Contrasting Profiles in Hope: Obama vs. Romney
I have made a career of studying hope. As a clinical psychologist most of my focus has been on the role of hope in relation to anxiety and depression, or the healing power of hope when confronting a...
View ArticleA Kick to the Head
The other week my daughter, a soccer goalie, got kicked in the head. She took a cleat right to the face as she blocked a goal.The result?A minor concussion.Since then she has been struggling with a...
View ArticleWhy People Should Always Be Looking For a New Job
Most people find looking for a new job to be unpleasant. For good reason. No one likes the idea of having to sell himself or herself. It would be more comfortable to find the sort of job that allows...
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Five Sex Tips for Women about Men
1) Men want to be desired too. As women we are socialized to be the objects of desire not the owners of desire. We grow up thinking that sex is something that happens to us, not something we...
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Civilization (and its Contents)
The headline in the UK's Daily Mail hits the usual exaggerated note:'He was the big chief': Grave of ancient king who laid foundations for Mayan civilisation in 700 B.C. unearthed by archaeologistsThe...
View Article"My state": The state Romney will not name
Have you ever noticed that in all the three presidential debates, Republican candidate Mitt Romney refused to say that he had been governor of Massachusetts? He kept saying: “In my state…”, “when I was...
View ArticleWant to see true horror? Look to humanity
Recently I’ve been following a very interesting documentary series by the BBC on Auschwitz, the Nazi concentration camp and factory killing plant. The Nazis were responsible for the deaths of millions...
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Self direction or Self destruction?
It seems to be Sara's pattern. She’ll get heavily involved with a particular guy for months at a time, and then when things seems to be holding steady, she will suddenly to break it off, and start all...
View ArticleThe Myth of the "Out of Character" Crime: Part 1
From time to time, accounts burst into the news of regular, everyday people who unexpectedly do hideous things. They commit crimes that shock their communities and stun even individuals who know them...
View ArticleThe trouble with thinking?
It’s long been thought that to change we have to radically alter the way we think. That’s not as easy as it sounds. Furthermore, psychological interventions that target thinking are not the answer to...
View ArticleIs Bipolar II Easier to Live with Than Bipolar I?
I'm struck by how many times I see patients that have previously been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and they don’t know whether they are bipolar I or II. Furthermore if they have been diagnosed with...
View ArticleThe Candidates and the Wish to Kill
THE CANDIDATES AND THE WISH TO KILLBy Lawrence D. BlumAll people wish to kill. Killing for food, land, money, political advantage, religious principle, sexual partners, and even for amusement, are all...
View ArticleIs the Templeton Foundaiton "Philosophy's Bite"?
Recently, I wrote about my grant submission to the Templeton Foundation. In the time since, I have also submitted a "letter of intent" to Templeton for a much more ambitious project to bring together...
View ArticleWhen Children Testify about Abuse
In every case of child sexual abuse that goes to trial, it is often the child’s testimony that is the most crucial part of the prosecution’s case. Since the child is typically the only real witness...
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Perfectionism, Procrastination & Distress
Excessive concerns about making mistakes, pernicious self-doubt, harsh self-criticism, impossibly high standards or expectations for performance, a strong and chronic tendency to evaluate one’s...
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"Find Your Passion" Isn't Always The Best Advice
Way before Big Bird sang “Aren’t You Glad You’re You?” in 1977, or Marlo Thomas wroteFree to Be . . . You and Me in 1973, or the hippies of the 1960s were telling everyone to Do Your Own Thing, Man --...
View ArticleParental Friendship with their Adolescent
The reader asked: “Can parents be a best friend with their adolescent?”This is a complicated question because the answer is in one way ‘no,’ but ‘yes’ in another. And when it is ‘yes,’ that can...
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House Mice
Hey baby, it’s cold outside. Here in the northern latitudes, days are dark, nights are long, temperatures are falling, and there’s frost on the ground in the morning. People are hunkering down, and the...
View ArticleFriendship Advice: Dumped by a Friend at Work
QUESTIONHi Irene,It’s been one-and-a-half years since my good friend and I broke up. As background, I’m 39 and she’s 45. I’m single and she’s divorced. Neither of us have kids. We had been good friends...
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My Frankenstorm Date with Sandy Warhol
“An artist is somebody who produces things that people don't need to have but that he, for some reason, thinks it would be a good idea to give them.” - Andy WarholIt was romantic - at first. A full...
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