Social anxiety is one of the more challenging forms of anxiety to treat. The reason for this is because anxiety is fed by assumptions and some are harder to alter than others. If a person is afraid of a plane crash and manages to get on a flight, he or she will generally learn that [...]
Category Archives: Anxiety
Bicycle crash!…and other disturbing mental images
Do you every see someone with an obvious physical defect and feel like Austin Powers trying not to point out the mole on the “mole’s” face? Or how about not looking at the cleavage of a well-endowed woman? Normally we are in ‘control’ of what we do but we occasionally confront a situation where it would [...]
Rhinoceros as muse
Hi folks. Sorry for being away so long but such is life. We occasionally have to indulge our mistresses and mine is my golf game. It’s been an equally rewarding (78) and frustrating (98) experience so now I’m back to something I have a little more control over. In today’s column in Metro I return [...]
But…but…what if a tornado hits during an earthquake?
We all have obsessions. As unpleasant as they may be, they do serve a protective function. It seems even a squirrel looks more than once when crossing a street! Double-checking and triple-checking is a way of eliminating errors caused by distraction or absentmindedness. But how far can we go with this? For a person with [...]
I have a feeling about my feelings
This week’s article is about our tendency to add problems to our problems: I have a feeling about my feelings (Source: Je ressens quelque chose à propos de mes sentiments. Journal Métro, July 02, 2013) Voir plus bas pour la version Française. A funny thing about people is that we have feelings and then we [...]
Can I Go Back There?: Understanding Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
I hosted our annual Mini-Psych lectures again in 2012. The first three lectures are posted on our website (Mini-Psych 2012) and the last two should be ready in the next week or two. As part of the series, I gave a talk entitled Can I go Back There?: Understanding Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, in which I [...]
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 [...]
The house of cards and the stack of chips
I don’t normally work with kids but one day I was called by a colleague whose nephew was struggling with exam anxiety. Having watched my video on youth anxiety, he asked if he could see me. Now anxiety is anxiety, whether in adolescents or adults, but I don’t normally work with clients so young. I tend [...]
OK, Big Guy, whatever you do, don’t look nervous!
Ain’t anxiety a bitch? It always seems to come when you least want it. The more you hope to stay calm, the more anxiety you feel. Hmm, I wonder if there’s a pattern there? Anxiety is the body’s alarm in response to a threat. If you see a bear in the woods…ding ding…the alarm rings [...]
Vidéos sur la gestion des émotions / Video on the managing emotions
Re-bonjour! Voici les vidéos de mes présentations de l’École Mini-Psy (édition 2011). Prenez des méga-doses de caffeine et bon visionnement! Hi again, Here are the videos of my two-part presentation in our last edition of Mini-Psych School – 2011 edition (In French). Take some caffeine pills and enjoy! Du coeur au cerveau – Des émotions nécessaires [...]
