Coming November 3-4, 2006: San Diego Deaf Mental Health Services has put out a call for proposals for its upcoming fall conference. If you work in the mental health field, this is a great opportunity to get together with colleagues and find out what’s new in the area of Deaf domestic violence. We always need more Deaf professionals to share …
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Jun
2006
Deaf Children = Wild Animals?: You’ve probably seen those yellow signs by the roadside that announce “SLOW Deaf Child” or “Caution: Deaf Child Area”. Are these signs really necessary? Deer, cows, and ducks may occasionally have their own signs, but do Deaf children need them? Deaf children are not wild animals. They can be taught how to play outside and …
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Jun
2006
The Eyes Have It: People have always been fascinated by eyes. Quotes such as “the eyes are the mirror of the soul” and “you are the apple of my eye” remind us how mysterious and powerful eyes can be. Researchers know that eyes are important perceptual signals as well. We act differently when we are being watched and we often …
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Jun
2006
Who Decides What is Normal and What is Not?
By: Deaf Counseling Center
Category: Assessment, Books, Psychology
The Big Book: Following up on this week’s earlier postings on labeling, today we thought we’d take a look at the DSM, the hefty 943-page widely used Diagnostic and Statistics Manual of Mental Disorders, published by the American Psychiatric Association. The DSM is used by mental health professionals as a diagnostic tool. Every mental disorder, from autism to depression to …
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Jun
2006
A Desire to be Deaf: Here is an interesting case of a hearing woman with such a compelling desire to be Deaf that she resorted to putting cotton balls soaked in oil into her ears. See the article. In this case, the woman experienced negative reactions to sounds and reported feeling so much more “at home” in the Deaf community, …
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Jun
2006
Anxiety: Does It Keep You from Seeing Happy Faces?
By: Deaf Counseling Center
Category: Perception, Psychology, Research
Happy Faces: A study that shows that the more anxiety people have, the more difficult it is for them to recognize happy faces. This makes sense because anxiety influences how we view the world and others. Keeping our anxiety to a minimum is healthier for us both emotionally and physically. Being able to recognize happy faces is just one small …
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Jun
2006
The Stoop Effect in Our Daily Lives: Thinking about interference (see Stroop Effect post on June 9th) and what it really means for us in our everyday lives. Jules made a good point in the comments section, noting that it can be hard to look past our first impressions sometimes and that we often need to remind ourselves to pay …
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Jun
2006
Don’t read the words on the right–just say the colors they’re printed in, and do this aloud as fast as you can. You’re in for a surprise! If you’re like most people, your first inclination was to read the words, ‘red, yellow, green…,’ rather than the colors they’re printed in, ‘blue, green, red…’ You’ve just experienced interference. When you look …
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Jun
2006
Want to keep up with current trends in psychology and psychotherapy, share your thoughts about an article, or discover something new when you have a few minutes to spare? Check out our ASC blog for postings that we think you may enjoy reading, whether you are a professional in the mental health field or someone with an interest in understanding …
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