For those who do not know the story of the good samaritan, it is this person who is helped an injured man in need while others just passed by and ignored the poor man. There were a couple of psychologists who wanted to test if religion has a certain effect on the helpful behavior of people. These psychologists are John Darley and C. Daniel Batson.

The subjects were a group of seminarians. The first half were given the story of the good samaritan and was asked to perform a sermon about it in a different building. The other half were told to give a short talk about job opportunities in a seminary.

The subjects were then given different times that they had to deliver the sermon so that some of them will be in a hurry and the others will not. On the way to the building, an injured man will be slumped.

Those who studied the story did not stop any more often than those who prepared for a speech on job opportunities. The biggest factor was the time frame given to the students.

What does it say? We are hypocrites. Who would contest to the fact that it is much easier to speak in a room full of people than helping a stranger and actually touching a smelly and bleeding old man.

Who have read the book of Paolo Coelho? I am a huge fan. Funny as it may seem, my friend’s psychiatrist recommended this book to him after one of their sessions. He was there because basically, after losing the relationship that he loved the most, his whole world collapsed and there he was, sitting alone with so many thoughts in his mind but he has no power to accomplish anything. He was a total bum.

Why did the psychiatrist recommend this book? Because it is a very inspirational novel that is well written and everyone can make a deep connection with the characters of the story. It all began with a boy who had a dream or a personal legend. He was doubtful at first but he listened to the voice of his inner heart and before he knew it, he became an alchemist himself. The story was touching, compelling and moving. I guess this was the novel that made Paolo Coelho the ultimate magician who made his books disappear from stalls right after the release.

I suggest that you read this novel too. It is moving and may end up being one of the best therapy methods you have evern encountered.

Unbelievable as it may seem, some men think that their genitals are shrinking. This is called the Koro Syndrom or the shrinking penis syndrome. It is a genital retraction syndrome wherein there is a pathological fear that the genitals are shrinking into the body. It is the fear of a man that his penis is being sucked into his body which sometimes result to death.

There are no cases that are documented to show that there is an actual deduction in a man’s penis. Some are suffering because they are frantically trying to stretch their genitals. It is somewhat related or similar to a panic attack only that it is with sexual elaborations. This disease is mostly in Asia and Africa. Rehabs and treatment will help solve this psychological problem.

Is there such as thing as sex addiction? Many professionals believe there is. I believe in it myself. If you could still remember Pamela Roger, the one who got 13 counts of statutory rape last 2005, she is a sex addict. She confessed what she done and is willing to go through rehabilitation.

Sex addiction is often the problem of men. Some would say that it is an excuse for cheating and some would say that it is a disease. Yes, professionals consider it a disease or an addiction. Although it is not through chemical means, it has something to do with the urge to do it just like gambling for example.

Professionals say that some are addicted to sex because of low self esteem and they needed an outlet to prove that they are something. Everything starts with just searching and watching porn for a few hours a day and then it will lead to using prostitutes whenever they can. This is very alarming since it can destroy lives, careers and more importantly - families.

This addiction is being dealt with by professionals and if you think that you are having this problem, seek help before it is too late.

Depression is a very hard emotional state to work with. Going through this emotional stress gives one person an extreme feeling of loneliness and can significantly affect a person’s work, family and school life and generally everything that he has to do in his life.

The course of depression varies widely. It can be once ion a lifetime event or it can occur multiple times, it can be gradual and it can come in all of a sudden and may last for months or be a life long disorder.

Talking is a great way to get over depression. While there are a lot of medications that stimulate the brain cells, talking to someone is still the best bet. It may be a psychiatrist or to a friend.

Being depressed means being down. Some people resort to engaging in activities to get over depression while some allow depression to get the best of them. In engaging in activities, you get to meet different people. Sooner, you will learn to make more friends and later on, you will be trusting them. This is a great ego booster for those who are depressed.

Last night, I got a late call from my friend who recently visited a therapist. Well, basically he just called to tell me how beautiful his new therapist was but I got interested with the fact that he said that he went through Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy.

As I did a little search in Google while he was talking, I saw that according to REBT, our emotions result from our personal beliefs, interpretations and reactions to life events. It is actually a type of cognitive therapy and is based more on thinking and doing than with the expression of feelings.

