PsicoGDL

Pain management is one area of medicine which has seen several technological advancements across the globe. Spurred by this global happening, chronic pain management clinics in developing countries have also begun using novel techniques in the areas of pain imaging, pain assessment, and intervention for chronic pain management.   Chronic pain can refer to any type of pain that endures even after an injury has been healed, pain connected to any degenerative or relentless disease, long-standing pain for which the cause cannot be identified, or cancer pain. In general, pain that continues even after six months is chronic and requires treatment. The diagnosis and treatment of a particular patient at a chronic pain management clinic usually requires the involvement of several specialists including anesthesiologists, psychiatrists, physiatrists, neurologists, and nurses. Several therapies are combined in order to at least make the patient feel more comfortable if the pain cannot be stopped, to help him/her return to work, to do away with his/her depression, and to improve his/her physical functioning. Thus, these therapies are medication, surgery, psychological counselling, therapies to stimulate the nerves, lifestyle changes, anesthesiological therapies, and rehabilitation. Medication recommended for patients in chronic pain management clinics can vary from NSAIDS for pain that is not too bad to narcotic drugs for more severe pain. Physical therapy is one common therapeutic technique used in the management of chronic pain in such clinics. It involves training the patient to enhance his flexibility, endurance, and strength; to move in a way that is structurally correct and safe; and most importantly to handle pain. Therapeutic exercise is an important feature of physical therapy. Another important technique used in chronic pain management clinics is Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS). This technique provides relief for patients suffering from conditions such as arthritic pain or pain in the lower back, by the use of low-voltage electric current. To sum up, once pain has become chronic, complete freedom from the pain is difficult. However, chronic pain management clinics, through the use of multiple techniques used in conjunction with one another, can help sufferers of chronic pain enjoy a happier and more active life.

Body pain is a condition experienced by most individuals once in a while. Pain management clinics help in providing total relief from pain. At Brooklyn, in New York there are a number of pain management clinics providing value added services to a wide range of patients. Acute pain usually occurs due to physical injuries and this can be cured by proper diagnosis and treatment, whereas for chronic pain diagnosis and treatment are difficult. Pain management clinics in Brooklyn, NY utilize pharmacologic, non-pharmacologic and psychological measures to relieve acute and chronic pain. These pain management clinics have medical practitioners such as anesthesiologists, neurologists, and psychiatrists for providing effective pain management. Some practitioners concentrate on pharmacologic treatment, some others focus on interventional procedures such as steroid injections, neurolytic blocks, spinal cord stimulators, facet joint injections, and intrathecal drug delivery system implants. Physiotherapists, clinical psychologists, occupational therapists and chiropractors offer their services in advanced pain management clinics in Brooklyn. Dentists for treating facial pain and specialists to help in improving relaxation are also part of pain management clinics. These practitioners coordinate to provide proper pain management. Anti-inflammatory drugs are delivered orally to relieve the pain. Some drugs are delivered transdermally, rectally or as injections. Neuro stimulation and electrical stimulation facilities are available in pain management clinics to reduce the sensation of pain. Other sophisticated devices for relieving pain are also available in these pain management clinics in Brooklyn, NY.Physiotherapists administer appropriate exercise techniques to patients that help in controlling body movement and restoring the functions of muscles and joints. Pain management programmes in these clinics which last for 2 to 4 weeks help patients recover their overall health. Surgeries are provided for correcting the underlying problems that are causing the painful condition. Some pain management clinics in Brooklyn also make available alternative therapies which include Chinese healing methods like acupuncture. If you are one suffering from acute or chronic pain, avail yourself of the service of a pain management clinic in Brooklyn and lead a happy and pain free life.

