She practices the art and science of psychotherapy which is a form of listening and reflecting that engages our capacity to heal and transform the conditions and problems that undermine our mental health and wellness. It is useful for individuals, families and couples. It creates a safe space where the story of one’s life can unfold and become open for change.

As a health care justice advocate she articulates the moral imperative for faith communities to respond with integrity to the multitude of stigmatized diagnoses and health care gaps facing our poor and disenfranchised neighbors globally and across the Chicago metro area. Her experience has included building services addressing compromised mental health, the HIV epidemic and those facing AIDS, breast cancer, diabetes, asthma, infant mortality and teen pregnancy. She designs and implements model programs integrating spiritual care, mental health, education and community outreach into comprehensive, community based treatment programs.

She is a leader and ally for faith communities seeking to build health ministries and healthy congregations, especially as a response to disparities in resources and outcomes for chronic diseases, mental health and addiction issues and the crisis in access to health care..

A native of rural Kansas, she is an ordained minister in the American Baptist Churches of the USA, a pastoral counselor and a licensed clinical professional counselor in Illinois. Previously Betsy directed Midwest Resources, a church-based counseling practice with nine locations in metro Chicago and the AIDS Pastoral Care Network at Access Community Health Network.

Eventually, we do need to stop – and finding ways to do that can be very challenging – and consequently many of us fail to find the time, focus or energy to integrate those healthful ways of being into our daily lives.

But what if I told you it takes less than 2 minutes to stop completely and relax your mind, body and spirit? Through the Discipline of 100 Breaths you can disengage from:

Stress                  Fear           Tension         Grief          Anger         Worry

Obsession          Demands of others                 Perfections         Cravings

Anxiety         Hostility         Frustration                  Agitation            Overexcitement

-and whatever else is charging up your inner state.

If you can do three things and ONLY three things you can change your internal state:

1  Find a quiet place to stand, sit or lie down and close your eyes.

2  Take 100 breaths – in and out, in and out. Not fancy deep breaths, -in one second, out the next. They don’t need to be fast, or slow, deep or shallow. Just 100 normal breaths.

3  (Now here’s the hard part) ONLY Breathe. Pay attention to your breathing alone for 100 breaths. No planning, worrying, fretting about one thing or another. Literally for a moment.

That final step is difficult and some of us will fail it – usually because our anxiety is so extreme or our ability to focus is impaired or undisciplined. But if you fail the first time, you can train your brain to cooperate with some practice.

Give it a try – and enjoy your refreshed, calmed state of mind.

        When your parents fought, the tone was passionate, maybe fiery, but always respectful?

        When your parents fought, you always knew they would make up soon?

        Your parents sought counseling when they couldn’t resolve a major conflict?

With the collapse of world markets, war raging in so many parts of the world and unspeakable things happening in so many places near and far it seems that the world as we knew it is coming apart. Calamity and chaos reign.

For many of us, the uncertainty, struggle and suffering is intolerable, and the thought of all this suffering having an instructive or redemptive purpose seems ridiculous. Yet, the long view of history shows us that great things often emerge from such muck. Think about the Dark Ages. Then think Renaissance. After years of pestilence, death and the suppression of the human spirit a resurgence of human enlightenment overtook the world in such a way that we enjoy it even today.

The U.S.’s dominant salvation narrative – the birth of the Christ Child- teaches a similar lesson. In the short view, Jesus’ birth was not much more than a calamity. An illegitimate child was born to a poor teenage mother and her aging husband-to-be, and had the misfortune to alienate the ruling monarch by virtue of the alignment of the stars at his birth, thereby making his family refugees almost as soon as he was born and causing a bloodbath of male babies in his homeland as the king hunted him down.

Simply put, Jesus did not have much of a chance within the existing order of the world when he was born. I think the existing order was simply too “small” for that influx of love.

Perhaps there are times when only calamity and chaos create sufficient room to hold the larger doses of hope and love necessary for the continuing evolution of our creation. I am a witness to the fact that in our own individual lives, there is every hope and possibility that some unimaginable transformation can emerge from destruction and chaos. This is the bittersweet nature of hope.

