Counseling News from the Week of October 16, 2026
Explanation: Although I scan the Internet primarily for counseling articles, in the process I run across quotes and interesting facts that I sometimes include in these first two sections. If you’re just interested in the counseling articles, you can skip these first two sections and go directly to the section called Counseling Articles.
Interesting Quotes
"So many of our dreams at first seem impossible, then they seem improbable, and then, when we summon the will, they soon become inevitable."
Christopher Reeve
"Like snowflakes, the human pattern is never cast twice. We are uncommonly and marvelously intricate in thought and action, our problems are most complex and, too often, silently borne."
Alice Childress
“One cool judgment is worth a thousand hasty counsels.”
Woodrow Wilson
"It pays to know the enemy–not least because at some time you may have the opportunity to turn him into a friend."
Margaret Thatcher
“Nothing can dim the light that shines from within.”
Maya Angelou
"A country that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both."
Dwight D. Eisenhower
"In my experience, each failure contains the seeds of your next success—if you are willing to learn from it."
Paul Allen
“Where observation is concerned, chance favors only the prepared mind.”
Louis Pasteur
Fascinating Facts
IKEA turns to driverless semis with nobody in the cab
Ikea has been working on the concept of driverless trucks for two years, and they have logged 40,000 miles with an observer in the cab. Ikea now believes they have completed the safety tests necessary to allow totally driverless semis to drive between Houston and Dallas. Although the concept sounds frightening to some, apparently Ikea believes the trucks are ready for completely autonomous operation.
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Lake Vostok: The ancient lake no one on Earth has ever seen
There is an ancient lake no one on earth has ever seen. Lake Vostok is the 16th largest lake in the world, but it’s trapped under two and one-half miles of ice. Although it’s in Antarctica, the lake never freezes. The water is heated enough to keep it in liquid form by heat coming from the center of the earth and the heat is kept from escaping by the ice above the lake.
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Counseling News
Is the Rise in Cohabitation Fueling a Marriage Slowdown?
With 80% of young adults now viewing cohabitation as acceptable, the frequency of young people cohabiting for several months without the expectation that it will lead to marriage is increasing.
But researchers say there are disadvantages to cohabitation. Those who do cohabit and then marry, either to that person or someone else, are more likely to divorce, and the more cohabiting partners they have had, the greater the likelihood that they will divorce.
And for those who have cohabited in the past and have children, about 2/3 break up before their child turns 12, whereas the divorce rate for married couples is 25%. So there are several disadvantages for adults as well as to their children to cohabiting before marriage or for cohabiting instead of getting married.
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Too Many Young Men Don’t Know How to Be a Gentleman
As the recent case from Cornell University illustrates, this author, a psychologist and family physician concludes that the majority of young male college students have not integrated the idea that a male does not engage sexually with a woman who is incapacitated by drugs or alcohol. But the danger to women is even more serious than that: 2/3 of college women say that they have experienced violence such as choking during a sexual encounter. Perhaps because of widespread exposure to porn, many young men have lost the moral precept that it is the responsibility of men to protect women rather than take advantage of them. This has lead to a mindset of heteropessimism that many young women have about the idea of dating today.
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How high‑quality friendship supports teen well‑being
This article talks about how high-quality friendships are associated with better mental health for teens and then talks about how parents can encourage their children to develop high-quality friendships. It is clear that developing a few high-quality friendships is better than having many superficial or low-quality relationships.
Parents can encourage their teen to develop high-quality friendships is by modeling healthy friendships themselves through active listening and honest communication. A second way is by encouraging their teen to find other teens with similar interests with whom to interact. Not mentioned in the article, but certainly consistent with it would be parents making efforts for their teens to spend more time with other religiously committed teens in their churches.
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Did a Baby Formula Scare in Israel Influence Fertility?
This research study might not seem to have much relevance for Americans, but it points out a fact that is likely to be generalizable across countries. When something threatens accessibility to baby formula it may cause significant decreases in the fertility rate in that country the following year.
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Clear the Brain Fog: 7 Ways to Boost Focus and Memory
This article by Tanya Hvilivitzky identifies things that often remain strong in bipolar disorder, such as creativity and resilience, but also the things that sometimes suffer, such as brain fog, trouble concentrating, word-finding difficulties, and problems with memory or organization can come and go. When those do occur, Tanya, who has bipolar disorder herself, gives some good suggestions.
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How Exercise Changes Your Brain, From Minutes to Years
Although we’ve known for years that exercise improves our bodily health, only recently have we started to understand how exercise benefits the brain. Even occasional exercise produces some benefit, but consistent exercise produces even more benefit to the brain. So if you need a bit more motivation to get started exercising, read this article. And if you’re already consistent about exercising, learn how it improves your brain.
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‘Compassionate’ drug policy is anything but — woke Canada shows us why
Some cities in the U.S., and the entire country of Canada, are allowing “harm reduction” policies that allow addicts to obtain their desired drug and sometimes provide methods (like straws) that reportedly allow addicts to use their drug of choice more safely. As this article points out, “harm reduction” strategies that encourage addicts to use their drug of choice, supposedly more safely, are a questionable form of “compassion.”
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The Attraction of Drugs
In this article Mark Gregston talks about three topics—why teens are attracted to drugs, how the addiction deepens, and steps parents can take when this happens.
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What is a Stem Cell?
Many of us wonder what stem cells are and what their uses might be. This brief answer from my former cardiologist might be helpful to those who aren’t sure what the answers to those two questions are.
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5 Ways to Counter the Effects of Prolonged Sitting
Counselors, as well as many office workers, have to live with the results of sitting for several hours per day. This article describes why such prolonged sitting is unhealthy, and some ways to ameliorate the effects. You can choose from among the suggestions offered.
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This has been a slow week as far as counseling research goes. This is all that I have found. Have a wonderful week!
Henry Virkler