A Natural Opportunity Close to Home

In a recent issue of the Winston-Salem Journal columnist David Bare highlights a development near downtown Winston-Salem that will provide environmental and psychological benefits. The Gateway Nature Center is a project to restore and preserve 19 acres of land that had been tarnished by years of industrial activity and the encroachment of nonnative species of plants.

The Center will provide educational programs and facilities for all ages. The Gateway Environmental Initiative, the organization responsible for the Center, hopes to counteract one negative impact of our growing dependence on technology: decreased interaction with the natural world.

Exposure to nature seems to be a balm for some of the irritations of modern life. Nature sounds, and silence (remember silence?), stimulate effects that counteract the negative impact of human-generated noise on attention and sleep. Immersion in nature appears to reduce the symptoms of stress, depression and ADHD.

One of the questions I typically ask new clients is about the time they spend in nature. Our busy schedules and urban environment sometimes make it difficult to get out in the backyard, let alone the back woods. Still, research suggests that the effort is worth it.

Do yourself a favor and take a hike!

An Unhappy Story That Gives Me Hope

A week ago I read an essay in the NY Times by a man working as a mentor for a teenager at risk for a lot of bad things. The author, Ron Berler, was focusing on academic underachievement and possible gang involvement. Of course, this child could have many other problems.

I've met many boys like this one. For several years I was the psychologist assigned to work with youth involved with juvenile court. Some of them committed very serious crimes. Fortunately, most did not. Many of them came from families beset by numerous challenges. At a time when the economy was fairly stable, many of the parents were unemployed or underemployed. Some parents had substance abuse problems. Some engaged in criminal behavior. Some were just not there. It was easy to become discouraged. What chance did these kids have?

Berler's essay described his teen's lack of motivation to succeed in school, his mother's lack of financial and emotional resources, his father's lack of participation in parenting. His father worked long hours to provide for the family, but he left the discipline to his wife. Even the school system had all but given up.

Berler encountered an incarcerated felon who wanted to help. This person, Orlando Mayorga, was serving a decades-long prison sentence for a crime he committed at age 17. Mayorga has plans for when he gets out; he hopes to become a counselor for at-risk individuals, as he was, as Berler's mentee is. Mayorga encouraged the teen (in a letter) to think not only of himself but also of his loved ones, who will be hurt if the teen is incarcerated, injured or killed. Mayorga's letter may have an impact; it's too soon to tell.

This could wind up as another tale with an unhappy ending. It gives me hope, however. It is a story of two people going in different directions. Orlando Mayorga, whose life got off to such a poor start, looks like he is turning things around, for himself and for others. Ron Berler's young friend seems to be making many poor choices. If Mayorga can change his course after going so far down the wrong road, then it is definitely possible for this teenaged boy to turn things around also.

The Benefits of Playing Video Games?

I’ve been catching up on some professional reading, and I came across an article in the January 2014 issue of American Psychologist with the above title (minus the question mark). I was pleased to see scholarly treatment of video games that does not focus exclusively on their problems. The authors acknowledge that such problems are real and are supported by research. However, they contend that the media’s treatment of these games has been one-sided and simplistic. Isn’t it possible that some of these games have some redeeming qualities?

According to the research (which is limited but growing), they do. Video games may help our children learn how to selectively attend to relevant information, how to process visual information more accurately, and how to solve problems more creatively and effectively. They can create the awareness that “persistence in the face of failure reaps valued rewards.” The social nature of many video games offers our children the opportunity to develop social skills. All of these benefits may be generalizable to their lives outside the video game environment.

It is worth noting that some types of violent video games can have cognitive and social benefits. One point of this article is that the world of video games is enormously complex and varied; simple conclusions about the impact of these games – the stuff we see in headlines – are probably unwarranted.

I believe that we can go too far with video game playing; I routinely talk to my clients and their parents about sensible limits. I also believe that video game play can have a negative impact on some people. It is refreshing, however, to glimpse the more positive aspects of playing these games.

I’d hate to have to log off completely.

More Music and Healing

A story in Sunday's Winston-Salem Journal brought further validation of the benefits music offers to those with mental illness.

Ronald Braunstein and Caroline Whiddon have founded the Me2 Orchestra in Vermont, comprising people with mental illness and those who support them.  Their goal is to increase public awareness of the gifts of people with mental illness, and to remove the stigma associated with having a mentally disorder.

In the process, the orchestra has given many participants - including conductor Braunstein - an opportunity to feel the healing power of music. 

Learn more about the Me2 Orchestra here.

Music in Psychotherapy

In 1697 William Congreve wrote, “Music has charms to soothe the savage breast,” in his play The Mourning Bride. 

This familiar quote reflects the awareness that music can have a profound effect on our state of mind.  References to the use of music in the treatment of illness go back much farther, to ancient civilizations in Greece, Egypt and China. 

The formal use of music therapy as a treatment modality in the United States began in the early 1800s.  Music therapy is now a recognized discipline that is used in the treatment of physical, psychiatric and developmental disorders.

In a recent issue of the American Psychological Association’s Monitor on Psychology an article describes recent successes in the use of music to soothe pre-term babies and their parents in neonatal intensive care units, to reduce pre-surgery anxiety, and to calm children being treated in emergency rooms.  Researchers are exploring the possible uses of music and vibration (vibroacoustic therapy) in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease, fibromyalgia, and Alzheimer’s disease.

As an amateur musician I am interested in finding new ways to integrate music into my work with my clients.  I often encourage them to bring in their instruments; sometimes we play and sing songs together.  Sometimes they share their lyrics and recorded music with me.  These are ways I can connect with them through something we both enjoy.  It strengthens our relationship, and it often opens new avenues for discussion of important issues.

