In these tense political times, an increasing number of people admit to getting much of their news from Facebook and Twitter. One of the problems with using these social media platforms as one’s primary news source relates to the danger of confirmation bias. Confirmation bias is a concept from psychological theory referring to our tendency … Read more
Do you often find yourself thinking about a problem over and over? What about continuously replaying an unpleasant exchange in your mind and turning over every detail? If so, you might be prone to ruminating. Ruminating is the act of thinking about distressing issues or events at length. When ruminating, we dwell on problems and … Read more
Stress is a normal response to events that make us feel threatened or upset our balance in some way. These events can occur outside of our bodies within our environments, or even within our bodies caused by illness, or depressive or anxiety symptoms. These ‘events’ can be thought of as ‘stressors’ and we all have … Read more
While many people use the terms guilt and shame interchangeably, they are in fact, different constructs with very different psychological correlates and outcomes. Guilt is typically other-focused, and revolves around behaviors, whereas shame is self-focused and is more about character. Guilt is the feeling that results when you tell yourself that you have done something … Read more
Goal-setting is an important function of personal development. Learning how to set goals effectively is what makes the difference between a wish (“I hope I get all A’s and B’s this semester!”) and a viable action-plan. Goals that are too vague or too lofty are likely to create feelings of failure and frustration rather than … Read more
Kids are spending more time than ever using screens. In fact, most American children spend more time in front of electronic screens than they do in school. According to Common Sense Media, preteens spend an average of four-and-a-half hours using screens every single day. For teens, that number soars to nearly seven hours a day … Read more
Demonstrating respect for oneself and others is a hallmark of living a happy, healthy life. Acknowledging and honoring our similarities and differences, and truly seeing ourselves and others as the unique beings we all are, can bring a sense of inner and outer peace. In the world of 2016, it is no small feat to … Read more
Most of us are familiar with the age-old question, “Is the glass half-empty or half-full?” We typically consider people to be either optimists (of course the glass is half-full) or pessimists (of course the glass is half-empty), but what if we consider that there may be more than two categories? For example, the realist may … Read more
Empty promises can be a source of anxiety, frustration, and resentment within all relationships, not just parent-child relationships. Empty promises can be overlooked because in the moment the promiser likely intends to follow through with their promise, but does not realize the negative effect it has on the promisee when they do not do what … Read more
Reflecting upon recent events in this country and across the world, it may be easy to become discouraged or disillusioned with the state of humanity. The news is inundated with stories of violence and crime, creating the impression that the world is bad and scary, that people are evil and unpredictable. What the news presents, … Read more
