November 5, 2024

Advice from Jonathan Berkowitz | How To Beat Stress

In most cases, says Jonathan Berkowitz, a person cannot simply erase the cause of stress in his or her life. On the other hand, adds Jonathan Berkowitz, there are many reliable methods for stress relief. People can change the way they deal with stress both in short term and long-term situations, says Jonathan Berkowitz.

A valuable key to managing stress, points out Jonathan Berkowitz, is in the manner of one’s response. In the most elementary sense, says Jonathan Berkowitz, “response” to stress refers to the ancient “fight-or-flight” response. This primitive form of response, says Jonathan Berkowitz, is an instinct in all of humankind. When a stressor arises, explains Jonathan Berkowitz, the body produces an alarm response. [Read more…]

Yochanan Berkowitz Examines the Relaxing Power of Hobbies and Meditation

Individuals who seek the services of a licensed clinical social worker like Yochanan Berkowitz are often beset by stress in their lives that they cannot resolve on their own. Yochanan Berkowitz says that a hobby is a great way to relieve and cancel out the stress in one’s life. Engaging in a hobby to relax, points out Yochanan Berkowitz, means choosing a hobby that a person has genuine interest in. The real relaxing value of a hobby is in the process more than the end results, notes Yochanan Berkowitz.

A hobby for relaxation must not be about competition or achievement, says Yochanan Berkowitz, as much as it must be about clearing the head and setting the mind into a comfortable routine. A good relaxing hobby, says Yochanan Berkowitz, will require light activity, preferably work done with the hands, like gardening, jigsaw puzzles or collecting. [Read more…]

Bikes Direct Outfits Ironman Participant Courtney Spratt with Motobecane Nemesis Team

Bikes Direct congratulates Courtney Spratt for her recent participation in the Ironman World Championships in Kona. Looking for a grand way to celebrate her upcoming 40th birthday, Courtney entered the lottery on a whim and then promptly forgot she had done so. When she received the email—the one so few lottery entrants receive—saying that she had won a spot in the race, Courtney celebrated and then immediately began training. With the Bikes Direct staff eagerly tracking her progress, Courtney completed Ironman Kona on October 9, 2010, and then a few short weeks later, completed Ironman Florida on November 6, 2010.

Needless to say, a huge component of the race is the bike ride, and as a bike geek, Courtney turned to Bikes Direct to outfit her for the race. Fortunately, as one of Motobecane’s largest dealers, Bikes Direct had the opportunity to test a new Motobecane model, and Courtney was the first to ride it at Kona—talk about a debut! Given the popularity of Motobecane’s tri bikes, the Nemesis and Nemesis Pro, and feedback from Bikes Direct customers wanting an even higher level of componentry, Motobecane created the Motobecane Nemesis Team.

When Courtney first saw the Motobecane Nemesis Team in the Bikes Direct office, she says she immediately loved the bike. She says, “It’s not a shy color. It’s very outspoken in terms of component level and design style. But I received lost of compliments on the bike, especially in Ironman Florida, where everyone asked if I was a Gator fan.” Bikes Direct asked Courtney for post-race feedback on the bike, and she was happy to report that the Nemesis Team was very fast and extremely comfortable. It was comfortable enough to ride in aero position the entire time, and she says she could ride it all day, which she in fact has done several times, her longest ride clocking in at seven hours. Courtney reports that the Motobecane Nemesis Team is a vast improvement over other bikes she has ridden in previous races.

Bikes Direct will stock the Motobecane Nemesis Team in Team Orange. Featuring NACA and Kam-tail aero profiles and with an advanced lay-up, High Modulus Carbon Fiber Monocoque frame, the Motobecane Nemesis Team offered by Bikes Direct will turn the heads of both casual cyclists and hard-core bike aficionados alike. It will have an aero-section carbon fiber fork with a carbon steerer. Bikes Direct also reports that the Nemesis Team will feature a SRAM Red drivetrain, 53/39T, 11-23 OG1090 Powerdome. It will have a Zipp 404/808 wheelset, which both Courtney and Bikes Direct staffers say is “sick,” Zipp Vuka R2C shifters, Zipp Vuka aero bars, and an aero carbon seatpost.

