Here’s an important promise to remember as we enter this week after Easter:
By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also.
1 Corinthians 6: 14
Let everything you do be done in love.
1 Corinthians 16:14
Interesting Quotes (several of these first quotes taken from “Inspiring Quotes”)
You cannot do kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
A kind and compassionate act is often its own reward.
— William John Bennett
I prefer you to make mistakes in kindness than work miracles in unkindness.
― Mother Teresa
Kindness is the only service that will stand the storm of life and not wash out. It will wear well and will be remembered long after the prism of politeness or the complexion of courtesy has faded away.
— Abraham Lincoln
Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.
— Desmond Tutu
Sometimes it takes only one act of kindness and caring to change a person’s life.
— Jackie Chan
People who are unable to motivate themselves must be content with mediocrity, no matter how impressive their other talents.
Andrew Carnegie
I can't give you a recipe for success, but I can give you a recipe for failure: try to please everybody.
Frank Langella
How A Polish Town is Supporting Ukraine and Redeeming Its Past
In World War II Ukrainians killed nearly 100,000 Polish people who were trying to flee from German troops. For many years bitter conflicts continued between the two sides. But in the latest Russian offensive, an estimated 10% of the Ukrainian population has fled, about half of them to Poland, and many Polish families are opening their homes and providing support to their fleeing neighbors. An amazing story of love overcoming conflict. Click here to read full article.
5 Overlooked Signs of ADHD – the Inattentive Type
People with hyperactive ADHD are easy to spot. Those with the inattentive type are easy to miss, for they often sit there quietly, causing no disruption. And they are frequently misjudged as lazy, unwilling, or unmotivated. This therapist identifies what she believes are the five most overlooked signs of inattentive ADHD, but also gives some practical strategies to help children or adults with inattentive ADHD to overcome those challenges. If you ever see children or adults in your practice with inattentive ADHD, I think you’ll find this article worthwhile. Click here to read full article.
Throw Out Everything You Assumed About Parenthood
This is another article for the parents of a child with ADHD. Often the principles that work with “normal” children do not work with neurodivergent children. If you are working with a parent who is frustrated that all the principles they thought would work but are not effective with their ADHD child, this article would probably be helpful to them. Click here to read full article.
New Insight into How Psychedelics Work
Using descriptions from nearly 7000 people who took one of 27 different psychedelics, these researchers compiled a list of likely brain sites and receptors that were activated by these various drugs. Investigators hope that this information may eventually lead to some useful clinical applications. Click here to read full article.
Biological Male Transgender Athlete Seriously Injures 3 Female Players
In Guam, a U.S. territory, a male, claiming to be a transgender female, seriously injured three female players. If you look at the picture accompanying this article, I think you too will see how easy it would be for an aggressive male to injure female players. Click here to read full article.
ACTOR NEAL MCDONOUGH RELIED ON FAITH AFTER HOLLYWOOD BLACKLISTED HIM FOR CHRISTIAN ETHICS
Neal McDonald was blacklisted by Hollywood when he wouldn’t kiss another woman than his wife or participate in sex scenes on screen. He discusses the spiritual struggle he went through when he had no job offers, and what God has done in his life since. Click here to read full article.
Transgender psychologist who helped hundreds of teens transition is ‘concerned’: ‘I think it’s gone too far’
Dr. Erica Anderson, who is now 71 and transitioned when she was 45, says that “social influences coupled with lax evaluations are leading to more teens taking hormones and undergoing surgeries before they are truly certain that they want to transition.” In other words, peer pressure and influences (e.g., TikTok, Instagram and You-tube, etc.), are influencing teens, and decisions are being made by doctors and therapists about prescribing hormones and sexual surgeries for teens without a thorough evaluation being done.
For several decades The World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) has been considered the foremost authority on the processes that a therapist and client should go through before beginning any sex-change procedures. Teens would need to demonstrate “persistent” issues with their gender identity for a period of several years prior to receiving medical therapies. These procedures are routinely ignored in the present therapy process for teens claiming gender dysphoria.
When even a psychologist who has transitioned herself and helped hundreds of teens transition says that the movement has gone too far and careful evaluations are not being done, this certainly is noteworthy. Click here to read full article.
Don’t Trust Everything You Think—10 Myths I Believed about Bipolar Disorder
The author of this article is someone who has a father with bipolar disorder, a mother who is a mental health professional, and has herself been diagnosed with bipolar disorder for 20 years. Despite that, she has lived with wrong beliefs about bipolar disorder. She identifies 10 of those mistaken beliefs and discusses 10 healthier beliefs she has discovered throughout her life. Click here to read full article.
Bipolar and the Fear of Wearing Out Friendships
Here is another article by a person with bipolar disorder who talks about a fear that probably many people with bipolar have. She realizes that sometimes her disorder causes her to be more needy than the average person, and fears that that neediness may wear out her friends. If you work with clients with bipolar disorder, they might share that they have that same fear. Click here to read full article.
Couple in Their 90s Share Secret of Lasting Love After 80 Years of Marriage: ‘We’re Firm Believers in God’
A beautiful and heart-warming story of a couple married for 80 years. If you read it you may also learn a new word that you probably have never heard before. Click here to read full article.
