Therapist Unlimited Blog

The American Academy of Counselling Psychology (AACoP) is the association of psychologists who are Board Certified in Counselling Psychology by the American Board of Counselling Psychology (ABCoP) of the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP).
Board Certification assures the public and the profession that the Counselling Psychologist has successfully completed the education, training and experience requirements of the specialty including an examination designed to assess competencies necessary to provide quality services in Counselling Psychology.
The Academy advocates for Board Certification of Counselling Psychologists by ABCoP as a vital professional peer review process that promotes the highest standards of professional practice within the specialization of Counselling Psychology.
The mission of the American Academy of Counselling Psychology (AACoP) is to advance Counselling Psychology as a science and practice, and to promote the highest quality of professional practice within the specialization of Counselling Psychology for the protection and well being of the public, the profession, and the Academy.

The Academy advocates for Board Certification of Counselling Psychologists by ABCoP as a vital professional peer review process that promotes the highest standards of professional practice within the specialization of Counselling Psychology.
The Academy provides information and advocates to advance the interests of Board Certified Counselling Psychologists to the public, professional organizations, universities, health care organizations; national and state legislative and judicial bodies; state licensure boards, and registries of health care providers. The Academy sponsors professional continuing education (CE) for psychologists who are pursuing their Board Certification from ABCoP and CE for ABCoP Board Certified Counselling Psychologists. The Academy also confers awards to recognize outstanding contributions to the specialty of Counselling Psychology.

Those interested to know more about the organization can just visit their official website at http://www.aacop.net/.

 

The Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards (ASPPB) is the alliance of state, provincial, and territorial agencies responsible for the licensure and certification of psychologists throughout the United States and Canada.
ASPPB was formed in 1961 to serve psychology boards in the two countries. Much of the impetus for its founding related to mobility for practitioners. By consensus, the first step was to create and maintain a standardized written Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology (EPPP). ASPPB has done so since 1965.

Today, in addition to creating the EPPP, ASPPB coordinates cooperative efforts of boards, facilitates communication among boards, maintains a Disciplinary Data Bank, issues a Certificate of Professional Qualification in Psychology (CPQ), advocates for the advancement of mobility by encouraging board acceptance of the CPQ and the ASPPB Agreement of Reciprocity (AOR), maintains a Credentials Verification Program (CVP), and provides a Score Transfer Service. ASPPB acts as a voice for those responsible for the regulation of the practice of psychology.
ASPPB has drafted a Model Act, Model Regulations, a Code of Conduct, and guidelines for the use and/or adoption by state and provincial psychology boards.
ASPPB also generates a number of publications to aid psychology students in preparing for licensure, as well as publications for practitioners. Several of ASPPB’s publications have proven to be of great interest to individuals preparing to practice psychology, to
licensed psychologists, and to academic and private institutions. Two of ASPPB’s most popular publications are Items from Previous Examinations, and Psychology Exam Scores by Doctoral Program (Previously: Educational Reporting Service).

 ASPPB Vision Statement:
 

 

 ASPPB is the international leader and knowledge resource in the regulation and credentialing of psychologists.

 In order to reach this vision, they commit their efforts to the following four activities:

       1. Offering exemplary examination and credentialing programs.
       2. Providing state of the art programs and services to all our stakeholders.
       3. Serving as the source for the most current and accurate information about the regulation of psychologists.
       4. Advocating for the critical consumer protection perspective in the on-going development of the profession.

 

 

Annual and Midyear Meetings
 

 

ASPPB hosts two membership meetings each year: the Midyear Meeting, normally held in April and an Annual Meeting, normally held in October.
These meetings take place at different venues each year. The meetings feature speakers who are experts in professional regulatory law, testing, issues facing regulatory boards, and administrative matters. The meetings are designed to offer educational and interactive
sessions for psychology board members, administrators, and attorneys engaged in regulating the profession.
The Annual and Midyear Meetings provide an opportunity to gain continuing education credits. ASPPB is approved by the American Psychological Association to offer continuing education (CE) credits for psychologists.
The Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology (EPPP).
ASPPB creates and maintains the Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology (EPPP). The EPPP is used by 59 agencies in assessing entry-level knowledge to practice. ASPPB has an ongoing research and development program to ensure that the EPPP is valid and legally defensible.

For more information and queries their website is http://www.asppb.net.

To make sure the public will have a competent psychologist that will serve them, the American Board of Professional Psychology is here to offer selfless service to all.
The American Board of Professional Psychology issues board certification (awarding of a Diploma in a specialty) that assures the public that specialists designated by the ABPP have successfully completed the educational, training, and experience requirements of the specialty, including an examination designed to assess the competencies required to provide quality services in that specialty.
The American Board of Professional Psychology was incorporated in 1947 with the support of the American Psychological Association.

