Fox Valley Institute: July 2016

Saturday, July 30, 2016

How to Deepen Your Connection with your Partner

Fox Valley Institute - Counseling and Psychiatry for Marriage, Teen, Family, Depression, Anxiety - Therapy and Psychological Testing - Located in Naperville IL

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Monday, July 25, 2016

Psychological Testing During Adolescence

Erin O’Donohue, Psy.D., Licensed Clinical Psychologist

What is psychological testing?

There could be a number of explanations for why a student isn’t doing well and doesn’t enjoy school. Could the reason be an executive functioning disorder such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder? Does the student have social anxiety and feel overwhelmed being around others? Could there be depression due to family stressors at home? Is the attentional deficit a result of insomnia? Although the presentation of poor academic achievement may appear similar, the underlying reason could be quite different leading to different ways to address the behavioral problem. Psychological tests and assessments get at the underlying nature of a problem in order to figure out the best way to go about intervening with the behavioral health problem. A comprehensive psychological assessment provides feedback on the strengths and limitations of the individual. It is geared at diagnosing and understanding if there is a psychiatric condition going on. The information from the assessment, along with the behavioral observations will be used to educate the diagnosis and guide treatment planning.

What assessment measures will be selected?

A licensed clinical psychologist is trained in administering and interpreting psychological assessments. The clinician will initially meet with the individual for a diagnostic interview and based on the referral question determine the best combination of tests and assessments. The assessments are standardized, objective, researched based, and reliable measures that explain an individual’s emotional, cognitive, behavioral and interpersonal functioning.

It may be determined that due to attentional disturbances a full psychological evaluation will be administered, which includes a structured interview, assessment of intellectual capability, academic achievement measures, measures of attention, projective measures, objective personality measures, and parent/teacher checklists.

It could be determined a partial or psychological assessment will be recommended, which includes a structured interview, objective personality measures, projective measures, and self-report assessments. This type of assessment can be useful to determine if there is a personality disorder or mood dysregulation that is impacting an individual’s well-being.

What to expect?

Ultimately, it is important to recognize psychological testing is something a person doesn’t need to be afraid of or study for. It is important that the individual tries their hardest and answers questions as honestly as possible so that an accurate treatment plan can be developed to enhance an individual’s emotional, cognitive, and interpersonal functioning.

Monday, July 18, 2016

Meet Our Psychiatrists!

Fox Valley Institute - Counseling and Psychiatry for Marriage, Teen, Family, Depression, Anxiety - Therapy and Psychological Testing - Located in Naperville IL

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Teens Engage in Self-Injury and the World of the Cyber Culture

Melissa Pasquinelli, LCPC, NCC

Teens today are at risk from exposure to self-injury from their peers and in the cyber world. Technology has allowed us to have almost any type of information at our finger tips at any moment. A teen can simply type in self-injury; and this whole world of self-injury images and information can pop up. As Adler, P. A. and Adler, P. stated in their book “The Tender Cut: The Hidden World of Self-Injury” that there is a ‘social phenomenon’ being cultivated between the teen cyber network and self-injury. This has increased the teens exposure to such behaviors and the virtual spread of information regarding how to, when, where, and how to cover it up. It is essentially encouraging teens to self-injure and being praised for it.

Teens can start out curious about self-injury and end up getting involved in this ‘social phenomenon’. Teens can ultimately be triggered by these images and are encouraged to engage in behaviors that they may not have ever been exposed to. For teens with low self-worth, this is an easy way to feel a part of something. As we all know, when you are a teen; peer acceptance is very important. It becomes more about acceptance by peers versus the actual behavior itself. The cyber world has allowed people to portray self-injury as a fad which isn’t initially why teens self-injure.

Why do teens self-injure? Many teens self-injure because they are attempting to obtain relief, want to feel pain, distract their pain, punishing themselves, or on rare occasions for attention. Self-injury can consist of cutting, burning, excessive scratching, hair pulling, banging head onto hard surfaces, hitting or bruising, and picking skin with the intention of not healing the wound. In most cases, teens that cut are dealing with some sort of emotion distress. The self-injury is a short term coping mechanism which can turn into a long-term addiction. This also allows the teenager to isolate oneself due to only cyber friends on the internet and not engaging in person to person social situations. This isn’t saying that teens won’t self-injure anyway, however, having access to the internet increases those risks.

Parenting can be challenging and technology can make it more complicated. How can we help our teens? Parents need to be aware that this type of information exists and to realize that your teen may be susceptible to falling into the cyber culture. Being informed will be helpful before speaking with your teen. “The Tender Cut: The Hidden World of Self-Injury” by P. A. Adler and P. Adler will allow you to see how self-injury and the cyber culture have evolved. Communicating with your teen would be the next step to identify their safety, knowledge, and what the teen may be struggling with. If your teen is self-injuring it is important not to shame them and being open to hearing how they are feeling. Providing support will open the door of communication and will allow the teen to trust the parent. If your teen is engaging in self-injury, they should be seeking professional help. Parents should seek out either a counselor, social worker, psychologist, psychiatrist, and/or group setting. Parents should try their best to monitor web searches by putting restrictions on the computer (software) and allowing your teen to only view internet searches while in the presence of a parent or guardian. In most cases, self-injury is not a form of suicide, however, without the intent; teens can complete suicide on accident. Going too deep can happen on occasions, therefore, parents need to be discussing the risks with their teens. Regardless of the reason why the teen has started engaging in self-injury, it is very important to not take this behavior lightly. Provide your teen with the help they need and deserve by seeking out assistance.

References:

Adler, P. A., Adler, P. The Tender Cut: The Hidden World of Self-Injury. NYU Press, 2011.