Virtual reality is a cutting-edge therapeutic treatment. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, virtual reality (VR) was studied as an effective adjunct to psychotherapy. It was being examined in particular to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and phobias. Since the COVID-19 pandemic has left many people quarantined, the use of VR sets has increased exponentially. Therapy has [...]
2020 has been difficult for many people. That is a vast understatement. You most likely experienced loss this year that you have never experienced before. You may have had a change in or loss of your job; your kids may have switched to online school; you may have picked up on unhealthy coping mechanisms; you may [...]
It may seem like getting your hopes up and then having things fall apart can be tougher than not having anything to look forward to at all. There's a name for this type of feeling — learned helplessness. It is a feeling of powerlessness, that no matter what you do it won't change your circumstances. When [...]
Young adults currently have an increased risk of anxiety, depression, and suicide. A U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) survey of adults taken the last week of June (one of the peak months of the pandemic), found that 25.5% in adults aged 18 to 24 responded that they had seriously considered suicide in the past 30 days. This age group also [...]
CBT online may be more effective than in-person. In the age of Covid-19, many therapists (myself included) have transitioned to providing online sessions exclusively. It keeps clients and therapists safe, reduces parents’ stress having to find childcare, reduces driving time, and generally creates a more relaxed atmosphere. An added bonus of online therapy is the client’s ability to show the therapist his or her living environment. Learning about [...]
Attribution bias may fool you into thinking that you don't need to wear a mask during the Covid-19 pandemic. You do. In a previous article on attribution bias, I wrote how this cognitive fallacy can cause issues in relationships. When we place significant importance on our most recent memory or an event that has a lot of emotional weight, it [...]
Availability bias can fool us into putting value on the wrong things. Availability bias, or availability heuristic, tells us that the thing we can recall the quickest during an argument or debate, or the memory that had the most impact on us emotionally has the most importance. As you can imagine, it can trip us up [...]
The pandemic has taken your job - learn how to maintain your mental health. A second wave of job cuts is predicted to affect close to 6 million workers. While the first wave, during February and March, impacted more front line workers, the second wave will impact more managerial and supervisory workers. While the first wave of job cuts impacted [...]
Your narcissist parent can turn a quarantine into a nightmare. You have a narcissist/gaslighter for a parent. Going to work was your reprieve from the narcissist's antics. Work was like a vacation for you. Or maybe you only had to visit your parent on weekends. Even then, you kept the visits short. But now your parent [...]
Feeling overwhelmed has become our new normal. You are probably feeling extremely stressed, fatigued, and overwhelmed right now. The good news is that you are completely normal for feeling this way. The bad news is that this has become our new normal. How did we get here, and how do we protect ourselves emotionally? First, the lack of testing and accurate [...]
