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World of Psychology


Communication

3 Key Ingredients for Mature Love

We enter a partnership with good intentions and high hopes. But despite our best efforts, relationships often fail to fulfill their tender promise. What does it take to put the proper foundation under our fondest dreams?

Couples often enter my office eager to point out their partner’s flaws. They may use the session as a forum to convince each other how they should change. They’ve spent hours analyzing their partner’s flaws, convinced that if they would see the light, the relationship would improve. 
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Happiness

Five Ways to Avoid Growth

The opening sentence in M. Scott Peck’s book, The Road Less Traveled, is this: “Life is difficult.” It’s a line that is famous for its honesty and brevity. Life is, in fact, difficult if one is paying attention. That doesn’t mean that it is joyless or that it is too hard. The statement is simply a recognition that to become our best selves it is necessary to accept that the journey isn’t always smooth. Indeed, it shouldn’t be. Growth comes from facing obstacles and solving problems. 
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Medications

Concerning Findings About Cannabis Use

While recreational marijuana is legal in 11 states as of November 2019, more states gravitating toward legalizing the recreational use of the substance, and 33 states allowing medical marijuana, there’s apparently no stopping this trend. Cannabis, in the form of marijuana, hemp, and cannabidiol (CBD)  is being used for pain relief, to alleviate stress, cope with anxiety, and a number of other mental health disorders and addictions.

Yet, there’s a dearth of clinical studies that have been conducted on the overall effects on a user’s health. Clearly, as
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Motivation and Inspiration

How to Deal with Boredom

Many people struggle with chronic boredom. But what exactly is boredom and what are some ways to move beyond it?

According to Wikipedia, “Boredom is an emotional and occasionally psychological state experienced when an individual is left without anything in particular to do, is not interested in their surroundings, or feels that a day or period is dull or tedious.” We all know the feeling. It is part of life. But sometimes it’s a symptom of something deeper that needs tending.
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Communication

Say the Word, a Psychology of Power

Say the word. Suicide. Say it aloud. Say it more than once. Say it until it sounds like any other word. 

Our minds give words power, connotations, and destructive or healing qualities. Words, alone, can attack the body with symptoms of fear and uncertainty and, at the same time, be inexact and open to interpretation. What if you could rob a word like “suicide” of some of its isolating effect and control? 
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Anxiety and Panic

How to Overcome the Fear of Making Friends as an Adult

Making friends is straightforward, when you're a kid. Why isn’t it as easy to make friends as an adult? As a kid if you wanted to make friends you could just ask another kid if they want to play. There were usually toys or a playground involved and before you knew it you were laughing and playing with your new friend.

Yes, that’s a bit of a simplification and it isn’t always that easy for all kids. Nonetheless, making friends as children and even teens seems a bit more natural than it does for adults. As adults we’re busy, we put up walls, or focus on family, and then one day we look around and realize we don’t have as many friends as we would like -- maybe we don't have any at all.
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