Thereputic Twists on Old Ideas
by Pat Devine
Have you ever related an experience or emotion by comparing it to a movie? Have had an uncomfortable silence is broken and, in turn, a conversation started by the introduction of music? Have you ever seen someone seem to enjoy petting a dog, or ever noticed that your pet was something of a conversation starter?
All these situations and their outside stimuli have roots in the human psyche, roots that, when triggered properly, could have healing and calming effects.
Different types of therapy incorporating the use of art, cinema, music and even animals, at first, may sound new-aged and even unscientific, are becoming widely accepted and popular tools in the field of counseling.
“Whatever helps you to get to a better place is therapy,” said High Point University counselor Lynda Noffsinger LPC.
And whatever gets you to that place, without too much sacrifice, is probably worth doing.
“Some people have their thoughts ready [when they come to see me]… Some people are so depressed that they can’t access their words,” says Noffsinger. “They counselor is like the key master she [or he] should be able to unlock doors.”
This metaphor is quite true. The therapist/counselor must find a way to make the patient comfortable enough to express his or her thoughts and let themselves be helped.
Dr. Noffsinger went on to tell a story about a girl she had counseled a number of years back, in her private practice who had tremendous difficulties expressing herself.
The girl attended an Ivy League university and was very smart. She was bi-polar, however.
The student came in with nine big poster sized paintings and sprawled them out on the floor in Noffsinger’s office. The paintings helped show what was going through the girls mind, “they were filled with vibrant and intense colors”.
The paintings themselves, and the fact that she had stayed up 3 nights in a row painting them, helped the doctor to see what was really going on with her.
“It helped her be understood better than any words could have told.”
She diagnosed her bi-polar almost on the spot.
Another door key Noffsinger uses is cinema.
She says that she is familiar with many movies herself, and that because it is easier to relate to someone through something that your comfortable talking about, talking to patient through relating to movies is very helpful.
“If I’m talking and trying to get a point across, I reference the movie [that I recommended the patient watch].” It’s pretty commonsensical.
Another counselor at the University, Dr. Kim Soban, is very familiar with a different type of therapy probably not considered common by the average American.
Kim Soban works with patients similar to any college counselor. She is also concerned with getting to the root of each patient’s issue and considers the comfort of the patient essential in achieving this goal.
Dr. Soban uses a different device in the attainment of patient comfort… her dogs.
The title of her dissertation was Relevancy and utilization of canine in animal-assisted therapy: A phenomenological study of client-patient attitudes and experiences.
What initially sparked her interest in the subject? While working at High Point University she encountered a male student who was so depressed he couldn’t talk. On their 6th meeting, however, she noticed him staring at a picture on a shelf behind her.
“He said, ‘Are those your dogs?’ He looked at them and he had tears in his eyes,” recalled Soban.
He then opened up to her, telling her that his dog died recently and that it was much like one of hers.
She continued to work with the student afterward, but she brought the terrier into the office with them.
“I was shocked by the difference it made.”
The dogs act as a distraction which helps to break down the barriers between doctor and subject. “It gives the patient a feeling of home,” said Dr. Soban. Also, “if a patient has control issues, when you have a dog, they can be in control of it… Dogs are unconditional creatures.”
They not only provide a means to break barriers, they are also very intuitive.
“It amazes me. Dogs are all so sensitive and in tune.”
She had one patient who started crying during a session. Immediately, her dog Sydney jumped up onto the couch next to her and put his head in her lap.
According to Soban there are no drawbacks to dog-therapy and it seems to work for everyone except people who have past negative issues concerning dogs.
Also, according to Dr. Soban (and common sense), laid-back dogs work the best. Golden retrievers and labs are the most commonly used world-wide for this reason.
One last area of therapy that has been gaining powerful recognition in recent decades is done through the use of music.
Music also functions as a metaphorical door key when bypassing walls between doctor and patient.
“[Reactions to music therapy and instrumnents] depend on the age of the [patients]”, says one psychologist practiced in music therapy, Michael Kirch PHD. “Young kids want to touch the instruments…teens are more standoffish but capable of learning new rhythms… But [playing and listening to the music] eventually helps them express themselves with more confidence.”
