Mental Health Counselling

Mental Health Counselling
Mental health counselling can be an effective therapy as
part of a wider treatment plan for an individual who is
suffering from depression or an anxiety related disorder,
or for people who have experienced a traumatic event in
their lives and are finding it difficult to cope with, or
for those who are struggling to deal with specific problems
and issues. It is often a doctor who will recommend mental
health counselling, however, many individuals will seek the
services of a counsellor themselves, either by asking their
doctor for advice or by approaching a counsellor directly.

What is counselling?

Basically, counselling can be described as a type of
talking therapy. It is usually delivered in a safe and
private setting so that the individual concerned can relax
and talk openly and freely about their particular problems
or issues and the emotions or feelings that can accompany
them.

It is described as a talking therapy because the counsellor
will listen empathetically to an individual in order to
understand the situation from the individual's point of
view. In doing this a trained counsellor will be able to
encourage an individual to see their situation more
clearly, perhaps from a different perspective, and will be
able to help them identify new ways of coping with their
problems or circumstances. Counselling usually does not
involve giving advice or telling someone what to do with
their lives, it is more about exploring problems,
identifying possible solutions and choices and obtaining
clarity.

For counselling to be effective, it is essential that an
element of trust develops between the counsellor and the
person or persons receiving the counselling as only in this
way can there be an open and free dialogue. It may take
time for a person receiving counselling to lose any initial
feelings of distrust, fear and embarrassment so quite often
counselling will be offered over several sessions in order
for a relationship to develop between the counsellor and
the patient or client.

There are several types of mental health counselling
services available, each drawing on its own particular
theory of human psychology and development. There are also
many different types of counsellors, some of who are
trained to deal with a particular problem or circumstance.
For example bereavement counsellors, counsellors who
specialise in eating disorders such as anorexia and
bulimia, and counsellors who understand the issues
surrounding drug and alcohol addiction, as well as many
others.

Counselling can take place on a one to one basis, or in
group sessions, face to face or over the phone. It can last
for just one session, a specific block of sessions or be
open ended with no time limit at all. Regardless of the
particular type of mental health problem involved, the
first step to recovery is recognising that there is a
problem in the first place.

When mental health counselling can help

Mental health counselling can be particularly beneficial
for individuals who have a tendency to repress feelings
like guilt, frustration, anger, resentment, sadness and so
on and who find it difficult to cope alone and who for
whatever reason, perhaps do not want to discuss how they
feel with their friends and family. It can help an
individual to gain new insights into their own particular
circumstances and problems and to achieve clarity and
direction in life. Most of all it can help an individual
cope and improve their quality of life.

There are numerous circumstances where someone might seek
the services of a mental health counsellor or be referred
for counselling by their doctor and these include but are
certainly not limited to:

• Relationship problems, including separation and divorce
• Problems at work or financial worries, dismissal,
redundancy
• Physical, sexual and/or mental abuse
• Bereavement
• Depression and anxiety
• Post natal depression
• Eating disorders
• OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder)
• Alcohol and drug abuse
• Phobias
• Panic Attacks
• Dealing with stress
• Post traumatic stress

Finding a counsellor

In order to get the right kind of help it is important that
you access the most appropriate type of counselling for you
and as there are so many available options, it can be
problematic if you decide to go it alone.

In the first instance, it would be advisable to speak to
your doctor as he or she will be able to take into
consideration your full medical history before recommending
any particular type of therapy or counsellor. If you
decide to seek the services of a trained counsellor
independently, it is up to you to check out the cost and
the credentials of any potential counsellor before you
start.

Many voluntary organisations have counsellors and there are
numerous private counsellors advertising in the press,
phone books and on the Internet. However, you can find an
accredited counsellor from the British Association of
Counselling and Psychotherapy website at www.bacp.co.uk or
from the National Board for Certified Counsellors at
www.nbcc.org if you live in the USA

----------------------------------------------------
Depression and anxiety are serious mental health conditions
that can strike anyone at anytime. For more information
about depression and selp help come and visit
http://www.fightingdepression.co.uk

Put an end to the cholesterol and the kilos in excess without medicine (Part III)

Put an end to the cholesterol and the kilos in excess without medicine (Part III)
Is the wine your enemy? It was indeed shown that with
moderate amount all the wines exert an analogue role with
that of small quantities of aspirin by being opposed to the
development of blood stones.

