Tuesday, June 26, 2012

... sexual exhibitionism in the philippines ... (life coach, counselor, psychotherapist, psychologist, psychiatrist, quezon city, manila)


mr. ben tulfo sent over his bitag crew for an interview on the sexual disorder known as exhibitionism.  




exhibitionism, also known as exhibitionistic disorder, is characterized by these two criteria:


(1) over a period of at least 6 months, there should be recurrent and intense sexual fantasies, sexual urges,or sexual behaviors involving the exposure of one’s genitals to an unsuspecting stranger.








(2) The person is bothered or negatively affected by the sexual fantasies, urges, or behaviors OR the person has actually exposed the genitals to 3 or more unsuspecting strangers on 3 separate occasions.








of course, with today's high technology, exhibitionism can now be done through electronic means such as computers and cellphones.   




treatment is challenging and usually entails medications (hormone pills and/or anti-depressants) and psychotherapy.

... osteopathy in the philippines: presenting the first batch of filipino osteopaths ... (life coach, counselor, psychotherapist, psychologist, psychiatrist, quezon city, manila)


last night was graduation night for the very first batch of osteopaths in the philippines.  from an initial number of 35 enrollees, only 20 made it to the finish line.  











 dr. steve sanet of the osteopathic college of ontario, canada

leomil adriano of somatic therasystem philippines


haihoon choi of osteopathic health and wellness institute, korea

up to now, i find it hard to believe that the program is finally finished.  my deep gratitude goes to our untiring, very patient, and committed professors- steve sanet, leomil adriano, haihoon choi, and robert mcdonald.  you have taught us that osteopathy is both a science and an art which entails life-long learning, dedicated practice, and compassionate service.  




groupmates jeffrey hernandez, dr. ricardo gavino, 
dr. geraldine emperador, kirby del puerto, and joey roxas

the famous dr. alfred wong of urban fitness, hong kong

roselle branzuela, first osteopath in cebu 

 marieviel olegario

 jebsen naredo


ylazl historillo

 and for those of you who still don't know what osteopathy is, it is a body therapy system based on anatomy, physiology and biomechanics. through gentle hands-on techniques, its aim is to bring the body into an optimum condition for healing.  it was founded by Andrew Taylor Still, a physician and surgeon in the 1800s. he believed that given the proper conditions, the body has the capacity to heal itself.




osteopathy is a holistic approach to health care.  osteopaths assess the spine, joints, muscles, and tendons.  osteopaths do not simply concentrate on treating the problem area, but use manual techniques such as soft tissue stretching, deep tactile pressure, and mobilisation or manipulation of joints to balance all the systems of the body.  




most problems often require 3-4 treatment sessions.  osteopaths may also advise dietary changes, home exercise programs, and lifestyle adjustments as part of the over-all treatment program.  


my goal for my clients/patients is for them to experience "total person" heath and well-being.  as a psychiatrist, psychologist, and life coach, I focus on mental and emotional health.  as a psycho-spiritual counselor, i focus on spiritual growth.  as an osteopath, I focus on physical alignment, balance, and well-being.  osteopathy therefore makes my practice truly holistic, allowing me to give the best care I can offer to my clients/patients.

Saturday, June 16, 2012

... counseling for pregnant teenagers in the Philippines ... (life coach counselor, psychotherapist, psychologist, psychiatrist, quezon city, manila, philippines)




Sandra Tobillo of abs-cbn's morning show "Umagang Kay Ganda" interviewed me on a topic that wasn't "maganda" at all.  Our discussion centered on teenage pregnancies.





The exponential rise in teenage pregnancies in the Philippines is quite alarming news.  At the current time, the Philippines ranks first among ASEAN countries in teenage pregnancies.  Out of a thousand filipino girls aged 15-19, around 50 of them will get pregnant.  This emphasizes the need for a sex education program which teaches young people to be more responsible for their actions.  



For pregnant teenagers, counseling is an important source of help. When a teenager gets pregnant, confusion, fear, guilt, anger, uncertainty, and a gamut of other emotions run high.  The pregnant teenager is also beset by financial worries, school concerns, the fear that people are going to belittle her, and the fear of abandonment by her boyfriend, friends, and family members.  





especially in this difficult time of her life, more than ever, the pregnant teen needs all the emotional and social support that she can get.  



