Archive | April, 2014

The Past

27 Apr

J. Winterson (2011): The past is so hard to shift. It comes with us like a chaperone, standing between us and the newness of the present-the new chance. (Why be happy when you could be normal? New York, NY: Grove Press)

Envy

24 Apr

Among the seven deadly sins, envy is the only one that is never fun. (Crusius, J. & Mussweiler, T. Untangling envy. Scientific American Mind, 2013, 24, 5, pp. 35-37)

Writing as Therapy

21 Apr

Expressive writing helps heal psychological problems and also promotes physical healing. There is the possibility that writing in the third, rather than the first, person is more beneficial. (Scientific American Mind, 2013, 24925), p. 17)

Children of Divorce

17 Apr

W. Mosier(2013.During and after divorce. Annals of Psychotherapy and Integrated Health., 16(3), pp. 82-83) offered some guidelines for divorcing parents: (1) Both parents together should tell the children and reassure them that they are loved and it’s not their faults. (2) They should give a general, not detailed, explanation and each should accept responsibility for the decision to reduce blame and underline its finality. (3) Parents should explain living and visitation arrangements. (4) Parents should not criticize the other parent in front of the children, nor use them as pawns between them, nor ask them to take sides. (5) Stability in the children’s daily life should be preserved as much as possible. (6) Discipline should continues in spite of parental guilt. (7) Children need to be encouraged to express their concerns. and (8) Each parent should continue to be very involved with each child.

Rx Depression

14 Apr

Daily, moderate exercise for 20 to 30 minutes helps ward off depression for people of all ages. ( Monitor on Psychology, 2014, 45(1), p. 19)

Sleep

8 Apr

Irregular bedtimes are linked to behavior problems in children. (Monitor on Psychology, 2014, 45(1), p. 16.)

Hypnosis for Chronic Pain

6 Apr

Chronic pain is a difficult treatment challenge. However, hypnosis is an underutilized but potentially effective therapy for reducing the intensity of pain, having an impact on neurophysiological activity in the brain, and increasing feelings of well-being, self control and sleep. It works on average but better for some than others. (Jensen, M. P. & Patterson, D. R. (2014). Hypnotic approaches for chronic pain management. American Psychologist, 69(2),167-177)  

Read

3 Apr

New research finds that being a bookworm all your life slows the rate of memory decline with old age. So read! (Annals of Psychotherapy & Integrated Health, 2013, 16(3), p. 24.)