It also has been shown to help develop assertiveness.
Dr. Christine Allred, a special education professor at High Point majored in music therapy at Eastern Carolina University when the program was in its infancy.
She did much of her research with Down syndrome patients in institutions (at that time, a common place to send a child with the debilitating chromosomal abnormality. She also worked closely with patients with cerebral palsy and spina bifida.
“Some kids smiled more, some blinked more, some just twitched more,” recalled Allred. “Even in these severe cases there was a reaction”.
However…“If someone’s not ready for it, it won’t work”, said Kirch.
Dr. Noffsinger is also in accordance with this widely applicable thought. “If you want to use music therapy and the person’s not into music it won’t work. It’s the same thing with art or cinema.”
In order to be of any help the counselor must be able to communicate with the patient, and in order to communicate with the counselor the patient must first have some sort of comfort level.
Therapeutic devices such as the use of music, animals, art and cinema act directly to help the patient reach this comfort level, and thereby aid in his or her therapy.
Also visit these websites www.gdforum.com/chats/MH-WOMAD.html
www.healingsounds.com/articles/nexus.asp
www.gimmidatlantic.com/case-study.html
www.runet.edu/~arts/music/faculty/borling/borling.htm
Local Therapist Gives Life Rhythm
by Pat Devine
You may have been in a drum circle. And you may have practiced meditation. But you likely haven't been in a circle with drums that you have personally fashioned out of 55-gallon barrels. Therapist and behavioral counselor, Dr. Michael Kirch, has.
He is a board certified psychologist, who practices for Conerstone Behavioral Medicine on North Elm St. in High Point.
He has also led a life very much influenced by music.
He took up alto sax in the 4th grade. The New York school system taught music very well according to Kirch. By 9th grade he took up the bassoon and tuba and started participating in the marching band. Soon after he picked up the guitar, and fell in love with it. And he became quite interested in playing classical music as well as the blues.
After high school he got an associate’s degree in business administration, but this was not his passion. He liked helping people and the idea of making a difference, he was also very curious about human behavior, psychology promised to fulfill these ambitions and also let him use his creativity and help him grow as a person.
He now uses art, music and rhythm in his daily practice.
“In a few cases I’ve seen it really improve someone’s quality of life… Especially in panic attack cases and those involving anxiety disorders.”
Also, according to Kirch, it has been shown that music therapy is very helpful for those dealing with sexual abuse.
"Kids show an enhanced sense of confidence [through music therapy] and it helps break down language barriers."
Dr. Michael Kirch is the habit of helping people. If you need some assistance and you think he could help he probably would.
Also, he has a CD of recordings that he sells at his office. Its proceeds go to the Relay For Life cancer drive.
Contact him at mik.kurch@cornerstonehealthcare.com
Try These Websites
http://planetdrummusic.com/
Friday, December 12, 2008
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Pat Devine
Pat Devine
Profile
November 25, 2008
A Righteous Path
Even in the midst of America’s current economic turmoil the average American has but a vague idea about the true meaning behind the phrase ‘scrimp and save’.
True economic depression is a state that exists only outside of the borders of the United States.
Majur Jok was born in small town called Manding in Africa’s largest nation, Sudan. There, he and his family experienced first hand hunger, disease, and the fear and brutality of civil war.
Now, as customers purchase gas and demand lotto tickets and cigarettes he continues to relay a childhood account through a thick Sudanese accent.
One time a soldier struck him in the back of the head with the butt of his rifle.
“For no reason he just hit me, says Jok, almost proudly.
Majur now works as a store manager for a local gas station. This is not his first American job however.
His last job was at the Marsh Furniture factor.
“I worked as a ‘part coordinator’. Basically, I inspected parts of furniture to make sure they were not defective.” Then he smiles, “We were the most polluting company in High Point.”
As a child, Majur endured bouts of starvation and literally had to walk tens of miles to go to school every day, which he did faithfully.
“Manding was a small industrial town, but not like a small town in the United States. There was no traffic. We did not have many cars…Transportation was usually a problem.”
His parents were “agriculturalists” says Majur. They raised wheat, vegetables and cattle. “My father loved cattle.”
