Psychopharmacology and the Mental Health Counselor Assignment

Psychopharmacology and the Mental Health Counselor - Assignment Example Thus, most of these conditions can be treated with a variety of behavioral and cognitive therapy techniques, but what happens when a patient comes in and has a psychological condition that is based off a chemical imbalance in the brain. This requires the use of psychopharmacology to regulate the chemical imbalance in order to change the abnormal behavior. Most counselors do not have the appropriate knowledge to know the entire effects of drugs on their patients. According to Buelow, Hebert, and Buelow (2000), many counselors do not have enough knowledge in the area of psychopharmacology to adequately provide medication for patients. Juxtaposed, many treatment models now incorporate a hybrid technique dealing with both therapy and the use of pharmaceuticals. The counselor should also be aware of the patient’s wishes when talking about drug therapy. It is recommended that the counselors become sensitive to the patient’s feelings regarding pharmacotherapy, the patient†™s previous experience with the negative side effects of drugs, nonadherance of the patient to the set regiment and the patient’s use of drugs and alcohol (Meyer & Simon 1999b). Client education of the drugs used in practice is also important. The first priority is determining whether the illness requires the use of medication or not.

International Business Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

International Business Strategy - Essay Example It is a fashion house established by Thomas Burberry in 1856, which became iconic for its check pattern and its outdoor line of clothing, particularly its trench coats. Its long years of existence and ties with the British historical narrative since the 1900s, established Burberry as a heritage brand. At present, it is a holder of Royal Warrants, which is a form of recognition that the establishment provides goods to a member or members of the royal family. These variables are inherent in Burberry’s branding and figure prominently in its competitive strategies. But during the 1980s, the company has experienced poor performance and this persisted way until the latter part of the 1990s. This changed in the past decade and the company is considered to be one of the best global brands in its category and is operating with record profit. Currently, Burberry has more than 500 stores in over 50 countries. This report will explore Burberry’s strategies, which allowed it to gain competitive advantage in the luxury market and achieve successful expansion overseas. The Luxury Fashion Market: An Analysis The luxury fashion market is composed of several categories but these are mostly dominated by apparel and footwear. It can also include leather goods, accessories and jewelries. While each of these can very well be considered a separate industry, companies tend to sell them all given the fact that they do overlap, mainly because they have the same consumer demographics and consumer demand profile. The fashion luxury industry – mature industry - caters to a specific group of consumers: the wealthy. These are those who need practical (since clothing and footwear are, of course, necessities) but prestigious products; and those who are fashion conscious. This variable explains why the industry emphasizes intensive marketing and advertising campaigns. The consumer demographics and demand profile, wrote Wagle (2003), also underpins how the overall industry d emand is driven by â€Å"general economic trends, including changes in disposable personal income, consumer confidence, and consumer spending.† What this means is that in times of economic growth, the market’s demand is driven by the consumers’ need and impulse, whereas, during economic downturn, caution permeates the market. This is demonstrated in the poor performance of luxury fashion companies during the recent financial crises. The financial crunch, based on several empirical evidences, is proven to put pressure on the luxury market. The Global Economic Crisis Resource (2009, p.27), for instance, stated in one of its findings that â€Å"much activity in the luxury market has been driven by easy credit and perceived wealth† and that the crisis has significantly reduced the net worth of the rich, forcing them to cut consumption significantly. Today, the luxury fashion industry is a lucrative business due to globalization. The robust development of emer ging economies such as China, India, Russia, and other countries, has led to an expanded demand for luxury goods. In addition, it also provided the opportunity to source cheaper materials and labor abroad. The integration of the international market has facilitated these trends and companies like Chanel, Gucci, Hermes, Louis Vuitton and Burberry effectively seized the opportunity to their advantage. However, it also increased competition and changed the dynamics by which products are made and sold to consumers. Competition As previously

