Topics In Psychology

Music and Life

2011-06-29T16:54:00.006-04:00

It is interesting to think how music motivates us, captivates us and effects our brains. Whether you hear a song on the radio or think of times gone by you can't help but acknowledge that this pleasing art form of the ear shapes us in all sorts of ways. The mood of a melody can set the tone for the rest of the day. I know when I need to plow through a project I put of some Verdi and in a short time it is done. Or when I am having a depressed day I put on something dark to go along with my mood. Paring music with your mood is like paring wine with dinner. Listening to a song can bring back memories from days gone by some happy and some sad. Music helps us navigate this difficult maze called life and makes it all a bit more meaningful. So I say grab some headphones and listen away, we might all just live longer and have richer fuller memories of our past. For information on how music affects the brain see the links below.

Additional Info

Oliver Sacks - Musicophilia

Introverts in an Extroverted World

2010-08-24T18:35:00.001-04:00

According to a study using the Meyers Briggs Type Indicator around 50 percent of the US population is extroverted which is surprising seeing many of us perceive extroverts all over the place. Introverts are collectors of thought, we like to take in our surroundings gather facts before making decisions. An introvert can be actively engaged in a conversation without saying anything. They are taking in everyones point analyzing what everyone is saying before making their point. Our current culture perceives this to be a sign of a poor conversationalist however that is quite the contrary. If you go ask an introvert for an opinion they will often either not have an answer for you or not be able to formulate a decent answer on the spot giving the perception that they are not well informed about the topic. You can always tell the introvert in a conversation because they are not the one asking all the questions. An introvert will be actively listening to the other person.

Our fast paced produce on demand culture can be mentally damaging to an introvert often draining an individual emotionally and physically. Environments that demand constant interaction with other people simultaneously are poor environments for introverts. An introvert can suffer from an emotional breakdown, increased stress and poor self esteem due to feeling as outcasts in their own world. An introvert needs time alone at the end of the day to decompress and sort through all the events of the day.

Introverts are often called shy but the difference between someone who is shy and someone who is an introvert is that introverts want to be that way. Shy people feel like they have too. Extroverts will often take pauses in their conversations with someone because they are comfortable thinking about what they are going to say before they talk. An introvert will prepare their response before hand which is why you are more likely to get an email from an introvert than a open forum brain storming discussion.

We see introverts all around us though we do not interact with them. They are never the life of the party but you can count on them to always have a well informed decision. An introvert will often see something from outside of the box, and make cautious decisions. This may take more time to complete a task but will often lead to greater results in the long run. The culture we live in now tells introverts that the way we do things, they way we process mentally is wrong. Is this right?

Developing Your Career with an Online Footprint

2010-02-25T21:22:00.005-05:00

There as been a lot of buzz in the last couple years about online social networking and how it is affecting our lives. Now our normally private activities are out there for anyone to see. Especially now with all the major companies getting on board with social networking people have to be even more careful. Social networking though can be very beneficial to your job search. Developing and managing a professional e-portfolio, blog or professional social networking page can help give you an edge up during the job interview. Putting a link on a resume can give your potential employer a wealth of information about who you are and your dedication to a particular field before the you actually talk to them. Maintaining these sites shows that you go the extra mile and are generally interested in a particular topic. Now with employers no longer reimbursing you for travel to an interview this could act as a filter and save you from going to an interview that you don't even come close to qualifying for. There are many good free websites out there such as Linked IN, Twitter, Blogger, and other free website building software. Having that upper electronic edge will help you start that career faster in these tough economic times. Your potential employers are already going to Google you so why not make the results in your best intrest.

New APA Regulations on technology

2009-12-23T08:23:00.005-05:00

The American Psychological Association sent out 2 new proposed regulations that they are trying to illicit public comment on. The APA has moved to not accredit fully online schools that offer doctoral programs in psychology. They believe that classroom interation is vital as well as supervision on internships. I agree with the APA on this matter and to move to a total use of technology would leave out the vital professor pupil interaction. The discussion and brainstorming that takes place when students and a professor meet in session is vital to the development of the student. A student may have a unique question that when a professor or supervior is left out of the equation the question goes un-answered and no learning takes place. Engagement is vital for the increased integrity of the profession and to better assist our clients.

APA Proposed Guidlines:

Telesupervision

Distance

Fight the Stigma

2009-11-02T15:43:00.001-05:00

Clubhouse Rally at HCC for Clubhouse

2009-11-02T13:05:00.002-05:00

Rally at Holyoke Community College on Oct.28th for clubhouses in Mass. hopefully will bring about a light at the end of the tunnel.

