With many New Year’s resolutions newly minted in January, this is the time of year where individuals will often make new commitments. And losing weight, exercise, and personal health is normally on the top of the list. But as we all know, by March, the enthusiasm that was there in January has already evaporated away. […]
The Art of “Thank You”: Expressing Gratitude in Today’s High-Tech Environment
The Art of “Thank You”: Expressing Gratitude in Today’s High-Tech Environment Since the dawn of the so-called “internet” or “digital” age, some quiet voices have been lamenting that the simple art of saying thank you has been lost. With advancing technologies and instant communications, we can connect with anyone from any part of the world […]
A Primer on Gestalt Psychology: Looking at Parts of a Whole
How does human perception work? Certainly one could provide a biological account of the anatomy of the human eye and it’s component parts. But that’s not what we mean. We mean, how is it that our minds make meaning of the objects that our eyes observe? This is one of the main questions asked by […]
What I’ve learned from Therapy: A Personal View of the Benefits of Talk Therapy
Although I haven’t been to a therapist in more than five years, I spent many years on the couch talking to a therapist and working out the causes and (possible) solutions to whatever issues I had been facing a the time. As an adult child of an alcoholic, I started to attend therapy when I […]
Experiments that Changed Psychology
Any science outside of physics (including “hard sciences” such as biology and chemistry as well as “soft sciences” such as psychology and sociology) sometimes suffer from what has been dubbed “physics envy”—or, the idea that no other science can match the experimental rigor of what physicists have been able to reliably demonstrate. Ernest Rutherford, a […]
Minors’ Ability to Give Informed Consent: Identifying Risks and Benefits to Psychotherapy
An important question that has arisen over the decades is: What is the ability of minors to give informed consent to receive psychotherapy treatment? Research exploring this important question emerged decades ago and continues until today, and this subject touches upon professional, legal, and ethical dimensions. One early study that explores minors’ ability to give […]
Assessing the Professional Identity of School Counselors
Assessing the Professional Identity of School Counselors In the wake of the Parkland, Fl., school shooting last month, a debate has been raging—among other things—about whether or not students with mental health disorders are having their needs met. And by all indications, students with mental health disorders are not getting the services they need. According […]
Considering Therapy? A Few Items To Consider
Let’s face it: Sometimes life is hard. And sometimes, we all may need help with navigating our way through the messes that life sometimes hands us. In situations like those, it might be worth considering some type of therapy/counseling. One commonly asked question is: “Can I go to therapy even if don’t have a clinical […]
Collaborative Care: Mental Health Professionals and Clergy Working Together
For decades, researchers have been interested in studying the effectiveness of the collaboration between mental health workers and clergy. After all, both professions—although appearing differently on the surface—may both deal with individuals who are in a crisis, and perhaps working together can create a useful dialogue for individuals in both professions. That said, however, very […]
Exploring Incompetence: The Dunning-Kruger Effect
A buzz phrase that has been making its way around recently has been “The Dunning-Kruger Effect.” When I first heard about it, I was immediately suspicious thinking that it was some area of pop psychology that some were trying to insert into mainstream conversation to sound smart. As it turns out, I was way, way […]