...light and love shines brightly at the light infinity wellness center ... (life coach, counselor, psychotherapist, psychologist, psychiatrist, quezon city, manila, philippines)


my search for healing crystal bowls led me to a wonderful place called light infinity wellness center.  this center, located at #83 west avenue, quezon city, offers healing therapies, training workshops, and natural medicines geared towards holistic wellness. 


these people brighten up the place with their friendly demeanor and smiles!
michaela villanueva, miriam dela torre, michelle santos, 
doc sig galang, erlinda manalo, daisy saldua, and evelyn flores


under the management of ms. belene yucoco, the center has a staff comprised of personnel who are experts in the fields of integrative medicine and metaphysics.  



one of the people i was privileged to meet was dr. sigfried galang.  doc sig specializes in a long list of alternative therapies for medical conditions, such as biomagnetics, negative ion and quantum energy healing, zone therapy, aromatherapy, herbal and nutritional supplementation, dietary regimens, and neuro-linguistic programming.  




as for the singing crystal bowls which i got from the center, i'll be writing more about them in another blog article

Thursday, June 7, 2012

... shakin' my booty in bali, indonesia ... (life coach, counselor, psychotherapist, psychologist, psychiatrist, quezon city, manila, philippines)


my training in multi-cultural and indigenous forms of healing brought me to the island of bali, indonesia.  here, i was introduced to the ancient healing tradition of "shaking" at the ashram of Ratu Bagus, which translates into "good king."  







ratu bagus


for the western-orented mind, it is a strange practice that they do:  it is simply "shaking" your body for hours. it is believed that by actively shaking the body for prolonged periods, the conscious mind calms down, allowing the "Sacred Fire" within the person to burn and heal deep emotional and even ancestral wounds. 








gettin' down, shaking all over




the Sacred Fire is experienced as internal heat and sweating, spontaneous movement, and emotional releases through laughing or crying. they teach that you should persevere in shaking especially when you feel that you've reached your limit with the hope that a "breakthrough" ensues.  A "breakthrough" refers to a deeper level of emotional, physical, and energetic detoxification.  


what a privilege to immerse myself in the healing practice of this exotic culture.  


all that shaking got me hungry, so i sped off to the local market!
hmmm... i've never been to a market in the philippines that looked this aesthetic ...



bye bye ratu bagus!



peace out!

Friday, June 1, 2012

... relationship counseling, divorce, and the divorce bill in the philippines ... (life coach, counselor, psychotherapist, psychologist, psychiatrist, quezon city, manila, philippines)


i was asked by abscbn's pia gutierrez of "bandila" about the common reasons for marital conflict.  i told that her that in my clinical practice, the top answer would have to be infidelity.  other reasons for conflict would be personality differences, jealousy, financial problems, sexual difficulties, problems with in-laws, domestic violence, stress from work, etc.  




i also told her that marital separation is best prevented by picking the right partner (this topic deserves to be a separate article in itself) and going through long-term and in-depth pre-marital counseling sessions (not like that joke of a one-day pre-marital counseling and family planning seminar required by Philippine law).  


... post-traumatic stress disorder (ptsd): therapy and treatment in the philippines ... (life coach, counselor, psychotherapist, psychologist, psychiatrist, quezon city, manila, philippines)


post-traumatic stress disorder or ptsd is what happens to a person who gets exposed to a traumatic experience.  symptoms of ptsd include: 1)  flashbacks of the event, 2)  repeated nightmares and memories, 3)  depression, and 3)  anxiety.



 tv5's "bitag" crew, hosted by ben tulfo, brought to me a kid they wanted to be evaluated for ptsd.  




from my interview, i learned this kid was in the school canteen when a hot cup of noodles accidentally got poured on her by another student.  because of the accident, she incurred 2nd degree burns on her shoulder which later developed into a keloidal scar.  in the months that followed, she indeed experienced the symptoms of post-traumatic stress syndrome enumerated above.  




for people experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder, medications including anti-depressants and anxiolytics may be necessary, and psychotherapy is a must in order to facilitate the healing process. 




oh by the way, if this pretty kid looks familiar, it's because you've probably seen her picture plastered on the walls of jollibee restaurants.  






rumors have it that even jollibee was not spared from post-traumatic stress disorder after experiencing a traumatic and humiliating experience at the mall.  


... divorce and the divorce bill in the philippines: are you for it or against it (marriage / couples/ relationship counseling) ... (life coach, counselor, psychotherapist, psychologist, psychiatrist, quezon city, manila)


Divorce in the Philippines: Are you For it or Against it?
 (excerpts)

Amidst the pros and cons, what is your stand on the issue?


Why do some people who have committed themselves to each other separate? Psychiatrist and life coachRandy Dellosa, founder of the Life Change Recovery Center in Quezon City, says the most common reasons are infidelity and personality differences. 

“Many people experiencing marital separation come to me and tell me that the reason behind the estrangement is betrayal. In the past, there were more females who suffered from infidelity, but now, the number of males is on the rise as well,” he says. 

“The second reason is differences in personality. For a while, couples are able tolerate such differences, but it just reaches a point when they can no longer stand each other,” he adds.


Consequences of a troubled marriage

According to Randy, couples going through a troubled marriage or marital separation experience a host of stresses. 

“Couples go through a whole range of emotions, including depression and anger. During our counseling sessions, we learn that when much of the anger has been dealt with, the underlying emotion - depression - is usually revealed. It all stems from a person’s fantasy bubble bursting. The anger comes from the desire to control the situation, but when a person realizes that he or she can’t really control anything, that’s when the depression sets in,” he says.  

