0.01% of the General Population

0.01% of the General Population

This Communication Model is a model of care that is intended to help an individual who is experiencing mental distress. It is model that does not cost anything, does not offer advice and does not promise anything. It is a model of acceptance and non-judgment, and intended for the 0.01% of the general population with treatment resistant psychosis.

Method: When an individual with mental distress communicates his/her feelings in a confidential manner what often happens is that the acceptance of the individual leads to an empowerment. This empowerment leads an individual to want to take responsibility for his/her own destiny. The Communication Model works in a very contradictory and paradoxical way & at the same time in a very positive way.

The Communication Model is intended to pick-up where Sigmund Freud left off. For example, in the past Sigmund Freud believed that a person with schizophrenia could not be counseled. This concept lead to individuals with schizophrenia currently being medicated through the hospital + general practitioners and sometimes receiving psycho-social care in the community.

The current psychiatric system is built on Sigmund Freud’s concept and I want to add to that and focus more on the individuals emotions. I believe that it is through communicating with an individual with refractory schizophrenia that drives individual self-mental-change.

Throughout my volunteer work and internship work at the British Columbia Schizophrenia Society in Victoria, I noticed that individuals with serious mental illness, who were medicated often said two important statements: [1] that they wished that they could feel again – because the medications were making them feel numb and [2] that even though they were taking medications they were still experiencing distress inside of themselves. These two statements made me realize that there is a need to focus on the emotions underlining the symptoms. It was the wish of individuals with serious mental illness – out of their own testimonies – and it is these testimonies – that is one of the main reasons why the Communication Model was born. Furthermore, even though it is mentioned through the Medical Model that medications for schizophrenia are effective – the opposite side of the same coin is that it is a known fact that the medications do not work for a very select group of treatment resistant individuals despite proper compliance and the adherence of strict and regimented instructions and the following of medications schemas. It is called Treatment Resistant Psychosis / Refactory Schizophrenia and the Communication Model is intended to try to help these very select specific individuals. During my Interprofessional Mental Health and Addictions post degree program diploma at Camosun College in Victoria British Columbia Canada, I conducted a literature review into Schizophrenia and the Canadian Justice System – and with more than 400 peer academic research references indicated that many seriously mentally ill (SMI) individuals were DSM diagnosed and in jail. To me, that means that the Medical Model did not work well for them – seeing that the individuals were now behind bars.

Treatment Resistance Psychosis is something that is not the fault of an individual. Instead it is the opposite. Treatment Resistant Psychosis means that these marginalized individuals often get stigmatized by psychiatrists and medical doctors because the psychiatrists and medical doctors do not know how to deal with this very specific group of people. Because the medication and the Medical Model seems to be working for most people with schizophrenia (estimation of 0.99% of the general population), often what occurs, is that psychiatrists and medical doctors will turn a blind-eye to this group of people, (estimation of 0.01% of the general population) because the majority of individuals seem to be receiving treatment that works. The estimated 0.01% general population will have schizophrenia symptoms, for example paranoia, however they will be labeled behavioral versus symptom-related. This leads individuals to fall through the cracks and hence often become homeless or in the Canadian jail system.

Would it not be logical if the Medical Model started to focus on the 0.01% of the general population treatment resistant psychosis individuals (this percentage is an estimation) versus the 0.99 % treatment successful psychosis individuals – or is that not feasible nor effective according to the Medical Model? Is the brain so vast that it is impossible, with any exact precision to pin-pointing an exact area to be targeted? The psychiatrist often needs to adjust the medications of any individual with serious mental illness many times before being able to access if they work.

The Communication Model is a tool that is intended to help the individuals, the hypothesized 0.01 % of the general population, with treatment resistant psychosis, through a unique way of communication. This unique form of communication is the symbiosis between the practitioner (myself as chief operator of the Communication Model) and an individual (experiencing treatment resistant psychosis symptoms, which in the realm of the Communication Model are referred to as emotions versus medical symptoms).