A specificity of the red wines: Thanks to the scientists,
we know today that they contain certain substances able to
decrease in a considerable way the rate of cholesterol.
Good news! But watch out... the various studies undertaken
on this subject showed that beneficial daily consumption is
in a fork from one to three glasses... never more!

Here is the list of the food which contains bad fats:
butter, cheese, bacon, lard, sausages, black roll, pâté,
sausage, pig meat, lamb, sheep, beef.

Here is the list of foods containing good fats: olive oil,
grape pips oil, oil of colza, corn oil, soya oil, fatty
fish, lightened butter, vegetable margarine, margarine rich
in sterols.

An observation: certain readers could be astonished by
this predilection for the olive oil, knowing that it is
very caloric. A spoon of olive oil is not richer in calorie
than a spoon of sour cream or a little peace of butter or a
very small square of chocolate! But on the other hand, it
is necessary to have in mind that the olive oil is an
anti-cholesterol fat, contrary to the sour cream, butter or
the chocolate!

False friends of cholesterol: oyster, egg yolk, lobster,
crab, shrimp, liver, calf sweetbread, therefore all meat
offal (organs), brain. But these foods are very good for a
diet.

The cholesterol black list: brain, meat offal, cheese,
butter and cream.

Your mode of cooking: To proscribe: 1. Stew cooking: Used
to cook the fattiest meats, it is a method incompatible
with your diet.

2. Braise cooking( in French: braisage): it consists in
seizing a meat, a fish or a vegetable in fat before cooking
with small fire in a small quantity of liquid.
Exceptionally, this method can be used while seizing in the
vegetable margarine (a margarine made for that).

3. Fry cooking: this process which consists in plunging the
food in an ebullient oil bath is completely proscribed.

To use daily: 1.Grills: realized in an oven on grill
position, an anti-adhesive pan, a grill on the table or a
barbecue. Advantages: one does not use added fat and fats
are eliminated while falling under the grill. The
anti-adhesive pan will be used for the lean meats and fish.

2. Cooking with vapour: it consists in placing food in a
flat-bottomed container perforated above a source of steam.
Advantages: no fat is used. Can relate to all vegetables,
fish, rice and fruits. A double superposition makes it
possible simultaneously to cook food and their garnishing.

3. Cooking with water (to boil): this mode of cooking
consists in placing food in a container full of water which
one will make boil the time of cooking. Advantages: can be
used for the cooking of all the vegetables, pasta, rice,
many meats and all fish. You can add a little olive oil for
the pasta. This method requires artifices to overcome the
insipidity: rich court-bouillon for fish and preparation of
a sauce accompanying the dish.

4. Cooking in pressure-cooker: the food is cooked in very
little water at high temperature (till 120 degree Celsius)
in closed hermetic environment. This is the steam oven of
the second generation. Advantages: saving of time and
energy, no need for fat, can be used for all kind of food
except the pasta.

5. To braise (in French: cuire à l'étouffée) or in a
tagine: this mode of cooking consists in placing varied
foods in a bowl closed by its cover, on fire or in the oven
at small temperature. Advantages: no fat content. Allows to
execute varied receipts by marinating meats and vegetables.
That requires to well know times of cooking.

P.S. Sorry for the purist but to braise in English has two
different meanings

----------------------------------------------------
Patrick Beaufay offers you an other way to diet. All diets
are hypocaloric and they have for impact to decrease your
metabolism. The burn the fat and feed the muscle program
does exactly the opposite. Therefore more calories will be
burnt each day. For more info:
http://burn-fat-fast.blogspot.com/2007/01/cholesterol-trigly
cerides-hdl-and-ldl.html

Fish Oil May Help Burn Fat - But Not THAT Much Fat!

