Tag Archives: mental illness

Testimonials from inaugural 2017-2018 “Working Therapeutically With Clients With A Psychiatric Diagnosis” course

Blended learning course – day attendances and online learning

Next intake: September 2018 – email terry@doctorterrylynch.com for details

60-plus CPD hours

David Shannon, C. Psychol. Ps.S.I., Chartered Senior Counselling Psychologist:

‘This course has given me much more confidence in working psychotherapeutically with people with a diagnosis of mental disorder. For this alone the course has been money well spent. Terry’s pragmatic, human and very sensitive way of working with and thinking about ‘mental disorder’ has been very reassuring. Terry’s model of fundamentally seeing ‘wounding’ and distress in its many forms as at the core of human distress is something I know I will return to as a compass bearing again and again in my own professional work. I heartily commend anyone who is interested in learning more about the DSM diagnoses and lacking confidence in working with some of the more ‘severe’ or intractable diagnoses to take this course. Terry’s generosity in sharing his wealth of knowledge and experience, and willingness to continue to do so, has been exceptional in my experience of learning.’

John Woulfe, BSc. Counselling & Psychotherapy Psychotherapist, Pieta House:

‘I thoroughly enjoyed this course; everything from the high quality of research and information provided, to the breadth of knowledge and insight shared by our course tutor Dr Lynch, the experiences shared by fellow professionals whom attended this course, right down to the comfort of the setting where our classes took place. Dr Lynch’s approach to facilitation lends itself to very interesting and engaged discussion on psychiatric diagnoses and the course does well to help expand the remit of a therapist’s role in working with clients with a psychiatric diagnosis. The dominant medical view of labels such as Schizophrenia, Bipolar, and Personality Disorder would lead clients and counsellors alike to believe that the greatest outcome for treatment is simply a “management” of symptoms. However having attended Dr Lynch’s course, I now feel more confident and well equipped to work with diagnosed clients in a much more recovery oriented manner and I see that my clients are feeling the benefits too.’

Ciaran Whyte, BSc (Hnrs), Counsellor and Psychotherapist::

‘Dr Terry Lynch’s work in the field of working with clients with a psychiatric diagnosis is absolutely fascinating. For me personally this course represents a groundbreaking cornerstone of change within the world of integrative psychotherapeutic care. I have been following Dr Lynch’s work for quite a few years now and I strongly recommend this course to anyone who is feeling a little sceptical as to the depth of their own personal psychotherapeutic skills. This course will not only teach you new insights and skills but will also put you in touch with your own personal psychotherapeutic skills that you may not have discovered beforehand. This learning is also strengthened by experiential feedback from other students’. 

Marie Crean, Counsellor:

‘This training course is a must for all professionals who wish to gain more in-depth insights to the therapeutic processes when working therapeutically with clients diagnosed with a psychiatric diagnosis. I have gained more confidence and feel more competence since completing this training as Dr Terry Lynch presents and delivers this training course in such a novel way that holds one’s concentration and enthusiasm and thirst for learning’ 

A.P. Coffey:

“This course allows you to invest in hope for people because it systematically demystifies the myth of the fixed diagnoses and instead highlights the continuum of trauma. Terry respects each individual as a sovereign being who has the capacity to work towards healing by investing in time helping people to understand their wounding and then focusing on necessary skill development. Terry acknowledges the use of medication as a sometimes necessary part of an holistic therapeutic approach towards recovery. This course is for anybody who engages with people who are mentally vulnerable either as health professional because it is honest and truly evidence based. Thank you Terry.”

Desera McCabe, psychotherapist:

‘As an accredited psychotherapist I enrolled on this course to fill what I felt was a big gap in my training to date.  I was not disappointed. Terry displayed enthusiasm and motivation in delivering a high quality course which has positively changed how I view working with clients whom have a psychiatric diagnosis.’

