I Am Curious About My Knowledge of Mental Health
Guidelines For Emotional Health
I found it a very interesting exercise to try to come up with a list of the most important suggestions I could possibly make and have them fit nicely into this relatively small space. The list is arranged in order of importance. If you don’t follow all of these...
Hate
Are you hated? Who do you hate? WHY ARE YOU HATED? Print this topic. Then circle the words that describe you. Sex: Male Female Other Race: Black Brown Yellow White Red Mixed Schooling: Primary Secondary B.A. M.A. Ph.D Employment: None Employee Employer Professional...
How To Talk About Feelings
How can we talk about our feelings? How much is too much? How much is not enough? THREE DECISIONS Whenever we talk to anyone, we make three quick decisions. Whether To SAY What We Feel. Whether To EXPRESS The Feelings. Whether To WORK AT PROBLEM SOLVING. We usually...
Knowing #1: How Do You Know?
What do you know? How do you know it? How sure can you be of what you know? DIFFERENT WAYS OF KNOWING We’ll be looking at these four ways knowing: Logic based on observation. Logic based on belief. Emotions alone. Emotions based on observation and belief. LOGIC...
Knowing #2: How Smart Are You?
How smart are you? How dumb are you? How do you know? DIFFERENT KINDS OF INTELLIGENCE Here are five ways to evaluate intelligence: I.Q. – Intelligence Quotient E.Q. – Emotional Quotient Speed of Comprehension Retention Usable Intelligence I.Q. –...
Knowing #3: Your Core Beliefs
If you’ve read the first two topics on “knowing,” you can see that there are many things we don’t know and never will know. And yet we survive. How do we do that? We do it by adopting a few core beliefs that we use to explain all the things we...
Knowing #4: Making Educated Guesses
I’ve been trained in psychology by some of the best. But one of the most helpful things I ever learned came from an undergraduate statistics course. It was about estimating probabilities. But please don’t run away screaming, “I hate math!”...
Life’s “Craziest” Beliefs
A QUICK MENTAL HEALTH TEST Ask yourself if you believe any of these three statements: “The world is a scary place.” “I am only alive to please other people.” “I cannot change.” If you find that you do believe any of these...
Making Decisions
We are all indecisive sometimes. It happens whenever there are two things we want almost equally but we can only have one of them. This topic will help you decide with confidence when you think you can’t decide. We’ll look at seven ways we get confused....
Mistakes Every Good Parent Makes
“DRIVERS” “Drivers” are phrases most parents say to their children very, very often – at least once most days. They can be stated kindly or callously, quietly or loudly, but the message is always the same: “If you want to please me...
Motivation
BASIC ASSUMPTION Every physically healthy person has plenty of energy, so every physically healthy person has plenty of motivation. Nobody is lazy. We are all just motivated toward different things. Calling someone lazy is like calling them any other nasty name. It...
Natural Anger
WHAT ANGER IS Anger is a natural emotion or feeling. We feel anger whenever we are BLOCKED from getting something we want. It is good for us because it protects us from threat, it reminds us that we have power to overcome obstacles, and it gives us a measure of how...
Natural Sadness
WHAT SADNESS IS Sadness is a natural emotion or feeling. We feel sadness whenever we LOSE something that we previously enjoyed. It is good for us both because it offers RELIEF from the pain of the loss and because it gives us a MEASURE of the importance of what...
Natural Scare
WHAT SCARE IS Scare is a natural emotion or feeling. We feel scare when our very existence is threatened (or we think it is). It is good for us because it immediately mobilizes all our energy to deal with the threat. HOW IT WORKS Whenever we experience a threat, all...
Perfectionism
BRAGGING OR COMPLAINING Have you noticed that someone who says they have a problem with perfectionism usually says it with a sheepish smile on their face? Have you also noticed that their smile is a strangely complicated one which includes both pride and shame? The...
Personal Freedom
In the United States we constantly brag about how free we are… “The Land of the Free” and all that. But therapists know that many people, maybe even most people, are enslaved. Some of us are slaves to other people, especially spouses and employers. Others...
Powerful Ideas #1
A good therapist provides many “permissions.” A permission is a statement which helps you feel “allowed” to do well. The statements below are some of the many permissions I’ve sent your way in these topics. If you are looking for some...
Problem Solving #1: Roadblocks
PROBLEM SOLVING #1 All personal and interpersonal problems CAN be solved. When they aren’t solved, it’s often due to these roadblocks. MAYBE YOU DON’T WANT TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM One common roadblock happens when people think they want to solve a...
Problem Solving #2: Defining the Problem
All personal and interpersonal problems can be solved. When we don’t solve a problem, it’s often because we haven’t identified it clearly. ARGUMENTS ABOUT “EVERYTHING” Some people disagree for hours (or days!) without even knowing what...
Problem Solving #3: The Six Aspects Of A Problem (Part 1)
PROBLEM SOLVING SERIES: #3 All personal and interpersonal problems can be solved. We’ve looked at the roadblocks (#1) and how to identify a problem (#2). Now, in #3 and #4, we’ll learn about the six aspects of all problems. This topic focuses on the...
