Can Stress Make You Fat?
posted by Christy Matta, M.A. on May 22nd 2013
"Do you eat when you're not hungry? After a long, hard or stressful day, are you likely to reach for a bag of chips, sweet treat or sugary drink as a way of rewarding or soothing yourself? Most of us eat, at times, for reason other than physiological need. And that's part of normal eating behavior. Occasionally soothing yourself with comfort foods or eating because something simply looks or smells delectable can be part of a healthy lifestyle and a healthy relationship with food. But, what we eat, when we eat and how it affects our bodies and our brains is complicated. " More...

Teenagers, Drug Abuse, Marijuana
posted by Allan Schwartz, LCSW, Ph.D. on May 22nd 2013
"According to a NIDA survey, The National Institute on Drug Abuse, teenage us of cigarettes, most illicit drugs and alcohol were in decline during 2012. Even "bath salts," a stimulant category of drugs, was used by only 1.3% of High School seniors nationally. However, of great concern to the addiction and mental health community is that... " More...

How Negative Energy Effects Adults, Teenagers and Children: What We Can Do To Change it
posted by Bob Livingstone, LCSW on May 21st 2013
"Negative energy has a profound effect on adults, teens and children. People who carry around this adverse attitude can appear to be very powerful to those in their presence. Negative energy is expressed by put downs of you or your friends. These comments are stated either directly to you or behind your back. The comments may be an accurate description of how this person feels or they may be made up in order to accelerate drama. " More...

Stressed at Work? You're Not Alone
posted by Carrie Steckl, Ph.D. on May 21st 2013
"Feeling stressed at work is certainly nothing new. We all know someone who is pulling his or her hair out in the cubicle - heck, it might even be us. But did you know that over 8 out of 10 people are stressed at work? That's right - according to a 2013 Work Stress Survey conducted by Harris Interactive and Everest College, a whopping 83% of employees report that they are seriously stressed out at work. Yikes! " More...

Critical Thinking is Not Critical, Just Looking for Truth & Reality: The Heart of Asking Questions That Reveal "What Is"
posted by Will Joel Friedman, Ph.D. on May 20th 2013
"There is rarely if ever all the information wanted, and decisions are made only upon what information is available anyway. Samuel Butler knew this in remarking, "Life is the art of drawing sufficient conclusions from insufficient premises." The difference between information and the premises we derive from information is precisely what critical thinking aims to ferret out and this article addresses. " More...

Of Trauma and Psychological Resilience: The Cleveland Tragedy
posted by Allan Schwartz, LCSW, Ph.D. on May 20th 2013
"We seem to have an ability to endure lots of adversity. But, how much? How much can you endure beyond the daily and expected stresses that life brings with it? " More...

New York City's Correctional System Gets a Clue about Treating Mentally Ill Inmates
posted by Carrie Steckl, Ph.D. on May 17th 2013
"Imagine that you work at a prison and are faced with disciplining a mentally ill inmate. What would you do? Would you give the inmate a brief time out? Refer him or her to the staff psychologist to develop a treatment plan? Talk to the inmate to try to determine what may have triggered the disciplinary problem? These might all be good options. But according to an article in the New York Times, none of these strategies was practiced over the last several decades in the New York City correctional system. Instead, any inmate who broke the rules, whether or not he or she was mentally ill, was sentenced to solitary confinement. " More...

Sadistic Personality Disorder: The Cleveland Tragedy
posted by Allan Schwartz, LCSW, Ph.D. on May 17th 2013
"How is it possible that one human being can perpetrate such pain and suffering on other human beings as happened in Cleveland with the three women who were kidnapped as teenagers and held in captivity for ten years? Not only were they held captive but were beaten, raped and dehumanized in every way possible. Why... " More...