Back in World War I when we were trying to treat soldiers experiencing “shell shock” (later known as PTSD), a new profession known as Occupational Therapy was founded. The thought at that time was that these shell shocked soldiers would find relief quicker by doing something rather than just talking about their experiences. Hmm. It […]
Stress and Cancer
We know that stress is unhealthy, but does it have any impact on cancer? A new study in The Journal of Clinical Investigation looked at the effect that chronic stress had on ovarian cancer patients. Anil Sood, MD and his colleagues at the University of Texas implanted ovarian cancer cells into mice and then exposed […]
Hypnosis and Trauma
Every day I turn on the news and see reports of violence somewhere. . . . it may be armed conflicts in the Middle East or Africa. . . . it may be child or domestic abuse here at home. As a psychologist, my next thought is how to treat the mental anguish that must […]
Getting ready for PTSD
In case you haven’t already heard, April is National Stress Awareness Month. Why do we as a nation spend an entire month on this topic? Because we need to. Just to put the insidiousness of stress into perspective, here are a few statistics from the American Psychological Association: Highly stressed teenagers are twice as likely […]
Who the Hell do you think you are? – Bill O’Hanlon Guest Blog
Some years ago I met Michael White, the now departed co-founder of Narrative Therapy. Soon after, his star rose rather quickly and he became a very well known teacher and writer. But all was not well in Australia, his home country. As Michael traveled around the world, his colleagues at home began to make snide […]
Good Deeds are Catching: Altruism and the Social Brain
I’ve been thinking a lot about altruism ever since the horrible devastation in Haiti. In the aftermath, the world contributed millions of dollars of aid. From the US alone, $220 million was raised in the first week. The first week! And this at a time when our national unemployment rate was in double-digits. While pondering […]
Get out your hand weights… Strength Training and Cognitive Improvement in Women
In the United States, about 20% of seniors who suffer a hip fracture will die within a year. Teresa Liu-Ambrose, PhD, has been investigating the impact of women’s weight training for helping seniors decrease the rate of fractures out of her laboratory at the Center for Hip Health and Mobility, Vancouver General Hospital. Now she […]
From Physiology to Structure…and More: What a Brain!
The brain’s plasticity is revolutionary but its evolutionary history is pretty remarkable, too. What’s amazing is that the brain has been evolving since our earliest predecessor, “Tool Maker” first appeared on the planet. But it’s only recently (during these last few minutes of our evolutionary past when neuroscience has been able to take us inside […]
Marble Therapy?
I played with marbles as a kid. Did you? Now I’m wondering if those little round stones can have an impact on memory and emotions. According to a new study published in Cognition, simple motor functioning like playing with marbles may trigger memories. Daniel Casasanto, PhD (Donders Center for Brain, Cognition, & Behavior, Nijmegen, […]
A Pain-Resistant Patch? Sign Me Up
I know that most people are not lovers of physical pain. If someone invented a patch to keep the wearer from feeling pain, this inventor would become an instant billionaire. But it appears that there already is something better than a patch: Zen meditation. In an earlier study, Montreal University researchers from the lab of […]