January is National Mentoring Month

Many of us have become the person we are with the help and guidance from others. It is National Mentoring Month - a time for us to reflect on those special individuals who took an interest in us.

I've had great mentors in my life. Interestingly, most have all been teachers. I was so grateful for their interest, their wisdom and their generosity. Through them, I learned to believe in myself and found my own unique way in the world. Being a role model, big sister or mentor has been a very meaningful experience for me as well.

I'm gonna head over to Hallmark - where there are these free mentor ecards - and send a slew out!

Pass it on.

Nocebo - The Opposite of Placebo

How we think and what we believe can lead us down very different roads. Our state of mind is a very powerful phenomenon.

Case in point, we all know what the Placebo Effect is - where health benefits can be produced by a "non-real" treatment.

But did you know there is a Nocebo Effect - where something that is ineffective causes ill health?

While the Placebo Effect refers to health benefits produced by a treatment that should have no effect, patients experiencing the Nocebo Effect experience the opposite. They presume the worst, health-wise, and that's just what they get.

Not much is known about how the Nocebo Effect occurs, but theories of origin include biological

and psychological factors.

For more on this, read here or this article in Science Daily .

Therapy Ball

The Dr. Freud Therapy Ball is like the Magic 8 Ball . Just shake it and turn it over to read one of the 20 therapeutic responses, like:

"How did that make you feel?"

or

"Talk about your mother"

I wonder if one of the sayings is "Mhmmmm."


Kitschy is always cool with me.

The Movie "Bug"

I just watched the psychological drama Bug - the 2006 William Friedkin directed movie - that takes the viewer into two worlds. One of possible conspiracy, the other of possible madness. 

I have always been fascinated by the mind, and the psychological phenomenon of emotional contagion (how emotions and beliefs of one person can find their way into another).

One of the rarest forms of emotional contagion is known as a "Folie A Deux" - which means "shared madness of two". 

Emotional contagion like this is not just limited between two people, though. It can be shared by three people, four people, etc. -  entire families and in mass groups.

History is full of "Folie A Plusieurs" - mass madness. 

The Salem Witch Trials

The Holocaust

El Chupacabra

Slavery

The Jim Jones Cult Mass Suicide

The McMartin Child Sexual Abuse School Allegations

And many more.

Helplessness, fragility and loss of one's self are a few of the reasons why some people are more susceptible to emotional contagion than others.  And if you view* the movie "Bug",  you can understand how and why such things happen.

* Trigger alert for the movie. It may be scary and disturbing for some viewers.

The Psychoanalytic Couch

It's time to retire the couch in my office.

The couch I have is soft and cozy, helping to bring the necessary comfort and regression for psychoanalysis. But it is also sturdy for when I do play therapy with kids. The cushions can be used as "warrior shields", "magic carpets" and other such symbolic things - and the sofa, itself, makes a great "fortress", "boat" and other inventions the kids create. But it's looking worn and tattered, so it's time to buy a new one.

But buying a psychoanalytic couch is not an easy thing. A lot of thought has to go into what style, texture, height, width and depth is best. The psychoanalytic couch needs to make a patient feel comfortable not vulnerable, so like Goldilocks, I will be trying out many until I find the one that is "just right".

This is a photo Freud's couch.

I can go to the Analytic Couch Company that specializes in the manufacturing of the proverbial psychoanalytic furniture and get a replica (see below) for around $12,000.00 dollars. Um...no disrespect, but that's waaaaay too expensive.

This couch below has a warm texture and looks sturdy, but I have no idea where it comes from. The person reclining on it is Mexican tenor Rolando Villazón, who is a huge fan of psychoanalysis. Maybe I can contact him and ask where they got the couch for the photo shoot that went along with this New York Times story.

Then there are sofas that are just plain silly.



or too industrial



or too modern




Hmmmm...I'll have to keep searching.




`

New Year Resolutions....

I love the start of the New Year.

Like a fresh piece of paper, it is clean, blank and there for the creating.

I'm not one to make resolutions or promises as the clock freshly ticks in. I know that they are hard to keep. In the past, my New Year's Resolutions began with gusto, but often lost steam. Then feelings of guilt and loss of self esteem surged.

Yuck.

So... I don't partake in the ritualistic, traditional resolution theme. Instead I take the beginning of the New Year to make realsolutions - realistic goals that I can "try" to attain. Here are mine:

Eat healthy.

Move my body.

Keep life simple.

Pay it forward.

Love openly.

Forgive often.

Appreciate beauty.

They are do-able. And if I falter, my sense of sense doesn't crumble. I can pick myself up and strive to achieve them again.

Happy 2008!