Bikes Direct is excited to begin offering these ultra high-end bikes at prices lower than comparable models. Bikes Direct has become a fixture in the fixie, road bike, mountain bike and hybrid/comfort bike scenes, and is now ready to enter the elite competition field. Bikes Direct is excited to debut this amazing bicycle and eager to offer it to their customers. With an anticipated list price of $6500, Bikes Direct again offers an amazing bike at an unmatched price.

Bikes Direct hopes its customers will have as much fun on this bike as Courtney reports, and with equally as amazing results. With the spring triathlon season quickly sneaking up on us, Bikes Direct anticipates that its latest offering, the Motobecane Nemesis Team, will be a strong presence in races around the country. Bikes Direct offers all types on Tri bikes from beginner to Pro, as Bikes Direct feels each cyclist must start their own journey at a place that is comfortable. Sign up for the Bikes Direct newsletter to be the first to learn when the bike will be available for purchase, round the look off with a Motobecane jersey—available only through Bikes Direct—and start training!

About Bikes Direct

Bikes Direct continues to provide the same excellent cycling experience that riders around the world have come to expect from Motobecane. As a beginning, Bikes Direct can offer this brief history; Motobecane has been making bikes since 1923 and was named after the French word Moto for motorcycle and Becane for bike. Things went well for the company until 1981 when they were bankrupt and bought by Yamaha and became MBK. Now Motobecane USA is not related to the French company as they import bikes from Taiwan and China, these are the bikes you are interested in. Bikes Direct offers these Bikes Direct to the public at competitive price points and excellent quality.

According to Bikes Direct, Motobécane was a major manufacturer in the French bicycle industry. The frames on Motobécane’s mid-to-upper bikes were typically double-butted lugged steel made from Vitus or Reynolds 531 molybdenum/manganese steel tubing with Nervex lugs. Motobécane finished their frames in beautiful and high-quality paint, a practice not often followed in the French industry. Considered the second most prestigious French bicycle (after Peugeot, whose more durable design they emulated, but ahead of Gitane), Bikes Direct remembers Motobécane’s mid-range bikes as a good value; the company kept prices reasonable by matching high-quality frames with lower-priced, but higher-quality components from Japan, at a time when competitors were putting higher-priced, lower quality French components on mid-range bikes. Bikes Direct says that Motobécane bicycles included the Nomade, Mirage, Super Mirage, Super Touring, Grand Touring, Sprint, Jubilee, Grand Record, Le Champion, and Team Champion.

Bikes Direct now offers Motobecane models that use carbon on two of their ranges of bikes, the Race Carbon/AL and the Full Carbon ranges. From the Race Carbon they produce the Century Comp, Elite, Pro and Team and from the Full Carbon they have the Immortal Pro, Force and Spirit.

Race Carbon/AL from Bikes Direct

Bikes Direct says the Race Carbon /AL frames are a mixture of Alloy main frame tubes and carbon rear seat stays. The frames use different Alloy for the tubes on each of the frames and different equipment to assemble the bikes.
The Century Comp has Columbus Airplane tubes and Shimano 105 Triple group set.

The Century Elite has Shimano Ultegra Triple kit and the frame is made from 7005 double butted and carbon stays. Shimano Ultegra 30 speed and Kinesium SL and Carbon are used for the Century Pro.

Bikes Direct offers the top class Shimano Dura-Ace, and carbon FSA Cranks are used for the Century Team with Kineses 7005 AL main tubes and carbon stays. All have carbon forks.

The Full Carbon

Shimano Utegra mixed with 105 and FSA is fitted to the Immortal Pro high modulus carbon fiber monocoque frameset along with carbon forks American Classic wheels.

Bikes Direct knows the Immortal Force is very similar to the Pro except it is all Shimano Ultegra; all the other equipment and the frame is the same.

The Immortal Spirit Dura-Ace, FSA, American Classic wheels and Ritchey are all fitted to a monocoque carbon frame keeping the weight down to 16 pounds.

Bikes Direct makes sure that all the equipment is top class and you can’t fault any choice there. Looking at the Geometries of the frames there is beauty and they handle well.

