Practice Concepts
Two people enter an elevator. They do not look at each other and they do not talk. Do they communicate? Sure they do. Each is appraising the nuances of body language of the other – they may attempt to give meaning to the lack of eye contact and talk based on the other messages on the nuances of posture and behavior. If this is true, communication between parent [or any other significant adult] and child is of major importance. This discussion concerns forms of communication and way to improve social competence outcomes in children.
Practice Concepts
Since human services provided to people with problems in living are contingent upon the sharing of information, it is surprising how little concern has been shown in regard to our words. If we intend to help people help themselves, it is imperative that we examine closely our words. We need to examine truly our own mental schema and evaluate how much we believe these terms. If thinking controls behavior and communication is a behavior, we must posit that the use of words has at least some bearing on our belief system.
Practice Concepts
It was easy to have promotion of myself as a motivation; leaving the impression that working with gang kids [or later with people with schizophrenia] was dangerous when, in fact, it is not. ‘Setting people straight’ was a rather self defeating social strategy as others soon lost interest when they found out that you weren’t James Bond incarnate, facing evil at every turn.
Practice Concepts
This article discusses guidelines to group decision making behaviors. If you believe that your solution is right, you cannot proceed. If you believe that your solution is best, it can be improved. Ruthless compassion brooks no compromise in both sharing one’s feelings and views and being open to having those views change.
Practice Concepts
A person always makes decisions that at the time they consider to be in their best interest. Thus, when people have obvious problems in living, it should be apparent that their ‘inner logic’ is flawed. To help identify a flawed inner logic, it is necessary to help the individual articulate his/her own goals, personal preferences and desires and to seek to understand the barriers to achievement.
Practice Concepts
This article is concerned with addressing the differences between children with developmental difficulties who manifest behavior problems and those whose behavior IS the disability. Since the traditional Functional Behavioral Assessment has been developed and oriented towards the former group and the ‘mental health’ assessments have little meaning other than establishing a diagnosis, we offer here some suggestions as to how to improve the assessment methodology.