After hours of therapy, he told me that REBT taught him to have an unconditional self - acceptance. He lost his ego after his divorce with this wife so he really could not accept himself until such time he went to therapy. He learned that the world and people are fallible and that everyone must learn to accept themselves, life’s problems and hassles and that unfairness.

A new documentary film will be airing next month on local televisions. It is entitled “Struggling in Silence”. This film explores the dark side of one of the most rewarding professions - Doctor.

Based on what most people can see, doctors are rich and almost everyone looks up to them. What most people do not see however, is the fact that doctors have the highest rate of suicide of any profession. Every year, 300-400 physicians decide to end their own lives.

Dr. Charles Reynolds said that the real culprit is the undiagnosed and untreated depression. Most physicians do not admit that they are depressed. It will all just blurt out and without them knowing it, they are already taking their lives away. Most of the depressed doctors do not seek treatment because they worry that people may lose their respect, referrals and some even worry that they may lose their income and licenses.

Doctors have legal access to lethal drugs and they absolutely know how to use them. Some even engage in substance - abuse which is a major risk factor for suicide.

The movie itself aims to raise awareness that there is a problem going on and hopefully, it would prevent further damage to the population of doctors. This way, they will be taught how to recognize depression in themselves and hopefully, when they already know how to recognize it, they will be able to recognize depression in their patients as well.

The goal of all good therapy is, in my opinion, to assist the individual
on his goal of individuation - or self-actualization.

But in order to truly accomplish this, it is my humble opinion that
the therapy must employ the methods of psychoanalysis.
Though psychoanalysis has gotten a kind of bad name over the past few decades, it is still the
only form of therapy that gets the client in touch with her unconscious self.
And it is this unconscious self which houses the complexes which
all too often defeat or frustrate our spiritual growth.

Regrettably, psychoanalysis is no longer the standard in therapeutic circles.
Therapists nowadays have been channeled into practicing cognitive therapy
as the norm. I think this is unfortunate, and largely due to an overpowering negative
influence of the insurance industry.

What’s Wrong with Cognitive Therapy?

The limitation of cognitive therapy is, quite simply this:
It doesn’t address the root-level, unconscious processes
which create the negative thought patterns the cognitivists
try so skillfully to correct.

Only depth psychology (of which psychoanalysis is a species)
can really get to these core, root-level issues. It’s not that
cognitive psychology has no use. It’s just that relying solely on
cognitive psychology to solve psychoemotional problems
is very like pulling an apple off an apple tree and expecting
the apple not to grow back next spring.

Eric Bryant, Philosophical Counseling Consultant
Gnosis Arts Multimedia Communications LLC

A couple of months ago, my brother’s marriage was on literally on the rocks. They both threatened to file a divorce. I never thought that something would go wrong because they were so much in love with each other. But then, that seemed to be the problem. If one of them is away on a business trip, the other would be unhappy and sometimes become pretty jealous. A heated argument will follow afterwards. It took them a couple of months before they had to accept that there really is a problem.

They would take online advice and listen to friends but it didn’t actually help. So I recommended that they undergo a couples therapy. After 6 months of therapy, they were better than ever. It helped them understand and resolve the conflicts that they were having. The marriage became healthier than ever. I’m glad that I didn’t have to see any lawyer ringing our doorbell.

If a person is having a variety of speech, voice and language disorders, then the speech therapist is the person to seek help from. Problems such as stuttering, fluency and rhythm problems, wrong pitch, harsh voice and speech quality problems are just a few of their expertise.

The most obvious of those problems is stuttering that is caused by anxiety. What a speech therapist would do is set up a program of speech exercises to reduce disability and in some cases, they end up seeking help from a psychiatrist. Some disorders may arise from brain injury, mental disability, cerebral palsy, stroke or hearing loss.

Speech disorders are usually related to neurological and physical conditions. Speech therapists therefore must be able to work as a member of a team that may include other specialists such as neurologists. An important role of a speech therapy is to provide counseling and support or individuals on how to cope with the stress that is attached to these speech problems. Although the job is not that physically demanding, a speech therapist must have a lot of patience and compassion becuase the healing process takes up a lot of time.