In addition to the standard diamond frame bicycles, Motobécane produced mixte frame versions; the mixte frame Grand Touring had twin lateral stays in place of a top tube, extending from the head tube to the seat tube, while the Super Touring and Grand Jubilé had a single top tube sloping down towards the seat tube, but diverging into twin lateral stays just before the seat tube. Later mixte Grand Touring models also used this design. Motobécane also produced a tandem bicycle.

Bikes Direct says vintage French bicycles, including Motobécane, are often sought today for their value as a fixed gear conversion.

For more information about Motobecane contact Bikes Direct at BikesDirect.com.

Foot Care Advice from Dr. William Knudson, Long-time Cedar Rapids, Iowa Podiatrist

Dr. William Knudson, a podiatrist who practiced for many years in the Cedar Rapids, Iowa area notes that the human foot has been integrated into many everyday metaphors about life. When a person falls in love, points out Dr. William Knudson of Cedar Rapids, they are said to be “swept off their feet.” When someone is feeling reticent, adds Dr. William Knudson Cedar Rapids, they are described as having “cold feet.”

Dr. William Knudson has accrued many professional distinctions, including the Department Chair of Podiatry at Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Cedar Rapids’ Dr. William Knudson is also a certified Diplomat of the American Board of Podiatric Surgery. A Fellow of the American College of Foot and Ankle surgeons, Dr. William Knudson was a practicing podiatrist in the Cedar Rapids/Waterloo area of Iowa from 1996-2009. Recently, Dr. William Knudson began the process of moving his practice to the East Coast.

While practicing in Cedar Rapids, Dr. William Knudson noted that many patients suffered from foot conditions but ignored the symptoms as a sign that their feet were simply sore or tired. In this post, Dr. William Knudson offers some practical tips for foot care.

Swollen feet are a common condition, explains Dr. William Knudson of Cedar Rapids, which occurs when a person is standing up for too long. If they repeatedly experience swollen feet, Dr. William Knudson tells his Cedar Rapids patients that it may actually be an indicator of a more serious health problem. A podiatrist may have treatments or solutions, says Dr. William Knudson, to improve circulation and reduce or eliminate the swelling. Other common circulation related foot ailments observed in his Cedar Rapids patients, says Dr. William Knudson, have been peripheral artery disease and diabetes. These conditions can compromise blood flow to the feet, explains Dr. William Knudson to his Cedar Rapids patients, leading to slow and difficult healing.

Foot care tip from Cedar Rapids podiatrist Dr. William Knudson: If you have a sore, cut or scrape on your foot that is taking to long to heal, visit a podiatrist for professional advice.

About William Knudson Cedar Rapids

Cedar Rapids podiatrist William Knudson grew up near Des Moines, Iowa. Before moving to Cedar Rapids, William Knudson spent his boyhood enjoying the pastimes of small town mid-America, and when it was time to pursue a vocation, Dr. William Knudson of Cedar Rapids chose Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa.

On his way to settling down in Cedar Rapids, Dr. William Knudson pursued medical studies and later graduated from the Dr. William M. Scholl College of Podiatric Medicine in Chicago, Illinois. While pursuing a degree there, Dr. William Knudson of Cedar Rapids was awarded the Durlacher Honor Society scholarship, given in recognition of his scholarship and perceived potential for the advancement of podiatric medicine. Cedar Rapids’ Dr. William Knudson also received the Philip Brachman Honor Scholarship (1994-1995) and Knudson graduated Cum Laude with both a Bachelor of Science and a Doctor of Podiatric Medicine on May 12, 1995.

Before the move to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Dr. William Knudson was offered a position at Hillcrest Health Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Then in 1996, Cedar Rapids’ Dr. William Knudson was appointed Chief Resident, and he was part of a 24-month program in podiatric medicine and surgery. This opportunity offered Dr. William Knudson extensive training in forefoot, rear foot, ankle, and lower leg reconstruction. Cedar Rapids’ Dr. William Knudson achieved certification in foot and ankle arthroscopy, advanced wound care of the lower extremity and Internal fixation in foot and ankle surgery.

Over the next thirteen years Dr. William Knudson provided care in three well respected practices in the Cedar Rapids, Iowa area. In 1997 and 1998, Dr. William practiced at the Northwest Foot and Ankle Associates near Cedar Rapids in Sioux City, Iowa. Dr. William Knudson’s next stop relocated him closer to Cedar Rapids in Waterloo, Iowa where he built a practice at Cedar Valley Podiatry from 1998 through 2006. In 2006, Dr. William Knudson moved to a practice in Cedar Rapids at Iowa Foot and Ankle Clinic.

