Yesterday I saw a new patient for the first time. He had been in to see many therapists over the course of his life. He asked me a question that I have been asked numerous times over the past almost 27 years doing therapy. He asked me, "Why don't you take notes during the session?" I thought since this is a common question asked of me by patients and colleagues alike I would address this in the blog.
Like most graduate students I was taught that taking notes during treatment sessions was protocol. I worked at clinics and other treatment centers and did just that. I had a number of patients find it difficult to engage in therapy while I was taking notes about what they were telling me. I found it to be very difficult to really listen to what I was hearing and take notes at the same time. Perhaps it was due to my dyslexia that this was more problematic for me than for for other therapists.
I, like many therapists, have always been involved in my own therapy and have been to a number of clinicians over the years. I always found it annoying and irritating when I am telling a therapist how I feel or describing a situation and they are writing as I speak. I can tell when they are really "half listening" to me as they write down their notes.
I am a student of mindfulness and a true believer that one cannot do an excellent job at more than one thing at a time. (Sorry to you believers in the myth of multi-tasking being effective, at best it's just adequate.) I decided then that I would no longer take notes during a treatment session with a patient. I came to feel that meeting with a therapist is no different than any other relationship between two people. No one takes notes when meeting a person for the first time and refers to them as they meet each subsequent time! Doing therapy, to me, is about the relationship that develops over time between a patient and myself. The relationship often fuels our work together based on our mutual care for each other, respect for each other, mutual trust, and the agreement on what we are desiring and intending to accomplish together. Taking notes during a session inhibits me from truly hearing what someone is telling me; not just with their words, but with their eyes, their body language, and the connection we share together. These important observations cannot be communicated effectively when I am writing. Moreover, I cannot use these same communication skills aforementioned when I am writing.
Sometimes, because I do not take notes during a treatment session, I may not recall exactly what someone had said during a session. Again, I feel this is a natural thing that occurs between two people when they interact. If I forget something or become a bit confused about a particular fact, then so be it. It happens. After a while, I tend to recall almost every detail of what a patient has told me just from being very present and truly listening to what they are communicating to me. I get much more from truly listening rather than to take notes and miss a portion of what they say. I write notes from each session after the patient leaves the office and review them prior to our next session. (Again, I can be fully present as I write the notes as well.)
A therapeutic relationship is an organic and living thing that occurs when one feels understood and cared for by one's therapist. It does not feel organic in any way for me to be writing as someone is sharing often difficult or intimate details or feelings with me. If any of you know me well, you are well aware that if I don't feel natural doing something I will stop doing it. And, I have.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
The 8 biggest fat loss myths- #6
Myth: CARBOHYDRATES MAKE YOU FAT
Much of what I blogged about dietary fat applies to carbs as well. If you choose, you can eat a fairly generous proportion of your calories from carbs and still lose weight, as long as you stay in a calorie deficit.
So, why are low-carb diets so popular? It's probably because they work quite well for most people. Low-carb diets help to control calories automatically and they tend to be better at controlling appetite. If the low-carb diet is also high in protein, this may be a further advantage because one spends more calories digesting protein.
Again, it will always come down to whether or not you are in a caloric deficit as to your body weight changing. If one ingests more calories from protein sources than they are burning during the day, one will gain weight. It's not the carbs, it's the calories!
Much of what I blogged about dietary fat applies to carbs as well. If you choose, you can eat a fairly generous proportion of your calories from carbs and still lose weight, as long as you stay in a calorie deficit.
So, why are low-carb diets so popular? It's probably because they work quite well for most people. Low-carb diets help to control calories automatically and they tend to be better at controlling appetite. If the low-carb diet is also high in protein, this may be a further advantage because one spends more calories digesting protein.
Again, it will always come down to whether or not you are in a caloric deficit as to your body weight changing. If one ingests more calories from protein sources than they are burning during the day, one will gain weight. It's not the carbs, it's the calories!
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
"Suffering Is Optional"
The full quote is , "Pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional." The author is unknown.
Most of my life I really didn't fully comprehend this statement. Now, I think I do truly understand it. I believe life is full of, as the Buddha states, the "ten thousand joys and ten thousand sorrows." There will certainly be so many times in our lives that we are aware of how painful life can be. This is NOT suffering. We suffer only when we are attached to the mistaken belief that life should be free of pain. Once we accept that life can be painful, we cease suffering knowing that all pain has a beginning, middle, and an end. We suffer when we feel we are being punished for something we may feel guilty about or somehow feel that pain should never come to us. Pain comes and visits all of us. So does joy and so does pleasure. It's interesting that we do not complain when things go well for us and we experience pleasure for a certain length of time.
