THE CAT’S MEOW
FOR WRITERS & READERS E-ZINE®
Where we take care to bring you and yours Stories and Poems for
your reading pleasure,
plus Helpful Information of all kinds and Author’s books to
purchase!™
Not Your Typical Monthly
Electronic Magazine!
FEBRUARY
2009
Issue 51,
Volume 09, Ezine: ISSN#: 2237-65
PLEASE NOTE: Although
this is an Internet based magazine, we have 2,115 (and counting!) subscribers
who receive notification every month when a new issue is on this website. So we
would like you to know that our subscriber list is NOT made available to
others, including companies. We value every subscriber and respect your
privacy. Although, we are NOT responsible for website links that do not work
unless they have been inserted into the publisher’s corner; then she is
responsible, she apologizes and will correct it as soon as possible… However,
please notify us at
The
Publisher’s Box™
if
any links are not working or are the wrong links. Thank you!
IN THIS
ISSUE:
IMPORTANT NOTICE!
Sometime this year you will be able to
access each individual authors work along with the different sections of this
magazine…
Plus we have a nice surprise in store for
you with this entire website; so stay tuned!
Please be patient with us as we continue
to improve The Cat’s Meow for Writers & Readers.
ROSANNE CATALANO, aka
R.C.KAYLA
BIRTHDAY & ANNIVERSARY WISHES CORNER
FOR THE
MONTH OF FEBRUARY 2009
CONTRIBUTORS
FOR FEBRUARY 2009:
“In Celebration of Black
History Month” and “Finally America – A Black History Celebration”
“Even More Food For
Thought,” “Congress,” “Shame,” “Greed” and “Don’t Be Fooled”
( non fiction Story Article
and Poems )
( non fiction Story Articles
)
“Coincidence,” “Real
Heroes,” “Not Home Yet,” “A Dream” and “Hand in Hand”
“To Have and To Hold,” “My
Way” and “Reality”
( non fiction Stories and a
Letter to the Editor )
“A Greeting to the Month of
February,” “Springtime in February,” “Winter’s Wrath,”
“February Should Make Up Its Mind” and “A
Tribute to Our Presidents”
“People I Have Known and
Respected”
CONTRIBUTORS
FOR FEBRUARY 2009:
and “Black History Month
in Canada”
( non fiction Helpful
Articles )
( non fiction Helpful
Article )
“Valentine’s Day and the
International Language of Love”
( non fiction Helpful
Article )
“Celebrating Valentine’s
Day on a Budget”
( non fiction Helpful
Article )
“Go Beyond “I Love You”
This Valentine’s Day”
( non fiction Helpful
Article )
“The Evolution of
Traditional Valentine’s Day Cards to Valentine E-cards”
( non fiction Helpful
Article )
“Single on Valentine’s
Day? 5 Activities You Can Do to Beat the Valentine’s Day Blues”
( non fiction Helpful
Article )
LOOKING FOR A GREAT
BOOK TO READ?
WELL LOOK NO
FURTHER…BOOKS BY MANY AUTHORS CAN BE PURCHASED RIGHT HERE!
ROSANNE CATALANO, aka R.C.KAYLA
Hello my dear readers! Thank you for joining
us this celebratory month; a month in which not only love is
celebrated (Valentine’s Day) but also
the month in which those of African ancestry celebrate their heritage (Black
History Month), the month of America’s 1st and 16th
Presidents’ birthdays (George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, respectively;
which evolved into Presidents Day), Frederick Douglass’ birthday (an African
American icon), and National Heart Month where all of us are given a chance to
recognize the importance of staying heart smart and treating heart disease if
we have it. So there is a lot to celebrate this month, including my dear friend
CAROL ROACH being voted The #1 “Best Magazine/Ezine Editor” in
the Preditors & Editors’ Readers Poll for 2008!
CONGRATULATIONS
CAROL, you and Storytime Tapestry truly deserve this Readers
Honor! If you would like to send
your congratulations to my dear
friend and this magazine’s sister publication, email CAROL at: winterose@videotron.ca By the way,
I was voted The #8
“Best Magazine/Ezine Editor,” which
also places me in the Top Ten (higher
than I was in 2007). So I thank those who voted for me in the 2008 Preditors
& Editors’ Readers Poll!
Now, I’m going to ask you two questions: do you think
marketing your book is expensive, or are you looking for ways to get the word
out about a new hot novel you’ve written? If you answered “yes” to any of these
questions, then you must read PHYLLIS
ZIMBLER MILLER’s Special Report SOCIAL
MEDIA CAMPAIGN FOR BOOK AUTHORS! For only $14.95, PHYLLIS will show & tell you
how to use Facebook, Twitter and other social media websites to sell your book
or novel. Before you know it you’ll be conducting your own ‘free’ online social
media book promotion campaign! So don’t miss out on this great opportunity to
learn how to promote your fabulous novel! Just click on the link above to
obtain your Special Report today. I assure you that you won’t be sorry!
