07.25.09

THOUGHTS FROM AFAR

Posted in Personality, Contributors, CBT, Stress, Anxiety, Depression, Uncategorized at 2:41 am by admin

THOUGHTS FROM AFAR

I know almost noting about he American health system. But I am an Israeli, UK educated physician working in management dealing with mental health care reform.

So here is my twopenneth of thoughts.

I do know that no one buys a pig in the poke. Today’s medicine is expensive, incoherent and economically unsound. These conditions make a ‘tax led’ expansion nigh on impossible. 

I think that we should consider what can be done and how?

The driving force for change may be political. But change has to encompass both delivery and payment.

I will develop a theme that states basically that costs and delivery can and must be altered before payment can be tackled.

Payment is pivotal in the making of universality.

REFORM:

There is no such thing as reform in medicine. There are far too many vested interests, preconceived ideas and established practices.

To make life easy lets call the involved parties shareholders.

Shareholders must want change. The change has to be as a constructive evolution and not a threatening revolution.

There can only be small, graduated and, hopefully coordinated incremental changes.

All reform has to have both a strategy and tactics.

Each change must be seen as being beneficial to most and detrimental to none.

In other words every shareholder must see some befit before he will take some risk. The benefit must be tangible and the risk less than such. It cannot be the opposite.

DESIRES:

What do we want to do?

Most encouragingly all the shareholders agree about what they want and do not want.

They want comprehensive, coherent professional care.

They do not want to have their economic status threatened. The user does want affordable health care. The industry member wants to maintain their income level. 

So far so good.

So let’s take the first step that is accepted by all.

Lets just save money.

FISCAL PRUUDENCE:

 We’ll examine but two issues.

 

  1. Litigation:

    The cost of insurance coverage is enormous.

    We could offer an alternative coverage. The choice would be of the individual but the premium would be affected accordingly.

    We would need to set up a State Quality Monitoring Board[SQMB]. The SQMB initially would have the following powers:

    1. Arbitrate in all litigation concerning mal-praxis.
    2. Set maximum sums to be paid according to misdemeanor.
    3. Set and monitor accepted practices in utilization of ancillary medical diagnostic services.
  2. Reduced expenses:

    On signing to being in a program that is under the aegis’s of the SQMB the premium could be reduced if the patient also agrees to:

    1. Wherever possible, as the treatment of choice, use generic medications.
    2. That all laboratory services would be done in accordance with absolute, medical needs. Put bluntly, not because I may get sued or it would be nice to have the tests but because I need this test to do good medicine.

If we get this far, and we can, we will see savings.

So we can move to the next step.

EFFICIENCY:

Medicine is a system of services. More often than not the patient is not doing what he should. Quite often he is doing what he should not be doing, or could be doing it somewhere else cheaper.

As a rule of thumb the patient:

 

  1. Should know what he is to do.
  2. Be followed up to ensure that he is doing, as he should.

This means evolving a system of care that has a case manager.

This involves profound conceptually and structural changes in the delivery of medicine. 

As the patient is liable to have many needs his medical needs are holistic and should be dealt with at the community or primary care level.

The care manager should know:

 

  1. What is needed?
  2. Where is it best done?
  3. Has it indeed been done?

This means several things:

 

  1. We resort to the idea of the centrality of the Family Doctor.
  2. A nurse does the case working.
  3. Case management is a ‘medically based decision’. It is not fiscal. It is an essential part of an efficient delivery.
  4. Cases are managed at the level of the family Doctor.

    1. Referrals and recommendations are from and to him alone.
    2. The ‘specialist’ is redesignated  as a ‘consultant’.   

For this stage to work effectively the Family Doctor Practice should be reasonably large so that it can negotiate with experts and providers in the field. THE FAMILY DOCTOR IS THE TEAM LEADER .

The enlarged family practice should subscribe to the SQMB.

