Sunday, May 5, 2019

Dealing with Potential for Compulsive Use of Smartphones

There appear to be unintended consequences of a first generation growing up with smartphones. New electronic technology is associated with the potential for great benefits, as well as shortcomings. The many benefits of smartphones have included a new generation’s ease of ability to instantly access limitless information, interconnectivity and creativity. One of this technology’s greatest and ongoing concerns, however, is the real potential for excessive escapism and distraction through compulsive use. To curb compulsive behaviors, it helps to make engaging in the behavior less desirable and more inconvenient. I often advise clients who desire to quit smoking, for example, to store their cigarettes in less convenient locations. For parents of teenagers who find it difficult to limit their children’s smartphone use, it is advisable that they help to make the phones less appealing. Toggling a simple smartphone setting can assist in achieving this purpose. The grayscale mode transforms everything on the phone’s display to make it appear black and white, thereby helping to lessen its desirability and compulsive use. Readers can find more detailed information about grayscale mode at tinyurl.com/ybj4rfsv.

Monday, May 16, 2016

FREE Digital Magazines

Zinio and Issuu apps will help you enjoy 100% FREE digital access to hundreds of popular monthly magazines like: Discover, Scientific American Mind, The New Yorker, Wired, and so forth! (The free Zinio access is gained via a free online account with the Free Library of Philadelphia.)


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Sign-up with Zinio for free digital magazines

Access Zinio through the Free Library of Philadelphia

ISSUU App for more free and popular digital magazines

Saturday, November 7, 2015

The newest Oprah/Deepak FREE Meditation series recently started. If you like these types of programs, this one is also excellent!
https://chopracentermeditation.com

Sunday, May 17, 2015

Relatively Unknown (within USA) Non-prescription Drug for Smoking Cessation


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Bupropion (marketed as Zyban by the GlaxoSmithKline pharmaceutical company) and varenicline (marketed as Chantix by the Pfizer pharmaceutical company) are the only two prescription medications approved by the FDA to help treat nicotine dependence. Recently, the Washington Post published an article about a popular smoking cessation medication which has been available for many years in Europe. According to the article, Tabex (cytisine) is a relatively inexpensive, non-prescription smoking cessation treatment, which is considered even more effective than bupropion with fewer side-effects.

Since 1992, according to New Scientist, it has been known that "Hypnosis is the most effective way of giving up smoking." Its quote was based upon a study cited within the Journal of Applied Psychology, earlier that same year. As a psychologist and certified hypnotherapist, I continue to advocate the use of clinical hypnosis for smoking cessation, one of the least expensive and most effective approaches to becoming smoke-free. Since the American Medical Association approved the use of clinical hypnosis in the 1950's, hundreds of thousands of people have found hypnosis to be an effective way to stop smoking, lose weight, and otherwise improve their lives.

Considering the fact that, according to the National Institutes of Health, combined therapies are most prudent in addictions treatment, I recommend combining hypnosis for smoking cessation with Tabex (cytisine) (after consultation with your family doctor).

Tabex is manufactured by Sopharma (Bulgaria). Additional information about Tabex can be found on the company’s website: www.tabex.net.

My professional website offers a FREE hypnosis for smoking cessation download: www.QuitForFree.com.

Sunday, March 1, 2015

Access your FREE meditation series on "Manifesting True Success" with Oprah Winfrey and Deepak Chopra, beginning March 16, 2015!

https://chopracentermeditation.com/


Friday, August 15, 2014

Deadly Depression

Before telling a depressed family member or friend that “it’s not that bad” or “just snap out of it,” I hope that you will please remember Robbin Williams. Clinical depression is a real condition with real symptoms that can be debilitating and even deadly. Clinical depression has the potential to afflict anyone, even a celebrity with great comedic talent. As was apparently and sadly the case with Mr. Williams, severe and poorly treated depression can include such extreme feelings of hopelessness and despair that sometimes suicide can seem like a reasonable action. The following online assessment tool can help to determine if you or someone you know should seek professional assistance: www.helpyourselfhelpothers.org.

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Monday, January 20, 2014

My FREE Guide to Career Planning and Placement

Current layoffs and high unemployment rates have left many people scrambling to find new work or return to school. Clarifying your interests and abilities is vital to school and career success. When I was director of a college counseling center, students found quite helpful a series of psychological assessment tools that were used with them for career planning and placement decisions. Today, similar tools are available for free online. Deciding upon a college major or new career direction seemingly can be a daunting task. The following online resources will help lessen the burden.

The free Interest Profiler and Personality Test are online assessments which will help you to determine your potential college major / career interests, as well as personality type. These simple and short assessments are easy to answer. Upon completion, they automatically even score themselves.

Using the information from the Personality Test Manual and D.O.T. can help to narrow one’s search for a college major or career direction. Use the personality test to check its corresponding manual for career opportunities which will likely best suit you, based upon your personality type. Narrow your search further, by cross-referencing this information with career opportunities best suited to your particular interests, based upon information from the profiler. Finally, check information within the D.O.T. about job descriptions, educational requirements, near-future opportunities, salary ranges, and so forth.

In order to solidify your choice, “What Color is Your Parachute” and "Getting Straight A's" are a couple of good reads, once one is close to settling upon one’s career and/or college major path. Additionally, state unemployment offices and vocational rehabilitation agencies may even have money available to qualified residents, who need assistance in returning to school or with new job placements.

Once your college major or career path is finally established, it is quite important to address issues from job interview anxiety and job stress to dealing with procrastination and exam nerves. Many people find self-hypnosis audio programs helpful in dealing with the normal anxieties surrounding these issues. Hypnosis is simply an exercise in deep relaxation and focus. While in this state, people can often benefit greatly from “post-hypnotic suggestions” to help achieve a desired goal.

One example wherein the relaxing effects of hypnosis can be very beneficial is with “state dependent memory” or “state dependent learning.” This psychological notion relates to the idea that people remember things better when they are in the same emotional state during recall, as when they first learned the material. This fact explains how and why many students may often find themselves “freezing” during an exam. They may know that that they understand the material, yet have difficulty recalling it, because they are anxious during the test after having learned the material while relaxed in their dorm.

By utilizing these simple online career planning and placement tools, the new job seeker or new college student can finally go from confusion to clarity in choosing their best career path.

Online Interest Profiler

Online Personality Test

Personality Test Manual

Dictionary of Occupational Titles (D.O.T.)

What Color is Your Parachute?