Tinnitus is an experience of noise without any external source.  Culturally, hearing something that’s not there terrifies us.  I am not sure why, but many of us are very afraid of anything to do with their minds.  In fact, when I meet someone socially and they find out that I am a Psychologist, they tend to stop speaking with me.  The very word ‘Mental’ (something of mind) is a scary word for people.  When our minds are not working as we expect them to… isn’t it fascinating that we can use our mind to create expectations for our mind’s performance… But when our minds do not meet those expectations, we tend to become very afraid… freak out even.  Curious? Read more

What a wonderful metaphor for human learning and flexibility. Nuroplasticity – You learnt it once, you can learn another thing at another time. Old dog can be taught new tricks, just takes a little elbow grease. Curious? Read more

It is difficult to answer these questions in just a few words. But, saying this doesn’t help, so let me try to describe the psychological processes that are involved in this kind of suffering.

The fear of confinement and deprivation of freedom has been documented in humans and animals for a long time as related to our need for autonomy and survival (e.g. BF Skinner 1971). Having said that, some of us will have the freedom to choose the elevator, whilst others will feel forced to take the stairs. Let’s have a look at some of the psychological processes that are at work here. Curious? Read more

Dr Jason Luoma PhD, resources for Clients and Therapists: http://www.drluoma.com/actresources.html

Association for Contextual Behavioural Science (ACBS):

https://contextualscience.org/free_audio and here:

https://contextualscience.org/act_for_the_public

Dr Russ Harris and The Happiness Trap:

http://www.thehappinesstrap.com/

Julian McNally here:

http://www.actofliving.com.au and here:

http://emedia.rmit.edu.au/communication/

Dr John P. Forsyth PhD:

http://mindfulness-and-anxiety.blogspot.com.au/