Disturbed characters generally have too much self-esteem. They know what they have going for them and they equate their endowments with their identity. This is one of the main reasons their self-image can become inflated. On the other hand, disturbed characters often are frequently and chronically lacking in self-respect.

How might counsellors be agents of peace? While one frequently cited journal article concentrates on structural issues such as furthering democracy or psychoeducation, I encourage counsellors to use their unique abilities to help clients make intrapsychic changes in working toward peace in the world.

A new initiative in the UK involves women who have been raped supporting others recovering from the same experiences of violation, anger, grief, shame and being effectively shut up by society as a whole. Why do these relationships work so well, and what can therapists learn from them?

While depression and anxiety are often considered to be “diseases” of the affluent, new studies find them to be just as common in poorer countries. Can a Western model of interpreting and treating mental distress be applied to other cultures?

Facing your mortality can indeed be a shock, and one which might provoke deeper reflection than “better go out clubbing while I still can”.

Will we turn around one day and discover that the way of life we have created, with all its individual freedoms, is totally unsustainable? Will we come to agree with most of the societies who have ever lived on Earth that interdependence is the only way to go on a planet as small, and yet incredibly diverse, as ours?

New research from the University of Chicago suggests that anthropomorphism — giving human characteristics to animals, things, or supernatural beings, and forming relationships with them — helps people deal with loneliness.