Open When: A Companion for Life’s Twists & Turns―Research-Backed Skills for Managing Vulnerability and Responding to Mental Health Challenges
Author: Dr. Julie Smith
ISBN-10: ‎006335926X
ISBN-13: 978-0063359260
 
APA Style Citation
Smith, J. (2024). Open when: A companion for life’s twists & Turns―Research-Backed skills for managing vulnerability and responding to mental health challenges. HarperOne.
 
Buy This Book
https://www.amazon.com/Open-When-Companion-Lifes-Twists/dp/006335926X

Book Description
A friend once wrote me a letter in an envelope titled “Open when you need this.” Inside was a simple, heartfelt message that helped build my confidence back up — just what I needed, exactly when I needed it. I remember holding onto that envelope for nearly a year before finally opening it, and the wave of emotion that followed reminded me how powerful it is to feel understood in your hardest moments. Dr. Julie Smith has captured that same feeling in her new book Open When… — a collection of letters filled with practical, compassionate advice for life’s difficult situations. It’s the book you reach for when you don’t have the words, offering clear, accessible tools and the steady reassurance of a trusted friend.
 
Open When… is a compassionate, practical guide for navigating the difficult moments of being human. Divided into three parts, the book addresses the emotional challenges of connecting with others, understanding yourself, and managing overwhelming feelings. Each chapter is styled as a letter directly to the reader, offering encouragement, context, and real-time tools for coping. There are also bullet point takeaways at the end of every chapter. Throughout the book, readers will find practical exercises and strategies to use in everyday life, all conveniently compiled in an appendix for quick reference. The book also includes a dedicated Panic Attack Guide and Action Plan at the end, offering step-by-step support.
 
Open When… is a companion for the life’s tough moments. Designed to be opened in moments of struggle, it reminds readers they are never truly alone in what they’re feeling.
 
Other Related Resources
Author's Website
https://www.drjulie.uk/

Author's YouTube Channel @DrJulie
https://www.youtube.com/@DrJulie%E2%81%A0

Calm Blog, "Open When": 3 Highlights from Dr. Julie Smith & Mel Mah's "Calm Conversation"
https://blog.calm.com/blog/open-when

Literary Insights [PODCAST} - Open When - Dr. Julie Smith
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDh9-EFzvgs

Mel Robbins If You're Feeling Uncertain & Anxious, You Need to Hear This Dr. Julie on the Mel Robbins Podcast
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjvPbfxE3CI
​
Psychological Concepts and Figures
Adult attachment styles
Belonging
Black-and-white thinking
Catastrophizing
Confirmation bias
Distress
Egocentric thinking
Emotional reasoning
Fight-or-flight response
Gratitude
Growth mindset
Habituation
Imposter syndrome
Mindfulness
Overgeneralizing
Panic attacks
Reframing
Rumination
Social comparisons (upward and downward)
Spotlight effect
Yerkes-Dodson law

The Let Them Theory: A Life-Changing Tool That Millions of People Can't Stop Talking About
Authors: Mel Robbins and Sawyer Robins
ISBN-10: 1401971369
ISBN-13: 978-1401971366
 
APA Style Citation
Robbins, M. & Robbins, S. (2024). The let them theory: A life-changing tool that millions of people can't stop talking about. Hay House LLC
 
Buy This Book
https://www.amazon.com/Let-Them-Theory-Life-Changing-Millions/dp/1401971369

Book Description
A lot of us spend our lives trying to manage, fix, or control everything around us — other people’s choices, their emotions, what they think of us, and the outcomes we’re scared of facing. In her latest book, Let Them, Mel Robbins shares how she  broke free from that exhausting pattern in a moment she didn’t expect. It happened at her son’s prom. Standing there, watching him and his friends, she felt the old, familiar urge to step in and offer advice, manage the situation, or redirect decisions. Then her daughter pointed out “Let them.” Let them eat wherever they want, get soaked in the rain, and make their own memories. It wasn’t her prom, and it wasn’t her life to direct. In that small but meaningful moment, she realized just how much time and energy we waste trying to control what was never ours to begin with.
 
This realization forms the foundation of the Let Them Theory, a practice Mel describes throughout the book. She explains that the urge to control often comes from fear — fear of things going wrong, fear of conflict, fear of discomfort, and fear of what others might think. The irony is that the more we try to control things, the more anxious, stressed, and disconnected we feel. And while it’s a primal human instinct to want to control our environment and the people in it, Robbins makes the case that peace of mind and genuine confidence only arrive when you release your grip. That said, she points out there are important boundaries to this concept. First, “Let Them” does not apply to parenting young children or situations where someone’s safety and wellbeing are your direct responsibility — a guide for parenting is found in the appendix. Secondly, if saying “Let Them” is leaving you feeling isolated or emotionally abandoned, you’re likely missing the most important half of the equation: “Let Me.” This mindset isn’t about disengaging from life or relationships, but about reclaiming your own choices and peace. Once you let them do what they’re going to do, you take responsibility for what you’ll do next — how you’ll respond, what you’ll allow, and where you’ll direct your energy. This is where your personal power lives. You have control over what you say, think, and do in response to the actions of others.
 
Throughout the book, Robbins applies this theory to some of life’s most familiar personal challenges. She talks about managing stress and the constant fear of other people’s opinions. She addresses the weight of dealing with someone else’s emotional reactions and how easily we fall into the trap of chronic comparison. Robbins also explores the “Let Them” theory and relationships. She addresses adult friendships, the frustrating desire to motivate others to change when they aren’t ready. She dives into what it means to truly support someone who’s struggling without carrying their burden for them and how to choose the kind of love and relationships you genuinely deserve. A touching part of the book is the section on heartbreak, co-written with her daughter Sawyer, who recently experienced a breakup of her own. Together, they unpack what it means to let someone go and turn your focus inward, where healing begins. Each chapter unpacks a different situation, and the conclusion offers a simple review of the problem, truth, and solution. Robbins writes in a relatable, honest voice, never pretending that these choices are easy or that letting go always feels good in the moment. But she makes a convincing case for why it’s worth it.
 
In the end, The Let Them Theory is a book about releasing what you can’t control and reclaiming what you can. It’s a reminder that you can’t manage someone else’s choices, moods, or judgments — and you don’t need to. What matters is what you’ll do next.
 
Other Related Resources
Author's Website
https://www.melrobbins.com/book/the-let-them-theory/
​
Author's Podcast
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhW2xUEb-B-Y92Q1wVWw6TyMNr4idD-yv

Psychology Today Embracing Detachment: The "Let Them" Theory
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/consciously-creating-your-soul-life/202503/embracing-detachment-the-let-them-theory

VeryWell Mind How the Let Them Theory Can Transform Your Relationships
https://www.verywellmind.com/let-them-theory-8773871

Life is Positive The Let Them Theory: 10 Life-Changing Lessons from Mel Robbins
https://lifeispositive.com/let-them-theory/

​Psychological Concepts and Figures
Amygdala
Emotion
Fight-flight-or-freeze
Imposter syndrome
Internal locus of control
Motivation
Narcissism
Prefrontal cortex
Self-fulfilling prophecy
Social comparisons (upward and downward)
Stress management

​Get the App!
The iScore 5 AP Psych app is now available for $4.99 in the iTunes App Store for Apple devices or Google Play for Android devices.
 
iTunes  https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.iScore5.Psych&hl=en
Google Play https://apps.apple.com/us/app/iscore5-ap-psychology/id6739144070

App Description 
iScore 5 AP Psych is an app designed to help students achieve high scores on the AP examination. The app makes exam review entertaining and engaging for students. The creators have designed an app that functions as a game, helping students master all the CED vocabulary words for AP Psychology. The app, however, goes beyond merely learning basic vocabulary by challenging students to master multiple-choice questions in levels of increasing difficulty. The questions have been written by experienced AP Psychology teachers and college professors of psychology, all of whom are also AP exam readers.
 
The app's interactive interface is easy to navigate, and students can return to study mode at any point during the game to practice basic vocabulary. The app tracks a running score, enabling students to monitor their progress and gain a deeper understanding of the concepts they will need to know for the exam. Within each level, including the study mode, questions and practice items are organized by units, allowing for targeted study of specific areas in the AP curriculum.
 
The app is also an effective way for students to prepare for classroom unit exams, midterms, and finals. Because it is portable and easily accessible via phone or tablet, students are more likely to review more frequently. Even if students only have five or ten minutes to review at a time, this will result in an impressive increase in knowledge of psychology content due to the spacing effect.

 
Prepare for the AP Psychology Exam with iScore5
 
Study Level: All of the concepts from the updated CED are organized by AP Psychology unit and presented in a flashcard format. The study level is available for review at any level of the game.  

Play Level: Four levels of increasingly difficult multiple-choice questions.

​Level 1:  Vocabulary questions are organized by each of the AP Psychology units and presented in a multiple-choice format. Level 1 provides 20 terms at a time for each unit, so it is recommended that students play this level often, as the app generates a different set of terms each time the student plays.
 
Levels 2, 3, and 4:  These levels contain a set of multiple-choice questions in an AP format for each of the AP Psychology units in the CED. Each level increases in difficulty, ranging from level 2 (general understanding) to level 3 (intermediate) and level 4 (advanced). The correct answer to each question is explained, regardless of whether the student provided the correct response.
 
Practice Exam
Students are given the same amount of time they will have during the official AP Psychology exam (90 minutes) and are provided with their total score. After completing the practice test, they can review the questions they missed and see answer explanations. 

Reset: On the home screen, students can press the reset button to restart the game at any point, allowing them to play as often as they like.
 
The iScore5 AP Psych app provides students with a fun way to review for the exam.  Because all the questions are crafted by expert AP Psychology teachers and university psychology professors, the quality of the questions is very similar to what students will see on the AP exam.

​
 
Get the App!
The iScore 5 AP Psych app is now available for $4.99 in the iTunes App Store for Apple devices or Google Play for Android devices.
 
iTunes (iPhones and iPads) https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.iScore5.Psych&hl=en

Google Play (Android phones and Chromebooks) https://apps.apple.com/us/app/iscore5-ap-psychology/id6739144070
 
Other Apps Available from iScore5
The iScore5 company also offers review apps for other Advanced Placement topics, including AP United States Government and Politics, AP World History, and AP Human Geography. Visit the main iScore website for information about these other programs: http://www.iscore5.com.
 
Social Media
For more information about iScore5 AP Psych, visit the company website or follow them on Facebook and Instagram.
 
Website:
http://www.iscore5.com/apreg-psychology.html
 
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/iscore5/
 
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/iscore5/

The Essential Guide to Effect Sizes: Statistical Power, Meta-Analysis, and the Interpretation of Research Results
Author: Paul D. Ellis
ISBN-10: ‎ 0521142466
ISBN-13: ‎ 978-0521142465
 
APA Style Citation
Ellis, D. (2010). The essential guide to effect sizes: Statistical power, meta-analysis, and the interpretation of research results. Cambridge University Press.
 
Buy This Book
https://www.amazon.com/Essential-Guide-Effect-Sizes-Interpretation/dp/0521142466
​

​Book Description
What is an effect? Effects are everywhere—they result from treatments, decisions, accidents, inventions, elections, outbreaks, performances, etc. Researchers measure the size of effects, with statistical significance indicating the likelihood that results occurred by chance, and practical significance focusing on their meaning. Social sciences increasingly emphasize the need to report effect sizes alongside statistical significance to reduce bias and move beyond relying solely on p-values. This book explores three interconnected activities: interpreting effect sizes, analyzing statistical power, and conducting meta-analyses, which together form the foundation for robust research.

Part 1: Effect Size
Psychologists must address the “so what?” question by emphasizing the practical significance of their studies. A statistically significant result is unlikely due to chance, but practical significance reflects real-world impact. Researchers must communicate findings not only to peers but also to the public. Effect sizes, which measure the impact of treatments or the relationship between variables, are essential for interpreting study results, yet many researchers fail to report them. Effect sizes fall into two main categories: the d-family (differences between groups, such as Cohen’s d) and the r-family (measures of association, like correlation coefficients). Both are standardized metrics that can be calculated using tools like SPSS. When reporting effect sizes, researchers should specify the measure used, quantify precision with confidence intervals, and present results in clear, jargon-free language.
 
Even when effect sizes and confidence intervals are reported, they are often left uninterpreted, raising questions like “How big is big?” or “Is the effect meaningful?” Non-arbitrary reference points are essential for assessing practical significance, guided by the three C’s of interpretation: context, contribution to knowledge, and Cohen’s criteria. Small effects can be meaningful in the right context if they trigger larger consequences, alter probabilities of significant outcomes, accumulate into bigger impacts, or lead to technological breakthroughs or new insights. Interpreting contributions to knowledge requires more than comparing study results; researchers must also consider alternative explanations. Jacob Cohen’s 1988 criteria for small, medium, and large effect sizes offer a logical foundation and a starting point for resolving disputes about significance. While Cohen’s “t-shirt size” classifications are easy to understand and widely used, they remain controversial, with critics arguing against rigidly categorizing effects as small, medium, or large.
 
Part 2: Power Analysis
In any study, the null hypothesis assumes no effect (effect size = 0), while the alternative hypothesis assumes an effect (effect size ≠ 0). Statistical tests calculate the p-value, the probability of observing the result if the null hypothesis were true. A low p-value indicates statistical significance, allowing researchers to reject the null. Errors can occur: a Type 1 error (false positive) happens when researchers detect an effect that doesn’t exist, while a Type 2 error (false negative) occurs when they miss a real effect. Type 1 errors (α) and Type 2 errors (β) are inversely related; reducing one increases the other. Statistical power, the probability of detecting a true effect, depends on effect size, sample size, alpha significance criterion (α) level, and statistical power, with Cohen recommending a power level of 0.80. Underpowered studies risk missing meaningful effects, while overpowered studies may waste resources or highlight trivial findings. Power analysis, often done during study planning, helps determine the minimum sample size needed to detect anticipated effects. Researchers estimate effect sizes using prior studies, meta-analyses, pretests, or theory, aiming for conservative estimates to ensure adequate power. Tools like online calculators simplify these calculations, which are crucial for designing efficient and meaningful research.
 
