AdultSpan Counseling

Seeking Independent Contractors LMHP/LIMHP/Psychologists

J. Kipp Lanning, LIMHP CPC — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:24:18 +0000

An LIMHP/Psychologist team is seeking an independent contractor interested in professional development through AdultSpan Counseling. Competitive rates and incentives, billing/preauthorization and authorization tracking, and marketing, are all provided in a professional office with a fun innovating team. Fax your CV, coverletter and references to (402) 817-3681.

Independent Mental Health Licensure Attained

Now Accepting Midland Choice Insurances

J. Kipp Lanning, LIMHP CPC — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 20:04:13 +0000

Effective December 8th AdultSpan Counseling now accepts Midland’s Choice insurance in addition to Blue Cross/Blue Shield, TriCare, and Medicaid!

AdultSpan Counseling Now Accepts Blue Cross / Blue Shield & TriCare

AdultSpan Counseling is Moving!

J. Kipp Lanning, LIMHP CPC — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 16:30:19 +0000

AdultSpan Counseling is moving to 1001 South 70th St. Suite 225 on November 1st!

This new location will provide space for growth and expanded services. For a map to the new location, click here.

Taylor Meadows 1001 S 70th, Suite 225

AdultSpan Counseling Now Accepts Blue Cross / Blue Shield & TriCare

J. Kipp Lanning, LIMHP CPC — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 18:04:35 +0000

AdultSpan Counseling now accepts Blue Cross / Blue Shield of Nebraska

Blue Classic
BluePreferred (PPO)
NEtwork BLUE (PPO) and
TriCare West covering Service Members!

Dr. Wolf Wolfensberger Passes

J. Kipp Lanning, LIMHP CPC — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 16:41:18 +0000

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 lives for persons with intellectual disabilities is the foundation that today’s advocacy is built on.

Unfortunately there is still much work to be done in order to realize his dream that persons with intellectual disabilities are not devalued by society and have free access to positive social roles. Mental health research finds that discrimination is a significant detractor from living a healthy life. Daily discrimination results in feelings of rejection, anxiety, poor self esteem, and depression. Factors that protect against mental health issues when facing discrimination are a strong family support network, valued social roles, learned coping skills, learned self-soothing skills, and learned self advocacy skills.

Still, despite this link between discrimination and mental health, the majority of mental health symptoms for persons with intellectual disabilities are still treated as “behaviors.” The pain of repeated rejection and bullying can make the perception of rejection where there is none very real and the reaction of frustration seem disproportionate. However, when approached as a “behavior” these reactions only continue to reinforce the message that they are not “good enough.” The implementation of consequences reinforces the power dynamic in which they experience helplessness and worthlessness.

Dr. Wolfensberger envisioned a world in which people with intellectual disabilities grow up with positive social roles. They identify with their community and families/support networks that protect them from the effects of discrimination. Until that world is realized there will be a very real mental health need for persons with intellectual disabilities. Behavior plans are necessary but often struggle to find “fairness” when mental health issues are present. Staff can help by considering how to explain behavior in terms of depression or anxiety. What would a typical depressed person’s response be to the expectations or discrimination that people with intellectual disabilities face? Could short term mental health therapy adapted for persons with intellectual disabilities help?

March is Developmental Disabilities month: 2011

J. Kipp Lanning, LIMHP CPC — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 15:00:34 +0000

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. In the 80’s the value of social roles in their communities was recognized. In the 90’s helping people reach their own dreams rather than habilitation was recognized.

In the last decade however, not much has changed. Moving forward in 2010’s my wish list would be…

Address physical health issues – individuals continue to almost universally have insurance (Medicaid) yet have some of the worst preventable health outcomes of any population.
Move to a mental health model rather than a behavior plan model – Mental Health Counseling is a great support that should be considered a least restrictive option prior to medications and/or behavior plans.
Create a Direct Support Professional license with standardized training and education in order to create a valued career path with a code of ethics that can cross agency lines.
Eliminate the waiting list for services.
Develop meaningful and fair sentencing options for persons with DD/ID who become involved with the legal system.

Some of these things take money. Some will take legislative action. Others only take a change of heart.

Get involved in March –

Talk to your Nebraska senator about the need to protect services for persons with developmental disabilities during this time of budget cuts
Donate time, money or talent to a non-profit advocacy group such as Nebraska Arc, Special Olympics, and the LOMR foundation.
Become an advocate for a person with developmental disabilities, or better yet, a friend.
Write an editorial for your local newspaper telling the story of how someone with DD/ID touched your life or has a better life because of a particular program or service.
Contact your local news media and ask them to highlight a positive story about developmental disabilities in March.

Thank you,

J. Kipp Lanning, LIMHP-CPC

Nebraska ranked 39th for Support of Persons with Developmental Disabilities

J. Kipp Lanning, LIMHP CPC — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 21:04:21 +0000

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 allocated to those persons in the community (US average is 77%).
We are 41st at supporting persons with DD/ID in community and home like settings with 67% of supported persons meeting this criteria (US average is 81%).
We are scraping the bottom at 49th in the nation at supporting families with only 32 families per 100k of population receiving family support (US average is 144 per 100k population).
The bright(er) spot is that Nebraska is tied for 15th place with 29% of individual served in supportive or competitive employment (US Average is 21%).

The story gets even more interesting when one considers that Nebraska hovers at the national averages for spending.

