How to be the Jedi of your New Year’s resolutions

It’s that time of the year again – when the New Year begins and the resolutions start strong. For many people this lasts for a few weeks. In fact, at this time they are one with the Force. They are unstoppable. They eat all their vegetables, they avoid all junk food, and they sign up for a 110-year commitment to the gym because this year will be the year that they stick to their resolutions. Forever. And it very well could be.

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My battle with the Pink Dementor

It’s that time of the year again – the fall. For many it is the time to celebrate all kinds of pumpkin goodness. However, for the thousands of people with Seasonal Affective Disorder, it is also a very challenging time. I am one of those people.

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Psychology of Morticia Addams

This post originally appeared in The Mary Sue

It’s October, the month of Halloween and a celebration of everything spooky, and it is my distinct pleasure to write about my favorite inspirational woman: Morticia Addams.

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Supernatural, Harry Potter, & depression

This year at the San Diego Comic Con I was extremely honored to be able to interview the cast of Supernatural, among them Jared Padalecki, one of the leading actors on that television series. Padalecki recently opened up about his struggles with depression and started the Always Keep Fighting Campaign, intended to spread awareness.

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Psychology of Batgirl

There have been a number of heroic women who took it upon themselves to protect the city of Gotham as Batgirl. Among the first of these was Betty Kane, who was Bat-Girl (initially hyphenated, similarly to Spider-Man). Others, such as Helena Bertinelli (also known as the Huntress), also at one point put on the bat suit. However, the best-known superhero behind Batgirl is Barbara Gordon.

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Psychology of Jean Grey

I’m always Jean. And I’m always the Phoenix. I died. I scattered in a trillion directions. And then started to pull together again, outside the White Hot Room. But I’m starting to see now. Parts of me… Parts of me never came home.

Jean Grey-Summers (X-Men: Phoenix Endsong Vol 13)

Warning: spoilers for X-Men ahead.

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Psychology of Veronica Mars

If you’re a fellow Veronica Mars fan (a Marshmallow), then as soon as you saw the title picture, you probably started singing the theme song in your head:

“A long time ago, we used to be friends

But I haven’t thought of you lately at all…”

What makes this show so epic even years after it’s been cancelled? Simple – it touches on important life struggles of many young people.

Warning: Spoilers for Veronica Mars follow.

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Magic ACT in Terry Brooks’ Landover

A guest post by Jay Scarlet

I’ve recently been re-reading a number of books by Terry Brooks, in part to refresh my memory ahead of the upcoming adaption of his Shannara series on MTV (so excited!!), in part out of a desire to revisit some of the books I had loved while growing up. In addition to Shannara books, I also read Magic Kingdom for Sale – Sold! for the first time in probably 20-25 years.

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Psychology of ‘Inside Out’

‘Inside Out’ is a movie I’d been waiting for a year to see and, once again, Pixar did not disappoint. This is a movie I’m going to be assigning to many of my patients and doctoral students as a way to demonstrate important psychological principles.

Warning: some spoilers of the movie ahead

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When a family member is suicidal – it can happen to anyone… it happened to me

When I woke up on Friday something felt wrong. It felt as if someone punched me in the gut repeatedly. Despair. Pushing away these emotions without taking the time to figure out why I was feeling them nor taking the time to provide myself with the compassion and comfort that I needed, I headed to Camp Pendleton, where I focused on my clients with PTSD.

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