Power analyses can be conducted for individual studies or groups of studies with a common theme or journal. In the 1960s, Jacob Cohen analyzed the statistical power of research published in the Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology and found it lacking—a trend later confirmed across other fields. Published research is often underpowered, and the multiplicity problem arises when multiple statistical tests increase the likelihood of false positives. The family-wise error rate becomes relevant when multiple tests are run on the same data, as even low-powered studies can yield statistically significant results if enough tests are conducted. This can lead to practices like “fishing” for publishable results or HARKing (hypothesizing after results are known). To improve statistical power, researchers can focus on larger effects, increase sample sizes, use more sensitive measures, choose appropriate tests, or relax the alpha significance criterion.
 
Part 3: Meta-Analysis
Single studies rarely resolve inconsistencies in social science research, especially in the absence of large-scale randomized controlled trials. Progress often comes from combining results from many smaller studies. A qualitative approach, or narrative review, documents the story of a research theme, while the quantitative approach, meta-analysis, focuses on observed effects rather than others’ conclusions. Meta-analysis combines these effects into an average effect size to assess the overall direction and magnitude of real-world impacts. By statistically analyzing statistical analyses, meta-analysis systematically reviews research on a specific effect, weighting individual effect sizes by their precision to calculate a weighted mean effect size. This provides a more accurate estimate of the population effect size than any single study. Though designed to be objective, transparent, and disciplined, meta-analysis can still be undermined by biases, leading to precise but flawed conclusions. Each step in the process must be recorded, justified, and open to scrutiny, with the process generally broken into six key steps. See the classroom activity for details.
 
Large-scale randomized controlled trials are the gold standard for estimating effect sizes, but due to their cost and time requirements, research often starts with small-scale studies. When large trials follow a meta-analysis, comparisons can reveal inconsistencies, as meta-analyses may produce misleading conclusions. Bias in meta-analyses can arise from excluding relevant research, including bad studies, using inappropriate statistical models, or running underpowered analyses. The first three lead to inflated effect size estimates and increased Type I errors, while the fourth results in imprecise estimates and higher Type II errors. Excluding relevant research causes availability bias, and reporting bias occurs when only significant results are published. Studies with non-significant findings are often rejected, contributing to the "file drawer problem," which inflates mean estimates or increases Type I errors. P-values reflect sample size as much as effect size, meaning small samples can miss important effects. Non-significant results are inconclusive, indicating either no effect or insufficient power to detect one. Excluding non-English studies introduces bias. Discriminating studies based on quality also risks bias, scientific censorship, dismissal of valuable evidence, and overlooks differences in quality that can be controlled statistically.
 
Overall, this book provides information to help students evaluate psychological research. It explains the importance of effect sizes for understanding real-world significance and statistical power for designing studies that produce reliable results.
It includes a detailed discussion of meta-analysis, a method used to find broader patterns and trends in research while showing students how to recognize and avoid potential biases.
 
Other Related Resources

Author's Website- Check out FAQs

Author’s Website- Check out FAQshttps://effectsizefaq.com/about/
Psychological Concepts and Figures
Alternative hypothesis
Bias
Confidence intervals
Effect size
Generalize
HARKing
Meta-analysis
Null hypothesis
Qualitative
Quantitative
Replication
Sample size
Standard deviation
Statistical significance
Type I error
Type II error
Correlation coefficient

The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma
Author: Bessel Van Der Kolk, M.D.
ISBN-10: 0143127748
ISBN-13: ‎978-0143127741
 
APA Style Citation
Van Der Kolk, B. (2014). The body keeps the score: Brain, mind, and body in the healing of trauma. Penguin Books.
 
Buy This Book
https://www.amazon.com/Body-Keeps-Score-Healing-Trauma/dp/0143127748
​

Book Description
Traumatic events are disturbing experiences that create negative emotions and reaction. Trauma not only affects those directly exposed to it but also those around the individuals who have experienced trauma. Research reveals that trauma leads to physiological changes in the brain and body. This newfound knowledge offers potential avenues to prevent and perhaps reverse the damage caused by trauma. The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma serves as a guide to understanding trauma and urges us to acknowledge its impact on lives and encourage the development of treatments and prevention strategies.
 
The text begins with a look back on the rediscovery of trauma. Many lessons have been learned about trauma, including from the return of Vietnam veterans, the American Psychiatric Association’s diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder, and the use of brain imaging tools. We have also learned from research on learned helplessness in dogs, research on stress hormones, and the pharmacological and neuroscience revolutions. Each advancement in various scientific fields teaches us more about how trauma impacts our lives.
 
The brain and body are impacted by trauma. The author summarizes the function of specific brain parts and provides appropriate analogies. For example, the limbic system acts as the cook withing the brain. The thalamus stirs the input into an autobiographical soup and then passes it on the amygdala and frontal lobes. During trauma the floodgates are open, which can lead to sensory overload. The amygdala is the brain’s smoke detector and identifies whether incoming information is important for survival. If threatened, it messages the hypothalamus to activate the stress hormone system in the autonomic nervous system to set off a whole-body response. The medial prefrontal cortex, in the frontal lobe, is the watchtower that offers a view from above and tries to warn when not to react to false alarms of stress. Bottom-up regulation can adjust the autonomic nervous system, through breath, movement, or touch. Top-down regulation, such as through mindfulness and yoga, can enhance the watchtower’s oversight of the body’s sensations. This knowledge is central to better understanding and treating traumatic stress. Being stuck in survival mode, energy is spent on unseen enemies with little room left for nurturing, care, imagination, planning, playing, or learning. New approaches to treatment need to engage the safety system of the brain before trying to promote new ways of thinking.  Many traumatized patients report not feeling whole areas of their body and a lack of self-awareness. The author walks through the explanation of why this is happening and the connection to the brain. The body keeps the score and mind-body communication is central to emotion regulation. 
 
The author goes on to explain the minds of children and trauma. He carefully reviews disorganized attachment, memories, and the flood of sensations. With further research, a better understanding began to unfold. As the DSM III was being revised, the author conducted even more research and presented the results to the work group responsible for suggesting revisions for the new addition.  Even though the work group voted to create a new trauma diagnosis, it was not added to the DSM III. The author feels as if an entire group of abused and neglected children were being ignored just as many of our veterans were before PTSD was introduced back in 1980.  Soon after, a large study of adverse childhood experiences, now known as the ACE study, revealed that traumatic life experiences during childhood and adolescence are far more common than expected. It also found that adverse experiences were interrelated, even though they were usually studied separately. High ACE scores correlated with higher workplace absenteeism, financial problems, high-risk activities, and greater chances of suffering from any of the 10 leading causes of death in the United States. Ongoing stress on the body keeps taking its toll. The surgeon general's report on smoking and health in 1964 started a legal and medical campaign that forever changed daily life and long-term health for millions. Yet, the findings from the ACE study have not had similar results. Those experiencing trauma are in the same circumstances and receiving the same treatments as they were decades ago. 
 
Developmental trauma is a hidden epidemic.  The author points out the need to correctly define what is going on and do more than develop new drugs or focus on finding the gene responsible. In 2001, the National Child Traumatic Stress Network was set up and has grown to be a collaborative network with hundreds of centers nationwide.  But 82% of the traumatized children seen in the Network do not meet the diagnostic criteria for PTSD.  Their behaviors often lead to diagnoses, such as Oppositional Defiant Disorder and ineffective treatments, such as medication, behavioral modification, or exposure therapy. A core work group began to draft a proposal for an appropriate diagnosis called developmental trauma disorder (DTD) for the DSM-5, but once again was met with resistance. Feedback received included “...no new diagnosis was required to fill a missing diagnostic niche.” Shortly after the APA rejected DTD for inclusion in the DSM, thousands of clinicians from around the country sent small contributions to the trauma center to conduct a field trial to further study DTD.  That support allowed for the interviewing of hundreds of kids, parents, foster parents, and mental health workers at five different Network sites with scientifically constructed interview tools.  
 
Traumatic memories are different. The marks left by traumatic experiences are organized not as cohesive, rational stories, but rather as fragmented sensory and emotional pieces encompassing images, sounds, and physical sensations. The author explores the history and scientific interest regarding trauma. He explains the origins of the talking cure, WWI soldiers and shell shock, Nazis, false memory syndrome, repressed memory, and remembering the trauma with all of the associated effects. Recovery from trauma includes dealing with hyperarousal, mindfulness, and building relationships. Learning how to breathe calmly and remaining in a state of relative relaxation, even while accessing painful memories is an essential tool for recovery. It would make an enormous difference if those working with children, especially teachers and parents were trained in emotional regulation techniques. Traumatized individuals need to enhance their executive functioning and self-regulation. There is no one treatment of choice for trauma. The author explores sensory motor therapy, parent-child interaction therapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy, flooding, virtual reality therapy, systematic desensitization, medication, EMDR, yoga, internal family systems therapy, psychomotor therapy, and neurofeedback.
 
Even though there have been great advances in understanding and treating trauma, it is still a public health issue. The author argues it is one of the greatest threats to our nation’s well-being. The most promising prospect for children who have experienced trauma, abuse, or neglect lies in receiving a quality education within schools where they are acknowledged and understood. In such schools, they can develop a sense of control over their lives and learn the important skills of self-regulation, self-awareness, and communication. Schools have a pivotal role in fostering resilience and offering secure connections that are essential for meaningful lives. Resiliency stems from knowing that what you do makes a difference. Activities like sports, music, dance, and theater not only foster a sense of agency and community but also immerse children in novel challenges and unfamiliar roles. Just like adults, children should grasp the satisfaction of pushing their abilities to the limit.
 
Many individuals who have experienced trauma have gained strength and learned to survive. They have entered loving relationships, gained employment, and become role models in their communities. Some of the greatest political and social advancements have grown from trauma. Trauma is a public health issue and the author urges us to respond by acknowledging its impact on lives and encouraging the development of treatments and prevention strategies.
 
Other Related Resources
Author’s Website
https://www.besselvanderkolk.com/resources/the-body-keeps-the-score
 
What is Trauma? The author of “The Body Keeps the Score” explains | Bessel van der Kolk | Big Think
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJfmfkDQb14
 
Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2023/08/02/body-keeps-score-grieving-brain-bessel-van-der-kolk-neuroscience-self-help/

​Psychological Concepts and Figures
John Bowlby
Charles Darwin
Paul Ekman
Sigmund Freud
Joseph LeDoux
Henry Murray
Ivan Pavlov
Jean Piaget
Martin Seligman
Richard Soloman
 
Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE)
Amygdala
Brain waves
Cognitive-behavioral therapy
Cortisol
Depersonalization
Desensitization
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM)
Diagnostic labels
Dissociative identity disorder (DID)
Endorphins
Epigenetics
Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EDMR)
Flooding
Learned helplessness
Medical model
Mindfulness
Mirror neurons
Neurofeedback
Neuroplasticity
Pharmacology
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Prozac
Reciprocity
Repressed memory
Resilience
Self-awareness
Thematic apperception test (TAT)
Trauma
Virtual-reality therapy
Yoga

Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before?
Author: Julie Smith
ISBN-10: 0063227932
ISBN-13: 978-0063227934
 
APA Style Citation
Smith. J. (2022). Why has nobody told me this before? Harper One.
 
Buy This Book
https://www.amazon.com/Why-Nobody-Told-This-Before/dp/0063227932
​

Book Description
Dr. Julie Smith has been a clinical psychologist for over ten years and shares her knowledge of how to deal with difficult situations in healthy ways. She is known for making short videos (under 60 seconds) talking about mental health and sharing life skills. These videos offering advice in bite-size and tangible ways are grabbing everyone’s attention. Now, Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before? explains the advice in a little more detail, and offers suggestions of how to put these research-based concepts to immediate use. The book is a mental health toolbox ready for use as you navigate whatever comes your way in life. Each tool takes practice and becomes more powerful the more you use it.
 
Dr. Julie tackles topics such as low mood, motivation, emotional pain, grief, self-doubt, fear and anxiety, stress, and finding a meaningful life. Each chapter has “toolkit” exercises, “try this” question and reflection prompts, and a chapter summary. She wants to pass on what the science says and what works for others. The research-based concepts are easily explained and the “science” is accessible to any reader. The advice is compact, organized, and easy to return to when you need it. There is power in establishing the basics of exercise, sleep, nutrition, routine, and human connection. Knowing how your mind works and believing you have the power to change goes a long way to leading a healthy lifestyle.
 
Other Related Resources
Dr. Julie Smith's Website
https://doctorjuliesmith.com/

Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/drjulie/?hl=en

Twitter
https://twitter.com/drjuliesmith?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

Tik Tok
https://www.tiktok.com/@drjuliesmith?lang=en

YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCI8TEoIOnMq_5ntJOYMq-Zg

The Guardian- Dr. Julie Smith: "Mental health is no different to physical health. No one is immune."
https://www.guardian.com/science/2022/feb/12/dr-julie-smith-mental-health-tiktok-why-has-nobody-told-me-this-before

​Psychological Figures and Concepts
Thomas Gilovich
John Gottman
Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
 
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
Stress
All-or-nothing thinking
Anxiety
Attachment types
Attention
Awe
Burnout
Cognitive Analytic Therapy (CAT)
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT)
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
Egocentrism
Emotional reasoning
Emotions
Gratitude
Grief
Meditation
Metacognition
Mindfulness
Motivation
Overgeneralization
Perfectionism
Positive psychology
Reframing
Resilience
Rumination
Self-compassion
Spotlight effect
Tend-and-befriend

Building a Life Worth Living: A Memoir
Author: Marsha M. Linehan, Ph.D.
ISBN: 9780812984996
 
APA Style Citation
Linehan, M. (2020). Building a life worth living: A memoir. Random House.
​

