Category: Health

Mental health counselling can be an effective therapy as part of a wider treatment plan for an individual who is suffering from depression or an anxiety related disorder, or for people who have experienced a traumatic event in their lives and are finding it difficult to cope with, or for those who are struggling to deal with specific problems and issues. It is often a doctor who will recommend mental health counselling, however, many individuals will seek the services of a counsellor themselves, either by asking their doctor for advice or by approaching a counsellor directly.

What is counselling?

Basically, counselling can be described as a type of talking therapy. It is usually delivered in a safe and private setting so that the individual concerned can relax and talk openly and freely about their particular problems or issues and the emotions or feelings that can accompany them.

It is described as a talking therapy because the counsellor will listen empathetically to an individual in order to understand the situation from the individual’s point of view. In doing this a trained counsellor will be able to encourage an individual to see their situation more clearly, perhaps from a different perspective, and will be able to help them identify new ways of coping with their problems or circumstances. Counselling usually does not involve giving advice or telling someone what to do with their lives, it is more about exploring problems, identifying possible solutions and choices and obtaining clarity.

For counselling to be effective, it is essential that an element of trust develops between the counsellor and the person or persons receiving the counselling as only in this way can there be an open and free dialogue. It may take time for a person receiving counselling to lose any initial feelings of distrust, fear and embarrassment so quite often counselling will be offered over several sessions in order for a relationship to develop between the counsellor and the patient or client.

There are several types of mental health counselling services available, each drawing on its own particular theory of human psychology and development. There are also many different types of counsellors, some of who are trained to deal with a particular problem or circumstance. For example bereavement counsellors, counsellors who specialise in eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia, and counsellors who understand the issues surrounding drug and alcohol addiction, as well as many others.

Counselling can take place on a one to one basis, or in group sessions, face to face or over the phone. It can last for just one session, a specific block of sessions or be open ended with no time limit at all. Regardless of the particular type of mental health problem involved, the first step to recovery is recognising that there is a problem in the first place.

When mental health counselling can help

Mental health counselling can be particularly beneficial for individuals who have a tendency to repress feelings like guilt, frustration, anger, resentment, sadness and so on and who find it difficult to cope alone and who for whatever reason, perhaps do not want to discuss how they feel with their friends and family. It can help an individual to gain new insights into their own particular circumstances and problems and to achieve clarity and direction in life. Most of all it can help an individual cope and improve their quality of life.

There are numerous circumstances where someone might seek the services of a mental health counsellor or be referred for counselling by their doctor and these include but are certainly not limited to:

Relationship problems, including separation and divorce
Problems at work or financial worries, dismissal, redundancy
Physical, sexual and/or mental abuse
Bereavement
Depression and anxiety
Post natal depression
Eating disorders
OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder)
Alcohol and drug abuse
Phobias
Panic Attacks
Dealing with stress
Post traumatic stress

Finding a counsellor

In order to get the right kind of help it is important that you access the most appropriate type of counselling for you and as there are so many available options, it can be problematic if you decide to go it alone.

In the first instance, it would be advisable to speak to your doctor as he or she will be able to take into consideration your full medical history before recommending any particular type of therapy or counsellor. If you decide to seek the services of a trained counsellor independently, it is up to you to check out the cost and the credentials of any potential counsellor before you start.

Many voluntary organisations have counsellors and there are numerous private counsellors advertising in the press, phone books and on the Internet. However, you can find an accredited counsellor from the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy website at www.bacp.co.uk or from the National Board for Certified Counsellors at www.nbcc.org if you live in the USA