DMH Rally 10/27

2009-10-29T08:44:00.003-04:00

Our rally at the state house to protest major 9c cuts from the department of mental health made headlines both TV and the Springfield Republican (front page lead article)

Mass DMH Cuts

2009-10-26T13:05:00.004-04:00

Mass Department of Mental Health plans to cut 10 to 20 million from clubhouses across the state. This could severely cripple a vital support network that helps thousands and thousands of the mentally disabled maintain a purposeful life. Without these vital support networks many of these people would fall back onto habits that would spiral them back into the dark. They would once again be consumed by their disability. What you will have is a similar scenario to when there were massive closings of state mental health hospitals. These programs are vital!!!

Protest these cuts!!

Rethinking Mental Health: A Competition for New Ideas

2009-10-06T16:19:00.004-04:00

Cool idea for getting new ideas out there for treating mental illness. Contest ends October 14th, 2009. So get moving!! Special thanks to Aspergers Conversations for posting it.

Contest Website

When Life Finally Punches You In The Face

2009-10-05T20:42:00.004-04:00

College is over and you have finally found that job and got that new car that you have been eyeing. You are living in a dream world, a mind in an eternal state of bliss. In the background however there is this thing called life. Bills start to come in and those things called loans that you havn't had to worry about start expiring on their "grace" periods. I know I have this little place in my brain that is freaking out and I feel like I am being buried. Not to worry a plan is always the best option. Work out a budget that fits your salary and know when all your payments are due so you can work around them and still have freedom. Who knows there may even be room for a little luxury.

P.S. I still need some transitioning into life ideas so if you got em send em!!!

Social Anxiety

2009-07-28T16:34:00.002-04:00

A judgment is made in the first couple seconds of a meeting between two people. This can be an interesting social phenomenon especially when a new hiring prospect goes for an interview. The first couple seconds can make or break a person’s chances for a job. This is also true when if the potential new employee enters the office. He or she is once again entering into a new group and is once again being accepted or rejected in the first couple seconds. This series of social judgments I think is an evolutionary defense mechanism. This is so the group doesn’t put itself in a dangerous situation. This social gauntlet that a person has to run through can be unnerving. This is why you get the emergence of the social phobias. So how can we prepare our selves for this? Well here is one way. Take deep breaths. Increased breathing is a natural bodily occurrence when we feel anxiety. Decreasing breathing will reduce other body reactions that are associated with anxiety, the mind over matter technique. There many other techniques that I address in my blog and there are many other recourses all over the internet.

Schizophrenia

2009-07-22T08:36:00.005-04:00

Schizophrenia is not a disorder that is similar to other disorders. Schizophrenia causes you to develope an alternate view of reality. Perception of the "real world" is only a series of electric pulses in your brain and everyone is wired differently. How we view the world and interpret events depend on what series of nerve endings fire in a certian order. Scizophrenia is a dramatically different series of nerve endings going off. Schizophrenics just percieve the world differently from what society views as "normal". A Schizophrenics world is the real world to that particular person. Treatment as you can probably tell would be very difficult when it involves changeing an entire perception of reality.

The Checkerboard Killer, Social Relationships

2009-06-12T22:12:00.005-04:00

I was reading an article in GQ the other day about Alexander Yurievich Pichushkin aka the Maniac or the Checkerboard Killer. He is responsible for the deaths of many Russians in his neighborhood in Moscow at the North end of Bitsevsky Park which is over 2,700 acres. The article got me thinking about perception and about human need for social relationships. It is interesting how someone can make a judgment about someone he or she just met and unless we have had the scorn of being turned on are pretty much completely trusting. Pichushkin used this to his advantage (his favorite book was Dale Carnegie's How to win friends and Influence People) how someone is more trusting of a stranger than many of our acquaintances. There seems to be this threshold that we first must cross before we learn to not trust someone, or before we pick up on that weird vibe. Everyone in Russia knew about the murders in the park and of the disappearances yet victims still walked with a complete stranger into the very park where all the disappearances took place. Maybe harsh living conditions like those in the North end of Moscow cause us to be more trusting of our neighbors a more collectivist society. So befriending someone from your neighborhood would be easier. Especially when that someone was well versed in social cues and communication. An interesting topic I will have to look more into.

Senioritis

2009-04-26T13:48:00.004-04:00

So for many soon to be college grads senioritis is heavily affecting many of my fellow class mates. Lack of energy, lack of concentration, lack of interest in doing much of anything and lack of sleep (mainly due I think to outside forces). This can be a very hard condition to get over and can make the remaining weeks of classes almost excruciatingly long. This condition is also highly contagious. It just doesn't affect students, many teachers can be affected by this condition as well. There is no cure accept the eventual end of the semester.