The ABPP is a unitary governing body of separately incorporated specialty examining boards which assures the establishment, implementation,and maintenance of specialty standards and examinations by its member boards. Through it’s Central Office, a wide range of administrative support services are provided to ABPP Boards, Board Certified Specialists, and the public.
A Specialty is a defined area in the practice of psychology that connotes special competency acquired through an organized sequence of formal education, training, and experience.  In order to qualify as a specialty affiliated with the ABPP, a specialty must be represented by an examining board which is stable, national in scope, and reflects the current development of the specialty. A specialty board is accepted for affiliation following an intensive self-study and a favorable review by the ABPP affirming that the standards for affiliation have been met. These standards include a thorough description of the area of practice and the pattern of competencies required therein as well as requirements for education, training, experience, research bases of the specialty, practice guidelines, and a demonstrated capacity to examine candidates for the specialty on a national level.
The mission of the American Board of Professional Psychology is to increase consumer protection through the examination and certification of psychologists who demonstrate competence in approved specialty areas in professional psychology.

 

To know more about the services offered by the group and other matters pertaining to the organization you can visit their website at http://www.abpp.org.

What is Marijuana and how is it used?

Marijuana is part of a group of drugs known as hallucinogenic drugs. That is, they can cause the drug abuser to hallucinate when they are using it. It has a dried herb like appearance, and is usually smoked, often mixed with other herbs or tobacco. Marijuana is produced from the leaves of the cannabis plant. Other names for Marijuana include ‘weed’, ‘dope’, ‘blow’, and ’smoke’. The effects of the drug Marijuana. People who abuse the drug Marijuana will often say that they feel ‘chilled out’ and that it relaxes them. They may become more talkative, although they will often not make any sense. Time will often slow down for the Marijuana drug abuser, and it is not unusual for them to experience intense hunger; this is known as the munchies. The drug Marijuana is often thought by people who are less informed to be relatively harmful, or something that the user will grow out of using. However, Marijuana does carry harmful side effects, so it is wise to test anyone that you think may be using and abusing this drug. Drug testing can be easily carried out by using a drug test kit. Using a drug test kit to test for Marijuana is important because of the harmful effects this drug can have on the user. These include the user developing a psychological dependency on the drug. They may also show signs of paranoia and anxiety when they are not taking the drug. There has been links of Marijuana with schizophrenia. Drug testing for this substance using a drug testing kit is also important because the most common way to smoke Marijuana is to mix it with tobacco which also carried health risks that can lead to cancer. Increased use of the drug Marijuana can lead to a slowing down of the brain functions and make it difficult for the user to learn. If you know of a teenager showing these signs, then it is important that you use a drug testing kit to determine the facts.

What are synthetic opioids and how are they used?
Synthetic opioids are drugs that are manufactured for medical purposes. They include the drugs methadone and buprenorphine. Although they are manufactured for medical use, and it is possible to obtain the drugs methadone and buprenorphine legally on prescription from a medical practitioner, over the years these drugs have been open to abuse.

They are often used as substitutes for heroin as part of a drug rehabilitation program, and they usually come in liquid form that is taken orally. However they are also available in table form, and they can be injected. Buprenorphine, or Subutex is taken by dissolving it in the mouth.

What are the effects of the synthetic opioids methadone and buprenorphine?
The effects of the drugs methadone and buprenorphine can last for several hours. Synthetic opioids are sedatives that will depress the nervous system. The drugs will also reduce pain, of both physical and psychological nature. People using this drug will often have feelings of relaxed detachment and warmth.

A drug testing kit is available to use to test for synthetic opioids. It is wise to use a drug testing kit if you feel that someone is abusing this drug, as the effects of drug abuse can be harmful.

The harmful effects of abusing methadone and buprenorphine are that the user can soon become addicted to the substance. If it is being used as a substitute for heroin addiction under medical supervision then the person needs to be checked regularly.

These drugs can often induce vomiting, and it has been known for people to choke on their vomit. An overdose of these drugs can lead to a coma, or the person may stop breathing and die.

Urine drug testing kits are available to test for synthetic opioids drug abuse.

 

Though people are quite conscious of their depressed condition, they tend to deprive themselves with therapy because of stereotypical matter. Those who ado not understand the real purpose of therapy think that those who undergo it are already schizophrenics. It’s a lame judgment, but surprisingly, it affects depressed individuals.

First off, it is never shameful to undergo a psychotherapy. Even though the mentally-individuals go through such therapy, it never means that you are one of them when you decide to see a professional. There are some psychological problems that need to be solved, and definitely, that is something normal.

