Articles from the Week of January 24, 2025
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. HV
Interesting Quotes
In honor of a hero to many of us, the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., I am including a compilation of some of his memorable quotes:
Quotes from Martin Luther King Junior’s Speech I Have a Dream (1963)
1. “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”
2. “I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.”
3. “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
4. “Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope.”
5. “The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.”
6. “I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream.”
7. “We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism.”
8. “Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksand’s of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.”
9. “Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.”
10. “Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.”
Martin Luther King Jr. quotes about love
1. “Darkness cannot drive out darkness: Only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: Only love can do that.” —Strength to Love, 1963
2. “Everybody can be great … because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.” — “The Drum Major Instinct,” 1968
3. “We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.” — A Gift of Love, published in 2012
4. “I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated is stronger than evil triumphant.”—Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, 1964
5. “Love is the greatest force in the universe. It is the heartbeat of the moral cosmos. He who loves is a participant in the being of God.” —From a handwritten letter, mid-1960s
6. “Let no man pull you so low as to hate him.” —“The Most Durable Power,” 1956
7. “I know that love is ultimately the only answer to mankind’s problems.” — “Where Do We Go from Here?” 1967
8. “Hate is too great a burden to bear. I have decided to love.” — “Where Do We Go from Here?” 1967
9. “Forgiveness is not an occasional act. It is a permanent attitude.” — “Love in Action,” 1962
10. “That’s love, you see. It is redemptive, and this is why Jesus says love. There’s something about love that builds up and is creative. There is something about hate that tears down and is destructive. So love your enemies.” —” Loving Your Enemies,” 1957
Compiled by Meghan Jones
Fascinating Facts
More about Canine Intelligence
Last week we talked about how dogs are thought to have intelligence similar to a 2½ year old child. This video, which circulated widely on the Internet this week (about a canine mother carrying her sick pup in her mouth to the vet’s office on her own) suggests that at least some canines may be even smarter than that.
A Case of Unexplained Gigantomastia
Gigantomastia is a rare condition characterized by rapid, diffuse, and excessive breast growth. One 19-year-old female had an unusual response to the COVID vaccine—an enormous increase in breast size, which only increased when she had her COVID booster, so that her breasts grew to the size of triple G-cup breasts. After post-reduction surgery she now has only the equivalent of double-D breasts. Such responses of the COVID vaccine are very rare. The phenomenon has been humorously termed the “Pfizer boob job.”
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Counseling Articles
Sleeping pills stop the brain’s system for cleaning out waste
Some of you have clients who take sleeping pills each night, and this is extremely important information to communicate with them, which is why I’ve placed it first. It is a fairly technical article which is informative if you have the time to read it in its entirety, but I’ll summarize its major point. All our organs produce waste, which is usually cleared out of our bodies by our lymphatic system. But the lymphatic system does not operate in our brain, so a different system is needed to clear out brain waste. This is the glymphatic system, which is necessary to clear out things like amyloid beta buildup (believed to be a major factor in Alzheimer’s disease). But sleeping pills, which do increase the amount of time people spend sleeping, also shut down this cleaning system completely, indicating a new formulation of sleeping medication is needed. Please let your clients who take sleeping medication each night know this important information.
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Alzheimer's and Viagra: What's the Link?
Although this research does not have any clinical application yet, since Alzheimer's can potentially affect anyone, this topic is of interest to many people. The article has one of the clearest explanations of how tau works (it has some positive benefits in most people), and then how it can develop in unhealthy ways and lead to Alzheimer’s disease. Towards the end, it also talks about some interesting studies about how use of sildenafil (Viagra) is associated (correlated) with lower levels of Alzheimer’s. Undoubtedly there will be much interest in future research in this area.
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One Million Moms urges Christians to boycott 'Upside-Down Kingdom Bible,' citing 'woke theology' concerns
Not a counseling article, but probably a controversy about which all of us should be aware. The respected Christian publisher, Zondervan has just published the Upside-Down Kingdom Bible. The article gives both sides of this controversy, so you can decide where you stand.
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5 Foundational Habits That Benefit ADHD Brains
Although this is a longer article, it is packed with good information. If you work with parents of children with ADHD it may be worthwhile to download and save to your computer to share with them.