Environmental Quality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Environmental Quality - Essay Example There have been many government funded agencies which have helped to do testing and figure out ways in which to improve our ecosystem. Minnesota has always been on the forefront in environmental safety. Interestingly enough, one of my teachers has joined the board who helps to decide how many and what types of products must be purchased which are deemed environmentally safe for our state. They help to set guidelines on what kinds of materials can be used and how much must be spent on environmentally safe products versus unsafe products. These are only a few of the things done to help improve the quality of the environment around our area. Local groups have been organizing clean up days and if you ever stroll down Minneapolis, you'll notice how amazingly clean it has become. In fact, sometimes when I take the bus and check out downtown Minneapolis, I barely see a newspaper thrown on the ground somewhere. There are, however, many different things which can be done to help improve the environmental status of the Twin Cities. For instance, increase recycling announcements could be made. Many people I know don't even know where to drop off their items which can be recycled. Bulletins and fliers could be produced and distributed around apartments and dropped off at people's houses with numbers to call an addresses for places to drop off their waste materials.

Philosophy of Film. Film as thought experiments Essay

Philosophy of Film. Film as thought experiments - Essay Example Thought experiments are an important part of many abstract theoretical sciences, and play a significant role in the field of philosophy in which the philosophers have to investigate and illuminate multifaceted issues and dense theories which they cannot experiment empirically. It is not wrong to say that thought experiments are themselves complicate to comprehend because they are a complex subject. The Trolley Problem is a famous thought experiment in the field of ethics (Thomson, 1985), which intends to discuss that in the physical world, there is often not a moral course of action that one can proceed with, given choices. It involves a madman who has tied five people on one trolley track, and one on another. A trolley is careening toward the five people and you, as a savior, can save either the five people or the one on the other track. When you save the five people, you are held guilty to have killed the other one, and when you do nothing you are accused of immoral act of doing no thing to save them. Another thought experiment is Monkeys and Typewriters that says that infinite number of monkeys, if given infinite time on infinite number of computers, can produce a work of Shakespeare (Sober 116). How film is considered as a thought experiment is an interesting topic. Film can prove philosophical in the same way as one of the thought experiments. Filmmakers have tried to incorporate thought experiments in many recent films like The Batman (The Trolley Problem) and The Dark Knight (The Prisoner’s Dilemma). Whether film can be regarded as thought experiments or as a piece of philosophy has been a hot topic of debate between the philosophers of modern times. The modern concept of filmmaking has this thing that film can do philosophy other than mere entertainment, and can be considered as legitimate works of philosophy. Wartenberg asserts that thought experiments are a strong bridge between film and philosophy, although they are not the philosophers’ realm entirely (57). He asserts that the strongest evidence that thought experiments provide a link between film and philosophy is â€Å"their reliance on hypothetical-i.e. fictional scenarios† (57). The film, the Matrix, is about the deception hypothesis in which whatever the characters of the film experience is such a reality that is in fact â€Å"a huge, interactive perceptual illusion†¦created and maintained by the computers that have taken over the world† (Wartenberg and Curran 276). The concept is based upon such a world that depicts time 200 years later, and it has been regarded as computers’ triumph against human beings in a distressing combat. Computers have been shown breeding humans as humans have been devising ways to breed animals. The philosophy in the film is that human bodies are shown generating more energy than they are consuming, and for this extra energy that is being expelled out, computers have been designed in such a way that they br eed humans that are kept in a skyscraper. The logic behind the concept is that â€Å"humans need to have their minds distracted while their bodies produce the required electrical energy† (Wartenberg and Curran). How the film raises the question that the whole perceptual experience of the

Macroeconomics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 3

Macroeconomics - Essay Example The outcome of these models is a comprehensive understanding of the business cycles and the economic growth in the long run and the short run respectively. These results in turn help the government and the central bank of the economy to determine the policies that would be ideal for an economy in a particular scenario. The government of a country and the central bank act as the major policy making bodies in an economy and thus their roles in the molding of the economic system of a country are quite significant. This essay analyses some of the popular macroeconomic models that have been widely discussed over a long period of time. The analyses have been supported by the relevant figures, graphs and mathematical representations. However, before discussing the macroeconomic models it is essential to enumerate the basic concepts that would come up in any macroeconomic discussion. The most important macroeconomic variable is the national income of a country. It is the value added of the total goods and services produced in the specific duration of time. The total output translates to the income and therefore the national income is identified with the Gross Domestic Product of the economy (Arnold 113). The progress of an economy depends on the growth rate of this GDP. But there may not be a consistent level of growth in an economy. The variation in the growth rates are caused by the changes in the business cycles. The fall in the national product during any such cycle can be termed as recession. The other important variables include the rate of unemployment. This is the number of people in the economy who have the potential to get employed but have remained unemployed. On the other hand the increase in the price level of the economy is termed as inflation (Rossi 121). The monetary policy of an economy is a measure to control this

