This in from Amanda Smith, President of the Florida Borderline Personality Disorder Association:

July 19, 2010

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Tonight at 7:00 pm, we are pleased to host a conference call with designer, boxer, film-maker, and BPD advocate Amanda Wang.

For those of you who don’t know about Amanda’s experience with borderline personality disorder, her story will encourage others who have been diagnosed with BPD as well as the friends and families that love them.

Go to our web site for more details.
Most respectfully,

Amanda L. Smith

P.S. Please save the date for Friday, November 19-our next conference!

For counseling and therapy services in the Winter Park, Orlando areas, please contact us at 407.835.3673 or visit our webpage for more information, or to sent an e-mail click here.

Headquartered in West Palm Beach, Fla., Hanley Center is a non-profit organization that offers a broad spectrum of programs that are based on the most advanced research in the disease of addiction. From detoxification and medical stabilization to individualized treatment and continuing-care planning, Hanley Center prides itself on offering the most innovative and effective treatment programs designed by professional experts in their respective fields. Unique to the center is the “Hanley Model of Care,” which includes age and gender-specific treatment programs. These tailored programs ensure patients leave equipped with the necessary tools to move forward on their journey of recovery. For more information, please visit: www.hanleycenter.org.

For counseling and therapy information and appointments in the Winter Park, Orlando areas,

please call 407.835.3673 Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

A new article just published in the Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience has been made available through open access. The article is titled Pain Sensitivity and Neural Processing During Dissociative States in Patients with Borderline Personality Disorder With and Without Comorbid Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. If you’d like a copy, please contact  amanda.smith@fbpda.org.

For appointments or information, please call 407.835.3673.

Counseling and therapy in Winter Park, Orlando areas.

Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) teaches you simple methods to dissolve emotional pain, trauma, anxiety, grief, frustration, stress and many other unpleasant emotions and painful memories. EFT treats a myriad of emotions and individuals’ issues; creating rapid transformation of damaging beliefs and behaviors. Through EFT, practitiers have discovered how the energetic system is the missing link to healing core issues.  EFT is effective for helping curb addictive urges and manage cravings, reducing anxiety, managing stress, and managing physical pain.

Each session of EFT is strenghtened by using cognitive restructuring and positive affirmations. The Emotional Freedom Technique is used primarily to alleviate the effects of trauma and grief, as these conditions often times result in Complex PTSD and other complications in relationships and day-to-day functioning. EFT addresses core belief systems that have formed as a result of tramatic events, by restructuring limiting and sabatoging beliefs.EFT has resulted in dramatic shifts in thought processes about oneself, regulated emotions, and reduced overall intensity of tramatic “triggering” that can snow-ball into self-sabatoging behaviors.

The result is a more stable self, having created positive choice statements that move oneself into a positive frame and more effective behavioral responses.  If you are interested in personal transformation, managing stress and inner happiness, EFT is an positive coping skill that would be worth exploring.  EFT is truly phenomenal and opens our experience to self empowerment, spiritual growth and lasting change.

For mental health therapy and counseling in the Winter Park, Orlando areas, call 407.835.3673 today!

On May 1, 2010, I am participating in an event that is both very important and very exciting to me.  It is NAMIWalks for the Mind of America, NAMI’s signature walkathon event that is being held at Lake Lily in Maitland, Florida.

 
NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, is the largest education, support and advocacy organization that serves the needs of all those whose lives are touched by these illnesses.  This includes persons with mental illness, their families, friends, employers, the law enforcement community and policy makers.  The NAMI organization is composed of approximately 1100 local affiliates, 50 state offices and a national office. 

I am walking for my daughter who has been diagnosed with mental illness. With the help and support of NAMI, we continue to be educated about these serious brain disorders. Their weekly support groups for families and consumers like my daughter continue to be a part of our lives, where we can express ourselves and be understood without being judged.

I would like to ask you to come and walk with me or to donate to support my participation in this great event. Visit my personal walker page to sign up. It features a link to my team’s page where you can see who else is walking with me. There is also a link so you can donate directly to me online. Donating online is fast and secure, and I will get immediate notification via e-mail of your donation. Checks are also accepted and should be made payable to NAMI Greater Orlando.
The goals of the NAMIWalks program are to fight the stigma that surrounds mental illness, to build awareness of the fact that the mental health system in this country needs to be improved, and to raise funds for NAMI so that they can continue their mission.

NAMI is a 501(c) 3 charity and any donation you make to support my participation in this event is tax deductible.  NAMI has been rated by Worth magazine as among the top 100 charities “most likely to save the world” and has been given an “A” rating by The American Institute of Philanthropy for efficient and effective use of charitable dollars.
For more information on this worthy cause, please visit click here. If you wish to make a donation by check, the mailing address is NAMI Greater Orlando, 1800 Mercy Drive #103, Mailbox 4, Orlando, FL 32808.