The aim of the Communication Model is to relieve pain by drawing and talking and linking into each others psyche in a humanity approach. There is no financial gain, no promises with be made and no advice will be given. At the same time, it must be mentioned that a trained Mental Health and Addictions Practitioner should conduct the Communication Model. As the Communication Model is intended for Refractory Schizophrenia solely. There is a unique communication symbiosis that develops and this is a very specialized skill – gained though lived-experience – combined with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Arts Policy, Management and Education, specialization Art Education combined with a post degree diploma in Interprofessional Mental Health and Addictions. There is a hyper-focus on treatment resistant psychosis intermingled with Existentialism, Individualism and Personalism. The Communication Model is to be conducted with safety in mind.

©TCM

Written by Annuska van der Pol, BA, PDD-IMHA
Mental Health and Addictions Practitioner
Victoria, BC Canada

Note: the number 0.01% treatment resistant psychosis of the general population is a number referenced in peer-academic material

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“Crack it open” by The Who

Picture taken on Dallas Road, Victoria British Columbia by Annuska van der Pol, October 9th 2013

“Behind Blue Eyes” lyrics by The Who

No one knows what it’s like
To be the bad man
To be the sad man
Behind blue eyes
No one knows what it’s like
To be hated
To be fated
To telling only lies
But my dreams
They aren’t as empty
As my conscience seems to beI have hours, only lonely
My love is vengeance
That’s never free

No one knows what it’s like
To feel these feelings
Like I do
And I blame you

No one bites back as hard
On their anger
None of my pain and woe
Can show through

But my dreams
They aren’t as empty
As my conscience seems to be

I have hours, only lonely
My love is vengeance
That’s never free

When my fist clenches, crack it open
Before I use it and lose my cool
When I smile, tell me some bad news
Before I laugh and act like a fool

If I swallow anything evil
Put your finger down my throat
If I shiver, please give me a blanket
Keep me warm, let me wear your coat

No one knows what it’s like
To be the bad man
To be the sad man
Behind blue eyes

But Who am I?

Within the realm of The Communication Model, I am an individual who likes to look from the outside in onto situations. I was taught this skill when I was doing my Bachelor of Arts degree in The Netherlands. I analyze paintings as an Art Historian. And as a Mental Health and Addictions Practitioner I often observe, listen and independently reflect on human beings that I connect with. Since I was seventeen (17) years old – I have been reflecting on humanity by means of writing and creating communication drawings.

But who am I deep inside? What makes me different from other artists and Mental Health and Addictions Practitioners? I think the answer resides in my roots. My roots are strong. They are unique to me. Even though my roots include my mother and father; my two sets of grandparents; my aunts and uncles; brother and sisters; cousins; nieces and nephews – my roots go deeper and deeper then that. They go back pass the core family unit to a country history. One of tolerance and trust; values and confidence; and compromise.

Written by Annuska van der Pol, BA, PDD-IMHA

©TCM

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[A]

This blog contains multiple pages. Just go to the top of this page and hit (click) on *HOME* and all the multiple pages will flow freely. It starts with Lady Justice with her scales and her sword.

[B]

If you want to read the work chronologically please scroll down to the start (with me in front of the painting) and concluding with Lady Justice, and scroll backwards through the work.

[C]

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Changing to a new perspective – The Communication Model

“Shame” by Annuska van der Pol, 2013

The Communication Model is going to help to transition our society from living in the stone-age into one of Enlightenment. The way that this will be achieved will be through sharing, education and inspiration. The Communication Model transcends the mundane and it uses personal psychology to by-pass the constraints of existing systems. The Communication Model exceeds simplicity and hones in on individual Existentialism.

©TCM

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[A]

This blog contains multiple pages. Just go to the top of this page and hit (click) on *HOME* and all the multiple pages will flow freely. It starts with Lady Justice with her scales and her sword.

[B]

If you want to read the work chronologically please scroll down to the start (with me in front of the painting) and concluding with Lady Justice, and scroll backwards through the work.

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SYMBIOSIS

SYMBIOSIS
© TCM 2013
Written by Annuska van der Pol, BA, PDD-IMHA
Mental Health and Addictions Practitioner, TCM P.O. Box 8825, Victoria, British Columbia V8W 3S3, Canada

Emotion is the most private feeling expressed in the most private way.

