A new website is about to launch. It could be big and it is already multinational. It’s called "School Made Much Easier" and it’s designed for students, parents, educators and EFT practitioners. The website is www.SchoolMadeMuchEasier.com. Check it out and get your name on the advance notice list. The expected launch is in a couple of weeks.

School Made Much Easier is the brainchild and passion of Paul Widdershoven, an experienced EFT practitioner.

Emotional Freedom Technique, commonly known as EFT, is an energy-healing technique developed by Gary Craig (my teacher) in the 1990s. It has been so effective in reducing emotional distress that it is now used by psychologists, counsellors, medical doctors and educators around the world. What’s even more exciting is that tens of thousands of non-professionals use EFT as a valuable self-help tool.

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I’m at the Association for Comprehensive Energy Psychology conference in Virginia, USA and I promised to report back to you if possible.

Today I took in a great training workshop called, The Pleasure of Weight Loss. It was a very hands-on training in using Tapas Acupressure Technique (TAT) to help people lose weight and keep it off. And the icing on the cake was that the workshop was led by Tapas Fleming herself. Tapas is the inventor/originator of TAT, and she is a great teacher.

I had the pleasure of training with Tapas seven years ago, so today was for recharging, discovering what’s new with TAT and learning a new application.

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Dr. Neill Neill

Here I sit in the Vancouver International Airport terminal preparing a post while I wait for my flight to Chantilly, Virginia via Washington, DC. I am on my way to the ninth annual conference of the Association for Comprehensive Energy Psychology (ACEP).

I’ve been deeply involved in the energy psychology movement and ACEP for seven years now, and I always come away from the annual conference recharged with innovations, insights and joyful reconnections with old friends. Energy psychology is the cutting edge of modern practical psychology. As I have said before, I believe it will drag mainstream psychology kicking and screaming into the 21^st century.

This year the plenary speakers are Dr. Rupert Sheldrake (The sense of Being Stared At), Dr. Christine Page (Spiritual Alchemy) and Her Holiness Sai Maa Lakshmi Devi who will speak on "The Art of Forgiveness." (Several of the experts featured in the movie, The Secret, have been past speakers at the ACEP conference.

The rest of the conference will be a smorgasbord of expertise and experience, the very latest stuff. The hardest part will be choosing among lots of excellent options.

I hope I’ll have time during the conference to report back to you on some of what’s happening. Stay tuned.

Dr. Neill Neill, Registered Psychologist and Diplomate in Comprehensive Energy Psychology, maintains an active psychology and life-coaching practice on Vancouver Island, BC, Canada. He is a member of the treatment team at Sunshine Coast Health Centre, an alcohol and drug treatment center for men. His goal is to help you to help yourself to a better life. http://www.neillneill.com

Being married to a functioning alcoholic is a big problem. Tens of thousands of families in North America alone are struggling with the issue.

For a minority of people social drinking can gradually deteriorate into alcohol abuse and eventually into alcohol dependence. The drinking could have started in a lot of different ways, but that’s not what’s important. What is important is that the drinking became a habit and the habit became alcohol dependence or alcoholism. It matters not a hoot whether the alcohol is in the form of beer, wine or hard liquor.

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Telus, a major telephone company, announced recently that it was going to sell pornography to its cell phone subscribers. If it had proceeded, it would be the first in North America. There was a huge backlash and they canceled their plan. Other big telephone companies quickly distanced themselves from any move to sell porn to their cell phone customers.

Regardless of their rationale for backpedaling, Telus did the right thing.

A task force of the American Psychological Association (APA) released a major report called "The Sexualization of Girls" on February 19. They reported wide evidence that the proliferation in media and advertising of sexualized images of young women and girls is harmful to girls’ self-image and healthy development. It’s damaging to the physical health of our children. It’s damaging to their mental health.

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My regular readers will know that I write articles on a variety of subjects in practical psychology, including alcoholism. I have a particular interest in the well-being of families of alcoholics and other addicts. I am such a family member myself.

I came across a new website today called Addiction Recovery Basics by Bill Urell, who works with people recovering from addictions. Check it out. He has good articles on chemical dependency, 12-step, and the depression that so often accompanies substance-abuse and recovery.

I expect that over time our writings will complement each other.

