Dr Jamie Barnier | Mental health service

Dr Jamie Barnier

Phone: 0419 199 259

Address: 57 Rayment St 3078

Website: https://www.drjamie.com.au

Likes: 241

Add/Update information

Reviews

Tags

• Businesses
• Medical and health
• Mental health service
• Therapist
• Psychologist

23.01.2022 Late last week increased support for Medicare subsidised psychological treatment was brought in. Ordinarily, people can access up to 10 sessions per calendar year. A further ten has been added for anyone affected by the second wave of COVID19 and has had their movements restricted by a public health order (that qualifies everyone in Victoria). At present this is from 7 August 2020 to 31 March 2021 https://www.health.gov.au//additional-covid-19-mental-heal

23.01.2022 Psychiatrists often work with people who have more severe mental illness, such as schizophrenia and bipolar affective disorder. Psychiatrists also work with people who have quite severe levels of depression and anxiety. Psychiatrists and psychologists are trained in diagnosing mental illness and in providing talk therapy.... Whatever the situation, the evidence shows that the best practice is a combination of medication and talk therapy. Read the blog: https://www.drjamie.com.au/what-is-the-difference-between-/

22.01.2022 Step 1 in trying to calm anxiety is finding out if the anxiety is coming from something outside of you (e.g., something in the environment) something within you (a thought, feeling, memory)? You’ll need to take a minute to look around you. Is there anything or anyone in the environment that is making you feel unsafe? If not, then it is probably something that’s happening internally. It could be a thought, a feeling, a memory, an idea or a fantasy that is triggering a response... in your mind and body. You may not even be fully conscious of it at the time. I outline more steps to help calm your anxiety in my latest video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPnDQC6uL3w

20.01.2022 Looking forward to featuring on my brothers podcast tomorrow- my first one. Strangely enough, not on anything psychology related. No doubt I’ll weave some stuff in there though Posted @withregram @thejourneypodcastlive Dr Jamie Barnier joins us on The Journey Podcast Live Tuesday 10th November from 7pm. (8pm AEDT) Watch live on the usual socials @thejourneypodcastlive... #drjamiebarnier #psychologist #podcast #thejourneypodcastlive #thejourneypodcast

20.01.2022 What is the difference between a psychologist and a psychiatrist? This is a question that I get asked fairly frequently. In both public and private practice settings, the two disciplines work together fairly closely. Psychologists of course study psychology. In Australia, this is a minimum of six years of undergraduate and postgraduate training. After that, there are another two years before you can get your registration as a psychologist. ... A psychiatrist, on the other hand, is a medical professional. A psychiatrist has studied medicine and has completed general medical training. Psychiatry is a speciality within the field of medicine. Although different studies, psychologists and psychiatrists work closely together. My latest blog takes a deeper look into this https://www.drjamie.com.au/what-is-the-difference-between-/.

17.01.2022 Resolve your anxiety in a way that works for you. There are quite a few techniques that will help you to reduce the stimulation in your mind and balance your nervous system. They all fall under the ‘Distress Tolerance skills’, such as: 1) Change your body temperature. You could lower it by taking an icy shower.... 2) Get your heart racing by going on a run or skipping, any sort of intense cardio exercise will work. Believe it or not, it will help to slow your mind down. 3) Try startling your other senses. Anything that sends a ‘zing’ through your body will do. You could suck on sour lemon or drink an exceptionally bitter cup of black coffee. The point is to use these strategies to create a temporary reprieve or reduction in anxiety so your mind can more effectively identify the cause of anxiety. This is step 3 of 4 of how to calm your anxiety, I run through all the steps in my video ‘How to Calm Your Anxiety’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPnDQC6uL3w

17.01.2022 How do you manage anxiety? We know that there are a whole range of self-management strategies that are effective for more mild forms of anxiety. So, things like; getting adequate rest having proper nutrition... physical exercise relaxation mindfulness strategies managing your diary well and saying no to over-committing yourself setting boundaries All of these things are really fantastic ways to keep anxiety levels in check. If you have been implementing all of these things but still have not felt lasting relief, have a quick watch of my video for more information on what I would suggest doing next: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAxGiHlI_iw&feature=youtu.be.