REMINDER BEFORE I CONTINUE: As I told you in the December and January magazines, I am so
sorry about this but it has come to my attention that emails going to the ‘new’ email address I
told you about in December’s issue are bouncing back to their senders so, until
I work this out with our web hosting company, please do continue to send all
inquiries and submissions to: ctrosanne@verizon.net
News from
Our Contributor: ROGER DEAN KISER!
“As
some of you know, my self published book “The White House Boys” was pulled from
the market and the new book has been released by HCI (Chicken Soup publishers). Most
books and stories I write are very tame in language and content, especially
when dealing with child sexual abuse issues. But in this book the coarse
language was necessary in order to portray the cruel and deplorable treatment
many boys received while in the care of the
–ROGER
The book, “The White House Boys,” is now
available at Amazon.com
at this link:
The purchase of ROGER DEAN KISER’S books helps him to continue
his work with abused children:
http://www.geocities.com/trampolineone
The White House Boys Website:
http://www.geocities.com/fsbmarianna
****
News from
Our Contributor: ROSALEE S.
“Hey Rosanne, my
book 'Elijah The Penguin' just won a 2008 Children's
Literature Award! Do you
think you could print this in your magazine? I have attached a
picture of my book. I would gladly appreciate it! My book can be ordered at Amazon.com,
Borders,
and Booksamillion.com,
or Living Waters Publishing
Company. I am so excited!!!! Glad you are back online!
Sincerely,
Rosalee S. Wilson 
Author of Romance and Childrens Books 
”
Living Waters
Publishing Company is pleased to announce our latest Award:
2008
Excellence in Children's Storytime Literature Award
The following two books were named in this Award:
Benjamin P. Blizzard: Welcome to
Christmastown by Karen Nivens
Elijah the Penguin
by Rosalee S. Wilson
As part of
the prize, they have agreed to order 10 copies of each book, one for each of
their daycares. The books will be used for their story time and featured in the
daycare's monthly newsletter that goes out to more than 12,000 people.
Congratulations to the
authors, Karen and Rosalee! Great work! Y’all make us look good!
****
Congratulations to ROSALEE S. WILSON
on her book, “Elijah The Penguin,” winning the 2008 Excellence in Children’s
Storytime Literature Award!
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ATTENTION ALL WRITERS!
IMPORTANT * WARNING * UPDATE
FROM BEST SELLING AUTHOR
DEBRA SHIVELEY
WELCH:
UPDATE, FEB 9, 2009:
Per DEBRA SHIVELEY WELCH, the website www.articleitem.com
has been shut down for now. Yay that this site which based its entire content
on plagiarized authors’ works is no longer operating, however, we must keep
checking to make sure they stay out of commission!
“There is a web site www.articleitem.com which has
based, from what I can tell, its entire content on plagiarism. In the span of
one week, I have found two articles of mine posted to the site under the name
of another author. The first was "Sometimes Life is a
Metaphor," claimed by "Fantoni," which I got taken down,
Google Web Alert for:
"Sometimes Life Is a Metaphor"
Sometimes Life is a Metaphor - articleitem
Sometimes Life is a Metaphor. ...
Sometimes Life is a Metaphor. by: Fantoni. Every spring, Chris and I order
butterfly caterpillars. We have an inexpensive...
But it has happened again:
http://www.articleitem.com/Article/Straw---A-Childhood-Memory/106128
This one is claiming authorship of my book
as well!
Google
Web Alert for: "Straw - A Childhood Memory"
|
Straw - A Childhood Memory - articleitem |
ArticleItem.com
uses ArticleDashboard as its source for articles, www.articledashboard.com. As
far as I have been able to determine, they credit the proper author, but when ArticleItem.com
gets a hold of them, they strip the author's name and information from the
article and put a false author's name on the work.
I don't want to name the different ezine article hosting sites for fear of getting into
trouble, but if you have submitted anything to one of these places, you must
check this out thoroughly to see what of yours has been stolen.
To
see what I am talking about, go here: http://www.articleitem.com/profile/Kevin-Kennedy/80
This is the profile of the person claiming to write my article and my
book. Do you really believe he wrote all of those articles? Of
course not. Note he is also claiming to write poetry, recipes -- you name
it.
So go and see if your work has been
stolen. If it has, go to apps.DebraShiveleyWelch.net/blog
and learn what to do about it and how to take it down. The name of the
hosting site is included in my blog.
Finally, they are not getting the articles
from here. Again, it is from ezine hosting sites that allow members to
download or "publish" stories.
We must stop this pernicious site!”
DEBRA SHIVELEY
WELCH,
Best
Selling Author of “Son of
My Soul - The Adoption of Christopher, A Very Special Child - An Adoption Story - co-author: Jesus
Gandhi Oma Mae Adams"; scribe for Christopher Bullfrog
Catcher: http://www.DebraShiveleyWelch.net
I firmly
believe that I have received the same child I was meant to receive whether I
gave birth or adopted.
The same
soul, the same entity was meant to be mine from the beginning
of time. Debra Shiveley Welch, "A Very Special
Child"
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Now, Calls for Submissions for all writers!
