Group Therapy

Grief is intensely painful, but it is also a healing process, if it is recognized, respected and given full expression.

Group therapy is a way of giving psychological help to a number of people at the same time. But can it ever replace individual treatment.

Habits, both are good and bad, are patterns of behaviour which we actively learn. By influence and example, our parents affect the habits we acquire in childhood.

Hallucinations-sensing things which aren’t there-are a disturbing experience which can have many causes. Fortunately, these are seldom really serious.

Of all the childhood habits, head banging is probably the one that causes parents the greatest worry. But why do children do it-is it a sign of emotional problems? And can it damage the brain.

Our identity is our essential self, the part of us that makes us different from all other people. A strong sense of identity enables us to live full lives; to surmount periods of crisis and to communicate well with others.

Children often have vivid imaginations, but imagination can also play a major part in adult life. So what are its uses and why does it sometimes mislead us.

Hypnosis used to be a popular stage entertainment, but today it may be used by hospitals as an aid to pain relief and by psychologists as a means of relieving certain psychologically based disorders.

Impotence is rarely a long-term sexual difficulty, but if it is a man can go to his doctor without embarrassment

People who suffer from an exaggerated concern about their health are described as hypochondriacs. However, hypochondria should always be taken seriously as it is a sign of emotional disturbance and specialist may be needed to uncover and deal with.

A modest level of inhibition in our makeup is useful, for it helps to put a brake on at least some of our wilder excesses. Too much, can make our lives a misery.

‘Insanity’ is a legal term, rather than a medical one, and very imprecise. It is often far easier to recognise insane behaviour than to define it. How, then, does society make judgements about people’s mental state.

Insecurity happens to all of us. Starting a new job, moving to a different town, taking examinations, speaking in front of a group of people , and a host of other life situations, are bound to bring forth feelings of unsureness about ourselves.

Being unable to sleep is something which most of us experience from time to time-and it is usually only a short-term inconvenience. Long-term insomnia may indicate an underlying problem requiring medical help.

Human beings are born with powerful instincts, the most important being self-prevention. They are a complex and fascinating aspect of our nature.

Psychology means knowledge of the mind - how it works and why people and other animals think, feel and behave the way that they do. Psychologists are therefore concerned that with every aspect of mental life.

Each of us has a unique and invisible possession – our mind. What it is, where it is and how it works has intrigued mankind for thousands of years, and there is still an immense amount to discover about it.

This serious mental disorder is frequently confused with ‘split personality - an entirely different condition. In fact, schizophrenia encompasses a variety of unnerving symptoms, often mixed with normal behavior.

Lethargy is a common physical and psychological state. Usually it wears off quite quickly, but when it is persistent it can be a symptom of illness.

Most of us occasionally feel persecuted. The victim of paranoia, however, suffers from the delusion that he is being systematically menaced by a sinister group who may be his neighbours, midgets - or even Martians.

We all know that children resemble their parents, grandparents, brothers and sisters to some extent, but just how far is it possible to predict the way they will turn out? Some of the answers are provided by the study of heredity.

A hyperactive child is never still but constantly rushes around everywhere, impulsively starting one activity and then immediately abandoning it for another. It is quite exhausting for the parents, but fortunately treatment is available to calm such child.

In a single day, the body’s network of sensory cells sends millions of messages to the brain. Perception is the extraordinary subtle process by which we select and interpret information from those messages

As an insidious component of modern life, tension can occur during even the most mundane everyday activities. Prolonged tension can lead to stress, that all too potent cause of serious physical and mental illness

An irrational fear of open spaces, or of cats, or even of fear itself - just three of the wide spectrum of phobias that many thousands of people suffer from. Fortunately, treatment is always possible.