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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
Self-compassion is important for our mental health and wellbeing. Most of us will suffer from at least some form of mental distress at some point in our lives that could warrant some external help, especially after intense or prolonged periods of stress. There is now much less stigma associated with seeking help for such difficulties… Read more »
Engaging in acts of kindness is one of the more reliable ways of boosting our mood. This is no surprise. We know that doing something to help others can make us feel good. But the science of positive psychology has furthered our understanding with these research findings on the impact of acts of kindness on… Read more »
One of the harsh facts of life is that we can be exposed to a traumatic incident at any time. A recent example was a cyclist having a fatal collision with a truck in one of Geelong’s most central and busy streets. Many people witnessed the accident or its aftermath, being at a time when… Read more »
We tend to think of physical activity as mainly affecting our physical as opposed to our mental health. However, the more we understand the close connection of mind and body, and the more research that is done exploring the relationship between mind and body, the more the topic of physical exercise comes to the fore…. Read more »
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 aim to draw on a sense of order, rules or standards to exercise a greater sense of control in various areas of their lives…. Read more »