Joanne Hanrahan, psychotherapist:

‘For me, this course really uncovered many of the truths and myths about Psychiatric Diagnoses.  After completing the course I have a much greater understanding of how such diagnoses are made, and, as a result, have much more confidence in working with this cohort of clients.’

 

 

Speaking engagements

Here are some of my recent and upcoming speaking engagements:

20th October 2018 – Royal Marine Hotel, Dun Laoghaire, Dublin. Irish Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (IACP) Annual Conference. Conference theme: “Into the Future”.

28th to 30th June 2018 – Bogota, Columbia. William Glasser International Conference. Talk title: To be confirmed. Click here for conference information.

27th and 28th October 2017Bled, Slovenia. European Institute for Reality Therapy Conference, “The Days of Leon Lojk”. Talk titles:- Day 1: “Towards Real Truth and Progress in Global Mental Health”, Day 2: “Working Therapeutically with Clients with a Psychiatric Diagnosis”. Click here for conference information.

07th October 2017 – Kilkenny, IrelandAnnual Education Day for general practitioners.

28th September 2017 – Limerick, Ireland. Psychotherapist Training Day, Henry Street Social Services Centre, Limerick.

19th July 2017 – radio interview. The Peter Breggin Hour. My third appearance on American psychiatrist Peter Breggin’s radio show. Click here to listen to our conversation.

14th October 2016 – Aviva Stadium, Dublin. Mental Health and Wellbeing Summit. Talk title:- “Towards a New Era in Mental Health”.

06th October 2016 – Cork Institute of Technology. Department of Social Care. Talk title:-  “Towards a New Era in Mental Health”.

08th April 2016 – Limerick Institute of Technology.  Keynote speaker, 3rd Annual Undergraduate Conference and Social Science Fair. Link to LIT News report.

 

 

 

Selfhood affirmations – free download

How we talk to ourselves really matters

Many of us slip into habits regarding our ongoing inner conversation – how we talk to ourselves.

If our inner conversation is predominantly self-critical, self-judging, putting ourselves down all the time, then changing how we see and talk to ourselves is a helpful step. If this is you, then I strongly recommend that you commit to changing how you talk to and relate to yourself.

Download my “Selfhood Affirmations”

– taken directly from my book Selfhood: A Key to the Recovery of Emotional Wellbeing, Mental Health and the Prevention of Mental Health Problems – and employ them as I suggest within the download.

This Selfhood Affirmations download contains two and a half pages of affirmations, affirmations that I carefully constructed over several months as I was writing Selfhood.

Another way to use affirmations is to record them, in your own voice, and listen back to the affirmations.

REMEMBER: You don’t gave to believe the contents of the affirmations for them to work.

Persistence is key! Make the changes I suggest, make them part of your day, your life.

Ten facts about depression. Some may surprise you.

Depression is, we are told, one of the commonest medical illnesses globally.

As a medical doctor with over thirty years experience, I am aware that much myth, mystery and misinformation surrounds what we have come to call “depression”.

In the pdf that accompanies this blog, I set out ten facts about depression. Many – perhaps most – of these facts are not commonly understood as facts in relation to depression. This is primarily due to the fact that misinformation has regrettably been regularly churned out regarding depression for over 40 years, a pattern that needs to stop.

By becoming aware of the real facts in relation to depression, you will (a) empower yourself regarding your own understanding, and (b) help towards changing the weight of information regarding depression towards truth, simply be becoming aware of these truth and, if and when feels appropriate, discussing these truths and facts with others.

To access these ten facts about depression, simply sign up to my mental health newsletter (you can unsubscribe any time you wish) through the form below, and you will have immediate access to the “ten facts” pdf.

It’s official: Psychiatric diagnoses are NOT known brain disorders

According to the prevailing global view of mental health, psychiatric diagnoses – depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), eating disorders, personality disorders etc – are fundamentally brain disorders.

In  a ten-minute video, I address this belief. The truth may surprise you.