Assignment ( Crappy Professor) Module 4 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

( Crappy Professor) Module 4 - Assignment Example In my school, there is a formal type of legitimate power exercised because there is a chain of command that we follow. For example, on top of the school organizational chart, there is the school board of directors, followed by the School administrator and the list continues to the last staff members who are janitors and security guards. Coercive power refers to the type of power exercised by using force or issuing of threats (Chapter 6 Power Point, 2015). It is illegitimate because there is use of force. Political power refers to the type of power used to control or influence a group of people. Unlike coercive power where there is use of force, political power has leaders who use their resources or knowledge to change the behavior of people. I plan to use supportive leadership, emotional detachment and authenticity to enhance authority as a future leader. Exercising supportive leadership is useful because it focuses on helping the followers or employees under my authority (Chapter 6 Power Point, 2015). As a leader practicing authenticity, I will provide the employees with an excellent example of what it means to accept individual responsibilities for my actions. Lastly, I will ensure that I am emotionally detached when it comes to dealing with organizational affairs. Expert power is the most stable since the leaders get the knowledge regarding organizational affairs based on the experts’ knowledge. It is useful because the leaders do not dwell on rumors and their own assumptions to make decisions regarding organizational affairs. Referent power is the strongest because leaders do not exert their power by making followers fearful of them (Chapter 6 Power Point, 2015). Instead, they get followers to respect and admire them. For example, leaders exerting coercive power get feared but not necessarily respected. Leaders practicing legitimate power may have the power, but it does not mean that they are admired or respected by followers. As