17.01.2022 I agree with a lot of the sentiments expressed in this article. Although Something about the label toxic positivity doesn’t sit right with me. Perhaps I find it too pathologising. All of us ignore uncomfortable emotions from time to time. Some of these (taken from the article) are posted below. Being aware of this tendency, and making room for whatever is underneath is one of the ways to cultivate psychological wellness It can be tempting, when you or someone you care abou...t is feeling low, to encourage them to cheer up! Or stay positive! Or look on the bright side! This impulse makes sense. Feeling good feels good, so when someone is upset, or angry, or sad, it’s understandable that you would want to help them stop feeling those negative emotions and feel happy instead. As well-intentioned as this urge may be, however, it can quickly veer into what has been dubbed toxic positivity, a phenomenon that psychiatrist Gayani DeSilva described to Health magazine as an insincere positivity that leads to harm, needless suffering, or misunderstanding. Hiding how you really feel about something. Trying to dismiss or ignore emotions when they come up so you can just get on with it. Feeling guilt or shame about the emotions you’re feeling. Minimizing other people’s negative emotions or experiences with feel good quotes or statements. Telling someone it could be worse when they try to share a negative feeling. Chastising others for a lack of positivity. Dismissing negative feelings yours or others’ by saying, It is what it is.

16.01.2022 Undoubtedly, you will have seen posts all over the socials today about ru ok day. This is a wonderful initiative aiming to bring about awareness and action to mental health. Many people that need help do not get it. In part, because of a reluctance to reach out. Having a conversation, taking the time to actively listen, without judgment, advice, trying to solve the problem or cheer them up is incredibly powerful. There is a term going around in pop psychology atm toxic pos...itivity around our tendency to (often unintentionally) dismiss and minimise someone’s feelings through platitudes such as think positive thoughts cheer up etc I’ve never come across anyone in my therapy room who has said to me they expect their friends or loved ones to fix their depression. What people really want, is a listening ear and your presence. For those who take the time to check on friends today (I would always encourage a phone call/facetime over a text/DM), don’t let this be just a one-time conversation, check in on your friends, let them know that you’re for them; that you care and that you are wanting to help in whatever way would be helpful for them. There are some excellent resources on what to say after the are you ok question if the answer is no www.ruok.org.au Take care of each otherJamie #ruokday #ruokday2020

16.01.2022 One of the goals of therapy is to be able to identify our hidden feelings, feelings that are often repressed or pushed down and along the way to be able to identify any defences that might be getting in the way of being able to access some of those more deeply felt emotions. In my latest video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-g5Ej1bNGOs I give a brief look at blaming and excusing, two different types of defences that can often get in the way of being able to uncover deeper feelings. My upcoming course on anxiety management will have a whole module on defences or ‘feeling blockers’ as I call them.

15.01.2022 Anyone that has been following me for any length of time will know that one of the messages that I keep coming back to is the importance of feeling our feelings. We know that one of the key hallmarks of psychological wellness is being able to regulate, and also being able to feel and experience the full range of human emotions. One of the things that can interfere in that process is what Freud called our defences. That is anything that can interfere with our ability to feel,... process and work through what are often difficult emotional experiences. To read more about this, take a look at my new blog post https://www.drjamie.com.au/our-defences-blame-excusing/.

14.01.2022 Thoughts are with fellow Victorians today as we enter into lockdown for another 6 weeks. In particular, those who’s businesses had only just opened back up, only to have to shut down again very abruptly; those who live alone and will have little to no human contact for 6 weeks, those who’s mental health and relationships will struggle to endure. Do what you can to get through this time. Be kind to yourself and one another and reach out for personal and professional help if you need.

14.01.2022 "It was her excusing his behaviour and minimising the impact of that on her, which really affected her being able to get in touch with those much deeper feelings of anger towards her father." Sometimes our defences, such as blaming or excusing get in the way of being able to get to the root of the problem. To read more about this, read my blog post: https://www.drjamie.com.au/our-defences-blame-excusing/

12.01.2022 In Australia, studying to become a psychologist takes a minimum of six years of undergraduate and postgraduate training, followed by another 2 years before you can be registered. To practice under an area of endorsement (e.g., clinical psychology) the current requirements are 8 years of undergraduate and postgraduate training followed by a further two years under the registrar training program. A psychiatrist has studied medicine and has completed general medical training. Ps...ychiatry is a speciality within the field of medicine. Therefore, one of the main differences between a psychiatrist and a psychologist is that a psychiatrist, being medically trained, can prescribe medications whereas a psychologist cannot. A psychiatrist can also provide basic medical care, such as checking physical health and the effects of medication. Watch my short video for more information: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGuJZrxsbnw.

