental health practitioners (psychiatrist, psychologists, and counselors), courts, insurance companies, and government agencies in their diagnostic and decision making activities related to mental health. As a result of...

Scott Stossel describes his personal journey to treat anxiety. He discussed one treatment called Exposure Therapy. Scott Pelley discussed Exposure Therapy at VA Centers. Exposure Therapy is compared to EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy).

            Uh, Say What??  If the term Psychodrama is new to you, you might be wondering “What the heck is that?” (most likely – my original response).  Some may be intrigued to hear about a new technique and some may say “We have enough drama in our lives and “Psycho”drama sounds like drama – amped up.  Actually, Psychodrama is a legitimate, very helpful therapy technique that usually is done in a group...

How can counseling help you? Here are eight great reasons to start counseling today. It feels good to have someone listen, manage stress, recover from childhood, erase your psychiatric diagnosis, spend less on prescriptions, live longer, evolve faster than your same age peers, impress everyone with your well-adjusted kids….

The truth is, in any given year, one in five adults experience a mental illness — one in five.  Forty-five million Americans suffer from things like depression or anxiety, schizophrenia or PTSD.  Young people are affected at a similar rate.  So we all know somebody — a family member, a friend, a neighbor — who has struggled or will struggle with mental health issues at some point in their lives.  Michelle and I have both...

In my opinion, counseling records should be held to a highest standard of privacy of all health records.  It is much more damaging to a person to publicly reveal a history of affairs, suicide attempts, psychosis, alcohol and drug abuse than it is to reveal a list of recent lab values and blood pressure readings.  The 1996 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, known as HIPAA was created to protect the privacy of health records. ...