VIDEO CONFERENCING
Now based in Portland, Oregon, in the US, Sydney-born psychotherapist PHILIP KOLBA of Philip Kolba & Associates Mental Health Counselors specialises in counselling expats online. Describing his approach as client-centred and solutions-focused, he provides individual, couple and alternative relationship counselling to both LGBTQ and hetero clients.
How does video-counselling work?
In my practice, I have sessions with my clients over video- conferencing, phone and instant messenger. I sometimes incorporate psychology apps for tracking progress and practising skills between sessions.
Video counselling resembles in- person psychotherapy, except that instead of coming to my office, my clients see me from the comfort of their own homes. One of the best predictors of the effectiveness of psychotherapy is the quality of the relationship between the client and the mental health provider, and studies show that this relationship develops more easily in an environment where the client is already comfortable.
Tell us more about your approach.
My clients are experts on themselves, and I’m an expert on psychology; so my role is not to tell people what to do but to help them figure out the kind of life they want to live and how to accomplish it. Customising my counselling for each client, I use a combination of techniques such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), dialectical-behaviour therapy (DBT), emotion-focused therapy (EFT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), and eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing therapy (EMDR).
What makes video counselling ideal for expats like us?
Being away from their usual support system, it can be helpful to have access to professional counselling from abroad. What’s more, effective counselling depends on a shared cultural understanding between the provider and the client, which an expat may not be able to find locally. And for expats who change locations multiple times, online counselling means they can keep their counsellor throughout their travels, ensuring consistent mental health care.
Getting a good night’s sleep is one of the best things we can do for both our physical and mental health. So, how do we manage sleep apnoea, irregular body clocks and other threats to a well-deserved eight hours of blissful slumber? Here’s what JILLIAN BROMLEY, director of Fernhill Psychology and Counselling, has to say.
Different sleeping patterns in the family are often a source of misunderstandings, stress and even conflict, says Jillian. “The wife wants to go to bed at 10 and have time for a quiet chat and intimacy. Her husband finds he can do his best work after midnight. Their teenager can’t get to sleep, so does some more reading, raids the fridge (again) and can’t get up in the morning.”
Interestingly, it used to be common practice to sleep in two sessions – an early sleep and a late sleep. The Industrial Revolution forced the change to one long sleep, but eight hours straight doesn’t work for everyone.
Apart from sleep apnoea – a common and treatable cause of sleeping difficulties, according to Jillian – there are many other possibilities to consider.
Tick, tock
Irregular sleep behaviours can often be explained by investigating the individual’s circadian rhythm, or body clock. We’ve all experienced short-term upsets to our body clock after travelling across time zones, during periods of anxiety, because of work demands or because there’s a new baby in the house.
“But when someone has a long-term pattern of failing to fit into their cultural norms of bed time and work time,” says Jillian, “it might be because they have a Circadian Rhythm Sleep Disorder (CRSD).”
Assessment of someone’s circadian rhythm involves tracking, for at least 24 hours, their body temperature and alertness, through observing their brain activity and naturally occurring patterns of sleeping, dreaming and waking.
CRSD can vary from being a mild annoyance to posing a serious threat to our work or school performance and to our relationships, notes Jillian. “Across the years, the sleep-disturbed will often a hear a frustrated voice saying, ‘Why can’t you just sleep when everyone else sleeps?’”
Recognising problematic sleep patterns, talking to someone about them, and going for an assessment in a hospital or university sleep clinic is a good starting point for a better night’s sleep.
“Each night when I fall asleep, I die. Every morning when I wake up, I am reborn” – Mahatma Gandhi