GOOD LUCK

Graduating in this Tough Economy

2009-04-23T09:44:00.003-04:00

I know for many of us that are graduating this year worry that we won't be able to find jobs in this economy. The truth is many of us won't find jobs right out of college and will probably have to live at home longer than we want to. This troubled economy though is a great opportunity to increase you education in your chosen field. When the economy eventually turns around you will be better prepared to go out and find a job with an advanced degree. The key is to have more than one plan and not to get frustrated if you can't find a job within the first couple months. I recently got some advice from someone here at the college that for every 10,000 that you want to make be prepared to devote 2 months to finding a job. Just don't get frustrated and have multiple attack plans.

The Book for College Freshmen and Teens

2009-04-13T16:49:00.005-04:00

How to Have Fun and Not Die

How to Have Fun and Not Die by: Eddie Einbinder is a very informative and at some points humorous collection of stories, facts and interactions of illicit and prescription drugs that could very well keep someone from having an awful experience. A must read for teens and college age kids who will be confronted with the option to experiment. A book about drugs that you don't have to have a medical degree to understand.

“Education is a man’s going forward from cocksure ignorance to thoughtful uncertainty.”
- Kenneth G. Johnson

2009-04-12T20:32:00.004-04:00

Musical Savant

2009-04-06T17:57:00.001-04:00

Rex Plays Beethoven's Fur Elise as a Tango

More Thoughts on the Weather

2009-04-06T16:36:00.000-04:00

Ever wonder why some people hate the rain and some people just enjoy rainy days? I am one of those who likes the rain. It is a good time to get work done that I have been putting off. I can put on the tea pot and finally finish that book that I have been putting off. I can enter another blog entry on the weather. There are so many things that can be done during the rain, and if you wear the right clothing you won't even get wet. Being creative, that is the key. Even if you are not creative you can waist the day watching movies. I guess also you need to have more of an introverted personality to really appreciate those rainy days. Variety is the spice of life as they say.

Interview With The Co-Founder of Twitter on the Colbert Report

2009-04-03T12:18:00.001-04:00

Is Twitter the insight to our conscience thought?

The Colbert Report

Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Biz Stone

comedycentral.com

Colbert Report Full Episodes

Political Humor

NASA Name Contest

The Movies, Helping and Homelessness

2009-04-02T15:51:00.000-04:00

So in abnormal today we touched on the fact that the media is partly responsible for us not helping the homeless or those that are noticeably distressed on the side of the street. We discussed the fact that people with mental disorders are more likely the ones to be taken advantage of and are the ones who are seen as dangerous and that we need to stay away from them at all costs. This is simply not the case. A mental disorder is just like any other disease and needs to be treated. Most of those disorders will not cause a person to attack a random stranger. Yes some will but for the most part that is not the case. Most of the people you see babbling on the side of the street are for the most part harmless and may desperately need help from someone. Thanks to the media and other factors we just walk by and not help those individuals. I am not saying that I am a saint in helping every random stranger that I see but wouldn't it be nice to know if there was a role reversal that there would be someone that would point us in the right direction to the nearest shelter or buy us a bagel.

The Weather

2009-03-31T19:55:00.000-04:00

Those who suffer from Seasonal Affect Disorder or SAD can now rejoice because those cold and frigid months seem to be over. The sun was shinning today and I went for a walk around campus to take advantage of the sunshine today. Maybe the nice weather can sprinkle some sun rays on this sluggish economy although I think our economy fits more into the realm of Bi-Polar than SAD but we can all hope.

Corrupt Judges in Penn

2009-03-27T22:15:00.000-04:00

I first saw this on 20/20 tonight and couldn't really wrap my head around the blatant disregard for a child's well being. Children were thrown in juvenile detention centers for the most minor of offenses just to line some judges pockets.

CHECK OUT THE VIDEO

The Economic Crisis. The American Dream...?

2009-03-24T10:37:00.000-04:00

A video on how this economic crisis is affecting the youth of our country. Is the American Dream really just a dream?

The video is from kcet.org and this is a quote from the website that goes with the video

"This is the video that started it all... Mr. Steinman, AP Lit. teacher at Village Academy High School (Pomona Unified School District) worked with his students to share their stories of economic hardship with President Obama."

