I've done a lot of volunteer work over the years. And sometimes humorous things happen at volunteer jobs.
One time I was working as a volunteer dealing with the public. And every person that morning that I had dealt with were all men.
So when I finally had a female customer that day, I accidentally called her, "Sir."
How embarrassing!
She didn
A ways back, I was reading a self help book written by an experienced psychotherapist.
Near the end of the book, he wrote that if you elect to go into therapy, you should work with a counselor who mostly listens. He stated that working with a therapist who mostly listens is better and is the most effective way to be treated for mental health issues, such as depression, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, bipolar disorder, etc.
However, I think he was wrong. I feel that was an irrational
When I was in college, during one class that I was a student in, the instructor got on the subject of psychosis (which is when someone is out of touch with reality).
I asked her that if a person claims that he/she is being stalked by someone or that the government is after them, how do shrinks know if what the individual is saying is true or not?
She said therapists and psychiatrists can usually tell because if someone really does have one or more persons that's going after them,
Back in the early 2000's, I attended a community college as a Human Services major.
One of the first classes I attended was taught by a Social Worker/Therapist (a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, or LCSW). And one of the first things she told the class is that she takes teaching her profession as well as working in her profession very seriously.
Although she expected a lot from her students such as myself, I didn't think what was required in order to do well in her class was unusually
It's an unfortunate fact that lots of people have had something traumatic happen to them, or a series of traumatic events in their past, such as sexual abuse, physical assault, and other forms of trauma.
And while it's good that many trauma victims seek a therapist to try to overcome what happened to them and one day be able to move on with their lives, what if you don't want to tell anyone about what happened to you? Or what if you don't want anybody to know that you've experienced any tr
I've been a fan of the NFL's New England Patriots for a long time, even before they became a dynasty.
However, I don't take being a fan too seriously. If the Patriots win games and championships, then that's good for me.
But if they lose a big game or have a bad season, it's not going to ruin my life. That's because I don't think of it as the end of the world like some sports fans seem to believe.
I mean, when the Pats won the six Super Bowls that they won, I was glad they were
Lots of people in our world need help from others. Fortunately, their are many folks who want to help those who need it. Their are lots of individuals who want to assist others and make a positive impact on their lives.
If you try to help others, that's commendable on your part.
However, if you try to make a difference in the lives of others, be humble about it.
If you go out and start bragging to everyone that you help individuals, the people that you're bragging to are going t
How are you coping during the coronavirus pandemic?
I'm coping pretty well with it.
One reason that I'm coping well with the virus is because I'm not watching the news about it on the TV a great deal. I'm watching the news some so I can be informed about the virus. And I think that's smart.
However, I'm not watching the news a great deal, as I don't want to get all worried and panicked about the virus because of it. For me, their's a happy medium.
I think that in American society, their's a misconception about defining the word 'hero.'
To me, a hero isn't a famous sports athlete.
Instead, a hero is someone who risks his or her life to save others, such as firefighters, many police officers, and just the everyday person who risks it all to save the lives of others. They're the true heroes of our world.
If you have mental illness, getting help for it is commendable. And it's worth it because, with the help of mental health providers such as therapists, psychiatrists, etc., you can overcome it and live a happy, productive life.
Also, doing what you can to help yourself while you're in treatment increases the chances that you'll be successfully treated.
However, if you get the help and do as much as you can to help yourself in the long term, you are not only helping yourself. You are
On Christmas day, is their ever snow on the ground where you live, and if so, how often is their snow on the ground during Christmas?
Where I live in the the foothills of southern Maine, United States, the vast majority of Christmas' are white Christmas.'
Last year's Christmas, we only had a few inches of snow on the ground here. But at least it was a white Christmas.
I have family who lives in Rhode Island. And they haven't had a white Christmas in years.
To all mothers out there, Happy Mother's Day!
If you give your mother a nice Mother's Day card today, hopefully it won't make her cry, ha, ha.