 Buy This Book
​Building a Life Worth Living – Amazon.com

Book Description
Marsha Linehan’s memoir, Building a Life Worth Living, is her personal story and the journey that led her to develop a life-saving therapy to treat highly suicidal individuals. She tells the story of how she went from a popular and successful teenager to a suicidal young woman who spent years in a psychiatric facility (The Institute of Living). During her stay in the psychiatric facility, her diagnosis of schizophrenia was treated in the manner typical of the 1960s, including psychotropic medications (e.g., Thorazine, Librium), electroconvulsive treatment (ECT), cold blanket treatments, and isolation. Dr. Linehan states that, in hindsight, a diagnosis of borderline personality would have been more accurate. During her treatment, she became increasingly more troubled, engaging in more and more severe forms of self-harm. She attempted to kill herself numerous times, including cutting and diving headfirst from her bed in an isolation area onto the concrete floor.  The popular and highly functional girl from high school was replaced by “one of the most disturbed patients in the hospital,” according to clinical notes. Marsha vowed that if she ever made it out of the institute and out of the emotional hell in which she was living, she would find a way to help others escape and create a life worth living.
After her release from the psychiatric facility where she spent two years, she worked hard to put herself through night school and college while living in a YMCA and taking odd jobs to pay for her basic needs. Ultimately, she graduated college and earned a Ph.D. in psychology with a focus on behavioral therapy. Her primary motivation and research interest remained to help develop effective therapies for highly suicidal individuals, including those with multiple severe mental illnesses (comorbidity). Her work eventually led her to dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), a method considered to be a major milestone in behavior therapy that has saved the lives of many and helped develop a treatment for individuals whom therapists often avoid or refuse to treat because they are high-risk.
The book covers her work on the clinical trials for DBT, her submissions to the Archives of General Psychiatry, and the initial rejections, highlighting the long process of developing a new evidence-based treatment. In clinical trials, DBT, which does not involve medications, dramatically reduced self-harm in individuals with borderline personality disorder and the number of days they spent in the hospital. Many insurance companies typically would not cover treatment for borderline personality disorder unless it involves DBT because of the efficacy of the treatment.
DBT involves building a series of key skills and requires patients and therapists to balance numerous contradictions (dialectics). Therapists must accept their patients as they are (angry, confrontational, in pain) yet guide them in changing disruptive thought and behavior patterns. Patients need to replace their black-and-white thinking patterns and learn to accept contradictions, including that their challenges will never completely disappear but that they can learn to cope and manage their negative feelings.
Despite developing Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, Dr. Linehan kept her personal experiences with mental illness private for most of her career. DBT has helped individuals with depression, borderline personality disorder, and other mental illnesses cope with and overcome suicidal thoughts, but Linehan did not publicly share her experiences with suicidal thoughts. She told her story of suicidal behavior for the first time at the Institute of Living, the Harford Connecticut clinic, where she was treated at the age of 17 when she was 68. According to Linehan, she was sometimes questioned by her patients, “Are you one of us? Because if you were, it would give all of us so much hope”, potentially as a result of the faded scars and burns on her arms.” According to Linehan, “many people have begged me to come forward, and I just thought – well, I have to do this. I owe it to them. I cannot die a coward.”
Marsha Linehan founded the Behavioral Research and Therapy Clinics (BRTC) at the University of Washington, where she led research on developing and improving methods to help individuals with treatment resistance mental illnesses, especially those with high suicidal risk. Her work has focused on helping individuals with PTSD, addiction, and borderline personality disorder through DBT.
In 2018, Marsha Linehan was included in a special issue of Time Magazine: Great Scientists: Geniuses and visionaries who transformed our world. She was listed alongside Albert Einstein, Marie Curie, Galileo Galilei, Isaac Newton, Stephen Hawking, and Charles Darwin. The section in the Time issue devoted to social scientists included Marsha Linehan, Sigmund Freud, Wilhelm Wundt, Margaret Mead, Alfred Kinsey, E.O. Wilson, and Albert Ellis. Despite her enormous contributions to treatment through the development of DBT for highly suicidal individuals, she does not appear in many introductory psychology textbooks. Marsha Linehan is a visionary who should be highlighted alongside other key contributors to treatment, such as Ellis, Beck, Wolpe, and Cover-Jones. Psychologist Angela Duckworth commented on Linehan’s memoir by calling it “ Throughout her extraordinary scientific career, Marsha Linehan remained a woman of deep spirituality. Her powerful and moving story is one of faith and perseverance. Linehan shows, in Building a Life Worth Living, how the principles of DBT really work—and how, using her life skills and techniques, people can build lives worth living.
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A brilliant memoir by one of the greatest pioneers in psychotherapy history… Marsha Linehan holds absolutely nothing back, making good on the vow she made as a young woman to escape hell and help others do the same. This book—in its fierce honesty and, for the careful reader, its practical advice—will help anyone who has struggled to build a life worth living.”

Other Related Resources
Author's Website- Marsha M. Linehan, Ph.D., ABPP – the University of Washington
https://depts.washington.edu/uwbrtc/our-team/marsha-linehan/

Author's Website – founder of Behavioral Tech
https://behavioraltech.org/about-us/

The University of Washington Q and A series with Marsha M. Linehan
https://depts.washington.edu/uwbrtc/resources/qa-with-marsha-linehan/

National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI) article honoring Dr. Masha Linehan. 
https://www.nami.org/blogs/nami-blog/october-2015/nami-honors-dr-marsha-linehan%2C-the-creator-of-dia#%3A~%3Atext%3DMarsha%20Linehan%2C%20The%20Creator%20of%20Dialectical%20Behavior%20Therapy%2C-OCT

The University of Washington Center for Behavioral Technology 
​https://depts.washington.edu/uwbrtc/our-team/marsha-linehan/
 
Background information about suicide prevention from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/suicide-prevention
 
Background information on suicide and suicide rates from the World Health Organization (WHO). https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/themes/mental-health/suicide-rates

Psychological Figures and Concepts
Albert Bandura
Aaron Beck
Sigmund Freud
Arnold Lazarus
Walter Mischel
Carl Rogers
Philip Zimbardo
Behavior therapy
Borderline personality disorder
Cognitive-behavioral treatment
Depression
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
Eating disorders
Electroconvulsive shock therapy
Endorphins
Implicit bias
Marshmallow experiment
Meditation
Mindfulness
National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Obsessive-compulsive disorder
Personality disorders
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
Self-injury
Social learning theory
Suicidal thoughts and behavior
Suicide prevention
Sympathetic nervous system

ADHD 2.0: New Science and Essential Strategies for Thriving with Distraction—from Childhood through Adulthood
Author: Edward M. Hallowell, M.D., and John J. Ratey, M.D.
ISBN-10: ‎0399178732
ISBN-13: 978-0399178733
 
APA Style Citation
Hallowell, E & Ratey, J. (2021). ADHD 2.0: New science and essential strategies for thriving with distraction—from childhood through adulthood. New York, NY: Ballantine Books.
 
Buy This Book
https://www.amazon.com/ADHD-2-0-Essential-Strategies-Distraction/dp/0399178732
​

Book Description
Authors Edward Hallowell and John Ratey are psychiatrists who have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Their personal knowledge both in the field and in life offer a valuable perspective on ADHD, a condition that occurs in at least 5 percent of the population. ADHD is often misunderstood as individuals who are lazy or disrespectful, a condition that children will grow out of, or a condition created by pharmaceutical companies. The authors hope to dispel these myths and see the strengths of this condition, while focusing on some tools for management. Hallowell and Ratey often explain ADHD with the analogy, “A person with ADHD has the power of a Ferrari engine but with bicycle-strength breaks. It’s the mismatch of engine power to breaking capability that causes the problems. Strengthening one’s brakes is the name of the game.”
 
ADHD is different for everyone, but there are some commonalities. Some of these indicators include distractibility, impulsivity, and hyperactivity. Optimism and creativity have also been associated with ADHD. Rather than a deficit of attention, there is actually an overabundance of attention that can be challenging to control. There can also be an intolerance of boredom and a need for stimulation. There is often a set of contradictory tendencies, such as a lack of focus mixed with hyperfocus or procrastination mixed with a surge of productivity. This is just a sampling of the telltale signs of ADHD. As for the cause of ADHD, there is a highly genetic component and certain environmental stressors, such as lack of oxygen at birth, early infections, or other brain functioning problems. The mother’s behavior during pregnancy can also raise the risk for ADHD. Another explanation is the modern lifestyle that has been training our brains to go faster, multi-task more frequently, and require constant stimulation. The authors introduce a new term called VAST: the variable attention stimulus trait. This term refers to individuals with ADHD symptoms, but not meeting the criteria for a diagnosis. The term is also meant to shift away from attention deficit to the variability of attention and detoxify the label of ADHD. The focus has often been on the problematic side of the condition, but there are useful tendencies associated with ADHD as well.
 
Hallowell and Ratey provide the brain basics and explain current research findings. They walk the reader through the task-positive network (TPN) and default mode network (DMN) and take care to explain the difference between a neurotypical brain and someone with ADHD. They also explain the cerebellum and vestibular system’s connection to ADHD. The cerebellum is involved in physical balance, but it has also been found to control emotional equilibrium. By working doing exercises to increase balance, it has helped control the braking power needed with ADHD. Hallowell and Ratey share a particularly powerful case study of a young boy in China who was struggling with ADHD. After his mother attended a talk done by Dr. Hallowell, the two corresponded through email to set up a treatment program. The treatment program was set up based on connection, education, a strength-based model, and balance exercises. Within a few short weeks there was great improvement for the child.
 
Several chapters are dedicated to providing a better understanding what helps with ADHD and offer tools for therapy. Not feeling understood and a lack of connection often plague individuals with ADHD. Tips are provided for creating rich social connections. Boredom is the kryptonite for those with ADHD and many problematic behaviors become present when bored. But it is the strengths that are often ignored. A strength-based model is about identifying and using those strengths while being appropriately challenged. Creating the right environment can be powerful. This includes organization and daily structure, proper nutrition and sleep, surrounding oneself with positivity, and finding the right type of help. Behavioral therapy, such as applied behavioral analysis (ABA), has been found particularly helpful to develop a new set of skills, and social learning for adjusting to social situations. Exercise has also been found to be beneficial to improve mood and motivation and maintain focus. Studies have found that after just 20 or 30 minutes of moderately paced exercise subjects have increased their focus. Using brain breaks in the classroom is encouraging movement. To enhance balance, yoga and meditation have also been found helpful. The authors also acknowledge the tool many fear, which is medication. The use of stimulants has been found effective on average 70 to 80 percent of the time. The authors encourage using a risk/benefit analysis and discussing the medication options currently available. They explain the difference between methylphenidate and amphetamine medications. Many wonder why the use of stimulants for a hyperactive brain, but that stimulants raise the levels of dopamine and norepinephrine, both of which are not balanced in the ADHD brain. Hallowell and Ratey point out the stimulants stimulate the brain’s brakes, providing more control. They also discuss stimulant-like drugs, outlier drugs, and the concern of addiction and abuse.
 
ADHD is not the same for everyone. With the power of knowledge and a better understanding of the condition, hopefully individuals can learn to reframe their thoughts and actions. Rather than seeing all of the problems, there are also strengths associated with ADHD. There is amazing potential, creativity, and energy. The authors leave the reader with, “Each of us finds a different way; there is no one right way. But what a liberating message it is for all of us to know that no brain is the best, and each of us has the magnificent, lifelong chance to find our own brain’s special way.”
 
Other Related Resources
Dr. Hallowell, The Hallowell ADHD Centers
https://drhallowell.com/2020/12/18/21444/

ADHD 2.0: A Conversation with Author Ned Hallowell
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7_R7EXTYNA

Distraction Podcast: ADHD 2.0 Reveals New Science and Strategies
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rgb7bzfE__I

WHYY PBS, "ADHD 2.0" with Dr. Edward Hallowell
https://whyy.org/episodes/adhd-2-0-with-dr-edward-hallowell/

Psychological Concepts and Figures
Ivan Pavlov
B.F. Skinner
 
Addiction
Amphetamines
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
Behaviorist movement
Cerebellum
Creativity
Dopamine
Epigenetics
GABA
Gratitude
Heritability
Longitudinal study
Meditation
Nature v. nurture
Neuroplasticity
Norepinephrine
Rumination
Sleep apnea
Social learning
Applied behavioral analysis (ABA)
Stimulants
Task-positive network (TPN)
Default mode network (DMN)
Variable attention stimulus trait (VAST)
Vestibular system

Committed: Dispatches from a Psychiatrist in Training
Author: Adam Stern MD
ISBN:  978-035843-4733
 
APA Style Citation
Stern, A. (2021). Committed: Dispatches from a psychiatrist in training. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing, New York, N.Y.
 
Buy This Book
https://www.amazon.com/Committed-Dispatches-Psychiatrist-Adam-Stern/dp/0358434734
​

​Book Description
Adam Stern takes the reader through his four-year clinical psychiatry residency program at Harvard Medical School. Because the field of psychiatry culminates in a medical degree, Stern must complete rotations in the pediatric and cardiac wards and work in the emergency psychiatric wards. Stern is at first concerned that he is not as qualified as his other classmates who have been admitted to the prestigious program at Harvard but quickly realizes that each of his classmates has their own areas of expertise and other areas in which their learning curve is steep. 
 
The hours and expectations for residents are exhausting, often working 20-hour shifts and sleeping for only a few hours each night. The few moments of socialization are generally spent with those in the program. Stern quickly learns the hierarchy, which generally involves first-year residency students completing the most menial tasks and far more paperwork than he ever thought possible. He describes his frustration while working on rotations, such as the cardiac and pediatric wards, feeling like he is wasting precious time on information and skills that he will not use. He is equally skeptical when he is assigned to work with a doctor providing electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)to depressed patients who are not helped by medications. Stern becomes a convert when he sees the incredible progress that some of these patients make after the ECT treatment. Stern goes on to describe the terrible feeling of guilt associated with losing a patient to suicide and his feelings of usefulness when he sees the same patients returning to the psychiatric ward over and over again. He describes trying to overcome the skepticism that some people have about seeing a psychiatrist and finding the right balance between talk therapy and medication. 
 
Outside of the hospital, the residents are still enrolled in classes. Stern, at first, was skeptical about a seminar titled “becoming a psychologist,” which he labeled as a “feelings class.” This group allowed students to share their experiences, challenges, and victories. The group would remain together for the length of the program. Despite his original hesitancy, the people in this group became some of his closest friends and a group that depended on one another for practical and emotional support. This group understood the stress and emotional turmoil that came with the program and were there to support and help each other. By the end of the program, Stern and the others came to depend on their “feelings” class as a lifeline. 
 
The evolution that Stern went through in these four years was transformational. He admits he felt like an imposter in his first year with his fellow students, more experienced doctors, and patients. By his fourth year, he acknowledged that he still had much to learn but realized that he had chosen the right path and was just as capable as his other high-achieving classmates. He realized that he will not be able to “cure” every patient he sees, but he is dedicated to doing the best he can. This is an informative book for those interested in pursuing a career related to medicine or psychiatry/psychology. It provides a behind-the-scenes look at the real day-to-day life of the path of becoming a psychiatrist and how it requires full commitment. Dr. Stern goes on to practice at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and is an assistant professor at the Harvard School of Medicine. 
 