His family life, however, was stressed by the ongoing civil war, a conflict that began in 1983 and lasted until 2005.
Almost 2 million civilians in southern Sudan (Manding is in the south) have been killed over the course of the civil war and about 4 million southern Sudanese have been forced to flee the country.
When Jok was six years old his parents sent him and his two brothers to a refugee camp in Ethiopia. They walked, along with a thousand other children and some women and old men, over one hundred miles to the neighboring country.
On the way there his group encountered wild animals including hyenas, lions and elephants. Some were attacked and mauled on the journey but no one was killed.
Life in the refugee camps, although mostly free from animal attack, was far from ideal. He and his brothers had problems with illness, and the Episcopal church he attended had no roof and housed thousands of people.
After years of focused schooling Majur graduated high school, and earned his way to the United States, where he hoped for a life with more opportunities.
He earned an associate’s degree in political science from Guilford Technical Community College, where he also studied history.
He has recently been accepted to the University of Georgia, and plans to attend next year to study public administration.
Majur Jok has walked a hard road, has seen true poverty and suffering, and has overcome it.
So scrimp, my fellow Americans, and save, but do not forget the starving and suffering multitudes, all over the globe, who face true economic depression. And also do not forget to dream for yourselves.
Just like Majur, you to can choose the path you walk; Even if it’s a hike.
Profile
November 25, 2008
A Righteous Path
Even in the midst of America’s current economic turmoil the average American has but a vague idea about the true meaning behind the phrase ‘scrimp and save’.
True economic depression is a state that exists only outside of the borders of the United States.
Majur Jok was born in small town called Manding in Africa’s largest nation, Sudan. There, he and his family experienced first hand hunger, disease, and the fear and brutality of civil war.
Now, as customers purchase gas and demand lotto tickets and cigarettes he continues to relay a childhood account through a thick Sudanese accent.
One time a soldier struck him in the back of the head with the butt of his rifle.
“For no reason he just hit me, says Jok, almost proudly.
Majur now works as a store manager for a local gas station. This is not his first American job however.
His last job was at the Marsh Furniture factor.
“I worked as a ‘part coordinator’. Basically, I inspected parts of furniture to make sure they were not defective.” Then he smiles, “We were the most polluting company in High Point.”
As a child, Majur endured bouts of starvation and literally had to walk tens of miles to go to school every day, which he did faithfully.
“Manding was a small industrial town, but not like a small town in the United States. There was no traffic. We did not have many cars…Transportation was usually a problem.”
His parents were “agriculturalists” says Majur. They raised wheat, vegetables and cattle. “My father loved cattle.”
His family life, however, was stressed by the ongoing civil war, a conflict that began in 1983 and lasted until 2005.
Almost 2 million civilians in southern Sudan (Manding is in the south) have been killed over the course of the civil war and about 4 million southern Sudanese have been forced to flee the country.
When Jok was six years old his parents sent him and his two brothers to a refugee camp in Ethiopia. They walked, along with a thousand other children and some women and old men, over one hundred miles to the neighboring country.
On the way there his group encountered wild animals including hyenas, lions and elephants. Some were attacked and mauled on the journey but no one was killed.
Life in the refugee camps, although mostly free from animal attack, was far from ideal. He and his brothers had problems with illness, and the Episcopal church he attended had no roof and housed thousands of people.
After years of focused schooling Majur graduated high school, and earned his way to the United States, where he hoped for a life with more opportunities.
He earned an associate’s degree in political science from Guilford Technical Community College, where he also studied history.
He has recently been accepted to the University of Georgia, and plans to attend next year to study public administration.
Majur Jok has walked a hard road, has seen true poverty and suffering, and has overcome it.
So scrimp, my fellow Americans, and save, but do not forget the starving and suffering multitudes, all over the globe, who face true economic depression. And also do not forget to dream for yourselves.
Just like Majur, you to can choose the path you walk; Even if it’s a hike.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Pat's New Blog
My research for our final project has taken off. I am currently doing research on music therapy applied to kids with behavioral disorders. I already have a great primary source lined up and have found a lot of research on the subject. It is an exiting field and it promises to be an interesting topic for my story.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
A Job Not So Macabre
Pat Devine
Feature Writing
Word Count 783
November, 04
A Job Not So Macabre
Sechrest Funeral Service, located on East Lexington Ave. across the street from the High Point University intramural fields, is run by local manager and 37 year Sechrest employee Neil Whitaker.
