Monthly Archives: March 2011

How to Improve Psychological Well-being | Adventures in Positive Psychology

Topics such as life-satisfaction and well-being are commonly considered in positive psychology and increasingly more in the mental health field. Measures of well-being offer the chance to uncover whether people are getting their overall needs met, and provide an overall sense of how happy, healthy, and prosperous someone is.

Here are a few ways to improve your psychological well being

self-acceptance
Self-growth
Purpose and meaning
Autonomy
Connectedness
Mastery

For more information about counseling and psychology, check out my site at RMarcAndrews.com

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Learn About How to Make the Most out of Therapy | Psych Central

Therapy can be tricky. Before even walking in the door for their first appointment, many people already have a variety of preconceived notions. And these beliefs can become blocks in treatment, interfering with the therapeutic process.

For more information about counseling and psychology, check out my site at RMarcAndrews.com

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Why Loneliness Matters

Loneliness is not only emotionally painful; it can harm your health. It’s a risk factor for a host of problems: high blood pressure; sleep problems; decreased ability to deal with the stress of daily life; and the body’s reduced ability to handle inflammation, leading to conditions such as atherosclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and tendinitis, as well as a weakened immune system, so you’re more susceptible to illness. Researchers have yet to identify the exact ways these health problems occur, but they know that loneliness seems to make them worse.

How to cure loneliness

Get out and about. You don’t have to be best friends with someone to benefit from interaction. Amity Brown, who is separated from her husband, takes walks around her neighborhood, smiling at people she passes. “When I started getting to know the neighborhood and the people around me, I felt like part of a community,” she says.

Be selective about making friends. Hawkley points out that if you’re desperate for relationships, you may be willing to tolerate unacceptable treatment. Now that Brown is feeling more stable, she says, “I’m more careful when I choose my friends to make sure they’re low-drama.”

Stay positive. Lonely people tend to expect rejection, which makes it more likely to happen. Social cognitive therapy can help people reframe their thoughts about how others see them.

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Newsletter about gay men and those who care about them

I would love to send you the articles and research I write about gay men and those who care about them. I have a newsletter which I send infrequently, about once a month, which I think you might find interesting and which I trust you will find worthy of forwarding to friends or saving as food for thought. If you would go to my web site rmarcandrews.com and in the lower right hand side you will a simple request button.

How to Use Positive Emotions to Enhance Self-esteem | Adventures in Positive Psychology

Here are some suggestions for experiencing more positive emotions and thus greater self-esteem.

1) Cultivate compassion
2) Let go of the past and stay present
3) Be kind to others
4) Build optimism

For more details go to the article and for more information about counseling and psychology, check out my site at RMarcAndrews.com

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gay.com Daily Hot Topics: I, Daddy: Growing Older in the Gay Community

outh and beauty are qualities women are typically judged on, while men trade on their economic status. Thus, traditionally, heterosexual men and women each know where they stand in the dating game. But in the gay world, youth, beauty and economic status often intermingle, so it becomes particularly difficult for some gay men to not only understand their position in a relationship, but also to refrain from judging, making assumptions or growing defensive when labels such as