The setting up of the family practices would be the corner stone of health reform

I would consider favorably:

 

  1. That subscription to a practice would be:

    1. Per annum at a fixed fee with a basic health basket [Number of visits, hospitalization days, lab costs] per family.
    2. FFS above the basic basket. This aspect would be monitored and authorized by the SQMB.
  2. That the SQMB would offer assistance in negotiating between the Family Practices and between both insurers and other health providers [hospitals, labs and etc.]

IN THE FULLNESS OF TIME THE ENLARGED FAMILY PRACTICE WOULD BECOME THE CORDINATING BODY IN CHARGE OF THE PATIENTS COMPRHENSIVE NEEDS.

In other words we now have three well-delineated bodies:

 

  1. The professional hub – based firmly on the Enlarged Family Practice
  2. The administrative hub- based firmly on the state based SQMB.
  3. Payments – Private and non-private insurers.

UNIVERSALITY:

Only when medicine has been rationalized can it become universal. We cannot expect the State to foot the bill when the medicine is neither rational nor cheap. Medicine has to become professionally and fiscally rational. Only then can further decisions be made.

This decision is UNVERSALITY OF SERVICE.

The decision is twofold:

 

  1. Political.
  2. Fiscal:

    1. What is the State paying for?

      By my proposals the Sate would know what are the expenses involved.

    2. How does the State pay?

      This decision is purely fiscal. Medicine, as such, has no part in this discussion.

    3. How will the State know that I got what it paid for?

      By setting up and developing the SQMB we have the basis for an answer.

Universality has a temporal dimension. The SQMB should also be placed in charge of evaluating, developing and training professional man power so that future needs will be met.

In summary:

I suggest series of changes none of which threaten any one. A clear distinction should be made between means of payment and means of service. Limiting expenses in medicines, procedures and insurance coverage should initially reduce costs.  Service should be rationalized by developing in tandem the ‘Enlarged Family Practice’ and the ‘State Quality Monitoring Board’ [SQMB].

When costs and services have become coherent and rationalized the cost of universality of care and the political implications can begin.

 

02.07.09

Streams, screams, rocks and shocks

Posted in CBT, Personality, Stress, Depression, General, Anxiety, Uncategorized at 4:39 am by admin

ASHDOD UNDER FIRE:
In retrospect:
A child of the ‘60’s has a curse and blessing. We have musical ADHD. We think in terms of either song or film titles. Or at least that is my excuse.
Let me encompass my recollection my way. They are mine to encompass. They are personal. So, selfishly, I will present them to assuming that you too have my presentational preferences.

MOON RIVER: A song about a man and his river.

 

“Two drifters off to see the world. There is such a lot of world to see….
… But we are after the same, Rainbows end — it’s waiting round the bend —

Moon River and me”

 

Like a river we flow with our experiences.. Rocks like experiences become part of that river. We flow with it. Sometimes our river is placid. Sometimes it is a surging torrent casting all before it. Sometimes it breaks its banks. Experiences are forever entering the river. The river carries them along. Sometimes it does so with ease. Sometimes they cause eddies and turbulence. Sometimes the experience dams the stream. The dam causes flooding mud and devastation. Afterwards the stream is reduced in its vigour and richness.

 

But all in all the quality and richness of our river is the sum of our experiences and how we flow with them.

 

As we navigate the river of our life we are aware that we may hit a rock. That brings me to my next point of departure:

A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME: A Shakespearean quote used as a book and film title. It means so many things. But the bottom line concerns conceptualisation and reality.

At time of extreme stress we tend to a few things to cope.

  1. In acute danger we survive. We do so by either running, freezing so as to avoid attention or crying for help. They are highly efficient mechanism. We survived the jungle with these gambits. They do not need changing. They are certainly not a cause of remorse, shame or self-rebuke. When your life is at threat that is what you do. We secrete massive amounts of adrenalin. The adrenalin turns off everything that is superfluous. This includes thinking. At this moment we react. Adrenalin turns on everything that we need. I speeds our heart, it cools us with sweat, and it prepares our muscles to run. It causes us to cry, literally for help. Crying is a highly efficient way of gaining attention and help. Screaming is even more so. Most important it changes our sense of time. Past and future al virtually erased. The present is as if slowed down.
    At that moment our stream has stopped.. This stage is called fear. It is a distinct, well-coordinated reaction to a highly defined cause. Our life is in real danger.

