The Justice of the Peace, JP

THE JUSTICE OF THE PEACE (JP)

I was conferred Honorary Justice of the Peace (JP) by Rivers state judiciary, Nigeria, on September 14, 2010. But because I am a citizen of the United States, my status change was also presented to my state of residence Pennsylvania judiciary through HCCS.

A Justice of the Peace (JP) is a judicial elected officer appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, JP might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative matters or applications in common law jurisdiction. Justice of the Peace are elected from citizens of jurisdiction in which they serve, and are (or were) usually not required to have a formal legal education in order to qualify for the office or appointment - Wikipedia.

In Nigeria, A justice of the Peace is typically someone with leadership qualities, one of good stature and character who is authorized to witness and sign statutory declaration, a power of attorney and guardianship. A JP is selected or recommended by advisory committee approved by state attorney general.

In the United States, A Justice of the Peace also performs civil marriages. A justice of the peace can actually oversee a marriage union directly and other court related and administrative matters.

So, today, I was put to the test under supervision to conduct a renewal vows between V. Konteh and S. Konteh (both Liberia immigrants) in a private ceremony witnessed by family and friends - This Day Saturday, June 9, 2012.

THE MARRIAGE

Dearly beloved, we are gathered here before God and family and friends, to join together Mr. S. Konteh and Mrs. V. Konteh in Holy Matrimony which is a honorable estate established by God before the fall of man, signifying to us the mystical union between Jesus Christ and His Church; this Holy Estate Christ both honored and beautiful with his presence at the wedding in Canaan of Galilee, where he performed his first miracle;it is also commended of Saint Paul to be great honor among all men.

It is not therefore a thing to be rushed into, or under-taken or instituted lightly to satisfy our canal lusts and appetites like brute beast that have no understanding; but reverently, discreetly, advisedly, sobriety and in fear of God, carefully considering the causes for which Matrimony was ordained.

Firstly, it was ordained for the mutual society, help and comfort, that the one ought to have of the other both in prosperity and adversity, into which Holy Estate these two wonderful people here present come now to be joined.

Secondly, it was ordained for a remedy against sin, and to avoid fornication; that such persons as have not the gift of contingency might marry and keep themselves underfilled members of Christ's body.

Thirdly, it was ordained for procreation of children; to be brought up in the fear and nurture of the Lord and to the praise of his holy Name.

Therefore, if any man or woman can show any just cause, Y Mr. S Konteh and Mrs. V Konteh, may not be lawfully joined together let him or her now speak or else hereafter forever hold your peace.

None...? So ladies and gentlemen and observers, as S. Konteh and V. Konteh have agreed to be joined together in holy matrimony (today June 9, 2012) and even as they have confessed this before God and YOU and backed up with the giving and receiving of the Holy Bible as an everlasting testament, I HEREBY PRONOUNCE THEM AS HUSBAND AND WIFE.

For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother to be with his wife and the two shall become one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together let no man put as under.

CONGRATULATIONS! You may now kiss your bride !

Dr. Fenibo Braide, JP
Posted on the web Sat. June 9, 2012

Alzheimer's

Man Suffers From Alzheimer's at 40

POSTED July 7 2009 Mark Priddy was just 36 years old when doctors diagnosed him with early-onset Alzheimer's four years ago.

The devastating disease is extremely rare in someone his age, and his wife, Dione, told London's Daily Mail she wishes doctors had found the cause of his bizarre behavior earlier because she would have been "kinder and more patient."

"Early-onset Alzheimer's is so rare that I can understand why Mark's symptoms went undiagnosed," said Dione, 40. "But if we'd known earlier, we'd all have been saved so much anguish."
The couple, who married in 1997 and live in Britain, have two daughters, ages 11 and 12. Mark's strange behavior started as early as 2002, when he started to panic when his wife left the house, and become forgetful.
His condition worsened, and the once successful real estate agent started to forget business meetings and have terrible mood swings. He was quickly hired and fired from seven different jobs, the Mail reported.
A doctor diagnosed him with depression, but anti-depressants didn't help.
Finally, in 2005, doctors said the problem was Alzheimer's. Two and a half years ago, when he started to take out his frustration with violence, Dione had her husband admitted to a nursing home, where he has lived ever since.