Other Related Resources
Author’s website
https://www.adamsternmd.com
 
Twitter feed
https://twitter.com/adamphilipstern
 
Interview with Adam Stern with the Boston Public Library and the State Library of Massachusetts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgeIPLWQwKo
 
Psychology Today: Finding the line between Connection and Avoidance
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/stern-talk/202112/finding-the-line-between-connection-and-avoidance
 
Psychology Today: Our Mental Healthcare System is Broken, but we can fix it
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/stern-talk/202106/our-mental-healthcare-apparatus-is-broken-we-can-fix-it
 
Good Therapy: Psychiatry 101: How to Become a Psychiatrist
https://www.goodtherapy.org/for-professionals/personal-development/become-a-therapist/article/psychiatry-101-how-to-become-psychiatrist
 
Become with lantern: How to Become a Psychiatrist
https://www.learnhowtobecome.org/psychiatrist/
 
Psychological Figures and Concepts
Erik Erikson
Sigmund Freud
 
Autonomy v. shame and doubt
Anxiety
Cognitive-behavioral therapy
Depression
ECT therapy
Intimacy v. isolation
Neurology
Paranoia
Psychiatry
Psychology
Psychopharmacology
Psychotherapy
Schizophrenia
Social anxiety
Suicide
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)
 
 

Chatter: The Voice in Our Head, Why It Matters, and How to Harness It
Author: Ethan Kross
ISBN-10: ‎0525575235
ISBN-13: 978-0525575238
 
APA Style Citation
Kross, E. (2021). Chatter: The voice in our head, why it matters, and how to harness it. New York, NY: Crown.
 
Buy This Book
https://www.amazon.com/Chatter-Voice-Head-Matters-Harness/dp/0525575235
​

Book Description
Do you ever want that inner voice that plays in your head to stop? While introspective thoughts can be beneficial, the inner critic can quickly rear its ugly head when the thoughts turn to chatter, which consists of cyclical negative thoughts and emotions. Ethan Kross, author of Chatter: The Voice in Our Head, Why It Matters, and How to Harness It, studies how those internal conversations can be used to improve your life. He compares his job to being a mind mechanic. When internal thoughts turn negative, individuals need to recognize when they become problematic and have the proper tools to quiet the chatter.
 
Talking to oneself is a normal part of life, but it also has its downfalls. Language lets us identify our emotions and discover how to handle a situation. As humans, it allows us the powerful ability to mentally travel in time. It also allows us to control ourselves and our emotions. So how does talking to oneself go wrong? Anyone who has become skilled at a learned task can fall victim to chatter. Kross shares stories of athletes that have fallen victim to that inner critic. The internal conversation influences attention and causes what was once an involuntary action to become the focus of our attention, which can then lead to overanalysis. When we ruminate, we end up focusing our attention on that negative inner voice AND what we are doing. The author points out how challenging it is to read after getting into a fight. It doesn’t seem to work well for anyone! We also want to talk to others about our negative experiences. The more intense the emotion, the more we want to talk about it. Unless in involves shame, then we want to keep in confidential. But it is sharing those negative experiences that pushes sympathetic listeners away because we tend to miss the warning signs of how annoying we are. The chatter can lead to talking too much, which can then alienate those we confide in the most.  Social media provides a positive experience, but can also become problematic for several reasons. In real life we can manage emotions with the passage of time. However, when we are at the peak of frustration, our connectivity allows us to share those negative experiences in the moment before we have a moment to calm down. It is also human nature to compare ourselves to others. As we passively scroll through others’ filtered versions of themselves posted online, we can start to become envious and negative emotions take over. This emotional pain registers the same way in our brain as physical pain.
 
Perspective taking is key to quieting our inner voice. Kross uses the analogy of your mind being a lens and the inner voice being a button that can zoom either in or out. He explains how when we get stressed or the inner voice starts to ruminate, we lose the ability to zoom out. By adding some distance to our thoughts, we can then change those thoughts. The author shared Walter Mischel’s famous marshmallow research, where waiting for two marshmallows led to positive results rather than having a lack of impulse control and immediately eating the marshmallow. This research led to the understanding that people have tools to control themselves. Kross also mentioned Aaron Beck’s therapy technique known as “distancing” where individuals are taught to scrutinize their thoughts. While some people have negatively associated this with avoidance, the key is to actively explore the thought from a distance. The recommendation is to imaginatively visualize oneself from afar. Research has explored the impact of immersion versus distancing. Immersers who viewed an event from the first-person perspective got stuck in their emotions. While, distancers who viewed an event from a broad perspective, had more positive feelings and were better able to control their stress response. By teaching people to see the big picture, it reduced their chatter. Mental distancing also led to increased wisdom regardless of age. Even journaling for a 15-minute time period about a negative experience was helpful. While narrating the story, the author created distance. The point of view is also key to quieting chatter. Using the first-person singular pronouns signaled negative emotions. Instead using third person or saying your name can force you to step back and refocus more objectively. Examples of LeBron James or Malala talking in third person during interviews helped provide distance from the event. Even shifting to the generic or universal second-person “you” can help provide the necessary psychological distance.
 
Those around you can influence chatter as well. Sharing emotions can often hurt more than it helps. Research has found that talking to others about negative experiences doesn’t help us recover in any meaningful way. Co-rumination can quickly change from support to inciting the inner voice. Advice at the wrong time from others can propel inner talk and undermine self-efficacy. Instead, Kross recommends invisible support. Rather than making someone feel like they can’t cope on their own, providing invisible support could be doing housework to ease their stress or offering broadening advice that is not explicitly directed at the person experiencing the negative thoughts. This invisible support is especially helpful when the person with negative thoughts is under evaluation or preparing to be.  Affectionate touch or comforting objects can be beneficial as well.
 
It is not just the people that surround you, but also the physical environment that influences chatter. Kross references trees and grass as mental vitamins that help manage our stressors. Research has found attention improved after taking a walk with nature as opposed to an urban landscape. And it doesn’t matter the time of year! If access to nature is problematic, photos and videos work too. One study even found that nature sounds helped enhance attention. Uplifting emotional awe occurs when we come across something powerful that we can’t really explain. It has been linked to physical and psychological benefits. Another interesting finding involves how order in our physical environment can quiet the chatter even though there is no direct connection between creating an organized world and the cause of the inner chaotic thoughts. Just reading about the world described as an orderly place has been found to reduce anxiety.
 
The mind is a powerful thing. Placebos help with chatter. Even nondeceptive placebos have worked for allergy symptoms, lower back pain, ADHD, and depression. Superstitions and rituals also help quiet the chatter. Rituals can come from culture, but can also be personalized. To become a ritual there needs to be a rigid sequence of behaviors that are performed in the same order. They appear to work because they divert attention, provide a sense of order and control. Rituals also make us feel connected, provide us with awe, and activate the placebo effect. Many engage in rituals without even knowing.
 
Kross makes it clear that he is not advocating for an avoidance of negative states. They just can’t consume you. Not all introspection is bad, but individuals need to recognize when they become problematic and have the proper tools to quiet the chatter. He points out that chatter is a part of our culture. Parents provide children with chatter support and create the culture they are immersed in at home. He also recognizes the need to teach these tools to children, after a college student pointed out learning them in college seems a little too late. Kross has created a toolbox for middle school and high school curriculum, but leaves the reader with their own toolbox that can be used right away to quiet the chatter.
 
Other Related Resources
Author's Website
https://www.ethankross.com/chatter/

Center for Positive Organizations- Michigan Ross. Chatter: The Voice in Our Head, Why it Matters, and How to Harness It
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3V33_f3yVn8

​ISR Insights Speaker Series: The Voice in Our Head, Why It Matters, and How to Harness It
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jleW_eTWVHA

​Next Big Idea Club
https://nextbigideaclub.com/magazine/chatter-voice-head-matters-harness-bookbite/26713/

Psychological Concepts and Figures
Aristotle
Aaron Beck
Joseph Breuer
Sigmund Freud
William James
Daniel Kahneman
Franz Anton Mesmer
Walter Mischel
Lev Vygotsky
 
Active listening
Adrenaline
Animal magnetism
Anxiety
Associative connections
Attention
Attention restoration therapy
Catharsis
Contact
Cortisol
Dreams
EEG
Empathy
Evolution
Free association
Frequency illusion
Gene expression
Hippocampus
Hypothalamus
Hysteria
Identity
Inner speech
Introspection
Loss aversion
Magic number
MRI
Neurons
Neuroscience
OCD
Oxytocin
Parkinson’s disease
Placebo
Polygraph
Prefrontal brain
Reciprocity
Rumination
Self-control
Self-efficacy
Stress
Temporal distancing
Tend and befriend
Wisdom
Working memory

​Andy Warhol Was a Hoarder: Inside the Minds of History’s Greatest Personalities
Author: Claudie Kalb
ISBN: 978-1-4262-1466-0
 
APA Style Citation
Kalb, C. (2016). Andy Warhol was a hoarder: Inside the minds of history’s greatest personalities. Washington D.C., National Geographic.
 
Buy This Book 
https://www.amazon.com/Andy-Warhol-Was-Hoarder-Personalities/dp/1426214669
 

​Book Description
Celebrities are often idolized, through their lives on the screen and in social media celebrities portray lives of beauty and perfection, but Claudia Kalb, shares that many well-known individuals. These celebrities experienced diagnoseable disorders in some cases these disorders interfered with relationships such as the purported borderline personality disorder which Marilyn Monroe experienced. In other cases, like that of musician George Gershwin, his ADHD caused him to get into trouble as a young boy, but also likely contributed to his single-minded focus on his music once he found his passion. 
 
The book features twelve case studies that include some well-known individuals like Abraham Lincoln (depression) or Charles Darwin (anxiety) as well as those who are less well-known for the disorders they experienced, such as Frank Lloyd Wright (narcissism)or Betty Ford (alcoholism). Each chapter is organized by first explaining the individual’s early life, then explaining how their disorder impacted their life, and finally explaining the featured disorder by providing other examples and the general characteristics associated with the disorder. Kalb ends each chapter with different techniques to treat the disorder described in the chapter. 
 
Kalb shares the details of Marilyn Monroe’s traumatic childhood, from her movement through the foster care system to her complicated relationship with her mother.  These traumatic events in Monroe’s early life may have advanced or even triggered what Kalb describes as Monroe’s volatile relationship with her husbands, and the dramatic onset behavior during the filming of her films. Monroe was diagnosed with schizophrenia but Kalb contends that this diagnosis was incorrect. Monroe displayed the manipulation and cutting of her arms and wrists in a cry for attention, she abused drugs and alcohol, which Kalb proposes was about soothing her erratic emotions. Better ways in which to deal with these emotions are to engage in deep breathing activities, relying on friends for support or engaging on cognitive behavioral therapies. The title of the book depicts Andy Warhol’s hoarding tendencies, keeping everything from food to underwear in an endless number of boxes which are now housed in the Andy Warhol Museum in Pennsylvania. Warhol considered these time capsules. He lived in apartments nearly too cluttered to live and could not discard even the most useless of belongings. The other case studies go on to detail the impact of these disorders on the lives of these well-known individuals.
 
This book is one that would make a good student book club read because of the ability of students to choose particular case studies that align with their interests. It is important to note that in many cases these individuals were not officially diagnosed with the illnesses Kalb has associated, but this is still a useful exercise in learning about the disorders described. 
 
Other Related Resources
Author’s website
http://claudiakalb.com/book
 
C-Span interview with Claudia Kalb
https://www.c-span.org/video/?415966-1/claudia-kalb-discusses-andy-warhol-hoarder
 
NPR review of Andy Warhol was a Hoarder
https://www.npr.org/2016/01/31/464869809/book-diagnoses-darwin-with-anxiety-and-warhol-as-a-hoarder
 
Psychological Concepts and Figures
Alcoholism
Anorexia nervosa
Anxiety
Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
Borderline personality disorder
Bulimia nervosa
Depression
Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5)
Gambling 
Gender dysphoria
Hoarding
Obsessive-compulsive disorder
Narcissism
Schizophrenia
Substance use disorder
Suicide
Transgender
 

​Darius the Great is Not Okay 
Author: Adib Khorram
ISBN:978-0-5255-5297-0
 
APA Style Citation
Khorram, A. K. (2018).  Darius the Great is not okay. Penguin Random House.
 
Buy This Book 
https://www.amazon.com/Darius-Great-Okay-Adib-Khorram/dp/0525552960
 

​Book Description 
Darius the Great is Not Okay is a young adult fictional novel that depicts the life of Darius (Darioush) Kellner. Darioush is half Persian and is named after the Persian King Darius the Great, although he feels the name is a clear case of misidentification. Darius lives in Portland, Oregon, and loves Persian tea, his little sister Laleh, and watching Star Wars with his father. None of these make for the perfect combination of popularity in high school. Darius is often on the receiving end of pranks and verbal ridicule from many of his classmates despite his school’s zero-tolerance policy on bullying. To add to his anxiety, Darius is targeted because he looks different than many of his classmates. He has thick curly hair and is overweight as a result of his love for pizza and spaghetti. Darius also suffers from clinical depression, as does his father, Stephen Kellner. Darius has one friend at school who shares his Persian background and a supportive family. Yet, he cannot help but think he is always disappointing people, especially his father, who Darius describes as the perfect Aryan. His father, Stephen Keller, is tall and muscular with blond hair and blue eyes. He is a successful architect who drives his beloved Audi, and Darius feels like he can never live up to his father’s expectations for him to fit in or play sports. Instead, he enjoys working at a tea shop and speaking in Klingon.
 
This book is a good read for high school students who can likely relate to many of Darius’s challenges. He is always concerned about fitting in and what other people think about him, and he worries about his future and his grades. Perhaps more importantly, however, the book allows the reader to peek into Darius’s brain to see how his depression distorts his thoughts and, as a result, his day-to-day interactions. The book is told from Darius’s perspective, and it eventually becomes clear that he is distorting his interactions to make them worse than they actually are. Darius is a sweet and caring boy, and he wants to make his parents proud, but he interprets any recommendation as a suggestion that he has done something wrong. Even when his classmates are trying to be kind, he interprets their words as mocking or threatening. 
 
