Do you have a more zoomed-in or zoomed-out perspective to life?

 

What do you see in this photo?

The point is, when we are too zoomed in, it’s hard to see the bigger picture. 

In counseling/Acceptance Commitment Therapy, one of the most important thing is to educate our patients around the concept of fusion and defusion or in other words, zoomed-in (+hook onto thoughts) or zoomed-out (+unhook from thoughts) perspectives. 

It’s like when you zoom into a forest, you can see a dead tree, but when you zoom out, you may see a beautiful lushed tropical forest. Nothing has changed but your perspective has. 

Many folks we see have a very zoomed-in or “fused” perspective to life eg folks with depression, anxiety, or personality disorders. 

Some folks we see have a very zoomed-out or “detached” perspective to life and so zoomed-out, that it is out of focus. Think ASD or even Dissociative Disorders when in “extreme”. 

Of course, life is very dynamic and requires us to zoom in and zoom out all the time depending on context. The problem is when this zoom function malfunctions.  Imagine having a camera without the ability to zoom in and zoom out in order for us to focus.  It would be quite frustrating. 

Part of counseling is to help folks to zoom in and zoom out in various context through active listening, reflection, validation, and “gentle” challenge. 

Using metaphors like these can help us explain abstract concepts to our patients in more digestible ways.

The more zoomed-in folks may have to learn how to zoom out more through meditation, mindfulness etc, and the zoomed-out folks may have to zoom in more to gain more empathy, passion, and connection in life perhaps. 

Short video on how to approach and help children with behavioural concerns

As a Family Doctor, it is very common for me to see parents who are concerned about their children's mood and behaviours. This can cause a lot of stress for the family. In this video, I have outlined a simple approach on how to assess these sort of problems, and discussed a simple framework on how we can assess and find ways to help these families and their children. I often describe it as the "What, Why, and How to improve" approach.

A Moment With Dr Michelle Garnett Clinical Psychologist West End Brisbane on "What advice would you give to a parent of a newly diagnosed young child with Asperger's Syndrome?"

Cultivate acceptance and optimism, there is a good reason and good evidence to be optimistic.  Learn.  Grow.  As Rudy Simone says, "Give your child some B.A.L.L.S." - Belief, Acceptance, Love, Like, and Support.

Dr Michelle Garnett
Director and Clinical Psychologist
MINDS & HEARTS
A Specialist Clinic for Asperger's Syndrome and Autism
http://www.mindsandhearts.net/

Causes of Children's Behavioural Problems

Generally, my approach to assessing behavioural problems in kids (or adults) is to assess the causes:

1. Is it their personality or genetic trait? (Unfortunately we cannot really change it but certainly we can try to understand it and work with it).  One of the Eastern Philosophy is that, if you are a peach, then always a peach.  You can add syrup to it, you can poach it, you add flavour enhancers to it but it's still a peach.  The moral of the story is that you can still bring out the best version of itself, but you cannot change its core nature.
2. Is it their environment? For example, is it their interactions with the parents, teachers, school, friends, or other environmental factors.
3. Is it due to any medical problems e.g. their physical wellbeing.  Do they have a hearing problem?  Do they have sleep apnea?  Your Doctor will to fully assess your child and need to rule these out.
4. Is there any specific mental health issues like ADHD, Anxiety, Depression, Asperger's, Autism, Learning Difficulties, Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD), Conduct Disorders, Sensory Processing Disorders etc....(Careful not to over-diagnose here).
5. For teenagers and adults....Is there any alcohol/drug use?

From a Doctor's perspective, we need to carefully assess all the above factors and manage accordingly.