Relationship Quirks

2009-03-22T19:52:00.000-04:00

Every relationship has those weird habits and quirks that start eating away at it. Those things that annoy you to no end. The problem however may not be that the other person is annoying you it may be that you are annoying yourself. We live not with the person in our bed but with the person in our head. When a relationship starts we tend to ignore those little habits that our partners do that annoy us. We may think that they will change eventually or we just pick up our significant others socks from the bedroom floor. If gone unchecked though those annoying little habits will start to accumulate and eat away at the relationship. We start to think that he or she doesn't appreciate us or they just don't care anymore. The key is to try to express your annoyances at the beginning before they build up and you have an emotional melt down. Talk with your partner in a calm and composed way. If your partner just won't change or can't seem to you can always change the way you look at the annoying habit. It may just be how he or she was brought up and that they do it without thinking. Or you can look at it as at least I have someone who loves you and takes care of you. Most marriages end not because of the big problems but from the build up of small annoyances. Change is a two way street even when the problem seems only one way.

Factitious Disorders, Malingering and Munchausen

2009-03-05T18:02:00.000-05:00

In abnormal the other day we discussed factitious disorders and the problem with diagnosing. Doctors in hospitals and psychologists are afraid to diagnose for the fact that they might be wrong and get sued or possibly cause sever damage to the patient. I was thinking of the possibility of using a survey such as depression inventories and the Psychopathic Check List. You could use the dx requirements as the checklist and a little research into the persons past hospital visits should shoot up some red flags.

Experiential Purchases vs. Material Purchases

2009-02-25T11:11:00.000-05:00

I recently read an article in the Journal of Consumer Research that when you spend money you generally are more happy when you purchase something that has an experience to go along with it such as a night out or a vacation. You experience less happiness for a shorter period of time when you purchase something like a car or a pair of shoes. There is however the same spike in both when the initial purchase is made. The reasoning behind this is that a purchase with an experience attached to it will get better over time because your mind will filter out all the boring parts. Where as a car is still just a car that will break down over time anyways. So for your happiness invest more in experience rather than materials.

The Eating Disorders

2009-02-19T19:56:00.000-05:00

Today in abnormal we discussed the eating disorders and the paradoxical effect that trying to control you weight has on the human mind and on habits. When a person try's to control their weight to the point of minor starvation and to the point where someone is banning food from their diet the individual either gets to the point where they either eat something from the banned food list. When this happens all the laws of that individuals diet goes out the window and the person just starts binge eating. That person will then gain more weight than they set out to loose. When someone starves themselves in order to loose weight such as in Bulimia and Anorexia Nervosa the body goes into panic mode and will retain fat and slow down the motabalism rate so that it is almost impossible to loose any weight what so ever. So like in my last eating disorder entry eat just a little bit of everything and you will never have a weight problem.

Death of Ruckus, Long Live Limewire

2009-02-11T16:22:00.000-05:00

So the death of Ruckus the free and legal music downloading site for Keene State College students hasn't really effected anyone not that Ruckus was any good anyways. I mean the file is in a different format so you can only listen to it on your computer and once you leave good old KSC your Ruckus account also gets deleted. So what was the point in setting up an account in the first place. I have no idea. Anyways I ask you this, isn't Limewire (a not so legal source of music and other media) just a move in a direction where all people can enjoy all art? I mean you can download pictures, movies, music, and pretty much anything that you can put on a computer. Is this a move toward a more inclusive communal society? Where everything is created for the benefit of the people? Who knows only time can tell.

