... art therapy in the philippines for cancer survivors ... (life coach, counselor, psychotherapist, psychologist, psychiatrist)

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Express, Express, Express

(excerpts)

by Fran Young

The Big C Magazine, July-September 2009

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In one of the programs for breast cancer survivors at Doc Randy's Wellness Center, survivors are asked to focus on their breasts and allow spontaneous imagery to surface. They express this imagery on paper, then they're encouraged to release their emotions.
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Doc Randy notes, "If we change the imagery in our minds, then it has an effect on our body, mind, and emotions. There are theorists who say that stress has a lot to do with developing cancer.... So we use art therapy to strengthen the immune system."
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... manila bulletin: it’s all about me, me, me! ... (philippines, life coach, counselor, psychotherapist, psychologist, psychiatrist)

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IT''S ALL ABOUT ME, ME, ME!

(article excerpts)

by Jaser A. Marasigan

August 11, 2009, 8:17pm

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They communicate differently from the rest of us – walking around and crossing the streets with ears plugged, texting, tweeting. Camwhores is how they self-effacingly call themselves. With the latest mobile phones, they love taking pictures of themselves, either happily alone or with friends. They often hang out with friends at a coffee shop, talking about the fun weekend they had, their future aspirations, loves and relationships.

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Young people today are being portrayed as self-centered zombies who care more about their iPods. Expected to be highly tech-savvies, they text, e-mail, IM, play online games, surf the net, go on Facebook or Friendster, call on the latest mobile phones, and watch TV, all done simultaneously more often than not.

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ALL ABOUT ME

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According to Jean Twenge, the author of “Generation Me” and “The Narcissism Epidemic” (with W. Keith Campbell), today’s young people think they are so special, where in fact, they are not. Although they have become more confident and assertive, they have also turned themselves into a narcissistic and self-centered generation.

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SELF-EXPRESSION

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Filipino psychologist Dr. Randy Dellosa, on the other hand, considers this behavior as more of self-expression rather than narcissism.

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“When we say narcissistic, it’s more of self-absorption, more of one’s self becoming the center more than anyone else. I would call it more of trying to define one’s self,” he explains.

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Dellosa traces this back to the 1960’s when people would be getting out of convention and defining themselves apart from the convention.

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“I guess what’s different now is that this generation is presented with new opportunities, resources, and avenues for self-expression and self-definition.” He agrees that technology is a factor and is considered as one, if not, the most popular resources for self-expression.
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“There’s the Internet and cellphones. There are websites that promote these opportunities like blog sites and YouTube,” Dr. Dellosa adds.

.He also thinks that this trend is more evident today because Filipinos have been repressed for so long. There were expectations to conform and not to speak up. “Historically, nandun na rin yung martial law, which was very repressive and pushed for conformity. After the 1980’s, nung nawala na si Marcos doon nag-boom yung opportunities for self-expression,” he relates.

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It also ties up with what’s happening economically. Parents are leaving as OFWs and children are being left on their own. And so the need for acceptance and belongingness is going to be met from outside of the family, so they will turn to their friends. Posting themselves on these sites and then receiving acceptance, that’s an opportunity to get the acceptance that they need,” Dr. Dellosa continues.
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CLONES AND WANNABES
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Both sociologist Dr. Josephine Aguilar-Placido and Dr. Dellosa agree that the young people of today may pride themselves in being part of the Me Generation, but in truth, they are actually turning into clones of each other. The “Me Generation” is defining themselves in relation to fads. By being like somebody else, they think they are being themselves.

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Assuming that these kids’ parents are not around for them, Dellosa thinks that the schools should step up as they need to have greater awareness of this issue.
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“As long as they’re incomplete inside, they’ll try to conform to others. They are emotionally incomplete and psychologically insecure. They should work on their self-growth and on being complete unto themselves so they won’t have to copy others. They should be content inside and with who they really are,” says Dellosa.

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... sex confession radio shows: auditory porn for auditory voyeurs ... (philippines, life coach, psychotherapist, psychologist, psychiatrist)

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i was visited today by jerald uy, segment producer of gma's tv documentary 'the reporter's notebook.' the topic? 'sex confession' shows on radio.

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many times, i've listened to these sex confession shows while riding a cab at night. the format consists of callers narrating details of their sexual experiences. personally, i don't care too much about what the callers disclose. the host however (papa jack i think is his name) does catch my attention with his amusing questions, quips, and opinions.

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one question which jerald asked was "what is the effect of these shows on children?" i informed him that when children are exposed to sensual material, it gets them precociously curious, experimental, and adventurous with regards to sex. consequently, the children become sexual preoccupied or even addicted, become distracted from their studies, learn to objectify people, and run the risks of acquiring sexually transmitted diseases or causing pregnancy.

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jerald also asked, "why do people listen to these shows?" i told him that the shows can be considered "auditory porn" and those who listen are "auditory voyeurs." as people listen, they visually imagine the vivid sexual narrations of the callers, thereby adding to their collection of sexual fantasies.

