Tag: mental health
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Fear of Failure Holding You Back?
Recognize when it’s wise to make a move with these simple steps Shonda Moralis MSW, LCSW “Do not fear mistakes: There are none.” Easy for me to say? Well, no, not really. Even though one of my favorite personal mistakes* ultimately led to the successful publishing of my first book, this Miles Davis quote, which is posted…
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Finding Light in the Darkness
Joyce Marter LCPC MINDFULNESS In a world where mass shootings and the horrific tragedies of war are continually in your news feed, it’s easy to feel hopeless. Glimmers can help you achieve a more positive outlook when faced with adversity. Glimmers are those flickers of hope, happiness, or optimism that we encounter during challenging times or when we’re…
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How Literature Teaches Compassion Over Condescension
Matthew Clemente, Ph.D. and David Goodman, Ph.D. In The Unbearable Lightness of Being, the 20th century Czech novelist Milan Kundera unpacks the etymology of the word “compassion.” Languages that derive their understanding of compassion from Latin (com-, “with”; passio, “suffering”) tend to view compassion as synonymous with pity. Understood as such, compassion is the recognition of another’s suffering…
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Halloween Special: Why Do We Find Clowns So Creepy?
Trevor A. Foulk Ph.D. During Halloween time, we’re confronted with a lot of images and experiences meant to terrify us. Some of the things we encounter are objectively terrifying. For example, it’s not hard to understand why a man in a hockey mask holding a chainsaw evokes a feeling of fear when we see it. While many…
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How to Keep Anchored During Difficult World Events
Beth Kurland Ph.D. If you are struggling deeply with recent world events, you are certainly not alone. I have been alive on this planet for over five decades and somehow these last recent years have felt like some of the most challenging — collectively and on a global scale — that I can remember in…
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Eliminate Fear With Creativity
Robert Evans Wilson Jr. We are often inundated by fear. Fear is doled out by politicians to influence people. Advertisers peddle fear to keep people buying their products and services. Some media outlets lead with it to build audiences and sell more ad space. Doomsayers, prognosticators, and conspiracy theorists spread it to gather followers and create…
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Navigating Parenthood With a Mental Illness
Barbara Robles-Ramamurthy MD Mental health conditions are common. One in five U.S. adults experience a mental illness and global estimates show at least 50 percent of us will experience a mental health condition in our lifetime. Decades of research have documented the relationship between parental mental health and that of their children: The mechanisms are complex…
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3 Ways Mindfulness Meditation Makes Therapy Work Better
Loren Soeiro, Ph.D. ABPP If you practice mindfulness meditation, you probably know that it can lower your stress level, reduce anxiety, and improve low moods. You might also be aware of its health-improving properties. According to the National Institutes of Health, mindfulness meditation may be able to reduce your blood pressure, help you cope with chronic pain, and even make it easier to…
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How to Improve the Human Ability to Forecast
Thomas Suddendorf Ph.D. There are many good reasons to complain about human foresight. For one thing, we are often lousy at taking a longer view, being guided instead by the prospects of a quick buck, the whims of the daily news cycle, or likes on social media. We persistently predict our projects will be finished within…
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Addiction and Suicide: What’s the Link?
By Peg Rosen (Medical Reviewer Stacia Alexander, PhD, LPC-S) Suicide and addiction. Too often, we hear these words in the same breath. At face value, the connection feels logical. Think of celebrities who die by suicide—often there’s the implication, if not outright fact, of a struggle with substance misuse. At the most basic level, “what…