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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5 strategies to identify and manage rumination

What is rumination? Rumination is where you find yourself repeatedly going over the same thought or problem without any resolution or completion. Sounds familiar, right? Rumination is found in both depression and anxiety, but with different ‘themes’. Often when we are depressed, our rumination may be more around feeling worthless or not good enough, which then can lead to difficulty solving problems, and an increase in anxiety. Catch-22. Our memory is context specific. This means we remember things that are related to each other, and related to our current situation. If we are in a low mood, the brain connects

Symposium on Performance Science by Taryn Oak from Attuned Psychology Adelaide. Photo by Jan Střecha on Unsplash

Insights from the 2019 International Symposium on Performance Science

Attuned Psychology has a focus on performance psychology, which is why I recently attended the 2019 International Symposium on Performance Science in Melbourne at the Conservatorium of Music. It was an insightful experience to learn from, discuss and debate all facets of performance with professionals, scientists and performers from around the globe. Performance psychology is one of the many areas of study and practice within psychology. The American Psychological Association defines it as the application and study of psychological principles of human performance to help people: consistently perform in the upper range of their capabilities and more thoroughly enjoy the

6 strategies to manage your child’s big emotions.

Jerry Seinfeld once said “having a two year old is like having a blender that you don’t have the top for”. At the time of writing this blog, my two and a half year old grand daughter is struggling with the new arrival of her sister. My grand daughter is a delightful and loving little girl but in the last two months she has certainly had moments of anger, frustration and jealousy that have resulted in our family wondering how to help her with these big emotions. How should we respond when she lashes out at us, her baby sister

Breakup, not Breakdown: 6 strategies to manage a broken heart

Let’s not beat around the bush. Breakups suck. Having a broken heart sucks. And no wonder – brain scans have shown that a breakup activates the same region of the brain that processes physical pain reactions. Breakups are painful as your brain handles them just as it would a physical injury! Scans also show that breakups light up the same brain mechanisms as when people addicted to cocaine go through withdrawal. In other words, you might feel a literal ‘craving’ for your lost love… But all is not lost! Clichés aside, there are no “quick fixes” or “hacks” to feel

Our future together: Attuned Psychology Adelaide Psychologists

A sound investment in our future together: Attuned Psychology ready for 2020 and beyond

This is always the time of year I dread because we need to review our fees to make sure we can keep doing what we are doing for our future together. Raising fees always brings up much anxiety for me which is why, apart from the Director, no psychologist fees at Attuned Psychology have risen in the past three years. However, as of August 1, 2019, we do need to increase fees slightly to cover the inevitable increase in costs we need to bear, which has included an important investment this year; soundproofing in every room to ensure that you

Manage Stress with Tetris? Yes, that is an option, according to Attuned Psychology clinical psychologist, Cara Crothers

Can you manage stress with Tetris? Understanding what leads to and how to recover from stressful events

Recently, I got some insights into how to manage stress when I came across a podcast of an interview with neuro-opthamologist Dr Mithu Storoni called “How Our Brains Control Our Happiness”. Now, Dr Storoni, who describes herself as a physician, researcher, author and speaker, is interested in chronic stress and its implications on mental well-being, decision-making, performance, and brain health….and within about 5 minutes of hearing her speak, I was fascinated. Before I share with you why this was so, as well as some ‘key points’ I think really relate to my work as a Clinical Psychologist, I should point