CRG Newsletter: Spring Edition

April 2014, Volume 4 (2)

In This Issue
Emotional Dysregulation and Validation
Coaching and Self-Determination
Every Coach Needs a Game Plan
Improving Communication with Your Partner
Meet the Provider: David R. Parker, Ph.D.
Meet the Staff: Rashida Greene, Front Office Coordinator
Quick Links
  
To learn more about CRG, please visit the
  
Save the Date!
  
Dr. Julie T. Steck, Ph.D., HSPP, will be hosting Part 2 of the 2014 CRG Outreach Workshop Series,

Mood Disorders 101: Helping Parents of Pre-School and School-Age Children

The workshop will take place at Indiana Wesleyan University Conference Center North on Friday, May 2, 2014 from 3-5pm.

For more information or to register, please contact CRG at (317) 575-9111.
  

 CRG Secure Email

Click here to join! 

Primary Care Psychiatry Foundation
  
The
Primary Care Psychiatry Foundation 
invites you to attend

Women are from Venus: Psychiatric Disorders in Females Across the Lifespan 

The conference will take place at Indiana Wesleyan University Conference Center North on Saturday, May 10, 2014 from 7:30am-3:15pm.

Visit the
for information on how to register!


Assistive Technology Workshops
  
Beth Waite, MA-CCC/SLP-ATP, is offering a series of AT Workshops this summer throughout the Greenwood and Indianapolis area.

Click here for more information about each workshop.


Interested in Group Services?
  
CRG offers group services for children, adolescents and parents.  Please visit the 
for a listing of all group services during the 2014 Spring and Summer months.

  

 

  

Coaching or Cheerleading: Supporting Healthy Emotions with Constructive Communication

By David Parker, Ph.D.

 

Welcome to the spring issue of CRG's newsletter! We hope you have all survived a seemingly endless winter and feel energized by the warmer weather. In this issue, we want to address different forms of communication to discuss mental or behavioral health care issues. These conversations take place every day. It might involve a psychologist talking to a young woman about her initial diagnosis of depression or anxiety. It could be a dad talking with his son about the boy's rages when he is on sensory overload. It might be a wife trying to tell her husband how worried she is about their teenage daughter's rapidly falling grades at school for reasons no one yet understands.

 

When we have these conversations, it is easy to fall into a "cheerleading" mode with the best of intentions. Ever notice how relentlessly optimistic cheerleaders are? When we cheerlead, we try to convince the other person to be as optimistic and upbeat as we are in the face of difficult situations. We cheerlead when we say things such as, "I'm sure she'll be okay; she just needs to work harder at school" or "You know, depression is just a state of mind. If you wake up tomorrow and tell yourself you're going to have a good day, you will!" Cheerleading is usually intended to offer support and build confidence. In this case, it can be an expression of warmth and caring. Ironically, it can also backfire and introduce negative dynamics into an already complicated situation. The person on the receiving end may feel dismissed, not listened to, or begin to doubt his/her own feelings and problem-solving skills. Sometimes we cheerlead to comfort ourselves, which can be a form of denial. If we only have positive thoughts and feelings, surely something good will come out of that. Regardless of the reason, cheerleading can invalidate another person's feelings and minimize our ability to understand difficult situations that need our attention.

 

"Coaching" refers to a different type of communication we can use when these circumstances arise. When we coach, we convey a fundamental belief that the person's feelings or perceptions are valid. We may disagree with them or have a different perception, but that person's point of view matters and deserves our respect. When we coach, we say things like, "I can hear how worried you are.   Would you like to talk?" Coaches also believe that people can often identify solutions for themselves. While our tendency might be to offer advice or tell someone how we would handle the situation, a coaching approach invites us to first say something like, "What do you need to take care of yourself? Is there anything I can do to help you with that?" Statements like these can convey the belief that the person we are talking with can - and has the right to - develop his/her own solutions. We are there to support them without taking over.

 

Dr. Dana Lasek opens this issue with her article on emotional dysregulation and validation. Even when teens are experiencing "melt downs," it is important for parents, educators, or other adults in their lives to have tools for acknowledging that young person's feelings.

 

The next article links a coaching approach to self-determination. Dr. David Parker discusses coaching in greater depth and connects this approach to research on life outcomes. Youth with disabilities can develop "learned helplessness" and fail to develop autonomy if adults spend too much time problem-solving for them to ease the distress of having to learn how to do this on one's own.

 

Dr. Julie Steck's article discusses how clinicians can use a coaching approach when sharing the results of diagnostic assessment with parents. This type of conversation can help educate parents about new ways to talk openly with their children or teens about some complicated issues.

 

Dr. Val Long's article discusses ways that spouses or partners can communicate with each other even when the adults have very different feelings or perspectives. Psychologists and therapists can be instrumental in helping partners learn how to use a coaching approach to keep the communications positive.