Thank you in advance for your support.

Sincerely,
NAMI Member

For counseling and mental health therapy in the Orlando, Winter Park areas, please call 407.835.3673 for appointments and scheduling.  DBT Group and Weekly Wellness support group available.

FBPDA friend and supporter, Amanda Wang, has been instrumental in educating her peers, families, and mental health professionals in Orlando, Tampa and surrounding areas about borderline personality disorder by sharing her own personal story.

Amanda recently interviewed Frank Yeomans, MD and has posted the video online. You can watch Understanding the BPD Mind and BPD, Treatment & Assumptions by going to our web site. 

Both videos are well worth watching. Enjoy!

P.S. Don’t wait to register for our April 23 conference! Click here for more information!

For more information or apointments for mental health therapy and counseling in the Orlando, Winter Park areas, call 407.835.3673 today!

Please join us and Tampa-based psychiatrist, Emily Lazarou, MD, at the Children’s Board of Hillsborough County on Wednesday, April 7 at 6:00 pm for an important discussion about the use of medications in the treatment for borderline personality disorder.

This presentation is open to individuals diagnosed with BPD, their families, and mental health professionals. Seating for this event is limited and there is a cost of $10 per person.

Please RSVP by e-mailing us at amanda.smith@fbpda.org.

For mental health counseling and therapy in the Orlando, Winter Park areas, call for an appointment today! 407.835.3673.

While borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a complex and serious mental illness, it’s important for healthcare professionals to understand that BPD is also highly treatable. This one-day conference will provide an overview of evidence-based treatment and care practices that actively promote and encourage recovery. At the conclusion of the program attendees will be able to describe the longitudinal course of BPD including etiology, prognosis, and remittance of DSM-IV-TR criteria over the course of the illness; describe the role of neuroplasticity in effective treatment; outline a theoretical model of recovery; and identify the obstacles to recovery from a patient’s perspective.

Individuals diagnosed with BPD and their families are strongly encouraged to attend.

Conference Sponsors

· The Good Prognosis Diagnosis: Exploring the Myths Surrounding BPD. Stacy Louk, PhD
· Emotional Regulation Strategies for Clients with Borderline Personality Disorder. Aaron Norton, LMHC, CAP
· Neuroplasticity: Significance in Treatment and Prognosis in Psychiatric Illness with Specific Implications for BPD. Emily Lazarou, MD
· I’ll Have What She’s Having: The Realities of Recovery. Gisele Requena, MA
· In the Here and Now: Strategies for Mindfulness. Joan Dyer, LCSW and Janet Waye, LCSW
· Helping Patients with BPD Overcome Emptiness: Plugging the Hole and Filling the Cup. Mardie Chapman, MA
· The Role of Family in Treatment for BPD. Nancy Gordon, LCSW

Please see FBPDA for more info!

For counseling and therapy in the Orlando, Winter Park areas,

please call 407.835,3673 for an appointment today!

This article adapted from Playful Post Pinellas County Please look through the issue & reply to playfulpost@gmail.com. 

Showing Love Every Day…  Beyond Valentine’s
 How can you show Love to everyone in your life every day?

2. Respond promptly and lovingly to physical and emotional needs. 

Banish put-downs from your vocabulary.  Be available to listen when he/she wants to talk with you.

3. When someone is angry, argumentative or in a bad mood, offer him or her a hug, cuddle, pat, secret sign or other gesture of affection he favors and then talk with him about it when he’s feeling better.
 
4. Make plans to spend time together doing something he or she enjoys. 

If there are several people, break up into Quality Time Pairs for an hour.
 
5. Mark family game nights on your calendar so the entire family can be together. 

Put a different family member’s name under each date, and have that person choose which game will be played.
 
6. Go to the park, zoo, or aquarium. 

Watching or playing with an animal can make people, feel better by stimulating physical activity, enhancing their overall attitude, and offering constant companionship of a pet.
 
7. Cook together; encourage good food choices by cooking together. 

Get involved in the entire process, from planning the menus to shopping for ingredients to the actual food preparation and its serving. It is wonderful when families eat together as much as possible. Good food, good conversations. 
 
8. Strengthen bonds through strengthening health- body, mind and spirit. 

Create active routines in your daily life by going to bicycle rides together, or practice Rollerblading, walking, yoga, sports and other athletics together.  Go to the library, find & read books about your hobbies together. 

9. Foster positive relationships with friends, siblings and members of the community.  Volunteer together.
 
10. Don’t forget to say, “I love you” to children of all ages!

For counseling and mental health appointments in the Orlando, Winter Park areas, call 407.835.3673