Access the video by signing up to my newsletter updates (you can unsubscribe at any time)through the form below.

 

Confused public perception of medical mental health doctors, including psychiatrists

The public have a skewed perception of the medical doctors who are generally seen as expert in mental health – psychiatrists and GPs, or family physicians. While there are some exceptions, in general, the perception that most people have of medical doctors as THE foremost experts in mental health is, regrettably, incorrect.

This is one of the many mental health topics I discuss in my blog, books and courses. If you would like to receive my posts, subscribe to my newsletter through the form at the end of this blog (you can unsubscribe at any time), and immediately receive a short video in which I discuss this surprising reality.

Best wishes,

Terry.

Coming soon: Online Mental Health Academy. First course: “Depression training for people who work in mental health”

After much thought, I have decided to create a series of courses in mental health.

In essence, my partner psychotherapist Marianne Murphy and I are creating a mental health school, a Mental Health Academy. Marianne and I will work together to create and deliver these courses.

This Academy will be designed for online participation. Our courses will be available online. We will also be running courses at various venues.

These courses will cover a wide range of topics. In these courses we will set out a comprehensive understanding of psychiatric diagnoses like depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, OCD, eating disorders and personality disorders. We will also address anxiety, suicide, self-esteem and many other emotional and mental health issues.

These courses will address a glaring gap in understanding of and training in mental health – the gap in understanding of the emotional and psychological aspects of mental health, including the range psychiatric diagnoses.

A clear understanding of the medical approach to these diagnoses will also be a core part of these courses.

These course will reflect what I have learned through 30 years of involvement in mental health.

I have reflected upon I have learned during 30 years as a medical doctor; 15 years as a psychotherapist; 9 years on Irish Government-appointed high-level mental health groups,
including 3 years (2003-6) on the Expert Group on Mental Health Policy which formulated “A Vision for Change”, Ireland’s official mental health policy document; 25 years researching emotional and mental health, including psychiatric diagnoses; 15 years providing a recovery-oriented mental health service; 3 decades of seeking to deepen my understanding of emotional and mental health; 3 books on mental health including 1 best-seller, many more to come; 3 decades of working with people in great distress and learning from every one; twenty years of connection with some of the most inspiring people in mental health globally; and  what I have experienced and learned in my own journey through the twists and turns of my life.

And from this breadth of knowledge and experience, these courses will be created.

Our courses will be specially constructed for different audiences including therapists and other mental health professionals, people who have received a psychiatric diagnosis, and other interested people including family members and others who for their own reasons wish to increase their understanding of emotional and mental health and psychiatric diagnoses.

We are currently working on our first course, working title “Depression training for people who work in mental health”.

This course will help those who work in either a professional or voluntary capacity (including trainees) with people diagnosed with depression to understand depression more deeply and to respond more effectively and with greater confidence.

I expect this course to be available in about 3 months or less. Further courses will be created on an ongoing basis.

Marianne and I are very excited about this new development. I envisage the development and delivery of these courses becoming a core part of my work into the future.

We will update people on the progress of these courses through our newsletter. If you have not already done so, I invite you to subscribe to our newsletter at https://doctorterrylynch.com/

When you subscribe to our newsletter, you will also receive two free chapters of my books:

One chapter from Selfhood: A Key to the Recovery of Emotional Wellbeing, Mental Health and the Prevention of Mental Health Problems, 2011, chapter title: “Boundaries and personal space”.

One chapter from my latest book Depression Delusion Volume One: The Myth of the Brain Chemical Imbalance, 2015, chapter title: “The medical profession and the brain”.

Our intention is to create comprehensive courses in which the needs of participants will be addressed.

If you have ideas regarding what you would like these courses to cover, please feel free to contact me and let me know, at info@doctorterrylynch.com .

While we will endeavour to cover all bases, we would love to hear your ideas, just to ensure we don’t leave out any important material.

