Computers: Therapeutic tool and essential communication system?

Nearly everyone has access to a PC nowadays. Maybe it is to: send and receive email; chat real-time on line; play games; browse the internet; order stuff online; access your bank account; or write letters or compose CVs.

A lot of people couldn’t do without one. A lot of people would say that PC access is as important as access to a telephone, perhaps more so. As time goes on, more and more people are finding that access to a PC is a part of everyday life. Laptops are the go-anywhere-anytime version of the PC, and can hold thousands of mp3 music tracks and can play your favourite DVDs as well.

It makes sense then that psychiatric wards, day centres and other environments are increasingly setting aside rooms with PCs in them for the use of service users.

So what’s the problem? It is generally true that the younger generation are more familiar with computers and tend to have found and developed their own styles of using them. Computers are often preferred when asking questions because they are always, reliably, non-judgemental and once an approach has been found to work in solving a problem with a computer, it will always work the same way. Many youngsters find that success in a computer based environment is the only form of success that they can expect – parent oriented groups have decried computers for keeping kids in doors and in the dark.

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Relocation, relocation

Our sincere thanks go to Chris and his trusty team; Mark, John, Mick and Simon from Nuttall Hynes who not only worked relentlessly so we could open on time but who also arranged plant and materials at a good discount. Chris would like to personally thank all members that worked closely alongside to ensure the project was finished on time. He also sends special thanks to Barbara for donating such quality curtains that he thought were perfect as dust sheets… oops! No wonder we’ve now got blinds everywhere!

Positive comedy learning

Getting your life to work better with comedy and improvisation

Using comedy and improvisation is an invaluable personal tool and The Corner House Resource Centre was very fortunate to enjoy staff training in Brighton with Gerry Thompson, the founder of Positive Comedy Learning.

Gerry also ran, very successfully, a weekly series of Comedy Workshops for service-users. “The workshops were brilliant – great fun; everyone got on well with each other” responded one participant.

Here’s what Gerry had to say when we spoke to him after the course.

“Service-users and professionals alike can benefit from the freedom, confidence and spontaneity offered by this approach.

As adults, we become more careful or calculated and self-conscious in our responses…these workshops encourage playful, flexible expression and interaction.

Comedy and improvisation is a versatile way of helping people develop: confidence; connecting with others; drawing people out of isolation or being generally withdrawn; promoting sense of humour; and looking at the funny side of things.

Each individual can develop a unique expression in improvisation – there is no learned format. Workshops can also be geared to addressing particular topics, concerns or issues. The situations and topics used in the workshops can be as creative and varied as life itself!

Very often, adulthood brings with it reluctance to accept change, an inability to respond and react without fear/stress/anxiety to the unpredictable or the unplanned.

Comedy offers a range of genres from which participants can choose – such as solo performance, double-acts, or sketches. Individuals can engage at different levels – they can perform, direct, supply ideas, or just actively watch – in fact anything to allow
artistic and creative activity.

01273 463611

www.positivecomedy.com

Email: info@positivecomedy.com

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Stressbuster Sound Therapy

There is wide access to holistic, complementary therapies which offer techniques to relieve stress and anxiety… but how many of you have tried Sound Therapy?

We interviewed Alice Watts who is currently studying with the British Academy of Sound therapy to hear how this treatment can produce a deep sense of relaxation which is useful for amelioration of symptoms of stress and anxiety as well as some symptoms of depression.

Despite the use of a ‘scanning bell’, originating from the island of Bali, the use of a set of seven Himalayan bowls and the therapist using their harmonic vocals in the manner of the Tibetans, Steppe people of Central Asia and the Mongolians, this is very much a secular treatment and doesn’t require therapist or recipient to be a practicing Buddhist or member of an alternative faith.

Asking Alice what makes her treatment so effective, she explains that while the patient lies on a couch, acoustically tuned bowls and instruments are used for ‘balancing energy fields associated with chakras around the body by using sound in the forms of overtones and harmonics allowing an entirely non-invasive and non-contact treatment.

So what can we expect of a session?

“Initial assessments give me a general diagnostic picture based on patient history and thorough explanation of contra-indications” Alice continues, “During a typical session which can last an hour, the scanning bell, with changing harmonics and tone when following energy lines and chakra points, can flag up any imbalance. The next phase uses Himalayan bowls, followed by my own vocals, then introducing a variety of quartz crystal bowls and finally percussion instruments”

The final phase is intended to ground the patient or “bring them back into the ‘now-ness’ of where the treatment is taking place”. It is at this stage that the amusingly named harmony balls, straw shakers, gourds, nutmeg waterfalls and rain-sticks are used.

We asked, “what effects can this treatment produce?”

