December 4, 2022

Anxiety is part of our brain’s hardwired threat response, which has helped humans survive for thousands of years. We have all experienced anxiety at some point, whether it’s hearing a bump in the night or preparing for an exam. However, over-activation of the anxiety response can have a debilitating impact, and anxiety difficulties are one […]

Self-soothing is an emotional regulation strategy used to regain equilibrium after an upsetting event. Most of us are familiar with soothing others when they are upset or afraid, especially if we have children. However, when we are triggered as adults, it’s difficult to regulate potentially disruptive emotions like anger, fear, and sadness, especially in a

The strengths-based approach to social work focuses on a client’s personal, relational, and community assets, rather than their deficits (Pulla, 2017). It is a holistic, collaborative approach concerned with identifying a client’s inner and outer resources to promote resilience (Pulla, 2017). Client strengths include their individual talents and problem-solving abilities as well as the resources

Supporting clients to develop a range of coping skills is a common focus in therapy. Having effective coping tools helps to manage difficult emotions, overcome challenging situations, build strengths, and work toward personal goals. However, a big challenge of therapy is translating helpful ideas and strategies from sessions into real-world situations. It is therefore important

Behavior change is recognized by politicians, scientists, and therapists worldwide as crucial to solving individual and social problems. The development of effective behavioral solutions to tackle chronic health conditions, mental health problems, financial difficulty, and criminal behavior has impacted fields as diverse as medicine and health, policing, and education (Hagger, Cameron, Hamilton, Hankonen, & Lintunen,

In the helping professions, working effectively with clients depends on understanding them well. Such understanding can be developed by reading relevant records, meeting with clients face to face, and using assessments such as a mental status examination. As you proceed, you are forming a guiding concept of who this client is, how they became who

Jean Piaget’s theories of cognitive development remain hugely influential in both the popular and academic understanding of how our knowledge of the world is shaped by developmental forces. Piagetian approaches to learning as a process of actively constructing knowledge have been particularly effective in education, where they challenged traditional methods of teaching that overlooked the

Are you a sensitive soul? Do you know someone who is? Did you know there is a trait characterized by sensory processing sensitivity (SPS), which identifies a highly sensitive person/personality (HSP)? The term HSP was first coined by the psychologist Elaine Aron (1996), who is herself an HSP. She and her husband devised the Highly

Mental health is an integral component of maintaining good overall health. When individuals are mentally healthy, they are able to realize their own abilities, cope with the normal stresses of life, work productively, and make positive contributions to their community (World Health Organization, 2004). When individuals experience poor mental health, they may start to withdraw

Every day, millions of people are affected by the loss of a loved one. They remember the precise time, location, and what they were doing when they heard the news and its devastating impact. While commonplace, we may feel ill equipped to manage our grief and not ready to accept its impact on our lives.