  2. Immediately after the danger there is a stage of recuperation. The danger has passed. The adrenalin is still highly active. Time is still slowed down. It is still hard to think in our usual logical way. We are still in a state of arousal. It takes adrenalin a good few hours to burn off. Afterwards there is a feeling similar to a hangover or ‘crash’. We feel tired and listless. We may feel sad. It is the adrenalin. That is all. Our appreciation of time is still not as it was. We can drift back to the event. But now it is a memory. We remember the event as a memory. The memory can be vivid. The memory of our pain and fear can be almost as if they were re-happening. But they are not. The sadness and pain diminish slowly but surely. We all remember when we lost someone dear. Maybe through death. Maybe someone you loved very much loved you less. But we have all experienced the first day. As if there will never be another day. But there is. This is a real pain. The sense of sadness and tiredness is real.

  3. The recuperation becomes in the days to come a memory. It is an unpleasant memory. You have learned the hard way that your experience could have ended your life. A lesson learned the very hard way. You will be reluctant to remember. But you will be equally reluctant to endanger yourself in ant similar way. This is how we have not only coped but learned how to avoid danger.

 

Now what has this to do with “A rose by any other name”? Because these stages are blandly called ‘anxiety’, ‘depression’ or ‘adjustment disorders’. They most certainly are not. They are normal healthy reactions.

So what is anxiety? Anxiety is the fear of something unknown. Now I will say something that may seem odd. Please be patient with me. It is not the event that is the fear but the inability to know the likelihood of it happening. Anxiety is not merely the fear of something unknown. Anxiety is caused by the inability ascertain the likelihood of the event happening.

Let me give you an example. We all know that we will die. We are anxious obout death only when we are not certain that it is not imminent. Generally but always the sufferer can point to the cause of his anxiety. When he cannot as he has so many the same principles applies. The anxiety is the inability to say what the likeliness is.

We not only flow with our river of experiences. We navigate our river too. In our river here are rocks. We know that. They are only important when we do not know at what depth they are. If they are near the surface then the navigator is alert. He is anxious. If the rocks are defined then he suffers from ‘specific anxiety’. If he feels that there are undefined rocks but he cannot ascertain if they are not immediately imminent then the navigator suffers from ‘General Anxiety’. The shallower the river, the more it is blocked ‘upstream’ the closer the rocks are to the surface.

So what is depression? Depression is a sense of loss accompanied by grief and often anger. After, any event for better or worse, the river of your experience continues to flow. If you have left something behind that you wanted with you, there is a sense of loss. Your river of life has lost its richness and quality. This is true depression.

So you see life’s quality is about the depth and quality of our own river of experiences. How we flow with them. How we deal with events is called coping. Coping is a mixture of ability, expectation and complexity of the problem.

At critical moments when a bomb falls we can do but a few important things.

  1. Expectation: By carefully explaining what is happening to the traumatized person one can efficiently and effectively change expectations. In the early stages[ hours to days] it is generally more than enough to simply explain to the person what is happening to him as it happens. In other words to minimize his criticism of himself. Avoid the ‘name of the rose’ mistakes. Avoid labeling.

  2. Strengthen and enrich his ‘river of experiences’. Help him identify with the events, to feel actively involved in a struggle that he identifies himself with. To use examples in his past where pain passed.

If you can get into his river, help him enable the flow to restart then you have helped. To survive remember to get out of his river and back into your own.

11.09.08

Just For Judith

Posted in Personality, Diet, CBT, Depression, Anxiety, Uncategorized at 6:28 am by admin

 

‘She is a very beautiful lady. I have never really seen her. Just glimpsing the occasional glimpse. I have sent her letters and I  have received answers. Maybe one day I will see her.’

