What should you do if you have a quality or characteristic that other people dislike?

Knowing that another person dislikes us usually evokes the same emotional responses in most people -- usually sadness, disappointment, anxiety and even anger. Such experiences can also get you thinking about whether there is...

The notion that physical attractiveness is a valued and even revered quality in Western society -- an obsession for many people -- is essentially a given fact. The preferential emphasis on beauty is beyond evident in the worlds of media and entertainment, where by miracle of chance the people who...

I recently wrote about rejection phobia and the impact it can have on people's lives. One of the more tragic aspects of rejection phobia is how self-sustaining the problem can be. In fact, people who are rejection phobic ultimately fabricate their own reality that perpetuates their phobia and...

Psychologists often make a distinction between fears and phobias. A fear is an emotional response to a real or perceived threat. Fears are common in the population and are often normal -- or at least innocuous -- reactions to objects or events. For example, many people fear spiders -- they...

Anyone who regularly watches the NFL has probably witnessed a game delay due to a fan running out on the field. The interesting thing about this experience, however, is not the fan's behaviour -- it's that the millions of people watching at home on T.V. never get to actually see...

Have you ever heard of Meta-Cognitive Therapy (MCT)? How About Intolerance of Uncertainty Therapy (IUT)?

OK, how about Paxil and Prozac?

Well, two out of four ain't bad. After all, billions of dollars in combined sales and plenty of ads will occasionally get you noticed. I'm not saying that's...

Imagine you're having coffee with your spouse or significant other. They seem a bit quiet, and you ask if everything is all right. They say that everything is fine. Do you believe them?

Or, do you think, "He/ she is unhappy with me."

It is very common and normal to...

Sometimes, while waiting for the subway, I imagine someone getting pushed in front of the train.

Does this sound like someone with good mental health? A patient in need of medication or a good therapist?

Nope. The above quote comes from me -- a clinical psychologist!

It is a line...

Human beings possess an innate need to form relationships and belong to groups(1). When social bonds are broken, especially in cases of social exclusion and rejection, there can be significant psychological consequences (e.g. depression and anxiety). As such, there exists a strong motivation for most of us to...

It is probably one of the more common explanations offered by fans, sportswriters and commentators alike when trying to comprehend an athletes' decline in athletic performance -- 'stress.'

It was not uncommon this past year to hear the dreaded 'S' word attached to various athletes on different occasions, with...