Fish Oil May Help Burn Fat - But Not THAT Much Fat!
Unless you've been living under a rock somewhere for the
last several years, you've probably heard about the health
benefits of eating fatty fish or taking fish oil
supplements. Well, it looks like you might be able to add
fat loss alongside the other benefits like heart, blood
(cholesterol/triglycerides), brain, skin and joint health -
and the rest of the list, which is too long to print here.

The biologically active ingredients that seem to make fatty
fish so beneficial are are the long chain omega-3 (n-3)
fatty acids, EPA and DHA. At least a half a dozen human
studies and more than two dozen animal studies have been
completed in the last 10 years which suggest that these
omega-3 fatty acids found in fish may help you lose more
fat. However, the fat loss benefit is not as much as some
people want you to believe…

The results of two new studies on fish oil and fat loss
were just released earlier this year. In one study
published by the International Journal of Obesity,
researchers from Reykjavik Iceland tested the effects of
fish or fish oil consumption equivalent to 1.5 grams of
combined EPA/DHA on body weight and body composition as
part of a calorie restricted diet. (1)

The subjects were 324 young overweight men and women who
followed one of four experimental protocols for 8 weeks:

(1) sunflower oil capsules (control)
(2) lean fish
(3) fatty fish (salmon)
(4) fish oil capsules

The researchers reported the following results:

"In young, overweight men, the inclusion of either lean or
fatty fish, or fish oil as part of a hypoenergetic diet
resulted in 1 kilogram more weight loss after 4 weeks than
a similar diet without seafood or supplement of marine
origin. The addition of seafood to a nutritionally balanced
energy-restricted diet may boost weight loss."

It should be noted that the study was supported by the
Seafood Plus organization and there were some limitations
in the design that could have influenced the subject's
compliance.

The second study, conducted at the University of South
Australia and published in the American Journal of Clinical
Nutrition (2) investigated the effect of combining fish oil
supplements with regular aerobic exercise.

In a 12 week placebo-controlled study, the subjects were
divided into four groups:

(1) sunflower oil
(2) sunflower oil plus exercise
(3) fish oil
(4) fish oil plus exercise.

The fish oil groups were given 6 grams of high DHA fish oil
per day, which contained a total of 1.9 grams of long chain
omega-3 fatty acids. The exercising groups performed
aerobic exercise three days per week for 45 minutes.

As you might expect, the fish oil plus exercise group came
out with the best results:

• minus 1.2% body fat (compared to no decrease in the other
groups)
• minus 2 kilograms/4.4 lbs (compared to no decrease in the
non exercise group).

Unfortunately, there was a limitation in this study as
well: The food intake of the subjects was self reported,
which is known to be notoriously inaccurate.

There have been several other human studies on fish oil and
fat loss in the last ten years or so and the majority of
the findings have been positive. The research is compelling
and there have been numerous, and very plausible mechanisms
of action proposed.

However, more and more often, I am hearing people in the
health, fitness and nutrition industries making some pretty
bold and I daresay, premature and outrageous claims about
what fish oil can do for fat loss; claims which are not
supported by the research.

The studies on fish oil and fat loss are encouraging, but
the vast majority of research has been on animals (rats,
mice and hamsters) and there have been limitations in
nearly all the human studies so far, including:

small sample sizes, short study durations, statistically
insignificant results, lack of randomization, no control
groups, imprecise body composition testing, measurement
errors, self-reporting of food intake, low compliance
control and fish industry or supplement industry-sponsored
bias.

Even if you take the results of the existing research at
face value, the fat loss really isn't all that impressive -
an extra pound here, an extra kilo there.

Many of the research results barely reach statistical
significance, and you even have to wonder if these small
improvements in fat loss are simply correcting omega-3
deficiency or fixing omega-3 and omega-6 imbalance…
therefore, will they continue over a longer time period or
is this a one time improvement?