The Maslow Theory of Motivation also known as “Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs” model was developed between 1943-1954, and first widely published in “Motivation and Personality” in 1954. Starting from the premise that each human being is motivated by needs that are inborn, presumably as a result of tens of thousands of years of evolution, here is the hierarchy in ascending order:(1) Physiological needsThese are the very basic needs such as air, water, food, sleep, sex, etc. When these are not satisfied we may feel sickness, irritation, pain, discomfort, etc. These feelings motivate us to alleviate them as soon as possible to establish homeostasis. Once they are alleviated, we may think about other things. (2) Safety needsThese have to do with establishing stability and consistency in a chaotic world. These needs are mostly psychological in nature. We need the security of a home and family. However, if a family is dysfunction, i.e., an abused child – cannot move to the next level as she is continuously fearful for her safety. Love and a sense of belonging are postponed until she feel safe. (3) Love and needs of belongingHumans have [in varying degrees of intensity] a strong desire to affiliate by joining groups such as societies, clubs, professional associations, churches and religious groups etc. There is a universal need to feel love and acceptance by others.(4) Self-Esteem needsThere are essentially two types of esteem needs: self-esteem resulting from competence or mastery of a task; and the esteem and good opinion of other people.(5) The need for self-actualisationMaslow theory of motivation proposes that people who have all their “lower order” needs met progress towards the fulfilment their potential. Typically this can include the pursuit of knowledge, peace, esthetic experiences, self-fulfillment, oneness with God, nirvana, enlightenment etc. So ultimately this is all to do with the desire for self transcendence. A paradigm shift that forms the basis for good leadership and successful change managementThe Maslow theory of motivation brought a new face to the study of human behaviour. Maslow was inspired by greatness in the minds of others, and his own special contribution to the field of motivational psychology led to the creation of the concept of Humanistic Psychology. Most psychologists prior to Maslow had focused on the mentally ill and the abnormal. In complete contrast the Maslow theory of motivation investigated and attempted to define positive mental health.In so doing, he instigated a paradigm shift via Humanistic Psychology – predicated on the belief that humans are not simply blindly reacting to situations, but trying to accomplish something greater. This new approach represented in the Maslow theory of motivation became the source of many new and different therapies, all grounded in the belief that people possess the inner resources for growth and healing and that the point of therapy is to help remove obstacles to individuals’ achieving them. It also forms the basis of much current understanding of what constitutes good leadership and forms a major foundation of prevailing models and theories of successful change management. The most fundamental value of this theory is to emphasise and remind those of us involved in leading and managing change of the complexity and multi-facted nature of human needs and motivational drives. Closely aligned to that observation is the difficult realisation that people have transcendent needs and aspirations as well as the more prosaic needs of survival and “pay and rations”.

See here for the full change management implications of the: “Maslow Theory of Motivation”I invite you to take advantage of my 7 FREE “How to Do It” downloads that will take you through all of the key stages of “How to manage change” – and show you how to manage successfully.

Management Theories – III, X,Y,Z, and C.  Theories

Hasan Yahya, Ph.D

 

This part covers X, Y, Z and C. Management theories. According to X,Y, theories of management were developed by Douglas McGregor in the 1960s, it defined contrasting assumptions about the nature of humans in the work place. Theory X is the classical theory where it is task-oriented rather than people-oriented like Y theory. In other words, X theory does not give any importance to group members’ functions, or say their physical or biological combination. Its interest is to finish the job no matter how. While Y theory, depends on human activities of the team. Where the team can help other members to complete the task. It’s a commitment of human participation as a work team has its limitations. 

 

Theory Z, however, developed twenty years later in 1981, in the time I was in my graduate school. William Ouchi’s “Theory Z”. Often referred to as the “Japanese” management style, it  offers the notion of a hybrid management style which is a combination of a tight American management style and a tight  Japanese management style. Ouchi, came up with the notion of a “Theory Z”, which is similar to Y, where both look at the attitudes of managers and workers, as well as contrasting views of how workers are perceived by the management team [Owners or CEOs],  and how workers perceive their role at the workplace. His excellence was comparing two management and workers in Japan and the United States, in terms of commitment, bottom-up or top-down, or loyalty to ones job, or to ones nation. Theory Z, was successful in Japan, and was applied to the US companies. 

Finally C. Theory for the writer under Crescentology term.(Yahya 2008). It  deals with true knowledge leads to true understanding, which leads to mastering, and then execution. However, Knowledge in this case, includes all aspects of the management theory from the inputs to the outputs. Or from the hypothetical project to a complete one. With more flexibility combined almost all management theories. Inversely, if the knowledge was incomplete in any step of a project, or for example depends on false information, it will influence the process steps and the output (goals) in a friendly environment depending on mutual understanding of workers’ and managers’ roles. (404 words)

Hasan Yahya is an American Arab personality, a professor of sociology, and a columnist at wfol.tv, Malaysia, and TINA International News Agency, Michigan, USA. www.hasanyahya.com

Management Theories – IV, Analysis of X, Y and Z and C.  Theories.

Hasan Yahya, Ph.D

 

While McGregor’s  Theory X & Y, Tends to categorize people as one type or another: either being unwilling or unmotivated to work, or being self motivated towards work. Threats and disciplinary action are thought to be used more effectively in this situation, although monetary rewards can also be a prime motivator to make Theory X workers produce more. William Ouchi’s Theory Z, Believes that people are innately self motivated to not only do their work, but also are loyal towards the company, and want to make the company succeed

Differences, however between X and Y in one side, and theory Z and C. in the other. In terms of Leadership, Authority, conflict situations, and performance.