While practicing at Cedar Rapids’ Iowa Foot and Ankle Clinic, Dr. William Knudson was appointed as Department Chair, Podiatry, at the Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Dr. William Knudson also served on the Faculty of the Cedar Rapids Medical Education Foundation. Dr. William Knudson also served as a Panel physician at the Cedar Rapids, Iowa Wound Healing Center located at Mercy Medical Center.

Dr. William Knudson’s professional accreditations include certification as a Diplomat of the American Board of Podiatric Surgery. Cedar Rapids’ Dr. William Knudson is also appointed as a Fellow of the American Collage of Foot and Ankle Surgeons.

Following a relocation from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Dr. William Knudson moved to and currently resides in Zanesville, Ohio.

John Michael Hughes Offers Perspectives on Electric Cars

John Michael Hughes is a proponent of green consciousness and alternative fuels. In our age of recycling, renewing and reusing, a good electric car is gradually becoming a necessity, says John Michael Hughes. As environmental consciousness increases, adds John Michael Hughes, people are learning about the true cost and scale of our most coveted resources. With gas prices rising, states John Michael Hughes, oil continues to become increasingly scarce.

According to John Michael Hughes, all of these factors point to the need to find a more renewable form of energy to propel automobiles. That form of energy, notes John Michael Hughes, is battery-stored electricity. The dream of a well-made hybrid or fully electric car, acknowledges John Michael Hughes, is still in the making. According to current technology and advertising claims, says John Michael Hughes, it is possible to own a hybrid car that has an average fuel cost of 3 cents per mile. [Read more…]

Andre Moxie Advises Parents to Keep Kids’ Sports Fun and Rewarding

One of the values of organized sports, says Coach Andre Moxie, is that they teach people to work together as a team and to function as part of a greater whole than the individual player. For this reason, Andre Moxie encourages parents to involve their children in organized sports. Andre Moxie’s sport of choice is soccer.

Andre Moxie notes that soccer is an increasingly popular sport in America amongst young children. For some inexplicable reason, continues Andre Moxie, interest in soccer seems to wane later in life, displaced perhaps by baseball and football. Kids’ sports are a great way to give children the socialization, cooperation and exercise that will benefit them all of their lives, according to Andre Moxie.

However, Andre Moxie also cautions parents not to become excessively enthusiastic about their kids’ sporting endeavors. Andre Moxie explains that children’s sports can often dominate a parent’s life, causing a confusion of priorities. Andre Moxie adds that it is natural for parents to want to see their children excel and succeed. But it is just as important, says Andre Moxie, to keep those desires in perspective.

Andre Moxie reports that several studies have been done to examine the sometimes-tenuous relationships between parents, coaches and children on the field. Andre Moxie has also observed several common mistakes that well-meaning soccer parents would do well to avoid. Andre Moxie has seen several parents inadvertently project their personal aspirations onto their children.

Andre Moxie also explains that many coaches have reported parents who are negative – even pushy – and who have become a source of embarrassment for the child, the team, and for the other parents. Children on a team, says Andre Moxie, are all meant to be held accountable to the same expectations, without preferential treatment. One of the social values of team sports, concludes Andre Moxie, is that they should give children a chance to perform among their peers, not their parents.

About the Author

Andre Moxie entered the world the same year that the Beatles let it be known that they wanted to hold your hand. Born in Ithaca, New York in 1964, Andre Moxie was raised as an independent thinker during a time of great civil unrest. Andre Moxie completed his primary education and then entered the University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware in 1983 where he obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice. Following graduation, Andre Moxie relocated to Yuba City, California and entered the Air Force as a 2nd Lieutenant.

From 1988 until 1991 Andre Moxie served his country as a Personnel Officer in command of 25 military Personnel and 30 civilian volunteers. Andre Moxie was stationed at Beale Air Force Base in California, 15th Air Force, Strategic Air Command. While stationed at Beale AFB, Andre Moxie enrolled at Golden Gate University in 1988 where he earned a MS degree in Human Resources Management. In 1991 Andre Moxie completed his service commitment and received the United States Air Force Commendation Medal for Meritorious Service.

