I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Interesting Quotes

You can never cross the ocean until you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.

Christopher Columbus

Humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less.

Rick Warren

"If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else."

BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

“People in their right minds never take pride in their talents.”

HARPER LEE

“It’s so cold here in Florida that I had to wear closed toe shoes.”

Reprinted from Ginny Sale’s Facebook page.

“Be curious, not judgmental.”

Walt Whitman

Fascinating Facts and Trivia (compiled from InterestingFacts.com and other sources)

Most Vikings didn’t wear horned helmets, as they are normally presented in movies. The idea was introduced by a costume designer for a German opera about Vikings in 1876, and the idea has been used ever since.

Do you know how many gallons a ten-gallon hat will hold? Actually, only about three-quarters of a gallon (i.e., three quarts). And true cowboys didn’t usually wear them, because with their large brims and tall crowns they would easily catch the wind. Nor did outlaws typically wear them either since their size would easily attract attention. Like the horned helmets and the Vikings, ten-gallon hats were developed by costume designers and rapidly became popular in Westerns.

Do you know what city is located in both Europe and Asia? 

The answer is Istanbul, and it’s the largest city in Europe. It was formerly known as Constantinople, and before that as Byzantium.

Did you know that carrots, when they were first cultivated, were bright purple? It is believed that through mutation an orange carrot developed, and now has become standard in many Western countries. There are 40 varieties of carrots of various shapes, sizes, and colors. Purple carrots are still available for those who want them.

Spending time in day care won’t cause children to act out, study shows

Parents often feel guilty when they have to put their children in daycare, or concerned that time spent in daycare may encourage their children to become aggressive. This study of some 10,000 children in five countries found that having children spend hours in daycare did not increase the likelihood of the children becoming aggressive toward other children. Click here to read article. 

Image-Based Sexual Abuse: A Little-Known Term, but a Pervasive Problem 

If you are like most people, you may not know what image-based sexual abuse is. However, in the next few years, you are likely to have one or more clients whose lives have been devastated by it and are seeking counseling for the trauma it has caused them. I would encourage every counselor to read this article so you are knowledgeable when a client comes to you who has experienced it. Click here to read article. 

How Suffering Can Work for You

This article, written by a psychotherapist, might be helpful to some of your clients. Click here to read article. 

Dating Is Broken

You may have clients coming in who are fed up with their experiences in dating. This Breakpoint article explains why many are feeling that way. It sounds like it would be helpful for counselors to help clients decide how they want to set healthy boundaries in their dating relationships so they can proactively plan for dates rather than be frustrated by the expectations of those they date. Click here to read article. 

Are Sleepovers Safe In This Day And Age?

This is a question that perplexes parents, particularly as their children, and especially their daughters, get older. Sleepovers can be an important experience for many children, but we have all heard some horror stories, even in homes that we thought were “safe.” Here are a variety of thoughts and suggestions from different perspectives. Click here to read article. 

Half of World’s Young People at Risk for Hearing Loss: Study

A new study, that combined the data from 33 studies worldwide, found that young people (defined as those between 12 and 34) are often listening to music at levels that are likely to cause hearing loss. If you work with this age group, you may want to read the specifics of this study. Click here to read article. 

When Your Child Has ADHD and Dyslexia: Treatment for Complex Symptoms

It is estimated that between 25 and 40% of children with ADHD also have dyslexia.Medications can reduce ADHD symptoms but do nothing for dyslexia. It’s important to treat both to maximize success. This article is a good introduction to parents about this issue. Click here to read article. 

Scuba Diver Thankful for the Three Mermaids Who Saved His Life

This isn’t a counseling article but is such a fascinating story I thought I would include itso you can read it if you wish. It’s the true story of three professional mermaids who saved the life of someone who would otherwise have died. Click here to read article. 

10 Ways to Keep Impulsive Urges Under Control

People with bipolar disorder tend to be more impulsive than the average person, even when between episodes. Here are 10 practical suggestions for reducing those impulsive urges, written by a person whom I respect who has bipolar disorder. Click here to read article. 

Inattentive ADHD in Children: Symptoms, Solutions, and Insights

Children with ADHD: Inattentive Type are often not recognized because, unlike those with ADHD: Hyperactive Type or ADHD: Mixed Type, they often cause no behavior problems. Parents, teachers, and others view them as daydreamers, disorganized, and unmotivated. If you are working with such a child or with the parents of such a child, they may be wondering how to best help their child, since much more attention is paid to those who do cause problems. Here is a book compiled by the ADDITUDE editors,counseling experts and parents. Although I have not read it, I have read many articles from ADDITUDE and can vouch for the quality of the things they publish. This is an e-book that can be purchased and downloaded for $10.00. Click here to read article. 

Albert Mohler on the Transgender Revolution

A couple weeks ago I alluded to an article in the New York Times entitled “They Paused Puberty, but At What Cost?” On November 21 Albert Mohler, a highly respected Southern Baptist theologian, devoted a whole edition of his podcast discussing the implications of this article for Christians, parents and young people. Although I usually do not include podcasts in this compilation of news articles, I believe this one is very good, and if you are a parent or counselor, I recommend it to you. The podcast can be found at this web address. Click here to read article. 

Candace Cameron Bure says new network won’t feature LGBT storylines, responds to critics

In case you hadn’t heard, Great American Family is a new television network that will feature stories similar to the Hallmark channel but will not include LGBT storylines. For this she has been roundly criticized, and I think her responses are good examples of Christian grace when being criticized. If you’re not familiar with this new network or the controversy, this article is a good summary. Click here to read article. 

The Difference between Anger and “Bipolar Anger”

Anger can be a useful emotion in that it tells us something that possibly needs to be changed—either a situation or perhaps our expectations. People who have bipolar disorder tell us that there is a difference between normal anger and bipolar anger. Here is how they describe it. Click here to read article. 

The Healing Power of Gratitude

Greg Jantz has written several excellent books related to Christian counseling. In this article he summarizes some of the surprising amount of experimental evidence pointing to the reality that gratitude has a great deal of healing power. Click here to read article. 

What to Know Before You Take Herbal Supplements

Herbal supplements are usually recommended for their medical or psychological properties. Before you recommend any herbal supplements to clients, please read this short article from WebMD. Click here to read article. 

What We’re Missing About Mass Shootings

This Breakpoint article makes a very important point about what we’re missing about mass shootings. Click here to read article. 

Growing trend of trans patients seeking both male, female genitals highlighted in report

A new group of transgender people calling themselves “Salmacians,” using a term from ancient Greek mythology, are now asking surgeons to give them a second set of genitals. One surgeon who does these surgeries says that “’bottom" procedures and other forms of ‘trans medicine’ are ’safe, sound, and proven science’ and that ‘trans healthcare providers’ must be attentive to patients exploring their "nonbinary identities.’" It is hard to believe his statement that these “bottom procedures” are safe, sound, and proven science when this new type of surgery has only been in the news for the last few months, and to my knowledge no Type 1 studies have tested it. Click here to read article. 

Attachment Styles & Parenting with Bipolar

Here is an article written by a mother with bipolar and how she applies attachment theory to her parenting. If you know a person with bipolar disorder who is a parent I think they would probably benefit from reading this article. Click here to read article. 

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Henry Virkler