Darius’s grandfather is gravely ill, so the family plans a trip to Iran, where Darius and Lelah will meet their grandparents face-to-face for the first time. Darius’s mother was worried about returning since she has married an American and had not seen her parents for 18 years. Darius worries about what he will say to his grandparents and what it will be like to meet them rather than talk to them on a computer screen. He knows he should love them, but he wonders if he will. Right after arriving, Darius meets Sorhab, a neighbor who helps Darius’s grandfather around the house. Darius and Sorhab bond over their outsider status. Sorhab is Baha’i, which is a religion that some people in Iran look down upon in Iran. Sorhab and Darius quickly become friends, visiting the sites around Yazd, where Sorhab and Darius’s grandparents live, enjoying Persian treats, and mostly playing soccer. Darius feels like he can be himself around Sorhab and even shares the worries and negative thoughts that he never tells other people about. Sorhab does not judge Darius even if he cannot quite understand how Darius’s mind works. Darius gradually comes to understand that he has not been a disappointment to his family. They want him to be happy and accepted and worry for him. He understands that his father’s need to be away from Darius does not mean he does not love Darius, but it often means he needs to cope with his own depressive symptoms. The trip to Iran helps him understand that even though his younger sister speaks perfect Farsi, it does not mean he is a failure. His parents just realized that this would be a priority with their second child.  
 
When the family returns from their trip, Darius accepts the compliments of his physical education coach, who encourages him to try out for the soccer team, which he makes. He realizes that some of the boys who he thought were making fun of him were really trying to be friendly. He also realizes that his depression and challenging his irrational thinking is something that he will have to live with for the rest of his life, but that many tools can help while he still remains the quirky and interesting Darius that he has always been.
 
Other Related Resources
Talk by author Adib Khorram
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmuX3yqn5Us
 
Discussion questions for Darius the Great Is Not Okay
https://www.penguin.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/DariusGreat_DiscussionGuide_Web.pdf
 
Asian Pacific Library Association (APALA) Interview with Adib Khorram
https://www.apalaweb.org/apala-author-interview-adib-khorram/
 
Interview with Adib Khorram from Ya Sh3lf
https://www.yash3lf.com/interview-with-adib-khorram-author-of-darius-the-great-is-not-okay/
 
10 Reasons you should read Darius the Great is Not Okay
https://www.yash3lf.com/10-reasons-why-you-should-read-darius-the-great-is-not-okay/
 
Psychological Concepts and Figures
Anxiety
Bullying
Depression
Internalized thoughts
Irrational thinking
Pessimistic explanatory style
Stigma
 
  

Facts and Fictions in Mental Health
Authors: Hal Arkowitz and Scott Lilienfeld
ISBN-13: 978-1118311295
ISBN-10: 1118311299
 
APA Style Citation
Arkowitz, H., & Lilienfeld, S. O. (2017). Facts and fictions in mental health. Chichester, West Sussex, UK: Wiley Blackwell.

Buy This Book 

​Book Description
Facts and Fictions in Mental Health is comprised of a series of chapters organized by section categories that each focus on a specific myth related to mental illness, treatment, or mental health. Each chapter addresses the myth, provides examples from clinical practice, pop culture, or events in the news, followed by evidence from recent scientific inquiry on the topic. The source for most of the chapters is “Facts and Fictions” articles previously published in Scientific American Mind, although six additional entries were created for this book.
 
Each of the first seven sections corresponds roughly to a diagnostic category: Anxiety-Related Disorders, Mood Disorders, Child and Adolescent Disorders, Addictions, Personality Disorders, and Shattered Selves:  Schizophrenia and Dissociative Identity Disorder.  The remaining three sections address Popular Myths About the Brain and Behavior, Psychotherapy and Other Approaches to Change, and Other Myths. Each section opens with an engaging introduction to the broader category within psychology, followed by bite-sized chapters of three to five pages that briefly address the myth and provide the scientific evidence which dispels the myth.  Each chapter also ends with several sources for additional information on that topic.
 
The book provides an excellent tool for teachers of psychology because it addresses head-on many of the incorrect beliefs held by students surrounding issues related to mental illness. The book also addresses some of students’ most frequent questions about mental illness and treatment. There are also chapters related to other popular myths about human behavior and mental processes.

• What are the causes and most effective treatment methods for hoarding?
• Is mindfulness good medicine for anxiety and depression?
• Are bipolar disorders linked to creativity?
• Four myths about suicide, including the myth that talking about suicide increases suicidal tendencies.
• Is electroconvulsive treatment effective?
• Is there an autism epidemic?
• Do all Tourette’s patients swear?
• Are all psychopaths psychotic?
• Is schizophrenia the same or similar to dissociative identity disorder?
• Are people with dissociative identity disorder faking?
• How violent are people with mental illness?
• Are individuals either left- or right-brained?
• Is hypnosis a distinct state of consciousness?
• Are all psychotherapies equally effective?
• Why do some people resist changing when they know that doing so would improve their lives?
• What stereotypes exist in the media regarding therapy?
• Are most disorders we see in Western and European countries the same as those in the rest of the world?
• Does the presence of a full mood trigger strange behaviors?
• Is eyewitness testimony accurate?
• Is the insanity defense frequently used in criminal trials?

 
The book concludes with an interesting postscript that addresses some of the reasons behind the persistence of these myths. For example, the availability heuristic, which is a problem-solving shortcut in which we base decisions base on what is most likely to be fresh in our minds.  Arkowitz and Lilienfeld discuss how the availability heuristic contributes to the myth that divorce is almost always harmful to children.  Because it is more likely that we will hear about times when children struggle during a divorce than when they are resilient or when the change has lead to am improvement for the entire family.  The availability heuristic creates the impression children struggle after divorce because this is what they expect as the likely outcome. The research indicates that although divorce is difficult for children, long-term negative consequences are not inevitable. Another logic error post hoc causes individuals to make causal conclusions about events that might happen close in time. This has led many to believe that Autism is caused by vaccinations despite evidence from numerous, large empirical studies that have shown this link to be false. Many myths, according to the authors, persist because they are partially accurate, leading to the error of the grain-of-truth hypothesis. For example, the fact that because animals can provide temporary relief from emotional pain does not mean that animal-assisted therapy can treat the primary symptoms of serious conditions such as schizophrenia and anorexia nervosa. Finally, the authors address the problem of how information is presented and by whom can also create or perpetuate myths.  The authors discuss the problem of self-help books in chapter 39, “3,500 self-help books appear every year, but few are based on research or subjected to scientific scrutiny.”  There are also numerous psychology websites that contain misleading and inaccurate information about mental health, and mainstream media outlets can create misconceptions due to inaccurate or misleading interpretations of scientific findings. The authors also point out that individuals frequently do not read articles and rely on headlines alone for information on research studies that might be quite complex.  As a result, this can lead to misinformation about the findings of the study. For example, the headline, “Fear of Fluoride in Drinking Water,” in an article that emphasized the safety of fluoride in water spread misinformation unintentionally.
 
Facts and Fictions in Mental Health is a great tool for providing students with opportunities to dispel misconceptions and build critical thinking skills. The short chapters can be used for enrichment during units on clinical psychology, as well as cognitive psychology topics related to problem-solving and cognitive biases.
 
 
Other Related Resources
 
National Alliance on Mental Illness - NAMI
https://nami.org/Home
The NAMI organization provides numerous resources for building understanding and reducing the stigma associated with mental illness.  The website contains educational materials, information for requesting guest speakers, and advocacy opportunities. The site also has a series of effective videos that can be used to supplement instruction.
 
Time to Change – UK
https://www.time-to-change.org.uk/
Time to Change is an organization devoted to reducing stigma related to mental illness in the UK, and their website provides a variety of inspirational stories and educational materials for use in the classroom and the workplace.
 
Avoid Misleading Terminology
Fifty psychological and psychiatric terms to avoid: a list of inaccurate, misleading, misused, ambiguous, and logically confused words and phrases
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01100/full
This link is to an interesting article by author Lilienfeld and others that list and explain misleading terminology used in psychology that causes misinformation and confusion.
This article can be used as a source for a discussion related to the critical evaluation of scientific claims.  For each misleading term or phrase, the article explains why it poses a problem, provides examples of its misuse, and, if possible, provides a preferable term. Examples include a gene for, brain region “X” lights up, hard-wired, lie-detector test, truth-serum, and neural signature. Interestingly – the article addresses the problems with terminology frequently used in psychology class such as operational definition, objective personality test, and reliable and valid. The article also includes terms that are frequently misused or that are misleading overall.
 
Confusing Pairs
50 Differences That Make a Difference: A Compendium of Frequently Confused Term Pairs in Psychology
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2017.00037/full
This link is to an interesting article by author Lilienfeld and others that list and explain confusing pairs of terms in psychology. 
 
Psychological Concepts and Figures
Agoraphobia
Alzheimer’s disease
Animal-assisted therapy
Anxiety and anxiety disorders
Availability heuristic
Behavioral therapy
Bipolar disorder
Client-centered therapy
Cognitive-behavioral therapy
Depression
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5)
Dissociative disorders
Electroconvulsive therapy
Feeding and eating disorders
Hoarding disorder
Insanity defense
Mindfulness
Mood disorders
Neurodevelopmental disorders
Obsessive-compulsive and related disorders
Personality disorders
Post hoc error
Psychotropic medications
Schizophrenia
Short-term psychodynamic therapy
Substance use and abuse disorders
Trauma- and stressor related disorders
 

​Hidden Valley Road:  Inside the Mind of an American Family
Author:  Richard Kolker
ISBN:  978-03855-43774
 
APA Style Citation
Kolker, R. (2020.) Hidden valley road. Inside the Mind of an American family.  New York, NY: Penguin Random House.
 
Buy This Book
https://www.amazon.com/Hidden-Valley-Road-Inside-American/dp/038554376X
 

​Book Description
Hidden Valley Road, named after the street the family lived on, is the tragic story of the Galvin family.  The non-fictional account follows the growing family from the time in which the young, recently married Donald and Mimi Galvin moved to Colorado Springs through the twelve children that eventually made up the Galvin family (10 boys and 2 girls).  Eventually, six of the boys would develop schizophrenia. The book addresses many facets related to mental illness, including the issues of genetic and environmental factors, the stigma around mental illness, and the difficulty in managing and finding good care for those experiencing different levels of schizophrenia.
 
Since Swiss Psychologist Eugen Bleuler initially coined the term schizophrenia, which comes from the Latin word -schizo- meaning a split in mental functioning, he had suspected that there was an underlying physical component to the disorder. The degree to which the physical components drive the illness is still one that is fascinating and much debated. Examining a family in which six of the boys developed the disease provides the opportunity to learn more about the underlying genetic components that may be associated with schizophrenia. Freud was the first but certainly not the last to place the blame of development of schizophrenia decidedly at least partially at the feet of the mother, a point not lost on Mimi as her son’s disappeared into the illness. Today, estimations are that one in one hundred individuals may experience schizophrenia at some point in their lives, but with an identical twin, chances increase to roughly 50%.  In one other famous case of schizophrenia from the 1950s, the Genain quadruplets all developed schizophrenia by age 25 and were studied by the National Institute of Mental Health.
 
Don Galvin Sr. was a professor at the Air Force Academy after having spent time in the Navy.  He had experienced in his early military career “a case of the nerves” and was hospitalized at Walter Reed hospital, this event was not much discussed in the family, and his career and family developed quickly. The eldest son Don Jr. played football, got decent grades, and wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps.  By his teenage years, however, he was smashing dishes and ruthlessly beating up his younger brothers. Mimi and Donald were frequently traveling for work and left the boys to their own devices, which could be brutal as they formed camps against one another. By sophomore year in college, Donald was experiencing full-blown psychotic episodes, believing in one case that he had murdered a professor and in another fantasizing about murdering someone at a football game.  He also killed a cat that had lived with him for a few days after it scratched him. This behavior was at first attributed to a break up with a longtime girlfriend. When he was forced to return home, he believed people were shooting at him and once removed all of the furniture from the house in a paranoid episode. Don and Mimi opted for a psychoanalytic treatment before eventually resorting to the use of Thorazine to reduce Donald’s aggressive outbursts. Because of the stigma attached to the illness, Donald Sr. and Mimi tried to manage Donald’s illness while he lived at home because admitting him to a mental institution would be to admit defeat and publicly acknowledge what was happening. With Donald Sr. frequently away for work, it was up to Mimi to manage Donald along with the ten other children still living at home, most of whom became terrified of Donald. The Thorazine caused Donald to gain weight and sleep often, but it never eliminated his delusions of having superior powers or being controlled by God. Donald eventually developed tardive dyskinesia experiencing constant jerking movement from the years on Thorazine, but he attributed it to his father, making him “stand at attention as a child.”
 
The middle group of boys threw themselves into hockey to get out of the house, and Margaret, the second youngest, was sent to live with some wealthy family friends. Mary (who now goes by Lindsay), the youngest, often locked herself in her room when home alone with her brother because she was terrified he would fly into one of his rages. 
 
Shortly after Jim, the second oldest, got married, he started hearing voices, he believed people were spying on him, and he stopped sleeping, often acting violently towards himself. He had a tumultuous marriage even prior to the diagnosis and eventually killed his wife and was sent to prison. Brian and Michael were the next to experience symptoms. Brian played in a band and had a total disregard for authority, some believed that his symptoms might have been brought on by drug use. After a weeklong stay in Denver’s psychiatric ward, he decided it was time for him to leave and he never fully accepted his diagnosis. Michael could often go for long stretches without symptoms, and it seems that although he experienced symptoms of schizophrenia, they were far less severe than his eldest brother Donald Jr. The youngest of the ten boys, Peter, was always oppositional, but after witnessing his father’s stroke in 9th grade he experienced more frequent oppositional episodes and he eventually had to be hospitalized and restrained.  Mimi now had to take care of the older boys, her husband, who was recovering from a stroke and try to find a place that was appropriate for Peter’s young age and symptoms. Peter was eventually diagnosed with acute schizophrenia with paranoid ideation.  Matt, who was another one of the hockey-playing brothers and who later fought in the Vietnam war, came to believe the government was out to get him but resisted the label of schizophrenia. He became homeless and often sold his medications for money or food but never believed that he actually had schizophrenia. He eventually went through many rounds of ECT therapy.
 