Turning the corner and heading toward a professional carrier in the private sector, Andre Moxie was recruited in 1991 by Pfizer Pharmaceuticals. The company hired Andre Moxie as a sales representative for the pharmaceutical giant to cover the Orlando, Florida territory. In 1995 Andre Moxie left Pfizer for Merck & Co. and was a representative in the Hollywood, Florida territory in the Florida Region.

In 1996, Andre Moxie was promoted to Headquarters for Merck and Company’s. Initially serving as a Field Communications Coordinator for VASOTEC, Andre Moxie acted as a field communication specialist responsible for all field sales communications for Merck’s cardiovascular products. Again advancing in 1997, Andre Moxie accepted the position of Product Trainer HT/HF Market Integration Team Same Sales Trainer at Merck and Co. In that position Andre Moxie was responsible for training representatives about Merck’s cardiovascular products.

In January 1999, Andre Moxie was appointed as Business Manager for the Miami District for Merck and Company. Continuing through the ranks of management, Andre Moxie found himself serving as Acting Senior Director Field of Implementation Team for Hospital and Specialty in 2005. Andre Moxie was entrusted to support and coordinate among sales management, marketing, and direct reports to achieve brand success for all Hospital and Vertical products. Filling yet another management need Andre Moxie accepted an appointment within Merck and Company in 1996 to the position of Senior Director of Training Planning and Brand. In this position, Andre Moxie collaborated with sales and marketing units within the company to fully develop one year and three year training plans, with emphasis on high-quality, value-added programs and resources that affected appropriate behavioral objectives.

Beginning in 2006 and continuing into 2008 Andre Moxie filled the position of Senior Director of Neurology Sales at Merck and Co. for the Southern United States. Andre Moxie was again advanced late in 2008 to the position of Director of Commercial Operations for the Mid South Joint Venture Sales force, Merck and Co.

From January 2010 to the present Andre Moxie has served as the Director of Commercial Operations for the New South Region, Merck and Co. Andre Moxie currently resides in the Metro Atlanta, Georgia area.

Foot Care from Dr. William Knudson | Understanding Athletic Shoe Design

In his work as a podiatrist, Dr. William Knudson frequently treats foot problems that could have been avoided or mitigated with the proper footwear. In our image conscious society, says Dr. William Knudson, people often chose shoes that are fashionable but unhealthy. Dr. William Knudson reminds his patients that their feet are more important than they think.

When it comes to walking and running shoes, explains Dr. William Knudson, shoe designers produce three categories of footwear. The three types of walking and running shoes, continues Dr. William Knudson, are motion control, stability and neutral shoes. Motion control shoes, says Dr. William Knudson, resist twisting and bending. They generally have a straight shape, adds Dr. William Knudson, and are best fit to people with low or flat arches.

Stability shoes are designed with a slight curve in their shape, points out Dr. William Knudson, and are best suited to people with medium arches. This is what podiatrists usually refer to as “normal” arches. The neutral design, says Dr. William Knudson, is a rigid shoe with a curved shape. Dr. William Knudson adds that neutral shoes are suited for feet with high arches.

Regardless of the style of shoe Dr. William Knudson’s patients end up choosing, there are some basics that apply to all footwear. Choose a shoe with a removable insole, recommends Dr. William Knudson, so you have the option of using your own insole or orthotics to further customize the fit. Make sure the shoes have a snug heel, notes Dr. William Knudson, and a toe box with about half an inch of play, so that it is easy to comfortably wiggle the toes. Another good sizing rule with athletic shoes, says Dr. William Knudson, is to try new shoes on late in the day. Due to circulation, feet expand and contract over the course of a day, says Dr. William Knudson, and they are typically at their biggest by late afternoon.

Dr. Randall Alifano PhD Discusses the Evolution of Image Making from Painting to Photography

Photography is a democratic art form, says Dr. Randall Alifano PhD, putting the power of image creation in the hands of anyone with a wish to do so. While photography is accessible to nearly everyone, continues Dr. Randall Alifano PhD, it remains an art form with many conventions of substance. Dr. Randall Alifano PhD explains that this means that there are agreed-upon methods for creating good pictures.

