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... »
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... »
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... »
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... »
Treating any type of substance abuse and substance addiction is challenging because they both have so many dimensions and they both disrupt so many aspects of the individual's life. Effective treatment programs typically incorporate many components, each directed to a particular aspect of the condition and its consequences. Ultimately, treatments aspire to help the individual stop using substances... »
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is said to affect 2% to 3% of the Australian population (that is: more than 500,000 Australians). OCD is classified as an anxiety disorder and is characterised by: Intrusive thoughts that engender uneasiness, apprehension, fear, or worry (that is: obsessions); Repetitive behaviours which the OCD individual undertakes in order to reduce the worry (compulsions) or... »
Benjamin (1996) asserted that therapy interventions for narcissism could be evaluated in terms of five categories of correct response: whether or not the intervention enhanced collaboration, facilitated learning about patterns, blocked maladaptive patterns, strengthened the will to give up maladaptive patterns, or facilitated new learning. In this article, we take each in turn. »
The Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF) is a multiple-choice, comprehensive measure of normal range personality found to be effective in a variety of settings where an in-depth assessment of the whole person is needed. Developed over several decades, Raymond Cattell began to work on it in the 1920s when he shifted from the physical sciences to psychology and was shocked at the lack of ... »
The causes of Borderline Personality Disorder are complex and remain uncertain. No current model has been able to integrate all of the available evidence. However, the following have been named as contributing factors to the cause of borderline personality disorder. These include: Genetics; Neurophysiological and neurobiological dysfunctions of emotional regulation and stress; Psychosocial histori... »
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