The Communication Model (TCM) focuses on emotions and feelings of an individual, as well as the sometimes symbolic nature of these emotions and feelings. For example, when someone would say “I just had a day from hell.” The next statement could be, could you please tell me more about your day from hell. Inquiring about a specific component often validates. It also invites the opportunity to explore the depth of the feeling in more detail. The exploration is a joint venture. It is about the sharing and the receiving of the expressed emotion. The sharing of the emotion also has the possibility to open up the flood gates to underlining emotions which could have been bottled up – this process has the potential to lead to an acute resolve. An acute resolve in-the-moment. It is the sharing and the helping which are both key. One individual is sharing the emotion and the other individual is receiving the emotion through empathy. This feeling of empathy is felt inside the receivers body. This feeling of the other person’s emotion is a counter-transference and this counter-transference in the form of a feeling is transferred in turn into the drawing by means of abstract lines and curves.

The interaction between two human beings is what the Communication Model is about. It is also about the creating of a drawing. The drawing is the result of the two individuals interaction together. Depending on the level of emotional distress that one experiences and the other receives as a result – what can happen is a symbiosis. Symbiosis is the inter-communication between two. If symbiosis occurs it is also directly transferred by the helper on to the paper in the form of lines and curves – in abstraction and viewed by the individual experiencing psychological pain. The purpose of the communication drawing is two-fold. First, it communicates the emotion from the individual in psychological pain through the counter-transference of onto the body and the mind of the practitioner and second it grounds and anchors the experience into a reality-based visual which seems to often bring relief when the individual in distress views it in a concrete form on paper. It is the process of reflection and interpretation of the communication experience which is externalized and communicated. When this externalization is accurate it often resonates with the individual in pain and brings a sense of relief. At the same time, the practitioner also experiences a sense of balance when the methods applied have helped the individual in distress and this is the reciprocal nature of the Communication Model.

At times the drawing becomes a safe form of externalized psychosis. The psychosis in this form is contained through the realm of the abstract pen drawing. It is the expression of psychosis to a safe, accepting, non-judgmental person-to-person interaction which leads to relief and empowerment versus tension and shame.

Psychosis is a mixing of emotion. It is the words, the feelings, the emotions and the expressions that sometimes seems not to make sense to another – however if two individuals are interacting and working within the realm of the psychosis together and there is a trusting bond and a mutual understanding and respect – the psychosis – at least in that instant – often dissolves.

This communication device is not something that is promised to happen – it is not something that is calculated and measured. Instead it is a situation that occurs out of trust, safety and mutual respect. It is a natural process which occurs out of the interactions own accord.

References

Izhakoff, S. (1993). Symbiosis and symbiotic relatedness: A bridge to schizophrenia. Pratt Institute Creative Arts Therapy Review, 1425-33.

Karon, B. P. (2007). Trauma and Schizophrenia. Journal Of Psychological Trauma, 6(2/3), 127-144. doi:10.1300/J513v06n02-08

Pijnenborg, G. G., Spikman, J. J., Jeronimus, B. B., & Aleman, A. A. (2013). Insight in schizophrenia: associations with empathy. European Archives Of Psychiatry & Clinical Neuroscience, 263(4), 299-307. doi:10.1007/s00406-012-0373-0

Renard, S. B., Pijnenborg, M., & Lysaker, P. H. (2012). Dissociation and social cognition in schizophrenia spectrum disorder. Schizophrenia Research, 137(1-3), 219-223. doi:10.1016/j.schres.2012.02.001

ACHTUNG VALUED READERS – PLEASE READ ALL OF THE MULTIPLES ENTRIES BY HITTING ON HOME AT THE TOP

[A]

This blog contains multiple pages. Just go to the top of this page and hit (click) on *HOME* and all the multiple pages will flow freely. It starts with Lady Justice with her scales and her sword.

[B]

If you want to read the work chronologically please scroll down to the start (with me in front of the painting) and concluding with Lady Justice, and scroll backwards through the work.

[C]

Also if you hit (click) the ABOUT button (icon) at the top of the page you can learn more about me and see an updated picture taken in 2014.

