Category: Blog Posts

When the news reports on sports concussions, often it discusses male football players. Seldom, if ever, are female athletes mentioned. Yet they suffer concussions as well. Katherine Snedaker, MSW of PinkConcussions.com and Dr. Jimmy Sanderson and Dr. Melinda Weathers, two researchers from Clemson University, are gathering applicants for a national study of female athletes 18 years and older to research the past and present affects of concussions. These can be sports or non-sports concussions. Also being researched is why these incidents are being underreported. This is important research and I encourage you to check it out to see if this research is appropriate for you or someone you know.

Brain trauma can cause dementia, headaches, light sensitivity, memory loss and encephalopathy. It can also be responsible for changed behavior, such as irritability, anger, depression, suicidal thoughts and actions, learning problems, poor decision-making skills and subsequent substance abuse. But you don’t have to accept that this is what you have to endure for the rest of your life.

Much of the damage caused to the brain can be rehabilitated. If you or someone you love is experiencing mental side effects after a concussion, speak to your doctor immediately. A holistic approach to the health of the mind and body can put you back in control of your life. You can learn how to use your own natural healing power to regain health. Couple this will good nutrition, regular exercise and changing negative lifestyle behaviors and you’ve begun your journey to optimal health and wellness.

The mind and body are in a state of constant communication. What the mind thinks and experiences is sent from the brain to the rest of the body and vice versa. If you want to improve your mind-body communication, consult a NET practitioner who can remove the blocks so your body can repair itself. If you live near Portland, OR/Vancouver, WA, contact my office and set up an appointment so your healing can begin.

Learn more about Mind and Body Health on my website – Holistic Health.

Couples fall in love and many times find that they work well together in their marriage. So for them the next logical step is to begin working together in a business endeavor. You would think that couples working toward a common goal together would draw them closer. Yet many couples have found this creates more challenges than they expected.

This was illustrated in a recent article in The New York Times, Together, at Home and at Work. The author, Bruce Feiler, spent an intensive six months working closely with his wife and many of his friends reacted by asking when they would divorce. No doubt it was asked jokingly, however it underlines the commonly held misconception that couples can’t work together for any length of time without breaking up.

After giving example of famous couples who have successfully worked together and others who have failed, he quoted a number of experts on couple working together. I was happy to talk to him about my research that appears in my book, Entrepreneurial Couples Making it Work at Work and at Home. I shared my insight that couples who work together should never compromise unless there really is no other option. When you’re working with your spouse, you’re going to be tempted to compromise, because that’s what you do at home. But that’s not good for business. Too much sensitivity to others is the primary reason family companies grow slower than non-family firms.

He also discussed the need to set boundaries – what happens at work stays at work, what happens at home stays at home, not to be afraid of conflict, and know when it’s time to quit if it’s not working.

Successful couples combine the wife’s and the husband’s strengths. Take what you know about each other and use it to the fullest to take your business and your life to a new height. If you could use some personal guidance on how to resolve a conflict in your family business, please contact my Portland Oregon/ Vancouver, Washington office and set up an appointment.

You can learn more about my book, Entrepreneurial Couples Making it Work at Work and at Home, and purchase a Kindle edition by clicking here.

SPECT imaging is a nuclear medicine study that looks at the blood flow and activity of the brain. It tells three things about the brain, the good activity, too little activity or too much activity. It’s an invaluable tool that helps psychiatrists help their patients. On a recent TEDx talk, Dr Daniel Amen spoke passionately about what he’s learned from the 83,000 brains that have been scanned, which has created the largest brain scan database on human behavior to date.

He spoke of the irony that every other doctor examines the part of the body that is their specialty, for example cardiologists examine the physical heart and so forth. Yet psychiatrists have for years been guessing based on symptoms, without ever looking at the brain. He likened it to throwing darts in the dark, which has had unintentionally hurtful consequences to patients.

SPECT Imaging is a treatment that is tailored to an individual brain, not to clusters of symptoms. And the exciting news is that they’ve discovered that troubled brains can be rehabilitated. The single most valuable lesson that they’ve learned is that you can change people’s brains. And when you do, you change people’s lives for generations to come. He gave an example of brain rehabilitation that is helping the severely injured brains of NFL players… an amazing 80% of them are showing improvement in blood flow, memory and mood.

In my own personal search for answers as to why my daughters have suffered from mental health problems, I turned to SPECT imaging. It was discovered that my older daughter suffers from Autism Spectrum Disorder. From her brain scan, I realized that she has a very “noisy” brain and can never get a break from the anxiety it causes her. The brain scans of my younger daughter show Post Concussion Syndrome, or diffuse brain damage due to soccer, snow boarding injuries and auto accidents which have caused her various health problems.