That incredible description was written by a Pharmacologist about receptors.
There was another beautiful lady,  by the name of Barbara. Her boy fried dedicated his Ph. D. thesis with these words  ‘To the beautiful Barbara’.
This how Barbiturates — the first ‘non natural’  sleeping pill came into being.
Judith is a beautiful lady too. She cares about her beauty. So she is worried about being overweight. This article is for her.
Judith knows that I am deaf. But strangely the conversation that invariably I did not hear was when my body spoke to me.
But this ’self deafness’ is the root cause of being overweight.
Normally your body says to us very clearly that you are hungry and when you ‘have had quite enough thank you’.
But you stopped listening a long time ago. So your body resorts to new strategy. It goes onto an emergency footing. It is as if your body no longer trusts you to look after it in a normal and regular way. In fact your body stopped talking to you. It adopted a new ‘independent strategy’.
And the new strategy is:
* Eat as often as you can. Grab snacks.
* Get on board as much high calorie food as possible.
* Eat as much as you can till you feel full.
Not hard to see why you are putting on weight is it?
How do you start listening and trusting what your body is telling you?.
Well you have a problem with that. Your body has lost faith in you. It is not telling you when it is hungry, really hungry that is.
Your body does not really trust you enough to again abandon it and it’s needs. Your body depended on you for a regular supply of calories. And you let it down.
You have to prove to your body that you are reliable.
You have to prove to your body that you are really listening.
But to do that you have to convince your body to speak to you again.
And that is quite a long process.

 

 

 

You can do it in stages.
* Start eating three regular meals at set times. The adage about breakfast being the most important meal of the day is true.
* Between meals religiously eat a fruit or raw vegetable.
After a while something interesting will happen. You will start feeling hungry. Just before eating you will feel hungry.
Congratulations. Your body is speaking to you. Don’t be too overjoyed. You have not entirely regained its trust. But your body will start telling you something else. It will start telling you when you are satiated. It is a different feeling from that of ‘being full’. At this point your body is prepared to rely on you to give it the calories that it needs at the time it needs them.
But if you want you can encourage your  body to speak. Chew slowly. Sometimes it is not too clear to you if yur body wants to calories or water. At each meal drink water as you eat.
We are almost there.
Now that you are talking to each other you can begin a dialog. But you both must be honest and open.
Don’t fool your body into thinking that it just got sugar by using an artificial sweetener. Be fair. Either use natural sweeteners or don’t use them at all. Sweeteners do not satiate your need for sugar. If you pull a trick on your body, your body will trick you in return. Just by avoiding all sweeteners, included in soft drinks,.
You can now set yourself a realistic diet that you can maintain.
My tip would be this. Never eat potatoes, rice or bread on a weekday. Eat vegetables instead. I won’t go into Glycine Index. Or even how beneficial exercise is.
There you have it, Judith. My letter to a beautiful lady. I hope it gives you all that you want.

 

 

 

 

07.21.07

Strress Reduction: Coping Styles Are The Key

Posted in Personality, CBT, Stress, Depression, Anxiety at 2:19 am by admin

Cope better.
But how can you?
Make your coping styles more effective.
But how?
The answer is free Online Self-Help CBT.
Let me explain why. My name is Dr. Michael Benjamin. For 38 years I have studied how people cope. As a Psychiatrist I learned how central coping styles are. Let me share what I have learned:

Coping styles are a mixture of experience and personality. By personality I mean the way that we think, feel and behave in given situations.

Are you getting a little edgy? How do I change my personality? Don’t worry you will not.

There is a dyad that we all accept as true. Feelings and thoughts, they interact and effect each other. Feelings and thoughts are the reaction to an event. Very often we have thoughts or basic assumptions which are completely wrong. The assumptions are unchallenged. They generate feelings. These feelings generate thoughts. Vicious circles are in the offing. A reaction to an event becomes prolonged. The reaction outlasts the event. The thought feeling dyad has led you into a mood. The mood makes it harder for you to cope.