Re-posted May 2012

USED FOR EVIDENCE BASED RESEARCH STUDY IN PSYCHOTHERAPY

Dr. Fenibo Braide
Psychotherapist & Mental health Consultant

Contemporaneous Documentation

Viewed on Naija Politics forum April 15, 2012

Fenibo Braide, PhD., an acclaimed psychotherapist and educator in Forensic psychiatry and behavioral sciences, has served on the editorial and executives boards of many organizations, he has also lectured and published many articles on the web.

He is the founder of  HOLISTIC HEALTH SERVICES PA

As one of America's top leading researcher in Evidence Based practice, Dr. Fenibo Braide continues to provide open lectures nationally and internationally on "Contemporaneous, accurate, honest and appropriate clinical documentation" as the key to professionalism.

Some of Dr. Fenibo Braide's write-up and publications has featured and viewed in professional journals and popular magazines.

GOOGLE: (Dr. Fenny Braide)

Secrets of a Well-Rested Woman

Secrets of a Well-Rested Woman

Do you know that women are twice as likely as men to have difficulties falling asleep? Says Dr. Khan, board-certified sleep physician at Crozer-Keystone sleep center, Pennsylvania. For years it is believed that men are more likely to suffer from sleep apnea or sleep-disordered breathing than women, but that difference balances out as women get older. According to Dr. Khan's research studies and presentation in Nov 2011, post-menopausal woman catch up to men in the rates of sleep apnea. In this case, we have some concern about the social circumstances of women reporting snoring.

The good news is, women are more likely than men to come to the sleep center with complaint about insomnia. "We see many women who are frustrated and looking for help" says Dr. Khan in his presentation.

While sleep disorders affect both genders, women often struggle with getting a good night's rest. Some do have carry-over issues that keep them from a good night's sleep. That's why it's important for women to be aware of the particular conditions that might affect them and learn how they can be treated.

Insomnia, or the inability to sleep disproportionately affects women. "Another reasons for this are that hormones throughout d life cycle of the woman from pregnancy to menopause can also affect women sleep pattern," says Dr. Khan. Women who are pregnant can suddenly develop insomnia during the third trimester of pregnancy and can continue on well beyond 32-36 wks of pregnancy.

Since post-partum depression can be linked to insomnia, it is important for every new mother to try develop healthy sleeping habit. Hot flashes during pre-menopause and menopause is another major culprit in insomnia. In my practice as psychotherapist, in treating insomnia, we try to get the cause of the problem and address it on case by case basis. Is all about evidence based practice; we use the widely researched technique like the cognitive behavioral therapy CBT to try to confront misconceptions about sleep needs and work on sleep hygiene to address any factors that are prohibiting the patient from getting a beautiful good night rest. Be responsible, HEALTH MATTERS !

Dr. Fenibo Fenny Braide, participated in LMH Coalition Symposium
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Nov 20, 2011

Substance Abuse in the Elderly

SUBSTANCE ABUSE IN THE ELDERLY: is a 'Power Point' Training presentation by Dr. Fenny Braide, at Greater Metropolitan Healthcare Institute, Baltimore, Maryland.

In this training, my main focus will be the impact of substance abuse in the aging population. Like adults of any age, older people experience problems with addiction too. Sometimes these problems may occur when a person is older or may have been a concern for many years.

Substance abuse in the elderly can lead to disturbance thinking, poor judgment, cognitive and affective impairment, social withdrawal or fatal. Older adults are at higher risk for substance abuse for various reasons, new data from Food & Drug Administration shows that drug abuse among the elderly is increasing in the United states.

For the last two decades increasing evidence exists for the extremely high prevalence of co morbidity of psychiatric and substance Use disorders. Studies reveal that over half of diagnosed schizophrenics have a diagnosed Alcohol Dependency Disorder (Zuckoff & Daly, 1999). There is extensive documentation that the dual-diagnosed population has markedly poorer clinical outcomes and a higher utilization of inpatient services. These findings have led to the awareness of an urgent need for effective models of treatment for this co-occurring disorders population.