From CAROL ROACH, publisher of Storytime Tapestry:
“Storytime Tapestry is in need of more stories, please keep them coming in. Also help support the continued running of
Storytime Tapestry by joining me on myLot and getting paid while we talk to
each other and others all over
the world: http://www.mylot.com/?ref=winterose
(if the link doesn’t work just cut and paste). From
my son Steven Roach:”
“I was thinking you should advertise this
link regularly in your newsletter (if the link doesn’t work just cut and paste)
http://greenhorse.com/join_now.ghc?r=177952857 Tell them it would help support the newsletter
and they can earn money from it. They need to sign up and install it but they
don't need to do anything else. They just do what they normally would anyways
on the net and they earn money while it’s on. In other words they just keep it
running while they are online. Its small doesn't take up much system resources
and they can earn more if they advertise their own link and get people under
them as well. Let them know some people make 5-10$ a day on it and it’s been
open since 2002.”
From ROSANNE CATALANO, publisher and editor of
this magazine:
“The Cat’s Meow for Writers & Readers needs more
helpful nonfiction articles, so please do keep submitting those nonfiction articles.
To see what kind of helpful articles we accept for publication, please read ‘Submission
Guidelines’ on this website, then e-mail your work to: ctrosanne@verizon.net
Thank you.”
From ERNEST DEMPSEY,
co-publisher of The Audience Review:
I would like to tell you about
our Call for Opinion on ‘Intelligence among Men and Women’ to be included in
our upcoming issue of the print
quarterly publication “The
Audience Review.” You are welcome
to submit your opinion as well as to notify your readers about submitting
theirs too. To read the submission guidelines (there are only a few), please
visit: http://cspsapc.blogspot.com/2008/08/men-or-women-whos-more-intelligent.html
Best
regards,
Ernest
Co-Publisher of The Audience Review
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AN EXCITING BI-MONTHLY POETRY CONTEST FOR ALL
POETS!
High
Prairie Poets
ELIGIBILITY: ALL POETS –
12 point Font is
a must. DON’T “CAP” Titles.
DEADLINE: POSTMARKED BY The 20th
OF THE MONTH.
LINE LIMIT: There is a 32 line limit.
ENTRY FEE: $2.00 entry fee for the
first poem and $1.00 each for additional poems. NO EMAIL ENTRIES.
PRIZES: $25.00 1st Place;
$10.00 2nd Place; $5.00 3rd Place; 3 HM’S; WE DO NOT
PUBLISH ANY POEMS.
SUBMISSION: Please send TWO
COPIES of each poem (poet‘s choice), ONE BLANK
and THE OTHER WITH NAME, ADDRESS,
and TITLE OF
POEM. DO NOT SEND COVER LETTER OR
BIOGRAPHY; One Poem on a Page; 66 characters per line. No Themes.
NO OBSCENE LANGUAGE.
NOTIFICATION: By the tenth of the
following month, IF you include a SASE. ALWAYS INCLUDE A “SASE.”
JUDGING: Qualified, blind judging;
Judge’s decisions are final.
NEXT
CONTEST: MARCH 20, 2009.
ADDRESS:
SEND ALL
ENTRIES TO: CAROL DEE MEEKS, Silver Arrow
Estates,
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YOU DEFINITELY DON’T WANT TO MISS OUT ON THIS GREAT INFORMATIVE eBOOK!
BETH ANN ERIKSON, “The Queen Bee of
Filbert Publishing,” wrote
an excellent book that makes a wonderful gift for the writer in your life!
In her book, Beth
helpfully guides you on how to earn more than pennies for your freelance writing.
To purchase her excellent eBook titled “101 No Cost or Low Cost
Techniques to Turbo Charge Your Freelance Income,” go to Filbert
Publishing today!
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Don’t
forget to check out the ‘Helpful Links’ and
Home Page on this web site for other
interesting, fun and informative sites for you! Plus
the link to The SHINE! Journal, where PAMELA TYREE
Please do WELCOME our contributors via email, or visit their websites, after you have read their
stories, poems and articles.
[Email addresses and websites are listed in the author’s bio.]
BEFORE
I GO –
DON’T FORGET TO PICK
UP YOUR COPY
OF MIRRORED IMAGES;
A COLLECTION OF MY
STORIES & POEMS
JUST FOR YOU!
See you all in March… until then,
WISHING YOU ALL
A HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY,
A HAPPY BLACK HISTORY MONTH,
A HAPPY PRESIDENT’S DAY
AND
A HAPPY NATIONAL HEART MONTH!
Copyright © February 2009
Rosanne Catalano.
WISHES
CORNER!
HAPPY
BIRTHDAY TO:
SUSAN LOUDERMAN, Birthday: February 8th
JEFFREY SHAR, Birthday: February
14th
MEGAN B. CATALANO, Birthday: February
17th
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO:
NO ANNIVERSARIES THIS
MONTH
To see your
birthday and/or anniversary wishes here,
Email us
with your name (first & last, or just first name) and birth-day or
anniversary date (year is optional for both)!
COFFEE HOUSE 4 READERS CORNER!
