By Nicolette Ingram Improving Executive Functions With the necessity of parents overseeing remote learning during the COVID 19 lockdown, many parents not only had a new-found appreciation for the work of our teachers but may have gained further insight into some of the learning struggles their children experience. While spending more time helping kids with… Read more »
Episode 12 – Easing OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder) On this week’s episode, Rowan and Chris discuss the nature of obsessive-compulsive tendencies and obsessive-compulsive disorder. All of us are unique and have individual differences in personality functioning. Most patterns of personality can have positive and negative aspects. When people have obsessional personality characteristics they may commonly… Read more »
Managing with Anger One of the more common problems related to mental health is difficulty managing with anger. Anger problems typically involve repeated verbal or physical aggression, or destructive anger outbursts that are out of proportion to the level of provocation. Such anger problems would be displayed by approximately 5% of people at some point… Read more »
Episode 11 – Interpreting Anger This week, Chris and Rowan look at the topic of anger. Recognising that there are many situations that it’s ok to be angry, we focus more on ways of controlling your anger and being able to use it as a tool to serve us, rather than get us into… Read more »
Episode 8 – Transcending Trauma On this week’s episode, Chris and Rowan discuss the topic of trauma. We look at some of the more common and complex ways that trauma can present in our behaviours and ways of managing trauma reactions to defuse their intensity. We discuss a number of specific therapy techniques for… Read more »
Episode 7 – Dealing with Depression On this week’s episode, Chris and Rowan look at ways of managing with depression using general psychological techniques as well as how to use strategies from positive psychology to ensure that you’re able to keep yourself out of depression. We also share some of our personal experiences with… Read more »
One of the things that you commonly find as a psychologist, is that when someone presents with anxiety or depression, feelings of shame or non-acceptance can lead to that person having a layered reaction, beyond that of the depression or anxiety within itself. These feelings can manifest in such a way that the person is… Read more »
Chris Mackey demonstrates how he introduces a therapy intervention called “bilateral stimulation” to clients. According to Mackey, this technique is the single most helpful intervention he has yet encountered for managing with worries, anxiety-related sensations and pain. Remarkably it can be accessed in an inexpensive app developed by the excellent clinical psychologist, Mark Grant. The… Read more »
Exercising in Exile Rowan and Chris take on the topic of exercising under the current stay at home restrictions and social distancing. We look at why it’s particularly important to exercise during this current time, how the character strengths can apply to exercise and also look at exactly how habits are formed to ensure that… Read more »
How do we find a good work-life balance? This is one of the more commonly requested topics by workgroups for talks about mental health, but I think it’s a more complicated question than it looks. This article looks at how to balance work and lifestyle choices in the context of trying to achieve maximally,… Read more »