Animal-assisted Therapy (AAT) for post-traumatic stress disorder is an interesting and appealing topic for many clinicians. This blog identifies a recently published text that includes information about AAT with practical clinical applications but also information likely to appeal to a wider audience, including non-clinicians.
BLUF: If you work with our United States Service members, you may be treating more adolescents than you realize. Did you know that contemporary theories of human development consider adolescence to extend to about age 25? If we think of adolescence as extending to about age 25, adolescents comprise a large proportion of U.S. Active Duty and Selected Reserve service members.
I have a confession to make. I have never really bought into the concept of self-care from a personal perspective. I do think frequently about the risk for burnout in in the behavioral health field, I fully support self-care for others, and I encourage time for self-care among friends and colleagues. For myself though, the concept seemed foreign.
When you consider the cultural context of the military as being group-based, it is not unusual for clients to downplay their own pain and symptoms because someone else is "worse" than they are. This can lead to problems with them fully engaging in treatment. Providers must somehow address this without being dismissive of the cultural value behind it.
You can sense it coming, feel it before you see it and hear it. The small tremors in conversation that warn you the elephant is incoming. In this episode of Practical for your Practice, we roll up our sleeves with Dr. Abigail Angkaw to address the topic of what clinicians can do when sociocultural and political issues stomp into their EBP.
Listen to the episode: Is There an Elephant in Your Room? What to do When Sociocultural and Political Issues Stomp Into Your EBP