If you celebrate Mother's Day each year, what do you usually do to celebrate on Mother's Day?
Years ago, a friend of mine knew a person who had been through trauma. He told me that he wanted to give this individual some advice so this person could be helped and could learn how to cope.
I told him that could be a bad idea. The thing is, if a trauma survivor has a lot of anger inside because of what happened to him/her and isn't on psychiatric medication that works well to help them, the therapy can actually make the anger worse.
Besides, my friend wasn't a trained psychotherap
I have a question for those who know a thing or two about evolutionary psychology.
I know that anger is a healthy emotion. If you never felt angry, people could walk all over you and rip you off, and you wouldn't do anything about it.
However, how is it is beneficial for a person to sometimes feel frustrated....like when a person is trying to complete a task and they run into difficulties and get frustrated as a result?
For example, I became a little frustrated a few days ago whe
Mental illness is a terrible disease. It affects the lives of those with depression, bi polar disorder, OCD, and more in a profound way.
But their are lots of ways to overcome this illness. For example, their are hundreds of different forms of psychotherapy, anywhere from Freudian psychoanalysis to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT).
A year or two ago, a storm gave us some hail where I live. And the hail was getting sort of big. Hence, I was getting afraid that it might cause some damage to my car.
Fortunately, the hail never got big enough to cause any damage. I lucked out.
Have you ever seen damaging hail before? If so, how bad was it?
Years ago, when I was battling issues with depression and anxiety, I asked my therapist at the time if she thought it was a bad idea for me to drink alcohol.
This counselor was a psychologist, not a psychiatrist. So she wasn't a medical professional.
She said that I would have to ask my psychiatrist if it would interact with the psychiatric medications that I was on at the time.
But she went on to say that either way it would likely be a bad idea for me to drink because alcohol i
I'm no family therapist. I know far less about family counseling than highly trained, full-fledged family therapists do.
But one thing I do know is that parents should never fight in front of their young children.
A husband and wife fighting in front of their kids can be frightening for young ones. Hence, it's unfair to children to have to see their parents fight each other in a heated verbal battle.
If parents feel the need to fight each other at home, they need to do so when t
I've seen many medical doctors in my time. And I've noticed that none of them would tell me what the potential side effects of a medication they had just prescribed me could be unless I asked them.
But I worked with one psychiatrist who, even when I asked him about it when he'd prescribe me medication, wouldn't tell me what the potential side effects were.
It's impossible for any psychiatrist to be able to remember every p
Many teenagers are often victims of bullying on the schoolyard. And bullying can have a terrible price, especially since many teenagers are quite emotionally delicate at that age.
Those who are bullied on the schoolyard can face not only physical injuries. They can develop full blown mental illness because of it, including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Getting picked on and beat up is rather traumatic to many students.
So if you are a bully, you must realize what great emotional t
If you're a psychotherapist or a psychiatrist, you deal with lots of patients who have a variety of issues every day. And some patients will be doing better than others.
One patient you'll see will be doing well and will be making lots of progress in overcoming his or her mental health issues. Then the next client you see a little bit later on in the day will be doing just awful and will be having a rather bad day. Or vice-versa.
Also, some patients get better with the help of psych
Years ago, Aaron Beck invented Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). This form of psychotherapy was invented because he noticed that those with mental illness have a lot of irrational beliefs, which are part of why some have mental health issues. Depressed people have beliefs which are too negative. Those with bipolar disorder, when they're manic, often have beliefs and goals that are too grandiose. Folks with clinical anxiety typically have beliefs which cause them to over-worry about situati
Years ago, I was reading a self help book about anger management.
The author of the book, a psychotherapist, wrote that when someone is being what you perceive as being rude to you, the person doesn't make you angry. Instead, the author stated that you make yourself angry when the individual is perceived by you as being rude to you.
I'm not so sure about that.
What's your opinion about this? Do you think the author is right or wrong?
