Institute Inbrief - 18/05/2017
Welcome to Edition 270 of Institute Inbrief! Curiosity might have killed the cat, but it helps to keep us human beings alive, brain-wise. In this edition’s featured article we’ll look at how curiosity, exercise, and a few other strategies can help improve your brain’s fitness.
Also in this edition:
- Masterclass Day: Parenting and Positive Psychology
- Schema Therapy: Origin, Definition and Characteristics
- Exercise: A Moving Part of Wellness
- Book Review: The First Interview
- Social Media Updates & Much More!
Enjoy your reading!
Editor.
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Bachelor & Master of Counselling
Semester 2 Intake Open
The available places in our Semester 2, 2017 intake into our Bachelor of Counselling and Master of Counselling are filling very quickly.
The programs are both government Fee-Help approved, so you can Learn Now and Pay Later.
You can learn more about the programs here:
Bachelor of Counselling: www.aipc.net.au/degree
Master of Counselling: www.aipc.net.au/master-of-counselling.php
As places are strictly limited, we urge you to submit your obligation free expression of interest now.
Diploma of Counselling
Imagine Being Passionate About Your Work
And Assisting People Every Day Lead Better Lives
It’s rare these days to hear people talk about their work with true passion. You hear so many stories of people working to pay the bills; putting up with imperfect situations; and compromising on their true desires. That’s why it’s always so refreshing to hear regular stories from graduates living their dream to be a Counsellor. They’re always so full of energy, enthusiasm and passion. There’s no doubt that counselling is one of the most personally rewarding and enriching professions.
Just imagine someone comes to you for assistance. They’re emotionally paralysed by events in their life. They can’t even see a future for themselves. They can only focus on their pain and grief. The despair is so acute it pervades their entire life. Their relationship is breaking down and heading towards a divorce. They can’t focus on work and are getting in trouble with their boss. They feel they should be able to handle their problems alone, but know they can’t. It makes them feel helpless, worthless. Their self-esteem has never been lower. They’re caught in a cycle of destruction and pain.
Now imagine you have the knowledge and skills to help this person overcome their challenges. You assist to relieve their intense emotional pain. You give them hope for the future. You assist to rebuild their self-esteem and lead a satisfying, empowered life. As a Counsellor you can experience these personal victories every day. And it’s truly enriching. There is nothing more fulfilling than helping another person overcome seemingly impossible obstacles.
You can learn more here: www.aipc.net.au/course_dippro.php
AIPC’s Community Services Courses
Helping You Help Your Community!
We’ve helped people from all sorts of backgrounds become counsellors, and now we can assist you in fulfilling your goal of working within the Community Services sector! From 2017, AIPC is delivering the following two new courses:
Diploma of Community Services (Case Management) – learn more
Diploma of Youth Work – learn more
There has never been a better time for you to become involved and invested in the Community Services industries. It is predicted, between the years of 2015 to 2019, that employment within the Health Care and Social Assistance industries will increase by 18.7% (www.lmip.gov.au, 2015).
By gaining a qualification in Community Services (Case Management) or Youth Work, you will be contributing to an industry that serves a very important purpose: to assist those with personal or relationship challenges. There is nothing more fulfilling than helping others overcome seemingly impossible obstacles. And there’s no better time to do that than now!
To learn more about these programs, visit https://www.aipc.net.au/enrolment.php
AIPC courses:
Diploma of Counselling
Diploma of Community Services (Case Management)
Diploma of Youth Work
Bachelor of Counselling
Graduate Diploma of Counselling
Master of Counselling
Masterclass Day: Parenting and Positive Psychology
On Saturday 3 June 2017 Mental Health Academy are delivering a very special, full immersive Masterclass Day on “Cutting-Edge Parenting: Theory and Applications,” presented by one of Australia’s most respected parenting experts, Dr. Justin Coulson.
The event will be delivered entirely online (with videos accessible after the event). Registrations are strictly limited due to capacity caps.