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the shows are also listened to because people by nature are generally curious about sex and will want to know what happens in the bedroom of others. in so doing, they get to compare themselves with others, giving them the chance to evaluate their own sexual experiences as abnormal, normal or better than others.

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it was a brief interview and i ended by reminding producers and hosts of such shows that children of this generation stay awake later than children of past generations. thus, they are obliged to censor themselves for the sake of children whose ears may stray into their programs.

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needless to say, parents should monitor their children not only for the tv programs they watch and the websites they surf, but also for the radio programs they listen to. better yet, parents should make sure that their children are TIGHTLY tucked in bed BEFORE the clock strikes 12 and that the radio is turned off!

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... a new batch of life coaches in the philippines ...

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presenting the new batch of life coaches!

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... facilitators of wholeness, wellness, growth, and healing ...

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standing: sharmayne utuanis, raymond tio, anna victoria isles

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seated: jaclyn joyce gatbalite, elizabeth baua, myrna natividad, ma. bibiana francisco, cecile belcina

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... lol!! warming up for psychodrama ... (philippines, life coach, counselor, psychotherapist, psychologist, psychiatrist)

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for all action methods and experiential psychotherapies (i.e., play therapy, drama therapy, gestalt, improvisation therapy), the group warm up activity is an important phase.

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it is meant to loosen up the joints, limber up the muscles, promote body consciousness, enhance self-awareness, and strengthen the sense of camaraderie among participants.

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a few months ago, jath, gem, jobelle, dette, jaja, noreen and i gathered for a psychodrama session. our warm up activity turned out pretty hilarious and they caught it all on tape.

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if you care to join our fun, click on the pic below, watch the vid and laugh out loud- hehe!
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... face painting as therapy ... (philippines, life coach, counselor, psychotherapist, psychologist, psychiatrist)

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art therapists always have to be resourceful.

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you can probably tell we ran out of paper.

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some faces are as thin as onion skin, others are as thick as cardboard!

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art therapy can result in plain silliness.

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some faces look "abstract" even without any paint on.

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tadaaahhh!.... the finished works of art and their artists!

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... self-care through chiropractic medicine ... (philippines, life coach, counselor, psychotherapy, psychologist, psychiatrist)

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as a practitioner of the dorn method of spine alignment, i'm very aware that we should take care of our spine. all the body's tissues and organs are in some way connected to the spine and any misalignment in the spine may cause pain, disease, or musculoskeletal abnormalities.

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the dorn method, which is very gentle, is often contrasted with chiropractic medicine which uses sudden jerky manipulations. nevertheless, i still wanted to experience chiropractic medicine for whatever it was worth.

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it was just my luck to pass by essencia (a medical-dental-chiropractic spa center located at the corner of tomas morato and scout madrinan in quezon city).

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i got to meet the proprietor of essencia, dr. rico castro, and chiropractic doctor, ben adorable. i found out that the u.s. trained dr. ben serves as the alaska acers' official chiropractor.

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as soon as i got on his chiropractic table, dr. adorable started assessing my spine and neck. he then began the spinal manipulations which consisted of jerky twists on my neck and downward thrusts on my mid-spine. a lot of incredibly audible cracking sounds were produced from my neck and spine. all throughout the session, vivid images of steven segal fracturing his opponents' necks streamed through my mind!

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at the end of the manipulations, i was rather amused and couldn't keep myself from smiling... perhaps from the fact that i was still alive!

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but seriously, i felt looser and lighter after the session.

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chiropractic treatments will certainly be part of my regular self-care regimen from now on.. and yes, (at the risk of sounding queer) because he allowed me to live (hehe!), i find dr. ben adorable STILL adorable!

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... payong kapatid: a philippine counseling conference ... (life coach, psychotherapist, psychologist, psychiatrist)

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it was a crowd of 300 christian counselors from all over the philippines. most were listeners of the christian radio station dzas 702 (AM band). i thought that this was a good turn-out, which proved that christian counselors weren't complacent about their counseling knowledge and skills.

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my talk was on the "do's and don'ts" for counselors.

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for instance, one of my "do's" was: if you like the counselee too much, refer that counselee to another counselor, lest you fall into temptation.

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one of my don'ts was: avoid seeking counsel from counselors who don't get regular counseling for themselves.

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naturally, my talk spawned a lot of questions and much discussion. as you see in the pictures, everyone had fun though.

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this conference was the brainchild of pastor eric maliwat, dzas station manager, who certainly did a remarkable job.

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thanks too to my team who worked untiringly behind the scene.

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as a final "payong kapatid" to the audience, i concluded with the reminder that counseling can be a thankless and emotionally-draining job, and that one way to remain fully charged is to be constantly plugged into the source of all life- that "Big Guy Up There"- Our Great Counselor!

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