Robison Paper

2009-02-11T16:08:00.000-05:00

A Reaction Paper on Look Me in The Eye: My Life With Asperger's How We Relate

Asperger’s Syndrome was not a common diagnosis when John Elder Robinson was growing up in fact it didn’t even exist. The memoir of Robinson’s life entitled Look Me in the Eye: My Life With Asperger’s takes place during that time right up to the present day. For that matter many of the psychological disorders that we have today didn’t exist when Robinson was a boy. If they did they were miss understood and treatments had not yet been discovered that were moderately successful. There was no funding for special education programs, intensive therapy and intervention programs in schools and there were no alternative classes so the children who had trouble keeping up could learn at their own rate. Asperger’s like many other disorders that revolve around social and cognitive functioning are still not very well understood although we have made leaps and bounds. But is someone like Robinson really different from the rest of us in relating to others. Are we all on the Autistic Spectrum in some way or another?
I related to many aspects of Robinson’s life in that I have experienced those situations in my own daily life. In fact I can probably pretty accurately say that most of my fellow colleagues that read this memoir related to a good portion of it. Robinson at one point describes that when hearing that a neighbor was hit by a train while playing on the tracks he felt relieved that he or anyone he has a good relationship with didn’t also get hit by a train (Robinson, 2008). That caused him to smile and even though Robinson showed inappropriate emotions at the time I related to them. Robinson states that when people die in large enough numbers and when those individuals aren’t connected to us in some way we don’t feel a deep sense of sadness or sometimes nothing at all, we just continue with our daily lives as if nothing happened (Robinson, 2008). We feel bad for those that lost their lives but there is no grieving process. Some may feel that deep sense of loss but does that make them normal and the rest of us abnormal or them abnormal and us normal?
Robinson describes his problems with making friends with people at a young age. Robinson talks about that when he talks to people his own age they often ignored him and thought he was weird and would eventually be generally freaked out when he was around (Robinson, 2008). Is that really so different than the rest of us? Before I entered high school I really had no real friends everyone thought I was weird and wouldn’t hang out with me. I always got along better with older people of my parents age similar to Robinson. They would ignore my little quirks and marvel at my fascination for history and my love for antiquing which by all accounts is a strange hobby for a thirteen year old. While Robinson rocks back and forth I tap my leg in response to when I am involved with something I am interested in and when I am extremely bored. This either keeps me focused or gives me something to do. There are countless other similarities (to many for this paper) in the memoir of his Aspergian traits that I can relate too.
Could Robinson have turned out similar to me if he had grown up in a different time and with parents who didn’t have to deal with their own psychological issues? Would he have turned out different and had a less noticeable spectrum disorder if there had been a diagnosis for Asperger’s in the 1970s? Society also has a lot to play in what is considered different and irregular for a certain age group. If Robinson’s interests had centered on sports instead of electronics would he have been such a misfit in school? Theses are questions that we can never answer but are questions that are interesting to ponder. In one way or another we are all on the spectrum and all have those little quirks that make us geeky, nerdy and just plain different.

Citations
Robinson J. E. (2008). Look Me in the Eye: My Life With Asperger’s. Three Rivers Press. New York

Happiness

2009-02-08T16:02:00.000-05:00

So i was watching CNN on my computer the other day and they were doing a feel good story about a man who was let go from his high paying executive job and now he is working at Starbucks. The CNN interviewer was asking him how he felt about loosing his job and having to work at Starbucks to make a living. He said that he has never been happier when this man was at his old job that was his life everything he did was dedicated to it. Now he puts in his 20 hrs a week making coffee and cleaning the store (with full benefits from Starbucks) and then he goes home and has a life. He said he wouldn't go back to the corporate world and his 3 figure income for anything. Is this the holy grail of happiness? Starbucks? A 20hr week, a life desperate from work, benefits and a longer fuller life because of it? SIGN ME UP!!

Counting Calories

2009-02-02T12:22:00.000-05:00

Has our way of life of constantly exercising and calorie counting brought us to the brink of obsession? I say so! What ever happened to the grand old wisdom that grandma used to say where all you need to do is have everything in moderation and you will be fine. I think that we have created a world of calorie obsessed health mongers. It is such a cash cow that "natural" food cost you an arm and a leg where food cooked up in a lab costs nearly half as much. Our nations health kick also has a lot of benefits such as clean energy, a healthy nation, people are living longer and eating healthier. My final words are kick back and have that chocolate bar you deserved it we have come along way just don't have two. Everything in moderation even diet and exercise.

2nd Week

2009-01-30T10:33:00.000-05:00

Abnormal Psych is in it's second week and turning out to be a promising class. It is a shame that all Psych majors are not required to take this class because you would think that being a Psychology Major the disorders would come in handy in your profession. Most of my friends at other schools had already taken Abnormal by the time that they were second semester Sophomore. To think I could have graduated and conceivably taken a position in the field without ever setting foot in a class on the psychological disorders is scary.

Active Minds

2009-01-28T20:53:00.000-05:00

A national organization that promotes psychological awareness, openness, and understanding. Check it out, the link is in my websites section

Globalization and the Loss of Your Identity

2009-01-26T13:06:00.001-05:00

When we think of globalization what comes to minds? Maybe a sweatshop in Sri Lanka or the Nike plant in Vietnam. Maybe the loss of jobs here in America and the other Industrialized nations so those corporations can see their bottom line inflate? How bought our individual identity. When I went on a trip to Italy a couple of years ago you would see signs for McDonalds everywhere (see photo). With the forming of the European Union or NAFTA you have on the economic basis one nation. Who are we as Americans if we can no longer call Nike or McDonalds an American staple because there stores or manufacturing plants are in other countries. Mabye the concept of globalization can be called American or European. Coca Cola can be found in every country around the world even its bottling plants (see photo). Are we no longer Americans or French or Germans? Are we just Earthlings? This is the direction of the world, a machine steaming toward the inevitable unification of all people, but at what cost?