]]> http://www.elizabethritzman.com/?feed=rss2&p=81 0 http://www.elizabethritzman.com/?p=63 http://www.elizabethritzman.com/?p=63#comments Mon, 01 Sep 2008 23:04:46 +0000 Elizabeth http://www.elizabethritzman.com/?p=63 HIPAA: Rules about the use and protection of your private health information:

At your first visit you will be required to sign a statement that you have received information about your rights under HIPAA. This is now a routine practice for all health care visits, including counseling and mental health care. It sets national standards for the use and protection of your confidential health information.

WHAT IS HIPAA?

“HIPAA” is an acronym for the Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act of 1996 (August 21), Public Law 104-191, which amended the Internal Revenue Service Code of 1986. Also known as the Kennedy-Kassebaum Act, the Act includes a section, Title II, entitled Administrative Simplification, requiring:

1. Improved efficiency in healthcare delivery by standardizing electronic data interchange, and
2. Protection of confidentiality and security of health data through setting and enforcing standards.

More specifically, HIPAA called upon the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to publish new rules that will ensure:

1. Standardization of electronic patient health, administrative and financial data
2. Unique health identifiers for individuals, employers, health plans and health care providers
3. Security standards protecting the confidentiality and integrity of “individually identifiable health information,” past, present or future.

Who is affected? Virtually all healthcare organizations – including all healthcare providers, health plans, public health authorities, healthcare clearinghouses, and self-ensured employers – as well as life insurers, information systems vendors, various service organizations, and universities.

Are there penalties? HIPAA calls for severe civil and criminal penalties for non-compliance.

How does this affect my counseling? We meet the compliance requirements for HIPPA which include:

• Comprehensive assessment of our business privacy practices, information security systems and procedures, and use of electronic transactions.
• Our electronic billing service is secure and HIPPA compliant. If you wish you may opt out of e-commerce by asking our front desk staff. Infrequently, and only at the request and initiation of clients I will respond to emails. Our policies, processes, and procedures are intended to protect privacy, security and patients’ rights.

• Our business associate agreements support HIPAA objectives.
• We are developing and maintaining a secure technical and physical information infrastructure.
• We update information systems to safeguard protected health information (PHI) and enable use of standard claims and related transactions.
• We train all workforce members on HIPPA.
• We have developed and maintain an internal privacy and security management and enforcement infrastructure, including providing a Privacy Officer and a Security Officer, Dr. Cheryl Haugh 831 South Oak Park Ave. Oak Park IL 60304 (708) 848-9900.

More information about HIPPA is available at www.hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa/

Pastoral counselors practice respect for the faith traditions and perspectives of others and refrain from imposing their own beliefs as a standard to be met. Part of their work is to listen with heightened sensitivity to the language of their clients and help them discern the central themes of meaning, belief and values that become apparent in their lives. This happens both with and without the explicit use of religious language. Have you noticed that sometimes the most faith-filled people are those who show a profound generosity of spirit without needing to use any religious language at all?

Identifying those central beliefs, meanings and values creates a deep resource for struggling with and resolving the many questions that bring people to therapy.

Christian counseling is different from pastoral counseling, because it defines belief in Christ as a standard to be met. Christian counseling and Spiritual Direction are faith practices that presume a faith language and draw from it’s resources for growth and healing. Still, it is important to find a practitioner who will refrain from imposing their own personal beliefs as a standard to met in the helping relationship.

The introductory session will give you an opportunity to get to know how the therapist works and to share your concerns with them. In my practice, I spend a few minutes up front clarifying the basic expectations of therapy by putting them in writing (see new patient info) and discussing any questions that you might have about confidentiality, payment etc. Then I ask some basic questions that are geared toward helping us both assess what you need from therapy and whether I can provide it. I might say “what brings you in right now?” or something similar to help you explain why you are coming in and clarify what you need. If you are coming as a family or couple, I will ask each person to respond. Also, I invite you to ask any questions at any time about me and my practice.

Therapy is not intended to be a mystery. All questions and concerns are a welcomed and important part of the healing process. If I can’t responsibly commit to providing the help we decide that you need, it becomes my responsibility to help you find it elsewhere. So, I am very grateful to have a broad network of colleagues in the area to for referral and consultation.

