Just Got Diagnosed
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JustGotDiagnosed.com is for individuals recently diagnosed with chronic and catastrophic medical conditions, their caregivers, and loved ones. Gary McClain, PhD is a recognized expert in understanding the emotional reactions to medical diagnosis.
Just Got Diagnosed
3M ago
It is only human to have lots of fears around your child’s chronic condition. After all, part of your job as a parent is to be aware of, and actively preventing, the “what ifs.” And chances are, you’ve already experienced some of them, or come close.
Fear can keep you motivated to do everything you need to do to stay on top of your child’s care. However, fear can also cause you to hold the reins so tightly that you may risk stifling your child’s self-confidence and keep them from getting actively involved in their own care.
And when kids with chronic conditions aren’t encouraged to develop ind ..read more
Just Got Diagnosed
7M ago
As a therapist, I frequently talk with my clients about their quality of life. In fact, assisting them in increasing their quality of life is often one of our goals. Now, you may already be asking, that’s a pretty general term so how do you make that an actionable goal. That’s a good question.
I break down the components of quality of life with each of my clients. We define quality of life based on their vision of their own quality of life. We break down the overall goal of quality of life into realistic and reachable goals and then work on them together.
So, some questions for you to consider ..read more
Just Got Diagnosed
8M ago
Getting your annual checkup? Yes, I am asking this question twice. I will tell you why. I work with a lot of sick people, some of them very sick. And I have had a lot of friends over the years who have been very sick. Some of them regularly met with their healthcare providers when they were sick and also had annual checkups, like I do. Others thought they were above getting an annual checkup, that they were too healthy, too busy, too rebel-rebel, or whatever reason they gave me. And I have had the heartbreaking experience of going through the process of being diagnosed with a serious medical c ..read more
Just Got Diagnosed
10M ago
“You need to be more proactive.”
Has anyone ever said this to you? Your partner? Your boss? Your doctor?
And when they said it, how did you feel? Motivated? Annoyed? Confused?
It seems to me that the word “proactive” is thrown around pretty often. Maybe a little too often. So while the need to be more proactive is common advice, what does it really mean?
I’ll be honest with you. Back when I had a regular job in a corporation, proactive was a popular buzzword, as it still is. And I wasn’t necessarily viewed as the most proactive ..read more
Just Got Diagnosed
1y ago
As a therapist, I frequently talk with my clients about their quality of life. In fact, assisting them in increasing their quality of life is often one of our goals. As you might agree, quality of life is an especially important concern and, yes, challenge, for individuals and families who are living with a chronic condition like a bleeding disorder. Agreed?
Now, you may already be asking, that’s a pretty general term so how do you make that an actionable goal. That’s a good question. So let’s take a step back and consider what having quality of life actuall ..read more
Just Got Diagnosed
1y ago
My take on procrastination is that it’s a way of having control in our lives. We don’t like to be told what to do. We don’t want to do things we don’t like to do. And so, we maintain control by deciding when we will get started on an undesired task. Unfortunately, as in Chad’s case, when I’ll get started can turn into if I’ll get started.
Procrastination is also a way of avoiding failure. After all, if you never get started in the first place, you don’t have to worry about experiencing defeat. So Chad may have had some fear about whether he was really capable of making these changes in his lif ..read more
Just Got Diagnosed
1y ago
Mad? Sad? Glad? Scared? Ashamed? These are some of the words therapists use to help get their clients started on identifying their feelings. You might be using these words, among many others, to identify your own feelings. If so, good for you! However, you might also find yourself to be not so comfortable in talking about your emotions. In fact, not always even sure of what emotions you are experiencing.
If being aware of your own emotions doesn’t come easily, and if talking about emotions is also hard for you, you are not alone. But having said that, emotio ..read more
Just Got Diagnosed
2y ago
My colleagues in the mental health professions have often lamented the lack of emergency mental health assistance available to individuals experiencing a mental health crisis. We have had to rely on services available through 911 which, while able to respond to an emergency, are not trained mental health professionals and therefore not able to provide the level of response needed in these situations. When someone with a mental emergency does not get the care they need, this greatly increases the risk.
I am happy to say that mental health care in the US has just taken a major ..read more
Just Got Diagnosed
2y ago
We are hearing a lot about unconscious bias these days. Along with many examples of what unconscious bias looks like, how it affects the ways in which we communicate, how it harms those who are the victims of unconscious bias. We hear about it in the media, of course. We see examples of it in our own lives, at school, at work, in our communities. And in the offices of healthcare providers. Take a look at my article https://justgotdiagnosed.com/resources/do-you-know-how-that-makes-me-feel-unconscious-bias/
The post Do you know how that makes me feel? appeared first on Ju ..read more
Just Got Diagnosed
3y ago
So here we are at the end of 2021 and the beginning of 2022. Yes, it’s that time of year when we’re hit with those “best of the year” and “worst of the year” lists. I wouldn’t be surprised if you were doing your own year-end review, thinking about what happened and what didn’t happen, what you accomplished and what you didn’t accomplish.
I just have to ask: How do you think you did?
This may be a sensitive topic, at least it has been for a lot of the people who pass through my office. Here’s what I heard from clients that I’ll call Deb and Carlos.&nbs ..read more