Dr. Wolf Wolfensberger Passes...

Dr Wolf Wolfensberger passed away Feb 27th, 2011.  He is best known for his connection with Social Role Valorization, the idea that living a life worth living includes fulfilling social roles in one’s own community. In the 1960′s and 1970′s he was an advocate for normalization and de-institutionalization for individuals with intellectual disabilities.  His work for advocacy to develop access to meaningful...

March is Developmental Disabilities month: 2011...

As readers of this blog know, developmental disabilities / intellectual disabilities (DD/ID) advocacy and celebration is important to AdultSpan Counseling. March is a great time to reflect on how people with Developmental and Intellectual Disabilities enrich our lives.  In the 1960’s people with developmental disabilities were hidden away in institutions.  In the 1970’s the community living movement gained traction. ...

What Can Counseling offer Men In the Information A...

Never in the history of the world have men had more “how to” information available. When lost, we’ll gladly use GoogleMap’s voice search feature before using our voice to ask for directions! Mental Health for most men is no different. WebMD, Mental Health Net, PsychCentral all represent the “how to.” The “self help” section of Amazon has more than 60,000 books related to mental health. Men know the who,...

Nebraska ranked 39th for Support of Persons with D...

A comprehensive report by Terran Bragdon through United Cerebral Palsy and posted on Disability Scoop ranking states for inclusion and quality of care criteria received by persons with intellectual disabilities shows good news… compared to 2009, Nebraska jumped 5 states. Bad news… that just barely gets us out of the bottom 10. Here’s the skinny. Nebraska is 33rd in the nation with 75% percent of DD/ID resources...

Have you “Friended” your Insurance Company? Ni...

We’ve all heard the admonitions about watching what we post to FaceBook and other social networking sites in terms of how it will affect our employability. That picture your friend Joe took where you are documented having poor judgment may keep you from getting hired, but what about insurance? A recent posting at PsychCentral discusses an article about how insurance companies are using social media to deny benefits. That...

Diabetes and Depression...

According to disabilityscoop.com people with developmental/intellectual disabilities (DD/ID) tend to have health insurance but continue to have high rates of preventable diseases including diabetes. The American Diabetes Association identifies that rates of depression are higher among diabetics compared to the general population. Another article from Medscape.com notes that the risk of mortality doubles when diabetics are...

Men’s Issues in Therapy: Is Specialization N...

When I first started looking into “men’s issues” in therapy the responses that I first received were discouraging. Now, after some years and experience I feel confident I can address some of those myths about men and therapy. Myth #1 – Men don’t seek help. Mentorship, coaching, and trainers have been long-standing masculine traditions in help seeking. The real statement is that men just don’t seek therapists for...

Fatherhood and Masculinity...

In an interesting set of articles on fatherhood and masculinity researchers find that the typical alpha-male roles driven by testosterone (sex, competing, novelty seeking) are only one part of the masculine picture. The point of the article seems to stress that movement towards fatherly behaviors are natural and should be more widely incorporated into the western masculine model. Male increases in hormones such as cortisol...

Cognitive Behavior and Narrative Therapy...

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT focuses on identifying thinking that gives rise to feelings and behaviors that create mental illness. This requires the therapist impress on the client that their thinking needs to change. CBT has a huge body of literature that demonstrates its effectiveness; however, I find that it frequently (thought not always) sets up a dynamic of the therapist as the “expert” and the client as the...

Counseling for ID/DD as a Least Restrictive Altern...

When supporting persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities with challenging behavior, the intervention should have a risk/benefit assessment that considers what interventions are… Least restrictive to their rights Most effective Least risk to their health Person specific (centered) Teach new skills that serve the same purpose (function) Often it seems that counseling is the option of last resort for many...