Stress in cumulative throughout the day. If we do not keep our intra-personal and inter-personal engagement in check, the resulting sense of ‘dis-ease’ leaves us feeling overwhelmed. The negative thoughts, unproductive conversations, and situations we find ourselves in where we have no actual contribution, increases cortisol, and thus anxiety.
Health Psychology and Behavioural Medicine
The field of Health Psychology and Behavioural Medicine revolutionized how we conceptualize wellness and our approach to care. Incorporate readily accessible tools informed by clinical research, designed to launch you onto your path of personal transformation.
Locus Of Control and Depression – How Cognitive Style Impacts Mood
Locus of Control (LOC) was first described by Rotter in 1966. Locus of Control refers to how individuals attribute the cause(s) of events in their life. This cognitive style has an impact on subsequent approaches to problem solving. We measure LOC using the Rotter’s Locus of Control Scale.
Managing Toxic Behaviour at Home and Work – Types and Strategy
Toxicity at home and the workplace, when left unchecked, significantly disrupts our sense of connection and safety with others. It often leaves us uneasy, even confused, about the dynamics at play within a closed social system such as immediate family or colleagues.
5 Profound Impacts of Financial Insecurity on Mental Health
Financial insecurity is the perception that your lifestyle has or will change dramatically as a result of sharp decreases in income and/or increased indebtedness. This strong sense of insecurity has a significant impact on self-worth, oftentimes resulting in poor mental health outcomes.
Two Meditation Techniques Targeting Generalized Anxiety Disorder
A moderate degree of anxiety is a normal part of the human experience. In fact, when experienced at the right level, it promotes motivation. However, when your sense of anxiety and worry increases significantly, becoming a persistent part of your day-to-day, our ability to function has the potential to decline at home and work.
How To Stay Married While Working From Home During the COVID-19 Crisis
We are living in uncertain times. There is no doubt that the anxiety caused by the current pandemic crisis spills over into our personal relationships. If you are coupled and living together, or married, you absolutely have noticed our mutual frustration tolerance running low.
Fight Procrastination Anxiety with the Premack Principle
Procrastination is the irrational tendency to delay tasks that require completion (Clarry H. Lay, 1986). A strong propensity towards procrastination often leads to a strong sense of negative self-evaluation, anxiety, and depression.
Social Media and Mental Health Benefits (Building Your Wellness Network)
Social media has significant influence on society. Most articles focus on negative impacts. We attempt to take a broader view. Data indicates that having an internet connection in your home and participation in social networks decreases the psychological distress associated with depression and anxiety in adults.
Suicide and Seasonal Patterns (Three Studies)
Suicide attempts on average increase by 27% (Bridges, et al.) between the months of March and May. Suicide attempts are lowest between November and January. There appears to be no gender differences in the data. This is contrary to popular belief that suicide rates should increase between late autumn and early winter months due to decreasing light.
Elevate Others for Optimal Workplace Culture (#elevateothers)
Health Psychology, through a change management lens, provides a conceptual framework for a positive work environment, resulting in sustainable teams. The traditional approach deconstructed teams through extrinsically driven motivators using the financial carrot.
Anhedonia in Patients with Depression: Definition and Implications
Anhedonia is one of several neurovegetative symptoms of Major Depressive Disorder. It is characterized by a strong sense of finding no pleasure in activities that once brought joy to the individual. Anhedonia is a hallmark of clinical depression seen in approximately 70% of presentations (Shankman, et al., 2014).
Therapeutic Photography and Healing Childhood Trauma (Considerations)
Photography is a powerful form of deep self-examination. If you want to use photography as a therapeutic tool, we have several suggestions to launch you in the right direction. We also do an in-depth review of the therapeutic nature of photography and personal readiness.
Depression and Weight Gain (The Insidious Connection)
The literature is clear! Depression and weight are connected. Significant depressive episodes are frequently followed by substantial increases in weight. This is true for adults and adolescents alike (Wurtmann JJ, 1993; Felton J, 2014).
MBTI Profile: INFJ Depression (Is It Real?)
The INFJ, a personality profile found in the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) personality test, is frequently misunderstood as detached, moody, silently angry, and even depressed. INFJs themselves regularly make a direct connection between their personalty type and dysphoria.
Clinical Depression – Knowing When to See The Doctor
So, you felt confident that you could go it alone. Now you find yourself at the end of an insidious decline into the perpetual darkness of clinical depression. The warning signs were posted along the way. You thought you had the answers. Who knows you, better than you, right?