One of the earlier studies showed the same kind of
measurable but modest results: The fish oil group that took
1.8 grams of combined EPA/DHA daily lost 2 pounds and the
non fish oil group lost only 0.7 pounds after 3 weeks (3).

Of course, you'll probably take all the fat loss help that
you can get, and since there are already enough good
reasons to eat fatty fish for cardiovascular disease
prevention and other health benefits, it's really a no
brainer to eat fish such as salmon, trout, mackerel or
sardines at least twice a week. (By the way, with the
exception of King Mackerel, these are species which have
not been reported as having problems with mercury
contamination).

Alternately, you can use a fish oil supplement to get the
equivalent in omega-3 fatty acids as found in the fish. Non
fish eaters or vegetarians can use flaxseed oil, a
plant-based source of Alpha Linolenic Acid (ALA) which
converts in the body to EPA and DHA (the efficiency and
amount of conversion has been a subject of controversy,
however).

Based on the three studies cited above, it looks like 1.5
to 2.0 grams per day of combined DHA/EPA is the right dose
when fat loss is the goal (although some suggest you should
consider body weight when choosing the dosage, i.e., 1 gram
total fish oil for each 20 lbs body weight, so a big guy
might go with as much as 3.0 grams)

Most fish oil capsules come in 1,000 mg size at a 30%
concentration, so if you took five 1000mg capsules a day (5
grams of total fish oil), that would give you 1.5 grams of
EPA/DHA; about the same as you'd get in 3 ounces (85 g) of
salmon.

Note: other studies on fish oil and fat loss tested 3.0 to
4.0 g/day of EPA/DHA, but the American Heart Association
has warned against taking more than 3 g EPA/DHA per day
without a physician's supervision, as there may be
potential contraindications or side effects such as
increased bleeding time. Based on the research, more fish
oil will NOT burn more fat, so be wary of the "mega dose
gurus."

Another tip: Don't fall for the "premium price" necessarily
means better quality party line. Quality and purity are
important, but you can get molecularly-distilled, mercury,
PCB, Dioxin, Organochlorine-free, 3rd party
tested-to-meet-label-claims fish oil for less than ten
bucks per bottle of 400 (one gram) capsules… yet I have
seen "fish oil gurus" selling the exact same thing for $50
to $60 claiming that everyone else's products were
"contaminated" and "inferior" in quality. If that's true,
then I'd like to see those products submitted to consumer
lab for voluntary 3rd party independent analysis and head
to head comparison on purity AND cost effectiveness. If
they come out superior and cost effective, I will gladly
publicize the results myself.

The bottom line is it looks like fish oil may be a
legitimate help to your fat loss efforts, especially when
combined with exercise, as there may be an important
synergy there. However, the idea that fish oil is some kind
of miracle fat burner is just not true.

Like Mulder on the X-files, "I want to believe"… but we
need much, much more research before we can say for certain
exactly how much body composition improvement you can
really expect from eating fatty fish or taking fish oil
supplements.

References:

(1) Hill AM. Combining fish-oil supplements with regular
aerobic exercise improves body composition and
cardiovascular disease risk factors. Am J Clin Nutr. 86(5):
1267-1274. 2007

(2) Thorsdottir I et al. Randomized trial of weight loss
diets for young adults varying in fish and fish oil
content. Int J Obesity. May 2007. pp 1-7

(3) Couet C. Effect of dietary fish oil on body fat mass
and basal fat oxidation in healthy adults. Int J Obes. 21:
637-643. 1997

----------------------------------------------------
Tom Venuto, CSCS, CPT, is a natural bodybuilder, fat loss
expert, independent nutrition researcher and author of
"Burn the Fat, Feed The Muscle," which teaches you how to
get lean without drugs or supplements using secrets of the
world's best bodybuilders and fitness models. Learn how to
get rid of stubborn fat and increase your metabolism by
visiting: http://www.burnthefat.com and
http://www.burnthefatinnercircle.com