Psych Newsfeed

To the bride: Run… run for your life!! Your groom may be heart-broken, but according to researchers, you   are better off single. Should there be conflict in your marriage, and trust me, there will be, it is YOU, not your groom, who will suffer. You, my dear, are about to walk down the aisle to a place of high stress, which will set you on a path for cardiovascular, endocrine, immune, neuro-sensory problems and physiological issues. He may be a little depressed, but this marriage may kill you! Now turn around and RUN!! [read post]

The word Psychotherapy comes from the Ancient Greek words psychē, meaning breath, spirit, or soul and therapeia or therapeuein, to nurse or cure. It is defined as “the relief of distress or disability in one person by another, using an approach based on a particular theory or paradigm, and that the agent performing the therapy has had some form of training in delivering this” (Jerome, 1988). It is these latter two points which distinguish psychotherapy from most other forms of counseling. [read post]

Exposure to stressful situations can result in negative psychological consequences such as PTSD, anxiety disorders, physical illness, and depression, but more and more research is focusing on the potential positive effects of the process of recovery.  The literature points to a number of areas of measurable personal growth achieved by those who have successfully worked through trauma from bereavement, natural disasters, war, abuse, and illness.   [read post]

Being in your twenties is not as predictable as it used to be. Twenty years ago in the United States, my love life would have looked completely different. By now, I would be a stay-at-home housewife judged by the ability to be a wonderful mother to my two children. My husband would have worked full time to support our family, and I would be expected to be a completely attentive wife. Instead, I remain unmarried, unchilded, and inattentive as I focus on getting out of my master’s program so I can become financially independent. So I question, what do twentysomethings in today’s world think of the purpose and function of  marital relationships? [read post]

I used to be a Borderline, but more accurately I would say BPD was me.  How did I lose my BPD diagnosis? Was it all about me or can it be that etiology, diagnosis, prognosis, therapeutic interventions and alliances truly determine BPD recovery? [read post]

According to post-structuralists (Derrida, Lacan, Foucault), it is not my fault whether I am screwing up my life. Post-structuralists say I am not solely to blame. Instead, they say that everything that is external to me determines how I behave.  So when I can’t stop drinking and my wife wants to leave me, it is not only my fault.  Rather, everything that has happened in my life up until this point has led me to drink or behave in the way that I do.  [read post]

Some women are not able to have anything inserted into their vaginas.  This proves to be problematic when they want to have penetrative sex or when they want to have a vaginal exam.   They fear the insertion of anything into their vaginas.  Clinicians and researchers have speculated as to how a woman develops Vaginismus.  Some have stated that Vaginismus originates from a bad sexual experience, which could include anything from watching someone having sex and understanding it as painful, to having a painful sexual experience, to being sexually violated.  Others believe that Vaginismus is due to a lack of communication regarding sexual expectations and realities.  For example, in cultures where it is more of a taboo to talk about sex, Vaginismus is more prevalent.  Still some other researchers argue that relationship factors contribute to the existence of Vaginismus, meaning that the quality of the relationship is something to be considered in the treatment of Vaginismus. [read post]