Health

Choosing a Marriage and Family Therapist

e ContentIt can be difficult to admit that your family or marriage is in trouble, but itâ€™s the first step to getting the help you need. Having a healthy and happy family and marriage is important for your health; worrying about family fights or marital disputes can actually make you physically ill and decrease your quality of life. Donâ€™t just pick the first marriage and family therapist you find; make sure that they are the best one for you, your family, and your therapy needs.

Try to find a therapist that has a graduate degree in Marriage and Family Therapy. Any therapist with a valid counseling or therapy degree can claim that their specialty is in marriage and family therapy. However, youâ€™ll benefit most from one with a degree specifically in Marriage and Family Therapy. Theyâ€™ve clocked thousands of hours in that specific field and know the theories in that field of counseling.

Ensure that the therapist you pick has the same therapy goals that you and your spouse have. Some therapists have very strong personal opinions about the roles in a marriage and how you should fulfill them. As an example, if your goal is a more equitable distribution of work but your therapist wants to see you fulfill traditional male and female family roles, you should look elsewhere.

Finally, pick a therapist that everyone in the family is comfortable with. If only one of you is happy with the choice, therapy is unlikely to work for everyone. Although it can take some work to find a therapist everyone can work with, the payoff is worth it.

Marriage and family therapy is a big step in saving your marriage and family. When the divorce rate is 50%, you need to do everything you can to keep your family together and happy.

Filed Under: General Health Tagged With: Counseling Services, Family, Family therapy, Health, Marriage, Mental health, Relationships, United States

4 Easy Ways to Cut Calories During the Holidays

ContentThe holidays are always associated with lots of sweet snacking, big family dinners, and tantalizing desserts. It is reported that the average person will gain between 7 and 12 pounds over the holiday season. In order to avoid being part of the statistics, here are 4 easy ways to cut calories during the holidays.

Go Green
Almost all holiday parties and dinners include a vegetable tray as an appetizer or snack. Go ahead and dig in. Eating more veggies from the start will fill you up, making you less likely to indulge in the sugary desserts. At mealtime, have more veggies on your plate than proteins and carbs, again saving unnecessary fat and calories from being consumed.

Be a Kid Again
Go ahead, round up the kids and head outside to burn some energy and calories. Organize races where you challenge the kids, they will get a kick out of trying to run faster than you. A classic game of chase or tag is also a way to break up the day, spend time with the kids, and burn some calories.

Save the Best for Last
Save your favorite holiday sweat treat for last. Think of it as a reward after eating healthy from the beginning of the event. This will help you to avoid wasting calories on foods that you donâ€™t really care about, and then allowing yourself to indulge in your favorite dessert after youâ€™ve already filled your belly with the healthy stuff.

Donâ€™t Eat Late
The later in the day food is eaten, the less time a body has to burn it off. Many weight conscious people, including celebrities, do not eat after 7:00 p.m. If you have to eat high calorie or high fat foods, eat them earlier in the day and as the end of the day approaches, stick to healthy and low carb foods like fruits and veggies.

Filed Under: At Home Medical Treatment Tagged With: Calorie, Christmas and holiday season, Dessert, Eating, Food, Health, Weight loss, Wine tasting descriptors

Health Care Choices in Pregnancy

At no other point in her life is a woman subjected to as many tests as she is during pregnancy. Advances in obstetric technology have made health care practitioners more skilled in detecting and fixing problems in pregnancy. However, there are still several decisions you have to make about your health care during this important time.

One of the earliest decisions to make is which ultrasounds you want. Most doctors do a dating ultrasound early in pregnancy to determine an accurate due date. If you are sure about your conception date, you can probably refuse this ultrasound. At about twelve weeks, many doctors offer a nuchal scan. This ultrasound checks for markers of Down syndrome or other chromosomal abnormalities. This ultrasound benefits those who make decisions about continuing the pregnancy based on the results of the scan. Finally, the anatomy scan at 18 weeks tells you if everything is forming properly as well as the babyâ€™s sex.

Later in pregnancy, you may be asked to take a gestational diabetes test. This involves drinking a syrupy, sugary drink and then getting blood drawn. If your levels are too high, you need to take a longer test. A test like this determines if you are high-risk or not, if you are induced or not, and how safe it is to let the baby go past his due date.

At the very end of pregnancy, most ob-gyns do weekly cervical checks to determine effacement and dilation. However, these tests can be painful and obtrusive to some women. If you want to refuse, you have every right to do so. Cervical checks have been shown to be an unreliable determination of when you go into labor.

When you make health care choices in pregnancy, you are making the decision for you and your unborn baby. Make the most informed and safest choice you can make.

Filed Under: At Home Medical Treatment Tagged With: Down syndrome, Health, Health care, Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Pregnancy, Prenatal development, Ultrasound

Benefits of Therapy

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Health care comes in many forms, and it involves treating your mind as well as your body. While it may seem easier to take a pill for any mental health issues you may have, therapy is a wonderful alternative with many benefits.