With so many cases of schizophrenia in a single family it is likely that there was some genetic factor driving the illness. It was later discovered that many of the boys who later developed the illness were molested by a priest who has been a family friend and often spent time with the boys. The lack of acknowledgment, especially with Donald Jr, may have also been an environmental factor that exacerbated the illness.  Growing up with an older brother who was schizophrenic created a chaotic and violent home environment and may also have served as environmental triggers for some of the younger boys.  
Psychologists like Irving Gottesman and James Shield began to examine the genetic influence of the disease by proposing the diathesis-stress model in which certain disorders could be predisposed for some individuals but activated by environmental factors.  In the late 1970s, Richard Wyatt found enlarged ventricles in some schizophrenic patients leading to a stronger belief in the physical attributes of the disorder. In the early 1980s, Irving Feinberg proposed that problems in neural pruning during adolescence might be the main cause of the disorder. The 1990s brought the discovery that the hippocampi in some schizophrenics were smaller than in control patients. MRI scans also found problems with activity in the frontal lobe.  Through this all, Lynn Delisi was attempting to find specific genetic markers to identify the disorders. Studying families would be the key to discovering the genetic links to the disorder.  In the 1990s, the Human Genome Project began to solve problems such as this and with $3 billion in funding.  The Galvin brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews who were willing donated their DNA to be analyzed for clues to the genetic components of the illness.  It was determined that a mutation on the C4A gene might provide some answers to the disorders. There is now the possibility of genetic testing in utero, and there may be a way to fix flaws in genes in the womb or early in life. Ironically, one of the Galvin grandchildren is working on the project that contains her family’s DNA to try to ensure that families in the future will not have to endure the chaos his own family experienced.
 
Other Related Resources
Book Trib:  Question and Answers with Robert Kolker
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/03/books/review/hidden-valley-road-robert-kolker.html
 
NPR:  Hidden Valley Road
Inside the Mind of an American Family
https://www.npr.org/books/titles/826844537/hidden-valley-road-inside-the-mind-of-an-american-family
 
The Gazette:  Interview with two of the Galvin Brothers
https://gazette.com/health/schizophrenic-brother-from-hidden-valley-road-struggles-to-find-long-term-care-in-colorado-springs/article_e69bec18-a4f6-11ea-b464-3fe45116d2c9.html
 
New York Time Book Review:  Good Looks ran in the Family, and so did Schizophrenia
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/03/books/review/hidden-valley-road-robert-kolker.html
 
Apple Podcasts:  Robert Kolker discusses Hidden Valley Road
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/robert-kolker-discusses-hidden-valley-road/id120315179?i=1000471100099
 
Psychological Figures and Concepts
Eugene Blueler
Sigmund Freud
Carl Jung
Emil Kraepelin
David Rosenthal
Thomas Szasz
 
Chlorpromazine
Clozapine
CT scans
Delusions
Diagnostic Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM)
Dopamine receptors
Hallucinations
Electroshock treatment 
Insulin shock therapy
Lithium
Lobotomies
MRI studies
Neurons
Paranoid schizophrenia
Psychopaths
Schizophrenia
Somatization disorders
Stockholm syndrome
Tardive dyskinesia
Thorazine
 
 

Upside:  The New Science of Post-Traumatic Growth
Author: Jim Rendon
ISBN-10: 1476761639
ISBN-13: 978-1476761633
 
APA Style Citation
Rendon. (2015). Upside: The new science of Post-Traumatic Growth. New York, NY: Touchstone.
 
Buy This Book
www.amazon.com/Upside-New-Science-Post-Traumatic-Growth/dp/1476761639

​Book Description
 As teachers of psychology, we often devote considerable time and attention to mental illness and treatment while spending significantly less time on positive psychology or the scientific study of strengths and the potential to grow from negative experiences. 
According to the DSM-5, individuals may receive a diagnosis of Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from exposure to three types of traumatic events: 

1. The event happened to them personally
2. They learn that a traumatic event happened to a family member or a close friend
3. They experienced repeated exposure to traumatic events (e.g., first responders, caregivers).

The most common PTSD symptoms are:

• Intrusion (e.g., involuntary distressing memories, flashbacks, nightmares)
• Avoidance (e.g., hiding from distressing memories, dodging reminders of the event)
• Negative changes in thoughts and mood (e.g., negative beliefs about oneself, numbness, detachment from others)
• Increased arousal and reactivity (e.g., exaggerated startle response, irritability, problems concentrating, sleep difficulties)

 
After an extremely dangerous or life-threatening event, most individuals have initial symptoms, and in most cases, those symptoms go away on their own.  For some, the symptoms continue, and PTSD may be diagnosed. There is, however, research related to how these same events ultimately lead to post-traumatic growth (PTG), which is the subject of the book, Upside.  While it is critical to teach and build an understanding of PTSD, it is equally important to illustrate that the types of experiences that lead to PTSD do not always result in the condition. In reality, most individuals who experience a traumatic event do not develop PTSD.
 
The book Upside traces the development of research into the potential positive benefits of trauma that began in the 1980s.  Two psychology professors from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Richard Tedeschi and Lawrence Calhoun, built the initial research on individuals who had been devastated by losses, including accidents and illness.  Another early study conducted by a psychiatrist and professor at the Yale School of Medicine named William Sledge covered what would become post-traumatic growth in aviators who were POWs during the Vietnam War, which was published in 1980.  Interest in the field grew slowly as more research funding was devoted to PTSD.  While examples of post-traumatic growth have been documented for thousands of years, it was not a focus of scientific inquiry until the 1980s. Tedeschi and Calhoun continued their research and found that individuals who experienced positive outcomes post-trauma experienced changes in one or more of the following areas:

• Greater inner strength
• An openness to new life possibilities
• Closer and deeper relationships with friends and family
• An enhanced appreciation for life
• A stronger sense of spirituality

Tedeschi and Calhoun named the phenomenon "post-traumatic growth" and published research based on the questionnaire they created, called the Perceived Benefits Scale. They published their work on the Post-traumatic Growth Inventory in 1996. The inventory consisted of questions directly linked to the five growth areas. According to their study, half or more of trauma survivors reported some positive effects post-trauma.  This contrasts with the negative outcomes related to PTSD that researchers believe will impact about eight percent of Americans during their lives and potentially as much as thirty percent of specific cohorts, such as Vietnam or other veterans. According to research by psychologist George A. Bonanno of Columbia University, only 5-10% of individuals experience PTSD after traumatic events.  That rate does increase if stressors are extreme or occur over a long period, but they rarely rise above 30%. PTSD is not inevitable.  Post-traumatic growth is more likely than PTSD.
 
Research indicates that PTSD is not inevitable after trauma, but that it is less likely than PTG.  More individuals develop growth as opposed to PTSD post-trauma.  Since the first book on PTG was published by Tedeschi and Calhoun, researchers around the world have been further documenting the incidence of posttraumatic growth. On their website, Tedeschi and Calhoun make some key clarifications about post-traumatic growth research (Calhoun & Tedeschi, 2014):

• Most of us, when we face tough losses or great suffering, will have a variety of highly distressing psychological reactions. Just because individuals experience growth does not mean they will not suffer. Distress is typical when we face traumatic events.
• We most definitely are not implying that traumatic events are good – they are not. But for many of us, life crises are inevitable, and we are not given the choice between suffering and growth on the one hand, and no suffering and no change on the other.
• Post-traumatic growth is not universal. It is not uncommon, but neither does everybody who faces a traumatic event experience growth.
• Our hope is that you never face a significant loss or crisis, but most of us eventually do, and perhaps you may also experience an encounter with post-traumatic growth.

The book is packed with case studies that illustrate one or more of the five areas of post-traumatic growth, including individuals who have lost loved ones, wealth, physical mobility, limbs, and careers.  The book also details the scientific research exploring the post-traumatic growth experiences. Chapter Two, "The Psychiatrist in the Death Camp," explores the story of Viktor Frankl and his influential book Man's Search for Meaning from the lens of post-traumatic growth research. Frankl's book, with more than twelve million copies in print, is a must-read for psychology teachers and students.  What follows are detailed accounts of many case studies in post-traumatic growth and how this research can improve therapy methods for individuals with PTSD or who are dealing with trauma and loss.  Psychologists working in the field of PTG began by studying individuals who experienced positive change after trauma independently, but are working to develop therapy methods based on the growth experiences of the individuals they studied to help others. Upside is packed with research and inspiring examples that help students understand the complexities of trauma and growth. 


Other Related Resources

Author website:  https://www.jimrendon.com/
 
Posttraumatic Growth Research Group
https://ptgi.uncc.edu/ptg-research-group/

American Psychological Association Article
Growth After Trauma - Why are some people more resilient than others - and can it be taught? 
 
Researchers Richard Tedeschi, PhD, and Lawrence Calhoun, PhD – UNC Charlotte
The PTG Resource Center
 
Speaking of Psychology, American Psychological Association
PTG – Interview with Richard Tedeschi, PhD

National Institute of Mental Health information on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd/index.shtml#part_145371
 
Man's Search for Meaning
Viktor Frankl's influential book, which tells his Holocaust survival story and how it inspired the treatment method he developed, logotherapy.
 
1972 video of Viktor Frankl speaking
https://www.ted.com/talks/viktor_frankl_why_believe_in_others

Psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky's discussion of posttraumatic growth
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PG71LHinQc
 
 
Psychological Figures and Concepts
 
Viktor Frankl
Joseph  LeDoux
Jean Piaget
Martin Seligman
 
Accommodation
Amygdala
Assimilation
Cerebellum
Cognitive-behavioral therapy
Creativity
Deliberate rumination
Diagnostic and Statistical Model, 5th Edition
Dual-pathway of fear
Expressive writing therapy
Fight-or-flight response
Flow
Gratitude
Just-world phenomenon
Individualistic culture
Logotherapy
Openness to experience
Optimism
Positive psychology
Prefrontal cortex
Post-traumatic growth (PTG)
Post-traumatic growth inventory
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Thalamus
Traumatic brain injury (TBI)

​Insane:  America’s Criminal Treatment of Mental Illness
Author:  Alisa Roth
ISBN-13:  978-0-465-09419-6
 
APA Style Citation
Roth, A.  (2018).  Insane:  America’s criminal treatment of mental illness.  New York, NY: Basic Books.
 
Buy This Book
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074M6FZXQ/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1
 

​Book Description
Roth estimates that as many as 50% of all people in the criminal justice system suffer from some type of mental illness.  Some are there because of a crime committed while others are there because of a severe shortage of beds available in mental health care facilities.  These statistics are startling, and Roth describes the personal stories of individuals with mental illness, making the real-life implications of this hit home. Instead of accessing treatment through the mental health care system, often, those who are mentally ill face extended prison time for the behavior associated with their illness.  Many of the mentally ill are initially arrested on minor infractions such as Bryan Sanderson, who was arrested for riding a hotel elevator naked after voices told him to leave his room immediately.  Unfortunately, these minor infractions often lead to long prison terms because of violations of prison rules due to their illness.  If someone is experiencing auditory hallucinations, for example, these voices may take precedent over a direct order coming from a correctional officer.  Sanderson ultimately was placed in solitary confinement for a time because his illness prevented him from following simple prison protocols.  In addition, his hallucinations and delusions caused him to lash out at others, and he was considered a danger on the prison ward.  The incident in the elevator should have led to an straight-forward overnight stint in jail as nobody was harmed, but Sanderson’s voices ultimately told him to blind himself while he was held in solitary because his illness was not being managed.  After he blinded himself, he was taken to a regular hospital, but after he was healed, it was determined that he could be sent back to prison.  He was finally released after years in prison. Today, he lives alone but is entirely dependent on the help of family and friends to bring him groceries and other necessities, and he cannot work.
 
Roth addresses the shrinking number of beds in mental health care facilities.  The reduction in beds started to occur about the time that antipsychotic medication allowed many schizophrenic patients to live relatively normal lives in which institutionalization was no longer necessary.  With no place to go, many of the mentally ill wind up incarcerated. The sad reality is that most prisons are not well equipped or trained to deal with a population of those who are mentally ill. 
 
By sheer necessity, prison systems operate by strict rules and adherence to stringent routine.  The loud, chaotic environment of prisons can be terribly disturbing for those who may already be dealing with auditory or visual hallucinations.  Those who are mentally ill often do not fare well in this environment, and their condition often deteriorates.  Some prison facilities offer a mental health wing, but there are a limited number of cells. The waiting lists are often long, and it is frustrating to get into these units if they even exist.  
 
Treatment on mental health wards is often severely lacking, and most prisoners are chained to a seat while they receive their therapy sessions with a psychologist.  Other times treatment is canceled because there is a shortage of clinicians or if the prison is in lockdown mode, the sessions are canceled because all of the prison staff is needed to maintain the safety of the entire prison population.  In most places such as the Los Angeles prison system Roth describes time with mental health professionals as “medication management,” not treatment.  
 
The prison staff who may have the best of intentions are often not properly trained to deal with individuals who are mentally ill and showing signs of severe mental illness is often deemed as disobedient.  Those who thought they were going into a career of law enforcement now find themselves on the front line of treating mental illness without the proper training.  Obviously, the prison staff need to keep themselves safe, but law enforcement training escalates a situation, whereas a person with mental illness needs de-escalation of the situation. 
 
Without proper treatment and in an environment in which people feel threatened, those with mental illness may lash out in anger and frustration, which furthers the cycle of punishment in prison.  The mentally ill who eventually leave prison facilities are often worse off than when they entered and have few resources to help them get back to a normal daily life.  In large part, this impacts male African Americans in higher numbers than other groups.
 
Prisoners can be forced to take medication, and while they do not have to attend treatment sessions if they are offered, the incentive to attend is high in the prison population because of the nature of the prison environment in which prisoners are expected to comply.  In the worst cases, those who are victims of the system take their own lives in prison or like Bryan Sanderson cause themselves severe bodily harm.  Many people spend extended time in prison waiting for a trial to determine if they are competent. Spending more time in prison often makes the individual less likely to qualify for competency, leaving many lingering in prisons for weeks or months just to determine if they are fit to stand trial.  These inmates are coached by lawyer and then often sent back to prison during the case without any treatment at all.
 
Roth ends on a more positive note as she describes how many states have increased mental illness training for law enforcement.  This helps responding officers in understanding and may keep some people out of prison in the first place.  Still, the training has a long way to go.  Facilities and funding of prisons must increase, and treatment must be more consistent.  The treatment should also take place with the same person so that a relationship can develop between therapist and inmate.  Decreasing the number of people incarcerated for minor infractions and creating better facilities in which to treat individuals who might otherwise lead productive and fruitful lives should be a priority.
 
