A recent article at Good Therapy may make it seem like Adventure Therapy is a new treatment modality for men, but in fact, Adventure Therapy has been around in some form for more than a century and has been used to treat women, teens, and families, as well as men. Traditionally, men are not as drawn to talk therapy as women are. Simple discomfort with the process can make it less effective. However, my practice, which allows clients much control over their own process, draws in many more men than I have seen in other settings, and at least half of my clients are men. Feeling personally in control is only one of the characteristics of Adventure Therapy that is appealing to men.

Adventure Therapy includes group games, problem solving tasks, trust activities, and indoor and outdoor adventures such as camping, rock climbing, canoeing, sailing, etc. It generally involves the benefits of group therapy while allowing participants to process individually and share in their own time both during and in between group processing sessions. Adventure Therapy often includes some perceived physical or psychological risk such as danger of physical harm or risk of embarrassment, which can help clients invest in treatment and experience more intense positive emotions when a task is completed. Based on a conglomeration of theories of several well-known psychologists, including Alfred Adler, Albert Ellis, Milton Erickson, William Glasser, Carl Jung, Abraham Maslow, Jean Piaget, Carl Rogers, B.F. Skinner, Fritz Perls, and Viktor Frankl, Adventure Therapy can be defined as a cognitive-behavioral-affective approach which utilizes humanistic existential understandings. As a practicing professional, I very much appreciate this holistic theoretical approach.

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There have been a couple of cases in the news of social services moving children to live with family members after parents have seemingly ignored doctor orders to help the child lose weight for health reasons, not just in the United States but in Scotland and Canada as well. Nutrition and a healthier environment is also an argument used to determine custody and/or primary residence for a child. The courts are paying attention to the childhood obesity crisis in the United States, which can cause physical and emotional issues for children that extend into adulthood. It is certainly a controversial and inflammatory topic for many.

I admit to having high nutritional standards and being pretty opinionated about what the children in my family are fed. There are certain ingredients that can be considered contraband in my house. As a therapist specializing in adoption, particularly children from hard places, I am familiar with how attention to diet can greatly impact behavior and symptoms of several disorders including ADHD, autism, Aspberger’s, and depression. I think nutrition is vitally important to physical and mental health. In the same way, as a therapist specializing in adoption, I never take separating a child from his or her family lightly. While there are times it is necessary for the health and safety of a child, and times it is outside of anyone’s control, it will have a lasting impact on the child.
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If you’ve ever watched an episode of The Biggest Loser, you know that there can be a real fear of losing weight. It’s almost hard to understand – why would anyone want to stay heavy, knowing all of the negative results that come from it?

For many, being heavy equals being invisible. You can be afraid of the new attention that comes with an improved figure, especially if the attention is sexual. There could also be a fear of losing self control in sexual situations if you feel more attractive. If you are one who has experienced sexual abuse, being heavy could be a way of keeping yourself invisible in order to avoid further abuse.

You may be afraid of succeeding at weight loss, and the increased pressure that comes with success. The excitement that comes from new opportunities in your life can be daunting, and some just don’t even try. You may be afraid of not succeeding. After all, it’s very easy to say, “I’m never going to be successful at anything,” and hide in your weight. You might fear losing your friends, especially if your relationships revolve around food. You may fear having to work incredibly hard for the rest of your entire life. Maybe, you don’t like to exercise and the thought that you will have to do so for the rest of your life is overwhelming.

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Do you suffer from friggatriskaidekaphobia? 21 million Americans do and for those unlucky few, 2012 is not going to be their year.

Friggatriskaidekaphobia is the name given to the fear of Friday the 13th. As our culture has continued a long time superstition regarding the number 13 and the belief that Friday the 13th is a very unlucky day, many find themselves stressed regarding this date. 2012 will have three occurrences of this day, starting this month with Friday, January 13th. April and July will also see a Friday the 13th.

While the date bothers many, there’s very little evidence that more bad things happen on Friday the 13th. In fact, some studies have found that fewer bad things occur on Friday the 13th verses any other Fridays of the year. Fewer fires and thefts, fewer accidents, and fewer driving incidents are reported on Friday the 13th.

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Hoarding food is something that I talk about frequently in adoption preparation classes. It is common and to be expected that children who have not always had enough and not had parents to look out for their best interests would want to hide food for later. Parents need to be vigilant to clean out pockets so chocolate bars do not go through the wash, and clean up rooms to avoid rodents, insects, and rotting food. In cases of adoption, I encourage parents to be calm, avoid commenting on the behavior, and patiently wait for it to extinguish itself, which it will in the majority of cases.

There is less written about food hoarding in adults, although there is some written about older adults who hoard food, particularly those that have lived through the Great Depression. Primarily, hoarding food is a sign of anxiety surrounding the availability of food and sometimes it is a compulsion, something that one feels driven to do to ease anxiety. There is a slightly higher percentage of females than males that hoard food, and often the hoarder lives alone and is mostly socially isolated. Nearly three out of every four adults that hoard food do not believe that it is a problem.

Hoarding food is also a lesser discussed symptom of an eating disorder as well. It is most understood as a symptom of bulimia when a sufferer stashes away binge food items. Food hoarding can also be a symptom of anorexia, however. In the throes of anorexia, sufferers can become obsessed with food despite the fact that they will not allow themselves to ingest it. It can be comforting to anorexia sufferers to have food items available, especially if their body has transition into a starvation mode.

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