Nebraska spends $125 thousand (US Average $126k) per ICF-MR supported person.
For Home and Community based services Nebraska spends right at the national average, $43 thousand per supported person.
Nebraska spends $4.29 (US Average $4.12) per thousand of personal income or…
$157 per capita (national average is $171).

Yet, quality services don’t seem tied to spending or wealth. The top 10 states for quality inclusion services include both

Very rich states (Connecticut #4, and New Hampshire #1) as well as relatively less affluent states (Arizona #33).
High tax burden states (Connecticut #9 and Vermont #1) and low tax burdens (Arizona #32, New Hampshire #50).
High spenders (Connecticut and Massechusettes tied at #10) and low spenders (Arizona #45 and California #50).

Read the full report and let me know what you think. Since we’re spending the national average and well below average in outcomes, what can Nebraska do to improve quality inclusion services for persons with DD/ID?

Diabetes and Depression

J. Kipp Lanning, LIMHP CPC — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 17:24:26 +0000

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 also depressed. This is on the surface not surprising as depressive symptoms include a reduction in self worth and motivation. At face value one would assume that depression would make maintaining everyday routines for self care and disease maintenance challenging. Also, when feeling poorly about ones self, high carb/fat/salt snacks can give a quick dopamine pick-me-up but wreaks havoc on the diabetic’s (or anyone’s) diet.

Often professional staff and family caregivers have expressed frustration to me about how they get little cooperation from people they love when it comes to managing their diabetes. How much of this apparent apathy and outright refusal may be part of the guilty, overwhelmed, and hopeless feelings of depression? It’s hard to tell on the surface. An evaluation for depression from a mental health professional familiar with the needs, caregiver culture and communication of persons with DD/ID related to diabetes would probably be warranted. Therapy would focus on depression and diabetic outcomes. Goals would include re-working how the person views their disease and their support persons, stress management related to chronic illness, and barriers to self worth. If someone you know is struggling with managing their diabetes consider possibility that you’re not struggling with your loved one, but with the the effects of depression. Treatment can help.

Does Counseling for Depression Work?

Mental Illness Awareness Week 2010

J. Kipp Lanning, LIMHP CPC — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 16:01:13 +0000

Since 1990 the first week of October is Mental Illness Awareness Week and AdultSpan Counseling would like to provide a couple of neat resources to raise awareness of mental illness and recovery.

“Unlisted: A Story of Schizophrenia” is playing on PBS, Nebraska’s NET3.

NAMI: The National Alliance on Mental Illness provides alerts and action points to break down the stigma of mental illness at their StigmaBusters page.

Read and give feed back on Scot Adams news brief regarding mental health in Nebraska and take action to contact your state senator (find your senator by clicking here) to share how mental health services are needed, or have filled a need.

While the effects of mental illness on the individual and their families are very real, often recovery is made all to complicated by social fears and misunderstand about mental illness. Addressing barriers to mental health takes a community approach and multidisciplinary treatment. Mental Health Counseling is one of those disciplines with a large body of research demonstrating its effectiveness. AdultSpan Counseling is committed to strengths based, client defined mental health counseling that focuses on real outcomes for real people. The road to recovery is different for each person; however, one overriding motto defines the path for all, “people need to have a life to get better for rather than get better to have a life.”

Nebraska Counseling Association Conference

J. Kipp Lanning, LIMHP CPC — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 20:38:53 +0000

As a professional counselor, it is important to keep skills sharp, ethical decision making fresh and enthusiasm high. The Nebraska Counseling Association (NCA) conference is a great place to do just that. Aside from almost 11 hours of continuing education credits, learning how others use counseling to benefit their clients promotes creative thinking and enthusiasm for the power of counseling. AdultSpan Counseling is dedicated to continuing education in order to provide the very best counseling experience possible for clients. This year stand out NCA conference workshops included…

Ethical and Legal aspects of Confidentiality, Privacy, and Privilege & Steps to Reduce the Risk of Lawsuits and Licensure Board Complaints: Marie Anne “Nancy” Wheeler from the American Counseling Association Trust presented these workshops that discussed meeting HIPAA standards, how to handle a subpoena, and new HITECH rules enacted in 2010. She also presented on standards of practice, ethical decision making, maintaining professional boundaries, supportive documentation and collaboration to ensure best possible services are provided.

The Art and Practice of Counselor Supervision: Doug Tillman, LMHP and Christine Chasek, LIMHP, LADC discussed the Integrative Model and Discriminative Models of counselor supervision and discussed legal and ethical obligations of counselor supervisors.

Helping others with PTSD: Ahsan Nassem, MD was a compelling presenter about the causes, maintenance, and presentation of posttraumatic stress disorder.

10 Ways to Support an All Volunteer Military: provided resources for Mental Health Counselors to support National Guard Soldiers and their families in managing the stress of deployment and reintegration to civilian life as well as how to refer to VA services and depart of defense supports.
Counseling Student with disabilities in the school system: Provided an understanding of how school counselors and community mental health counselors can collaborate to support students and their families for success.

At the District 1 (Lincoln and surrounding communities) meeting, members brainstormed ways to grow membership in the professional organization to promote excellence and collaboration between counseling professionals.

AdultSpan Counseling focuses on providing professional services and membership in the National and Nebraska Counseling Association as well as the National Association for Dually Diagnosed is one way that mission goal is accomplished.

Which Do I Need? Life Coach or Counselor?