After shaking hands with the Mr. Whitaker I sat down to ask him a few questions. But before I could get his name, or turn to a clean page in my notebook, he was questioning me, “Where are you from.”
“Virginia Beach”
“Oh really…I’m from south eastern North Carolina myself… Used to surf in Sandbridge (area in Virginia Beach) a lot when I was a kid.”
We had at least a 10 minute conversation about surf stories, old surfboards he had, surfboards my dad had, trips to Cape Hatteras, being a lifeguard in Wilmington, even a time when he was surfing near a navy base in Virginia, when target practice started for one of the battleships, “I thought we were under attack.”
I wasn’t here, however, to talk surfing or to share similar stories about my upbringing. I was there to do a feature story on a distinct, profound moment in the man’s career which I would try to recreate.
Then I realized this was it. This is what the man did every day of his life. He was treating me like a client.
I probably could have said any town and he would have an assemblage of anecdotes to cast my way. He was getting to know me better to make me feel comfortable; for him it must be like impulse. This is, after all, a huge part of his job.
“I find out where (the deceased) is from, what hobbies they had, what music they liked… I can go from bluegrass to Pavarotti”, he says proudly. If the person liked golf, “I’d love to bring their clubs to the visitation.”
He had to make me comfortable before he could get comfortable. Looking back it was obvious, but at the time, I was enthralled in the conversation.
I can imagine him sitting down with a recent widow as she goes over the financial side of a burial, or advising a family on the legal aspects involved in making a decision between cremation and burial; the smell of coffee and chocolate chip cookies lingering in the air.
“Nothing says relaxation like a cool bottle of water, a warm cup of coffee, or a (fresh made) Otis Spunkmeyer cookie.”
The warm aroma of mahogany, coffee and cookies, wafts through the building.
“Our rules are more stringent than the state’s laws”, he might announce reassuringly to the friend of a deceased man with no relatives around to claim the body or pay for funeral costs. He might say bluntly over a cup of joe, “Cremation gives you more options. We can hold the body for ‘X’ many days until it becomes a ward of the state… But you can always cremate later.”
The stranger feels at home in this place generally thought of with such a dark stigma.
The meeting room is cozy to be sure. The walls are a dark blue lined cream crown molding. A big white floral couch is accented by pictures of pink flowers and a deep aqua carpet.
He tells me, “it’s not about me, it’s about you (the client)… We sit in an open, comfortable and relaxed area to discuss arrangements.”
Mr. Whitaker might take the hand of an old widower whose only son has just died suddenly and who can’t make up his mind about what he should do for the funeral arrangements.
He changes the subject and talks of the man’s wife. He asks him about the circumstances of her death, the toll it took on him and his family, and how they recovered.
Then the conversation comes back to his son, and what made him who he was and what his legacy will be.
The man leans forward in one of the sky blue upholstered arm chairs and takes a sip of coffee.
They’ve been talking for an hour now, and Mr. Whitaker has not broken a sweat. He loves his job.
The elderly man puts the coffee mug back on the mahogany table. I think he ought to have a burial, just like his mother.
The resolution is made.
The man has made the decision, and the hardest part of Neil Whitaker’s job is over.
“Once (a client) makes a choice then that means…that they have made a separation. They don’t want to have to make that decision.”
Mr. Whitaker has been doing the same thing since he finished his second year at Wilmington Community College, and it is evident from speaking with him for what turned into a seemingly quick hour-long interview, that he knows his job well.
Says Whitaker, “This is what happens every day, in here.”
Feature Writing
Word Count 783
November, 04
A Job Not So Macabre
Sechrest Funeral Service, located on East Lexington Ave. across the street from the High Point University intramural fields, is run by local manager and 37 year Sechrest employee Neil Whitaker.
After shaking hands with the Mr. Whitaker I sat down to ask him a few questions. But before I could get his name, or turn to a clean page in my notebook, he was questioning me, “Where are you from.”
