Newsletter Archive

The fight-or-flight stress response begins in the emotional brain with the panic button amygdala.  This threat processor has been on overdrive during the pandemic.  When the amygdala detects a threat, it signals the release of stress hormones, including adrenaline.  In a brain mapping study, researchers have discovered a complex network

Getting through the colder months of the fall and winter, during the pandemic, might be eased if you can visit a wilderness area with a loved one. A recent study examined why people value natural settings.  To experience leisure, we require perceived freedom and intrinsic motivation, according to social psychologists. 

Positive Psychology is the study of human thriving and activities that promote positive functioning and well-being.  The Best Possible Self Exercise (BPS) is a Positive Psychology intervention that has been studied since 2001.  A meta-analysis of 29 studies involving 2,909 participants found that BPS can improve well-being, optimism, and positive

The increase in uncertainty, combined with the loss of socialization and normalcy during the pandemic can cause irritability, sleeplessness, lack of concentration, and hyper-vigilance.  More people are suffering from mental health challenges including increased anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress.  A CDC survey found that 41% of Americans are struggling with

A major impact of the pandemic is ambiguity, caused by our inability to predict or control many aspects of our socially distanced lives.  Ambiguity activates the parts of our brain crucial to anxiety and loathing.  Ambiguity can cause rampant rumination, as the brain is unable to rely on executive function

The pandemic is a challenge.  Because our survival brains are trained to scan for threat, we are likely experiencing more negative emotions than usual. One way to increase positive emotions is to turn positive facts into affirmative experiences.  This is a type of gratitude practice, Note and Appreciate, that requires

Negative emotions tend to be self-focused and have an adverse impact on aging and longevity.  Awe is a positive emotion triggered by an awareness of something that is bigger than oneself and not fully understood such as nature, music, art, or participation in a collective experience, such as a ceremony

Insomnia is often caused by cognitive intrusion in response to stressful events.  Insomnia is difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, or waking up too early and not being able to go back to sleep. When this happens at least three nights a week and for at least three months, it is

Lawyers and law students suffer from higher rates of anxiety and depression than the general population.  And that was pre-pandemic.  EFT is a research-based brief intervention that can improve anxiety and depression, as well as a number of physical health measures. A recent study included 203 participants, 65% female over

Overachievers might find themselves hitting a wall of unproductivity at this point in the pandemic.  We have been utilizing what University of Minnesota Professor Ann Masten calls surge capacity, “a collection of adaptive systems — mental and physical — that humans draw on for short-term survival in acutely stressful situations,