Down To Earth Newsletter
Volume 5 – Issue 1 – January, 2006
HELP!!! – My dear friend, Dr. Theresa Ratti, talked me into signing up for the Breast Cancer 3-Day walk that will be held in Arizona in November. Between now and then, I need to raise at least $2200 for the Susan G. Komen Foundation and so far, I’m exactly $2195 short. My thanks goes out to Devin Jones who wanted to donate .1% of my goal to the cause, only to find out the minimum donation online was $5. He’s still asking for his $2.80 in change, but he’s not going to get it! Just kidding! My sincere thanks goes out to Devin who has signed on as the very first contributor to this excellent cause. Please join him and I in supporting research that can help keep our grandmothers, our mothers, our wives, and our sisters with us a little longer. Click on the icon below to learn more or to donate. Thanks! DONATION HAS ENDED
Debunking Myths – Does Hypnotism Work?
Myth: Kathy S. from Arizona writes: I want to quit smoking and I’ve tried everything. Does hypnotism work? Fact: Hypnotism, as a method of behavior change, can be successful. If you select a therapist who is licensed by the State in which they practice, that’s a good place to start. A high-school drop-out can read a couple of books, hang out at the “new age” bookstore, rent an office, burn some incense, take your money and call himself a hypnotist or a hypnotherapist. On the other hand, practitioners who are licensed by the State have a graduate degree, supervised experience, and have demonstrated competence on an examination. Only licensed individuals can use the titles, “Psychologist,” “Clinical Psychologist,” “Licensed Psychologist,” “Licensed Clinical Social Worker,” “Licensed Independent Social Worker,” or “Licensed Professional Counselor.”
Next, it is advisable to make sure the therapist you choose has additional training, supervision, and experience in hypnotism and in addictions. Both hypnotism and quitting smoking are specialized areas that are not generally covered adequately in graduate programs. There are a number of hypnotism schools, programs, and instructors, that vary in credibility and professionalism. A rule of thumb is that a very quick, but expensive, program is probably less credible than a program that may cost as much or more, but takes place over a reasonable amount of time and includes supervised practice. That means the hypnotism student is required to do some hypnotism while the teacher watches them practice, to make sure they’re getting the hang of it, or that the student is required to do the hypnotism on their own, but report back to the teacher on a regular basis. When you’re asking questions, use the phrase “supervised practice.” When asking about the area of addictions, ask the provider what education or training they have had, specific to treating addictions.
Finally, it’s up to you. When it comes to quitting smoking, there are a ton of techniques that work, if you use them. However, the scales are tipped much more heavily against smokers, regardless of what quitting techniques they employ. Lots of great techniques fail when people don’t use them as recommended and sometimes people quit on their own without any sort of professional intervention. The main thing to remember when you’re trying to quit any addiction is that the more times you try, the more likely it is that you’ll be successful. So, don’t consider one relapse a complete and total failure. See it as a temporary setback and gear yourself up to try again, and take help from wherever it is offered – family, friends, professionals, church, self-help groups, wherever. They say it takes a village to raise a child – well, it takes a community to beat an addiction!
December Discussion Question: What is the most meaningful thing you do during the Holidays?
Each of our subscribers who responded to this question will be sent the Down To Earth prizes if they included their mailing address. The primary unifying factor in all the responses was to do something for someone less fortunate than yourself, whether it be a family member or friend, a charity, or even a random stranger. What a caring bunch of folks our readers are!
January Discussion Question: Why do you think it’s important to tell the truth?
E-mail answers to: discussion@drmarlo.com and answers will appear next month. Your state of residence, your first name and last initial will be used unless you tell us not to use them. Anyone who responds and also includes a mailing address will receive Down To Earth temporary tattoos until supplies are exhausted.
Thought For The Day: The world does not revolve around you.
FEATURED ARTICLE – Re-New Years’ Resolutions…
Today is January 14th. Just two short weeks into the new year, and I am certain that some of you have already abandoned the New Years’ Resolutions that you felt so strongly about at 12:04am on January 1st. New Years’ Eve is a magic time during which we believe it’s possible to change our whole lives, to do it all over, to make everything different, so we make resolutions. We allow ourselves to dream, to hope, and to make promises to ourselves and we return to our jobs and our homes and our friends and we tell everyone how fired up we are about our new perspective.
We’re going to quit smoking, lose weight, go to the gym, get a new job, go back to school, be patient with our children, make amends with our estranged family members, follow our doctors’ orders to improve our health, build that addition on the house, give more money to charity, or just organize our closet and keep it clean for a solid year.
