By: Justin Hill

Like people throwing around the phrase “I’m OCD” or “I get depressed a lot,” the phrase “I’m just shy” is not what social anxiety disorder (also called social phobia) is. In fact, it’s far beyond just “being shy” – that’s why it has disorder in the name.
 
Today’s society wants to sugarcoat things, they want to dull them down, keep things politically correct. Well, social anxiety disorder shouldn’t be put in this category. It’s a disorder and it's something that should be taken (and dealt with) seriously.
 
Knowing that, I want to provide you with 6 ways to combat the insidious suffering you may be experiencing because of social anxiety disorder.

My goal is not to mollify things or step around the issue, pat you on the back, and give you some “positive thinking” ideology. I’m here to provide some real-world techniques to help you deal with social anxiety disorder.

By: Justin Hill

Positive Aging is much like positive psychology in that it looks at aging as not some burdensome thing where an individual gives up and gives in. Instead, as a Positive Ager, you make daily decisions to increase meaning as you age, while diminishing the fear of loss in the face of age-related decline.

By: Justin Hill

The Physical, Psychological, and Emotional (PPE) Model is  based on popular Health Psychology ideas summarized in the Biopsychosocial Model.

While I like the Biopsychosocial Model, I thought I would develop a hybrid based off of it that is a bit more simplistic.

Also, biology is something that in my opinion can’t be changed without the introduction of a medication, which is why The PPE Model does not include biological underpinnings.  

With that being said, let’s explore the PPE Model.

By: Justin Hill

No one wants a migraine.

They can be quite painful, tough, and nasty depending on the level of intensity. In fact, according to MayoClinic, migraines can be similar in pain to a physical injury.

Just because migraines are painful doesn’t mean you can’t manage or diminish that pain. Below are some preventive measures you can use to help diminish some of the pain.

By: Justin Hill

The “Psychological Tools” section aims to provide you with tools that you can take and put into action to help supplement the information in the After the Session blog and your therapy sessions. Information is power only if you learn to use it to your benefit and personal growth.
 
This brings us to a theory of adult development and aging – selectivity, optimization, and compensation (SOC), a theoretical model developed by Baltes. It’s one of the more comprehensive and empirically solid theory of adult development that exists in the scientific literature of gerontology.
 
However, this article is not about the history and development of the model, it is mainly to discuss what the model is, and how you can use it. In fact, if you want to read more on it, I suggest picking up Positive Aging: A Guide for Mental Health Professionals and Consumers or Seven Strategies for Positive Aging for a more in-depth explanation and review of the model.