Please share this information with anyone you think would like to know about it.

Best wishes,

Terry.

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Mental health features prominently in Cork Film Festival (6th-15th Nov 2015)

Hats off the the Cork Film Festival

In its 60th year, the Cork Film Festival runs from Nov 6th to Nov 15th.

The organisers have not forgotten mental health. In fact, the festival explicitly recognises the importance of mental health under the category “Illuminate”, which also features as a main tab on the festival’s website.

Three films feature in the Illuminate section of the Cork Film Festival this year. Emotional and mental issues and the dilemmas and challenges involved feature as important themes in each film. These will be screened towards the end of the festival, on the 12th, 13th, 14th Nov.

Each screening will be followed by a discussion involving a panel and the audience on mental health including aspects that surfaced within the film. I will be on the panel for the 3rd film, (“Hedi Schneider is Stuck”, Triskel Arts Centre, Tobin St., Cork, 1.30 pm, Saturday). I understand that West Cork psychiatrist Pat Bracken is on the panel for one of the Illuminate films. Full details of the Illuminate screenings at  http://www.corkfilmfest.org/illuminate/   Full festival catalogue at http://www.corkfilmfest.org/2015/

Great to see mental health respected and involved in this manner at the Cork Film Festival. I would encourage people to vote with their feet and support such initiatives.

The more such initiatives are actively supported, the stronger the winds of progress and change in mental health become.

 

 

 

 

 

Dr. Terry Lynch, Keynote Speaker, Wm Glasser Institute of Ireland Annual Conference, Sat 24th October

I am delighted to be the keynote speaker at the William Glasser Institute of Ireland (WGII) Annual Conference this Saturday October 24th 2015 at St. Patrick’s College, Drumcondra, Dublin.

I greatly value my relationship with the William Glasser Institute in Ireland and internationally.

This relationship extends over te past 15 years. It began when Brian Lennon sent American psychiatrist William Glasser a copy of my first book Beyond Prozac: Healing Mental Distress. Bill loved the book, and he asked me to write the foreword to his book Warning: Psychiatry can be Hazardous to your Mental Health.

In 2014 and 2015 I participated in the William Glasser Institute’s excellent 24 hour Mental Health and Happiness Summit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRicefwgAc8

I have heard it said that during his more than 50 years as a psychiatrist, Bill Glasser never prescribed psychiatric drugs. Instead, he devoted his life to empowering people and alleviating pain and distress. He is the creator of Choice Theory and Reality Therapy.

Sadly Bill Glasser died in 2013, age 88 years.

The William Glasser Institute continues to honour his legacy in Ireland and Internationally.

Dealing with reality and the fact that we are all choice-makers are two core themes of Bill Glasser’s legacy.

I have spoken previously at the WGII annual conference and I am very happy to do so again.

Here is a link to details of the conference this Saturday – http://www.wgii.ie/

Mental Health & Happiness Summit: all day today

Every year for the past few years, the William Glasser Institute hold a Mental Health & Happiness Summit on World Mental Health Day, 10th October. This summit consists of a series of hour-long talks and conversations with people in the mental health sphere. The talks occur consecutively throughout the 24-hour period of World Mental Health Day.

Here is a link to the list of speakers and times, including time zone differences. http://www.mentalhealthandhappiness.com/MHHsummit2015-speakers.html

I’ve had a long association with late US psychiatrist William Glasser and the William Glasser Institute. I have been involved in the Mental health & Happiness Summit in 2014 and again in 2015.  My conversation with Nancy Buck was wide-ranging, covering many aspects of emotional and mental health, psychiatric diagnoses, recovery, and happiness.

I believe the system works by clicking the image of the speaker you might like to hear, at the time of that talk. Clicking the speaker before or after that speaker’s appointed time won’t bring you to their talk, as another speaker will be talking at other times.

It is fitting that William Glasser’s wife Carleen is the first speaker.