Phobias Phobias are intense, persistent and exaggerated fears of particular objects or situations. Phobia sufferers typically feel panic or a sense of dread when they’re in the feared situation, or in anticipation of it. They typically aim to escape from or avoid the phobic situation where they can. We only describe a fear as a… Read more »
Nature of Dissociative Symptoms Some of the most distressing symptoms that clients report include dissociative symptoms. These symptoms include persistent daydreaming, forgetfulness and amnesia for recent events, feelings as though one’s body does not belong to oneself, feelings as though things (perhaps even the world itself) are not real, and a sense of acting so… 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 »
One of the most useful and widely used Positive Psychology strategies for promoting wellbeing is to identify and draw upon our signature character strengths, which relate to our enduring key virtues. These character strengths are the kind of virtues which are recognised by all cultures. There is an accessible scientific method of identifying signature character… Read more »
What Is Avoidance? It is understandably common for people to seek to avoid at least some anxiety-provoking situations. However, tendencies to avoidance can become entrenched over a period of time to become quite self-defeating. This is because the urge to avoid situations can be strengthened by the short-term relief that escape from such situations may… Read more »
The Inner Critic Do you have an inner critic? Do you have an internal voice that sometimes criticises something about you or something you have done? As a psychologist, I assume that everybody does. It’s normal to have an inner critic. The real question is what is our relationship with that part of ourselves that… Read more »
This tip sheet on ADHD was prepared by clinical psychologist Arisja Oberholzer. ADHD has been a diagnosis that many parents have struggled with over the years. This is partly because of the different views of why a child has developed ADHD. This is slowly changing as science is helping us understand how ADHD develops. It… Read more »
One of the most encouraging trends in the mental health field is that we are getting better at describing mental health problems in more optimistic ways. This includes adopting a “strengths approach”, where we don’t just focus on problems in people’s mental or personality functioning, but also on their positive attributes that may help them… Read more »
Bullying is a significant social problem, partly because of its harmful impact on mental health. I’m especially sensitised to this issue through my involvement in a discussion on bullying at “Unleash the Beast”, a writing and well-being symposium to be held in Toowoomba in October. I’ve seen many therapy clients with enduring psychological difficulties from… Read more »
How can we best get unstuck from a problematic behaviour? It might be frequent procrastination or worry, or addictive behaviour, or angrily overreacting to a situation. Most people can relate to having a bad habit or two. As a psychologist, much of our work involves helping people alter unwanted reactions or behaviour. I rarely hear… Read more »