Mindcare Counselling Blog

Consuming Kids throws desperately needed light on the practices of a relentless multi-billion dollar marketing machine that now sells kids and their parents everything from junk food and violent video games to bogus educational products and the family car. Drawing on the insights of health care professionals, children's advocates, and industry insiders, the film focuses on the explosive growth of child marketing in the wake of deregulation, showing how youth marketers have used the latest advances in psychology, anthropology, and neuroscience to transform American children into one of the most powerful and profitable consumer demographics in the world. Consuming Kids pushes back against the wholesale commercialization of childhood, raising urgent questions about the ethics of children's marketing and its impact on the health and well-being of kids.

'People are not disturbed by events, but by the view they take of them'. This comment by the Greek philosopher Epictetus two thousand years ago aptly reflects the basic tenet of modern cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT)-that what people believe affects their emotions. CBT is structured, problem-oriented, and set in the here and now, and has rapidly become the treatment of choice for a wide range of mental health disorders. CBT combines the scientific advances made in one branch of psychology from roughly the 1930-60’s called behaviourism, with the branch of cognitive psychology, which came later around the 1970-80’s. These two branches were combined because psychologists came to the realization that thoughts, behaviors, and emotions are all interlinked as shown in the figure below. CBT is based on the idea that our thoughts lead to how we feel and how we act and that external things, such as people, situations and events play a much lesser role. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy...

One of my favorite songs sung by the Bee Gees , a yesteryear  song, has beautiful lyrics: "It's  only words, and words are all I have, to take your heart away." So rightly said.With words we can make people laugh—or cry; respond positively—or negatively; draw people closer to us—or drive them away. Words have amazing healing quality. Rudyard Kipling once said,  " Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind." Words can be powerful motivators. We can use them to bless or curse others; encourage or discourage; hearten or dishearten; embolden or frighten; exhilarate or dispirit; inspire or depreciate. What we habitually say in our heads, we usually end up saying with our lips, which ultimately direct our feet." Words are powerful. From others they often influence or direct our decisions and behaviour while our own words act to elicit responses from those who receive them. Words have set whole nations in motion…Give me the right word an...

A Kansas State University professor is helping students improve their confidence and academic performance by creating a map of learning. Candice Shoemaker, professor of horticulture, has spent more than four years looking at students and self-efficacy. Self-efficacy involves student confidence in understanding topics and is often linked with academic motivation, learning and achievement. Shoemaker's published research appeared in a recent issue of  HortTechnology . Shoemaker studied self-efficacy by creating a course map for students in the Principles of Horticultural Science course, the foundation course for students in Kansas State University's department of horticulture, forestry and recreation resources. Each semester, Shoemaker had between 80 and 100 students in the class. Given the large number of students and the importance of topics covered, Shoemaker wanted to teach the course in a way that helped students retain understanding of course topics. She thought about what ...

We accept that some people are born with a talent for music or art or athletics. But what about mathematics? Do some of us just arrive in the world with better math skills than others? It seems we do, at least according to the results of a study by a team of Johns Hopkins University psychologists. Led by Melissa Libertus, a post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, the study -- published online in a recent issue of   Developmental Science   -- indicates that math ability in preschool children is strongly linked to their inborn and primitive "number sense," called an "Approximate Number System" or ANS. Research reveals that "number sense" is basic to all animals, not just human beings. For instance, creatures that hunt or gather food use it to ascertain where they can find and procure the most nuts, plants or game and to keep track of the food they hunt or gather. We humans u...

Psychologists explore myths, realities and offer guidance for parents Social media present risks and benefits to children but parents who try to secretly monitor their kids' activities online are wasting their time, according to a presentationat the 119th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association. "While nobody can deny that Facebook has altered the landscape of social interaction, particularly among young people, we are just now starting to see solid psychological research demonstrating both the positives and the negatives," said Larry D. Rosen, PhD, professor of psychology at  California   State   University , Dominguez Hills. In a plenary talk entitled, "Poke Me: How Social Networks Can Both Help and Harm Our Kids," Rosen discussed potential adverse effects, including: Teens who use Facebook more often show more narcissistic tendencies while young adults who have a strong Facebook presence show more signs of other psychological disorders, i...

Are counseling services readily accepted or are they still looked down upon? I would say definitely it’s still a stigma to seek counseling services and this view has been well validated by research.       Many people who experience psychological and interpersonal concerns never pursue treatment (Corrigan, 2004). According to some estimates, within a given year, only 11% of those experiencing a diagnosable problem seek psychological services. In addition, fewer than 2% of those who struggle with problems that do not meet diagnosable criteria seek treatment (Andrews, Issakidis, & Carter, 2001). In my work as a School Counselor, I observed that over the years, students would come with the pretext of Career Counseling initially and would later divulge their main concern, which almost always diverted the work towards psycho, social and emotional issues. The most often cited reason for why people do not seek counseling and other mental health services is the stigma a...