Some people are very bad with their basic assumptions. They exaggerate. But by their very nature basic assumptions are unchallenged.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy [CBT] is the way to challenge and change theses assumptions. Online Self-Help CBT is a very effective, easy tool to use. Almost immediately you feel a sense of mastery. You start to cope better. You will rapidly observe traits. Similar, wrong assumptions crop up regularly. You change them individually. Then you will soon see and change traits.

Maybe you wish to exchange experiences. A burden shared is a burden lessened. Online Self-Help CBT allows you to participate on a e-Group designed to do just that.

Dr. Michael Benjamin.

Psychiatrist

myRay: http://www.myRay.com Free Online Self-Help CBT

07.20.07

How thoughts and feelings interact. How does CBT work?

Posted in CBT, Stress, Depression, Anxiety at 8:31 am by admin

We know that thoughts and feelings interact. But how do they do so? Why is it important that we know?
We are thinking all the time in two ways. The first is the obvious one. It is the headlight attention thought. It focuses on the subject that we are paying attention to.

But we are always aware of our surroundings. We have a sort of scan or radar scanning what is going on. It may be something in our vicinity. But it may be a relevant subject. Say we are nearing an exam.

This scanning process defines the importance of the subject that it is scanning. It has three levels of grading. The first is to tell us that the subject is of no significance. It is virtually telling the headlight attention ‘there is no need to refocus.’

 The next level is ‘Well I am not too sure ‘. ‘You can stay focused but I am putting you on standby’. This is object or event is labeled. But how is this done? By marking it with an emotion. So we have one subject in our ‘headlight’ but a feeling can occur. We are unaware of why we are feeling it. Obviously the event in the ‘headlight’ too can evoke an emotion. The event in the ‘headlight’ can evoke subjects associated with it to appear in the ‘scan’.

We are subject to a range of emotions. Many of which we are completely unaware of the source.

Now some people do this labeling process badly. They tend to over emphasize the possibility of something happening. Events are given emotions where they need not be.

We know this person. He is the worrier, the over conscientious, ever ready guy we all know. He is permanently tense. Happiness for him is not being unhappy. Relaxation is the absence of tension. Eventually he may well develop depression or anxiety.

Now  we know the problem can we find a solution?
CBT – Cognitive Behavioural Therapy – is that solution. CBT allows us to examine easily the thoughts that were previously ‘hidden’. On doing so they are automatically corrected. More so we can see that very often the same thought and emotion occur. People can rapidly discover traits. They can readily correct theses traits.
Online Self-Help was designed to specifically help correct erroneous traits. 

Dr Michael Benjamin

Psychiatrist

07.14.07

Some more thoughts about CBT

Posted in CBT, Stress, Depression, Anxiety at 3:02 am by admin

I learn from my patients. As we push the myRay, the online CBT site to its maiden voyage I have gained two valuable insights from them.
As good as any explanation can be it must be plausible. It has to be very firmly supported by the trusted Family Doctor. I will deal with the second point in a later blog.
I have described the relationship between Appraisal of an event, (Automatic Thinking), Feelings & Mood. I explained the interaction between Mood, Personality & Automatic Thinking. On using this information we can easily, rapidly and efficiently choose the correct therapeutic intervention.
The concept Automatic Thinking needs clarifying. We notice every event that occurs. The “noticed event “ is categorized according to its importance and significance. We react emotionally to the results of this categorization.
Very often we are completely unaware of this process. This process allows us to both react appropriately and yet not be easily distracted.
 We often are only aware that we have a feeling but not why.
This categorization process is profoundly influenced by Mood & Personality.
What does this mean?  It means that what emotions are not irrational. They are formed and driven by a “submerged “ thought process.
But what if the categorization process is incorrect? We can feel erroneous feelings and react to them without really knowing why. Even worse these feelings will eventually and persistently fuel our mood. In turn mood modifies the categorization process. We can get into a vicious erroneous cycle without knowing why or how to correct it. To compound the problem we are not aware of the error. We act as if the information we are being fed is always correct.
The pure simplicity and beauty of CBT is its ability to examine and find a fast remedy for this process. CBT enables us to raise the process above the water line. It makes it observable. We can review it systematically. Correction then becomes easy.
The free online CBT site myRay offers an added value. By using web technology we can rapidly observe and correct trends. Why is this extremely important? Personality and mood influence the process. One definition of personality is the collection of trends in the way a person acts feels and thinks. Need I say more?

