Interface Consultation Services, PLLC

The National Institute of Mental Health provides research data on the impact of mental illness on “established market economies”. The data expresses impact in terms of the economic consequences due to mental illness and associated mortality and disability. The findings of this research project mortality and disability until the year 2020. Facts Major depression is the leading cause of disability (measured by the number of years lived with a disabling condition) worldwide among persons age 5 and older. For women throughout the world as well as those in established market economies, depression is the leading cause of DALYs. In established market economies, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are also among the top 10 causes of DALYs for women. DALYS refer to Daily Adjusted Life Years. DALYs measure lost years of healthy life regardless of whether the years were lost to premature death or disability. Various mental health diagnoses are considered in relation to this measurement. For furth...

Do you want to be successful? Do you want to move from the doldrums of a life with little meaning or satisfaction? If your answer is YES! The 10 Foundations of Motivation is a great book to help you organize your thoughts and get you moving in the right direction. Shawn Doyle describes that the first step is finding out what your purpose is? Why are you on this earth? Who are you truly meant to be? What are you passionate about? We all generally have the same wiring, it is what we decide to do with this wiring that makes the difference between finding ourselves at age 50 and wondering what we have accomplished in life and finding ourselves smiling at age 50 with continued enthusiasm for our life’s-work, knowing that we are fulfilling our purpose. I have been fortunate to be remotely connected to a program called Peace Jam . Nobel Peace Laureates volunteer their time to youth to instill within our youth the belief that we can all make a difference. I have had the opportunity to hear...

Rates of premature termination from therapy vary from agency to therapist. In some agencies early treatment termination rates are above 50%. Termination may occur after the initial session or later in the course of treatment. There exist multiple variables effecting early termination of treatment, many which may be prevented through effective educating clients about the expectations of treatment. Discussing openly the specific treatment goals, timeliness for treatment, communicating about differences, conflicts or disagreements in the therapy process and other potential treatment-ending reasons is key to preventing termination and improving treatment outcomes. Communication, including with your therapist, is vital to the overall success in treatment. To learn more about why people drop out of therapy, see Dropping out of Psychotherapy

CDHPs are a fairly new resurrecting of the old indemnity insurance plan (high deductibles) with a broad PPO choice. How does it actually improve choice and the overall health care system? Dr. Enthoven’s is quoted in Managed Care Matters that CDHPs do not address the concerns of chronic illness, prevention, costs or quality of services. It does give customers choice which is very important to customers. How do we balance choice, evidenced – based treatments, quality providers, affordability, and access, etc? How do with provide service excellence at an affordable price? What barriers are there to a more healthy and productive system? I cannot answer these questions but I think it’s imperative to start seek answers. What about fewer health care plans? Could we become more consistent with service delivery and monitoring of data, prevention efforts, improved management of chronic illness? What creative ideas do you have to provide this type of delivery system?

If you live in the Midwest or other geographic areas that experience low natural sunlight this time of year, you may be experiencing symptoms of Seasonal Affective Disorder. It usually strikes during autumn and often continues through the winter when natural light is reduced. Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD can present with low to high levels of depressed mood, appetite and sleep changes, general feelings of malaise and sadness, low energy, low motivation, difficulty concentrating and even thoughts of suicide. Not all people in low light areas experience SAD; others experience significant symptoms that interfere with their day-to-day functioning. Effective ways of managing low-light mood symptoms can range from visits to the tanning salon to seeking counseling and medication treatment. A possible alternative to resorting to prescribed medications may involve Light Therapy. This form of therapy consists of spending blocks of time bathed in light from a special full-spectrum light sou...

As is the case with most things, too much of a good thing can become unhealthy. In the case of prescription medications for the treatment of Attention Deficit Disorder and other impulse-control disorders, medications like Ritalin, Metadate, Strattera and Adderall have become popular and effective in the treatment of these disorders. These amphetamine-derived substances have a paradoxical or opposite effect on people that truly suffer from attention and impulse control deficits, acting to calm, focus and regulate their hyperactive behaviors and attention to tasks. When used responsibly many individuals are able to function more effectively and productively in their work, school and relationships. On the other hand, when medications such as these are inappropriately used, taken to achieve the true amphetamine response, it can become dangerous and contribute to a more habitual pattern of substance abuse. View this recent article with regard to Adderall in particular and the phenomenon occ...