(Bringing You
Published Written Talent
Every Month
for YOUR
In Celebration
of Black History Month
By
Nanette M. Buchanan
Author of: “Thoughts – A Poetic Journey”
and “Family Secrets, Lies & Alibis”
Where would we
be without our history?
Who are we, how did we become to be?
A background of lifestyles, cultures and African Nations
A storybook of accomplishments and challenges
Told generation after generation
Our history is a reason for our presence to be...
Our history is as important as roots are to a tree.
Copyright © 1998 Thoughts
Nanette M. Buchanan
Get your copy of Thoughts.....e-book $10.00 www.lulu.com
In Celebration of Black History month take this Poetic Journey with me.
See my Blog - Make your comments- Let's rejoice and celebrate together.
*
* * *
Finally
By
Nanette M. Buchanan
Author of: “Thoughts – A Poetic Journey”
and “Family Secrets, Lies & Alibis”
The years have
gone by at a rapid pace
So much to be thankful for, those who never got tired,
those who have gone on but ran a good race
Those we look at differently
Now that the messages that they spoke and shouted have become clear.
Those who were killed, those who died, stood with pride and honor
Today we understand why we should shed our tears
This Black History month has new meaning to all races
Stirs emotions deep inside
Even if you refuse to express it, as an American
You must share in the new pride
This month as always we honor the accomplishments of ancestors,
Those who prayed knowing there was truth in their dreams
This month we honor those who understand what freedom means
As a people we have crossed waters, cultivated the land,
Fought for equality and education; our continuous plight.
Their courage, passed on through generations, hero after hero,
Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King,
So many had the foresight
This Black History Month as we pay homage
honoring and celebrating those who refused to look back
Finally America embraced all it's people
Finally America became a part of our movement and included those.....
who are Black.
Copyright © 2009
Nanette M. Buchanan.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Nanette M. Buchanan is a native of
Make Your Event A
Lasting Memory
Visit www.ipendesigns.com (Event Planning
& Books)
http://www.myspace.com/ipendesigns
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________
Even More Food for Thought
By
Conrad S. Cardinal
If you’ve read some of my articles you probably think that I’m a
religious fanatic. Believe me when I tell you that I’m far from it. In fact I
wish I was more conservative and much better at being a Christian. What drives
me is the understanding that there are certain lines that must be drawn and we
must not cross them. I believe there are some things that simply have to be if
we want to continue to be the most successful and freest nation in the world.
Even though times are tough right now, we must not give in or allow
ourselves to be drawn into crossing those lines I spoke of. I know so many very
wonderful and intelligent folks that are willing to give up some of their
rights in the hope that the government will take care of them. One of our problems
is that we’ve already given Congress and the Supreme
Court too much power. We base our lifestyle on our ability to be
successful because of our God given talents. We call it a free enterprise system,
where one can be as successful as they have the ability to be. In socialist
nations where the government makes the decisions one gets only what they‘re
allowed. Including how many children they may have and for women, whether or
not they are allowed to enjoy their sexuality. I doubt that we want to move
towards this kind of control.
The choice is between big government and more control being put back
into the hands of the people. This is how it started out, but many of the
people we have elected over the years have come to believe that we are not
smart enough to handle that kind of responsibility. In some ways they may be
right because we’ve just sat back and let it happen. This time we are at a much
more critical time in our history and giving in now may be irreversible.
So you probably want to know what lines I don’t want us to cross. Don’t
allow them to put God in the closet; maintain a strong bond. Don’t give up our
God given Constitutional rights. Maintain leadership that is patriotic and
believes in God’s role in
Finally, many are blaming the former president for all our trouble. I should
like to point out a couple of things that many of us are overlooking. A portion
of the blame for our difficulties now can be placed in the lap of the previous
president. He depleted our military and when faced with the opportunity of
taking care of one of our foes, he did nothing. Secondly, the president has
only one third of the power, Congress has most of the power and I believe this
is where we have been sold out. Last, since Congress has become more liberal,
things have gotten worse.
Copyright ©
Conrad S. Cardinal.
* * * *
Congress
By
Conrad S. Cardinal
Ignorance abounds in
leading the blind
Listening to the media, accepting lies as
though we had no mind
The president is being blamed for all
that is wrong
We follow this tune like the pied pipers song
Realize that Congress holds two thirds
of the power
Congress is manipulating and taking our
freedoms hour by hour
We changed the dominant party in Congress,
to make things right
It didn’t get better, taxes may go up, we’ll
have a harder fight
Congress is running a muck with power,
spending selfishly
Satisfying personnel agendas, acting unscrupulously
If you think this will change with a new
president, you’re dreaming
It will stay just as it is, Congress blatantly scheming.
Copyright ©
Conrad S. Cardinal.
* * * *
Shame
By
Conrad S. Cardinal
Life, fragile as a humming birds wing
A careless moment can bring about deaths sting
Made up of choices we must make
each day, a day of discovery; was
our choice a mistake?
So preoccupied with foolish things
We often miss blessings life brings
How could we drift so far into the abyss?