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How to Align Your Career with Your Passions
Edward Hallowell is a highly respected authority in counselling children with ADHD. Here he gives some excellent advice on helping children with ADHD choose a career in which they will be successful. Some of his points may surprise you, but he speaks from such a reservoir of experience that it’s undoubtedly wise to consider his advice.
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Here Are 15 Things You Can Do with Your Time Now That TikTok Is Banned
If you have a client who was addicted to TikTok and now is totally adrift about how to spend his or her time, the Babylon Bee has 15 tongue-in-cheek suggestions for what to do with the extra hours.
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Young Blogger Says CCP Tortured Her in Psychiatric Hospital to Silence Her
Although this is not a counseling article relevant to the United States, it shows how psychiatric hospitalization is widely used in Communist China to silence critics of the government, religious groups, and others who have no mental illness. Let’s pray for these people and be thankful for psychiatric hospitalization is not used this way in our country
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8 Essential Things to Know When First Diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder
I often include articles by Tanya Hvilivitzky because they are so good. She is a blogger who has long had bipolar disorder herself. Here is a good article about things that a person first diagnosed with bipolar disorder should know, but these would also be good things to go over with someone who is not managing their bipolar disorder well.
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Apple suspends error-strewn AI generated news alerts
Although not a counseling article, I think all counselors are concerned about the validity of information generated by AI. This article begins with a discussion of Apple suspending some generated news reports but then goes into the issue of AI “hallucinating.” Certainly AI has an important role in our future, but there are still some growing pains to be worked through.
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Thinking About Eternity
Interesting article by a theologian raising the question of why several of our most well-known atheists, including Freud, who say there is no God, were terrified of death. He gives an interesting answer from Scripture, one that I hadn’t heard before, but that I think psychologically makes sense. See what you think.
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A horrifying child sexual assault trend
This article is about a terrible new sexual assault trend—children sexually assaulting other children, and it seems to be precipitated by children watching and then acting out pornographic scenes. As counselors, probably we need to encourage parents to take precautions to prevent children accessing pornography.
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The Do’s and Don’ts Of Apologizing In A Relationship
Every person will need to apologize to a loved one at some time, but many apologies are not given or received well. If you work with couples, here is an article with several excellent tips.
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Sex Drive: How Do Men and Women Compare?
This article contains the results of several studies. You will probably find that at least one thing you believed about the differences between men’s and women’s sex drives was based on generally-accepted opinions rather than on actual differences, and if you counsel couples, it’s important understand these facts correctly.
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Assisted dying row as patients given six months to live often survive for three years
This is from a British newspaper, the Telegraph, which you won’t be able to read without a subscription, so I’ll summarize its major point. In Britain, which is considering assisted legal dying, it was found that 20% of people in hospice were still alive three years later. So apparently example of the late President Carter was not a rare occurrence.
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Your brain is lying to you about the “good old days”
About 60% of people say that life was better in the past than it is now. This article looks at that phenomenon and then compares it to actual statistics here in the U.S. and worldwide. While we may have some nostalgia for certain things from our past, we all probably benefit from the scientific advances that have occurred.
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'Porn stole my innocence': How pornography exposure conditioned abuse, self-harm of teenage girl
This story of a young girl, who says she became addicted to porn at age 8, developed anxiety and depression, self-harm and suicidal impulses, and failed to tell her counselor what was wrong even though the counselor repeatedly asked. It reminds us that even very young children can become addicted to porn, and the tremendous harm it can cause.
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Clump Of Cells Dies At 67
Headline from the Babylon Bee on the passing of Ann Richards, former head of Planned Parenthood.
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Menopausal Hormone Therapy May Help Reduce Risk of Relapse in Some Women with Psychosis, Schizophrenia
This article discusses the fact that schizophrenia may differ in symptoms in women than it does in men, explains some of the reasons that this may be true, and why menopausal hormone therapy may also make a difference in the likelihood of relapse in women with schizophrenia during menopause. If you work with women of any age, this article has important information of which to be aware.
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Maternal COVID-19 May Not Harm Baby’s Neural Development
Good news for mothers who have COVID while pregnant! Mothers who develop COVID while pregnant may wonder whether their children will be affected (or even whether they should consider an abortion). Researcher found there were no differences in neurological test scores of their children and children who were not exposed to COVID in utero.
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I hope you have a wonderful week!
Henry Virkler