It is truly said that health is our real wealth if one would love to enjoy the life. It is quite natural to stay fit and healthy despite a busy daily routine, sparing some time for home exercise or gym exercises. One can select the best home gym equipment based on criterias selecting the types of fitness equipment required, the available size and space at home, the effectiveness of home gym equipment to achieve your fitness goal and your budget etc. There are few factors to take into consideration selecting the best home fitness equipment for you because each part of our body needs attention and care to be fit and healthy. Cardiovascular or aerobics exercise utilizes the larger muscles of the body such as biceps, leg muscle, thigh muscles etc. Treadmills, stationary bikes are good aerobic workout helping the weight loss, reducing the cholesterol and strengthening of the heart. Dumbbells, freestanding weights and kettlebells are good fitness equipments for muscular development and decreasing blood pressure. Resistance bands or tubes, back stretcher and slant boards are for best stretching exercise as warm up to your exercise program focusing the tendons, ligaments and muscles. Thus the best home gym equipment is that workout for your whole body along with brain, occupy less space with great flexibility and affordable to your pocket. At home you can exercises with this home gym equipments with prior consulting Physician for your home exercise plan.

Commercial gym equipments are used in Professional gym due to their highest quality, long durability, occupying space and daily requirements for serious fitness enthusiasts to put for longer term. These fitness equipments are easily available in online store or in your local market and will last in your gym or personal training studio for coming years. Commercial fitness equipment is not similar as your home fitness equipment as numerous people are handling them. Thus they should be from high quality material to last for long period. Selecting the commercial fitness equipment is a new challenge for a fitness trainer for his clients. Selection of gym equipment based on body structure and requirement can be a great boon for the user. Treadmills and elliptical machines are good start for cardio focused audience. Free weights and weight machines are good for weight training enthusiasts. There are many other equipments one can find in the gym like weight bench, power rack, barbell, dumbbell, weight plate, cable attachments, kettlebell, medicine ball, vibration platform, inversion table, trampoline, boxing equipment, crossfit equipment, aerobic step, exercise bike, spin bike, Olympic multi gym, rowing machine and accessories.

Placing your order online for any home gym equipment or commercial fitness equipment is now so easy and much convenient. Online sellers display the images of these equipments from different angles along with salient features, benefits, discounted rates offering various schemes, Video tours for exercise machines to handle and exercises on daily basis. Even many vendors updating their clients about the new features of the equipments, effective usage pattern and upcoming new products for basic awareness and keep themselves fit.

Protein is and always will be the tool to help male fitness models achieve the perfect modeling body. It is a must for any body to survive, but a crucial element to a male model. If you don’t know much about the amount of protein found in different meats, here’s a rough guide to get you started.

This is by no means a comprehensive reference report but rather a general overview of the main meats that supply the large protein amounts that you will desperately need.

Let’s take a look at the most popular types of meat to see how much protein they contain.

Chicken

As you tear apart at your chicken, let’s see how much protein is in the individual pieces. A chicken breast has about 30 grams of protein, a drumstick about 10 grams, a wing 6 grams and a thigh 10 grams. These are all approximate values for an average sized piece.

Beef

An average hamburger has 28 grams of protein, and most other beef, including steaks, has 7 grams in every ounce.

Pork

A 4-oz piece of tenderloin will provide 22 grams of protein, a pork chop 22 grams and 3 ounces of ham will supply 19 grams.

Fish

A small can of tuna provides a lot of protein when compared to the amounts listed above. One small can supplies 40 ounces of protein. Other types of fish provide about 6 grams of protein per ounce.

Many health advocates are advising people to limit the amount of red meat consumed and advise choosing white meat and fish. This makes a lot of sense when you consider what your grandmother has told you about fish. “Eat it at least once a week!”

Concerning protein from other sources, that is a whole other kettle of fish, so to speak. There is a lot of controversy concerning the whole protein from meat issue and most male fitness models do consume meat. It is hard to build a body that is ripe for modeling being a vegetarian. Notice that I said “hard” not “impossible”.

If you are a practicing vegetarian and would like to become a male model you’ll have to do some research on the topic. You’ll need to see for yourself what your food choice options are and how much you’ll need to consume to adequately replace the protein found in meat.

This is just a brief guide and has touched upon the subject of meat protein to give you an idea of the amounts found in various cuts of meat. If you are serious about becoming one of the male fitness models that you see in magazines, you’ll have to learn everything you can about nutrition. Achieving a male super model body isn’t just all about working out!

