As we navigate the COVID-19 pandemic with new mandates for social distancing, isolation, quarantine, home office, and testing, we are challenged to preserve and nurture our mental health through it all. Psychologists, psychotherapists, life coaches, and anyone professionally involved with optimizing how we
Posts by Charles Ethan Paccione
Seeking A Healthy Mind During The COVID-19 Pandemic
The COVID-19 epidemic has raised concern among mental health care professionals worldwide in regard to how containment protocols, increasing death rates, and further social isolation procedures may negatively affect our mental health. A wave of new mental health disorders may indeed be on the way, especially as COVID-19 cases
Nurturing Well-Being With Nature
Neurobiological research has been showing us again and again that there is a strong association between our psychophysiological well-being and nature. But the loss of biodiversity, population growth, climate change, and urban relocation are posing major challenges to not only the natural environment but also to our
Mozart in the Crib? How Music Fosters Learning In The Infant Brain
For centuries, lullabies have been used by various cultures around the world to pass down cultural knowledge and tradition, but most importantly they facilitate a nurturing relationship between caregiver and child. They have been seen to develop infants’ communication skills and attentive awareness, modulate
How Did Our “Social Brain” Evolve?
Beginning about 2.5 million years ago a particular organ underwent a threefold increase in volume, leading to the creation one of nature’s most complex, social, and efficient structures: the human brain. The explanations as to what drove this progressive development are still debatable, yet evolutionary
The Heart and the Brain: Our Heartbeat at Its Best Performance
Developments within the field of neurobiology and neuropsychology have shown that the brain is the center of wisdom, insight, cognition, and emotion. However, if one were to look back over the last millennia, the heart has traditionally stood as the symbol and driver of such feelings — especially of love.
Altering Consciousness: Shamanism and the Brain
For centuries, shamanic rituals have been practiced in numerous cultures across the globe in order to perceive and interact with the spirit world, heal the sick, communicate with the spirits, and escort souls of the dead to the afterlife. These collective ceremonies traditionally involve the participation of the
The Giving Brain: A Look at the Neurology of Altruism
Back in 1982, the iconic American actor, film director, and entrepreneur Paul Newman founded Newman’s Own, a food company that turned a $300,000 profit margin in its first year. To this success, Paul exclaimed, “Let’s give it all away to those who need it.” Donating all after-tax profits
The Therapeutic Interconnection: Getting Results with Internet Cognitive Behavior Therapy
Yet for the last two decades, my notion of what makes a true therapeutic relationship has been somewhat challenged, transformed, and colored by the advance of internet therapy — a form of therapy that physically separates the therapist and client and redirects one’s eyes to pixelated computer screens.
Standing Up for Health: Immobility and the Brain
The average American adult sits an average of eight hours a day and sleeps an average of eight hours, resulting in a sedentary lifestyle of around 16 hours a day. While Americans know about the importance of exercise, only around 31 percent go to the gym, and around 56 percent devote less than $10 per month
Namaste: Practicing Yoga for the Aging Brain
For thousands of years, yoga has stood as one of the most important practices for spiritual discipline and transcendence of the ego. But today, yoga has made its way from out of the ashrams and into multiple neurological institutes and research centers throughout the world, being investigated
The Attentive Brain: What To Do When The Mind Wanders
William James, brother of novelist Henry James and the “father of American psychology,” wrote much on the science and art of teaching. Teaching, as James describes, is dependent on the mentor-disciple encounter. It’s an interaction between two minds: one that is well-trained and another on its way
Tunnel of Light: Making Sense of Near-Death Experiences
In 1982, a young stained-glass artist by the name of Mellen-Thomas Benedict lay dying of an inoperable brain tumor. In order to have the best quality of life before his immanent death, Benedict declined chemotherapy treatments. After about 18 months of hospice care, Benedict woke up one day around
To Combat the Opioid Epidemic We Need Better Ways to Manage Pain
The rate of overdoses due to opioid addiction has become the leading cause of death for Americans under 55. A 2018 National Vital Statistics System report showed that the epidemic has killed more people than the Vietnam and Iraq wars combined. Some people are more susceptible to becoming addicted than others
Caught Between the Twisted Stars: The Color of Mental Illness
There are only a few artists of any kind that possess as much mystery, illusion, and complexity of form and composition as Vincent van Gogh. When people hear of van Gogh, two facts usually come to mind: 1) he cut off his own ear, and 2) he painted “The Starry Night.” Both of these facts have given van Gogh