As gender roles evolve the Western male role is adapting and changing.  Here is a great article  on the conversation.com   –  http://theconversation.com/why-boys-need-to-have-conversations-about-emotional-intimacy-in-classrooms-54693

American boys end up paying a price for a culture that does not support their needs for intimacy. For the issue is that while boys crave closeness, they are expected to act as if they are emotionally invulnerable. Among the American boys I interviewed, I observed a conflict between their desires and the prevailing masculinity norms – if they admit to valuing romantic love, they risk being viewed as “unmasculine.”

 

Source: Why boys need to have conversations about emotional intimacy in classrooms

I love this sentiment:

 

 

“The most dangerous stories we make up are the narratives that diminish our inherent worthiness. We must reclaim the truth about our lovability, divinity, and creativity”

Source: The Most Dangerous Stories We Make Up – Brené Brown

What an interesting role!

Geropsychologist Lauren N. DeCaporale-Ryan, PhD, works at the University of Rochester Medical Center, but her focus isn’t on patients.Instead, she focuses on the physicians, surgeons and other clinicians who care for them. As an assistant professor embedded in the psychiatry, medicine and surgery departments, her job is to improve care by helping health-care providers communicate more effectively with patients, families and each other.

Click here for more:

Source: Adventures in integrated care

3. I’m Human. You Should Be, Too

There’s nothing worse than talking to a therapist who doesn’t seem to care: their answers are halfhearted; they seem disinterested; and half the time it feels like I should be giving them advice. Mental Health Workers May Not Recognize Their Own Burnout, by Zawn Villines, explores the emotional and mental exhaustion health workers face as a result of their jobs. I imagine it’s not easy listening to other people’s problems, which can weigh heavy on the heart and mind and can wear on a therapist or cause compassion fatigue.

Source: 7 Things I Want to Tell My Therapist

Great article.   Having age appropriate expectations makes life so much easier for both the parent and the child.

Being a kid or a teen is not for lightweights – it’s tough out there! There are important things that need to be done, that only they can do. The nature of these jobs depends on the developmental stage they are at.

Source: Phew! It’s Normal. An Age by Age Guide for What to Expect From Kids & Teens – And What They Need From Us – Hey Sigmund – Karen Young

Rates of depression have soared in teenagers. What are we doing wrong?

On most counts, young people’s lives are improving. Drinking, smoking and drug-taking are down in the UK; teen pregnancies are at their lowest level for nearly half a century. Yet there is growing evidence that teens are in the grip of a mental-health crisis. It is as if, rather than acting out, young people are turning in on themselves.

Source: Teenage mental-health crisis: Rates of depression have soared in past 25 years | Features | Lifestyle | The Independent

I love the idea that it is the human connection part of therapy a la Rogers that really and truly matters.   People connecting and therapists truly trying to help.

 

“In a classic 1961 book the late psychiatrist Jerome Frank of the Johns Hopkins University argued that all effective therapies consist of clearly prescribed roles for healer and client. They present clients with a plausible theoretical rationale and provide them with specific therapeutic rituals, he wrote. They also take place in a setting, usually a comfortable office, associated with the alleviation of distress. Later writers elaborated on Frank’s thinking, contending that effective therapies require empathy on the part of the clinician, close rapport between practitioner and client, and shared therapeutic goals”.

 

Source: Are All Psychotherapies Created Equal? – Scientific American

“Research has shown that when patients stop antidepressants cold turkey, they can have high rates of withdrawal reactions, which vary depending on the particular drug.”

Source: 12 Ways to Soothe Antidepressant Withdrawal Symptoms

Withdrawal symptoms happen for many… and for some they can even be debilitating for a time afterwards.       The key is patience and giving yourself time to heal.

Depression Survival Guide from NAMI

How do you cope with depression? Here is a list of 15 ways to fight depression.

Source: NAMI: National Alliance on Mental Illness | Depression Survival Guide

An excellent series of Q/A’s — taking new perspectives on mental health from Eric Maisel.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/rethinking-mental-health

How to shed mental health labels and create personal meaning

Source: Rethinking Mental Health | Psychology Today