Today the Justin Hendriks Psychology blog turns a big one! This blog has been a labour of love for me, I really enjoy sharing thoughts, ideas, research etc. I have been trying very hard to maintain weekly positing, and hopefully I can maintain this throughout Year 2! To celebrate this milestone, here are the top 5 blog posts from the...[ read more ]
Apprentice carpenter, Steve, loves loud music, drinking beer and violent sports. He was seriously injured in a fight he started while out on the weekend. Label: Jerk Pasqual has never had a girlfriend. He is currently unemployed. He spends most of time gaming or trawling YouTube and Reddit. Label: Loser Krystal fired three staff members. She has been rude and...[ read more ]
What does not kill me makes me stronger – Friedrich Nietzsche In case you haven’t heard, resilience is one of the great psychological buzzwords of the day. Resilience is the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness. My clients often tell me that their schools and workplaces champion the idea of psychological resilience. Isn’t it great that institutions are concerned...[ read more ]
Part II in the Thinking Traps series. Looking at Cognitive Distortions from Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) “If she can’t be counted on, she isn’t worth knowing”. Carol* was on the verge of breaking up with one of her latest best friends, Renee. Carol separated the world into two types of people – good people and bad people. She had thought...[ read more ]
“I f***ed it up again”. Jeff* was frustrated. He had left his preparation for his job interview to the last minute and it had felt like a disaster. They asked me some pretty basic questions about my past work history, and I sounded like an idiot – such a loser. In reality, Jeff was a competent and highly regarded in...[ read more ]
This is the first of a series of posts on Thinking Traps, also called Cognitive Distortions or Stinky Thinking. Thinking Traps are common mistakes of reasoning and logic that seem to naturally occur in the human mind. A primary aim of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is to help people identify and challenge these unhelpful thoughts and thus change their mental...[ read more ]
Inner Radio All the body’s organs work. The heart beats. The lungs breathe. The brain thinks. Only a dead brain is free of thoughts. The conscious mind is endlessly active. If we become aware enough, we can listen to these thoughts. They are usually like a constant stream of dialogue, an inner radio. This radio has different channels. Some channels...[ read more ]
Paul fumed about his wife – “she expects me to do everything, I can’t get a moment for myself”. Paul felt constantly under pressure, at home and at work. He felt himself surrounded by demanding people and fantasised about escaping, being alone. Despite Paul feeling like he was being pushed around, he never got into fights or arguments. “What’s the...[ read more ]
How does psychotherapy work? People who come to see a psychologist hope and expect that they will change from the process. I ask all new clients “what do you hope to get out of therapy?” Most people hope and expect that they will change perspective or habits or both. But what does this change mean? What is happening in the...[ read more ]
Patrick* was a relentlessly chipper chap. His cheerfulness was infectious, he was great to be around. He was going through a tortuous, spiteful divorce. Despite the lack of contact with his kids, the financial shock and constant hostile interactions, Patrick always greeted with a smile and a joke. Patrick was depressed, but no one around him knew – his sadness...[ read more ]