After working with the elderly population with substance abuse and dual diagnosis disorders for over eighteen years, and not making substantial headway in healing them with standard scientific (secular) psychotherapy (such as cognitive behavior therapy), I tried something else; I injected spirituality into the mix. And used psycho-spiritual approach and found out that the intervention yields a better result.

DEFINITION

Substance abuse can simply be defined as a pattern of harmful use of any substance for mood altering purposes. In other words, the use of illicit drugs or abuse of prescription or over-the-counter drugs for the purpose other than those for which they are indicated or in a manner or in quantities other than as directed is simply called abuse.

Generally, when most people talk about substance abuse, they are referring to the use of illegal drugs. However, most professionals in the field of drug abuse prevention argue that any use of ILLEGAL is by definition abuse. Theoretically, almost any substance can be abused---be it Alcohol, prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications, inhalants, solvent, even coffee and cigarettes and all that used to harmful excess. The fact of the matter is, any use of illegal substance is potentially addictive and can cause severe negative health problems.

CASE STUDY OF MS WILLIAMS

Substance abuse among the elderly is becoming a growing problem, Ms. Williams is not alone.
Ms Williams has had problems of substance abuse since in her late twenties. For years she denied having problem with drinking alcohol. Even though drinking binges were standard followed by period of sobriety, her inevitably returned to her addictive ways at a later age. At 65, Ms Williams is on several prescription medications, some of which should not be taken with alcohol. Her children long ago are burned out from trying to persuade her to get help but she declined. Ms. Williams was also diagnosed with Alzheimer's and depression before her 64th birthday. Ms. Williams continues to drink alcohol against doctor's advice. Her children have given-up believing that you can not "teach an old dog new trick."

This case study illustrates what has been called one of the fastest growing health problems in the aging population in the United states. As we have more and more people living longer, more and more of them are abusing drugs and alcohol in their later years. Most times caregivers often overlook substance abuse among older adults because CAREGIVERS don't know what to look for or mistakenly assume that older adults cannot be successfully treated. Again, caregivers and loved ones may give excuse for an older relatives substance abuse as a result of grief or loss or reaction to boredom. In some cases family members may not want to confront the elderly, fearing they will offend or anger them or get written off in the Will.

A Resident is a primary responsibility of the caregiver. It is very important that caregivers have full knowledge as well as medical history of their residents.

RECOGNIZE SYMPTOMS OF SUBSTANCE ABUSE IN THE ELDERLY

Elderly people who have history of substance abuse use it to alter mood and state of awareness. Sometimes detecting substance abuse in the elderly can be difficult because presenting symptoms are often those that are commonly associated with aging itself. As a caregiver, it your responsibility to observe the behavior of Residents. Residents who present with symptoms of self-neglect, falls often, socially withdrawn, and aggressive to self and others should be screened for substance abuse.

TREATMENT

Although there is no magic bullet treatment, when substance abuse is found, the elderly should be treated as aggressively as their younger counterparts, with slow careful detoxification and the use of some form of group therapy like alcohol anonymous group - AA. However, my approach to healing substance abuse disorders is didactic. I teach the client what we know about substance abuse disorder and how to treat it. I use CBT / spirituality as dual approach to empower the client with optional ideas and essentially leave the client to deal with the healing process. So far, positive feedbacks and the efficacy of this intervention is overwhelming.

REFERENCE: Substance abuse / Substance addiction of America; Zuckoff & Daly, 1999, Substance Abuse Issues.
Private practice: Evidence-based or empirically supported treatment (that is, treatment that has shown efficacy in research trials) with clients who has substance abuse problems.

For training purposes only. (c) All rights reserved.

Fenny Braide, PhD
Psychotherapist / Healthcare Consultant
Former IBHC Lead clinician

Compare and contrast Behavioral Sciences

Compare and contrast Behavioral Sciences and Social Sciences

About me:

Before I get down to my topic let me share with you that providing care to clients with psychological / psychiatric problems is challenging and rewarding at the same time. I consider myself lucky and honored to be a part of this process. Helping individuals in the times of their personal crisis, whether emotional, psychological or behavioral is what really feeds my passion in psychotherapy. Some of my clients are brought to the Outpatient clinic of bizarre behavior, agitation, psychosis, suicidal ideation, as well as emotional distress.

