One of the most common yet frustrating experiences of relationships is the roadblock we hit around communicating. When we initiate a challenging discussion it's more than likely that the other party may not be truly listening. More often than not, they may be defending their territory and preparing their rebuttal while we're still trying to articulate our thoughts.Relationships-whether romantic o
9 Vote(s)
September 12, 2010
Learning how to be heard
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August 12, 2010
Communication and Emotional Expression (Part 4): The Bridging Point
Is there a "right" way to communicate emotion? For many people who have non-traditional methods of communication, it certainly seems that the world thinks so.In this series, I have written of my experiences with members of my family each of whom had unique methods of communicating emotion. Each of them had something to teach me, and others that knew them. Knowing them has transformed my perceptio
16 Vote(s)
16 Vote(s)
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July 8, 2010
On the Instability of Diagnoses Across Time
I offer all of this as a way of describing how I became involved in intensive psychotherapeutic efforts with several adolescents who I then continued to see, often for many years following their inpatient experiences.
7 Vote(s)
7 Vote(s)
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May 21, 2010
‘I didn’t know what was wrong’: Physicians should help patients with depression name their problem, experts urge
To improve recognition and treatment of depression, primary care physicians should do three things: help their patients name their distress, provide explanations for the depression that conform to patients' experiences and reduce blame and stigma, according to new recommendations.
12 Vote(s)
12 Vote(s)
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December 5, 2009
More on hallucinated voices in deaf people
After a post we featured earlier this year on whether deaf people can hear hallucinated voices, I was sent an amazing study that attempted to distil the variety of 'hearing voices' experiences in deaf people.It was published in the journal Cognitive Neuropsychiatry in 2007 (there's a full text copy available online as a pdf) and attempted to avoid some of the pitfalls of studying auditory halluci
15 Vote(s)
15 Vote(s)
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October 29, 2009
Depression Can Lead To Inflated Reports Of Physical Symptoms
New research shows people who feel depressed tend to recall having more physical symptoms than they actually experienced. The study indicates that depression -- not neuroticism -- is the cause of such over-reporting. Psychologists attribute the findings to depressed individuals recalling experiences differently, tending to ruminate over and exaggerate the bad.
16 Vote(s)
16 Vote(s)
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September 2, 2009
Poem: The Waking
Submitted by Jonathan Kaplan, Ph.D.I like this poem because it reflects a mindful appreciation of our common experiences, like walking, smiling, and simply doing what we have to do. How does it resonate with you?The Waking by Theodore RoethkeI wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.I feel my fate in what I cannot fear.I learn by going where I have to go.We think by feeling. What is there to kno
9 Vote(s)
9 Vote(s)
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August 21, 2009
Did sleepwalking once serve as an adaptive function?
I readily admit that I use to sleepwalk as a kid. My dad once found me laid out at the foot of our considerably large staircase completely unharmed! As I reflect back on those sometimes hazardous, but mostly humorous unconscious experiences I can't help but wonder if somnambulism, the formal term for sleepwalking, once served as some kind of adaptive function. Were our ancient ancestors afforded
15 Vote(s)
15 Vote(s)
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August 19, 2009
The chill of the bass
I've just found this wonderful short paper on emotional peaks and 'chills down the spine' in response to music. I didn't realise the area had been investigated and apparently there is a small literature on these most sublime of experiences.The paper is brief, accessible and is available online as a pdf but the abstract gives a great summary:Chills as an indicator of individual emotional peaksAnn
13 Vote(s)
13 Vote(s)
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June 22, 2009
Accentuate the positive
How often do we spend most of our assessment time looking at people’s problems, deficits, functional difficulties? I know that much of my time in assessment involves looking across a range of domains and experiences – and whooops! by the time we come to an end I’ve hardly looked at what this person has [...]... Tedeschi, R., & Kilmer, R. (2005) Assessing Strengths, Res
11 Vote(s)
11 Vote(s)
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