I heard this phrase a couple of months ago. You know, it was on one of those seminar flyers that fill you mailbox. “Compassion Fatigue” caught my eye. I had to chuckle to myself…what is it? Basically, the conference was about “burn out” in helping professions (mental health, nursing, medical and spiritual). Are you tried of hearing the same old story? Have you lost your patience, “lost that lovin’ feeling”? Are you spent because you have been seeing clients back to back and you have nothing left!! Do you want to scream, “Stop calling me”?!! You threaten that you are going to “lose it”. If you are feeling this way, maybe it’s time for some self-compassion . How are you taking care of yourself? We are all the same. We all have feelings, we all need support, and we all need breaks, to breathe the sun of a warm day and the smell of warm bread. We all respond to these things as human beings. Have compassion for yourself. This is where it starts…if it means taking a day t...

Psychiatric News notes through research completed that patients with anxiety and depression were significantly impacted by telephone –based interventions by a care manager that reduced their use of the emergency room visits and the patients also showed a decrease in symptoms of depression and anxiety 12 months post intervention. Dialing up mental health continues to be an intervention that being used and researched. This research indicates that telephone interventions can be a successful treatment. Care managers can develop a relationship, show concern and emotional support, discuss ways the patient can manage their symptoms through evidenced based practice interventions such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (assisting patients in understanding faulty and irrational thinking and assisting patients with changing thought patterns to be more rational and realistic) Disease Education and other Interventions.

Medicaid behavioral managed care has been around for almost a decade in Michigan and around the United States. By 2012, Medicaid will provide 60 percent of public behavioral health funding and managed care will be the major vehicle to delivering behavioral health services . This study indicates that it will be here for years to come. Programs that have been implemented into the mainstream have effectively improved clinical and financial outcomes and have been able to be more creative. Programs that have been implemented poorly have shown fragmented care and poorer clinical outcomes. For behavorial managed care programs to be successful, implementation of these programs will require adequate funding, good utilization data, a flexible mindset and an administrator dedicated to continuing to implement managed care cultural change into the mental health systems.

Helping people to become empowered and effective in the management of their own emotional well-being is not a novel idea. Taking responsibility for one’s own life, being accountable, “taking the bull by the horns”, however we say being the master of one’s own destiny, the principles and techniques contained with the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) model can assist all individuals become better able to understand, recognize and intervene in the management of their own life. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is becoming an evidence-based treatment practice in the treatment of depression, anxiety, substance abuse and other mental health illnesses as well. The Beck Institute in Pennsylvania, pioneered by Aaron Beck the founder of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, continues to research, teach and train clinicians in CBT worldwide. The fundamental principles of CBT can help individuals “learn” how to identify certain maladaptive thoughts & emotions, analyze these thoughts & feelings to...

Like the majority of personality disorders, Borderline Personality Disorder is a disorder that has generally been resistant to conventional mental health treatment. Borderline Personality Disorder is described in the DSM IV as a pattern of instability in interpersonal relationships, self-image, affects and marked impulsivity, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts. Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) has been researched and found to be statistically the most effective treatment for this profound and disabling disorder. Marsha Linehan , the founder of DBT has a variety of specific treatment strategies are described in Linehan's book (Linehan 1993a). Before a patient will be taken on for DBT, she will be expected to commit to a number of undertakings: 1. To work in therapy for a specified period of time (Linehan initially contracts for one year) and, within reason, to attend all scheduled therapy sessions. 2. If suicidal or parasuicidal behaviors are pre...

Provided by: Canadian PressWritten by: JOHN WARD Dec. 11, 2006 OTTAWA (CP) - Everyone has heard stories of overworked, stressed-out nurses, but a new Statistics Canada study has put flesh on the anecdotal bones, confirming many of the complaints. In fact, the study suggests that the job is making nurses sick. The study surveyed nearly 19,000 nurses between October 2005 and January 2006, including registered nurses, licensed practical nurses and registered psychiatric nurses. It found that about 10 per cent were injured on the job in the previous year , whether they were stuck by needles or even physically assaulted by patients. About 37 per cent reported they had experienced pain serious enough to prevent them from carrying out their normal daily activities in the year before the survey and three-quarters of them blamed job factors. The survey links work stress, low autonomy and lack of respect to health problems among nurses. It says job strain was strongly related to fair or poor ph...