Therapist

Young children and their families should count on continued support for school readiness, after the approval of two consultant contracts that renew and add services offered through the Judy Center. Provided in partnership with the Carroll County Youth Service Bureau, both programs serve to continue and bolster the center's work with children ages birth to five, and their families. One contract involves the Judy Center Safe and Stable Family Preservation Program, while the other deals with Second Step, which focuses on violence prevention, and adds a new mental health counseling component for families in need, said Susan Mitchell, Carroll's Judy Center Partnership coordinator.

Mike Cervenak, a corner infielder mostly used at third base, signed with the Orioles as a minor league free agent Jan. 5 and received an invitation to spring training. The University of Michigan graduate played 40 games with the Kia Tigers of the Korean Baseball Organization last season before re-signing with the San Francisco Giants. He's never played in the majors. Did you enjoy playing in Korea? -- It was a good experience living over there. I really enjoyed being immersed in a different culture.

From shotgun marriages to adulterous affairs, illnesses to drug abuse, every family has its secrets. So when, if ever, should the proverbial family beans be spilled?In these confessional times, when TV shows like Jerry Springer and Jenny Jones seem to have little trouble coaxing their guests to blithely reveal the most sordid details of their lives, the answer would seem to be: whenever.But Evan Imber-Black, a New York-based family therapist who has made family secrets her life's work, says people who see public confession as an all-healing process are making a major mistake.

Q. My 16-year-old son is a wonderful child who is in the gifted classes at high school. Although he is very intelligent, he is doing poorly in school.His teachers tell me that intelligent children often go through school without having to study much and when they reach a point where they do have to study, they aren't prepared for it and become frustrated.I talk to my son about this a lot, and he understands that his future is in jeopardy. He always promises to do better, and sometimes he does work hard and do better, but he always falls back.

Maybe your boss is driving you crazy. Or it's dawning on you that your husband is acting just like your alcoholic father.Maybe you hear voices, or think about suicide. Or get so scared you can't leave home. Or so depressed you can't get out of bed.You decide the time has come to embark on that quintessentially American solution to life's woes: therapy. The question is, what kind of therapy and with whom?You've heard, of course, of psychoanalysis, and probably of psychodynamic therapy, too, where the idea is to understand your current troubles by tracing them to the emotional patterns laid down long ago in your family.

It sounds like a depressing new dimension in self-promotion even by the standards of star-controlled, pop-music, video journalism: a documentary about a superstar filmed and directed by the star's current lover.But "Tantrums and Tiaras," a look at the life of Elton John by David Furnish, is anything but. In fact, it's one of the most pleasantly surprising documentaries of the year. If nothing else, it demolishes those hoary bromides about the importance of objectivity to nonfiction film-making.

Nine years ago, Debra M. Doricchi was bedridden with chronic fatigue syndrome.Now, Doricchi is up and about and running the county's first shiatsu clinic out of her home on Clarence Avenue in Severna Park.Shiatsu, which means "finger pressure" in Japanese, is a massage therapy that is derived from the ancient healing art of acupuncture and a traditional form of Japanese massage called anma.Doricchi, 43, credits massage therapy and other alternative health-care practices such as acupuncture and chiropractic treatment with helping her recover.

My 3 1/2 -year-old son behaves differently depending on which parent he's with. I have fewer problems than his mother. What might account for the inconsistency, and what can we do about it?Clint WilliamsPhoenix, Ariz."Your son behaves differently because he already knows what he can and cannot do with each of you," says Pat Brown, a Child Life reader and former elementary school and day-care teacher from Chesapeake, Va. "This problem was no surprise to me. As a matter of fact, I think it's typical."

It took Judy Applefeld some 20 years to face her problem: She trusted no one. Ironically, the therapist she wound up seeing proved the person she could trust least of all.After a productive 15 months of therapy, she watched her counselor's demeanor change dramatically. The therapist began hurling insults at Ms. Applefeld, grew sarcastic and even once ridiculed another client in a session.Incredulous, Ms. Applefeld consulted other counselors who told her this behavior was clearly out of line.

"Does it take more courage to leave a man who's betrayed you -- or to stay and try to see things through?" wonders Debbie, 25, the mother of 3-year-old Susannah. "In the four years we've been married, I've done the best I could to make Ron happy -- I'm working full time as well as doing all the housework. Butclearly it's not enough."Debbie discovered her husband's affair when Monica, a woman who claimed to be his lover for three years, called the house and demanded to speak to him. When Debbie said Ron wasn't home, "This woman started ranting about how Ron loved her -- and wanted to know when I was going to quit the charade and let him go," Debbie recounts.