 

CRG newsletters always "introduce" a provider and a staff member to our readers. In the issue, Dr. Julie Steck interviews CRG's Postsecondary Disability Specialist and ADD/Life Coach, Dr. David Parker. Our Director of Business Operations, Angela Beard, also introduces Front Office Coordinator, Rashida Greene. We hope all of these articles will help you consider some powerful communication tools we can all put to good use while also getting to know our team better. Happy spring!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Emotional Dysregulation and Validation

By Dana Lasek, Ph.D., HSPP

 

 

The term "emotional dysregulation" was coined by Dr. Marsha Linehan, a psychologist who developed a type of therapy called Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). Dr. Linehan developed DBT while working with suicidal and self-injurious patients. She found that traditional cognitive-behavioral therapy did not work with these highly emotionally sensitive patients. They reported feeling judged and corrected when the traditional cognitive-behavioral techniques were utilized. During her work with these patients, Dr. Linehan noted that they did not improve. In fact, her patients continued to experience weekly crises. She stepped back and started developing a more effective type of treatment for these patients and, thus, DBT was born.

 

 

Click here to continue reading Emotional Dysregulation and Validation.

 

 

                                             

Coaching and Self-Determination

By David R. Parker, Ph.D.

  

 

 

Self-determination is a concept that applies to countries, groups or organizations, and individuals. The media talked about "self-determination" when new countries emerged from the former Soviet Union as independent states (and continue doing so now with events in Ukraine). We also use this term to describe someone who knows what he/she wants and is skilled at making those goals a reality. People who are self-determined are intrinsically motivated. They know themselves well, are clear about their goals, understand their options, and enact realistic plans that bring their hopes and desires into fruition.

 

Who wouldn't want to be self-determined? Several landmark studies in the 1980's raised the possibility that - without meaning to - many parents, teachers, and disability providers suppressed the self-determination of youth with disabilities. This research investigated the lives of thousands of young adults with mental retardation, learning disabilities, and other disabilities a few years after high school.

 

 

 

To continue reading the article by Dr. David R. Parker, Ph.D., click here.

  

 

 

                                                

Every Coach Needs a Game Plan

By Julie T. Steck, Ph.D., HSPP

  

 

For the past 35 years I have had the opportunity to work with children, adolescents, young adults and their families. Most of the time, I am joining the family at a low point in their journey. The child (even if he/she is a young adult) is struggling in some aspect of life. The parents are frustrated, confused and often angry that their efforts to assist their child have not helped. Many times the families have invested a great deal of time and money in services such as therapies, tutoring, or other types of programs that promise results. They have asked teachers, friends, and extended family members for advice. Yet, the child continues to struggle. The parents have been cheerleaders - telling their child that they can overcome the problem, expressing optimism, and fighting against the opponents. Each time they tried a new approach, they started out enthusiastically and over time began to feel defeated once the initial surge of optimism is replaced with...more frustration. Their won/loss record has not improved over time.

 

 

 

Continue reading Every Coach Needs a Game Plan by clicking here.

  

 

 

                                                

Improving Communication with Your Partner

By Val Long, Ph.D., HSPP

  

 

An important aspect of positive communication with a partner involves validation. Validation involves understanding and valuing another person. When couples talk to each other about difficult issues, communication can often go as follows:

 

You tell me how you feel. I tell you how I feel. You do not feel heard, so you tell me again how you feel with a little more emotion. I do not feel heard, so I tell you again how I feel with a little more emotion... and so on. The emotions involved in the communication escalate and the communication can become counterproductive.

 

As a society, we are often uncomfortable with intense emotions and, therefore, say things to try to talk a person out of those feelings. This approach can entail the use of "cheerleading," which involves trying to make the other person feel good even when he doesn't. 

 

 

Read more about Improving Communication with Your Partner.

 

 

                        

Meet the Provider:

David R. Parker, Ph.D.

Interview by Julie T. Steck, Ph.D. HSPP

  

 

We have long felt that good things happen at CRG.  And over time we have had many good things happen to CRG.  One of the best David Parker, Ph.D.things that has happened was the arrival of Dr. David Parker.  Dr. Parker began at CRG in 2008, working part-time as a Postsecondary Disability Specialist.  During those first two years at CRG, he commuted to Washington University in St. Louis each week to coordinate a federal grant project for college students with LD/ADHD who were studying STEM courses.  Since 2010 Dr. Parker has worked full-time at CRG in a number of roles.  This has included providing services to adolescents and adults and in the practice's administration.

 

To continue reading the interview with Dr. Parker, click here.

 

 

 

                                                

Meet the Staff: Rashida Greene,

Front Office Coordinator

Interview by Angela Beard, Director of Business Operations

  

 

frilly-purple-flowers.jpg Rashida Greene began working as a Front Office Coordinator at CRG in February 2012.  Since she is one of our veteran Front Office Coordinators, many of you have probably had the pleasure of interacting with her at some point during her 13 months here.  Because we have all enjoyed working with Rashida and getting to know her on a more personal level, we wanted to give everyone an opportunity to learn a little more about her as well!

 

 

Click here to learn more about Rashida!