Pie charts and scribbled napkins

When I see a particular client it doesn’t take me long to find her file in my file cabinet. It’s the one with the colour-coded tabs sticking out. These tabs form part of the many background documents she wrote for me to assist in the treatment process. Meanwhile, I have another client who has yet to complete a simple questionnaire given to him several sessions ago. I’ve given up asking him for it. I’d like to thank both of them for inspiring today’s column.

Pie charts and scribbled napkins (Voir plus bas pour la version Française)
(Source: Camemberts et gribouillages. Journal Métro, May...

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Posted on 07 May 2013
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Jackie Robinson

Jackie Robinson in his Montreal Royals uniform (www.milb.com)

I haven’t seen the movie ’42′ yet but the Jackie Robinson story is one I know well. The theme of segregation and “Us versus Them” thinking is one I have written about in a number of previous posts including Segregation and Desegregation, but given the movie’s recent release, and the theme of the talks I am giving this week (see below), I decided to revisit the story in today’s Métro column. It always feels good to do so.

This week I am giving talks (English and French) at the Blue Metropolis literary festival called: On the...

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Posted on 23 Apr 2013
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Turning in circles

Hi folks. Here is something I published last week in Metro. It is a concept I have discussed with almost all of my clients over the years. It is also a part of almost every presentation I give. I thought it was time to try and summarize the idea in my 400 word-limit column. Not an easy task I might add. However, I could probably have shortened it even further by saying simply: Life is about changing what you can and accepting what you can’t. Not an original concept on my part for sure. Here is my way of saying the same thing.

Turning in circles
(Source: Comment ne pas passer sa vie à...

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Posted on 18 Apr 2013
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Where am I?

Where am I?
(Source: L’effet pervers du GPS. Journal Métro, April 9, 2013)
Voir plus bas pour la version Française

Have you ever noticed that if you drive someone home and he or she guides you all the way with precise step-by-step directions you will never remember the route the next time you have to go there alone? You can’t get lost when the person in the passenger seat tells you take a right at the light, and a left after the truck, etc., but good luck when you’re on your own! You would have to be guided many times before you begin to remember any of the turns.

Yet when you are alone...

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Posted on 09 Apr 2013
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Speaking of idiots

What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.
- William Shakespeare (Romeo and Juliet)

The same goes for words used to describe mental illness, does it not? The meaning of a word depends on what it represents not on the word itself. In my column from two weeks age, I discuss the history of the word ‘idiot’ and its evolution over the decades. Language evolves with usage making some words taboo over time.

While some people feel strongly that the language we use shapes attitudes, I would argue that this is far less important than the attitudes behind...

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Posted on 25 Mar 2013
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The genius and the idiot

The genius and the idiot
(Source: Le génie et l’idiot. Journal Métro, February 26, 2013). Voir plus bas pour la version Française.

We all wear filtered glasses that distort what we see. They are known as biases or prejudices to most people but psychologists call them core beliefs and schemas. We normally think of bias as something that affects how we see others. In fact it can also affect how we see ourselves.

Two accountants
 Let’s suppose there are two equally qualified accountants in two well-run companies. One of them sees himself as a genius while the other feels like an impostor....

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Posted on 14 Mar 2013
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16

Prepping for the latest nightmare

Following the shootings at Newtown, I was called by a journalist who wanted to know what I thought of the fact certain schools were planning to practice lockdown drills. I wasn’t free to film a segment for his report but I decided to address the topic in my column of February 12, 2013.

There are two main issues in my mind. The first concerns the issue of relative risk. When we focus on something that grabs our attention, we may end up focussing on a tiny risk while ignoring much bigger ones as a result. Making a decision while emotional rarely makes sense. A guy should probably not tattoo...

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Posted on 25 Feb 2013
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The empty coffee pot and Joe’s retirement

Here is something I published two weeks ago. It discusses Agreeableness, one of the five dimensions of personality from the five-factor theory.

The Empty Coffee Pot and Joe’s Retirement
(Source: La cafetière vide. Journal Métro, January 29, 2013)
Voir plus bas pour la version Française.

There is always some guy at the office ready to make coffee when the pot is empty. It is probably the same guy who takes up a collection for Joe’s retirement gift.

One of the main dimensions of personality identified by researchers is called agreeableness. Individuals at one extreme are very concerned with...

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Posted on 11 Feb 2013
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13

The memory and the moment

Here is a column I published in today’s Métro. It was written for Alzheimer’s awareness month in Canada (Voir plus bas pour la version Française).

The memory and the moment
(Source: Les souvenirs et le moment. Journal Métro, January 15, 2013)

Marie-Andrée and Jacques met at Place des Arts during a Montreal Symphony Orchestra performance. Their shared love of classical music was one of the reasons they fell in love and eventually married.

In recent years Jacques began showing signs of Alzheimer’s disease, a slow progressive illness that has robbed him of his past memories as well as the...

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Posted on 15 Jan 2013
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A guide to Christmas stress

Hey, it’s the morning of the 21st and I’m still alive! OMG!

Wait, was the world supposed to end at the start of the day or the end? I don’t know! But what if there is no apocalypse? What then? This implies something even worse than the death of our planet and all life.

That’s right…it means I only have three days to do my Christmas shopping!

Last year I wrote a handy guide to Christmas stress that I never published. Because I was so preoccupied finding bacon this week I had no time to write anything new for the Métro column. Here it is:

Voir plus bas pour la version Française.

A guide to...

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Posted on 21 Dec 2012
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