When longtime Baltimore Symphony Orchestra violinist Ivan Stefanovic lost the sensation in the index finger of his left hand, he asked colleagues where he could get help. The answer for Stefanovic, as it has been for a number of the orchestra's musicians: David Shulman, a former professional clarinetist turned physical therapist. "What impressed me was that the first thing he said was, 'Bring in your instrument.' That immediately told me he was a different therapist," Stefanovic says. "We don't have to explain what we do and how we do it. He knows what kind of injuries we sustain and how to treat it without injuring us further."

Laurie Sears Deppa always wanted to be a diplomat. She studied in France, lived in five different states and has visited about 35 countries. She speaks French, Spanish and a little Italian, and she regularly hosts international students. But the 12-year Annapolis resident said she's fallen in love with the town, and for once in her life, she's staying put. "I really think the best place is Annapolis," said Deppa, a Democrat who jumped into the mayoral race in late July. Her political ambitions, she said, fall in line with her international expertise.

For months, the therapist took her place on the Langstons' overstuffed burgundy couch in Randallstown and listened to the teenager talk about his juvenile record, problems in school and the inability to control his anger. The father chimed in with his own woes - 12 years of drug addiction, stints in jail and now a difficult relationship with his namesake son. The father, Tyrone Langston II, says he can't remember precisely when the therapist arrived last year or when she left. "It was just so smooth.

Mashers are people who walk on your body to help work out stubborn kinks and knots. If you're five-time U.S. Olympic swimmer Dara Torres, your mashers are experienced massage therapists. But you might have an amateur masher like mine: a 30-pound preschooler who thinks it's fun to stand on your neck. Fortunately, the good old $20 foam roller can be an inexpensive alternative. These log-shaped tools, which cost between $18 and $40 and are generally 6 inches wide and 3 feet long, can help break apart adhesions in the connective tissue.

Sen. John McCain is 71, and most likely he will be the last Old Guy presidential candidate for all of you boomers. Goodbye, Great White Father in Washington. It happens as you age: Other people get younger. The pilots flying you to New York are teenagers. Your banker, your therapist - even your urologist is young. Still, you go along thinking of the Leader of the Free World as your old civics teacher: genial, omniscient, wielding his pointer, patiently answering dumb questions, and then one day, one of your classmates has the pointer in hand, and he is not one of the smart ones.

You've been in psychotherapy for awhile, and you're feeling better. Much better. Is it time to quit? The answer is based, in large part, on the type of treatment. "When to end therapy depends on context and diagnosis," says Dr. Gary Kennedy, director of geriatric psychiatry at Montefiore Medical Center in New York. Certain types of treatment, such as cognitive behavior therapy, are designed to relieve disorders such as mild depression or anxiety in a short period, and the end is almost predetermined.

Young children and their families should count on continued support for school readiness, after the approval of two consultant contracts that renew and add services offered through the Judy Center. Provided in partnership with the Carroll County Youth Service Bureau, both programs serve to continue and bolster the center's work with children ages birth to five, and their families. One contract involves the Judy Center Safe and Stable Family Preservation Program, while the other deals with Second Step, which focuses on violence prevention, and adds a new mental health counseling component for families in need, said Susan Mitchell, Carroll's Judy Center Partnership coordinator.

Mike Cervenak, a corner infielder mostly used at third base, signed with the Orioles as a minor league free agent Jan. 5 and received an invitation to spring training. The University of Michigan graduate played 40 games with the Kia Tigers of the Korean Baseball Organization last season before re-signing with the San Francisco Giants. He's never played in the majors. Did you enjoy playing in Korea? -- It was a good experience living over there. I really enjoyed being immersed in a different culture.

JUST DAYS AGO YOU WERE DREAMING of a vacation in France, strolling through the Louvre and eating croissants outside a cafe on the Champs-Elysees. Now you'd rather be at home watching So You Think You Can Dance. After all, who wants to be stuck in a long security line at the airport, fighting through the crowds, contending with harassed ticket agents and worrying about what you can or can't take on the plane? Of course, you could get in the car and drive to the beach or take a trip to the mountains.

The reason gas prices are so high is because the oil is in Texas and Oklahoma and all the dipsticks are in Washington." - YAKOV SMIRNOFF, Russian-born comedian now working as a psychologist and family therapist