There is so much more to life, that
we simply dismiss
Most times its sorrow that causes us to
pray
A shame, wouldn’t you say
What a sad commentary on the human race
At times our choices must cause God
to turn his face.
Copyright ©
Conrad S. Cardinal.
* * * *
Greed
By
Conrad S. Cardinal
So many have traded
happiness for sorrow
because of greed
Their life flowed peacefully until this monster was freed
Once it has been unleashed there’s no
calling it back
In no time it turns white to black
More often than not true riches are lost
Love, family and friends are gone, a
terrible cost
It’s only at the end of the day that some
realize their mistake
They suffer rejection; loneliness is hard to take
Others ride it out, thinking they
don’t need a friend
When their next journey begins, I wonder
if they think the means was worth the end?
Copyright ©
Conrad S. Cardinal.
* * * *
Don’t Be
Fooled
By
Conrad S. Cardinal
She is in danger because we are being deceived
There are many in our nation whose
agenda is our demise
Many well meaning people are refusing
to open their eyes
No one wants to be at war; the cost is
high
It hurts to hear of our soldiers that are
wounded or die
However, how can they say stopping
the evil in
The murder and rape were allowed to
go on too long
Evil like this must be stopped wherever it
may exist
Those being oppressed must be helped to resist
Please don’t give in to the socialism
that
is being presented as liberalism
Instead, lets look to those whose agenda
is patriotism.
Copyright ©
Conrad S. Cardinal.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Conrad S. Cardinal is a published poet and writer who was born in
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________________________________________________
Psychology and
the African Violet Lady [ Part I ]
By
Carol Roach
Author of: “Picking Up the Pieces: A
Woman’s Journey” and “Angels Watching Over Me”
This story article is the first of a four part
series (published here). It was previously published in Storytime Tapestry, Carol’s e-zine, and on Gather.com, and also used
as a workshop on Ryse.com.
****
It occurred to me that most of you know that I am an internet writer,
because you have read my stories in various newsletters on the net, but how
many of you know that I am a trained therapist with a Masters in counselling
psychology?
Now let me tell you a little about my journey towards getting that
degree.
It wasn't until I got to CEGEP that
I found out what psychology entailed.
First let me explain that CEGEP in
The CEGEP system was created in the
late 1960s when it occurred to the government that kids of 16 to 17 years of
age who were coming straight out of high school
were not mature enough for university; most of them bombed-out during their
first year. So a preparatory stage was created known as CEGEP.
In high school, I was not interested in
academic study. I followed the crowd, so to speak, but when I got to CEGEP I
loved it. I couldn't get enough of it. I think part of my new-found love of
learning was that I worked all day from the age of 17 and I had to go to CEGEP
at night. I then fully understood the importance of an education.
When I took my very first psychology
course at CEGEP I just knew that I finally found my niche and that one day I
would make a career
of it. My grades improved because I was suddenly interested in a subject,
whereas in high school
I was not. I went from a C student in high school
to an A student in CEGEP.
When I finally got to university, I
first majored in history for a year then transferred to psychology.
Now I am going to tell you about what I learned about psychology in the
seven years that I studied it. The article will define psychology; explain some
of the different branches of psychology, touch on
a few therapies and end with the therapy practiced by Dr. Milton Erickson.
To be continued…
Copyright
© Carol Roach, M.Ed, B.A.
Check out her newest
book, “Angels Watching Over Me”: http://www.lulu.content/964306
To read more of Carol's stories, check her out on Associated Content: http://www.associatedcontent.com/join.html?refer=9214
* * * *
Psychology and
the African Violet Lady [ Part II ]
By
Carol Roach
Author of: “Picking Up the Pieces: A
Woman’s Journey” and “Angels Watching Over Me”
Defining Psychology
Psychology is the study of human behaviour.
It covers everything that a person thinks or feels. Since it is all
encompassing, you will find psychologists in every field of study under the
sun.
The history of psychology originated in
the antiquities. Yet, it only became a recognized field on its own in the mid
1800's and for this reason, it is known as a fairly new discipline of study.
The origins of psychology germinated in the fields of medicine and philosophy.
We can thank the ancient Greeks for this.
From the field of science, Hippocrates,
known as the father of medicine, was one of the greatest influences on
modern-day psychology.
Similarly, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, the great ancient Greeks philosophers, were
among the greatest influences on modern-day psychology from the philosophical
perspective.
As a result of the tremendous
influence of both these fields on psychology, there once was an ongoing debate
as to whether psychology is a science or an art.
Basically, I believe that psychology
is a mixture of both science and philosophy. I believe that one discipline
without the other would not do justice to the field of psychology at all.
Psychology is not a hard science like chemistry or physics. It is known as
a soft science because it does not postulate
scientific laws governing nature.
Human nature
is so complex people don't always react in the same way, thus making it
extremely difficult to establish laws.
For a science to be called a pure science or hard science,
you must have laws that you can prove over and over again. For example, gravity
is a law of nature. If you let go of a pencil in
midair it will always fall making it a law of physics.
