24
April

Shifting Moods

It has occurred to me lately that while wonders emerge anytime, high or peak states can be generated through specific efforts. In the past when I was younger, I would passionately do Kundalini yoga and always feel much better afterwards–a natural high. The same thing occurs when I do a long set of Soaring Crane qigong. The same thing happens after vigorous exercise at the gym or a vigorous hike in one of the beautiful Oregon forests. If I am “in a mood” I have come to realize that there are reliable efforts I can make to shift that mood (frequently of being preoccupied with responsibilities) to a high or peak state. BUT, it does take effort. And IT IS ALWAYS WORTH IT!

I am reassured that intense exercise or hiking or even gentle qigong will shift my mood to an elevated state. I have another admission–it is frequently my experience that my work with clients will do the same. Am I blessed or what?! Lucky me. It doesn’t just happen because I enjoy working with people but I suspect it is because during my work I am able to move back and forth between the worlds and absorb some of the compassionate power of my guides whose connection was for my client’s benefit during our work together. It does take time to move into high or peak states and it also takes effort but that creates self-coherence and THAT is contagious and benefits everyone I come into contact with. Conclusion? I am willing to do what is necessary to generate high or peak states, knowing that when I get into a mood it is transient and will soon be forgotten. I LOVE the experience of being in peak states. It is self-reinforcing and thus easy to stay close to them.

Howard Brockman

April 24, 2012

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12
April

The Many Faces of Caregivers and Helpers

Many people choose their vocation as a caregiver or helper. These include nurses and doctors, psychologists and therapists, hotline workers, social workers and paramedics, among others. As baby boomers age, this vast demographic will require enormous help that will inspire a whole new industry, including in-home aids, assisted care facilities and family members who are recruited to assist aging parents. You may be one of them as there will be millions called to help. Compassion fatigue and vicarious trauma are among the many risks that await those who help, especially those family members who are not trained to provide this type of support. There are specific preventative measures than can be taken to prevent these hazards of caring. Stay tuned.

Posted by Howard Brockman, LCSW

April 12, 2012

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9
April

Does Media Interfere With Self-Care?

Those who assist others, caregivers and helpers in various guises, tend to be overly externally referenced versus self-referential. This is simply a fact. I have written an entire book on the subject but for this brief article, I ask you to consider the role that the media plays in terms of influencing the health and well-being of those who orient to help others. This objective and material world is filled with ever-expanding technological wonder, much of which I admire and participate in. Yet it tends to be  so omnipresent and seductive that I truly wonder if its influence on us is becoming insidiously and demandingly distractive. We all would benefit from regular down time after working hard all day. A question I have been considering for a while is what do sensitive people who take care of others as their profession (or even as their desire to help their aging parents), do at the end of the day to relax and restore themselves for sustaining their good flow of life energy and maintaining positive mental attitude? TV networking has had a proliferation of crime-related shows of late and movies, with blu-fay high definition and 3D technology are now making their way into our living rooms. Where does quiet meditation or reading fit in juxtaposed against the proliferation of expanding and enticing “entertainment.” There is just SO MUCH to choose from now. While I wish I had easy answers to address this issue, one important fact to consider in all this is that sleeping pills for both children and adults continue to grow as doctors give out more and more prescriptions every year. This points to something amiss, and I suspect it just may be related to overuse of the media that supports more stimulation to our nervous systems rather than less. I would enjoy your feedback on this.

Howard Brockman, LCSW

Posted 4-9-12

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19
March

Can You Live Without Ecstasy?

Daily living often evolves into a routinized series of transitions. We start our day with coffee or a shower, breakfast over paper, perhaps prepare a lunch and off to work we go. For most of us, work is a series of sub-routines that often repeat the same tasks day after day. And so it goes. Happiness, well-being, deep personal satisfaction and (gasp!) ecstatic experiences are overarching desires that tend to contain (or not) our day to day routines. While we must surrender to the necessities of daily life and work in order to pay the bills and keep our responsibilities intact, I want to advocate for integrating something that generates the experience of the ecstatic. Is this really too much to ask? I don’t recommend activities that end up in addictions for that kind of perceived ecstatic reality is short lived with dire consequences. No, I am recommending the real thing that reminds us about what life is really all about and why it is worth living. Not that the mundane is to be denigrated–I love gardening and cooking and other less demanding time discretionary tasks but they don’t qualify as ecstatic. I have my own way to experience ecstatic states and they do not include drug induced states. These experiences keep me very happy knowing I can access them regularly. What do YOU do to experience ecstatic states? I would enjoy hearing from you. If you let me know what your ways are, I shall share with you my own.

Posted by Howard Brockman, LCSW

March 19, 2012

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12
March

Caregiving Tip of the Day — Vicarious Trauma

People who help for a living often overlook potential hazards. Many of these occur from energetic information exchange that is part of the interpersonal field. For instance, just listening to someone describe a traumatic experience can generate vicarious trauma, as the listener imagines too deeply what that experience would actually be like. If they have unhealed similar trauma of their own, they can have an unconscious attractor or opening for this information to take root. This is indicative of a lack of energetic boundaries, something that can be installed with proper assistance. Helping doesn’t have to be depleting or traumatizing, even if it is burning off old karma.

Posted by Howard Brockman, LCSW

March 12, 2012

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28
February

Caregivers and Helpers Tip of the Day

Helpers and caregivers need to learn to say NO often since their tendency is to always say yes. The way to yes is through saying NO often (to ever-present requests), which leads to opportunities to finally say YES to self-care gifts of health and well-being.

Posted by Howard Brockman, LCSW

February 28, 2012

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27
February

Caregivers and Helpers Tip of the Day

Identifying caregiver overload is the first step to proper self-care. If you know you are suffering from compassion fatigue, secondary traumatization from witnessing the trauma of others or burnout from lack of support and rest, there are remedies. Know that you can change your situation as well as your energetic frequency signature to change your life. You just need to decide what needs to change.

Posted by Howard Brockman, LCSW

February 27, 2012

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23
February

Essential Self-Care for Caregivers and Helpers Tip of the Day

Supporting others who are in some sort of pain, either physical or emotional, requires a heart-felt approach to be present along with a willingness to be an active listener. Problem solving is usually not the first priority as much as letting the person you are helping know their concerns are being heard. Being present for others in pain is not always so easy but being a rescuer ultimately ends up sabotaging your own well-being. Remember, your presence is what matters. If you can maintain a reassuring and compassionate demeanor, letting the other know that you truly care about their pain, healing can occur since healing occurs in many more forms that we can presume to know.

Howard Brockman, LCSW

Posted on February 23, 2012

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21
February

Essential Self-Care for Caregivers and Helpers Tip of the Day

Therapists, teachers, nurses and hotline counselors are professional helpers. But millions of other people in our society could become or are already nonprofessional helpers or caregivers. It is important to acknowledge if you fit into this growing group. Many of the over seventy-eight million baby boomers in the United States now find themselves attending to the needs of their aging parents. With better healthcare technology and pharmaceutical drugs, Americans are living longer than ever before. This challenging reality is growing, as there is one American turning sixty years old every ten seconds! If you find yourself in this latter category, it will be wise to create an ongoing self-care plan since you may find out too late your responsibilities to helping your aging parents overwhelm you. Plan now…begin integrating self-care strategies into your life so these healthy habits follow you wherever you end up as a caregiver.

Posted by Howard Brockman

February 21, 2012

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