Photographic techniques, says Dr. Randall Alifano PhD, have developed over time as photographic technology has evolved. There are some simple themes to bear in mind, however, when arranging subjects for photographs and snapshots. All photographs convey some kind of message, and Dr. Randall Alifano PhD says that composition is one of the ways that a photographer shapes the message.

The nature of photos, as two-dimensional representations of reality, lends the medium to certain conventions. People have been making images for millennia, states Dr. Randall Alifano PhD. During that time, Dr. Randall Alifano PhD explains that certain compositional similarities have emerged. When it comes to composition, or the arrangement of objects in a picture, Dr. Randall Alifano PhD says that many of the rules that worked for painting in previous centuries are still applicable to photography. The saying that the eyes are the window to the soul is quite applicable in photography.

Modern photographic developments, points out Dr. Randall Alifano PhD, have inevitably added new considerations to good composition; things that painters never had to think about. These new technical considerations, says Dr. Randall Alifano PhD, include shutter speed, focus and depth of field, which work together to help determine the mood and meaning of a photograph. Dr. Randall Alifano PhD encourages students of photography to remember that the only thing that makes these into “rules” of composition is artistic consensus over time. Over the generations, explains Dr. Randall Alifano PhD, certain types of images, like portraits and landscapes have proven immensely popular. Consequently, the images themselves set certain rules of composition. But these “rules” of composition can be broken at any time, concludes Dr. Randall Alifano PhD, which makes them even more useful as tools for creative direction.

About the Author

In 1985, Dr. Randall Alifano PhD received a Master’s degree in Psychology from Antioch University. Dr. Randall Alifano PhD completed his studies for a PhD in Clinical Psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies in 1986. Dr. Randall Alifano PhD chose CIIS because it was the school he believed offered the best blend of the study of psychology and spirituality.

In October of 2002, Dr. Randall Alifano PhD became an Ordained Minister of The Association of the Integration of the Whole Person (AIWP). Dr. Randall Alifano PhD always had a sense that he would be a counselor. When other children were talking about how they wanted to be police officers or baseball players, Dr. Randall Alifano PhD already knew he would be listening to people being curious about how they lived their life. His first class in Psychology was in high school. The teacher and Randall Alifano would talk long after the last bell, debating things like empathy and altruism and the nature of healing.

At this time Dr. Randall Alifano PhD was already counseling friends and acquaintances and was known as a person that others could speak to about their concerns. Dr. Randall Alifano PhD received a BA in Psychology from SUNY Albany and while there, volunteered on the crisis hotline. Typically reserved for graduate students, he was the only undergrad student given permission to do one on one counseling with students and he supervised the other phone counselors. He also worked at a residential treatment program for emotionally challenged children at this time.

After graduation in 1976, Dr. Randall Alifano PhD hitchhiked through Europe for 8 months questioning himself and others about the existence of God and studying various religions. Back in New York, Dr. Randall Alifano PhD worked at the Coalition for Abused Women in NY, getting an education in violence and gender issues before traveling to San Francisco and beginning graduate work. Interviewing at San Francisco State University, Dr. Randall Alifano PhD told a well-known Philosophy professional that his interest was in finding integration between Psychology and Spirituality. That person, rather disdainfully, responded that they were two distinct traditions and were impossible to bring together.  Dr. Randall Alifano PhD did not end up attending that university.

Antioch University offered a course of study which was profoundly and personally challenging for Dr. Randall Alifano PhD. Encounter groups led by Will Schutz were meant to confront and shatter defenses. They did just that. One learned that being honest and vulnerable did not come naturally, as one tends to hide whatever is believed to be judged and prejudiced. Dr. Randall Alifano PhD also learned that Christ’s statement that “the Truth will set you free” had practical application. Dr. Randall Alifano PhD believes strongly that there is a freedom that results from learning to exercise the choice of saying what is true rather than communicating from habituated, unexamined, defensive patterns.

Just before graduation, Dr. Randall Alifano PhD’s twin boys were born. Dr Alifano had to quit school and started a janitorial service, Snow White Assoc., to support his new family. Additionally he became the Clinical Coordinator of the Men’s Program of the Marin Abused Women’s Services, working directly with violent men, leading groups and organizing and training the volunteer counselors. By 1985, Dr. Randall Alifano PhD was able to finish the required course work, write a thesis, receive his Master’s degree and begin a private practice. Within four months, Dr. Randall Alifano PhD had a full practice.