11.01.2022 Blaming and excusing - these are two similar types of defences, both focussed on the actions of another (and avoiding our own internal responses). When we blame someone, we often get stuck in a cycle of what they did to us. It's an external focus which often negates the internal impact of someone's, behaviour on us internally. I had a client whose wife had cheated on him and he was understandably very angry about this. He spent some time vilifying his wife, focusing on how s...he'd done the wrong thing by him and how angry he was at her. After some time we were able to find out what was lurking underneath all that anger and there was a deep sense of grief and sadness in that the woman he had planned on spending the rest of his life with, had chosen someone else. The other side of that spectrum is excusing or justifying someone else's, often, inappropriate behaviour towards us. To learn more about how defences can affect us take a look at my newest YouTube video > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-g5Ej1bNGOs.

10.01.2022 One of the steps to calming anxiety is to distinguish between the symptoms and the cause. Think of it like this; if I have a broken arm, I can treat the symptom of pain through taking pain relief. But that is not actually going to fix the broken arm in my body. So, focusing on the symptoms will give you short term relief, it won’t be effective in the long run. The same thing applies to anxiety. ... Treating the symptoms alone (and avoiding the underlying causes) won’t be effective in the long-term. Studies show that anxiety can increase over time unless these underlying causes are addressed. So, if you treat one symptom, another one will rear its ugly head. Want more tips? Head over to the blog: https://www.drjamie.com.au/how-to-calm-anxiety/.

08.01.2022 These days we hear a lot about the importance of self care. Often this is describing engaging in some form of pleasurable pass-time, taking care of yourself physically, or doing something to relax and unwind. Whether it’s eating a favourite food, doing some mindfulness, going for a run etc. . I think self care goes deeper than that. Real self care is around . accepting rather than, avoiding, numbing, dismissing or minimizing feelings; ... . addressing conflicts and disagreements in relationships rather than harboring grudges or distancing . ending things if they are not working rather than staying unhappy . expressing how you feel toward someone rather than playing games or waiting for the other person to initiate. . being compassionate toward yourself when despite your best efforts, things did not work out as you had hoped. . There are probably many more examples (love to hear any you come up with in the comments below). I guess in essence, self care is around paying attention to your thoughts, emotions, wishes, desires, values, hopes, dreams and doing your very best to nurture and grow these and live them out. . What does self care entail for you? See more

05.01.2022 Anxiety is our body’s internal alarm system. It alerts us to real (or imagined) threats. So it’s important that we pay attention to it. Anxiety is a universal emotion that we all experience. Acknowledging (rather than avoiding) is the first step in regulating it. Ignoring your anxiety will only increase it. People experience anxiety in different ways: some may feel dizzy, others experience panic attacks, others get stomach pains. ... Read my latest blog to help understand the signs of anxiety: https://www.drjamie.com.au/how-to-calm-anxiety/.

02.01.2022 Victor Frankl’s book Man’s search for meaning is a very powerful read. Based on his experiences as a prisoner in the Nazi concentration camps during the second world war and drawing upon his knowledge as a psychiatrist. Making sense of, and working through suffering helps one come through the other side.

02.01.2022 We know that about one in three people will experience what we might call, an anxiety disorder at some points throughout their life. A really important distinction to make is that between anxiety that’s universal and felt by everyone, versus what we might call an anxiety disorder or clinical levels of anxiety and that's where anxiety really starts to interfere quite significantly in someone's functioning, be it their day-to-day life, their work, their relationship with other ...people, or just their sense of wellbeing within themselves. One way to look at this is that the internal alarm system in your body (the symptoms you get from being anxious) become a little bit oversensitive in much the same way as a smoke alarm might go off if you've burnt the toast, it can't really tell the difference between the burnt toast and a house that's burning to the ground. For more information on anxiety, read my blog post or watch the video https://www.drjamie.com.au/what-is-anxiety/.

01.01.2022 Identifying the small symptomatic signs will help you to recognize when you’re experiencing anxiety. The signs are different for everyone but here are a few of the more common ones; - You could get a tightness in the chest. ... - You might get a knot in your stomach. - It could suddenly be very difficult to breathe - You could feel kind of dizzy You could also find that more than one of these signs show up when you start to feel anxious. That’s fine too. You just need to be aware of them so that you can cut the anxiety out at the roots before it grows and overwhelms you. It’s best to do this once you’ve distracted your mind with the previous step of ‘Distress Tolerance’. Read more over on the blog: https://www.drjamie.com.au/how-to-calm-anxiety/.