My main Topic:

The term behavioral sciences is often confused with the term social sciences. Even though these two broad areas are interrelated and study systematic processes of behavior, they differ on their level of scientific analysis of various dimensions of behavior.

Behavioral sciences such as Sociology, Anthropology, or Psychology in which the actions and reactions of human and animals are studied through observation and experimental methods like Individual-psych, Society-soc, and Culture-anthro. The key knowledge here is that Behavioral sciences abstract Empirical data to investigate the decision process and communication strategies within and between organisms in a social system like psychology, social neuro science (ie,decision sciences + communication sciences), etc.

Where as in contrast, social sciences provide a perceptive--hypothetical framework to study the process of a social system through impacts of social organization on structural adjustment of individual and of groups. This field of study includes sociology, economics, history, public health, political science, anthropology and counseling.

Take mental illness for example:

Anyone can have mental illness or emotional distress at any stage of life. Babies, school aged children, teenagers, adults and older adults can have a mental illness. Mental illness happens to all races every ethnic groups rich or poor.

Mental illness is an illness that interferes with how we experience and think about life; how we feel about ourselves and others and how we behave and adapt to change, stress and other life events. The illness can be caused by physical problems with nervous system or the brain, it can be caused by stress, an accident or major physical illness. Lead poisoning, poor eating habits and stressful living environments are example of things that can contribute to mental illness. Sometimes mental illness can also be genetic.

Quantitative Clinical Research. All rights Reserved.

Dr. Fenibo Braide
Posted on the web: July 3, 2011

WHY ARE YOU ALWAYS ANGRY?

According to Kate Miller, anger is a natural part of human condition, but it isn't always easy to handle anger. When people don't handle it well the harm it cause can be visible and invisible.

Some people mask their anger, others explode with rage. Because anger is a chronic condition a habit of resentment surfaces over and over again. This is very interesting says Miller, she went on to identify ten styles of anger and how the condition affects human behavior. There is what she called anger avoidance, sneaky anger, paranoid anger, sudden anger, shame-based anger, deliberate anger, addictive anger, habitual anger, moral anger, and hate anger. All affects the way we live and relate to others.

Any of these styles can also be visibly or invisibly harmful to the way make decision. Lets take a look @ hate anger and shame-based anger for instance. HATE is a hardened anger. It is a nasty anger style that happens when someone decides that at least one other person is totally evil or bad. Forgiving the other person seems impossible. Instead, the hater vows to despise the offender. Sometimes Hate starts with envy--jealousy and then gradually moves to anger. If, doesn't get resolved it becomes resentment and then a true hatred that can go on indefinitely.

Haters often think about the ways they can punish the offender and they sometimes act on those ideas. These people (the haters) feel they are innocent victims. They create a world of enemies to fight and attack them with vigor and enthusiasm. Haters can't let go or get on with life. They are often bitter, not content, frustrated and their lives become mean---small and narrow. CHANGE YOUR WAYS !

The Shame-Based anger group are people who need a lot of attention or very sensitive to criticism. They sometimes exhibits grandiose characteristics because of oversensitivity and poor self-image. The slightest criticism sets off their own shame. They lack leadership skills and cannot survive in a democratic system. Unfortunately, they don't like themselves very much either. So, when someone ignores them, disagrees with them or say something negative about them, they take it as proof that the other person dislikes them as much as they dislike themselves. That makes them really angry and wants to lash out. They avenge with rage "You made me awful, I'm going to hurt you back." These people get rid of their shame by blaming, criticizing, and ridiculing others. Their anger helps them get revenge against anybody they think shamed them. They avoid their own feelings of inadequacies by shaming others (sound familiar...?). They usually end up attacking people they love as well as close associates. So my friend, PLEASE CHANGE YOUR WAYS! YES YOU!

Dr. Fenibo Braide, Psychotherapist / Consultant
Former IFSI Clinical Administrator and Lead Clinician
Posted on the web: June 6, 2011