Goal Setting Mastery – Six Simple Steps (With Evernote)
Health Psychology has lots to say about how to set achievable goals! Let’s face it, setting goals is tricky, especially when we create benchmarks too far down the road. That’s why we brought all our best folks together to build the following six step workflow with sustainability in mind.
HIV Chronic Disease Management – Untangling Mental Health Obstacles
Protease Inhibitors entered the drug market in the mid 1990’s, changing the face of HIV, the virus that without treatment, eventually results in Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). Now considered a chronic disease, HIV infection, when approached with persistence and care, is entirely manageable from a medical perspective. Patients can now expect to live nearly as long as non-infected peers.
Obliterate Perfectionism Using The Triple Column Technique
Perfectionism gets in the way of productivity, especially when creativity is an essential part of your work. Those who call themselves perfectionists undoubtedly disagree, instead seeing their approach as improving the work they do. In reality, struggling with perfectionism means that fewer projects are started and completed, resulting in an increased sense of failure.
Seasonal Affective Disorder Getting You Down? Master These Techniques!
Learn about the symptoms associated with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) and the best known techniques for mitigating the effects. The insidious nature of SAD means many are never properly diagnosed, thus leaving the individual stumbling through late autumn and winter with crippling dysphoric mood.
Living with HIV and Depression? Let’s Discuss Some Solutions!
Up until the advent of advanced combination treatments for HIV infection (Protease Inhibitors) in 1996, infected individuals experienced a fast progressing and fatal disease process. HIV is now considered a chronic disease to be managed, much like living with diabetes (Lancet, 2013).
Defining Agoraphobia: Treatment and Prevention Considerations
Agoraphobia is classified as an anxiety disorder by the American Psychiatric Association, characterized by the avoidance of places and/or situations that may cause acute panic, or a feeling of being trapped without a way out. At its worst, individuals feel unable to leave their home due to anticipatory anxiety of what might happen if they were out in public.
The Therapeutic Value of Keeping a Journal (Digital Vs. Paper)
Journaling is a tool commonly used in the therapeutic process. Entries completed outside of appointments are reviewed in-session for feedback and insight building. For clinicians, journaling assignments are a ubiquitous practice – Not only is it a great place to learn about the client, it also helps form the therapeutic relationship through trust building.
25 Easy to Follow Tips for Managing Clinical Depression
Major Depressive Disorder, or, ‘clinical depression,’ is a common illness causing significant distress in an individual’s social, occupational, and/or physical wellbeing. It is more common among men, and is the leading contributor to suicide (Mayo Clinic, 2000).
Smash Anxiety With Progressive Muscle Relaxation – (Audio Session)
Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR) is a tool used in the filed of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), designed to interrupt the physiological consequences on persistent anxiety. It is a sustainable approach with wide ranging effects on mood, anxiety, and perceived wellbeing.
Psychology and Human Sexuality – Why Your Sexual Health Matters
Clinicians working in Health Psychology and Behavioural Medicine are tasked with providing education and counselling to clients grappling with sexual identity/orientation, psychological trauma caused by sexual exploitation, physical trauma resulting from cultural practices (female genital mutilation) , while prioritizing sexual health and wellness from a harm reduction perspective.
The Therapist’s Confessional – What We Think About Our Clients
The therapeutic relationship is complicated. I have been on both sides of the counselling scenario (as both a client and psychotherapist). These are two entirely different points of view. As challenging as the task might be, I want to address both perspectives in this, “tell all” confessional.
Psychological Healing – The Power of Mindfulness and Meditation (Buddhist Psychotherapy)
Spirituality is one part of a comprehensive self-care approach to well-being. We regularly talk about the “bio-psycho-social” aspects of both conceptualizing and treating mental health and substance misuse problems. We even consider broader cultural impact caused by shame and denial. However, spiritual health is rarely discussed.
Using Personality Psychology For Improved Relationships At Work (5 Tips)
Part of professional development is learning to thrive in the work place, regardless of milieu. Conflict is a natural part of growth – Feelings are always involved, especially when performance matters. The well rounded professional understands conflict as a necessary part of growth, both for the self, and between people, regardless of the role.
MBTI – The Personality Test That Changed Everything!
We love to learn about ourselves through tests, especially when the results are supported by evidence-based research. Let’s face it, if you really think about it, personality testing is narcissistic in nature. We take tests regardless of their statistical integrity (validity and/or reliability) because we are obsessed with ourselves. On the surface, using personality testing to define our identity or show others who we are, is quite self-absorbed.
Major Depression: Critical Signs, Symptoms, and Treatment Suggestions
Clinical Depression as a diagnosis has both endogenous and psycho-social features. This is important when considering treatment – Medication is one component in a comprehensive set to tools, used as part of a biopsychosocial approach to care.
