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Play Therapy Activities to Develop Social Skills

Social skills include the ways in which the child relates to others in order to make friends, get their needs met, be assertive, employ boundaries and cooperate. In order to develop social skills effectively, it is important that the child understands and experiences different behaviors and their consequences. To achieve this in play therapy, a […]

Mindfulness Techniques: Defusion Exercises

Mindfulness (learn more about mindfulness here) interventions have been shown to be beneficial for a wide range of psychological and physical conditions such as anxiety, depression, chronic pain, personality disorders, and addictions. Controlled trials of normal populations have also demonstrated positive changes in brain function and immune response, self-awareness, perceived stress, and increase in self-compassion […]

Brain Pickings

Brain Pickings, a project by writer Maria Popova, has recently caught our eye thanks to its wide range of insightful book reviews, interviews and resources. If you are looking for interesting books covering topics such as psychology, arts, creativity, design, history and science – this website is a formidable reference. Brain Pickings is a human-powered discovery engine […]

Common Stages of Disaster Recovery

Disasters and mass disruptive events can be extremely unpredictable and chaotic. Even though that is a valid characterisation of catastrophe, disaster experts have discerned a general pattern or cycle of phases that a community and the individuals in it go through from the time of impact of a disaster to establishing a newly reconstructed life. […]

Book Review: Dialectical Behaviour Therapy for Wellness and Recovery

Bein, A. (2014). Dialectical behaviour therapy for wellness and recovery. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons. Dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) is a form of cognitive behaviour therapy. Developed by psychologist Marsha M. Linehan in the late 1980s, the approach emphasises the psychosocial elements of treatment. Dialectical behavior therapy for wellness and recovery by Andrew Bein presents […]

Join Our Social Network

There are many ways you can regularly interact with our team and thousands of your peers – plus enjoy ongoing access to the industry news, articles, videos and numerous educational resources. Below is an overview of our open-access social media resources, and how you can join them. Counselling Connection [this blog!] – www.aipc.net.au/blog What is […]

Common Misconceptions About Suicide

The World Health Organization estimates that about million people die by suicide each year (World Health Organization, 2004). Understanding what drives people to take their own life is not easy for those who are not enmeshed in intolerable pain themselves; thus, myths and misconceptions tend to proliferate about this very final act. It is important […]

Coping with Bad Memories

Dr Jeremy Dean, a psychologist and author of PsyBlog, recently wrote a blog post exploring a new technique that holds promise for those experiencing disturbing emotional flashbacks. The post offers insightful ideas — particularly for those working with trauma and grief. Here’s an abstract: A better way to deal with recurring negative memories is to […]

Core Actions of Psychological First Aid

In the first video of this two-part series (Principles of Psychological First Aid), Richard Hill looked at the five principles that are the basis for all Psychological First Aid: that is, promoting safety, calmness, self-efficacy, connectedness, and hope. In this talk, Richard will be putting you into the field: that is, the explorations will take […]

Principles of Psychological First Aid

Psychological First Aid is a means of providing psychosocial support to individuals and families immediately after a disaster, terrorist or traumatic event, or other emergency. It consists of a set of helping actions which are systematically undertaken in order to reduce initial post-trauma distress and to support short- and long-term adaptive functioning. Based on the […]

Transference and Projection

The phenomena of transference and projection, although solidly accepted in the analytical and psychodynamic schools of psychology in which they originated, are nevertheless complex and often misunderstood concepts. Yet some claim that projection is the single most important phenomenon in psychotherapy. In this video, Richard Hill helps you understand what transference and projection are, how […]

Romancing Our Shadow

Shadow, the hidden component of our character which we have consigned to the dark recesses of our psyche, comes out inexplicably and horribly at times, embarrassing us, surprising us, and – if we are attuned to it – offering us the possibility of deeper insights into our true selves. And just as it does this […]