Paradigm is a professional journal published quarterly and accepts no advertising. It is dedicated to keeping the therapeutic community abreast of contemporary issues. We hope you find Online Paradigm not only useful, but a valuable resource.
Online Paradigm is an extension of the printed journal, intended to provide casual browsers with the same relevant information as our subscribers regarding adolescent behavioral treatment and adult behavioral issues. Topics covered on Online Paradigm include:
A thirty-two year old man presents complaining of being brittle, angry, socially isolated, and suicidal. He says he has no friends and that he rarely leaves his home. Several minutes later, the patient seems to contradict himself. He explains that he came to therapy after erupting in anger during a social club meeting, one in which he serves as an Officer. Several of his colleagues there told him that he was being unreasonable and that he needed to get help, or they would end their friendships with him. The story was confusing and the patient was told so. He clarified, “Oh, yeah, I can see why. I do not have any friends in Real Life and I leave the house maybe once a week. All my friends are in my Virtual Life. Learn more »
Pediatric bipolar disorder (PBD) is a serious psychiatric illness. Children with a bipolar spectrum disorder may evidence severe mood dysregulation manifesting in chronic irritability, episodes of rage, tearfulness, distractibility, grandiosity or inflated self-esteem, hypersexual behavior, a decreased need for sleep, and behavioral activation coupled with poor judgment. Compared to adults with bipolar disorder, children with the disorder experience long episodes with few well periods in between mixed episodes with symptoms of depression and mania/hypomania together, rapid cycling, prominent irritability and a high rate of comorbid disorder such as Attention, Deficit Disorder (ADHD), Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD), and anxiety disorders. Learn more »
What is compulsive hoarding? In comparison to other related conditions, such as obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), compulsive hoarding has been relatively understudied. Although there is currently no formal diagnostic criteria for compulsive hoarding based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder (DSM-IV), current researchers who study this disorder have identified four main elements that define compulsive hoarding. Learn more »
Although definitions vary, road rage generally refers to acts of severe aggression on the road such as physically assaulting, discharging a firearm at, or running another driver off the road. Acts of road rage often qualify as legally chargeable offenses. Road rage may be an instance of intermittent explosive disorder (IED). IED involves marked aggression that is either unprovoked or extremely out of proportion to provocation present. Learn more »
Have you ever created your worst enemy by focusing on what you fear? A passage from the popular Harry Potter series encapsulates a surprising concept: love is a more powerful weapon than hate; and what you hate grows stronger and harder to defeat, as it becomes empowered by attention and energy. Within this potent concept is the key to changing the things we refer to as our “bad habits” and the power to break the vicious cycle of the guilt we feel when we struggle and fail to change them. It also holds the key to helping those people in our lives who are trying to release their own “bad habits,” while, more importantly, moving ourselves to a more empathetic, less criticizing attitude. Learn more »
Why more than three decades on this spiritual path have convinced me of the mystical element in sponsorship. Sponsoring someone means to guide them, to offer one’s experience, strength and hope, and to be available to simply listen when there is a need. The result is that two people get better, a great deal better, not just the one who is seeking guidance. Indeed, what the sponsor gives away does come back ten-fold. Learn more »
The discipline of writing empowers us to creatively express who we are. By challenging ourselves to be honest and put our voices on paper, we cannot help but disrupt old patterns and beliefs. We all have the capacities for growth, change, and adaptation, but we often lack opportunity for their expression. Writing is a portrayal of our personal experiences, a tool to enhance understanding and gain perspective. Learn more »
Recently, I led a program on “Spirituality and Aging: Discovering the Breadth and Depth of Life” for an audience of mostly independent retirees, many former federal government scientists. The enthusiastic response affirmed my strategy: acknowledging a traditional or supernatural approach to religious belief while exploring a non-domestic spirituality. Learn more »
Recently an old friend, a three-tour Vietnam combat veteran Army ranger, wrote to me: “Our daughter’s road to life was perhaps the most terrifying struggle of my life, bar none.” He was referring to his daughter’s behavior and emotional challenges. Later he stated, “At least we were lucky, she did not get into drugs and alcohol. We were told that is unusual.” He went on to explain that the best military combatants are those who accept their own death; his own conclusion is that one does not have to live with one’s own death – everyone else has to. Learn more »
