Designing a Gourmet Kitchen in Your Own Home

Gourmet Kitchen
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A graduate of the University of California San Diego and Alliant University, David Daleo is a clinical psychologist and the owner of Daleoworks Psychological Services, Inc. Outside of work, David Daleo enjoys spending time cooking gourmet dishes.

While a gourmet kitchen is not a requirement to cook delicious gourmet foods, having one is not a bad idea especially for those who have the resources and desire to prepare and cook haute cuisine.

Designing a gourmet kitchen varies depending on the homeowners and their culinary interests. Talented designers take into account a home chef’s habits in the kitchen and create a custom space with highly individualized surfaces, appliances, storage, and accessories. For example, a chef that enjoys canning produce grown on her property may incorporate a canning center with a dedicated sink and stovetop. Likewise, a pastry chef might set aside a marble surface for rolling pastries or a countertop at a custom height for kneading bread.

A gourmet kitchen should be a pleasant, roomy space that is conducive to creating gourmet dishes. Common features include larger refrigerators, a commercial quality oven, and a six burner stove. In order to accommodate larger appliances, a well-designed industrial strength ventilation system is usually required. Other appliances might include a restaurant-style warming table, separate wine coolers countertop steamer, built-in coffee maker, frying station, or a reach in cooler.

Storage and organization within a gourmet kitchen are essential. Gourmet chefs need to have their supplies easily accessible. This may require strategically placed rolling spice shelves or custom designed knife storage.

At least one island is typically incorporated into a gourmet kitchen. The island offers space for additional storage, sinks, and dishwashers. The extra surface and seating space are particularly useful for additional chefs or simply for spectators who enjoy seeing a meal come together.

An Overview of Reality-Based Therapy

David Daleo

A clinical and forensic psychologist based in Beverly Hills, David Daleo is the owner and founder of Daleoworks Psychological Services, Inc. Since 2004, David Daleo has focused on cognitive behavioral therapy, with a special focus on reality-based therapy (RBT), to help individuals, couples, and families recover from psychological distress.

Developed by therapist William Glassner, reality-based therapy rests on the foundation that all human beings have five basic needs – survival, freedom, fun, power, and love/belonging – and that most unhappiness comes from an inability to fulfill these needs.

Using choice theory, which posits that all human behavior is choice, we should be able to achieve happiness by learning to make more positive choices that nurture close, caring relationships. Reality therapy is focused on the present rather than the past, making it an effective way to confront problems and pinpoint solutions related to mental health issues such as addiction and eating disorders. Its goal is to empower patients with techniques that will help them confront challenges on their own.

Why Self-Care Is an Important Mental Health Practice

Self-Care
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The owner of Daleoworks Psychological Services, Inc., David Daleo has more than two decades of experience as a clinical psychologist. To stay up-to-date with the latest developments in his field, David Daleo is a member of several professional organizations, such as the American Psychological Association (APA).

The APA maintains a commitment to promoting the application, communication, and advancement of psychological knowledge and science. Among its latest campaigns, the APA has labored to raise awareness around the importance of self-care for psychologists, students, and other caregivers, as rates of burnout and fatigue are highest among these groups.

The practice of giving priority to one’s emotional and physical well-being, self-care includes techniques such as nourishing one’s skin, taking a bath, and getting a massage. Self-care can affect physical health by triggering the relaxation response, a physical process that reverses the effects of the physical stress response as well as overall stress.

Self-care also affects emotional health because it can remind us to value our needs. When individuals feel cared for, they often experience feelings of relaxation and calm. Without self-care, individuals are less successful at handling stress.

The Growing Prevalence of Virtual Reality Therapy

 

Virtual Reality Therapy
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The recipient of a PhD in clinical psychology from Alliant University, David Daleo owns and manages his own psychological services practice in Beverly Hills, California, where he provides clinical services to entertainment studios, as well as outpatient cognitive behavioral therapy to individuals and families. David Daleo’s registered trademark is “Specializing in Psychology for the Future,” as his practice is regularly evolving based on current research.

Although it has been used since the 1990s to help individuals overcome phobias, virtual reality (VR) therapy has been expanding recently as an accepted and popular treatment option for individuals with phobias and psychological disorders. A recent article in Science News, for instance, explored the case of an individual diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia who had been undergoing VR therapy to quell his fear of going out in public places. Following months of treatment that involved simulated, but life-like situations, the individual reported that not only were public outings much easier, but also that he had read a poem in front of an audience of 500 people.

Over the years, VR therapy has been used to treat patients with a variety of ailments or phobias, such as fear of flying and social anxiety. According to a 2017 study published in the British Journal of Psychiatry, patients diagnosed with social anxiety who underwent VR therapy experienced an average drop of 33 points on the anxiety scale of zero to 144 compared to 19 percent for those who underwent traditional therapy. Furthermore, VR therapy has also been shown to be effective in some cases in the treatment of post-traumatic stress, although experts suggest more research is required in that regard.