 
Other Related Resources
NPR:  Fresh Air
Behind Bars, Mentally Ill Inmates Are Often Punished for Their Symptoms
Interview with Alisa Roth
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/07/10/627519801/behind-bars-mentally-ill-inmates-are-often-punished-for-their-symptoms
 
APA Monitor:  March 2019
Improving Mental Health for Inmate
https://www.apa.org/monitor/2019/03/mental-heath-inmates
 
National Commission on Correctional Health Care
Basic Mental Health Care Services
https://www.ncchc.org/spotlight-on-the-standards-24-3
 
Mental Health America
Position Statement 56:  Mental Health Treatment in Correctional Facilities
https://www.mhanational.org/issues/position-statement-56-mental-health-treatment-correctional-facilities
 
National Alliance on Mental Health (NAMI)
Jailing People with Mental Illness
https://www.nami.org/Advocacy/Policy-Priorities/Divert-from-Justice-Involvement/Jailing-People-with-Mental-Illness
 
Oregon Humanities Center
Alisa Roth: “America’s Hidden Mental Health Crisis”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qA-S39TuMF8
 
Treatment Advocacy Center
Serious Mental Illness Prevalence in Jails and Prisons
https://www.treatmentadvocacycenter.org/evidence-and-research/learn-more-about/3695
 
 
 
Psychological Figures and Concepts
 
Dorthea Dix
 
Bipolar disorder
Criminally insane
Delusions
Hallucinations
Psychiatrists
Schizophrenia
 

​Maybe You Should Talk to Someone:  A Therapist, HER Therapist and Our Lives Revealed
Author:  Lori Gottlieb
ISBN:  978-1328663047
 
APA Style Citation
Gottlieb, L. (2019).  Maybe You Should Talk to Someone:  A therapist, HER Therapist and our Lives RevealedNew York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
 
Buy This Book
https://www.amazon.com/Maybe-You-Should-Talk-Someone-ebook/dp/B07BZ4F75T
 

​Book Description
“People will do anything, no matter how absurd, to avoid facing their own souls. Who looks inside, awakes.”
                                                            -Carl Jung
 
Lori Gottlieb’s long-term relationship ends abruptly when her boyfriend tells her that he cannot live in the same house as a child, since Lori has an 8-year old son, there is no changing the outcome of his decision.  Gottlieb finds herself, angry, confused and uncertain about her future.  She uses her network as a psychologist to get a recommendation from a colleague believing that she just needs to talk to someone for a few weeks until she can sort out how to move on from the relationship.  Gottlieb shares her own experiences with her therapist and explains how she moved from hurt and anger (and some internet stalking of her ex-boyfriend) to picturing a future without him.  
Gottlieb also introduces the reader to some of her own clients (she changes their names and combines some of their complaints to abide by issues of confidentiality).  Gottlieb discusses a narcissistic movie producer who initially comes to discuss all of the “idiots” around him to determine how he can better deal with them but, ultimately needs to work through the aftermath of his young son’s death.  Gottlieb also describes working with a young newlywed who is dying of cancer.  Gottlieb knows this when she takes her on as a client and the story of her impending death is at turns laugh out loud funny, horribly depressing and always thoughtful.  Another client is a young twenty-something that keeps sleeping with the wrong guys and who has a complicated relationship with her own parents as well as some self-esteem issues.  Through reading each of these scenarios, we come to care about her clients even when they are self-centered and irritating and hope that they find peace and contentment in their lives.
Gottlieb describes how she tries to see the good in each of her clients.  She describes therapy as an exploration in how to change.  For some, this can mean changing how their past influences their present and future, for others it may mean changing how they see themselves or how they interact with others.  Each person who goes to therapy has their own reasons but Gottlieb believes that the presenting problem (the reason a person provides for starting therapy) often represents deeper seated issues the person is experiencing.  
Gottlieb’s relationship with her own therapist lasts far longer than the few weeks she initially intended.  She comes to appreciate his style of therapy even though it is quite different than her own and to recognize that one need not be fashionable or good looking to be a great therapist.  She is a tough client because she is initially not sure what she wants.  Her therapist eventually asked her if she wants advice (counseling) or self-understanding (therapy)?  He is not willing to simply validate her feelings of anger towards her ex-boyfriend, but instead makes her do the hard work to realize how she could have been so blinded by the break-up and further to plan a future without him.  Eventually she finds herself strong enough to move on and end her sessions with him.  
Gottlieb’s stories of therapy demonstrate that there are many people who can benefit from therapy, an objective outsider can often provide insight that we cannot see ourselves and that our friends and family are too kind to point out.  Gottlieb shares the personal development and self-understanding that therapy can provide and in doing so, breaks down some of the stigma that still exists around seeking treatment.
 
 
Other Related Resources
Lori Gottlieb website
https://lorigottlieb.com/books/maybe-you-should-talk-to-someone/
 
Dear Therapist Column with Lori Gottlieb
https://lorigottlieb.com/dear-therapist/
 
ABC News Interview with Lori Gottlieb
https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/GMA_Day/video/talk-author-lori-gottlieb-62275946
 
NPR Fresh Air
https://www.npr.org/books/titles/707562558/maybe-you-should-talk-to-someone-a-therapist-her-therapist-and-our-lives-reveale
 
WBUR Interview with Lori Gottlieb
https://www.wbur.org/radioboston/2019/04/05/lori-gottlieb-talk-therapy-psychotherapist
 
Psychological Concepts and Figures
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Eric Erikson
Eric Fromm
Daniel Gilbert
Carl Jung
Elizabeth Kubler-Ross
Carl Rogers 
Oliver Sacks
Harry Stack Sullivan
Henry Moilson
 
Attachment styles
Avoidant personality
Catastrophizing
Client-centered therapy
Collective unconscious
Confidentiality
Conversion disorder
Countertransference
Creativity
Denial
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)
Displacement
Dissociative disorder
Empathy
Factitious disorder
Flow
Frontal lobes
Hysteria
Integrity vs. despair
Logotherapy
Medical student’s disease
Melatonin
Mirror neuron
Mood disorder
Narcissism
Personality disorder
Pleasure principle
Psychopharmacology
Rationalization
Reaction formation
Self-awareness
Somatic symptom disorder
Unconditional positive regard
 
 

​Author:  Carmine Gallo
ISBN: 978-1-250-04112-8

APA Style Citation
Gallo, Carmine (2014). Talk Like TED:  The 9 Public-Speaking Secrets of the World’s Top Minds.  New York: St. Martin’s Press.

Buy This Book
​​www.amazon.com/Talk-Like-TED-Public-Speaking-Secrets/dp/1250041120

Book Description
The TED Conference, which stands for Technology, Entertainment, and Design, has been around since 1984 but did not become well known until they began posting videos of their trademark 19-minute presentations online for free.  Author Carmine Gallo is a communications expert and the author of the bestselling book, The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs.  Gallo examined over 500 TED presentations and added insights from research on persuasion and communication to generate a list of the critical aspects of highly engaging presentations. Talk Like TED offers nine key public-speaking tips utilized in some of the most well-known presentations.  The tips for giving great talks are organized into three broad categories:  Emotional (they touch the heart), Novel (they teach something new), and Memorable (they present ideas in a unique manner).  As teachers, we frequently deliver content to students in a presentation form, and this book can provide a variety of tools to use to increase student engagement and learning.  Each chapter describes a method used in the most successful TED talks including specific examples and insight from the speakers. One of the best aspects of this book was stopping periodically to watch the amazing TED talks discussed in the book!
 
EMOTIONAL
The first third of the book is devoted to the three tips in the category related to emotional factors that “touch the heart.”  In chapter one, “Unleash the Master Within,” the author discusses the importance of choosing topics to discuss in which you have personal passion and interest.  According to the author, “the first step to inspiring others is to make sure you are inspired yourself.”  An excellent example of a TED talk that exemplifies passion was given by University of Waterloo Economics professor Larry Smith titled, “Why You Will Fail to Have a Great Career.”  Smith discusses that although college students are told to pursue their passion most will not because “You’re afraid to pursue your passion.  You’re afraid to look ridiculous.  You’re afraid to try.  You’re afraid you may fail.”
https://www.ted.com/talks/larry_smith_why_you_will_fail_to_have_a_great_career
 
Neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor gave one of the most watched TED talks of all time (about 20 million views).  The talk illustrates how having a strong emotional connection with the material leads to increased audience engagement.  Bolte Taylor’s talk is compelling because it involves a personal connection and exceptional storytelling.  TEDster Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor offers advice for teachers and other presenters, and that is to tell a story and demonstrate your passion for the topic. According to Bolte Taylor, “When I was at Harvard, I was the one winning the awards.  I wasn't winning the awards because my science was better than anyone else’s.  I was winning because I could tell a story that was interesting and fascinating and it was mine, down to the detail.”
http://www.ted.com/talks/jill_bolte_taylor_s_powerful_stroke_of_insight 
 
 
Chapter two discusses how to “Master the Art of Storytelling” by illustrating how effective speakers utilize narratives to make an emotional connection with the audience.  For example, TED speaker Brene Brown famously begins her topic by defending qualitative research she conducts with the statement that “Stories are data with a soul.”  Effective storytelling engages each listener individually and allows them to become emotionally attached and to the ideas being presented.  Some of the most effective TED storytellers are discussed in this chapter including Brian Stevenson’s talk, “We Need to Talk About an Injustice” which led to the longest standing ovation in TED history (see earlier Books for Psychology Class post on his book Just Mercy).  The 1,000 attendees at Stevenson’s talk collectively donated $1 million dollars to his nonprofit, the Equal Justice Institute.  Stevenson raised $55,000 for every minute he spoke that day.  This TED talk was given without the aid of a PowerPoint, visuals, or props of any kind – a testament to the power of story. 
https://www.ted.com/talks/bryan_stevenson_we_need_to_talk_about_an_injustice
 
Another tip for an effective persuasive presentation according to the author, is to utilize Aristotle’s three components of effective persuasion ethos, logos, and pathos in the most effective ratio. Ethos refers to the credibility and credentials of the speaker, logos is the use of logic and data to make effective arguments, and pathos is the ability to appeal to the emotions of the audience.  When the author of the book analyzed the content of Brian Stevenson’s TED talk, he found it was 10 percent ethos, 25 percent logos, and 65 percent pathos or emotional appeal. Despite being 65 percent of pathos Stevenson’s talk has been rated as one of the most persuasive of all time. One of the ways the book recommends inserting pathos or emotional appeal is by including extreme moments. Dan Ariely, a psychologist and behavioral economist at Duke, introduces his talk on how research shows that people are predictably irrational with a dramatic personal story of his recovery from an injury that left him burned over 70 percent of his body.  Ariely’s talk is an excellent addition to the research unit for illustrating the need to test beliefs that are held intuitively through careful research methods. 
https://www.ted.com/talks/dan_ariely_on_our_buggy_moral_code/transcript?language=en#t-102037
 
In chapter three, the author describes how effective TED presenters can use body language and verbal delivery to engage with the audience in a manner that feels authentic and conversational instead of an impersonal lecture to a large group.  The four elements of verbal delivery addressed in this section are rate, volume, pitch, and the effective use of pauses for emphasis.  One of the examples of effective nonverbal communications is a 2012 TED talk by a former Army general and U.S. secretary of state Colin Powell on the importance of providing children with structure early in life.  His speech is broken down to illustrate how particular gestures corresponded with the words he used during his speech. 
 
Another amazing TED talk that powerfully uses gestures to strengthen an argument was given by Ernesto Sirolli titled, “Want to help someone?  Shut up and listen!” is also broken down to highlight the expert use of gestures.  Sirolli’s talk discusses how his failure to listen led to failure for his NGO project designed to help increase food production in rural Zambia.  The project involved teaching people living in southern Zambia to grow Italian tomatoes and other vegetables.  Because the local population was uninterested, the NGO paid them to grow the vegetables.  Sirolli and his team were surprised that agriculture was not being used in this fertile region with excellent weather and soil.  According to Sirolli, instead of asking the people living there why they did not grow crops, they said, "Thank God we're here." Just in the nick of time to save the Zambian people from starvation." The result was that everything grew extremely well and we were telling the Zambians, "Look how easy agriculture is." When the tomatoes were nice and ripe and red, overnight, some 200 hippos came out from the river, and they ate everything. It was then that Sirolli asked the Zambians, “My God, the hippos!" and the Zambians said, "Yes, that's why we have no agriculture here." When Sirolli asked, “Why didn't you tell us?" the Zambians replied, "You never asked."
https://www.ted.com/talks/ernesto_sirolli_want_to_help_someone_shut_up_and_listen
 
NOVEL
The second section of the book explains three aspects that contribute to an effective presentation because it is new and unique.  Kevin Allocca, who studies YouTube trends, stated this perfectly when he pointed out that in an era when two days’ worth of video is uploaded every two minutes, it is only the truly unique and original ideas that capture the attention of the online audience. 
 
The topic of chapter four, “Teach Me Something New,” describes how the best TED talks find a way to introduce new ideas or perspectives.  The author suggests that the titles of some of the most frequently viewed TED talks promise to teach something new such as “Schools Kill Creativity” (Sir Ken Robinson), “How Great Leaders Inspire Action” (Simon Sinek), “The Surprising Science of Happiness” (Dan Gilbert), “The Power of Introverts” (Susan Cain), “8 Secrets of Success” (Richard St. John), and “How to Live Before You Die” (Steve Jobs).  Martha Burns, a professor at Northwestern, teaches how to use neuroscience to be a better educator and highlights the biology behind the “buzz” we experience when learning something in her powerful TEDx talk.  One of the best examples of teaching something novel is Hans Rosling's talk that makes statistics and correlations exciting and meaningful.  Rosling, an expert on global health, animates correlational data regarding health and wealth in a powerful demonstration.  You can view his entire talk at ted.com or view the abbreviated version titled:  200 countries, 200 years, 4minutes.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbkSRLYSojo
 
Novel presentations, according to chapter five, “Deliver Jaw-Dropping Moments,” in which presenters capture the attention and imagination of their audiences by using dramatic demonstrations or surprises.  Some of the most dramatic moments or “hooks” at TED talks have included Bill Gates releasing mosquitos and Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor who opens her talk by holding a human brain that is still attached to the spinal cord.  “Wow” moments can also come from a single shocking statistic.

• “This country is very different today than it was 40 years ago. In 1972 there were 300,000 people in jails and prisons. Today there are 2.3 million.  The United States now has the highest rate of incarceration in the world.”

Bryan Stevenson
 

• “Why are we ignoring the oceans?  If you compare NASA’s annual budget to explore the heavens, that one-year budget would fund NOAA’s budget to explore the world's oceans for 1,600 years.” 

Robert Ballard
 

• “One in a hundred regular people is a psychopath.  So there are 1,500 people in this room. Fifteen of you are psychopaths.”