Lost Camera? Check out this Video!

2009-01-23T10:36:00.001-05:00

I Found Your Camera is a blog dedicated to reuniting people with there long lost cameras and photos. It is inspired by the Post Secret Blog. There are links to both in my Blog List

2009-01-23T10:25:00.001-05:00

2009-01-23T10:24:00.001-05:00

Feminists in Thongs?

2009-01-21T17:08:00.000-05:00

It is interesting when you ask the average person what a activist is. People will tell you they are hippies, they don't wear any leather they always go to protests and they get involved in everything. You will get people who think feminists are always gung-ho about going to Africa and saving the world. Many would be activists are afraid to speak out about the atrocities that surround them because they are affraid to contradict themselves. A quote from Grassroots by Jennifer Baumgardner and Amy Richards speaks to this fear of contradictions well. "I see the world through feminist colored glasses now. Issues make so much more sense. I am electrified! I'm volunteering at a battered woman's shelter and I can't wait to do more and...um. I wear a thong. Can I still be a feminist?" This fear that if we don't fit the general public's persona of what an activist is in it's entirety then we are not truly and activist. The fact is that we all are human and even the most active of the activists probably has a shirt made in Sri Lanka.

A Blogger's Creed

2009-01-21T09:55:00.000-05:00

This is from a 2005 Dilbert comic

"Everything that I think is more fascinating than the crap in your head."

2009-01-20T18:26:00.001-05:00

A New and Final Semester

2009-01-19T17:32:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow starts a new semester here at Keene State College and it is looking to be an interesting one. My schedule is filled with more classes than I need to graduate and some interesting sounding classes that of course had no descriptions to go along with them. Have to take them anyways so I hope they turn out as interesting as they sound. Still looking for a job to fill my free time this semester and provide some necessary green. The job market however has been quite dismal. My girlfriend is starting her toughest semester of her college career but I think she will make it through unscathed. Most of this semester will be looking toward the future I feel and preparing for graduation with little time to just enjoy it here in Keene. Graduate Applications, job searches, papers, classes, finances and other obligations. The real world has hit me and I never saw it coming.

My Experience in the DOC HOC

2008-12-17T12:34:00.000-05:00

Working as an Intern with the department of corrections in New Hampshire really opened my eyes to inmate rehabilitation and treatment as the future in preventing recidivism in our communities. Working in a prison setting showed me that all inmates have some sort of mental defect that causes them to commit crime. Whether they are ethically impaired of have some documented mental disorder treating that will help the inmate in making better judgments about crime and what to do in a similar situation. What I have also seen is that typical corrections officers are not capable or trained to deal with the mental disorders of the inmates that they are put in charge of. You need specifically trained psychologists in jails and prisons to deal with inmate problems and break downs. I have also seen that adequate support networks for the inmate once they leave the facility is vital! Such as employers that will actually hire individuals with a record. Also inmates need to see individuals on the outside that will help them with their problems often for minimal or no out of pocket pay because lets face it inmates are not going to make a lot of money when they first get out of prison. They also need an adequate family support network. Some of my duties at the Cheshire County House of Corrections were co running an anger management group for men with another intern. I also preformed intake classification interviews, shadowed the head psychologist during sessions with inmates. My other duties included observing the day rooms and researching how other prisons and jails are running so that they may better improve the one in Westmoreland.

That good old

2008-11-17T18:35:00.001-05:00

How's Your Second Life?

2008-10-29T20:18:00.000-04:00

Games that would fall under the class of Massive Multilayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG) have become quite the phenomenon in the computer industry. Some of the more popular titles such as Everquest (EQ), World of Warcraft (WOW) and 2nd Life have become online communities of people interacting, talking, making friendships, and participating that as one of the above titles puts it is really a second life. These types of games attract all sorts of people. I myself have played Everquest and now play World of Warcraft (level.40 Night Elf Hunter, currently). I thin we all though are attracted to these types of games for one reason. We all need a break from the real world. There is a strain in our unplugged life to fit into a certain mold, or to go into certain jobs or to just deal with the repetitiveness of everyday life. I think that playing MMORPG's can be very therapeutic to anyone. Here is your chance to become an epic night elf priest (WOW), or a wood elf druid (EQ) and you can become heroes of entire kingdoms. You can be that person that you read about in a fairytale. This however can be problematic if someone starts to neglect the real and uses the MMORPG as a "crutch" to get through real life. This person starts to neglect their day to day responsibilities such as school and basic face to face social skills. In a sense the MMORPG when used incorrectly can in my view turn someone into a pseudo Autistic. According to a recent Time magazine special on China the strain on high school children and college age children has become so great that they are spending days without food in internet cafes playing an MMORPG. You can say that there is a real addiction here if someone chooses a game over food. I think an equilibrium needs to be established between the real and the online.

