Psychology Today: Health, Help, Happiness + Find a Therapist

Grief

The Pioneering Work of Death Doulas

Donelle Dreese Ph.D. on August 7, 2023 in The Green Goodbye

Death doulas are the teachers we may not want or think we need, but actually do.

Post-Traumatic Growth

Posttraumatic Growth: Shifting From Loss to Gain

Boulder Crest Foundation on August 7, 2023 in Struggle Well

We should go beyond traditional mental health approaches for PTSD. Posttraumatic growth is an important framework for understanding how people deal with trauma.

Codependency

One Word to Stop Your Adult Child's Upsetting Manipulations

Jeffrey Bernstein Ph.D. on August 7, 2023 in Liking the Child You Love

Manipulative adult children wield emotional power. Here's a trusty, clarifying tool to help parents cope.

Wendy Kramer on August 7, 2023 in Donor Family Matters

How old should a child be before they meet their half-siblings? While this is an easy question to answer for most, some parents make it unnecessarily complicated.

Uriel Abulof Ph.D. on August 7, 2023 in Double-Edged

A Personal Perspective: Music can express hurt and help us heal; for Sinead O’Connor, it was also a way to fight abuse; We should have truly listened. We still can.

Anger

Speak in Soft Tones

Rick Hanson Ph.D. on August 7, 2023 in Your Wise Brain

Keep these points in mind: Be mindful of tone, consider true purpose, lay a good foundation, gentle your body, don't use inflammatory language, and say what needs to be said.

Friends

Criminalizing the Golden Girls? Bans on Cohabiting

Bella DePaulo Ph.D. on August 7, 2023 in Living Single

Narrow definitions of family are out of step with how we live now and criminalize certain living arrangements favored by people who care deeply for one another.

Stress

3 Ways of Coping

Eva M. Krockow Ph.D. on August 7, 2023 in Stretching Theory

When life throws you the inevitable curveball, there are different ways to cope. Understanding different coping styles is paramount for finding comfort and respect.

Motivation

Motivational Intelligence: Behaviour’s Engine

Bruce Wilson Ph.D. on August 7, 2023 in Explorations in Positive Psychology

The research findings of Daniel Kahneman and Carol Dweck suggest that motivational intelligence is the DNA of a growth mindset.

Empathy

I Truly Hear You: Empathy in Intimate Relationships

Glenn Geher Ph.D. on August 7, 2023 in Darwin's Subterranean World

The ability to appreciate that others may feel differently about things than we do and to actually feel things as others do sits at the core of successful relationships.

Priming

Relational Priming

Assael Romanelli Ph.D. on August 7, 2023 in The Other Side of Relationships

Is it hard for you to share your negative or constructive feelings with your partner?
If so, relational priming can help you reach a win-win "us" outcome.

Gender

"Barbie," the Movie: What Can We Learn?

Silva Neves on August 7, 2023 in Talking Sex and Relationships

Could a movie about a doll teach us all to be more human?

Self-Help

Why You Care What Others Think, and Why It’s Not a Bad Thing

Leslie Becker-Phelps Ph.D. on August 7, 2023 in Making Change

If you stress over caring about what others think, then you may be relieved to learn that caring is natural, though caring too much might be a problem that needs attention.

Resilience

The Science Behind Self-Affirmations

David J Bredehoft Ph.D. on August 7, 2023 in The Age of Overindulgence

Years of research show promise for self-affirmations as an intervention.

Trauma

Traumatic Experiences: Getting Stuck and Unstuck

Barbara O. Rothbaum Ph.D. on August 7, 2023 in The Care We Need

Research has shown that people who try to avoid memories and reminders of difficult experiences have more symptoms of PTSD and depression and other problems over time.

Career

Why Many People Still Don't Want to Go Back to Work

Barton Goldsmith Ph.D. on August 7, 2023 in Emotional Fitness

The pandemic has disproportionately affected certain groups of workers, and may continue to drive their reluctance to return to work.

Intelligence

Creating Room for Optimal Growth of Your Child’s Giftedness

Barbara Klein Ph.D., Ed.D. on August 7, 2023 in Twin Dilemmas

Pressure to achieve and do the best you can is important but not imperative, especially not at any cost.

Adolescence

Teens May Just Need Some Time to Think

David Schwartz LMFT on August 7, 2023 in Adolescents, Explained

With all of the options available to occupy our time, it can be especially tough for teenagers to actually take the time to think about their goals and desires.

Psychopathy

10 Films for Survivors of Psychopathic Abuse

Jonathan Doucette Ph.D. on August 6, 2023 in The Couch Potato Plato

Feeling discouraged that psychopaths always seem to get away with their misdeeds? These 10 films show what happens when psychopaths meet their match.

Motivation

How Incentives Can Send Mixed Signals

Uri Gneezy Ph.D. on August 6, 2023 in Mixed Signals

Are your company's incentives for employee performance falling flat? It's time to decode the signals they're sending.

Attention

Distracted? Focus Your Brain With a 4-Part Focus Practice

Donald Altman on August 6, 2023 in Practical Mindfulness

Whether you experience ADHD, boredom, or distraction, there's a powerful way to regain focus and concentration in just minutes.

Self-Sabotage

Emotional Self-Sabotage

Jennifer Lock Oman LISW on August 6, 2023 in Knowing Feeling

When it seems natural to want to feel good about ourselves, it's perplexing when we feel bad about feeling good. Healing this dichotomy starts with going compassionately inward.

Addiction

Narrowing Down the Choices: Neurobiology to Subtype

Claire Wilcox M.D. on August 6, 2023 in Healthy Brain, Happy Life

Many people struggle with relapse to addictions. Medications can help. Could your individual brain function be used to tell your doctor which medication to prescribe first?

Trauma

When Moving Leads to Childhood Trauma

Elinor Greenberg Ph.D. on August 6, 2023 in Understanding Narcissism

Moving to a new school in a new neighborhood is one of the most overlooked causes of childhood trauma. Your child may need extra help to fit in and find new friends.

Therapy

Film Therapy for Those Living With Distressing Secrets

Michael Shelton MS, LPC on August 6, 2023 in Sex Life of the American Male

Are you engaging in behaviors relentlessly disguised from the outside world? A recent film about LGBT oppression depicts the unintended psychological toll of secrecy.

Body Image

The Psychology of Ears and Hearing

Anthony Synnott Ph.D. on August 6, 2023 in Rethinking Men

Ears receive little attention, despite their psychological and social significance.

Sex

The Heritable Nature of Sexual Preference/Orientation

Frederick L. Coolidge Ph.D. on August 6, 2023 in How to Think Like a Neandertal

The terms sex, gender, and sexual preference/orientation are often conflated or misconstrued.

Philosophy

Time and Existence: How Artists Try to Grasp the Ineffable

Marc Wittmann Ph.D. on August 6, 2023 in Sense of Time

Contemporary artists find different expressions to cope with existential aspects of time referring to either the expiring life (chronos) or the passing moment to moment (kairos).

Personality Disorders

Psychodynamic Approaches to Borderline Personality Disorder

Mark L. Ruffalo M.S.W., D.Psa. on August 6, 2023 in From Freud to Fluoxetine

The severe mental illness can be understood and effectively treated by psychodynamic approaches to psychotherapy.