Jon Ronson
 
Successful TED talks also hook new viewers by creating memorable headlines, which turn into sound bites that are often spread across social media.  TED even has a Twitter handle devoted to the catchy, memorable quotes that are likely to generate public attention (@TEDQuote). 
 

• “There’s zero correlation between being the best talker and having the best ideas.”

Susan Cain
 

• “Don’t fake it till you make it.  Fake it till you become it.”

Amy Cuddy
 

• “Numbers are the musical notes with which the symphony of the universe is written.”

Adam Spencer
 
Chapter six highlights how the ability to “Lighten Up” by using appropriate and genuine humor can increase audience engagement.  The book provides numerous tips for adding humor to presentations, including quotes, short video clips, and anecdotes.
 
MEMORABLE
The final third of the book is dedicated to various ways to make your ideas and your presentation memorable.  Chapter seven, “Stick to the 18-Minute Rule,” explains why all TED talks are limited to 18 minutes.  This key rule was established because it allows enough time for thoughtful analysis, yet short it is enough to maintain audience engagement.  Research shows that information is remembered better if it is organized into related chunks, this has led TED to recommend that presentations be centered around three main areas or points that support one large overarching idea.  This concept can be applied to classroom presentations as well by limiting direct instruction to shorter chunks broken up with time for reflection and formative practice.  The 18-minute rule forces researchers to create a focused message that maintains attention levels, and that does not create what researchers call “cognitive backlog” or the problem in which too much information prevents the successful transfer of ideas.  There are also numerous other TED rules of three such as the Three A’s of Awesome:  Attitude, Awareness, and Authenticity which were shared by award-winning blogger and author of the Book of Awesome, Neil Pasricha in a TEDx talk.  https://www.ted.com/talks/neil_pasricha_the_3_a_s_of_awesome 
Kevin Allocca, a YouTube trends manager studies why some videos go viral, and others do not.  According to Allocca, 48 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute, yet only a few will have millions of views.  In Allocca’s TED talk, he explains the three factors that contribute to the success of a video:  tastemakers, communities of participation, and unexpectedness.  Of course, there is also the three-minute TED talk titled “TED in 3 Minutes,” which has been given by individuals such as Arianna Huffington and New York Times tech columnist David Pogue.  The original three-minute talk was given by Terry Moore who showed the audience a better way to tie their shoes, which has been viewed more than 1.5 million times.  The rule of three suggests

1. Creating a Twitter-friendly headline
2. Support the headline with three key messages
3. Reinforce the three messages with stories, statistics, and examples

 
Chapter eight describes how effective speakers can “Paint a Mental Picture with Multisensory Experiences” and engage as many of the senses of audience members as possible.   For example, the best TED talks use memorable images, not excessive text on slides.  One of the major tips is for creating better more effective PowerPoint presentations by avoiding too much text and instead relying more on memorable images and other visuals.  One of the worst ways to present is PowerPoint karaoke in which the speaker reads text aloud off of the screen. The chapter includes several examples of successful TED talks that show the words being used by the presenter alongside a description of the images being displayed to audience members.  A powerful example of how words are delivered alongside dramatic images is Lisa Kristine’s TED talk about the hardships of indigenous peoples and the reality of the 27 million individuals living in modern-day slavery. https://www.ted.com/talks/lisa_kristine_glimpses_of_modern_day_slavery
 
The final tip for making your presentation memorable, “Stay in Your Lane,” is outlined in chapter nine. Staying in your lane means that your presentations need to be authentic and honest and speak from the heart.  One of the tips offered for “staying in your lane” is to practice by giving your presentation to a friend or family member first because when you have a close relationship with someone, you are more likely to show who you are. 
 
Talk Like TED is an excellent guide full of practical ideas for making your presentations, activities, and demos more engaging and effective.  The book is also an opportunity to learn about some amazing TED talks you may not have heard of before.  TED talks can be shown in class, assigned as homework to facilitate class discussions or offered as opportunities for students who want to expand their understanding of a particular area of psychology.  Another interesting way to use TED talks is to execute the demos or activities presented by a particular TED talk in class, and then after hooking students on the content, let your students know how to access the entire TED talk. Because many TED presenters are also authors, TED talks can be used to stimulate interest for students to read books related to their favorite TED talks or pursue research projects in areas related to what they watched. 
 
Other Related Resources
 
Author’s Website
Carmine Gallo’s website offers articles, videos, and links to other books.
http://gallocommunications.com/books/talk-like-ted-2/
 
The Top 20 TED Talks of All Time
http://www.ted.com/playlists/171/the_most_popular_talks_of_all?gclid=CjwKEAjwtNbABRCsqO7J0_uJxWYSJAAiVo5LuME8Z7o2-Ki6OahJAA2Liq3mJcpOAdNcrtYR4zRz0RoCKgPw_wcB
 
How to Sound Smart in Your TED Talk
Comedian Will Stephen’s take on how to give a TED talk and impress your audience.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8S0FDjFBj8o
 
 
Psychological Figures and Concepts
Dan Ariely
Aristotle
Paul Bloom
Jill Bolte-Taylor
Lera Boroditsky
Susan Cain
James Flynn
Daniel Gilbert
Malcolm Gladwell
Sydney Jensen
George Miller
Daniel Pink
Hans Rosling
 
10,000 Hour Rule
Altruism
Amygdala
Analogies
Dopamine
Dual-Coding Theory
Flashbulb Memory
Flynn Effect
Genius
Hippocampus
Imagery
Introversion
Linguistic Determinism
Linguistic Relativity
Magic Number 7 Plus or Minus 2
Multitasking
Neuroplasticity
Nonverbal Communication
Persuasion
Positive Emotion
Self-Esteem
Statistics 

Buy This Book
​www.amazon.com/Animal-Madness-Inside-Their-Minds/dp/1451627017

​

Shrinks: The Untold Story of Psychiatry
Authors:  Jeffrey A. Lieberman and Ogi Ogas
ISBN-10: 031627898X
ISBN-13: 978-0316278980

APA Style Citation
Lieberman, J. A. (2015).  Shrinks: The untold story of psychiatry. New York, NY: Little, Brown and Company.
 
Buy This Book
https://www.amazon.com/Shrinks-Untold-Psychiatry-Jeffrey-Lieberman/dp/031627898

Book Description
 
Psychiatry was coined in 1808 by German physician Johann Christian Reil and means “medical treatment of the soul.” Despite its origin over 100 years ago, major discoveries have only recently happened in the last few decades. The author of Shrinks: The Untold Story of Psychiatry is Jeffrey A. Lieberman, MD, the Lawrence C. Kolb Professor and Chairman, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons; Director, New York State Psychiatric Institute; and Psychiatrist-in-Chief, Columbia University Medical Center of the New York-Presbyterian Hospital. He was a member of the DSM-5 oversight committee and president of the American Psychiatric Association (APA) during the publication of the DSM-5. Dr. Lieberman believes he became the president of the APA at a historical turning point in the profession, when psychiatry finally assumed its rightful place in the medical community. New research, technologies, and insights have allowed the field to come out of the shadows of its dark history. He believes to move forward the field needs to own up to its history of mistakes and how they overcame their problematic past. He shares this controversial history in three main sections: the story of diagnosis, the story of treatment, and psychiatry reborn.
 
Psychology is not the only field with fake treatments, but it does have more illegitimate treatments than any other one. In order to understand the methods for diagnosis and treatment, Dr. Lieberman takes the reader on a journey through the history of diagnosis. The field of psychiatry has been historically split into two camps. There are the neurologists who work with visible damage to the brain, such as dementia, strokes, tumors, Parkinson’s disease, and Alzheimer’s disease. Then there are psychiatrists who work with mysterious conditions, such as psychoses, manias, phobias, melancholia, obsessions, and hysteria. The field has swung from psychodynamic psychiatry that views mental illness as a result of inner psychic processes to biological psychiatry that supports mental illness as an identifiable physical abnormality in the brain. This dichotomy exits to this day, while most psychiatrists have settled on a pluralistic psychology that accepts both views. Next, the reader is taken on a journey through the early asylums, the movement of alienists, Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalysis, the WWII shift in psychoanalysis from Europe to the U.S., the foundation of American psychiatry, and the formation of the term “shrinks.” In the 1960s, American Psychoanalysts took the U.S. by storm and gained power by influencing universities. With this newfound power they wanted to fix the world and got swept up in America’s social activism. The 1970s was faced with the Rosenhan study, homosexuality controversy, and the antipsychiatry movement. The final part of the story takes the reader through the development of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) and its modern day influence.
 
Psychiatry is often given a black eye for its early start consisting of the harsh treatment of its patients. The unfortunate lack of adequate budgets and overcrowded facilities led to intolerable conditions in the early asylums. Out of desperation physicians tried techniques that sound barbaric by today’s standards. Dr. Lieberman takes the reader on the story of treatment in the field of psychiatry. The American story starts with Dorthea Dix, pyrotherapy (creating an artificial fever), insulin-shock therapy, transorbital lobotomy, convulsive therapy, and electroconvulsive therapy. Next, came the use of psychiatric drugs to pacify disruptive patients. These included morphine, chloral, and sodium bromide. In the 1950s, the first psychopharmaceutical drug was born to relieve anxiety, known as Miltown. But the beginning of the end of asylums didn’t come until the introduction of Thorazine, the first antipsychotic. Soon after came antidepressants, mood stabilizers, and MAOIs. According to Dr. Lieberman, the three flagship illnesses had a solution that took them from “wholly untreatable” to “largely manageable.” The world of psychiatry was changing.
 
Since the history of diagnosis and treatment, the field of psychiatry has witnessed a rebirth with the study of the brain. Phrenology, the study of bumps on the skull, started in 1809, but it wasn’t until the late 1900s that scientists were able to study the brain inside the skull while their patient was still alive. In the 1980s, brain imaging opened the door in the brain wide open for exploration. The PET scan, which measures the brain’s chemistry and metabolism, was nicknamed the “head-shrinker.” The 1990s became the Decade of the Brain. Eric Kandel was studying memory in the brain and Aaron Beck developed cognitive-behavioral therapy. Thanks to the Human Genome Project and the ROMA technique psychiatrists were able to explore genetics in a way that was never done before. Meanwhile the diagnosis of PTSD was evolving and the DSM was facing revisions in the digital age.  In 2006, the DSM-5 Task Force faced a daunting task of updating the DSM while public complaints were expressed on the Internet. Leaders of previous DSMs began to question the process publically. Shrouded in confidentiality agreements and behind closed doors, the revision process put the APA back in the public spotlight. From 2008 to 2013, the media fueled the fire and kept the DSM in the public eye. The APA appointed an oversight committee that recognized a serious problem and then implemented two post hoc review committees to squelch internal conflict. The DSM-5 was confirmed by vote in 2013 and quickly attacked by the National Institute of Mental Health who proposed they would make their own diagnostic system based on neural definitions of psychopathology. This criticism quickly faded after recognizing the size of the task and since then criticism and news involving the DSM has fallen quiet. 
 
The story of psychiatry has taken many turns in recent history, but the future has many more hurdles ahead. Once there were no effective diagnostic criteria or treatments, whereas now the social stigma associated with mental illness prevails as the main hurdle ahead. Hollywood has taken on the issue and has start to put a dent in the problem, but there is a ways to go before society accepts mental illness in the same way as physical illness. The future also offers promising areas of research in genetics and diagnostic testing. Thanks to technology, research, and the use of mobile devices more improvements are on the way.  The story of psychiatry is long from coming to a close and it is an exciting time in the field with many advances right around the corner.  
 
Other Related Resources
Colombia University
https://www.columbiapsychiatry.org/profile/jeffrey-lieberman-md
 
Personal Website (Book, Podcasts, Media)
https://www.jeffreyliebermanmd.com/
 
Twitter
https://twitter.com/DrJlieberman?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
 
New York Times article
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/29/books/review/shrinks-by-jeffrey-a-lieberman-with-ogi-ogas.html
 
Editorial
Shrinks: The Untold Story of Psychiatry, by Jeffrey A. Lieberman, M.D. ...
aapdp.org/documents/uploads/pdps.Friedman_Critique_of_Lieberman.pdf
 
Psychological Figures and Concepts 
 
Aaron Beck
Abraham Maslow
Albert Einstein
Alfred Adler
Anna O
Antonio Egas Moniz
B.F. Skinner
Carl Gustav Jung
Charles Darwin
David Rosenhan
Dorthea Dix
Emil Kraepelin
Eric Kandel
Franz Mesmer
G. Stanley Hall
Hermann von Ebbinghaus
Ivan Pavlov
Paul Broca
Philippe Pinel
Sigmund Freud
Walter Freeman
Wilhelm Wundt
William James
 
ADHD
Agoraphobia
Alzheimer’s disease
American Psychiatric Association (APA)
American Psychoanalytic Association (APsaA)
American Psychological Association (APA)
Amygdala
Animal magnetism
Antidepressant
Antipsychotic
Anxiety
Anxiolytics
Apgar score
Archetypes
Asylums
Autism
Autonomic nervous system
Aversion therapy
Barbiturates
Blindsight
Case studies
Castration anxiety
Catharsis
Classification system
Cognitive-behavioral therapy
Cohort
Collective unconscious
Confidentiality
Conversion reaction
Crisis of reliability
CT scan
Deep brain stimulation (DBS)
Defense mechanisms
Deinstitutionalization
Delusions
Dementia
Denial
Dreams
DSM (I-5)
ECT
EEG
Empiricism
Evidence-based psychotherapy
Flashbulb memories
Flat affect
fMRI
Free-association
Freudian slips
Frontal lobe
Gestalt theory
Glutamate
Heritability
Hippocampus
Homosexuality
Hypnosis
Id, ego, superego
Implicit memory
Informed consent
Insanity
Intellectual disability
Interpersonal psychotherapy
Labels
Leucotomy
Lithium
LSD
Malingering
Mania
Meditation
Monozygotic/dizygotic twins
MRI
Narcissistic
Neural network
Neurologists
Neuroplasticity
Neurosis
OCD
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)
Oedipus/Electra complex
Opiates
Panic disorder
Paranoia
Parkinson’s disease
Penis envy
PET scan
Phenylketonuria (PHU)
Phobias
Phrenology
Prefrontal cortex
Priming
Prozac
Pseudoscientists
Psychiatrist
Psychoanalytic vs Psychodynamic
Psychosexual development
PTSD
Replication
Resistance
Retrograde amnesia
Schizophrenia
Simple reflexes
SSRI
Stigma
Sublimation
Substance abuse
Suicide
Synapses
Transference
Xanax