Human behavior theories Essay Example for Free

Human behavior theories Essay Working as a community facilitator is all about empowering and facilitating change within individuals and communities. As their practice facilitators need to identify any challenges and work with the communities to look at ways of solving these problems together. This then requires first for the facilitator to find out why these challenges or problems come about in the first place. Theories are designed to understand human development, identity and approaches to practice. They help turn complicated human, behavioural and social singularities into ideas that are more accessible. It can be said then that theories provide a basis for understanding and reflecting on what we do which then helps us help communities on a micro, mezzo and macro levels. This essay will look at two of the human behaviour theories and how they help us understand and work with our communities (that we as facilitators serve) better. 2. DEFINITION OF TERMS 2. 1. Theory According to (Body, 2014) â€Å"A theory is a logical system of concepts that helps to explain why something happens in a particular way and to predict outcomes†. This means that by preparing their practice on theory, this leads a facilitator to get a better understanding of his/her own task, do some goal planning and also anticipate whatever outcomes there may be. 2. 2. Community Communities are unique with regard to the people in them, place, interaction meaning. According to (Heaven, 2014) â€Å"While we traditionally think of a community as the people in a given geographical location, the word can really refer to any group sharing something in common†. This could also mean any small geographical areas from e. g. a neighbourhood, housing project or development to any community with a large geographically-defined community. 3. HUMAN BEHAVIOR THEORIESÃ'Ž 3. 1. Social Construction Social construction is influential in changing grounded theory. As a way of trying to understand the social world, social construction views knowledge as being 2 constructed (as the name suggests) instead of being created. In this theory communities are seen as alternating between both subjective and objective reality. Past theorists believed that knowledge is beliefs in which people have rational confidence, a common sense of understanding and consensual notion as to what is knowledge. Social construction came about as a way to deal with the nature of reality. It has its origins in sociology and has been linked with the modern era of qualitative research. Reality is it may be something that we are not even aware of. Things like segregation according to what gender, race and class you are a just basic examples of social construction. These things only have meaning because society gives them meaning. According to Tom Andrews (2014) â€Å"Constructionists view knowledge and truth as created not discovered by the mind and supports the view that being a realist is not inconsistent with being a constructionist†. A person can believe that concepts are constructed other than being discovered yet relate to something in the real world. This is consistent with an idea that was put out that reality is socially defined but this one referred to the subjective experience of everyday life as opposed to the objective reality of the natural world. As Steedman (2000) said, â€Å"most of what is known and most of the knowing that is done is concerned with trying to make sense of what it is to be human, as opposed to scientific knowledge†. Individuals or communities decide or rather create this reality one may then ask how this reality or knowledge emerges or how it comes to have significance for society to which social constructionists may answer as they view knowledge as being created by the interactions of individuals within society which is at the centre of social construction as a theory. Andrews (2014) believes that subjective reality is brought about by the interaction of people with their social world and with this social world influencing them it results to routines and habits. That is to say that any regularly repeated action becomes a pattern which at some point can be done without much effort needed. With time this forms a sort of store of knowledge which is passed on to future generations which is then subjective reality. 3 Society gives you and identity from birth. Our identities as people come not from the inside but from the social sphere. Conversation is the main way of maintaining, modifying and reconstructing subjective reality. It compromises notions that are shared unproblematically between the communities so much so that these notions need not be defined each time they are used in conversation and come to assume reality. 3. 2. Examples of Social Construction The most common of all social constructions is that of men and women. Men are required (by society) to have qualities such as control, efficiency, toughness and coolness under emotional distress whilst women on the other hand are said to be the fragile amongst the two with qualities such as inefficiency, emotional expressiveness, caring and mutuality. This is what society has deemed as normal over the years which is what gives the battle of Patriarchy versus Matriarchy in this modern generation. Women today believe that they are more than able to do whatever the â€Å"men† can do and sometimes do it even better. It is clear though that in society’s opinion of gender that men should hold all the power. Laura Flores (2012) is quoted as saying â€Å"Power looks sexy on men, not on women†. But this could be seen as having a double meaning. Other than the obvious meaning we get, it could also mean that women are seen as unable to learn the skills or unable to do whatever a man can do as well. Feminists have been fighting hard battles in order to change this thinking and they have succeeded in changing some people’s minds but the in the traditional societies, mostly in the rural areas this social construction of men and women is still very much evident. Men still go out to provide for the family while the women is expected to stay behind and take care of the children and the home. One other example one could use is that of the social construction of gender. This is slightly different from the previous example used. When a baby is brought into the world the first thing that the doctor will look at is the baby’s sexual category (whether they are male or female) and this is where this social construction begins. Immediately after they are classified as boy or girl the parents then fall into this shared mechanism by dressing them in colours that are â€Å"appropriate† for their gender. Flores says â€Å"the â€Å"normal† thing to do in this case would be for the 4 baby girl to be dressed in pink and the baby boys to be dressed in blue†. You don’t want to be seen as weird for dressing your baby girl in blue or your baby boy in pink, right? Society has put aside colours as some of the symbols that differentiate between boys and girls. Children will then grow like this and then start to try to be like the people who are the same gender as them, â€Å"girls should start acting like their mommy and boys act like their daddy†. Each one will be expected to dress or act in a certain way (as in the first example) but such things are what leads to stereotypes. 