Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) : Risk Factors
Who is at risk? PTSD affects about 7.7 million American adults, but it can occur at any age, including childhood. Women are more likely to develop PTSD than men, and there is some evidence that susceptibility to the disorder may run in families. Anyone can get PTSD at any age. This includes war veterans and […]
Traumatic Brain Injury: Living With It
Staying Healthy After Traumatic Brain Injury Living well after a traumatic brain injury Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is an injury to your brain that may change the way you feel, act, move, and think. For veterans who have been deployed in a war zone, a blast injury is often the cause of a TBI. They […]
The Four Steps of Taking in the Good: HEAL Yourself
The Four Steps of Taking in the Good: HEAL Yourself In his insightful, practical book Hardwiring Happiness, well-known psychologist and author Rick Hanson, PhD, makes the point that even though our brains are “hardwired” to give more weight to negative rather than positive experiences and emotions, you can learn to retrain your brain to switch […]
Awakening From the Trance of Unworthiness
During high school, I consciously struggled with not liking myself, yet it was during college that I became distressed by the intensity of my self-aversion. On a weekend outing, a roommate described her inner process as “becoming her own best friend,” and I broke down sobbing, overwhelmed at the degree to which I was unfriendly […]
Autism – The Basics
Every child has a unique personality. Some are outgoing, while others are shy. But there are certain kids who have trouble dealing with things that most children take in stride. They may not make eye contact or have conversations. They may not like to be touched or to hear loud sounds. If you have […]
Favorite Laughter Quotes – The Starter List
Here at Webpsychology, we couldn’t agree more with Charlie Chaplin, who famously said that “A day without laughter is a day wasted.” So since we’d hate to see you waste a perfectly good day, we’ve assembled some of our favorites to help you keep smiling, both inside and out. A good laugh and a long […]
Depression Causes
Causes Most likely, depression is caused by a combination of genetic, biological, environmental, and psychological factors. Depressive illnesses are disorders of the brain. Brain-imaging technologies, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), have shown that the brains of people who have depression look different than those of people without depression. The parts of the brain involved […]
Courage
Courage By Michael H. LeBlond, PhD, MBA Licensed Psychologist How often have you heard “just feel the fear and do it anyway.” This actually is not far from the definition of courage. What courage is not is the absence of fear. When most people think of courage they think of it in one […]
Should Parents Worry? Video Games and Their Impact on Children
When I started my practice almost thirty years ago, Sesame Street and the benign Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood captured our children’s attention. Disney movies proliferated throughout the video market and they followed a similar fairy tale pattern in which a hero or heroine is pursued by a villain but triumphs in the end. Children learned which […]
When in Doubt, Follow Grandma’s Advice!
We live in a fast-paced world infused (and often confused!) with information and technology. It’s a world in which we eat on the go, sleep when we can, and often neglect to take care of ourselves. We call that “progress”, but ironically, as we dig to find the newest, latest, most advanced wellness research, we […]
Mindfulness and Six Key Elements of Psychological Well-being
What does it mean to be a psychologically healthy person? Many people assume that good mental health means feeling happy most of the time. Indeed, studies show that positive emotions have many benefits. They increase resilience to stress and encourage us to learn, grow, and bond with others. However, there’s much more to good mental […]
Moving Toward
Moving Toward At front and center stage of Buddhist psychology is mindfulness: moment-to-moment non-judgmental awareness. By bringing neutral observation to life, the habitual tendency to categorize into good versus bad or like versus dislike gives way to open exploration, understanding, and wisdom. Mindfulness is to know and see things as they are arising and passing. […]