Conversely, to use depression as an example from the realm of
psychology, many people may have symptoms
of depression
but these people will not experience it in quite the same way. It is for this
reason that the hard nose scientists laugh at psychology.
In defense of my field, what
psychology does do is use the scientific method.
Psychologists test their theories using the
scientific method of research. They will create experiments and measure
the results. For example, if a psychologist deems that a person has depression,
it is not because he or she felt like it, pulled it out of his or her bag as a
possible diagnosis, or thought it sounded good. The diagnosis is based on
scientific study and years of research in the field.
However, since humans are different
from the elements, you cannot treat them as such. Just as I said before, a
pencil will always fall if dropped in midair. However, a person has a thinking
process that affects every decision that he or she makes in life and these
mental processes will affect the outcome of depression
and affect their mood. Because of the additional influences of human thinking
in reaction to various physical symptoms
such as depression, the truisms found in philosophy must factor in to the
psychological evaluation as well.
The field of psychology became a recognized discipline in
They also studied how people learn
with regards to their thinking processes, again by using the scientific method
and measuring the subjects responses in memory tests.
Later, people like Dr. Sigmund Freud, who was a medical doctor, proposed
theories about human nature with regard to how humans think and feel, which he
combined with the scientific (medical) knowledge of the day.
As a result, the division in
psychology became apparent way back then. You had the scientists (the learning
people), who were strictly concerned with physical aspects; and the clinicians,
such as Freud, who studied the philosophical aspect and combined it with
scientific study.
Today in universities you can choose to go into scientific
psychology, which is pure research work, or clinical
psychology where you will have patients and treat their various
concerns.
Since I love people and
understanding how we tick, I decided to go into clinical psychology.
In our university, the psychology students were very competitive and there
was a rivalry going on between the students who elected research (scientific)
and the students such as myself who preferred the clinical aspects of
psychology.
I nicknamed the scientific psychology students and their professors the
"rat people."
These "rat people" are the
people who experiment with rats and are responsible for helping to find cures
for cancer, AIDS, etc. They work in conjunction
with the medical field; chemistry, biology, etc., to finds cures for human
ailments, including drug addiction and alcoholism. You name it and there will
be research about it. These psychologists and students of psychology almost
never see people. They don't have clients, they conduct experiments in the
laboratory and they work with animals, studying
their behavior to various stimuli. In using animals as test subjects they
create models that can be applied to human nature. They not only help find cures
for human diseases that way, they formulate theories about how humans learn by
reacting to their environment and they aid in the research of veterinary
sciences.
Incidentally, the research done by
the "rat people" bring in big government research grants for American
and Canadian universities; they are the big
moneymakers. American and Canadian universities are world leaders in the area of
scientific psychology research. Our governments pour millions of dollars into
this type of research.
Other psychologists in the
scientific stream research the behaviour of people rather than animals. For
example, they may study the effects of the element of surprise introduced into
a group setting, or test babies (developmental
psychology) to see if they are responding to different stimuli the way
they should at each stage of development.
These psychologists, who are
scientists, are not necessarily oriented toward individual clients. Their focus
is to study groups and formulate theories about what is normal behaviour for
that group.
Earlier, we talked about the
division between science and philosophy that launched the great debate on
whether or not psychology is a science or an art. The debate stemmed from the
fact that psychology borrows from the sciences as well as from the great
philosophical minds of all time.
We have talked about the scientific contributions to psychology and now
we will turn our focus to clinicians, the people who deal with clients and
listen to their emotional and cognitive needs. Clinica l psychology has its
roots in philosophy rather than medicine. Clinical
psychologists are primarily interested in the individual client. They
take the theories that the research psychologists formulate and apply them on
an individual level (applied psychology).
As I have said before, if a
psychologist diagnosed someone with depression, he or she just did not pull the
diagnosis out of a hat. The counselor or psychologist uses scientific research
as a basis for the diagnosis, but then takes the theories one step further. The
counselor uses his/her knowledge of research to help the client ameliorate
his/her situation.
Using the depression
example, the clinician would know from the research that clinically depressed
people (the most severe depression
cases) don't really want to do anything; they are totally unmotivated,
apathetic, and lethargic. Therefore, getting them to start doing things helps
alleviate the depression. Knowing this, a clinician will sit down with the
client and talk about different things that the client would like to do as part
of therapy. For one client it might be swimming, for another it might be using
the Internet, etc.
In summary, there are two main
divisions of psychology: scientific and clinical. Under each division, there
are hundreds of fields of studies. The particular division of psychology that I
studied at the masters' level was clinical; the sub-division was counseling psychology.
For the most part, the clinical psychologist deals with the most severe mental disorders such as schizophrenia,
major depression, dissociative identity disorder, which
is basically the same clientele for psychiatrists.
Okay, by introducing psychiatrists
it begs the question what is the different between the two. Simply stated, a
psychiatrist is a medical doctor who has taken special training in the workings
of the mind and he/she understands that human mental disorders originate from a
biological malfunction. Furthermore, he or she is also authorized to prescribe drugs
to correct or ameliorate this disorder.
