The Difference Between Loneliness and Aloneness

Many people believe that spending long periods of time in solitude is a lonely experience. And it certainly can be. But there are some important differences between loneliness and aloneness. The former is an unpleasant and painful situation, something we struggle with all too often. The latter, on the other hand, involves a comfortable state…

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The Therapeutic Value of Active Listening

Carl Rogers (1902 – 1987) was one of the founders of the humanistic approach to psychology, who developed his own particular approach known as client-centred therapy. Humanistic psychology emphasises an individual’s intrinsic desire for self-actualisation – the process of fully realising and manifesting one’s latent capacities. Rogers’ client-centred – or person-centred – approach, meanwhile, views…

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Why You Should Let Your Personality Type Guide Your Career Path

You may have realised – or perhaps you’re in the process of discovering – that you have a certain personality type. This refers to what you, as an individual, prefer when you are using your mind or focusing your attention. For instance, you may prefer to spend your time in the outside world or you…

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The Crab Mentality: Why Can’t We Be Happy for Other People’s Success?

When you put a bunch of live crabs in a bucket, you can witness quite an interesting phenomenon. Some of these crabs can easily escape – but as they attempt to climb out of the bucket, other crabs pull them back down. At first glance, this can seem like cruel and senseless behaviour: rather than…

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How to Distinguish Between a Religious Experience and a Psychotic Episode

There are possibly many ways in which we can define a religious experience. We need to ask ourselves: What features should such an experience exemplify? There is also the issue of trying to ascertain whether a certain experience is pathological in nature. For reasons which will become clear, I will be using the term religious…

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