“It ranges from mild dissociation to tears but essentially there is a deep sense of relaxation” Alice explains. “However, because of the nature of the therapy, it is not strictly suitable for psychotic schizophreniform and those prone to dissociation or fugue detachment – but suitability is always assessed during the initial meeting”

We asked a couple of people for their verdict;

“This treatment was completely new to me and when I first heard Alice’s voice it didn’t even sound like her! During the second session I experienced a very deep relaxation – to the extent that I’d never felt before – so much so that I was aware when Alice was grounding me in the final phase”

“I used to get tension knots in my neck” Angie describes, “especially heightened and painful when stressed, but since the Sound Therapy I am not even aware of any aches or build up of tension!”

We should add that Sound Therapy is a complementary therapy and not a replacement for qualified medical advice but should this article have whetted your appetite more helpful information can be found on the website below.

Stressbuster rating 9 out of 10

www.sacredsound.net

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(Continued from the front page)

Computers

How might we find out more?

Providing PCs to service users seems a good thing, but, an issue which has not properly been settled even in the commercial PC environment is security, so how can we be sure? There’s a danger that PC access is just a policy tick box. When you look at the costs and issues involved, it isn’t easy for anyone. Even if you are trying to make it work, there are innumerable issues.

Who can you turn to for help?

In the centre where I attend I asked a few people for their views on having a PC available for their use. I have also asked some people who work in such places how they feel. The case study centre has a computer room with half a dozen PCs networked together, with the printer and the internet available from each machine. I have summarised their responses.

CASE ONE

“I have used the computers in the computer room here at the centre with a group and a volunteer trainer to show and change photos we had taken on a field trip. I had used a computer when at work before I was ill, but I didn’t like it. Using it made me anxious because I was afraid I would mess up the important data if I made a mistake. My husband and I have a computer at home and we use it for e-mail and for browsing the internet, using it like an encyclopaedia. I use it to find information about photographers and their work, and about different photo techniques.”

CASE TWO

“I have been familiar with personal computers for many years. I play games, search the internet, use email and on-line shopping. I’m sometimes too nervous to get out and it’s a good way of staying in touch with friends or keeping control of life. It’s very annoying and frustrating when it doesn’t work right, such as the internet connection stops working, but the service provider and I manage to get it sorted. I wouldn’t be without my computer.”

CASE THREE

“I occasionally play games like Sim City or Theme Park. I don’t like chat rooms or msn, I prefer the phone. Email is useful because you can compose mail anytime, send it anytime and when you open your mail you can reply easily, or not as you like. I have bought books on-line and check my bank account as well. I’m not scared of computers. When I was ill I could use email to keep in touch.”

CASE FOUR

“My son and my friends use computers, and my daughter has given me her old one. I have got it up and running, and have even connected to the internet, so I’m not dumb. When I get back from work I am so tired, I can’t be bothered. I know I should make an effort and that I could get email from my friend in new Zealand, in minutes, with pictures, for free, but somehow it doesn’t seem to happen.”

CASE FIVE

“My laptop is my friend. I am always connected and get email regularly from lots of contacts. I write letters in Word, plan my finances using Excel, download music and videos and surf the net. My laptop is my DVD player and my music centre. Who needs an mp3 player? My PC does that."

Summary

There are far more questions than answers, and there seems to be little advice available. Security is always a problem, but the PC-access by mental health service users adds complication. It seems that most psychiatric ward or centre managers think that PC access is a good idea, and many service users are also keen computer users.

Is anything done to find out if the PC is being used and if such use is therapeutic? Could PC access be viewed as a right of communication just as a phone, letter or personal visit for people on psychiatric wards?

If you would like to share your views or experiences please email:
aawnewsletter@thecornerhouse45.org or write to us in Southwick.

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: Health, Wellbeing and Lifestyle is an independent, user-led publication, produced quarterly, and aims to reflect interesting views of society health and well-being, and to raise the profile of mental health issues and the profile of The Corner House Resource Centre which produces this publication. Whilst we aim only to publish articles that do not upset, discriminate or violate in any way other people, we hold the right to change submitted articles slightly to achieve this, and views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of Shoreham and District Mental Health Association (SDMHA), the Trustee Board of The Corner House Day Centre nor the Editorial Team. We do not undertake any responsibility for contributions and any products or advertisements mentioned do not imply endorsement by SDMHA.

If you need the newsletter in an alternative format, contact:

SDMHA, (AAW Newsletter)
The Corner House Resource Centre
45 Southwick Street,
Southwick
West Sussex
BN42 4TH

Phone: 01273 871575

THE EDITORIAL TEAM:

Service Users: Simon Boulton, Sally McNally
Vocational and Employment Worker: Julie Bose / Chair of SDMHA: Denise Carroll

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