However, there is hope as Dr. Amens Tedx video shows. The use of medicines, whole foods, vitamins and supplements can heal the brain. This is the type of holistic health regimen that I often use with clients. Learn more about holistic healing on my website – Mind and Body: Holistic Health.

We often hear of people suffering from sleep deprivation – not getting enough sleep. They struggle through the day bleary-eyed and in a mental fog. Did you know, however, that these could also be the symptoms for those who sleep too much?

Is it really possible to sleep too much?

How much sleep you require depends a great deal on your general health and lifestyle habits. The common recommendation is to get on average seven to nine hours of sleep each night. If you’re recovering from an illness or surgery you will naturally require more sleep. What if you don’t have poor general health but you consistently sleep much more than nine hours every day? Should this be a cause for concern?

In a recent article on CNN, Are You Sleeping Too Much, Dr. Lisa Shives, director of Northshore Sleep Medicine in Evanston, Illinois, was quoted as saying that people who wake up groggy after sleeping a long time are suffering from “sleep drunkenness.” If you have slept an appropriate amount of time, you should wake up feeling refreshed not feeling disoriented, anxious, with memory problems, loss of appetite or diminished social skills.

If you or someone you love is experiencing a sleep problem, there may be a condition that needs to be treated by a physician or mental therapist. It may indicate any number of disorders such as hypersomnia, sleep apnea, thyroid disease, kidney disease, liver disease, or even depression. As a psychologist, one of my major concerns about sleep disorders is that they can easily escalate into more severe illnesses, so it’s important to identify the cause of your sleep disorder without delay and then learn how to deal with it.

Getting good sleep is vital to healthy living. It’s the body’s way of healing. One of my clients was experiencing psychosis and when he got help for his sleep apnea, he regained his normal healthy self. As a psychologist I always check the physical health issues of my clients to make sure I am treating the right problem. The mind and body are interconnected and in order to enjoy overall well-being, we must look at the both areas. If you are looking to improve your mental health, don’t delay in seeking assistance! Contact my Portland OR/Vancouver, WA office to set up an appointment.

For more information visit my webpage – Overcoming Depression.

A bully used to be the big kid on the playground who pushed the littler kids around, stole their milk money and bloodied their noses. Times have changed and bullying is not only much more prevalent but also more insidious. Nowadays bullying takes the form of insulting rumors and gossip. These vicious verbal attacks are happening via social media and text messaging.

Rumors boost social status and is an effective method that bullies use to climb the social ladder. Young people don’t control the impulse because they don’t stop to think of the consequences. They think it’s all harmless fun. But it isn’t. As we’ve all heard recently, online bullying has led to teens committing suicide because they felt there was no one to help them and they couldn’t handle the embarrassment.

It was just an honest mistake but your loved one with Asperger’s won’t accept your apology. You know he loves you and he doesn’t intend to hurt you. But it’s more than you can bear when time after time he can’t understand that his lack of empathy causes a deep and lasting emotional hurt. His “good intentions” just can’t erase the tremendous pain he’s inflicting.

Does this sound familiar? Have you ever wondered why your Aspie accuses you of ill intentions when you make a mistake? And why is it so hard for those with Asperger’s Syndrome to apologize for their errors and omissions? The answer is pretty simple. Aspies believes that they have good intentions toward their loved ones, so if they erred in some way, the good intention covers it all. They don’t see that they are accountable for the harm they cause when they didn’t intend it to be hurtful.

On the other hand the Neuro-typical believes in apologizing for ones actions even if no harm is intended. However, it is hard to apologize to an Aspie when they hold that your mistake represents ill intentions toward them.

Unintended consequences create a moral dilemma. Let’s meet to discuss this problem of how to hold Aspies responsible for their unintended consequences when they don’t use empathy to resolve problems. And how do you get past their mind blindness when you are accused of bad intentions?

On November 16, 2013, Asperger Syndrome: Partners and Families of Adults with ASD will be having our last Meetup for the year in Portland, Oregon to discuss the topic, “Unintended Consequences.” We’ll be sharing stories and input from those who have walked in these shoes so you can learn how to cope with this difficult situation. Come and join us and share what you know about “unintended consequences.” Visit our Meetup page for more details.

Download a free sample chapter of my new book, Parenting with a Partner with Asperger Syndrome (ASD): Out of Mind – Out of Sight. When you better understand the NT/AS dynamics, you’ll be empowered to cope and thrive in your family.