“Virginia Beach”
“Oh really…I’m from south eastern North Carolina myself… Used to surf in Sandbridge (area in Virginia Beach) a lot when I was a kid.”
We had at least a 10 minute conversation about surf stories, old surfboards he had, surfboards my dad had, trips to Cape Hatteras, being a lifeguard in Wilmington, even a time when he was surfing near a navy base in Virginia, when target practice started for one of the battleships, “I thought we were under attack.”
I wasn’t here, however, to talk surfing or to share similar stories about my upbringing. I was there to do a feature story on a distinct, profound moment in the man’s career which I would try to recreate.
Then I realized this was it. This is what the man did every day of his life. He was treating me like a client.
I probably could have said any town and he would have an assemblage of anecdotes to cast my way. He was getting to know me better to make me feel comfortable; for him it must be like impulse. This is, after all, a huge part of his job.
“I find out where (the deceased) is from, what hobbies they had, what music they liked… I can go from bluegrass to Pavarotti”, he says proudly. If the person liked golf, “I’d love to bring their clubs to the visitation.”
He had to make me comfortable before he could get comfortable. Looking back it was obvious, but at the time, I was enthralled in the conversation.
I can imagine him sitting down with a recent widow as she goes over the financial side of a burial, or advising a family on the legal aspects involved in making a decision between cremation and burial; the smell of coffee and chocolate chip cookies lingering in the air.
“Nothing says relaxation like a cool bottle of water, a warm cup of coffee, or a (fresh made) Otis Spunkmeyer cookie.”
The warm aroma of mahogany, coffee and cookies, wafts through the building.
“Our rules are more stringent than the state’s laws”, he might announce reassuringly to the friend of a deceased man with no relatives around to claim the body or pay for funeral costs. He might say bluntly over a cup of joe, “Cremation gives you more options. We can hold the body for ‘X’ many days until it becomes a ward of the state… But you can always cremate later.”
The stranger feels at home in this place generally thought of with such a dark stigma.
The meeting room is cozy to be sure. The walls are a dark blue lined cream crown molding. A big white floral couch is accented by pictures of pink flowers and a deep aqua carpet.
He tells me, “it’s not about me, it’s about you (the client)… We sit in an open, comfortable and relaxed area to discuss arrangements.”
Mr. Whitaker might take the hand of an old widower whose only son has just died suddenly and who can’t make up his mind about what he should do for the funeral arrangements.
He changes the subject and talks of the man’s wife. He asks him about the circumstances of her death, the toll it took on him and his family, and how they recovered.
Then the conversation comes back to his son, and what made him who he was and what his legacy will be.
The man leans forward in one of the sky blue upholstered arm chairs and takes a sip of coffee.
They’ve been talking for an hour now, and Mr. Whitaker has not broken a sweat. He loves his job.
The elderly man puts the coffee mug back on the mahogany table. I think he ought to have a burial, just like his mother.
The resolution is made.
The man has made the decision, and the hardest part of Neil Whitaker’s job is over.
“Once (a client) makes a choice then that means…that they have made a separation. They don’t want to have to make that decision.”
Mr. Whitaker has been doing the same thing since he finished his second year at Wilmington Community College, and it is evident from speaking with him for what turned into a seemingly quick hour-long interview, that he knows his job well.
Says Whitaker, “This is what happens every day, in here.”
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Jimmy Tomlin
I enjoyed the guest speaker we had on Tuesday. It was nice to see the way a local feature looks at a potential story, and how he deals with different types of interviews. Also he had some good points when it came to writing strategies, such as "coming full circle". It was very informative.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Death Report
Hi this is my first post on my blog...
My report on a death worker is going swimmingly. I've talked to several people including a friend who's father recently passed after a long battle with cancer, and tomorrow i plan to speak with as many people as possible at the funeral home on Lexington, near campus.
I hope it turns out as good as I expect it to.
My report on a death worker is going swimmingly. I've talked to several people including a friend who's father recently passed after a long battle with cancer, and tomorrow i plan to speak with as many people as possible at the funeral home on Lexington, near campus.
I hope it turns out as good as I expect it to.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
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