Recently I have taken online courses through MusicTherapyEd.com, a website that offers continuing education courses for music therapists.  I have been learning about the use of technology in music therapy, and about writing and recording songs for use in therapy and beyond.  I am enjoying the process thoroughly.

I am not a music therapist, and I am not likely to become one.  However, I hope that this new knowledge can help me to help my clients achieve their treatment goals. 

I’d love to hear about the ways music has enhanced your life.  Thanks for reading!

Review of The BFG

In a recent post I wrote about my recent discovery of Roald Dahl’s Danny, the Champion of the World.  I found this book thoroughly delightful and not nearly as strange as some of Dahl’s books for children.  In that post I mentioned that I had also read another of Dahl’s books, The BFG.  This reading experience was quite different, but still positive.

I really did not like this book in the beginning.  It just didn’t grab me.  In this story Sophie, a British girl in an orphanage, sees a giant looking into windows at night.  He captures her and carries her away to his home (which is far away, off the edge of the map).  This Big Friendly Giant explains to her that he kidnapped her to protect the secret of his location.  He believes that if people learned of his existence they would put him in a zoo.  When Sophie spied him, he was merely trying to bring pleasant dreams to sleeping children.

The BFG really is friendly, and silly!  He speaks a language, gobblefunk, that is part nonsense, part makes-perfect-sense.  It may really appeal to children, but I found it annoying and tiresome.  After Sophie and the BFG arrive at his home, nothing much happens for a while.  While safely hidden, Sophie encounters the nine other giants, which are much bigger, uglier and meaner than the BFG.  They subsist on humans, which the BFG finds morally unacceptable.  Instead, he eats a foul-tasting squash-like vegetable that even he dislikes.  He drinks a powerful and tasty soda whose gas escapes not in burps, but in toots that send the drinker skyward.  I feel certain many children will be amused by the carbonated pyrotechnics. 

The story gains traction when Sophie learns that the other giants intend to go by night to London schools to find their next meal – innocent boys and girls!  Sophie feels the need to do something about it, but the BFG would rather lay low and protect himself.  He knows there is no way to stop the giants that night, but Sophie is adamant that they must do something.

Parents, be warned: The idea of giants eating humans is not a pleasant one.  Nothing in the story is gory or graphic, but in at least one place it is darkly suggestive.  There are probably children who would find parts of this story overwhelming.  Many children, however, will be able to tolerate it without difficulty. 

Over a few days, Sophie and the BFG each learn important lessons. Although the BFG seems oafish and uneducated, he knows things that Sophie does not.  She comes to realize that one’s own group (team, nationality, species) is not always right, and that members of other groups deserve respect.  The BFG learns from Sophie that decency sometimes demands that we attempt things that seem hopeless and possibly extremely dangerous.  In the end they enlist the help of the most powerful person Sophie can think of, the Queen of England.  Whatever you think of the actual monarch, this Queen turns out to be wise, just and humane. 

We could all learn something from these three characters.  I’m glad I saw this book through to the end.  It may give you the opportunity to discuss some pretty grown-up things with your children. 

Danny, the Champion of the World

I’ve been on a minor Roald Dahl kick recently, by which I mean that I have read two books by this celebrated author in the last couple of weeks.  Although the first chapter book I remember receiving was Dahl’s James and the Giant Peach, I am not a lifelong fan.  I have liked some of his books, including Kiss Kiss, a collection primarily of fiendishly fun short stories, definitely for adults.  I was unimpressed by Matilda; I found it two-dimensional, and I much prefer the movie version.  And I have not (yet) read the iconic Charlie and the Chocolate Family.  (I hope this admission does not alienate the army of Dahl enthusiasts.)

While sitting with a cat in my lap, I reached for a book and found Danny, the Champion of the World.  (I had forgotten that the short story upon which this is based appeared in Kiss Kiss.)  I immediately fell in love with Danny, a nine-year-old boy, and his father, William, a widower auto mechanic who is passionate about many things, but mostly about his son.  Such is their love for each other that, if given a choice, Danny would rather work on cars with his father than play with his school mates.  (In the context of the story, this is actually a lovely thing; more on that later.)

Danny discovers that another of his father’s passions is poaching.  William is intrigued by the quest for the big score, as was his own father.  Fresh fish and fowl are delicious, but equally enticing is the opportunity to put one over on the local wealthy landowner and bully, Mr. Hazell.  Those of you who know Dahl will recognize his penchant for backing the underdog.  Danny finds his father’s enthusiasm contagious, and they collaborate on the next quest: to spoil the opening day of pheasant hunting on Hazell’s grounds. 

Dahl does not shy away from the chance to introduce some nail-biting episodes – not enough to scare most children, but sufficient to add dramatic tension.  Danny is both brave and resourceful in meeting challenges.  In the end, however, laughter carries the day!

It is likely that some parents will not be happy with a story that glorifies illegal activity, although the target is so cartoonishly despicable that he virtually cries out for his comeuppance.  Others might frown on Dahl’s anti-authority stance; in Danny he ridicules not only the wealthy landowner but also a sadistic schoolmaster.  William is righteously enraged, demonstrating that he is, after all, human.  Some parents might like to see Danny playing with friends, rather than being isolated at home.  To Dahl’s credit, Danny’s father has the same concern.  I suspect that when Danny gets a little older he’ll spread his wings and find independence. 

This story of a boy and his father is in all other ways so endearing that I hope concerned parents will let their children give it a try.  I think it would be a great book to read with your child.  Many of us would envy the father-son relationship; some may strive for it.  Soon I’ll take up the other of my recent Dahl discoveries, The BFG.  Happy reading!