Using therapy to treat depression, anxiety, or other mood disorders has a high efficacy rate. Essentially, it works very well and it works well across many populations of people. One of the primary benefits to this is that you can skip the negative side effects of mood-stabilizing medications. For instance, many antidepressants have negative sexual side effects and can cause weight gain. Even worse, in some groups, they can cause suicidal tendencies.

Therapy also tends to work longer than medications do. If you are on medication for a mood disorder, you typically need to be on it for the rest of your life to keep the symptoms of the mood disorder away. If you can work through therapy goals and eradicate the source of negative thoughts or anxiety, you may not need regular treatment ever again.

People who go to therapists tend to have better mental health outcomes than those who just use pills. Even better, those who use therapy in conjunction with medication have the best outcomes. While a medication can treat the immediate need for relief, therapy works to cure the disorder. Talking through issues can help patients keep those issues from adversely affecting their personal and professional lives.

Clearly, therapy has many benefits for those in need of mental health care. Whether or not you choose to use medications along with therapy, it’s hard to not see results when you go to a good therapist. Just be sure to pick someone that you can open up to and who supports your mental health goals; you’ll be making progress in no time.

Filed Under: General Health Tagged With: Anxiety, Cognitive behavioral therapy, Disorders, Health, Mental health, Mood disorder, Pharmaceutical drug, Therapy

Joining Travel Nursing Agencies

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Becoming a nurse is a challenging road to travel down. While these challenges can be great, however, the rewards can also be truly wondrous. Once you have finished your formal schooling and taken all of your clinical exams and are really ready to get your career underway, you have all kinds of different options at your disposal. You can work for a doctor’s office and do your part to assist the doctor to make their patients well again. You can work in a hospital and become a part of an elite team which gets people from near death’s door all the way back to running around with the energy of little children.

However, there is another option that people who go into nursing rarely consider. You can become a traveling nurse, through joining one of the travel nursing agencies out there. This is a particularly interesting and exciting career path for a burgeoning nurse to follow, since you are pretty much an adventurer when you take on this particular role. Think about what a travel nurse actually does and you will probably become a little excited that you might be able to fit the bill.

A traveling nurse goes out into the field and treats patients, a little bit like the old fashioned country doctors used to do. Now granted, you are not a physician, so performing surgery, prescribing medications, and doing some other highly complicated tasks may be outside of your professional purview. But considering that a lot of the problems that people have are fairly minor (such as sprains and tonsilitis), you should have no problem being extremely helpful. You get called out into the field whenever someone has a problem and needs help but does not require the immediacy of paramedics. Then you show up, like a knight in shining armor, and make things better.

Filed Under: Medical Treatment Abroad Tagged With: Health, Nurse, Nursing, Travel nursing

Inexpensive Healthcare for Depression

Whether you just cannot function under your current stress or whether you need the consistent help of a counselor, finding a therapist is an important thing that should not be put off for financial reasons. When you need the help of a therapist but simply cannot afford the cost, try these other ways to receive free or inexpensive mental healthcare.

For college students, your university may offer you the option you need. At many universities you can receive free therapy. The cost is already covered in your tuition. This may be a good starting point for you, or it may be all you need to help you sort through the stress of school.

Local or government-run health centers may be another place to receive less expensive mental healthcare. You may be able to meet with county counselors for yourself, your child, or even your family. Some clinics also have a low-cost option for people who cannot afford the cost of mental healthcare. You can start looking for a clinic you can afford by talking with your county or city health department.

Finally, many churches or Christian organizations have free or inexpensive counseling. Their purpose is to offer you the help that you need, not to force you to believe what they think, so do not be afraid to step in and give it a try. Also know that some of these organizations may have different certificate programs, and some may or may not be credentialed and recognized, but may still be able to help you. Be sure you talk with someone who has worked with or who knows the counselors before going. Beware of those who only use the term “therapist” without any education to back it up, anybody can call himself a therapist.

If you need to meet with a counselor, do not be afraid to start looking, despite your financial situation. Most clinics have a heart to help you and will find a way to make their services available to you. If you look around, you are almost guaranteed to find a person who cannot wait to serve you.

Filed Under: Alternative Treatment Tagged With: Health, Health care, Mental health

Using E-Cigs for Addiction Treatment

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Addictions are very real and can be very challenging for people to confront. Anyone who has ever had any kind of addiction will tell you that it can be one of the most frustrating and difficult things that they have ever encountered. Some of the most common addictive substances that people face are alcohol, cigarettes, and food.

In some cases, addictions require medical intervention because it is sometimes the only way that a person can successfully free themselves from the addiction. Many medical intervention programs include medications, therapy, or a combination of both, depending on the severity of the addiction and the needs of the patient.

Alcohol addictions are best addressed in a treatment facility where addicts are closely monitored by doctors and nurses in a stable environment. Food is an addiction that sometimes requires the help of a psychologist who can teach the patient about cues and signals and implementing behavior modification techniques.

For smoking addictions, electronic cigarettes (or e cigs, as they are sometimes called), are favored as a way for people to safely and completely remove themselves from a potentially damaging situation. This system allows smokers to feel less overwhelmed as they reduce their dependency. Many people say it’s better than going cold turkey, which is quick and abrupt.

