Because so many things that we deal with in psychology cannot be physically measured, the field lends itself to various interpretations about all sorts of things. There is no equivalent of an EKG or MRI or blood pressure cuff to objectively measure empathy or resilience or even love. As a result, there is no uniform psychological theory…
We all have to deal with some commitments and deadlines and requirements in addition to having things on our schedules that we choose to do. The bottom line is that most of us lead pretty busy lives. There are essentially two ways of dealing with busy schedules: either let the course of events control us…
While this is the time when people tend to make resolutions having to do with specific habits or behaviors, I think that this is a particularly good time to look at whether you are maximizing your potential and sharing your awesomeness with the world by being involved with your community. That community may include your religious, political,…
There are very few things that we can do during the last week in December to change the quality of the outcome of the year. Hopefully, not many of us would want to change it to any great extent, but I do feel that it’s appropriate to have a level of discontent about the past in order for us…
Earlier in my adulthood, as a white heterosexual male, it was not rare for me to be in the company of others who made racist, sexist, or other bigoted comments by other white males who felt licensed to do so because of our shared race and sex. While I won’t pretend that I was always…
Only the most rigid of non-empathic parents would watch their child bake a pretend cake and take it upon themselves to remind the child that it’s not really a cake – or watch a child color a picture of a horse and remind him or her that horses aren’t really blue, and “You’re also supposed…
Social connectedness is one of the cornerstones of mental health. I consider it as being one of the “non-negotiable 4” elements necessary for emotional growth – along with keeping the brain active, eating healthy, and owning your body through exercise, proper sleep, and meditation. The average person has various categories of social connections, many of…
It has been told that when Michelangelo was asked how he was able to take an unformed block of marble and create the masterpiece statue of David, he reportedly answered that it was easy, “I just chipped away the parts that didn’t look like David, and what was left was David.” There’s no verifiable evidence…
When I feel overloaded and overwhelmed and a sense of loss of control over important parts of my life, I can usually look at my desktop to help me regain a sense of control. As much as we have come to rely on electronics for communicating, banking, and other activities, I still get a lot…
I don’t usually get overly personal in these blogs, but events of the past few weeks make it a little different this week. Like every couple, especially one who has raised children, we’ve had to deal with our share of stresses over our 52-year marriage. Since we have lived healthy and active lives, however, few…
I’m old enough to remember when meditation wasn’t much of a thing – at least not outside of Asia. I never learned about it during my Bachelors, Masters, or Doctoral programs. When meditation began to gain some prominence in the last third of the 20th century, it was initially kind of a fringe practice before…