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…
A great parenting book I highly recommend is Ross Greene’s The Explosive Child. Even if you wouldn’t describe your child as “explosive,” (i.e. tends to throw tantrums, show inflexibility and defiance, and generally cause frustration for adult figures) it can benefit anyone raising children. The…
Experiencing negative emotions is not fun. Most people do not typically enjoy them and make great efforts to avoid them. However, negative emotions give us invaluable information that helps us to guide our lives. In this 4-part series, we are reviewing the value of negative…
Guilt and shame are usually viewed as negative emotions. They make us feel uncomfortable and remind of us of our shortcomings. However, like other negative emotions, they provide us with valuable information. It is only when the severity of our guilt or shame becomes extreme…
Negative emotions, such as anxiety and anger, are usually viewed as experiences to be minimized or avoided. At times, the experience of these emotions can even be viewed by society as character defects or as a lack of resiliency. However, negative emotions such as these…
This past month, MEL Magazine’s Adam Elder interviewed and quoted CBT SoCal’s Dr. Martin Hsia for a series on irrational fears. More specifically, Elder and Hsia collaborated on pieces focused on fears of crowds (Agoraphobia), fears of germs (akin to Contamination OCD), and fears of…
Often times, positive emotions are viewed as good and negative emotions are viewed as bad. This leads people to resist or avoid experiencing negative emotions. This idea seems to make sense intuitively. However, negative emotions are not necessarily things to be avoided, as they provide…
On occasion, athletes find themselves in a “flow state” or in “the zone.” During these moments, they effortlessly perform at their best. They lose all sense of time and perform without thinking. If someone can string enough of these moments together it is often referred…
In her recent piece on Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Psych Central’s Associate Editor, Margarita Tartakovsky, M.S., quoted CBT SoCal Psychologists Drs. Rodney Boone and Martin Hsia. Regarding the wide range of forms OCD can take, she cited: “’OCD fears reflect the broad range of human concerns,’…
What keeps ballplayers, or athletes of any sport, from playing at their best? At times, they get stuck thinking of past mistakes. Other times, they are worried about what will happen after the next pitch is thrown. In other words, they are not focused on…
When I was a sport psychology intern at the Major League Baseball Youth Academy (MLBYA) in Compton, I had the amazing opportunity to work with high school and college baseball players from all across the country. Some of the athletes were high performers, who went…
In the worlds of baseball and softball, the words sport psychology are synonymous with the name Ken Ravizza. Ravizza was a long-time professor at California State University, Fullerton (CSUF) and sport psychology consultant to the Chicago Cubs, the Los Angeles Angels, the Long Beach State…