On the other hand, the clinical psychologist is not a medical doctor.
He/she has studied the workings of the mind but only has a psychology degree,
not a medical degree. Without a medical degree, the psychologist is not
authorized to prescribe drugs.
The counselor or counseling psychologist's focus is not on abnormal human behaviour as in the heavy-duty mental disorders,
but their focus is concerned with normal behaviour. Therefore counselors
and counselling psychologists work with people who have everyday issues or
concerns experienced by the general population.
The first counselors were guidance counselors in schools
and universities
who dealt with issues that students face. The discipline has now extended to
clinical psychology.
You will find counselors in schools,
clinics, community centers, hospitals, businesses—just about anywhere.
Counselors deal with a wide variety of issues, such as problems in school,
marital and family relationships, grief counseling,
career
counseling, depression, self-esteem issues; the list goes on and on.
I completed my internship in a psychiatric hospital where I counseled
clients who had symptoms
of schizophrenia. I have a master's in counseling
psychology, so I am a counselor and not a counseling psychologist. To
earn the title psychologist you must have a PhD. I could have a PhD under what
is known as the grandfather clause by taking an extra year of study. Before
NAFTA I would have been a psychologist already.
Each of these professional provide
therapy, for the psychiatrist therapy would include drug therapy. However, for
psychologists and counselors alike, therapy is basically applying the
scientific theories of psychology to everyday life and coming up with a plan to
help your client, such as the one previously given for depression.
To date, there are over 350
different therapies out there. Of course no one individual therapist was ever
trained in all of them. But they are out there; good, bad or otherwise.
Some of these therapies work better
than others, making it difficult for a person seeking help to really know who
to go to. When you have cancer you go to a cancer specialist, but when you need
to see a psychologist or counselor it is not easy to find the right one.
Consequently, it is required by law that when seeking a psychologist or
counselor, the professional must tell you his or her particular brand of
psychology and what he or she plans to accomplish with you through the use of
it. At that point, a prospective client can decide if this is the type of
therapy that he or she feels will help; or the client can start therapy and
choose afterwards based on results.
Copyright
© Carol Roach, M.Ed, B.A.
Check out her newest
book, “Angels Watching Over Me”: http://www.lulu.content/964306
To
read more of Carol's stories, check her out on Associated Content: http://www.associatedcontent.com/join.html?refer=9214
* * * *
Psychology and
the African Violet Lady [ Part III ]
By
Carol Roach
Author of: “Picking Up the Pieces: A
Woman’s Journey” and “Angels Watching Over Me”
Some Widely Known
Therapies
Continuing from Psychology and The
African Violet Lady Part II, I am going to continue this rather long article
with examples of how different psychologists and counselors would treat depression through the use of different therapies
and end with a therapy originated from one of my favourite psychiatrists, Dr.
Milton Erickson.
******
To treat depression, different therapists will use different theories.
1) A psychiatrist or a biologically oriented
psychologist would find the answer in drug therapy.
It is believed that the chemical
called serotonin found in the brain is responsible for our moods. When there is
not enough of this chemical circulating in the brain, a person becomes depressed.
Hence, drugs
are introduced into the brain to correct the chemical imbalance. For example,
Prozac is a serotonin uptake inhibitor.
What happens in normal brain
activity is that the chemical serotonin is found in the nerves of the brain.
Serotonin travels through the specialized nerve called a neuron, to an area
beyond the neuron called a synapse. The synapse is the open space between two
neurons. During brain functioning, serotonin is then returned to the neuron
after a certain length of time.
According to this theory, this mood
regulator (serotonin) does not remain in the synapse long enough before it is
returned to the neuron to start the process over again. The result is a chemical imbalance in the brain leading to symptoms
of depression.
Prozac is a medication that makes
the serotonin stay longer in the synapse by slowing down the process so that
the individual will get the full effects of this brain chemical in order to
restore normal brain functioning.
2) Many psychologists will say that
serotonin affects mood and mood affects how we think as well as how we feel.
Emotive psychologists would be concerned with how you feel (your mood). They
would listen to you talk about your feelings. They want to know why you are
depressed. They emphasize catharsis (first introduced by Sigmund Freud).
Catharsis is the emptying out of the soul, the act of "getting it
off your chest" in hopes that once you express all this pent-up emotion,
you will be better able to cope with depression, or whatever else ails you, and
most importantly you will be able to move on.
It is postulated that keeping emotions inside tends to make a person
"stuck or blocked" from moving on and coping with life.
These emotive based counselors and psychologists
encourage the client to voice his/her feelings. They are very empathic and may
even cry with you.
If you want a sounding board and
totally unconditional support these are the people for you.
3) A psychoanalyst, who again can be
a psychiatrist or psychologist, is trained under the influence of Freud and
Jung and would want to know all about your childhood, basing his/her queries on
the theory that everything we do and think is influenced by our childhood
experiences.
The psychoanalyst feels that the
root of today's depression
stems from some childhood trauma and by getting to the bottom of it, and by
understanding the root of the problem, the client will be able to change
his/her present depressed state of mind.
