INTIMACY! Ok, now that we have your attention . . . let’s try another cue: SPIRITUALITY! And now, we’d like to know: what was the difference in your reaction to the two words? For many, intimacy conjures up juicy images of sexual trysts with the mythically perfect lover: one who attends to our every need […]
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Wellness
Coping with Holiday Stress and Anxiety
The tree is aglow with the presents all wrapped, the holiday baking is done, and Aunt Daisy has promised to be on her best behaviour. Your client is ready for Christmas — or maybe not. As the siren call of “happy holidays” beckons, many people are thrilled to come to the end of the year. […]
- December 10, 2018
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- Relationship & Families, Spirituality & Religion, Stress Management, Wellness
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Helping Clients Learn How to Surrender
Your new boss shifts the goal posts, demanding a much higher volume of work from you than the high level that was expected before. You take one look at all the new tasks you must do, throw up your hands in despair, and angrily write out your resignation letter. Did you give up or did […]
- November 22, 2018
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- Counselling Theory & Process, Personal Effectiveness, Wellness
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The Mental Health Benefits of Naps
What’s your reaction when your client leans forward in her chair and her voice drops to a whisper as she confides, “You know, I just get so sleepy after lunch that I feel I must have a nap, or I can’t function — but then I feel so guilty!”? Do you nod sagely, “getting” what […]
- August 31, 2018
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- Personal Effectiveness, Stress Management, Wellness
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The Serve and Limit of Social Comparison
Maggie, a counsellor, saw a client in the morning who related how his doctor had just given him a diagnosis of cancer, necessitating cutting out some cancerous tissue. Her client, Arnold, was dismayed about the diagnosis. “But at least,” he confided to Maggie, “I don’t have to have that horrible colostomy bag like some people […]
- August 24, 2018
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- Spirituality & Religion, Stress Management, Technology & Social Media, Wellness
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Introducing Animal-assisted Therapy
It’s becoming increasingly “official”. More and more, we human beings are using our furry, feathered, and finned fellow beings to help us heal. It’s called animal-assisted therapy, or AAT, and the purpose of this post is to introduce you to it, a therapy adjunct since the 1990s. We look into what it is, how we […]
- August 17, 2018
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- Counselling Theory & Process, Counselling Therapies, Wellness
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Volunteering for Seniors
As the population ages in nations such as Australia and the United States, increasing numbers of offspring wonder how to help their retired, now lonely, and often depressed parent. Some of these may ask you for advice on how to help their beloved mum or dad. Of course, health problems must be tended to, but […]
- March 15, 2018
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- Ageing Issues, Spirituality & Religion, Wellness
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Helping Clients with Sleep Issues
Sleep plays a crucial role throughout our lives in helping to protect physical, mental, and emotional health; quality of life; and safety. How we feel when we are awake depends partly on what happens while we are sleeping, with damage from sleep deficiency causing not only daytime tiredness, but also interference with work, school, social […]
- July 12, 2017
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- Relationship & Families, Stress Management, Wellness
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Ten Commandments of Brain Fitness
Curiosity might have killed the cat, but it helps to keep us human beings alive, brain-wise. The basic idea of mind/brain fitness is to give your brain the best workout possible (to keep it growing and developing) by continuing to challenge it. The moment you find something is second nature, that is the moment to […]
- May 24, 2017
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- Ageing Issues, Neuroscience, Personal Effectiveness, Wellness
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Wellness and Exercise: Questions to Ask Your Client
Exercise should be uppermost in the minds of those looking to enhance their wellness. The quest for fitness, however, is so pervasive in developed cultures that some controversies are inevitable. We believe the best approach is for you to offer your client basic guidelines to help them (re-)shape their fitness regimens, but let them be […]
Emotional Intelligence: Definition and a Brief History
The idea that we human beings have not only a quotient of cognitive intelligence, our so-called “IQ”, but also a level of emotional intelligence, called either “EQ” (for emotional quotient) or “EI” (emotional intelligence) has been emerging for at least 30 years (Mayer, Salovey, & Caruso, 2004b). It began to be popularised in the 1990s […]
- August 12, 2016
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- Career Development, Personal Effectiveness, Wellness, Workplace Issues
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Relaxation, Meditation and Mindfulness Techniques to Manage Study Stress
Relaxation, meditation and mindfulness stress management techniques involve learning how to control our body’s response to stress. It is about learning to consciously relax the body and still the mind. Like learning a new language, a little bit every day is far better than a mega-session occasionally. Burgeoning research studies support practitioners’ contentions that multiple […]
- August 1, 2016
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- Stress Management, Wellness
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Stress: Busting Six Myths
Stress can be defined as any pressure, demand, or threat placed on an organism (say, a human being) that causes a need to re-establish balance or “equilibrium”. The Oxford Dictionary online adds that stress is “a state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or demanding circumstances.” The notion of stress has […]
- May 19, 2016
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- Stress Management, Wellness
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Connecting with the Power of Purpose
Suppose someone asked you: “Why are you here? What is the purpose of your existence?” Would you be able to answer that in a meaningful way? Aligned to that question is: “What do you value? What has meaning for you?” In my psychotherapy work, the question of MPV – meaning, purpose, values – often comes […]
- April 21, 2016
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- Personal Effectiveness, Spirituality & Religion, Wellness
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How Colours Impact Us
Colour pervades our physical environment, from the soft colours of dawn to the bright colours of tropical birds. It also affects our emotional environment, as when we “see red”, “have the blues”, “turn crimson” with embarrassment; or when our bank account should be “in the black”. We are told that colour has huge effects on […]
- April 5, 2016
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- Spirituality & Religion, Wellness
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