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Safety First, The Communication Model

© TCM

Ten (10) * key components of the Communication Model:

1. It is not therapy

2. It is not research

3. It is private & confidential

4. It does not offer any advice; does not promise anything

5. An individual partakes in the Communication Model out of free-will

6. An individual gives his/her consent to participate

7. It is free of charge

8. Zero monetary gain

9. It is done on a voluntarily basis

10. It is a humanistic model versus a medical model

The Chief Operator of the Communication Model  is Ms. Annuska van der Pol, BA, PDD-IMHA Mental Health and Addictions Practitioner.

To-date, Ms. Annuska van der Pol is the sole resource of the Communication Model.

At this time – it is only her who can conduct the Communication Model.

If you are interested in learning more about the Communication Model, please contact her directly at 2005como@gmail.com or write TCM PO Box 8825, Victoria British Columbia, V8W 3S3 Canada.

ACHTUNG VALUED READERS – PLEASE READ ALL OF THE MULTIPLES ENTRIES BY HITTING ON HOME AT THE TOP

[A]

This blog contains multiple pages. Just go to the top of this page and hit (click) on *HOME* and all the multiple pages will flow freely. It starts with Lady Justice with her scales and her sword.

[B]

If you want to read the work chronologically please scroll down to the start (with me in front of the painting) and concluding with Lady Justice, and scroll backwards through the work.

[C]

Also if you hit (click) the ABOUT button (icon) at the top of the page you can learn more about me and see an updated picture taken in 2014.

[D] Furthermore, it is also possible to view additional entries by clicking on Next post  or Previous post.

Communication Model – helping individuals deal with mental distress

The Communication Model is a brand new model of care that is intended to help an individual deal with mental distress. It is an original system of care that involves emotionally connecting an individual with psychological distress to a practitioner through means of abstract line frequency – like drawings. The communication model is an intervention. It can be applied to individuals without a DSM diagnosis – but who often experience high levels of inner turmoil while maintaining a high-level career, good family structures and firm groundings in the community. The Communication Model was developed in 2005. It integrates aspects from my Bachelor of Arts degree in “Arts Policy Management and Education, specialization in Museum Visual Art Education” / “Cultuur en Beleid, specializatie Kunsteducatie.” 2001. These aspects include searching for a higher purpose in life, connecting to emotion, exploring feelings, looking for the source of despair and connecting to another human being (the practitioner) through conversation and visual art abstract drawings. The method of the intervention includes a Triangle method. It involves the individual with mental distress, the practitioner and the abstract drawing. The practitioner experiences the emotional connection – the counter-transference – and draws the emotional connection of the conversation down on paper. The interaction between the individual, the practitioner and the abstract drawing completes the triangle effect. This is the intervention. This triangle effect alleviates pain and psychological distress because it taps into a unconscious part of the mentally distressed individuals psyche. This process of communication involves the coding and decoding of verbal and non-verbal messages, especially messages involving complicated and emotional deciphering. The practitioner untangles the emotional message by using insights into the psychological state and transforms them into an abstract drawing – indicating a map-like external process that enables the individual to understand the complexity of the emotional situation. Enhancing his/her ability to comprehend the vast nature of many human problems. This method of illustration, indicates that it takes a lot of understanding, exploring and reflecting in order to untangle the abstraction. Finally, on the completion of the Communication Model intervention, the individual with the mental distress goes away with an increased awareness and a higher consciousness relating to their own individualism.

Written by Annuska van der Pol, BA / PDD-IMHA

Education:
1. 2013 Camosun College Interprofessional Mental Health and Addictions Post Degree Diploma Program
2. 2001 InHolland University of Applied Sciences, B.A. in Arts, Policy, Management and Education

ACHTUNG VALUED READERS – PLEASE READ ALL OF THE MULTIPLES ENTRIES BY HITTING ON HOME AT THE TOP

[A]

This blog contains multiple pages. Just go to the top of this page and hit (click) on *HOME* and all the multiple pages will flow freely. It starts with Lady Justice with her scales and her sword.

[B]

If you want to read the work chronologically please scroll down to the start (with me in front of the painting) and concluding with Lady Justice, and scroll backwards through the work.

[C]

Also if you hit (click) the ABOUT button (icon) at the top of the page you can learn more about me and see an updated picture taken in 2014.

[D] Furthermore, it is also possible to view additional entries by clicking on Next post  or Previous post.