07.13.07

The ABC of Psychology and Psychiatry: Thoughts, Feelings, Moods, Behaviour, Depression and Choices.

Posted in CBT, Stress, Depression, Anxiety at 3:26 am by admin

I have spent my 38 years in Psychiatry trying to organize terms that seem obvious. Unfortunately they are not.

There is an ABC of Psychology and Psychiatry. The A is affect or the way that we feel. B is behaviour. C is cognition, the way that we think.

The way that they think and feel determines the way we will behave. The way that we think, feel and behave is called our coping style. Our coping style is an admixture of our personality and life experience.

Let’s discuss thoughts and feelings. Thoughts and feelings are the reaction to an event. The dyad should be limited in time. If the dyad continues after the event has ceased to exist it is now called a mood.

It is common knowledge that thoughts and feeling interact. Nice feelings good thoughts. Bad feelings bad thoughts. We can see the possibility of a vicious circle. In fact this will help us define depression. The circle may become so tight that we do not respond as before to any situation. Our mood has worsened. We are now depressed, anxious or in stress.

Let us make one final distinction. Are we talking about poor quality life? Is there a limitation in functioning? This is important. If we are merely discussing you should be offered Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). In my effort to make CBT readily available I built the free Online Sef-Help CBT site myRay [http://www/myRay.com] to do just that this.

Is there a limitation of functioning? Are you no longer behaving as before? If so then you should be offered medications.

In my next article I will explain how feelings and thoughts interact. This explanation explains why and how CBT works.

06.30.07

The myRay treatment program

Posted in CBT, Depression, Anxiety, General at 3:12 am by admin

Telemedicine is an accepted and increasingly widely practiced branch of medicine.
It is now accepted practice in Mental Health that many of the aspects of psychotherapy, in particular Cognitive Behavioral Therapy can be presented in a format that can be used on a computer. Tests have shown them to be as effective as conventional forms of psychotherapy. “Computerizing” the therapy does not change its effectiveness.

myRay is the pioneer in presenting a program specifically designed for use on the Internet. We have used state-of-the-art techniques for presenting and storing information. We have melded the modern psychotherapeutic techniques with the latest IT technologies.

We have made innovations in the way we use tool tips to define key words and in the way the results are presented with an ability to “drill down” to different levels. The e-Group is also completely new in its conception.

Multi-faceted, interlinking, personalized program

The program consists of the following sections, which have all been rigorously tested and examined by professionals in the field:

  • Daily Habits and Timekeeping
  • We deal with ways of indirectly reducing stress by highlighting healthy habits with reference to eating and exercise. We place great emphasis on the efficient management of time. A few very simple techniques will relieve a lot of the feeling. It occurs at the time of stress.There is a tendency to experience physical discomfort such as muscle pain, headache or stomache ache.It is often harder to cope when tension is felt and it increases the likelihood of developing psychosomatic illness..
  • Relaxation techniques
  • We introduce you to three techniques which will enable you to gain all the benefits of tension and other unpleasant feelings.The methods used here are:-
    • breathing exercise
    • muscle relaxation
    • enhanced relaxation
  • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
  • The way that you perceive what you are doing and how you think about it is of great importance. In this section we will instruct you how to identify and rectify the cause of disturbances in your thinking processes. You will rapidly gain the ability to change the way you perceive a situation.
  • Personality traits
  • Often the ways we behave and think are governed by certain personality traits. In some cases these traits can increase the likelihood of our becoming angry, pessimistic or easily disappointed. We will help you discover and rectify these personality.We will pay attention to depressive traits.
    Personality traits influence the way we cope under stress.
    If not, tension is increased and it is possible to enter into a vicious circle.see also:

