Description: I am willing to bet that you have already heard something about the practice of if not the term being used for forest bathing. No, it does not involve getting wet in the woods (unless perhaps it is raining). The term comes out of Japan (shinrin yoku = forest bathing) where the practice of… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Clinical Psychology
We Need Citizen Therapy, But Why?
Description: We are hearing from several directions that there are not enough therapists to go around these days. Even discounting the impact of the Covid pandemic (if we can), the successful reduction of stigma associated with admitting that help is needed and increasing levels of burnout and retirement among support and therapy providers, and we… Read more »
Mental Health Thermometers
Description: You drop into your doctor’s office and tell them you are not feeling well. Assuming COVID is not the issue (which would likely be picked up at the front desk of the clinic using screening questions) what is one of the first things the doctor will likely do? Take you temperature, right? (Or ask… Read more »
Perfectionism: A Growing Problem That Needs A Wider Perspective
Description: Are you aware of the consistent finding that the rates of perfectionism among adolescents and emerging adults have increased dramatically over the past 20 to 30 years? Young people driving themselves to be perfect, holding themselves to I possibly high standards, and believing that doing so is essential to moving forward positively in life… Read more »
MDMA and Relationship Work?
Description: Imagine that a couple you know is having relationship difficulties that have been going on for a while. Imagine farther that you think that one if the things contributing to their difficulties is that seem to be having problems talking to one another about things that matter to them in their relationship (e.g., having… Read more »
Let’s Talk Talk Therapy!
Description: The Canadian cellular services company, Bell, launched the Let’s Talk campaign in 2010. It is focused on reducing/eliminating stigma associated with mental illness. Stigma, related to mental illness, is a social phenomenon involving beliefs about the nature of mental illness (e.g., that it is somehow the fault of the people who struggle with it)… Read more »
Schizophrenia: What’s In a Name?
Description: You have heard the term stigma before, right? It involves the stubborn attachment of negative assumptions or beliefs to a socially marked situation or circumstance. Stigma also is viewed as the inappropriate, ongoing, application of those negative beliefs or assumption when they really should not be in play. For example, imagine you have met… Read more »
Vaccine Hesitancy 201
Description: We are all very tired of talking about and worrying about Covid and its many issues and yet we are also, as I write this, wondering what the Omicron variation is going to do to our ability to cope and manage individually, withing our communities and especially within our medical systems. Any sort of… Read more »
When is Forgetting a Good Thing?
Description: This may seem like an odd question but what comes to mind when you think about forgetting? I suspect that most of what comes to mind as you ponder on forgetting is negative: things or events you forgot, concerns over loss of memory with age or loss of memory due to accident or illness… Read more »
Horror and Anxiety: Therapeutic?
Description: Evaluate the usefulness of the following two statements. People who are worried about what is going on with the Covid pandemic shous watch movies like Contagion (about a run-away pandemic). OR, people who are trying to deal with anxiety and nightmares should watch Zombie films or televisions shows (e.g., The Walking Dead) before bed…. Read more »
Books for Success!