A Testing Society and Drone Students

2008-10-23T23:12:00.000-04:00

What has our education become? As I attend class after class I always find my self hearing the same question, "Will we need to know this for the test?" I wonder to my self is this just another class I have to take where the professor lectures for an hour and forty five minutes, then we come in and take a test where our brain just throws up facts. I think this stems from placing to much importance on theses tests. In public high school (I can't speak for private ones seeing I am a public school kid) teachers are made to only teach what will be on the test because there is no time. Kids now a day are tested more than ever. With the S.A.T., A.C.T., many State standardized tests and local regional tests we are breeding an age of human computers. Where no knowledge is retained just repeated. What ever happened to just learning for the sake of learning. We have professors that dictate to students information for the tests and neglect to engage them. A small class is truly a diamond in the ruff because it creates an atmosphere of meaningful conversations with the class. A class that has minimal structure can create a flourish of knowledge and participation. I challenge all professors and teachers to talk with their students not at them. Students really don't wanna disappear to the back of a classroom. The atmosphere in the classroom is causes students to feel unimportant and therefore don't participate and disappear. It is embedded in our heads from the point of middle school. We have been disappearing for so long that that is all students know how to do, and professors wonder why no one participates. Our fears of being unimportant and our fears of looking foolish in front of our peers. It is partly the testing that causes all this not participating. We should have less testing to succeed in schools not more.

Asperger's Conversations

2008-10-21T20:36:00.000-04:00

Just wanted to point out on of my favorite professor's blogs here at Keene State College about Asperger's and other topics. It is extremely interesting and informative. A blog that provokes conversations and actions. Check it out.

Asperger's Conversations

The Girl on the Skyscraper

2008-10-21T20:17:00.000-04:00

"There once was a little girl that stood on the edge of a skyscraper. She would always look down at marvelous parties that were happening on the first floor. O how she wished she could go to those parties and be part of that scene. So one day she decided to go for it and jump. As she started to fall she saw people standing in their windows waving goodbye. The little girl took no heed of them and kept sailing on by. She then past a balcony of a young man of about 18. He called out to her and asked her to come in and stay with him and he would giver her everything she could ever want. The girl replied, "I can't I have to get to a party before it ends." So she waved and kept on sailing by. Soon she reached another balcony where a man of about 45 called out to her and said, "Won't you come stay with me, I will give you everything you could ever want?" The woman replied on her way buy, "I can't I need to get to a party before it ends." After falling more the woman noticed that people around her were sailing buy all dressed up. They called out to her and said that she needs to hurry up or she will miss the party. The woman quickened her decent to the bottom to catch up with the people falling past her. She then passed another balcony where a little old man of about 85 was standing and calling out to her, "Won't you come and rest now I will give you everything you could ever want." The old woman replied, "I can't I have to get to a party." After she fell a few more stories she realized that the party was over and she missed it. In a desperate attempt she turned around to head back to the top but the now very old woman had gone to far. She wanted so bad to go back to the top and start over. She hit the pavement and died without ever reaching the party."

I read a story similar to this one in a class at Mitchell College a couple of years ago and I never realized the meaning until now after reading Dr. Shea's book Happiness Is. We all need to slow down and smell the roses once and a while. I think to many people end up like the old woman from the story above.

39 Tips for a better life

2008-10-03T11:45:00.000-04:00

1. Take a 10-30 minute walk every day. And while you walk, SMILE. It is the ultimate anti-depressant.

2. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.

3. Buy a DVR and tape your late night shows and get more sleep.

4. When you wake up in the morning, complete the following statement, 'My purpose is to __________ today.'

5. Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm, and Empathy.

6. Play more games and read more books than you did in 2007.

7. Make time to practice meditation and prayer. They provide us with daily fuel for our busy lives.

8. Spend time with people over the age of 70 and under the age of 6.

9. Dream more while you are awake.

10. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants, and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.

11. Drink green tea and plenty of water. Eat blueberries, wild Alaskan salmon, broccoli, almonds & walnuts.

12. Try to make at least three people smile each day.

13. Clear clutter from your house, your car and your desk, and let new and flowing energy into your life.

14. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip, OR issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.

15. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class, but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.

16. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a college kid with a maxed out charge card.

17. Smile and laugh more. It will keep the NEGATIVE BLUES away.

18. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

20. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

21. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

22. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.

23. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

24. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

25. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: 'In five years, will this matter?'