In terms of Leadership Theory X leaders would be more authoritarian, while Theory Y leaders would be more participative. But in both cases it seems that the managers would still retain a great deal of control.

In theory Z , managers would have to have a great deal of trust that their workers could make sound decisions. Therefore, this type of leader is more likely to act as “coach”, and let the workers make most of the decisions.

In terms of Authority As mentioned above, McGregor’s managers, in both cases, would seem to keep most of the power and authority. In the case of Theory Y, the manager would take suggestions from workers, but would keep the power to implement the decision. In theory Z, the manager’s ability to exercise power and authority comes from the worker’s trusting management to take care of them, and allow them to do their jobs. The workers have a great deal of input and weight in the decision making process

In Conflict Situations: X and Y,  type of manager might be more likely to exercise a great deal of “Power” based conflict resolution style, especially with the Theory X workers. Theory Y workers might be given the opportunity to exert some flexible “Negotiating” strategies to solve their own differences. While Conflict in the Theory Z , would involve a great deal of communication, collaboration, discussion and negotiation. The workers would be the ones solving the conflicts, while the managers would play more of a “third party arbitrator” role. Unlike theories X and Y, Theory Z in fact, emphasizes more frequent performance appraisals, but slower promotions.

In terms of Performance: Appraisals occur on a regular basis. And promotions occur on a regular basis. Not on performances. With respect to overall management style, McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y managers seem to have a much more formal leadership style than do Ouchi’s Theory Z managers, especially in terms of bottom-up or up-bottom leadership.

They also differ in views of the workers, while they believe in division of labor and specialization,  theory Z,  views workers as motivated by rotating their roles at work and to be more generalists rather than specialists as theory X and Y contend. Theory X, shows workers, as assumed to be lazy while theory Z, suggests that workers tend to be more participative and innovative. While McGregor’s Theory Y seems to address employee motivation, Ouchi’s Theory Z seems to imply  not only positive assumptions about workers,  but also assumptions about managers. In conclusion, both theories, Y and Z, assumptions about people are much productive than X theory, each assumption determine managers and workers ability to maximize their productivity in the workplace. Theory C. however, is a theory deals with conflict management under the title “Crescintology” for the author. He published it on Amazon.com, we will cover it in the future. (630 words)

Hasan Yahya is an American Arab personality, a professor of sociology, and a columnist at wfol.tv, Malaysia, and TINA International News Agency, Michigan, USA. www.hasanyahya.com

Managers perform a variety of leadership related tasks and often supervise important operations for companies and organizations and are found in typically every field from education, administrative services to construction, farming and food services.

An entrepreneur or a manager is a person who organizes and manages a business assuming the risk for the sake of profit and the best way to achieve this is to be prepared for everything and anticipating the problems. A management degree will prepare a person to face the brave, globalized business world.

Online management degree offers an in-depth training in topics such as accounting or management theory and to the extent of computer networking which would perfectly equip a person to become a leader in the career. With an online management degree, a person can enter into many fields like public administration, public management and educational management including non-profits. Students study a lot of topics like employment law, marketing and financial analysis. Management is a broad field of business administration with several sub-specialties. Many online schools offer master’s degree of business administration in management and associate and bachelor’s degree programs.

The ability to communicate effectively with well-founded and educated colleagues is the center of all skills and competencies in the sequence of programs. Therefore persons interested in pursuing a career in management must command respect from others, be sensitive to cultural, ethnic and religious differences among employees and certainly possess the characteristics of a leader. Also they are required to have a positive attitude, be analytical, excel in solving problems and communicate clearly.

Virtually all business sectors need managers and some of the careers within this field are Human resources manager (who serves as a liaison between employees and employers), risk manager (who identifies and analyzes issues that may pose a threat to company’s financial stability), project manager (who coordinates all aspects of a project from start to finish) and so on.

As with other on line degree programs, in a management degree program too, the courses are delivered through revolutionary educational system and facilitated by instructors who have relevant experience and advanced degrees. The course content is also continuously updated to reflect the latest trends, strategies and practices. Through an online management degree, an individual is able to gain a range of benefits like

Business management knowledge: Gain knowledge about business strategies and concepts not just theoretically but also practically as applied in the real world in day-to-day business operations.

Leadership abilities: This is the most vital aspect, which sets apart from others to make an effective leader. This involves rigorous training, a range of assignments, reports, presentations and group projects.

