Acceptance and commitment therapy (usually pronounced as the word “act” rather than the initials “A-C-T”) is a form of clinical behavioural analysis developed in 1986 by psychologists Steven Hayes, Kelly Wilson, and Kirk Strosahl. Originally called comprehensive distancing, it gets its current name from one of its core messages: the injunction to accept what is out of one’s personal control and co... »
Want to watch personal and professional development videos, student interviews, conversations with employers of AIPC graduates, and inspirational stories from current and past students? Now you can do that, and much more, with the new AIPC YouTube Channel. »
Fittingly, the psychological phenomenon called shadow is so – well, shadowy – that even the best definitions of it are often by default: we define what shadow is not in order to get a sense of what it may be because, being shadow, it is difficult to look at directly. So here goes a try. “Shadow”, meaning our psychological or personal shadow, is comprised of those qualities, impulses, and emotions ... »
Pain can have a profound social and psychological impact on those who suffer from it, and also those who care for them. Some of the psychosocial consequences of living with chronic pain include the tendency for sufferers to become dependent on medication and over-reliant on their families and other caregivers. Those in search of a solution to long-term pain can be inappropriate in their repeated u... »
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder (OCPD) are said to affect two to three percent of the population for OCD (that is: more than 500,000 Australians) and one percent for OCPD, although three to ten percent of the psychiatric population is said to have it (Long, 2011). Many cases probably go untreated. »
There are 31 million Americans 65 years or older, and five million of them (just over 16 percent) have depression (Boswell & Stoudemire, 1996). In Australia, one million people currently suffer from depression, and 14 percent will have it at some point in their lives (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2008). There is some debate as to whether the prevalence of depression increases or decreases with... »
Chronic pain affects 29 percent of Australians, which means that at any given time nearly three out of ten people are suffering in some way (Stollznow Research for Pfizer Australia, 2010). When we add the emotional, physical, and financial challenges of the people who care for them, the percentage of lives touched by chronic pain is much higher.?To get a handle on this concept, let’s look at... »
Although only recently embraced by Western psychology, mindfulness practices and techniques have been part of many Eastern philosophies, such as Buddhism, Taoism, Tai Chi, Hinduism, and most martial arts, for thousands of years. The various definitions of it revolve around bringing non-judgmental consciousness to the present experience, so it can be considered the art of conscious living. This ar... »
Question: What is the biggest killer of Australians today? If you are somewhat clued up about health matters, you may very well say, “Oh, definitely heart disease.” Or you may argue that that unenviable honour goes to cancer. Indeed, here are some statistics which would seem to validate your claim. But wait just a minute. Situations, especially in the field of health, are not always as simple a... »
Professor Windy Dryden, author of nearly 200 books, discusses how his journey through the world of psychology led to his enthusiastic adoption of the precepts and practice of REBT. REBT is one of the most thoroughly researched and widely used therapeutic approaches in the UK today, and has also been called ‘applied philosophy’ for its use of the teachings of ancient philosophers. Learn... »
Marian, a psychologist who specialised in anxiety disorders, closed the file and put it into the filing cabinet with a smile on her face. This time she had the satisfaction of filing it into the “Work Completed” files, for she had just today celebrated the final session with a very long-term client: Darcy Dawson. They’d come through a lot together, Darcy and Marian, during the twelve years of Darc... »
Developed by Italian psychiatrist Roberto Assagioli, Psychosynthesis is an approach to psychology which studies a person as both a personality and a soul. In this article we explore the origins of Psychosynthesis. »
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