Will my health insurance pay for counseling?

Although most providers require you to take ultimate responsibility for paying your bill, health insurance may reimburse you or your healthcare provider for medically necessary treatment for covered, diagnosed conditions that impair your ability to function. They do not generally pay for counseling to relieve stress, enhance or maintain wellbeing or prevent problems down the road.

The exception to this rule is that some employers provide employee assistance programs which offer limited counseling for short term problems or crisis. Often these programs are limited to three sessions and then they refer you on to another provider for further treatment, which, if it is medically necessary may be covered by insurance.

That means you must

• Be diagnosed with a condition that meets the standard diagnostic criteria (these conditions are described in detail in a manual: (DSMIV).
• Be unable to function normally without treatment.
• Receive treatment intended to relieve that condition.

Finally, you must be willing to release that information about yourself to your insurance company and willing to have that information in your permanent medical record.

Whoa…What about confidentiality?

You should have complete confidentiality (assuming you don’t present a threat to yourself or others) if you are paying for your own care. If you ask your insurer to pick up the tab, legally, they gain complete access to your record. Once you grant your therapist permission to contact them, you have given up confidentiality regarding them. Of course, insurers are also required to keep your records private (HIPAA). However, your information may end up being part of a database (MIB) that collects health records from insurance companies.

Practically speaking, the amount of information required by insurers varies considerably. Some only ever ask for a diagnosis and billing information. Others want a lot of specific personal information about your condition and the treatment plan, and expect to dictate the level of and length of care needed. Many experienced therapists avoid dealing with insurance companies like this. That’s why you may find the counselors your friends recommend may not take your insurance.

My problems aren’t a serious medical problem. Should I hold off on counseling until they are?

If that’s the case, it is often a very good idea to spend some money out of your own pocket to get counseling for stress, for relationship problems or to prevent more serious problems. Most healthy people find themselves depressed or anxious at some point. Getting help early can prevent a whole lot of suffering later, and it can help you avoid losing your ability to function at work or home. Short term counseling is no more expensive than, for instance, the 15,000 mile service to your car, a vacation or a new laptop.

I already have a therapist. Can my counseling there be covered by insurance?

You should check with your health insurance plan and with your therapist to see if your treatment can be covered by insurance. Not all plans cover mental health, although any company offering insurance in Chicago or in Illinois must also provide some coverage of mental illnesses.

Ok, this is difficult, but everyone has to learn to do it. By “it” I mean talking about sex, not just doing it. It’s best to choose a relaxed, semi-quiet time, when having sex is not on the agenda. I think it’s great to ask for permission to bring up a delicate topic and create a playful, non-anxious attitude in your own heart at the same time.

It takes a long time, sometimes a lifetime, to get full “ownership” of our sexuality. And 25 is still young. Also, premature ejaculation can also be a problem for older men and their partners as well. What’s amazing is that couples can go for decades without resolving this issue. Accommodating this problem is only a temporary solution. Once it becomes a pattern it is self reinforcing and very demoralizing to everyone.

Credible lovers will not be satisfied unless they have also satisfied their partner as well. Therefore, your husband should be at least as interested as you are in a solution.

There are physical techniques that you can use to delay ejaculation; however creating a strong erotic connection during lovemaking is a more effective approach. Couples who can focus on and “track” the ebb and flow of their partner’s arousal during lovemaking are usually successful with their love life. This is a skill that is rarely mentioned or taught. But it makes sense, since tracking with other people’s moods, thoughts, and ideas is also critical to social competence. Eye to eye connection, playfulness and a true desire to please as well as be pleased builds this erotic connection.

And, when the connection is lost, don’t be afraid to stop, “retrace your steps”, go back and find it again.

If your statements about your sexual expectations are wrapped in desire rather than complaint or criticism, these conversations will more likely be experienced as delightful, seductive invitations.

If your husband is defensive, hurt or angry, you should suggest that you have the conversation at a latter time – at his initiation. Whether or not he initiates that conversation will tell you a whole lot about whether you need professional help.

Failures of Compassion

Building and Maintaining Care Teams for your Church

Creating Health and Caregiving Ministries