Month 2: Guided Imagery

You can download the MP3 here

To download, “right click” on the link and choose “download file as” or “save link as”

Month 2: Is your head hurting?

I just finished reading Month 2: Mental Preparation. After compiling my score for the Private Practice Success Program Assessment (pg 39), I felt beads of sweat forming on the tip of my nose. My body sensing what my mind already knew, there’s a lot of work to be done. And much of it will be anxiety producing. Perhaps this would be a good time to take up drinking.

Anyway, in the spirit of reducing anxiety, would you find an audio recording of the Guided Imagery ( page 56) useful? For added effect, I could include ambient music. If you’re interested, please say so in the comments section.

Crafting Success Stories

To get the ball rolling, I’ll share a success story in the hopes that you’ll provide feedback and suggestions (Please do so in the comments section). If you’d like similar feedback, email me your success story and I’ll add it to the blog.

UPDATED with Lynn’s comments/suggestion in red. Thanks Lynn!!!

A few years ago, I had an adolescent girl referred to me with severe depression. She tried various medications, therapies, but with little success. During the initial consult, she stated that she had no interest in anything and spent most of her time crying and sleeping. However I noticed headphones around her neck, and asked her what music she was listening to. This tiny, almost inconsequential question, led to a discussion about emo-rock, and her dream to learn an instrument.

I needed a way to connect with this very sad and lonely girl, a way to fashion a common language between us. Talking about music was the key. It helped me to build trust with her, show her that I cared about what she thought, and was a bridge to communicating her thinking, her hopes and her dreams. As we talked over many sessions, I diagnosed a number of factors that were contributing to her depression, including sexual abuse. Because she now trusted me, I could refer her to a clinic for sex abuse, which she was willing to attend. Over the next 4 years, as we progressed with her therapy, I also helped my client value her musical passion and encouraged her to play an instrument herself. This helped overcome her isolation, built self-confidence and a creative outlet and she began to interact with her peers. In effect, under my guidance, therapy and music became equally important in her healing process.

I recently received an email from my client. She’s living with her boyfriend, playing drums in a few bands, and just finished a new media program at a local college. She’s currently taking prep courses for acceptance into a culinary art school. I learned a lot from my work with her that I am now able to use with other adolescents, to help them become more functional, creative, and connected within their own lives.