I am not a psychoanalyst and have
not studied the area very much. However, I find that the problem with this kind of therapy is that it takes
years in some cases to understand your roots to the extent that it helps. I
find also that just understanding what makes you feel a certain way does not
show you how to apply this newfound knowledge.
For example, having gone through the
process in my own life, I knew the reasons why I had low self-esteem, yet I did
not know how to change it.
For the most part, psychoanalysis is
outdated. There are just about 20% of professionals (psychologists, not to be
mistaken with psychiatrists) who practice it today in North America, most of
whom are centered here in
Most psychologists and counselors today feel that it is not important to
deal with past issues to that extent. What is important is what is happening
right now.
4) The gestalt therapists will not
allow you to talk about your past at all. The "here and now" is what
they are concerned with. They feel the answers to today's issues must be
treated in the present context.
With insurance companies paying for
psychologists, often time the clients of today do not have more than 10
sessions available to them. Therefore, dwelling on the past would take up too
much time. Gestalt Therapy postulates that
the sum of the whole is equal to the sum of its parts. In other words, you have
to connect all the little parts of your life together, before you have "a
whole person", you cannot leave anything undone.
Another way of looking at this is to
think of a piano keyboard after a pianist has played just one note. That one
note does not stand for much on its own, nor does playing a bunch of notes with
no focus or direction. In fact a bunch of incongruent notes might sound pretty
wild. However, if you play a series of notes together in perfect harmony you
have a beautiful melody. You need every note to make that melody beautiful.
Without any one of the notes, the music would be incomplete or just plain
awful.
Gestalt people want to know
everything that is happening in the now to get the total picture. They pay attention
to the small issues (notes) that can be affecting the entire melody of your
life.
As a result of time restrictions
imposed by insurance companies, a new therapy known as brief psychology was
founded.
5) Brief psychology therapists are
also concerned with the "here and now". Their focus is on what a
client can do to change what is happening now as quickly as possible. They may
apply the theories of:
6) Behavioural psychologists who
state that to change your thinking you must first do something different. For
example, lying around the house and feeling sorry for yourself will not change
your depression
but getting out and doing something will. They believe we are conditioned to
think and act the way we do. Some of these conditions become bad habits that
need to be changed.
Brief Therapy
specialists rely heavily on:
7) Cognitive
psychology (thinking and logic) the rational approach. Cognitive
psychologist states that to change our behaviour we must change our thinking.
Note that this approach is the total opposite of behavioural psychology where
you change your behaviour first and the thinking will then fall in place.
Cognitive psychologists’ state somewhere along the line our thinking processes
have become cloudy, and we become maladaptive to our environment.
For example, a person refuses to go down a certain street to get home. The
client's rationale for this is that a bad man might live on that street. According to the cognitive
psychologists this fear is an irrational belief, when not founded by documented
proof. A bad man might live there does not mean a bad man does live there and
not going down the street with little or no reason could prove cumbersome for
the client, especially if it means that the client must take an alternative
route that is longer or more cumbersome to get to his/her destination.
Cognitive psychologists believe that
you would never be able to go out and do something if you still feel depressed,
so they would concentrate on logic, pointing out to you that being depressed is
affecting your coping skills, ruining your life,
stopping you from doing the things you were destined to do. I know this sounds
confusing but the difference is that in strict behavioral
psychology, you have to do something first to change your thinking, in
strict cognitive psychology you must change your thinking first to do
something. In behavioural psychology the answer is A, change behaviour, In
cognitive psychology they are saying no the answer is B, change your thinking.
Many psychologists often combine the
two approaches of behaviour and cognitive psychology to form:
8) Cognitive Behavioural psychology
theories.
In combining both approaches the
cognitive behavioural psychologists are saying it takes both approaches to
facilitate change. Therefore, A = Behaviour and B = Thinking to produce C =
Change (A + B = C).
These cognitive behavioural
psychologists postulate that once you understand, you would be motivated to
start doing things and bring yourself to the stage that you want a happy,
healthy, and live a normal life.
Cognitive psychologists may
sometimes be abrupt, giving you the impression that they are trying to
"shake some sense into you." They don't always come across with the
same degree of empathy that emotive therapists have.
In actual fact, they are no less
empathetic; they just use a different approach to reach their client's
understanding and needs.
As a recap, a cognitive psychologist would say you must change your
thinking first in order for the unwanted behaviour to change; which is the
direct opposite approach of a behavioural psychologist, who says change, your
behaviour first and your thinking will follow. Hence a cognitive behavioural
psychologist would combine both approaches to say you need to change your
thinking as well as your behaviour to effectuate positive change. It gets
confusing doesn't it?
I am an eclectic therapist; meaning I use what ever approach I know and sense
that the client in front of me needs, I do have a bias towards cognitive
psychology but will be empathic, analytical, logical, take the kick in the butt
so to speak approach or whatever I feel is needed at the time.
Stay tuned for the end of The African Violet Lady Story as best I
remember it…
Copyright © Carol Roach.