Participants will enjoy:
- A full-day, immersive learning experience with Dr Justin Coulson.
- Learn how to apply key principles and techniques from cutting-edge parenting research and positive psychology.
- Five 1-hour sessions in real-time (03/06/17) and on-demand (04-11/06/17).
- A downloadable Certificate of Attendance for the event.
Tickets for this Masterclass Day are $149.
Get it free: Mental Health Academy Premium members receive complimentary access to all Masterclass Days as a member benefit (on top of all the perks of MHA membership, including over 300 hours of online learning).
As places are strictly limited, please register now, which you can do here:
https://www.mentalhealthacademy.com.au/mcd
If you have questions about this event, email admin@mentalhealthacademy.com.au
Ten Commandments of Brain Fitness
Curiosity might have killed the cat, but it helps to keep us human beings alive, brain-wise. The basic idea of mind/brain fitness is to give your brain the best workout possible (to keep it growing and developing) by continuing to challenge it. The moment you find something is second nature, that is the moment to change it, bringing in some novelty. You can create that by being curious about your world and how it works. The brain is a physical organ, so diet and exercise come into play as well. There are about 10 basic rules, below.
1. Play games
What? You've been telling the kids to get off their devices and go do something else, and now we're telling you to get onto the games? Well, not necessarily computer games, though electronic games can be part of your playing repertoire. Look for activities that improve the brain's speed and memory, relying on logic, word skills, maths, and other things. Yes, Sudoku and crossword puzzles count here!
2. Meditation
This is said to be the best thing you can do for your brain, but perhaps you're not sure what to do, or feel like you can't concentrate? Don't despair; that's how most people feel, even after doing a stillness practice for a while. The benefits still accrue to you, even if you feel like you don't "do it right". There are various relaxation and stillness options you can pursue, in order to achieve - strangely - not only relaxation but also a brain workout, by accessing a different mental state.
3. Exercise your brain by exercising your body
When you do various physical movements, your brain has to get involved, helping you to balance, estimate distances (like: how far away is that tennis ball as you prepare to lob it back over the net?), and learn new muscle skills. You're not getting physical exercise? You're not getting maximal brain fitness, either.
4. Consume brain-friendly foods
The brain needs healthy fats, please: fish oils (including wild salmon), olive oil, seeds (such as flaxseed), and nuts (walnuts are brilliant).
5. Learn a new skill
Never tried Italian cooking? What about carpentry? Belly dancing, anyone? The brain has to call on several areas to help you with new skills: the parts of the brain involved in memory, information-processing, logic, balance, spatial work, and creating new associations, to name a few. Every new thought creates a new synaptic connection, which is one more piece of insurance for you against brain disease, as the more connections you have, the more possible routes a message can take to get from your brain to your body.
6. Train your brain
This strategy is different from the previous one in that, with brain-training, you are engaging an activity (say, a formal course, website, or book program) with the express purpose of teaching your brain to work faster and better (as opposed to focusing on the skill and achieving brain growth as a by-product). Most of the brain-training programs aim to increase your capacity to visualise, remember, and use your reasoning: skills which you will continually employ in everyday life.
7. Just try something different
Do you normally stir your veggies in the pot with your right hand? Try using the left one. Go to the grocery store via Park Place? Get there by way of Fort Street instead. Take a walk in a different neighbourhood and see how many different varieties of trees or bushes you can spot. You get the idea: just break up the familiarity a bit so that your brain has to work, creating new connections for you.
8. Read or study something different
If you're a World War II buff, try reading a novel. If you never read, pick up anything. Again, we are going for novelty. What are you curious about that you haven't looked into before? Get hold of some material on that.
9. Turn off the television
Even the documentaries can't stimulate your mind like your active engagement with life, learning, or exercise can. Television is a passive pursuit that the average adult pursues for four hours daily; brain fitness requires an active approach.
