Annapolis Therapy

12/18/2022

Sundown on the Chesapeake Bay

08/22/2020

Stay woke to Covid risk

Experts say this backsliding is predictable — in the face of what feels like chronic risk, we are less motivated to take specific action against the threat.

11/21/2015

Stanford research "results suggest that cultivating anti-immigrant or anti-Islamic sentiment is deeply counterproductive. Anti-immigrant discourse is likely to fuel support for extremism, rather than squelch it."

Many Western policies that aim to prevent terrorism may actually be causing it.

08/03/2015

Good environmental health is essential for good mental health. In this article, the author Margaret Atwood paints the big picture of climate change and its impact on our culture and our individual lives. I was particularly interested in her citation of Ian Morris' work linking type of energy system used to resultant societal values; for example, hunter-gatherers fostered more social egalitarianism and gender equality than farmer societies that subordinated women.

"(E)ach form of energy capture favors values that maximize the chance of survival for those using both that energy system and that package of moral values." The result of an oil-based energy system led to the rise of cheap production of things, to consumerism and the throwaway society -- and greater gender equality.

Morris also points out that each energy system faces a "hard ceiling" where further expansion is no longer possible and people must either die out or shift to a new system with new values. As we killed off the animals, we shifted to agrarian sources of energy to fuel our lives. Today, we are undergoing a transition from a fossil fuel society to, perhaps, one of more sustainable energy. The challenge is to do it before we hit the "hard ceiling."

Very anxiety-provoking times we live in! When we take action amidst our fears and anxiety, we feel better as though we are in control of our circumstances. What actions can you take to create a better, more sustainable environment?

Oil! Our secret god, fulfiller of our every desire. Can’t live with it, can’t live without it. But it’s on everyone’s mi…

07/11/2014

Dr. Sue Johnson is a leading couples therapist who has done tons of work on how couples can strengthen emotional connection.

Take a few minutes to watch her video on http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-14364/how-to-make-love-last-in-the-age-of-instant-gratification-dr-sue-johnson.html

Couples therapist Sue Johnson explains what it really takes to make a relationship work.

05/27/2014

A thoughtful perspective on our minds from Daniel Siegal. The accompanying cartoon says it best though: "M.I.N.D.: Mostly inaccurate neuro-drama."

Developing Mindsight, by Dan Siegel | Awakin.org
http://www.awakin.org/read/

Awakin.org is a portal that delivers weekly wisdom from varied spiritual and religious disciplines.

05/27/2014

A thoughtful perspective on our minds from Daniel Siegal. The accompanying cartoon says it best though: "M.I.N.D.: Mostly inaccurate neuro-drama."

Part of our challenge in achieving well-being is to develop enough mindsight to clear us of these restrictive definitions of ourselves so that we can grow towards higher degrees of integration.

09/11/2013

NAMI Anne Arundel County presents
2013 FALL Author’s MENTAL HEALTH Lecture and Forum In honor of 2013 National Su***de Prevention Week
September 11th
Woods Memorial Presbyterian Church, Severna Park, 7pm. Free
Join us:‘Build a Life’ Live Song Performance (www.buildinglife.net)
MEET DOTTIE PACHARIS
Author of MIND ON THE RUN: A Bipolar Chronicle
Dottie Pacharis, mental health advocate, tells her family’s 13-year heart-breaking struggle to find help for her son. A preventable tragedy. Book-signing to follow.
Panel of Anne Arundel County Leaders Discuss
Su***de Prevention, Crisis Response and Resources for Families
Shirley Knelly
Vice President Quality & Patient Safety, AAMC
President of Pathways Alcohol &Drug Treatment Program
Dwight Holmes
Program Manager for Psychiatry, University of Maryland BWMC
Alli Holstrom
Prevention Programs Coordinator, A.A.County Partnership for Children, Youth & Families Chair, Youth Su***de Awareness Action Team
Rev. Nancy Lincoln Reynolds
Associate Pastor, Woods Presbyterian Church; Licensed Psychotherapist, PCCM Nick Silvestri
Resource School Psychologist, Office of Psychological Services, AA County Public Schools Brian Stettin
Policy Director, Treatment Advocacy Center, Arlington,VA a national legal advocacy organization ,that works to remove

08/23/2013

It happens with the end of every summer, programmed by years of repetition -- back-to-school syndrome. It's very real for the kids, but also for adults. For some it's a tinge of unexplained anxiety, sadness at the loss of sun-filled longer days dedicated to fun, and often an enhanced pace of "getting busy." I'm yielding to the ritual this year by signing up for online classes on Coursera, a fabulous way to continue lifelong learning.

Major Depression in the Population: A Public Health Approach is a free online class taught by William Eaton, PhD, Wietse A. Tol, PhD and Ramin Mojtabai, MD of Johns Hopkins University

07/27/2013

Researchers have created a false memory in mice, suggesting that false memories also are readily created in humans. Yes, our memory is unreliable in ways we don't even realize. Yet, there is an upside, the researcher speculates that this unreliability of our brains may be tied to our ability to imagine and be creative.

Scientists say they have created a false memory in a mouse, providing detailed clues to how such memories may form in human brains.

06/10/2013

More on the unintended emotional consequences of technology from Jonathan Safran Foer: "Psychologists who study empathy and compassion are finding that unlike our almost instantaneous responses to physical pain, it takes time for the brain to comprehend the psychological and moral dimensions of a situation. The more distracted we become, and the more emphasis we place on speed at the expense of depth, the less likely and able we are to care."

Technology may make it easier to communicate electronically, but more difficult to do so emotionally.

05/29/2013

More than just a "gut feeling" here is new research on the gut-brain relationship:

Women who regularly consumed probiotic bacteria through yogurt showed altered brain function, both while in resting start and in response to emotion recognition tasks, a new study suggests.

05/08/2013

From Stanford's Project Compassion: Is Compassion Natural or Learned?

Though economists have long argued the contrary, a growing body of evidence suggests that, at our core, both animals and human beings have what APS Fellow Dacher Keltner at the University of California, Berkeley, coins a “compassionate instinct.” In other words, compassion is a natural and automatic response that has ensured our survival," but it also helps to have some training. See more at

Decades of clinical research has focused and shed light on the psychology of human suffering. That suffering, as unpleasant as it is, often also has a bright side to which research has paid less attention: compassion. Human suffering is often accompanied by beautiful acts of compassion by others wis...

04/12/2013

Exercise improves cognition!

For the most robust brain health, it’s probably advisable to incorporate both aerobic and resistance training, two new studies in people and animals suggest.

08/04/2012

It's the simple things... Another good book from Ellen Langer.

Psychologist Ellen Langer has spent 30 years researching mindfulness, which she describes as the process of letting go of preconceived notions and acting on new observations. Her ideas revolutionized the field of social psychology, and her work is now used from battlefields to schools to hospitals.

03/10/2012

Ahhh "reality"..... Great quote from SXSW by Dr. David Eagleman: “The conscious mind is the broom closet in the mansion of the brain.” Yes, neuroscience is everywhere, even at SXSW.

Time/Date: 3:30 p.m., Friday (hashtag: ) Panelists: David Eagleman, Baylor College Of Medicine The gist: Eagleman explained a dense topic — how neuroscience is teaching us that our perception of reality might not only be inaccurate but is most certainly...

11/23/2011

Are you having a senior moment or just crossing an "event boundary?"

We've all experienced it: The frustration of entering a room and forgetting what we were going to do. Or get. Or find. New research from University of Notre