Randy shares that his patients usually not only experience emotional and mental stress of separation, they feel the physical upshots as well. 

“Some people start having headaches, while others develop insomnia or experience loss of appetite. Some of them also begin experiencing stress-related and psychosomatic illnesses. Sometimes, people develop disorders like high blood pressure and asthma. I even had one patient who developed cancer. These illnesses might be attributable to the stress caused by that person’s marital troubles,” he says.

Children, too, become largely affected by their parents’ situation. 

On the proposed Philippine Divorce Law

Divorce has long been a subject of contention between progressives and conservatives in the Philippines. The debate on this issue once again came to a head in May 2011 when the pro-divorce citizens of the Republic of Malta won a referendum on divorce, which resulted in a divorce law being enacted in the country in July. Suddenly, the Philippines and the Vatican City became the last two countries left in the world where divorce remains illegal.

But several divorce bills have already been filed in the past by lawmakers, the most recent one being 
House Bill No. 1799, which was filed by Reps. Luzviminda Ilagan and Emerenciana de Jesus of Gabriela Women’s Party in June 2010. 

In the aftermath of the Malta referendum, conservatives and religious groups in the Philippines have once again joined forces to wage yet another battle with the progressives in an already longstanding war of attrition. They are mostly the same people who are at loggerheads in the still unresolved debate on the Reproductive Health Bill.

The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said in a press statement published last June that “being the only country in the world that has no divorce law is an honor that every Filipino should be proud of.”

Archbishop Oscar Cruz told the press that “love for the family is at the core of cultural identity of Filipinos and should not be destroyed through divorce.” 

Similarly, CBCP’s legal counsel Jo Imbong said that the consequences of divorce seen on families in western countries reveal its “disastrous effects.” 

“It was a disaster. [It] destroyed family, destroyed children, destroyed stepchild-parent relationships, everything is in havoc. Now do you want that to happen in this country?” she commented, adding that the Philippine Constitution mandates the protection of the family as a social institution. “It recognizes the sanctity of life and [of] marriage as a sacred union,” she said.

But the bishops and their supporters are running the gauntlet of many people, including progressive Catholics, who are lashing out against them for their seeming imposition of their religious beliefs upon Filipinos, who live on a state that is neutral in matters of faith.

The organization Filipino Freethinkers, the largest group of free thinkers in the country, said on its website that the Maltese divorce story is one that is similar to the Filipino people’s struggle. They said that the victory of the citizens of Malta was achieved “despite the constant political meddling and religious blackmail of the Catholic Church.”

“The story of Malta’s divorce referendum shares similarities with our own debates,” the group said. “Both countries are last bastions of Catholicism - Malta in Europe, the Philippines in Asia; both countries are predominantly Catholic - 95 percent in Malta, 80 percent in the Philippines; and both battles are primarily between progressive Catholics and conservative bishops. And in both cases, the conservative bishops use fear mongering to keep their flock in line.” 

In particular, critics of the Catholic Church disapprove of the use of church sermons to spread apparent falsehoods about the proposed divorce law, including the idea that people will not think twice about getting married anymore because it will just be easy for them to separate. On the contrary, Ilagan and de Jesus’s divorce bill lists down very specific grounds which should be met before a divorce petition can be filed:

1. Petitioner has been separated de facto (in fact) from his or her spouse for at least five years at the time of the filing of the petition and reconciliation is highly improbable;

2. Petitioner has been legally separated from his or her spouse for at least two years at the time of the filing of the petition and reconciliation is highly improbable;

3. When the spouses suffer from irreconcilable differences that have caused the irreparable breakdown of the marriage;

4. When one or both spouses are psychologically incapacitated to comply with the essential marital obligations;

5. Any of the grounds for legal separation that has caused the irreparable breakdown of the marriage.

For the lawmakers, it is more about being pragmatic and facing up to the reality that in marital unions, as is the case with all other things in life, change is the only thing permanent.

“Reality tells us that there are many failed, unhappy marriages across all Filipino classes. Many couples, especially from the marginalized sectors who have no access to the courts, simply end up separating without the benefit of legal processes,” Ilagan and de Jesus said in their proposal. 

“Even when couples start out well in their marriage, political, economic, and social realities take their toll on their relationship. Some are not prepared to handle the intricacies of married life. For a large number of women, the inequalities and violence in marriage negate its ideals as the embodiment of love, care, and safety and erode the bases upon which a marriage is founded. The marital relations facilitate the commission of violence and perpetuate their oppression,” the lawmakers added.

According to a survey conducted by the Social Weather Stations last year, 50 percent of adult Filipinos agree that “married couples who have already separated and cannot reconcile anymore should be allowed to divorce so that they can get legally married again.” Only 33 percent disagreed with the statement. 

So, how about you? What is your stand on the divorce bill debate?