In 1990 Dr. Randall Alifano began a PhD program in Clinical Psychology at The California Institute of Integral Studies. This was a school that not only believed that Psychology and Spirituality could be integrated, but they included it in their name. Here, Dr. Randall Alifano PhD could study Psychoanalytic theory alongside the mystical traditions of the Desert Fathers, read Jung and Kierkegaard and study meditation and personality testing.  Graduating in 1996, Dr. Randall Alifano’s counseling skills deepened as his theoretical base broadened and his listening became more refined.

In 2002 Dr. Randall Alifano PhD was ordained by The Association for the Integration of the Whole Person as a Minister specializing in Pastoral Counseling.  It was in that year that he began to make a shift away from traditional Psychotherapy and found a calling in Psycho-spiritual Counseling. The tradition of Psychotherapy is anchored in the medical model which assesses for pathology and then treats it. After 26 years of private practice, Dr. Randall Alifano PhD realized that this perspective is biased and that it frequently results in a profound limitation of one’s ability to listen to the complexity of what is being said. He found that when listening it is vitally important to quiet the mind so as to be completely receptive to the speaker.

In 2007 Dr. Kim Chernin, Dr. Renate Stendhal and Dr. Randall Alifano PhD developed and taught a year long program for therapists entitled Advanced Study in Intuitive Listening. They taught the art of listening and wrote articles articulating how one can refine listening skills and empathically surrender in order to hear what can be missed when one is listening through unexamined filters.

Dr. Randall Alifano PhD is grateful that he is, personally and professionally, living the life he had hoped for all those years ago; integrating psychology and spirituality. The individuals and couples that see Dr. Randall Alifano PhD are happy that they are not being diagnosed and treated along pathological lines but are regarded from a much broader perspective.

Dr. Randall Alifano PhD can be reached by email at randall@randallalifanophd.com or by phone at (510) 528-1201. For more information, visit his website at http://www.randallalifanophd.com.

Yochanan Jonathan Berkowitz Discusses the Therapeutic Value of Nature

Educated and working in social services, Yochanan Jonathan Berkowitz frequently searches for new opportunities and methods to help his clients resolve their troubles. One effective supplemental method, says Yochanan Jonathan Berkowitz, is to go for a hike or long walk in a park or nature preserve. In fact, Yochanan Jonathan Berkowitz is a firm believer in the beneficial effect of nature. He says that time spent in nature is one of the best ways to help bring peace and thoughtfulness when life becomes difficult.

An avid hiker, Yochanan Jonathan Berkowitz offers a few tips to make the most out of a day in the country. To begin, Yochanan Jonathan Berkowitz advises getting an early start on a day hike to avoid the heat of afternoon. A hike in hot weather means carrying more water, says Yochanan Jonathan Berkowitz, thereby increasing carried weight.

Take infrequent breaks and don’t hurry, advises Yochanan Jonathan Berkowitz, in order to maintain a sustained pace. He suggests traveling light when hiking, especially if you are an inexperienced hiker. Yochanan Jonathan Berkowitz notes that traveling light also conserves the hiker’s energy. Hiking on developed trails, adds Yochanan Jonathan Berkowitz, also helps to reduce the need to carry items into the forest. [Read more…]

Mount Carmel Youth Ranch Helps Heal the Wounds of Children of Divorce

Mount Carmel Youth Ranch knows that when a young man experiences the divorce of his parents, the effects are often devastating. A variety of emotions from sadness to anger to despair are typically experienced, according to Mount Carmel Youth Ranch professionals. Many youth often need someone to talk to, but feel the absence of a person they deem trustworthy enough in whom to confide. Keeping things bottled up can lead to other issues, and this is what draws many families to Mount Carmel Youth Ranch.

At Mount Carmel Youth Ranch, dedicated staff work hard to help a young man process and free himself from the intense emotions he is experiencing. They often don’t make sense to him, explains Mount Carmel Youth Ranch. Because of this, he must be encouraged to take a step back and reassess the situation. [Read more…]