Self-Awareness

What Is... Series (Insights into Psychology)

What Is… Self-Esteem

In this series, I dig a little deeper into the meaning of psychology-related terms. This week’s term is self-esteem. Self-esteem refers to the extent to which we perceive the various elements of our self-concept positively. It incorporates our physical self-image, how we feel about the things we’ve accomplished, how successful we consider ourselves to be …

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Meta-Feelings: How Do You Feel About Feeling Good?

Do you make judgments when things are going well? If you do, that can stir up meta-feelings. Like metacognition is thinking about thinking, meta-feeling is feelings about feelings. Mental illness, or even a lot of stress, can mean extended periods of time feeling rather yucky. Periods of feeling good, or at least better in a …

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Do You Have Dead People Goals?

The topic of dead people goals came to mind a while back when I was commenting on a post by Quiet Person Loud Thoughts. I couldn’t remember where I’d first heard of it, but with some hunting around, it looks like I got the idea from Susan David’s book Emotional Agility. The original idea is …

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The tree of contemplative practices from The Contemplative Mind Foundation

Exploring Contemplative Practices

I first heard of the term contemplative practices when reading the book A Fearless Heart by Thupten Jinpa. This involves approaching an inner problem without avoidance or distraction. By establishing some mental space, you can consider the problem without getting caught up in the thoughts and emotions that swirl around it. Contemplative practices build meta-awareness, …

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What Is... Series (Insights into Psychology)

What Is… the Dunning-Kruger Effect

In this series, I dig a little deeper into the meaning of psychology-related terms. This week’s term is the Dunning-Kruger effect. The Dunning-Kruger effect was first described by psychologists David Dunning and Justin Kruger. It’s a type of cognitive bias that causes people to feel confident that they have greater knowledge or competence in an …

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modified Johari window of knowledge: from what you know to what you don't know you don't know

The Importance of What We Don’t Know We Don’t Know

There’s a lot of knowledge out there in the world. We’ve all accumulated some of it, whether that’s by formal schooling, work, or life in general. Quadrants of knowledge There are several different ways in which we relate to the potential knowledge that’s out there in the world. This can be seen in the modified …

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What Is... Series (Insights into Psychology)

What is… Deindividuation

In this series, I dig a little deeper into the meaning of psychology-related terms. This week’s term is deindividuation. Every human is a unique individual with self-awareness. Deindividuation is a process by which people start to lose that self-awareness when part of a group. Oxford Reference defines deindividuation as: “A psychological state characterized by loss …

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Mental Health @ Home book review: 52 Small Changes for the Mind

Book Review: 52 Small Changes for the Mind

52 Small Changes for the Mind by Brett Blumenthal lays out a year-long series of weekly small changes to improve your overall mental wellbeing. It’s not specifically geared towards people dealing with mental illness, but there are plenty of common sense, realistic ideas that could be useful for anyone. Each of the book’s 52 chapters …

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What Is... Series (Insights into Psychology)

What Is… Anosognosia (Lack of Insight)

In this series, I dig a little deeper into the meaning of psychological terms. This week’s term is anosognosia. I wouldn’t be surprised if you haven’t heard this term before, so let’s break it down. Agnosia is an inability to recognize people or things.  Nosology is the classification of diseases. Throw the two together, and you get …

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