26. Forgive everyone for everything.

27. What other people think of you is none of your business.

28. REMEMBER, GOD heals everything.

29 . However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

30. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends & family will. Stay in touch.

31. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

32. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

33. The best is yet to come.

34. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

35. Do the right thing!

36. Call your family often. (Or email them to death!!!)

37. Each night before you go to bed complete the following statements: I am thankful for __________. Today I accomplished _________.

38. Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed.

39. Enjoy the ride. Remember that this is not Disney World and you certainly don't want a fast pass. You only have one ride through life, so make the most of it and enjoy the ride.

Military Psychologists and Tourture

2008-10-02T20:29:00.000-04:00

Its amazing to me that we are even having this debate over torture in the military and during war. From a psychological standpoint this is detrimental to the people that are being interrogated using these techniques. According to Steven Soldz, the director of the Center for Research, Evaluation and Program Development at the Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis and Scott Silliman, professor of the Practice of Law and executive director of the Center on Law, Ethics, and National Security at Duke University states that torture doesn't even work and this is also according to many other professional psychologists. According to senior interigators at the FBI and in the military say tourture dosen't work. There is even no way that you can validate that these leads are even accurate. Then you have our troops going into potentially dangerous senerios that could be detrimental. A main point of the psychologists creed is to protect the mental health of the individual. Creating ways to use effective psychological tourture techniques is going against everything professional psychologists stand for. It amazes me that there is even a debate about this in the American Psycological Association (APA) on what constitutes as tourture or not. If it is psychologicaly or physically detrimental to an individual then it should constitute as tourture. When someone breaks while using these techniques they remain psysically and psychologically damaged for the rest of there life. Psychologists in the military should be there to make our troops ahppier and healthier and to educate them in human realations with the local population. Not to come up with ways to extract possibly false information out of the enemy.

Guns In Schools

2008-09-19T11:28:00.001-04:00

the following ocured in a small town in northern Texas.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry OK with teachers, staff carrying guns at schools
08:50 PM CDT on Monday, August 18, 2008
By CHRISTY HOPPE / The Dallas Morning News
choppe@dallasnews.com

AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry said Monday that he supported the Harrold school district policy to allow teachers and staff members to carry guns at school as long as they are adequately trained in gun safety.

"I'm pretty much a fan that if you've been trained and you are registered, then you should be able to carry a weapon. Matter of fact, there's a lot of instances that would have saved a lot of lives," Mr. Perry said.

Also Online

Texas school district OKs pistols for staff

The governor is a staunch advocate of right-to-carry provisions and has advocated allowing licensed gun owners to carry them into places where they can currently be banned, such as college campuses, churches, bars and private businesses.

"The issue with handguns is training and registration," Mr. Perry said, adding that those who complete the concealed weapons licensing program, which includes gun safety training, should be allowed to carry guns wherever they go.

Harrold is a small district near Wichita Falls that has about 110 students in its K-12 school. School trustees changed their policy last year to allow district employees to carry concealed guns on school property. School officials have cited the proximity of the school to a state highway and its 30-minute distance from the nearest sheriff's office as reasons for concern.

Thus far, Harrold is apparently the only school district in Texas that will allow its teachers to carry guns into their classrooms.

Texans for Gun Safety board member Linda Siemers said teachers or students carrying guns around school "is a terrifying idea."

"Schools are capable of providing a safe environment for teachers and children without either one carrying guns," Ms. Siemers said. "We must deal with our fear of crime in a more constructive manner."

But Mr. Perry said he would have no problem with other schools allowing guns.

"I think it's up to those local school districts," he said.

He mentioned the 1991 rampage in Killeen when George Hennard drove his pickup into the front of a Luby's and began shooting at patrons, killing 23 people before turning the gun on himself. Among the victims were the parents of former state Rep. Suzanna Gratia Hupp, who was one of the state's staunchest right-to-carry advocates.

"That's a great anecdotal story of not being able to have a weapon when you needed one," Mr. Perry said.

REALLY PEOPLE?!

Aqua Marine Blue 5

2008-09-19T11:28:00.000-04:00

Aquamarine Blue 5 is a unique collection of letters from college students with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. It is unique in the fact that by preserving the letters or essays in their original form would keep the essence of an autistic style writing alive. Something to this effect is also stated by the author at the beginning of the book in the preface. The author stated at in the preface that by doing any editing to the essays they would destroy what that person was truly trying to say. The collection of essays depicts the struggles that college age children go through that have Asperger Syndrome. I recommend anyone that is attending college to pick up a copy of this book. A very interesting an informative read.