Day One is exciting, the start of a whole new life. We approach the day with enthusiasm and we stay on our diet or we take a load of clothes to the Goodwill and life is good. Day Two generally goes as well and the whole first week might even be great, but then there will be one day when an old behavior creeps in. Halfway through a glass of wine, you realize that you swore you wouldn’t drink this year. Oh no! The resolution is ruined! Oh well, better have another glass of wine, then, right? Wrong!
When you slip up on one of your resolutions – AS YOU WILL, REPEATEDLY, just notice it. Notice what led to the slip-up, what triggered it, why it happened, and how you might be able to better prevent a relapse in the future. Then, re-commit. Tell yourself again that the plan for the year is to continually improve, not to just have a perfect week, then go back to ‘business as usual.’
Make a date or an appointment with yourself at least once a month to evaluate how you’re doing on your goals. Check your closet or your back yard or your waistline or your checkbook, see how you’re doing, and write it down. Compare it to the previous month. We often make progress that we are not even aware of. We sometimes improve just a little bit, but it’s not enough to notice, so we get discouraged and quit trying. Having one less box of papers on your desk is better than having more papers, even if your desk is still pretty messy. It’s a start, and with continued attention over the course of the year, you will make continual improvement.
So, don’t consider your New Years’ Resolutions destroyed if you have messed up a little here or there, the year is just starting and there’s lots of time between now and the stroke of midnight on New Years’ Eve! Use your time wisely. Re-New your Resolutions!
The Psychology Session – Internet Radio Show – Host Professor Devin Jones and Dr. Marlo were featured in the December, 2005 issue of the APA Monitor about this show that broadcasts every Monday from 11:30a-12:30p at www.drmarlo.com/radio. We welcome suggestions for topics or guests we should have on the show. You can also advertise on our show for $5 per 15-second spot . E-mail suggestions or inquiries to PsychologySession@drmarlo.com.
Dr. Marlo’s Movie Madness – Entertainment & Education – Join us on the Third Thursday of each month for a free movie with a mental health theme. Interested parties can stay after the movie for a discussion about the movie. One credit informal CE awarded for a $10 fee. Upcoming Features: January 19 – Monster, February 9 (NOTE: Second Thursday) – King of Hearts, March 16 – Mine Own Executioner, April 20 – Pay it Forward, May 18 – Crash, June 15 – Door to Door (FREE Watkins products for the first 9 to register for the June 15th movie!). Networking at 7:15pm, Movie at 7:30pm, Discussion until 10:00pm. Sign up for Movie Madness updates by sending a blank e-mail with ‘subscribe’ in the subject line to MovieMadness@drmarlo.com.
E-Therapy!
Do you have a relative or friend who would die of embarrassment to walk into a therapists’ office, but who could really benefit from therapy? Perhaps e-therapy would be right for them. Dr. Marlo provides e-mail consultation and phone sessions. Please refer your family or friends to www.drmarlo.com/EasyPay.html to select a 30 or 60-minute phone or live chat session or e-mail consultations. Perfect for people outside of Arizona, people too busy to come into the office, or people who want to investigate therapy a little bit before coming in for face-to-face sessions.
Publish Your Work – Promote your Practice – Two ways to publish – for free as a semi-anonymous author (your state of residence, your first name and last initial will be used), or, for $10, as a professional promoting a mental health practice (your full name, with credentials, address, phone number, and e-mail address will be included). We reserve the right to decline to publish any submissions. Send creative contributions to: articles@drmarlo.com.
Dr. Marlo in the Media – Unfortunately, Dr. Marlo was interviewed by Colleen Sparks of the Ahwatukee Schools section of the Arizona Republic newspaper following a tragedy at a local school. Watch for possible upcoming features by Colleen Sparks, Susan Felt, and Sue Doerfler of the AZ Republic who each consulted with Dr. Marlo for a psychological take on some stories they’re developing.
How did I get on this Mailing List? – This mailing list started with all of my family and friends and colleagues, about 6 years ago. Since then, I have added just about any e-mail address I come across as well as people who request to join the mailing list. If you do not want to be on this list, you can unsubscribe by clicking the unsubscribe link below. I continue to subscribe people upon receiving their e-mail addresses because I get positive feedback for doing so from many of those I subscribe. My apologies if you are not one of them.
Make 2006 glorious! –Marlo J. Archer, Ph.D.
