Articles

The Attuned Psychology blog library

Welcome to our library of blog articles to inspire you and help you think through some of the challenges you might be facing.

We add to these articles as topics arise from our therapy sessions or issues grow in public awareness.

If you have some article topics you’d like us to consider writing about, please use the contact form to share your suggestions.

In the meantime, here are links to our top 5 most read articles:

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How to understand and reduce stress in an increasingly stressful world

While it’s true we’re living in an increasingly stressful world, in this article I want to shed light on ways to understand how stress affects us and then suggest some approaches to cope with or even reduce stress. Our world is getting more stressful, with most of us having increasing responsibilities or pressures such as studying at school or university, keeping up with complex demands at work, or caring for children or ageing parents. On top of this, there are unique global events that are making daily life for many Australians much more stressful. War in Europe has led to a

3 surprising benefits of having a therapy session using telehealth

If you’d asked me two years ago to write about the benefits of having a therapy session using telehealth, I think I would have politely declined. However, when COVID-19 struck, our duty of care to still conduct therapy sessions with our clients gave us little choice than to get out of our comfort zones and embrace online video technology. Our team, like many of you, were somewhat concerned that the magic and sacred, private nature of the therapy space with such clear boundaries could never be simulated to give the same impact. I found it challenging for three reasons: I

Phubbing and the Importance of Values vs Rules in our Relationships

In this article, we’ll explore what phubbing is and consider strategies when our friends or partners are spending more time on their phone than with us. “Without technology humanity has no future, but we have to be careful that we don’t become so mechanised that we lose our human feelings.” – Dalai Lama Recently, I was “phubbed” by a friend which was very upsetting. For those not in the know the definition of “phubbing” is the act of snubbing someone in a social setting by looking at your phone instead of paying attention. On face value phubbing is a funny

COVID-19: Keeping calm for the common good

[Updated, November 22, 2021] As we all do our best to stop the spread of Covid-19, our team at Attuned Psychology is not only continuing to keep measures in place to keep you safe and cared for during this time of uncertainty and increased anxiety, but we’re constantly monitoring the situation and adapting our procedures as new information comes to hand. This is especially important because there is often increased anxiety whenever borders are re-opened and new freedoms are found. Please be assured your access to psychologists and therapy has been deemed an “essential service” by the Federal government and

Do I have brain damage? How a Neuropsychological assessment can bring clarity to you and the people around you

In my role as a Clinical Neuropsychologist, I often have to help people answer the question, do I have brain damage or brain injury? As I’ll explain, accidents, drugs (including alcohol), and medical conditions can all contribute to brain damage or injury. In this second part of a three part series explaining what a neuropsychological assessment is, and when you might consider undergoing one, I will address how neuropsychologists approach symptoms of brain injury. Again, problems or symptoms of problems you might be facing in day-to-day thinking, is a reason we would consider using a neuropsychological assessment because they are

What is a neuropsychological assessment?

First of all a few words about what a neuropsychological assessment ISN’T A neuropsychological assessment is not designed to assess your emotional functioning, if you are depressed or anxious or emotionally sensitive and emotionally intelligent. It is not a test of personality. It is not a test of sanity or craziness. What a neuropsychological assessment IS A neuropsychological assessment is a very detailed investigation of your thinking skills. It is very carefully constructed and has been proven to provide reliable and sensitive assessment of these thinking skills. It is usual to separate these into domains: Attention: Can you focus on something