Read our posts about Psychology

19Feb

Want to Know Yourself? Take Our Test

David Cohen

psychology, self

Mind

“If I knew myself, I’d run away,” said Goethe, who, incidentally, was Freud’s favourite writer. You might imagine that knowing yourself would be one of the key goals of psychology.  Often it has not been, however. When I was young one of the most distinguished experimental psychologists of his generation Donald Broadbent told me students should realise it was an illusion that psychology would teach them to know themselves better. Perhaps that’s why a paper on Experiential Self Monitoring which I reported in 1980 made such an impression on me. It was given by E J...
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17Feb

The Ground Beneath My Feet: a Fear of the Unknown

Owen Stone

anxiety, phobias, psychology

Mind

I was 13 when I had my first panic attack, though I didn’t know what it was then. I was at a café in Biarritz when I got a chicken bone lodged in my throat. My entire body went white hot; I became convinced I was going to die. The blood drained to my feet, every bit of me screamed to get outside, so I walked around the block eating yoghurt until the fear drained away. When we got back to New Zealand, the same white heat would flow through my body again whenever we would go to a café or restaurant. I had to give myself ‘outs.’ Sit facing the door. Don’t order food....
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10Feb

Who Does What? Talking Therapies Explained

Julia Bueno

counselling, psychoanalysis, psychology, psychotherapy, therapy

Therapists

Therapist Julia Bueno explains how talking therapy and counselling work for the client
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06Feb

What Do Therapists Wear?

Camilla Nicholls

psychoanalysis, psychology, psychotherapy, therapy

Therapists

What does it say about a counsellor or therapist what they wear to see their clients? Therapist Camilla Nicholls analyses the outfits of her profession
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04Feb

Cosmetic Surgery Makes Beauty That's Barely Skin Deep

Linda Blair

psychology, society, women

Body

I was sad to read in The Guardian today that there’s been a big rise — nearly 17 per cent – in the demand for cosmetic surgery in Britain in the last year. Breast augmentation is the number one favourite, with anti-ageing techniques such as eyelid surgery and face and neck lifts following closely behind.  I was, however, not surprised to read that there’s also been a rise in reports of patient dissatisfaction. Quite apart from any issues of competence  this shows that cosmetic surgery doesn’t offer lasting satisfaction. Why not? First, the procedures rarely promise...
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30Jan

Seven Ways to Streamline Your Schedule

Linda Blair

psychology, stress, tips

Soul

Techniques to help stop you being overwhelmed and learn to manage your time, and streamline your schedule
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29Jan

The Stressed Sex?

Daniel Freeman

emotions, men, mental health, psychology, therapy, women

Mind

Oxford psychology professor Daniel Freeman on the gender differences around mental illness, and why it is difficult to report on
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23Jan

Is Your Partner a Sociopath?

Jane McGregor

couple, psychology, sociopath

Relationships

Sociopaths are people with little or no conscience or ability to empathize with other peoples’ feelings. One sociopath in the course of their lifetime will harm many people but hurt most those with whom they have intimate and close relations. Although many operate as seeming ‘model citizens’, behind the façade they have interpersonal deficits such as grandiosity, arrogance and deceitfulness, lack of guilt and empathy, and impulsive and occasionally criminal behaviours. It’s easy to miss these traits in someone you love because you are not expecting to see them....
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22Jan

Can TV Make Us Happy?

Jon Madge

happiness, psychology, society, TV

Mind

With the National Television Awards tonight and controversy over television programmes filling the papers again, it might be a good time to look at how the television we watch affects our well-being. Our brains are incredibly susceptible to what we watch, in part because of two bits of biological programming. One is that we’re designed to not waste energy, so sitting down and having information come to us feels easy. The other biological quirk is that new experiences register as stronger than familiar ones, we’re hard-wired to seek out novelty. Television provides us...
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17Jan

How to Change a Bad Boss into a Good Boss

Alexander Kjerulf

psychology, stress

Work

The uncontested, number-one reason why people are unhappy and stressed at work is bad management. Nothing has more power to turn your work situation from happy to crappy than a bad boss. Sadly there are quite a few of them around. A British study accused one in four bosses of being bad, while a Norwegian study said one in five.The reason that having a bad manager is so bad for us is that managers have power over us. Managers can change our work situation, give us good or bad tasks, and, ultimately, fire us. This power imbalance is why a good relationship with your manager...
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