10. Become a master "raconteur"
A what? The French elite have traditionally appreciated master storytellers, those people who can recount their experience (hence the word) in an entertaining and informative way. It's harder than it looks. To tell a captivating story, your brain must remember the details, sequence them, find an interesting perspective from which to share them, select effective voice tone/cadence/volume, and figure out how to appeal to the particular audience on hand. This is all in addition to not messing up the punchline! It's hard to imagine but true; you can become more brain-fit as you learn how to become the life of the party! (Ideas loosely adapted from Stibich, 2014).
Taking up these ideas does not guarantee that you will never have a brain disease, such as dementia or a glioblastoma, but employing them regularly gives you the assurance that you are doing your bit to safeguard the health of one of your most primary organs.
This article was adapted from the Campus College “Super Learner Program”.
References:
Stibich, R. (2014). Top 10 ways to improve your brain fitness. About.com. Retrieved on 13 January, 2016, from: hyperlink.
Course information:
Diploma of Counselling
Diploma of Community Services (Case Management)
Diploma of Youth Work
Bachelor of Counselling
Graduate Diploma of Counselling
Master of Counselling
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Schema Therapy: Origin, Definition and Characteristics
Have you been working as a therapist in shorter-term therapies such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)? In Australia, the clients of psychologists, for example, have been able to access Medicare rebates for their therapy for a limited number of sessions. Their practitioners, in return, are strongly encouraged – if not mandated – to work in well-researched, “gold standard” therapies such as CBT; they are held accountable for certain outcomes. Yet not all clients respond equally well to therapies such as CBT, which usually include no more than 20 sessions and often less than that. What would you advocate as a therapist for the following clients?
Click here to continue reading this article.
Exercise: A Moving Part of Wellness
As with questions of diet, exercise is perhaps uppermost in the minds of those looking to enhance their wellness. The quest for fitness, however – as with diet – is so pervasive in developed cultures that some controversies are inevitable. As with our previous article on diet, we believe the best approach is for you to offer your client basic guidelines to help them (re-)shape their fitness regimens, but let them be the ultimate arbiters of what is right for their bodies, lifestyles, and preferences.
Click here to continue reading this article.
More articles: www.aipc.net.au/articles
Mental Health Academy – First to Knowledge in Mental Health
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Mental Health Academy is Australia’s leading provider of professional development for mental health practitioners. MHA’s all-inclusive memberships give you instant access to over 300 hours of learning – including videos presented by internationally-renowned experts in counselling, psychology and mental health.
Topics explored include: Evidence-based therapies, mindfulness, CBT, focused psychological strategies, children & adolescents, relationship counselling, motivational interviewing, depression & anxiety, addictions, trauma, e-therapy, supervision, ethics, plus much more.
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Learn more and join today: www.mentalhealthacademy.com.au/premium
Have you visited Counselling Connection yet? There are hundreds of interesting posts including case studies, profiles, success stories, videos and much more. Make sure you too get connected (and thank you for those who have already submitted comments and suggestions).
Book Review: The First Interview
The first interview by James Morrison is a step by step guide to the first interview in a therapeutic relationship. James Morrison is Affiliate Professor of Psychiatry at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland and has extensive experience in both the private and public sectors. He is well versed in the clinical experience to expertly guide practitioners and scholars through the interview process. The text is based on best practice principles and supported by objective research.
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"Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word happy would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness. It is far better to take things as they come along with patience and equanimity."
~ Carl Jung
Many students of the Diploma of Counselling attend seminars to complete the practical requirements of their course. Seminars provide an ideal opportunity to network with other students and liaise with qualified counselling professionals in conjunction with completing compulsory coursework.
Seminar topics include:
- The Counselling Process
- Communication Skills I
- Communication Skills II
- Counselling Therapies I
- Counselling Therapies II
- Legal & Ethical Framework
- Family Therapy
- Case Management
Click here to access all seminar timetables online.
To register for a seminar, please contact your Student Support Centre.
Course information:
Diploma of Counselling
Diploma of Community Services (Case Management)
Diploma of Youth Work
Bachelor of Counselling
Graduate Diploma of Counselling
Master of Counselling
Join our community:
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