How Love Changes Your Brain
This is from the New York Times, so you may not be able to read it, so I’ll include a few quotes. “Can we do without love? For many years, the neuroscientist Stephanie Ortigue believed that the answer was yes. Even though she researched the science of human connections, Dr. Ortigue — an only child and, in her 20s and 30s, contentedly single — couldn’t completely grasp its importance in her own life.
“I told myself that being unattached made me a more objective researcher: I could investigate love without being under its spell,” she writes in her new book, “Wired for Love: A Neuroscientist’s Journey Through Romance, Loss and the Essence of Human Connection.”
“But then, in 2011, at age 37, she met John Cacioppo at a neuroscience conference in Shanghai. Dr. Cacioppo, who popularized the concept that prolonged loneliness can be as toxic to health as smoking, intrigued her. The two scientists fell hard for each other and married….
““Wired for Love” is the neurobiological story of how love rewires the brain. It’s also a personal love story — one that took a sad turn when John died of cancer in March 2018. Here, Dr. Cacioppo discusses what exactly love does to the brain, how to fight loneliness and how love is, literally, a product of the imagination.” Click here to read full article.
If you’re thinking of purchasing the book, be careful. There are other books with this same title.
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Best Podcasts on Mental Health & Bipolar Disorder
I have not listened to these, but they are recommended as six of the best podcasts on bipolar disorder, often narrated by or including segments by people with bipolar disorder. Click here to read full article.
A Free Resource with Helpful Information
Years ago I was in a neurologist’s office and picked up a magazine as I was waiting to see the doctor. The magazine is called Brain & Life and with a free subscription you can get it delivered to your home several times a year. It gives helpful information on a wide variety of neurological diseases that some of your clients or friends may deal with and among other things, each time I read it I learn about a variety of conditions that make me thankful for the health God has given to Mary and I. To browse a few issues and add a free subscription if you so choose, go to brainandlife.org
Court Directs Ohio University to pay $400,000 in Damages after Punishing Professor Who Wouldn’t Use Transgender Pronouns
In an astounding decision, a three-judge panel ruled against a public university that fired a professor who refused to use the pronouns a transgender student wanted him to use. Even more interesting, the professor’s defense was that it required him to violate his Christian convictions to do so. Alliance Defending Freedom was the legal team that represented this professor. Click here to read full article.
Pastors Don't Need Thicker Skin
While this article is written to pastors, I think it has good application to all of us. Often pastors are encouraged to “develop a thicker skin” when responding to criticism from their congregation members. Rather than developing a “thicker skin” this author recommends becoming open to feedback and then finding ways to use that feedback. Particularly if you are working with clients who aren’t open to feedback from others, I think you could find ways to use these ideas with them. Click here to read full article.
7 WAYS COVID HARMS THE BRAIN
Brain scans comparing those who have had COVID, even those who had mild cases, reveal 7 differences between the brains who have had COVID and those who didn’t. While these brain scans are probably accurate, I don’t think everyone who has had COVID needs to panic. I had a mild case of COVID and I’ve only noticed one difference—anosmia. Obviously each person may have different results. Click here to read full article.
How Albert Bandura's Doll Became His Albatross
This article is a reminder of the many contributions of the late Albert Bandura besides his experiments with the “bobo doll.” His work has a great many applications in counseling. Click here to read full article.
Yes, the ‘Terrible Twos’ Are Full-On – but Let’s Look at Things from a Child’s Perspective
87% of children aged 18 to 24 months have tantrums. This article helps us understand those tantrums from a child’s perspective and gives parents some helpful ideas about how to deal with them. Click here to read full article.
Why the US Should Ban TikTok
While many of us never go to TikTok, many millions of American adults and teens go there regularly, and some use this as their primary source of information about news and psychological things. This writer makes some interesting arguments about why TikTok should be banned. See whether you agree. Click here to read full article.
The 21 Best Financial Habits to Develop at Every Age
This article identifies 21 habits that are good to develop at each developmental stage. If you are teaching your children or have clients who are not handling their finances well this article could be helpful. The only thing the article does not include is a discussion of giving to your church. Click here to read full article.
Why The Washington Post Targeted Libs of TikTok
If some of you have not heard, someone started reposting comments made by liberal commenters and teachers, without comment, so that people could hear and see what some liberals are posting and some liberal teachers are teaching to young children. This upset those at the Washington Post so much that they printed the name and address of the person who has been making these posts (actually reposts). That person said that she has been harassed and experiencing threats. Click here to read full article.
A Radically Positive Parenting Technique: The Nurtured Heart Approach
The Nurtured Heart Approach is a different way for parents to relate to highly oppositional children with ADHD. Here is an article about the method and the name of a book that describes it in more detail. Click here to read full article.
Pennsylvania school board votes down parent's request to launch After School Satan Club
A Pennsylvania school board voted 8 to 1 to not allow the elementary school to offer an after-school Satan Club. Click here to read full article.
Hope you have a wonderful week!
Henry Virkler