Health Directory - Los Angeles Health Directory

Home Health Los Angeles

Mar 182015

The need for home health services (or just a plain home health) arises under various circumstances. Most often, the need for home health is temporary for as long as the patient recuperates. It may be necessitated by a sudden illness. It may occur in the aftermath of an accident. It may be needed in the course of a disability. Finally, it may be required for an elderly person who’s no longer able to care for him or herself.

Whatever may have led to your interest in home health, immediate family members – and / or a spouse as it may be the case – often times feel guilty about relying on strangers for care of a loved one. The truth is – with all due respect to your feelings – not being qualified to provide medical care, not being able to provide immediate personal care to a person who is either ill, disabled or elderly; or even not having the time to tend to such a person is nothing to feel guilty or embarrassed about. Failing to ensure that the person in need of care is well taken care of by a qualified and licensed professional, now that’s shameful, not to mention neglectful. So put your apprehension aside and let’s explore the available options in Los Angeles home health and L.A. home care; yes, there is a difference.

About Los Angeles home health:

Assuming you have no prior experience, not all of home health services are equal. There are organizations that specialize in providing for personal care only which may be appropriate in a case of an older person who has trouble with grooming, getting dressed and other personal needs, including meal preparation and running errands. This would be akin to senior care.

Other L.A. home health providers are focused on providing for medical needs. Some provide for both: personal and medical needs.

The home care only services are self-explanatory, so lets focus here on home health services. Home health serves one main goal, enabling the patient to stay at home so he or she can heal better and feel better in comfortable and familiar surroundings.

Many home health service organizations provide skilled nursing and / or therapy services such as:

Vital Signs and Glucose Monitoring
Catheter Care
Pain Management
IV therapies (Antibiotics / Hydration)
Administration of Injections
Post-Surgical Care
Rehabilitation
Wound Care

Some Los Angeles home health organizations may have on their staff a licensed dietician as well as physical, speech and occupational therapists, even medical social workers. Regardless of the spectrum of home health services provided, these are specific to a patient care.

Before exploring the waters and even attempting to hire either a home health or home care provider, you must be aware of it that in L.A. (and in California at large) there are strict regulations and licensing requirements for both. Be sure that the provider you’re considering holds the required licenses; if you don’t, you – or worse yet, the person for whom you’re seeking care! – may end in all sorts of trouble. One more thing, most of Los Angeles home health providers have a minimum hours requirement. Ask about it before making a commitment. Now you know, sometimes home health or home care are a necessity, armed with some information you’ll be able to choose the provider who meets your specific needs best.

Interview with L.A. Psychotherapist

Jun 182012

Interview with Barbara J. Brighton, M.A., M.F.C.T.

Ms. Barbara J. Brighton, M.A., M.F.C.T. is a Psychotherapist specializing in Individual and Group Psychotherapy, Adults and Adolescents as well as Psycho-Oncology. She has graduated from Cal State Northridge with a BA in Psychology and has earned her Master’s degree in Psychology from Antioch University. She is in private practice for 29 years. Barbara Brighton’s professional accomplishments have earned her ‘excellent reputation. She has achieved acclaim while working with many cancer patients and their families helping them to cope with the disease and successfully overcome it.

Barbara J. Brighton: Would you like me to start by explaining what psychotherapy is?

Editor: It would help!

Barbara J. Brighton: Psychotherapy is a place where you can talk about your most personal, private thoughts, feelings and life experiences. As the therapist I provide a safe and comfortable environment, listen without judgment, analyze and interpret the information and ultimately assist and guide you in a way that allows you to put together the pieces of the puzzle of your life.
As children, we get information from our family and environment that determines the way we look at ourselves and the world and what our expectations are. Ideally, children get positive messages about themselves, feel loved, know how to trust their environment, and all those good things. Unfortunately, that isn’t always the case and the negative and distorted messages and experiences that occur stay with a person into adulthood. Through the psychotherapeutic process, we begin to look at the messages and experiences and unravel them. The client develops adult eyes to review and reconsider the way they look at themselves and the world and reevaluate their choices. The therapy can also include learning new coping mechanisms, how to communicate effectively and how to intervene on your own behalf when negative messages come into your head that undermine the success of your life.

Editor: So if I came to therapy with you, it would help me become a more effective adult?

Barbara Brighton, L.A. Psychotherapist

Barbara J. Brighton: I would say that I would work with you to find a healthy adult within yourself. When you open yourself in therapy, many aspects of your life are affected. I use the metaphor that as you go through life you throw things that you don’t want to deal with in a closet and shut the door. You keep throwing things in the closet and eventually it is so full that the door doesn’t want to shut so you have to lean on the door all the time to keep everything from falling out. This can cause stress, anxiety, depression and more. You expend so much energy making sure you keep that door closed that you don’t have anything left for your life. Part of what we do in therapy is to gently and slowly open up that door. We take things out and look at them and decide where they fit in your life. This can be a very painful process, but not as scary as you might think it would be. You can live through it. You find your truth and your humanity and you have the opportunity to have a relationship with yourself that is loving.

Editor: Who can benefit from therapy the most?

Barbara J. Brighton: I think most people can benefit from therapy to different degrees. The more motivated you are to improve the quality of your life, the more you’ll benefit.

Editor: How would I know that I need therapy?

Barbara J. Brighton: Sometimes people come because there is a crisis in their life. Often people come to therapy to talk about their relationships and the problems within those relationships. Although it is reasonable to address those issues, my approach is to focus equally on the relationship you have with yourself. How would you describe that relationship? Is it abusive, loving, critical? Do you honestly look at what is going on in your life? When you heal the relationship you have with yourself, you have a much better chance of having successful relationships with others. When you get to that place it might mean that you will choose to let people go who aren’t supporting your emotional health, and deepen the relationships that enrich your life.
I would also say that it is a good idea to get into therapy if you find that many of your days feel like an effort. When you find that you have no energy and most importantly, when you find that you don’t feel joy in your life and that you don’t look forward to the day.

Editor: Thank you for talking with me and sharing your insights with the visitors of Los Angeles Health Directory, Barbara.

Barbara J. Brighton, M.A., M.F.C.T.
16055 Ventura Blvd., Ste. 1010 in Encino
Phone: (818)905-4692
E-Mail: bjbjazz@earthlink.net

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