TIPS and TOPICS from David Mee-Lee, M.D.
Volume 8, No. 6
October 2010
In this issue
-SAVVY: Writing by hand engages the brain in learning
-SKILLS: Words that can push people away
-SOUL: Being imperfect, vulnerable and authentic
-SHAMELESS SELLING: Brand new Journal on positive mental health
-Until Next Time
Welcome to the October edition of TIPS and TOPICS (TNT) a little late, the editor just got back from Australia.
In the Wall Street Journal this month, an interesting article caught my attention- especially since we live in an era when there is a push for health records to go paperless, and where our communication is dominated by text messages, tweets, voice mail and Facebook. No more writing letters or essays these days. The WSJ article was titled: “How Handwriting Trains the Brain. Forming Letters is Key to Learning, Memory, Ideas.” I excerpted some of Gwendolyn Bounds points in her article which have relevance to our clients.
Tip 1
Writing by hand is more than just communication. It engages the brain in learning.
”
Using advanced tools such as magnetic resonance imaging, researchers are finding that writing by hand is more than just a way to communicate. The practice helps with learning letters and shapes, can improve idea composition and expression, and may aid fine motor-skill development. .. Recent research illustrates how writing by hand engages the brain in learning.”
“During one study at Indiana University published this year, researchers invited children to man a “spaceship,” actually an MRI machine using a specialized scan called “functional” MRI which spots neural activity in the brain. The kids were shown letters before and after receiving different letter-learning instruction. In children who had practiced printing by hand, the neural activity was far more enhanced and “adult-like” than in those who had simply looked at letters.”
“It seems there is something really important about manually manipulating and drawing out two-dimensional things we see all the time,” says Karin Harman James, assistant professor of psychology and neuroscience at Indiana University who led the study.
Clinical Implications:
Tip 2
Computers, keyboarding and the internet can facilitate learning. Writing by hand has a unique relationship with the brain in composing thoughts and ideas
Research highlights that the hand has a “unique relationship with the brain when it comes to composing thoughts and ideas. Virginia Berninger, a professor of educational psychology at the University of Washington, says handwriting differs from typing because it requires executing sequential strokes to form a letter, whereas keyboarding involves selecting a whole letter by touching a key.”
“Some patients bring in journals from the years, and you can see dramatic change from when they were 55 and doing fine and now at 70,” says P. Murali Doraiswamy, a neuroscientist at Duke University. “As more people lose writing skills and migrate to the computer, retraining people in handwriting skills could be a useful cognitive exercise.”
Clinical Implications:
Reference:
Gwendolyn Bounds: “How Handwriting Trains the Brain Forming Letters Is Key to Learning, Memory, Ideas”. The Wall Street Journal. October 5, 2010
Write to Gwendolyn Bounds at wendy.bounds@wsj.com
Every now and then I like to highlight terminology our field uses which distances us from forming a working alliance with our clients. So I was most interested when I attended a session at the American Psychiatric Association’s recent Institute on Psychiatric Services in Boston. Ronald J. Diamond, MD, Professor at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison presented thought-provoking ideas. The title of his talk says it all: “From Bad-mouthing to Good-mouthing the Customers: Alternatives to pathologizing and put-down labeling of people.” I’ll share some of the nuggets of wisdom that impressed me.
Tip 1
When people are not skilled at getting their needs met, don’t call them names.
“Manipulative”, attention-seeking”, “entitled”, “acting-out” flow so easily from the clinical tongue. But if you reframe the person’s behavior as unskilled attempts to get their needs met, you can be empathic and help them develop more effective ways to get their needs met.
Take “manipulative” for example. If you are skilled at asking for what you want, comfortable in persuading people to meet your needs, collaborate and cooperate with you, we call you “assertive”, an “effective leader”, or “a person of influence”. However if you are not skilful in asking for what you want…if you ask something from someone and don’t get it …then you attempt to get yet another person to meet your need, we call you “manipulative”, especially if you go about it in an annoying persistent manner. Let’s look at this same process with the other terms.
“Attention seeking”
“Entitled”
“Acting out”
Tip 2
Technical psychological constructs and terms are just that, not code words to describe people you don’t like.
“Borderline”, “splitting”, “passive aggressive”, “Axis II” are some of the terms that have specific psychological meaning or are constructs with a defined meaning. However, listen in on a team treatment planning meeting sometime. See if you can distinguish when clinicians are using these terms to describe the specific psychological term or construct and when they are actually using these words as shortcuts to describe a client they find annoying or difficult to work with.
Implications:
Dr. Diamond summarized the problems when we use words loosely, inaccurately and often judgmentally:
This month I presented at the US Journal conference in Chicago and picked up some SOUL words of wisdom from Brene Brown, PhD. (www.brenebrown.com) who presented on “Shame, Vulnerability, Imperfection and Authenticity: The Quest for Our True Self”.
We are in a fiercely competitive election season full of negative attack ads, attempts to exploit opponents’ vulnerabilities and marginalize candidates as extreme and out of touch. Imagine a different perspective, one that banishes shame and imperfection, replaced by values of vulnerability and authenticity. Could leaders ever be allowed to be imperfect without ruining their careers? Could they ever admit mistakes, not project blame and still stay in office?
Imagine……
I am excited to introduce you to The Change Companies’ latest interactive journal just hot off the press. The principal author is Senior Advisor, William R Miller, PhD. He and I developed this journal with the following goal in mind: “Our aim is to provide a very positive change focused resource that encourages and empowers clients to take an active role in their own recovery.”
We designed this journal to focus on facilitating self-management in mental health and addiction treatment. As Bill Miller wisely said during the development process, we want to attract people into managing their mental and chemical health, not just coping with it! Coping sounds like just surviving, but managing is empowering.
Take a look at this brand new clinical tool:
This 88-page Interactive Journal assists individuals in becoming active participants in the care and maintenance of their own psychological wellness. Participants are provided information and strategies that guide them in setting goals and managing their situations, thoughts, feelings, responses and consequences. The Journal helps participants develop a working alliance with their service providers in making life changes for mental and chemical health.
Find out more at www.changecompanies.net and call (888)-889-8866.
Thanks for reading. See you in late November.
David
David Mee-Lee, M.D.