It is unfair and incorrect to think that one type of addiction treatment or even one type of addiction intervention would be good for all people in all situations. This is not true. What works best is to find the root of the underlying problem, and assess the individual’s level of commitment and dedication in pursuing a realistic recovery program. Addicts must understand that the process will take some time. Once these components are in place, addicts can better cope and deal with their problem, and they’re more likely to have success on their road to recovery.

Filed Under: Alternative Treatment Tagged With: Addiction, Electronic cigarette, Health, Substance dependence

Is Your Adolescent in Need of Counseling?

Growing up is always difficult, always involves change, and always has awkward moments. Some kids handle this better than others, but some can have an extremely hard time and may not cope well with the changes that are occurring. Other events can add to this, such as changes in the family through death or divorce, personal or community wide traumatic experiences, loss of a friend or significant other, and any kind of abuse or addiction. Even good stress, such as the stress caused by being a student leader and being given more opportunities and responsibilities can be difficult for a teen, and they may benefit from the help of a counselor who will coach them through this time.

When you see your teen struggling, you can help them by communicating with them and providing them a stable and supportive place at home. In order to establish a relationship with them, you have to start before they reach the age of adolescence. You need to have an established relationship with them from when they were very small so that they know that they can trust you and that you are listening to them and care about what is in their mind and heart.

However, if your teen is still struggling and you become concerned for their health, you should start seeking out therapists to meet and talk with them. They can meet with a psychologist, counselor, or even just the school therapist. It may give them the extra help they need to push through.

The following signs or symptoms may mean that you should consider taking your child to see a counselor. Signs of depression (changes in sleep pattern, seeming sad) for longer than two weeks, an explosive temper and violence, behavioral problems in school or a drop in grades, and suicidal behavior (talking, writing, drawing focused around death, etc.). Whatever you decide to do for your child, try to understand what is going on in their mind and heart, and to communicate your love and joy in them, and how you are proud of them and have faith in them.

Filed Under: General Health Tagged With: Adolescence, Health, Suicide

How to Choose an Adolescent Healthcare Provider

Whether you are trying to decide if you should change your doctor for your child, or if you are searching for a doctor on your own, it can be difficult to know which doctor to go to for the adolescent stage. Some parents start to think about changing their child’s doctor from a pediatrician to an adult doctor when they are 16 or 17, but many patients stay with their pediatrician until or even after college.

Other options are a family doctor, who can treat patents from birth into old age, an obstetrician, or an internist. If you are in your late teens and have not had a family doctor or pediatrician, than an internist, a doctor who focuses on adults, would be a good choice. However, there is a lot of literature, studies, and new information about adolescent health available for doctors, and the primary doctors who will keep up with this information are pediatricians. In fact, some doctors specialize specifically in adolescent health, sometimes along with child health. Also, while some girls may continue going to a pediatrician or other doctor, an adolescent girl who is thinking about becoming or who already is sexually active should have an appointment with an obstetrician or gynecologist.

The most important thing about a healthcare provider, however, is how comfortable and trustworthy you think they are, and how they fit into you and your family’s needs. Do you feel comfortable talking with them? Do they ask enough questions? Do they listen to what you say? These are a few questions that you should be able to answer with a solid yes.

For parents of adolescents, it is also important that your adolescent’s healthcare provider spend time one-on-one with your child. Since your child is reaching adulthood, they should begin to have their own conversations and relationship with their doctor, apart from you. This should happen no matter what doctor they are with. In the end, while there are many choices for adolescent healthcare, there is no one right answer. The answer is what is comfortable and works for you.

Filed Under: General Health Tagged With: Adolescence, Health, Pediatrics

HealthCare Issue: What to do When Your Doctor Retires

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Being a doctor is just like every other career out there and eventually a doctor or physician will retire. Many of the doctor’s patients are unprepared for their doctor retiring. When they get that letter or announcement that the doctor is retiring they rarely know what to do. Here are a couple of helpful tips to follow if you find that your healthcare provider is retiring.

Make sure you have your healthcare records. Often times retiring doctors will forward their patient’s healthcare records to another doctor that is “taking” over their practice. If this isn’t a doctor that you wish to see, it can be a hassle getting your records transferred to another doctor. Make sure that you have a copy of your own healthcare records to make the transition smoother.

Interview possible doctors. You want to have the doctor that will take care of your specific healthcare needs. Sometimes the doctors that you are being referred to are known, other times they are unknown quantities in the healthcare world. Don’t be afraid to call the doctor’s office and interview the doctor. Ask them questions about their experience with specific conditions and other questions that you might have for them. This is a great way to get to know the new doctor and allow you to feel comfortable with your decision.

Meet with the retiring doctor. A last visit with your retiring doctor is important. This allows you to ask questions about how he or she would continue your care. This will allow you to get a better idea of what could or should happen with the new doctor. It also allows you a time to get those all important prescription refills, as sometimes refills can be a problem if your doctor stops practicing.

Retiring doctors are always an unexpected event. However, following some of these tips when you find your doctor retiring will allow for a smooth transition between doctors.

Filed Under: General Health Tagged With: Health, Health care, Patient