A fitness icon and a good source of inspiration for all Americans is President Barack Obama. His capability to perform both in the White House as well as in the gym is praiseworthy. His competitiveness and confidence shine through his behavior both on and off the court. Health experts highly recommend Obamas mixed cardio and weight training sessions three days a week for a minimum time of 60 minutes to keep fit. “Exercise” President Obama says” is the key to remaining fresh and focused in the face of a punishing schedule.”

President Barack Obama begins his daily fitness regime with cardio exercises for about 20 to 30 minutes, progressing towards strength training exercises such as lat pull downs and back exercises. An early bird, he gets up early in the morning at about 5:30 am to complete his fitness workouts. The best part about his fitness regime is that he is consistent with his exercises. If he is not at home, he ensures that the workout routine does not suffer by seeking a gym nearby. He does not fall short in his dedication towards fitness as well as for the country.

When interviewed by a magazine about the reason for his consistency, he explains that the workouts allow him to de-stress. He continues that his workout begins before his day starts. He sometimes has to compromise sleep in a bid to seek enough time for his workouts. In addition, he explains that he exercises for about 45 minutes alternatively with cardio and weight training exercises. His interest in staying fit comes out clearly, when he says that he wishes he could perform 90-minute workouts.

Not only is he regular with fitness regime, but he is also athletic and loves basketball. He plays the game regularly with his friends, family members and his staff. Fitness gurus believe that he has a low body-fat level because of both cardiovascular and weight training exercises and deep interest in sports. His toned body shows that he performs resistance training at 65 to 75 percent of his maximum heart rate.

Of those many many things to be learnt from Mr. President; we must surely learn lessons on consistency and regularity at the gym. However, we must take care not to over-train ourselves by performing heavy workouts for a longer time. My past blog on overtraining shows you the side-effects and ways to avoid overtraining. Muscle Building Secrets

When you hear the word “mushroom”, the most likely image that pops into your head is that small squishy thing with the stalk and round cap. Maybe you even imagine Toad, the character from the Super Mario games who’s shaped like a mushroom. What if you found out that the small squishy thing can be used to rejuvenate people? It might surprise you, but there is such a mushroom, and it’s called the tremella mushroom.

The tremella doesn’t have the stalk-and-cap appearance we associate with most mushrooms. It actually has a jelly-like appearance, so it’s classified among the “jelly fungi”. Of the 100 species of tremella mushrooms worldwide, two species are cultivated for food, namely the Tremella fuciformis and the Tremella aurantialba. The Tremella fuciformis is the one used for its medicinal properties.

The T. fuciformis can be identified by its white, jelly-like appearance. It can be found in tropical and subtropical areas growing on the dead or fallen branches of trees. The mushroom can be found in countries like Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, and China. The T. fuciformis has been monikered “white jelly mushroom”, “snow fungus”, and even “silver ear fungus” by the Chinese.

The Chinese have cultivated the T. fuciformis since the 19th century. It is used in sweet dishes like luk mei, combined with dried longans, jujubes, and other ingredients. It is also mixed in drinks and can be used as ice cream. These uses can be attributed to the mushroom’s jelly-like nature.

You won’t find T. fuciformis sold as T. fuciformis; instead, it is sold under its genus name, Tremella. Tremella can rejuvenate skin by providing vitamin D that aids in skin cell metabolism. When skin metabolism increases, blood flow to the skin also increases, resulting in smoother skin. Tremella also has liver-protecting properties.

Like the maitake and shiitake mushrooms, Tremella can enhance the immune system. The mushroom has acidic polysaccharides that boost the strength of white blood cells that protect the body from bacteria, viruses, and the like. In two separate studies, Tremella ranked alongside the maitake mushroom in terms of effectiveness in immune system enhancement.

Tremella can also regulate cholesterol levels and fight tumors. Tumors need their own vessel systems to develop and spread. A blood chemical found in Tremella, called platelet-activating factor (PAF), lessens the ability of blood to clot, arresting the spread of tumors. For more information on the Tremella mushroom, read the articles on seacoast.com/topic.php?health=tremella+health+benefits.