Category Archives: Uncategorized

Yesterday I posted on the need for Christian psychology to advance its ability to avoid harmful practices. Back in 2008, I posted something similar and referred to the same Lilienfeld article as yesterday. See it here. I looked at his article again this week. Here is his list of potentially harmful therapies:

1. Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD). This one isn’t always harmful but it may be most harmful to those who are mostly likely to experience PTSD. He raises the interest point: most report it being helpful even if their PTSD symptoms are made worse by it.

2. Scared Straight Programs. Apparently, those who are taken to jail for a day to scare them out of criminal activity are more likely to re0ffend. He also addresses boot camp interventions for kids with conduct problems. These too have issues

3. Facilitated Communication. FC views autism as a motor not a cognitive problem. Thus, counselors help children communicate via a keyboard and pressure by the therapist’s hands. Appears the “communications” from the child are likely the therapist’s impressions rather than the child’s actions.

4. Rebirthing/attachment therapy. No studies indicate positive data and actual evidence of death by smothering.

5. Recovered memory techniques. While individuals do indeed recover lost memories of abuse, techniques designed to help one recover memories has been shown to lead to false memory creation. The potential for harm is great and calls into serious question whether a counselor should ever try to help a client “recover” a memory they currently do not have. Along with this treatment are a number of other suggestive treatments (where therapists may create problems by suggesting to vulnerable clients on a variety of topics): “finding” of altars in DID, expressive therapies (designed to release pent up emotions). These have significant opportunity for damage.

6. Grief counseling for normal grief. Apparently, many in the “treatment” groups got much worse than those who did nothing.

7. DARE. You know, that educational program designed to prevent substance abuse? No evidence that it does work to reduce drug use. He didn’t mention it but same has been true for “good touch, bad touch” programs.

8. Peer groups for incarcerated children. These may turn out to help them become more deviant.

9. Relaxation training for some panicked individuals. Some individuals have a paradoxical response (more anxiety). We need more data on who it helps and who may not be helped.

Interesting list. Any here that bother you? That you would want to defend?

I love great talk titles, ones that grab your attention and make you want to either listen in or burst out in laughter. While I’m not particularly good at coming up with unique titles, others are. This one arrived in my mailbox last week. It was on a flyer announcing a Continuing Ed program about attachment issues. The title,

What if you pooped in the potty…but no one cheered?

I burst right out laughing for some reason. This is one I wish I would have thought of and used! My 9 year old loved the humor as well. Then, he asked if we cheered his pooping. Of course we did and so I asked him if he would like us to continue doing so. For some reason he declined the offer.

Seriously, cheering developmental stages is a good thing, whether pooping in the potty or taking the wheel of the car for the first time. Seems we tend to fail to cheer when we should or we cheer everything and make cheering meaningless.

But what a great title!

Those who know me well know that I’m not a big fan of cats. I’d much prefer a dog the size of a lab. My wife is extremely allergic so I never had to deal with them nor thought that I would. However, in the last week my boys and some other neighborhood children have discovered what appears to be a homeless cat. They have fed it and now it thinks it lives with us. It sits on our steps, tries to get in the house, and follows us like a dog might.

What to do with this skinny-as-rail cat?

My first thought was take it to the SPCA. I’m told though that euthanization is likely. My second thought is to get some other family to adopt it. I’m still in favor of this but my sons tell me “Adoption is OFF the table.” They wish to get a kitty door to allow it to come into our basement through the hatchway. My wife lobbied to have it live in our garage–where it seems to have slept recently since our forgetful boys left the side door open.

Question: Can you have an outdoor cat? In our Philly climate? Won’t we just be feeding the squirrels if we put out food?

Anybody want a cat that acts more like a dog?

Here’s a link to a blog post on sniffing out ego driven leaders (teachers, pastors, future employees, etc.) you might find helpful. Cavman, a thoughtful pastor, lists a set of characteristics about ego driven individuals that he gleaned from a book by Roger Parrott. He, Cavman, writes,

He [Parrott] offers some of the signs that a person is probably driven by ego (getting attention) rather than ambition (advances in the kingdom).

• Live Flamboyantly– drawn to lavishness in things and people.
• Inflate Vision– consistently over-promise and under-deliver.
• Act Invincible- winning is more important than what is prudent and wise.
• Ignore Critics– discredit or ignore those with different ideas, or who offer constructive criticism.
• Crave Adrenaline– gain energy in flagrant risk.
• Exaggerate Actions– exhaust rather than equip their staff.
• Become Sensitive– very thin-skinned, they either attack or isolate.
• Attract Groupies– people who will not/cannot challenge them.  They feed their attention addiction.
• Demand Appreciation– like a drug addict.
• Require Empathy– without offering empathy.
• Listen Poorly– they don’t want instruction, correction or good ideas.
• Enjoy Competition– gaining attention by prevailing over others.
• Control Obsessively– uncomfortable when they are not in control.
• Ignore Boundaries– they assume they are better than others, and not subject to the same rules.