Taking Control of: Your Memories, Election Anxiety, Therapist Accessibility, Chickens
Also: Weird Al has a new jam and so there is much to celebrate
Your memories can be battery packs, powering you to better mental health
Maybe you can be free of the crushing weight certain memories provide.
In this week’s podcast episode, I draw an extensive analogy between solar energy and cognitive reminiscence therapy (CRT). There’s new research coming out of Australia about the efficacy of CRT and I talk to Dr. David Hallford, one of the researchers and authors of a paper on the subject.
Basically, the idea is to frame the memories you have such that you can benefit from what is in them while leaving behind the elements of those memories that drag you down. And it can be done with memories that are otherwise unpleasant.
For instance, you recall a party years ago where you said something thoughtless or insensitive to somebody and hurt their feelings. You’ve cringed at the memory ever since and beaten yourself up about it, letting it echo as an example of you being a terrible person, harmful, thoughtless and insensitive. What CRT works on is desconstructing that memory and finding elements that argue against that. You were at a party, which means that you have enough social skills to be invited or welcomed. You have formed relationships and friendships, a fact that argues against your worst social anxieties. And you may have said something stupid but it was not the sum total of all your interactions, it was just a moment, and one that probably didn’t form the entirety of that person’s view of you.
As to whether you can practice CRT on yourself, well, maybe. It depends on how much of a grip memories might have on you and whether you can carry that weight alone or with the help of a professional.
And now, here’s a singing cat:
The election may be turning you - and this is a psychology term - bonker bananas
Yeah, so yesterday was something, right? With the president and the not running and the Kamala and the whole deal? And before that, the assassination attempt on the other guy and the convention and all? And beyond all THAT, the crushing inescapable anxiety of the whole goddamn election thing?
We’re putting together at least one episode on the topic but meanwhile, NPR offers some tips to help move you at least a bit toward sanity. A lot of these are common sense stuff that you might have already thought of but it’s a good idea to think on them anyway.
Lewis says it's a good idea to channel that stress and anxiety into ways we can make a difference. That might involve getting more information on specific candidates and the policies they support. Here, she emphasizes not to lean on what someone else thinks or says but to rely on "factual or validated news sources and websites."
"Figure out ways to use your voice," she says. "Use that energy to either volunteer with organizations or share some information with other people, and essentially [exercise] your right to vote."
It will be easier to see a therapist in another state
A story that involves the term “licensure” is not going to get the coverage that a sitting president dropping out of a race will get but this item certainly has some real world positive ramifications for a lot of people.
The Biden-Harris administration just made it easier for social workers to operate across state lines. It’s a way of addressing the enormous ongoing shortage of mental health personnel.
Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), announced the first-ever Licensure Portability Grant Program investment in a multi-state social worker licensure compact. State licensure compacts allow states to come together on a common approach to licensing health care providers, allowing providers to practice across state lines without having to apply for a license in each state. Streamlining licensure while maintaining quality standards improves access to services both by better facilitating hiring and by easing pathways to utilizing telehealth.
Weird Al should be protected and preserved like a National Park or a missile silo
I’ve met Al and worked with him a bit on a show and here’s a quality of his that may surprise you: he’s kind of shy! Nice, funny, smart, all that but also shy.
My man’s got a new comprehensive polka for all of us to enjoy. It’s a medley of the biggest hits of the last ten years but, you know, polka.
Helen Hong and her chickens on Sleeping with Celebrities
My Max Fun colleague Helen Hong joined me on Sleeping with Celebrities to talk about her four chickens and life with them in South Central Los Angeles.
You might know the very funny Helen Hong from TV’s Silicon Valley, the film Inside Llewyn Davis, NPR’s Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me, or Maximum Fun’s quiz podcast Go Fact Yourself. If you live in South Central L.A., you might know her as the lady with four chickens in her backyard and a really disappointing crop of snap peas. Helen tells us all about her chickens Fifi, Coco, Athena, and Ditsy, including how she came to acquire them, why she chose to do so, and how many eggs they yield on an average day. We also discuss Mike the Headless Chicken, a bird who found a head to be unnecessary in the 1940s and who, when attempting to crow, simply gurgled.