On the other hand, if, in case, you are not convinced with simple yet straight statements, here are some things you ought to know when psychotherapy is being conducted…. just to let you know that it is something you shouldn’t be doubting….

 

1. A confidential talk between you and your psychologist. What you discuss inside the room is strictly between you and your shrink. It will never be revealed to anyone else – even to your most trusted loved-one – because it is against their code of ethics. Confidentiality is a major matter among the psychologists, vowing to keep everything between them and their patients.

2. An overview of your personal background. Once you start giving them your trust and begin your psychotherapy, your shrink will start to ask you series of questions, some things about you – certain points in your past like childhood and adolescence, major events in life, devastating arguments, accomplishments, and the like. When these are answered, you psychologist will deduce your condition and later, will focus on the things you should work on.

3. Continuous session. Just a day of talk between you and your doctor will definitely not finish your issues. It takes time in order to discuss your problems one by one and provide cures for them. Furthermore, you shrink needs to keep track on your current state – to see if improvements are already taking place.

 

An effective way to combat depression, especially among teenagers, is a combination of Prozac medication and psychotherapy. A study from The Duke University has supported this statement in their published issue of Archives of General Psychiatry.

One out of eight teenagers is detected to have clinical depression due to hereditary factors (depression can also be passed through genes), peer pressure, loss, failure, etc. Some of them gets healed by undergoing to cognitive therapies and taking anti-depressants, while the others, who are misinformed or clueless about their psychological situation sinks in pain, or worse, commits suicide.

Prozac, for those of you who have less knowledge on this matter is a drug called fluoxetine hydrochloride that works as an anti-depressant. It is a type of serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) that increases serotonin in the body, improving the psychological health of the patient. It has been prescribed since 1986 for depressed patients. Because of its effectiveness, it’s been stated that psychotherapy would not be that helpful if prozac isn’t prescribed.

Psychotherapy, on the other hand, works as a psychological support for the depressed patient. A professional or a psychiatrist conducts series of sessions to discuss about one’s personal situation and treats its “depressing cases.”

 

Determining that you have depression can be a great help to solve your issues, but that won’t take away the fact that it won’t be easy in doing so. Clearly, that feeling of worthlessness might pull you down until you find yourself more depressed. It’s time to take actions – effective ways to get save you from being more psychologically crashed….. But how? Well, here are some tips….

 

 

1. Always remind yourself that you are also special. The feeling of being useless or a piece of failure has a large effect on depressed person. If your situation is similar to this, then always think yourself as someone who is also important, a person of significance – and you have to think this way - always.

2. Express your thoughts. Keeping it to yourself can only burden you more. Have a journal as a medium to release your emotions if you can’t talk to someone. Better yet, tell the person you trust about your problems. He/she might not be a big help, but the gesture you just made creates a difference.

3. Have a therapy. Undergoing a psychotherapy with the guidance of a professional is one of the best ways to heal those wounds. Since they are experts on this field, they can handle your situation with a vast knowledge about your depression, thus, helping you to do get through your healing process.

It is in the nature of human beings to feel sad in different times. Loss, break-up, nostalgia, failure, among other things are the reasons for sadness. But, if it lingers in you for a long time, then, it is no longer considered normal. And worse, it may something that you should be worried of – for it might be a psychological disorder that we can just call “depression.”

Clearly, “depression” is something people wrongly use in several conversations. It’s a psychological state where a person experiences deep sadness or has very low self-esteem. There are times when people have no idea that they are already manifesting signs of depression, thinking that it is normal to feel such way. But, as I said, it is a psychological disorder and needs to be healed, before it gets worse.

But before you get anxious with your psychological condition, you need to know the signs of depression first before jumping into conclusion that you might be clinically depressed….

 

1. Low self-esteem. One of the strongest factor of having depression is lack of self-worth and low self-esteem. You think that you are a failure and a worthless individual who cannot do anything good.

2. Abnormal eating and sleeping patterns. You got such a good sleep last week but now, you are having trouble to have one. Irregular sleeping habit can imply that you are having some disturbances deep inside you which causes you to lose sleep or have a smooth one. Same thing applies to irregular eating patterns, where it can become an outlet for a strong emotion or the loss of appetite can indicate that something deeply affects it.

3. Lack of concentration. Difficulty in focusing on something can suggest an emotional disturbance.

4. Suicidal tendencies. A very dangerous factor than can cause the life of the depressed. Because of extreme feeling of worthlessness, guilt, or anxiety, the person thinks that the only way to escape pain is death.

There are also biological factor in acquiring depression like an insufficient amount of serotonin, or the “happy hormone,” in the body. On the other hand, once these factors are all present in your situation, then it’s best to treat it right away, with psychotherapy and a professional helping you out.