Community college athletic programs are often filled with dedicated and resilient student-athletes from underserved communities. Dr. Jason von Stietz recently presented a sport psychology case study of a Los Angeles community college women’s softball team. The team endured a challenging season in which interpersonal…
Often times, when faced with a negative emotion our initial impulse is to change our behavior in order to change the way we feel. In general, this strategy helps to keep us healthy and safe. For example, if we feel unwelcome or unsafe in a…
Even though negative emotions are unpleasant, it is important that we push ourselves to face them. Each time we face an uncomfortable situation it becomes less challenging. Likewise, each time we avoid a stressful situation, the situation becomes more and more overwhelming in our mind.…
On January 25th, CBT SoCal’s Martin Hsia and Yasha Shine attended the January Jubilee, an annual event organized by the San Gabriel Valley Psychological Association (SGVPA). This year, the event was held at Bodega Wine Bar in Pasadena. Below are some photos from the event,…
This past week, CBT SoCal’s Dr. Martin Hsia was invited to speak at a Lunch and Learn event at Fusion Academy in Pasadena. The presentation was titled “Beyond Perfectionism and Washing Hands: Hope for OCD in all forms,” and can be viewed via the Facebook…
In a recent blog series, we discussed the benefits of negative emotions. However, even armed with the knowledge that there are many benefits to these pesky negative emotions, we still frequently try to avoid them. When a situation becomes stressful we often attempt to avoid…
It is becoming more and more commonplace for athletes and performers to tout the benefits of mindfulness meditation. Legendary coach, Phil Jackson, likely played a key role in popularizing mindfulness as a method of performance enhancement when he hired George Mumford to teach mindfulness to…
Most of us have heard of obsessive compulsive disorder? However, what is obsessive compulsive personality disorder (OCPD)? Stuart Ralph, host of The OCD Stories podcast, interviewed clinical psychologist Dr. Steven Phillipson about the difference between OCD and OCPD. Phillipson explained that OCD is a disorder…
Photo credit: UW Health. In October 2010, a colleague and I went to hear Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn speak at UCLA. Kabat-Zinn developed Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and is a leading figure, researcher, and theoretician in adapting mindfulness for practice in psychotherapy, mental and medical healthcare. He…
CBT SoCal’s Dr. Jason von Stietz recently attended a mindfulness seminar led by George Mumford. The seminar, held at Insight LA in Santa Monica, focused on the use of mindfulness in improving not only one’s performance (e.g. sport, career, art) but also life. Mumford gained…
Dr. Jason von Stietz has recently become the new co-chair of the Los Angeles County Psychological Association Sport Psychology Special Interest Group (LACPA Sport Psychology SIG). In his position as co-chair, he will collaborate with Dr. Sari Shepphird, a sport psychologist who founded the SIG.…
Why do some people pull out their hair? Why do some people continue to pull out their hair even when they create large bald spots that leave them feeling embarrassed and ashamed? The TLC Foundation for Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors defined trichotillomania as the repetitive pulling…