Networking: Networking is one of the most valuable aspects of a management online degree because the relationships developed with the class mates and faculty and the business network created during the course of this program is the most important and valuable thing that this course can provide.

Organizational Psychology is a subject which applies the principles of psychology into one of the most important areas of people’s life – work. Specifically, we work with the human aspects of the workplace and aim at improving people’s efficiency, and hence organizational effectiveness, through our knowledge about human functioning.
There exist a group of professionals who share a similar aim and are working closely with us, the human resource professionals. Despite the close relationship with HR professionals, Organizational Psychologists are distinctive professionals. Unfortunately, there is always some confusion among the general public that people just cannot tell who is who. More importantly, even some HR professionals do not know what we are doing and what can we offer them.
When we tell them we are Psychologists, a frequent reply is “but we don’t have any mental problems”!
As Organizational Psychologists, we work with a wide range of domains that are related to people’s everyday work life. We design work activities, schedules and workplaces; we design reward principles that are based on human motivation theories; we develop training principles and train the trainers; we develop selection procedures and tools; we formulate performance appraisal systems; and we advise on organizational development issues as well as career development decisions.
As you may recognise, our work reaches every working individual on the planet and our working field is very closely related with the work of HR professionals.
Although there are quite a few overlapping areas between Organizational Psychology and Human Resource Management (HRM), there are fundamental differences between us.
The first and perhaps the most obvious difference between us is the knowledge foundation. As psychologists, we base our work heavily on science. All work has to be backed up by scientific evidence and statistics is always in our toolbox.
In contrast, HRM is essentially a business study which emphasizes more on the practical side, with less focus on the scientific side. Moreover, in addition to working on overlapping areas, we work on different levels. Organizational Psychologists focus more on the design and development of procedures, tools and principles while HR professionals work more on the operational level, such as implementation of selection systems and applying training principles in real training scenarios.
The discrepancy between the knowledgebase of Organizational Psychologists and HR professionals has been documented in academic journals.
For example Sally Carless and colleagues pointed out that although there are important advancements in HR-related research, the everyday HR practice have benefited from it to a minimum level. They found that this is due to the lack of knowledge among HR professionals, especially when the training of the HR professionals emphasizes on general skill and knowledge in favour of science.
In contrast, the training of Organizational Psychologists is built upon the scientist-practitioner model which emphasizes on both research and practical skills and stipulates that practice must be supported by scientific evidence.
Another reason may lie in the Continuous Professional Development (CPD) requirement. As Organizational Psychologists, CPD is a statutory condition for registration and this helps them to keep updated with the latest developments in the field. However there is no such requirement for HR professionals. Carless’s study confirmed that Organizational Psychologists are experts in the field, especially in the area of selection and the authors articulated that “scientific integrity is a key differentiating feature of I/O (Organizational) psychologists.”
Having closely related working areas, our work is actually complementary to each other. Without Organizational Psychologists in the design and development work of various HR processes and tools, the HR professional would not be enjoying these scientific and highly effective products.
On the other hand, without the help of HR professionals we could never apply our work to such a broad range of people. Moreover, our relationship is much more complex and interactive than one might be aware of. Besides the above mentioned supplier-user relationship, HR professionals are also partners, advisors and sometimes suppliers for Organizational Psychologists.
HR professionals are our partners in projects where we provide them with the technical skills and knowledge while they take care of the operational part. Furthermore, HR professionals are experts of their company; therefore we work side by side during consulting jobs where we need them to assist us with internal matters as well as providing us with an insider view.
More importantly, as HR professionals are frequent users of our services and products, we rely a lot on their opinions and requests in developing our products and services. They are also providers of valuable data and participants for us to carry out scientific studies (e.g. validation of assessment tools). All in all, we are inter-dependent parties with entwined relationships rather than independent parties or competitors.
Being Organizational Psychologists, what can we offer to HR professionals? A lot. With the expertise in assessing human characteristics and knowledge about human performance, we are experts in selection.
Based on the understanding about the requirements of the job as well as the characteristics needed for any particular position, we can come up with an ideal person profile that the organization is looking for. Then we can design, or choose among proper tools that accurately measure the required characteristics, knowledge and skills.
According to research these procedures enable us to create the best selection system which predicts future performance of the employed staff. One should not be surprised that the best selection tools like psychometric tests, assessment centres, and structured interviews as well as standardized selection procedures are all designed and developed by Organizational Psychologists.
Another contribution of the organizational psychology profession to the HR field is in training. A brief look at the training market reveals that it is flooded with many training courses and providers.
Obviously their quality varies and some of them do not even know what they are talking about! Our own company has undertaken work for clients who have come to us after being dissatisfied with trainers who appear to have simply taken some information from the internet to put together a training session without any real understanding of the subject matter!
As Organizational Psychologists we are working hard to turn around this situation. We are experts in training design; some understand how people learn and how people learn the best! In designing and delivering training courses, scientific human learning theories and training principles are followed, but not just by gut feelings or experience only. Factors like transfer of learning, specific needs of the organization and maintenance of learning are all fully considered.
Besides selection and training, Organizational Psychologists also offer various consultancy and advisory services to HR professionals. The range of work can be as small as reviewing a performance appraisal check list or an assessment centre exercise to as big as designing a tailored selection system.
On top of that, we can also go into the organization to diagnose the roots of problems and solve them accordingly, using our scientific approach and advanced knowledge about mechanisms and dynamics within the workplace.
However, as mentioned at the beginning of this article, one big obstacle we face is the lack of knowledge about our profession within the HR profession (particularly in Asia), as well as the public in general.
The implication is that we often face questions like “what is organizational psychology?”, “what is the difference between Organizational Psychologists and HR consultants?” and even “why do I need to employ scientific tools and procedures?” It can be hard work explaining all this to prospective clients! Another related problem is people always think we are very expensive!
But the fact is all the products and services we offer are based on scientific research which means they have undergone lengthy and sophisticated processes of development and the cost of all these are huge. By employing our scientific tools and principles the benefit is long lasting and continuously contributing to the performance of the organization, and these are all documented in the scientific literature.
Another hidden obstacle for us in Asia is caused by the organizational hierarchy. Very often, the first contact point between our clients and ourselves are assistants of HR professionals who have minimal understanding of what we are talking about. When they do not understand they just cannot relay our message precisely to their manager.
The result is obviously that the management level does not receive our message and the name of Organizational Psychology just remains unheard no matter how hard we try!
As Organizational Psychologists, we see a real need to educate the public, and more importantly, HR professionals about the subject of Organizational Psychology so that the fruit of science can be returned to them.
There are major overlapping work areas between Organizational Psychologists and HR professionals such as selection, training, career development and performance management, but we work on different levels and perspectives thus our relationship is actually collaborative rather than competitive.
Organizational Psychologists can offer help to HR professionals in various areas such as training design, development of selection systems, supervising performance management processes and many more. Nevertheless Organizational Psychologists in Asia face obstacles as the subject is relatively unheard of among HR professionals and communication is often blocked by organizational hierarchy.
Therefore one very important task for us as Organizational Psychologist is to promote this subject so that people know what we can offer and make use of our expertise! We are sure that with the growing popularity of the subject, HR professionals, and other related professionals like career counsellors and coaches, will benefit highly from Organizational Psychology.