3. 3. Asset Based Community Approach 3. 3. 1. What is Asset Based Community Approach (ABCD)? Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) is an approach for sustainable community development. The basis of ABCD is that it believes that communities can develop themselves by recognizing and using existing but often hidden assets to create economic opportunities. It builds those already existing assets in the community and gets individuals, associations and institutions to band together to build on their assets instead of focusing on their needs. It is a naturally positive approach. A large amount of time is spent in trying to identify the assets within a particular community whether it be from individuals, institutions and associations before they are then organised to build on them to the benefit of the community as a whole. The basic key as mentioned above is to use what is already in the community. The ABC approach aims to change people’s view that their needs can only be met by an outsider (professional). When it comes to working with the community, a facilitator who applies the ABCD approach should be adamant about stepping back and letting the community figure things out for themselves. They enlist the help of associations that are within the community in terms of the community development approach and additional support. However Community driven development is mostly done by outside agencies instead of networks that exist in the community already. 3. 3. 2. Discussion on ABCD ABCD pulls out the strengths and weaknesses within a community’s shared history as a starting point for change. Out of all the assets that a community may 5 have ABCD focuses on the assets that are deep rooted in social relationships and sees them as being both evident in both formal and informal networks and associations. It believes that everyone in the community has something to offer and that no one can be said to unimportant. ABCD view individuals as being as being at the centre of it all. The residents of the community has gifts and skills which they can out on the table. These need to be recognized and noted as in community development you can’t do anything with people’s needs but only their assets. Needs are only valuable to institutions. Institutions are groups of people (usually professionals) who share a common interest out of their own choice. These could be agencies or schools etc. these institutions help the community get resources and that in turn gives them a sense of civic responsibility. In terms of assets one could include physical assets such as land, space, funds etc. as they also could be used. 3. 3. 3. How is it facilitated in communities? As mentioned above ABCD is the development of self-mobilisation for change. This development has been implemented in many communities. The task for any agency that comes into a community such as NGO’s is how to put in place this development in other communities without creating a sense of dependency. There are different methods that are facilitated by NGO’s in communities for ABCD. Methods such as Collecting stories whereby they build confidence, informal discussions and interview that also have the goal of drawing out people’s experiences. Success in this will also enable them to uncover any gifts, skills, talents and assets that people in the community may have. Mapping the capacities and assets of individuals, associations and local institutions. Mapping is more than just gathering data on the community. It is of importance that you let the community and institutions d the mapping for themselves as they build new relationships, learn more about help and talents of other community members and also see any connections between different assets. 6 CONCLUSION Understanding a community is crucial to being able to work in it. Failing to understand it will deny you credibility and make it difficult for you both to connect with community members and to negotiate the twists and turns of starting and implementing a community initiative or intervention. Social constructionism places great emphasis on everyday interactions between people and how they use language to construct their reality. It regards the social practices people engage in as the focus of enquiry. This is very similar to the focus of grounded theory but without the emphasis on language. Social constructionism that views society as existing both as objective and subjective reality is fully compatible with classical grounded theory, unlike constructionist grounded theory which takes a relativist position. The ABCD is a substitute the more known needs-based approach. Instead of focusing on what the communities do not have, ABCD looks at what they have to offer. It not only creates a chance for the community to play a part in but they also lead the community planning process. The ABCD is always successful in getting individual participation in the projects in brings to their communities. 7 REFERENCE LIST Andrews, T (2012). What is social constructionism? [ONLINE] Available at: http://groundedtheoryreview. com/2012/06/01/what-is-social-constructionism/ . [Last Accessed 26 August 2014]. Body, A. (n. d. ). Theories Used in Social Work Practice. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www. socialworkdegree. net/theories-used-in-social-work-practice/ . [Last Accessed 26 August 2014]. Cunningham, G and Mathie, A. (2002). Asset Based Community Development- An Overview. [ONLINE]. Available at: http://www. synergos.org/knowledge/o2/abcdoverview. htm . [Last Accessed 26 August 2014]. Flores, L (2012). What is social construction? [ONLINE] Available at: http://oakes. ucsc. edu/academics/Core %20Course/oakes-core-awards-2012/laura-flores. html . [Last Accessed 26 August 2014]. Hampton, C and Heaven C (n. d. ). Section 2. Understanding and Describing the Community. [ONLINE] Available at: http://ctb. ku. edu/en/table-of-contents/assessment/assessing-community-needs-a nd-resources/describe-the-community/main . [Last Accessed 26 August 2014]. Simmons staff. (n. d. ). Theories Used in Social Work Practice. [ONLINE] Available at: http://socialwork.simmons. edu/theories-used-social-work-practice/ . [Last Accessed 26 August 2014]. Steedman, P. (2000). On the relations between seeing, interpreting and knowing. London: Sage. Suttles G, D. (1972). The social construction of communities. 1st ed. Illinois: University of Chicago Press. Vance S. C. (1989). Social construction theory: problems in the history of sexuality. 1st ed. Amsterdam: An Dekker. 8 Varien M, D Potter, M. J, (2008). The Social Construction of Communities: Agency, Structure, and Identity in the Prehispanic Southwest (Archaeology in Society). 1st Ed. New York: Rowman and Littlefield publishers.