In this series, I dig a little deeper into the meaning of psychology-related terms. This week’s term is rejection sensitive dysphoria. You may have heard of rejection sensitive dysphoria (RSD), perhaps in the context of ADHD (attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder). I was going into writing this post thinking that it was a well-established thing, and I …
The ACT Workbook for Anger by Robyn D. Walser and Manuela O’Connell uses an acceptance and commitment therapy approach to support readers in better managing anger. Anger is framed as a mix of feelings, physiological sensations, thoughts, and actions, and the authors explain that experiencing it is normal; it’s getting hooked on it that can …
In this series, I dig a little deeper into the meaning of psychology-related terms. This week’s term is histrionic personality disorder. Histrionic personality disorder (HPD) falls within the DSM-5‘s cluster B of dramatic/emotional/erratic personality disorders. The primary characteristic is a pathological level of need for attention. People with this disorder are often charming and enthusiastic, …
Pocket Therapy for Emotional Balance by Matthew McKay, Jeffrey C. Wood, and Jeffrey Brantley is part of a series of pocket therapy books from New Harbinger Publishers. The book is short, the chapters are bite-sized, and it’s very easy to read. The book is based on dialectical behaviour therapy, with a focus on emotional regulation. …
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In this series, I dig a little deeper into the meaning of psychology-related terms. This week’s term is nonsuicidal self-injury. Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a fancy way of saying self-harm behaviour that differentiates it from suicidality. Cutting and burning are the most common methods, but there are a variety of other methods people use, including …
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In this series, I dig a little deeper into the meaning of psychology-related terms. This week’s term is the window of tolerance. The window of tolerance was first described by psychiatrist Dr. Dan Siegel in 1999. It’s used to describe levels of arousal, both psychological and physiological (and no, not sexual). The window represents the …
In this series, I dig a little deeper into the meaning of psychology-related terms. This week’s term is stoicism. Stoicism came up in a book I recently reviewed, You Got This, and I wanted to find out more about it. It means taking a detour from psychology into the world of philosophy. Stoicism in Ancient …
The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook by Matthew McKay, Jeffrey C. Wood, and Jeffrey Brantley is a self-help workbook that covers the major skills involved in dialectical behavior therapy (DBT). DBT is considered the gold standard for treating borderline personality disorder, but its usefulness isn’t limited to people with BPD. DBT is very skills-based, and many …
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Escaping the Emotional Roller Coaster by Dr. Patricia Zurita Ona draws upon acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) techniques to help “super-feelers” work with their emotions more effectively. What is a super-feeler? It’s someone who struggles with emotional regulation, meaning they experience intense emotions and strong emotional reactions. The book focuses on emotional sensitivity; this is …
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Dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) has a lot of useful concepts, but one of my favourites is wise mind. Wise mind is the area of overlap between our emotional mind and our reasonable/rational/logical mind. Emotional mind deals in feelings, while reasonable mind deals in facts and evidence. Neither emotion mind nor reasonable mind is wrong or invalid, …