Anyone who thinks the audiocassette adaptation of Stephen Covey’s bestseller, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, is a shortcut to reading the book has another thing coming. As a preview, the cassette is worth every one of its 90 minutes; as a substitute for the original, it will only leave you wishing for the rest. There’s a reason 7 Habits has sold more than 5 million copies and been translated into 32 languages. Serious work has obviously gone into it, and serious change can likely come out of it–but only with constant discipline and steadfast commitment. As the densely packed tape makes immediately clear, this is no quick fix for what’s ailing us in our personal and professional lives.

The tape opens to the silky-smooth, overtrained voice of the female narrator, who’s responsible for tying together audio clips from actual Covey seminars. Leaving aside the occasional attempts at promoting Covey and his institute, her script does a first-rate job of making sense of Covey’s own intense, analogy-rich style of explaining his habits. There’s nothing simple about his approach to becoming an effective person. The first three habits alone–which have to do with personal responsibility, leadership, and self-management–could take years to master. Yet the last four are unattainable, the narrator insists, if you can’t acquire the personal security–the “inner core,” says Covey–that presumably comes from a mastery of the foundation.

Throughout our lessons, Covey’s presence is both learned and thoroughly appealing. He drops references to the likes of Socrates, T.S. Eliot, and Robert Frost with the aplomb of an English professor. And his knack for mixing everyday stories with abstract concepts manages to clarify difficult issues while respecting our intelligence. You could argue that the cassette is nothing more than a clever marketing tool for selling another few million copies of the book. But, even at that, it’s worth the investment in time and concentration: in the end, we’re moved to learn more about integrating all seven habits in our struggle to become better and, yes, more effective people. (Running time: 1.5 hours, one cassette) –Ann Senechal –This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.