Freedom vs. Determinism
Welcome to The Mental Breakdown and Psychreg Podcast! Today, Dr. Berney kicks off your week-long introduction to five major personality continua, including:
Freedom (people are free to choose and are responsible for their own choices) vs. Determinism (external forces and unconscious drives control people’s behavior)
Rationality (people make decision logically and try to understand the world) vs. Irrationality (people are driven by their emotions and other irrational influences)
Proactivity (changes occurs from within) vs. Reactivity (external forces, including reward and punishment, change behavior)
Homeostasis (people seek balance and the status quo) vs. Heterostasis (people are motivated t change and grow)
Changeability (people are constantly changing and growing) vs. Unchangeability (people do not have the capacity for fundamental change)
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Two Players with Concussions – philly.com
I just read this really interesting article from philly.com about two high school football players who suffered concussions early in their career. Though the boys were best friends, one stopped playing and the other continued. The article does a really nice job of talking about the decisions families must make when determining the best reaction to an injury, such as a concussion.
Read the article here.
Should We Do Away With Zeros?
by Dr. Richard Marshall
A few days ago, one of the country’s premier educational organizations published a short piece titled, “Should Schools Eliminate Failing Grades?” I was particularly interested in the article, because I had written a manuscript several years ago arguing against the use of zeros in schools. Read More
Seeking Perfection
by: Dr. Richard Marshall
A few days ago, I found an article titled, “Effects of Perfectionism: How Intrusive Parenting Is Harmful to Children.” You can find it here. Most of the research conducted on intrusive parenting (also known as helicopter parenting) studies its effects in high school and college students. However, this particular article is important, because the authors report the results of their five-year study targeting the effects of intrusive parenting on children in the primary grades. Read More
The Ledger 4.3.16 – The Battle Over Standardized Tests
This past week, I had the opportunity to sit on a panel for a Community Forum on the Battle Over Standardized Tests. The Forum was sponsored by The Ledger and it was very interesting hearing the speakers address the pros and cons of standardized testing. In this column, I talk a little about my thoughts following the forum and some of the reactions from the audience and other participants.
Read my column here.
Teaching Feelings
How did you learn how to tie your shoes? Who taught you how to throw a baseball or ride a bike? How is it that you know the capital of Florida or your multiplication tables?
Well, the short answer is, someone taught you. Read More
Our Dependency On Technology
Yesterday was an interesting day, to say the least.
I started my day taking my son to school at the crack of dawn. As regular readers to this blog know, I really enjoy my early morning time; which often means that my wife takes him to school. However, there is nothing like our morning talks. Wow, what an awesome kid! Read More
Update on the Exciting Announcement
So, over the last few days I have been recording for my Parenting Your ADHD Child online course. Since Monday, I have recorded 12 Lessons – which accounts for nearly 3 hours of material – and I still have 8 more Lessons to go!
This course is shaping up to be very good. Today I thought that I would post the outline, so you have an idea of the format and the information offered:
- Unit 1: What You Are Dealing With
- Lesson 1: Behavioral Presentation
- Lesson 2: Genetics, Heritability, and The Brain
- Lesson 3: Environmental Causes
- Unit 2: Developmental Course
- Lesson 4: Pre-School
- Lesson 5: School Aged
- Lesson 6: Adolescence
- Unit 3: Medical Treatments
- Lesson 7: Introduction to Medications
- Lesson 8: Stimulants
- Lesson 9: Non-Stimulants
- Unit 4: Non-Medical Treatments
- Lesson 10: An Introduction to Non-Medical Treatments
- Lesson 11: Consistency – Predictability – Immediacy
- Lesson 12: Routines
- Lesson 13: Time Out
- Lesson 14: The 5-to-1 Ratio
- Lesson 15: ADHD and the Supermarket
- Lesson 16: Diet
- Lesson 17: Exercise
- Lesson 18: Sleep
- Lesson 19: Video Games and Other Electronics
- Lesson 20: Extracurriculars
As you can see, the course will cover a lot of ground and offer a great deal of information for those who enroll. I can already tell that I will probably add other lessons, in the future, to cover additional information that I just could not fit in the current outline. Those additional Lessons will be provided – for free – to all enrollees. As such, this course will certainly be a growing resource for parents!
So… keep an eye out for the course. I will certainly keep posting updates so that you will know when it will be available. Also, let me know if you have any questions or suggestions for the course.
Dr. Berney
An Exciting Announcement
Over the past few weeks, Dr. Richard and I have been working on prep for a new project. Well, we have written 57 pages (about 36,000 words) and are finally ready to move to the next stage!
The project is a course for parents of children with ADHD. Most excitingly, the course will be offered online, allowing parents to purchase the program and move through the Lessons at their own pace. Read More