relationships

Depression Prevention For Children

Depression is a devastating disorder. Once you have had an episode of depression your susceptibility to having further periods of depression increases. Resilient Youth’s research on 160,000 young people shows the rates of students who are at risk of depression increases across the years of school. Years   Girls              Boys [...]

Are You Hearing Me?

Giving someone your full attention in conversation isn’t easy, but it is a skill we can practice and hone. Have you ever tried to have a conversation with somebody who wasn’t listening to you? Could you tell? Have you ever seen yourself nodding and smiling during a conversation while in your mind you were landing [...]

Technology Is Diminishing Us

Have you found yourself checking email at dinner, or skipping from book to screen, unable to focus? The closer the world gets to our fingertips, the more we stand to lose. Psychologists who study empathy and compassion are finding that, unlike our almost instantaneous responses to physical pain, it takes time for the brain to [...]

Listening Is Not Enough to Mitigate the Malady of Modernity

Any simple time-and-motion study in our homes, workplaces, shopping malls or transport hubs will show that the more time we spend with devices in the digital realm, the less time there is to spend with people in the human realm. At the same time, it's probable that constant online violence dulls us to real pain. [...]

The Power of Talking Sideways to Children

Good family communication is the key to successful parenting at all stages, but it’s not always easy. We all know the advice about getting down to a toddler’s tantrumming level, offering a stroppy six-year-old a non-judgmental ear and giving a tired teenager peace to think and a cup of tea after a tough exam, but [...]

Mental Health And Relationships ‘Key To Happiness’

Pixabay Images Good mental health and having a partner make people happier than doubling their income, a new study has found. The research by the London School of Economics looked at responses from 200,000 people on how different factors impacted their wellbeing. Suffering from depression or anxiety hit individuals hardest, whilst being in [...]

Science Shows That Social Media Is Good For You…Until It Isn’t

Flickr Images Even as we are addicted to checking our Facebook or Twitter feeds and compulsively respond to the familiar ding of new email, we worry about its negative impacts. Cyber bullying, sexting, and victimisation occur. We are bombarded with images of friends who seemingly lead lives far more glamorous than our own. [...]

Affection, Not Money, Key to Child Health

Pixabay Images Growing up in a well-off home can benefit a child’s physical health even decades later, but a lack of parent-child warmth, or the presence of abuse, may eliminate the health advantage of a privileged background. Assistant professor of sociology at Baylor University, Matthew A. Andersson, Ph.D., explains: Previous research has associated [...]

This Holiday Season, Spend On Doing Rather Than Having

Flickr Images Consumerism is in the air this time of year. There may be no better evidence of our consumerist habits than the barrage of goods currently advertised on-line, in newspaper supplements, and, of course, in store windows. But there has been some recent pushback on this front. Last year, the outdoor retailer [...]

How Assuming Intentions Can Change Relationships With Children

Pixabay Images Do we react to children’s behaviour, or what we think their intention is behind the behaviour?  Do we have a preconceived notion of what drives children, and could this be impacting upon the way we respond to them? The way we think about children can affect our relationship with them. Our [...]

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