Non-attachment and "letting go" of our prescribed beliefs about how life SHOULD be will help us move towards true enlightenment through acceptance of how things are at this moment.
Who actually taught us that life was NOT supposed to be painful anyway? It's an interesting question.
Most of my life I really didn't fully comprehend this statement. Now, I think I do truly understand it. I believe life is full of, as the Buddha states, the "ten thousand joys and ten thousand sorrows." There will certainly be so many times in our lives that we are aware of how painful life can be. This is NOT suffering. We suffer only when we are attached to the mistaken belief that life should be free of pain. Once we accept that life can be painful, we cease suffering knowing that all pain has a beginning, middle, and an end. We suffer when we feel we are being punished for something we may feel guilty about or somehow feel that pain should never come to us. Pain comes and visits all of us. So does joy and so does pleasure. It's interesting that we do not complain when things go well for us and we experience pleasure for a certain length of time.
Non-attachment and "letting go" of our prescribed beliefs about how life SHOULD be will help us move towards true enlightenment through acceptance of how things are at this moment.
Who actually taught us that life was NOT supposed to be painful anyway? It's an interesting question.
The 8 biggest fat loss myths-#5
Myth: DIETARY FAT MAKES YOU FAT
At the peak of the low-fat diet movement, it seemed like almost every food package had the words "no fat" or "low fat" emblazoned in bold print. Why are so many people afraid of dietary fat? One simple answer is plausibility. It seems completely reasonable to assume that fat in your food will become stored as fat on your body. It sounds believable, but it's a fallacy.
Dietary fat is the most calorie-dense macronutrient, with nine calories per gram, as compared to four calories per gram in carbohydrate or protein. This can be a problem if you're not careful. However, this still doesn't mean that eating fat causes you to gain fat. You can actually eat a large percentage of your calories from dietary fat, but if you're in a caloric deficit you will still lose weight. Notice how this brings us back to the calories-in versus calories-out principle. Everything comes full circle to calories.
At the peak of the low-fat diet movement, it seemed like almost every food package had the words "no fat" or "low fat" emblazoned in bold print. Why are so many people afraid of dietary fat? One simple answer is plausibility. It seems completely reasonable to assume that fat in your food will become stored as fat on your body. It sounds believable, but it's a fallacy.
Dietary fat is the most calorie-dense macronutrient, with nine calories per gram, as compared to four calories per gram in carbohydrate or protein. This can be a problem if you're not careful. However, this still doesn't mean that eating fat causes you to gain fat. You can actually eat a large percentage of your calories from dietary fat, but if you're in a caloric deficit you will still lose weight. Notice how this brings us back to the calories-in versus calories-out principle. Everything comes full circle to calories.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Meditation on Death
Even the Buddha died. His death was a teaching, to shock the naive,the indolent, and the complacent, to wake us up to the truth that everything is impermanent and that death is an inescapable fact of life. As he was approaching his death, Buddha said;
Of all footprints,
That of the elephant is supreme,
Of all mindfulness meditations,
That on death is supreme.
The Buddha taught many lessons, but death and meditating on death was his most common topic and theme.
I believe we all need to make peace with the fact that we are going to die. I truly feel that those who do not make peace with this fact are often suffering with anxiety or living a life without really taking risks and enjoying each moment. I know that meditating on one's death isn't something we in our Western culture are used to. (Even many avid readers of this blog bypassed this entry!) We tend to deny the reality of our death and believe on some level that we are eternal. People who talk of their death and of other's death are considered weird or morbid. I think that when we come to terms with our own demise we can be alive in each moment while we are living.
Of all footprints,
That of the elephant is supreme,
Of all mindfulness meditations,
That on death is supreme.
The Buddha taught many lessons, but death and meditating on death was his most common topic and theme.
I believe we all need to make peace with the fact that we are going to die. I truly feel that those who do not make peace with this fact are often suffering with anxiety or living a life without really taking risks and enjoying each moment. I know that meditating on one's death isn't something we in our Western culture are used to. (Even many avid readers of this blog bypassed this entry!) We tend to deny the reality of our death and believe on some level that we are eternal. People who talk of their death and of other's death are considered weird or morbid. I think that when we come to terms with our own demise we can be alive in each moment while we are living.
