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Decades ago, research psychologists began to settle the question of personality. For a long time, different personality models competed for attention: Can you really narrow down human personality? If so, how many different personalities are there? And in around the 1980s, the “five-factor” model of personality emerged, or the “Big 5” personality traits, and that […]

Domestic violence against women is, regrettably, a worldwide phenomenon which has not been abated in recent years . . . despite good faith policy-level attempts to eliminate the problem. Even in post-industrial Western countries like the United States and France, domestic violence continues to be a problem. In a recent article in the journal Psychoanalytic […]

October 23 – 31 has been designated “Drug-Free America,” or, “Red Ribbon Week.” In recent years, this has taken on a special significance, since the United States has been in the midst of an opioid epidemic, which has been gaining attention nationally in the past two years. In his book, “Dream Land,” author Sam Quinones […]

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the rates of diagnoses of attention deficit disorder (ADD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) began to rise. Since then, more has been known about these types of conditions, as medical professionals, psychologists, and the public have come to better understand ADD and ADHD. Although it is not completely clear […]

This year’s hurricane season in the United States has be active: Last month, Hurricane Florence emerged from the Atlantic Ocean to unleash havoc on the Southeastern U.S. This week, Hurricane Michael formed quickly in the Gulf of Mexico and made landfall in Florida before dumping flood-level rains through parts of Georgia and the Carolinas. Left […]

Ongoing discussion has been continuing for at least the past 30 years as to whether minors can give informed consent to therapy. And although this remains in itself a very large issue among therapists and clients, the issue of whether minors can identify the same risks and benefits of talk therapy as adults, too, continues […]

September is National Suicide Prevention Month, and mental health professionals (MHPs) who work in fields such as counseling, psychology, social work—and other closely aligned professions—many, at one time or another, confront the problem of suicide with their clients. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), suicide is the 10th leading […]

Although the idea of the “mad genius,” has become trite and is not necessarily true, the idea that creatives—artists, musicians, writers, etc.—have higher rates of mental illness is not a cliché . . . according to author Kay Redfield Jamison, in her book, “Touched with Fire: Manic Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament,” creatives do […]

When an individual decides to enter the professional world of counseling, therapy, social work, or any of the mental health professions in general, it is usually assumed that that individual has a high level of empathy; otherwise, why would he or she choose that profession? And although this assumption may seem correct on it’s face, […]

Monday, September 10 is World Suicide Prevention Day. Occasions such as this are a good time to stop, reflect, and take in why days of awareness such as this are needed in the first place. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), suicide/self-harm is one of the leading causes of death in […]