ARTICLE: Plans for Treating Mental Illness Should Encourage Family Involvement
Health care reform is coming, and how it is delivered to Oregonians with the Oregon Health Plan will change. The recent agreement between the U.S. Department of Justice and state of Oregon will improve our community mental health system; however, we believe it is also time we address an often underemphasized area of health care: the role of families.
(online article published with Dr. Christeine Terry on April 10, 2012 in The Oregonian)
ARTICLE: This Year, Don’t Make Resolutions. Commit to Action.
Another New Year is upon us. For many this means the annual ritual of the New Year’s resolution. Yet so many give up so soon on their resolutions, that rather than serve as a source of growth and renewal, the resolution has become the butt of many a comedian’s cynical joke. But this year is different, you say. This year you’ve found the will power…the motivation. Perhaps. Or perhaps this year will be more of last year’s failed formula. If so, heed this practical principle of personal success: “if it’s not working, try something else”. Change requires much of us. This article contains seven suggestions, based on research and theory on human change, for turning your New Year’s resolutions into successful commitments.
ARTICLE: Relocation Blues in Paradise?
Relocation has become an integral part of American life in the 21st century. According to American Demographics Magazine, 43 million Americans move in a given year. More than a third of those responding to a survey about life transitions by Roper Starch Worldwide reported trouble adjusting to long-distance moves. Many social commentators have documented the toll this transience takes on families and communities. Indeed relocation presents formidable problems for individuals, businesses and communities.
ARTICLE: Power to Overcome the Holiday Blues
Advertising, and our own nostalgia, raise expectations for the happiness the holiday season will bring us. If those expectations are not met, or if the holidays merely magnify ongoing family hurts, the Holiday Blues may result. Most will find a way to cope, and their sadness from whatever source won’t derail their pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness. For some, however, sadness will settle in and begin to compound itself, creating the condition known as clinical depression.