Why I am a stickler for FORM during training sessions
I was training someone at the studio the other day and she was becoming annoyed with me that I was asking her to use perfect form when executing a movement during a set of repetitions. I was also asking her to use proper breathing during the lifts as well. She wondered why I was being so difficult.
Unlike so many other things that we do, weight training requires exact form so that one will not become injured. When a lift is done incorrectly over and over it causes injury from the repetitive motion. What's more, doing a lift without correct form repetitively will create a habit in training that will be difficult to break increasing the chance for injury later on. Some of these injuries take time to fully develop and over the course of time can become permanent or require surgery to correct.
I was thinking yesterday of how my training a client at the studio is so different from the way I do therapy at my office. I have always believed that there are many ways to find contentment and truth in our lives and have never felt that what I believe is always applicable to another's life. What works for one person may or may not fit well to another. I have rarely ever told a patient in therapy that their choices are wrong for them. It is certainly not my style to do so. However, when it comes to weight training and strength training there is a right or wrong way to do so. I feel it is my responsibility to make sure that at least when someone is training at the Mind-Body Fitness Studio they are learning safe and healthy techniques and form to prevent injuries.
I have seen too many examples of people I know very well from the local gyms who are now impaired or in constant pain all born from improper weight training form. Many times I will start a new client at my studio and I can see the results of what they thought was the right way to use weights and their impairments in functioning and mobility of movement. I believe a gym can never be too clean, too safe, or a trainer too mindful or too knowledgeable.
Now you know why I am being so difficult.
Unlike so many other things that we do, weight training requires exact form so that one will not become injured. When a lift is done incorrectly over and over it causes injury from the repetitive motion. What's more, doing a lift without correct form repetitively will create a habit in training that will be difficult to break increasing the chance for injury later on. Some of these injuries take time to fully develop and over the course of time can become permanent or require surgery to correct.
I was thinking yesterday of how my training a client at the studio is so different from the way I do therapy at my office. I have always believed that there are many ways to find contentment and truth in our lives and have never felt that what I believe is always applicable to another's life. What works for one person may or may not fit well to another. I have rarely ever told a patient in therapy that their choices are wrong for them. It is certainly not my style to do so. However, when it comes to weight training and strength training there is a right or wrong way to do so. I feel it is my responsibility to make sure that at least when someone is training at the Mind-Body Fitness Studio they are learning safe and healthy techniques and form to prevent injuries.
I have seen too many examples of people I know very well from the local gyms who are now impaired or in constant pain all born from improper weight training form. Many times I will start a new client at my studio and I can see the results of what they thought was the right way to use weights and their impairments in functioning and mobility of movement. I believe a gym can never be too clean, too safe, or a trainer too mindful or too knowledgeable.
Now you know why I am being so difficult.
The 8 biggest fat loss myths- #4
Myth: YOUR GENETICS ARE WHY YOU ARE OVERWEIGHT
Scientists state that severe mutations in the obesity gene are rare in humans and have raised doubts that genetics could be a direct cause of the current the obesity epidemic. Dr. Claude Bouchard of the Human Genomics Laboratory in Baton Rouge, Louisiana suggests the following contributing factors as causes of obesity: physical environment, social environment, behavior, and biology(genetics). Dr. Bouchard states that, "The obesity epidemic that we are facing today has developed over the past fifty years and can't be explained by changes in our genome." Therefore, claiming that genetics are more influential than behavior or lifestyle is completely false.
Body fat is a complex problem with numerous causes and genetics are only one part. Although many people prefer to pin all the blame on something outside of their control, current evidence says that the condition that your body is in today is primarily a product of your own lifestyle, social influences, behavior, choices, and mind-set and NOT on genetics.
Scientists state that severe mutations in the obesity gene are rare in humans and have raised doubts that genetics could be a direct cause of the current the obesity epidemic. Dr. Claude Bouchard of the Human Genomics Laboratory in Baton Rouge, Louisiana suggests the following contributing factors as causes of obesity: physical environment, social environment, behavior, and biology(genetics). Dr. Bouchard states that, "The obesity epidemic that we are facing today has developed over the past fifty years and can't be explained by changes in our genome." Therefore, claiming that genetics are more influential than behavior or lifestyle is completely false.
Body fat is a complex problem with numerous causes and genetics are only one part. Although many people prefer to pin all the blame on something outside of their control, current evidence says that the condition that your body is in today is primarily a product of your own lifestyle, social influences, behavior, choices, and mind-set and NOT on genetics.
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