    • Coping style
    • Coping strategies
  • Experiential aspects
  • The quality of experience can often determine the amount of stress felt. We will focus on two key aspects. These are: the amount of control that you feel you have over an event compared to that which you actually have and the level of desire that you think you have to be in a situation compared to your real desire to be in that situation. They are often misleading and cause cope is being tested.There is a likelihood that an unpleasant feeling may be felt, particularly tension.It can trigger entry into a vicious circle.
  • e-Group
  • We have designed a format and protocol for this form of group therapy. It has been tested on the Internet and found to be of great benefit. You can share either personal or technical problems. We strongly recommend that all our subscribers join an e-Group.

Individualized and customized

The program is customized. You can decide if you wish to read about the subjects in depth. Every section is accompanied by an easy-to-understand explanation of the concepts behind the technique. A video tutorial is also available to guide you in mastering the techniques that the program requires. You will be presented with an individualized course of treatment based entirely on the results of the assessment that you undergo every week.

Ongoing assessment

Assessment is given once a week, although you can initiate a re-assessment if you so wish. However, we recommend only one assessment every seven days. It is perfectly natural for there to be fluctuations in your results and performing an assessment once weekly tends to iron out these anomalies and allows you to get a clearer picture of the real progress you are making.

The assessment allows us to provide you with the course of therapies most likely to help you. Ongoing assessment allows you to chart and monitor your improvement which we store for you. You can readily see where and how you are improving.

Your profile

This comprehensive summary of your sessions with a breakdown of all the previous results in each section is one of the program’s most powerful features. You can see very quickly what is really going on and what still needs to be worked on.

Joining myRay

Enrolment is easy, simply take our 28 question assessment test. If your results indicate that you could benefit then you will be offered the chance to subscribe.

06.23.07

What is myRay and how does it work?

Posted in CBT, Stress, Depression, Anxiety at 2:25 am by admin

myRay is a modern development of a proven form of psychological treatment called Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). CBT has been widely used by psychologists and psychiatrists for many years and has been shown to be particularly helpful in the treatment of anxiety, depression, panic, stress and anger.

Traditionally, CBT has been given on a “one to one” basis between the therapist and the patient but, with the advent of the widespread use of computers, it has been possible for the patient to use a computer program to learn and practice the required techniques.

myRay uniquely takes this one step further and uses an Internet-based suite of modules that teach relaxation techniques, time management and stress reduction.

It invests heavily in teaching the patient the principles and techniques of CBT in an interactive environment. myRay has extended CBT; the program not only deals with the ways in which we appreciate an event, but also the ways in which we tend to behave and experience it too. Its main advantage is that the program monitors your responses and gives you feedback on your progress and responses.As long as you have Internet access you can use the program in any location at any time, to suit your needs and schedule.

The program contains: a glossary of terms, explanation of concepts, video tutorials, feedback scores and charts, breathing and relaxation exercises, instruction in time management and the opportunity to join a confidential e-Group where you can share your experiences and advice with other users. The e-Group, in particular, is a very exciting concept in up to date, Internet-based group therapy.

The key concept of the program is based on your working with real personal experiences to understand how you have traditionally reacted to them, how to modify your reactions, using the techniques learned in the program, so that you will become less troubled, anxious, stressed and depressed about challenging experiences in the future.

myRay has been devised by a Consultant Psychiatrist with over thirty years experience in clinical practice and a team of information technology experts. It has been thoroughly tested. The basic concept has been evaluated and published in internationally renowned professional journals where it has been shown to be very effective.

Enrolment is easy; simply take our 28 question assessment test. If your results indicate that you could benefit, then you will be offered the chance to subscribe