Academic Anxiety: Part 1

In our first post, we discussed why we started Life Together. Although the business just recently started, Allyn and I have been thinking together for quite some time on how we could blend our different professions. Allyn has been tutoring students for over 10 years and one of the major roadblocks he regularly comes across is fear. As a therapist, I’ve worked with people who suffer from debilitating anxiety and children who have difficulties functioning in school for a variety of reasons. For that reason, we felt academic anxiety was a perfect first step.

In my work with various populations, I actually see a great deal of similarity between what my clients often face and what I understand about Allyn’s students. Specifically, what often inhibits my clients from getting better is not simply the illness they suffer from, but all of the other social and environmental complications. Likewise, Allyn often finds it is not only the difficulty of a given subject that hurts students, but rather problems with sleep, homework, diet and other habits that are part of the cycle. 

Some answers to these difficulties are straightforward: Get to bed earlier, eat less sugar, watch less TV. But other answers are more elusive: Is there really a “best way” to study? How do I make this seemingly irrelevant topic interesting?

There are actually answers to a lot of these questions. They’re not just from personal experience, but are also backed up by science. Allyn and I have led academic anxiety workshops specifically addressing these challenges, teaching research and evidence-based practices that students can use at home and parents can use to support their children in getting through those roadblocks.

One evidence-based study technique, believer it or not, is humor. Take this example from the journal, College Teaching (Vo. 54, No. 1, pages 177-180) by Randy Garner, PhD, who found that

“students were more likely to recall a statistics lecture when it was interjected with jokes about relevant topics. For example, in a lecture segment on reporting research findings, Garner used a metaphorical joke about a planned escape by one of two prisoners in a desert jail. One prisoner tries to escape after unsuccessfully persuading the other to go with him, only learning--after breaking out--that escape is futile as there is nothing but sand for hundreds of miles. After he's captured and returned to his cell, he tells the story of failed escape to the other prisoner who subsequently shares that he tried to escape a few years earlier. Incredulous, the first prisoner exclaimed, "You knew! Why didn't you tell me?" whereupon the other remarks, "Silly man, you should know that no one reports negative results.”

You don’t have to be a professional comedian. In fact, you don’t have to be funny at all; just don’t take the work too seriously. Keep an eye on the clock and give topics their due respect, but remember to crack a joke here and there since research proves laughter decreases stress hormones and increases concept retention.

- http://www.apa.org/monitor/jun06/learning.aspx

Psychotherapy and Massage: Odd Couple or Perfect Match?

For our maiden voyage into the world of blogging, Jen and I want to introduce ourselves formally (or is this informally??) with a little bit more about why we’re starting Life Together. 

Like so many people, our professional lives are tied to our personal passions. Jen has worked hard throughout her life to understand the psychological components of anxiety so that she can help herself and others work to deal with stress effectively. I, too, have worked hard to manage anxiety in my life, but my path was of a more physical nature. I learned massage therapy and began practicing martial arts as a different set of means towards the same end.

That’s the background. Today, we’re looking at more synergistic solutions for ourselves and others. Daily life can be stressful, plain and simple. Without specific, active, solution-oriented methods to handle stress, the demands of daily life, work and family can overwhelm an individual easily. While attending yoga classes and reading self-help books work to an extent, we also need genuine care from others and more often than most of us like to admit…

… and over the upcoming weeks and months, we’re going to build up services, workshops and even retreats to do just that - provide genuine care. How, specifically? Well, there aren’t any real mysteries in counseling, bodywork or education, but to illustrate the point, use this example:

Think of something that makes you feel good about yourself. It can be anything really. Maybe you helped a customer at work. Maybe you got an outfit you really like.

Imagine a friend or relative approaches. “Hey, I heard about that. That’s really great. I’m happy for you.”

How do you feel? Pretty good, right? Maybe a little better than you did before…

Now imagine the same friend or relative gives you the same compliment, but while she is speaking, she shakes your hand.

How do you feel now? Amazing! The simple act of physically connecting with another person has a powerfully affirming effect.

Lastly, imagine your friend or relative never approached you. Yeah, maybe you gave yourself a pat on the shoulder for a job well done, but now the absence of someone else’s acknowledgment is clearly felt.

We ground each other. We lift each other up when we’re weak and we invigorate each other when we’re strong. Whatever skills we master as individuals to tackle life’s challenges, life’s challenges are most often overcome when we work together.

That sentiment is at the heart of our adventure together. Appreciation for simple gestures such as a compassionate ear and a healing hand guides our business mission.

Over time, through practice and education, we hope Life Together will be part of a new vision in cooperative, multi-dimensional health.