On a personal note, there are a few parallels between us, although I may be a bit longer in the tooth than Bill. Just before Christmas I was honored with a cake for 30 years of sobriety at the alcohol and drug treatment center where I am the consulting psychologist.

Bill says he bought a convertible. I bought a motorcycle last year. (Is this a male thing or a stage-of-life thing?)

Anyway Bill, congratulations on your new internet venture!

Neill

Dr. Neill Neill, Registered Psychologist, maintains an active psychology and life-coaching practice on Vancouver Island, BC, Canada. He is a member of the treatment team at Sunshine Coast Health Centre, an alcohol and drug treatment center for men. Visit http://www.neillneill.com for articles and commentary.

Neill Neill, Ph.D.

I am tickled that someone nominated Practical Psychology for Capable People for the Blog of the Day Award and am so grateful to have been selected for the award for January 29, 2007. Thank you to my readers. Thank you to the reviewers at Blog of the Day Awards.

The Blog of the Day Award furthers the big goal, the mission, of Practical Psychology for Capable People, which is to provide practical psychological and spiritual nourishment, guidance and tips for self growth daily to thousands of visitors from around the world, so that we can all achieve more peace and fulfillment in our lives. This is my vision.

If you share my vision and want to help, send your questions, comments and suggestions. Tell your family and friends about the blog. Join my email list.

If you can, send money. My circumstance don't yet allow me to scale back my practice to free up time for writing during the week. Financial donations will make this happen sooner.

And above all bookmark the site and come back often.

Blessings, 

Neill

Neill Neill, Ph.D.

I just read a disturbing article in the New York Times, disturbing because its implications go far beyond the scope of the article.

The article is entitled, "What’s a Pound of Prevention Really Worth?" by David Leonhardt. He talks about a cardiologist who characterizes himself as "an accidental diet doctor." Dr. Arthur Agatston of South Beach Diet fame now claims that "Heart attacks are essentially disappearing from my practice."

The big picture of what he is saying and taking action on is simple. We know many of the factors that prevent heart attacks, both medical and lifestyle, so a vigorous prevention program reduces the risk by "up to 80 percent."

The problem is it takes a committed patient, frequent visits, nurses, nutritionists and others to succeed.

And according to the article his practice is losing money. Why?

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By Neill Neill, Ph.D

I just finished reading an interesting article by Dave Shearon about positive psychology in the workplace, "Sure they’ll think you are smart, but will they want to work for you? " published in The Positive Psychology News Daily.

He talks about how happiness and being positive are downplayed in the workplace, yet he goes on to say, "Positive psychology researchers have shown that happy, optimistic, hopeful individuals, in addition to living longer and healthier lives and having better relationships, are also more successful." If you’ve ever wondered about ‘looking smart,’ read his article.

Mr. Shearon gives positive-psychology-based seminars to lawyers. I am a professional psychologist, so I wondered if the same comments apply to my profession. I concluded that indeed they do.

Because of confidentiality issues, I cannot observe directly other psychologists at work with their clients. But I do hear reports like "He’s really intelligent, but I didn’t feel hopeful when I left," or "She’s smart, but I don’t think she’s happy."

I was once criticized by a supervisor for laughing in sessions with clients. But for the last number of years I’ve been in solo private practice and haven’t had the constraints of a supervisor. I am by nature a happy, positive person and going solo has been a fascinating experience.

I perceive some interesting things to have happened over the course of my practice.

• First of all, the amount of laughter in my sessions has increased year by year, while the tears shed by clients in my sessions have decreased. (Some weeks produce no tissue in my wastebasket.)
• Secondly, the number of sessions it takes to help my clients through what brought them in the door has steadily decreased over the years.
• Thirdly, my local reputation as a psychologist/healer has grown over the course of my practice. My referrals are the people with the most severe problems.

I love positive psychology. Thank you Dr. Martin Seligman for legitimizing my work.

Neill

Dr. Neill Neill maintains an active psychology and life-coaching practice on Vancouver Island, BC, Canada. He is a member of the treatment team at Sunshine Coast Health Centre, an addiction treatment facility for men. He writes regular newspaper and magazine columns on healing and self growth. He holds a vision of expansion of the human store of hope, happiness and generosity of spirit.

Neill Neill, Ph.D.

I have long argued that more optimistic people live happier more fulfilling lives. This is basic positive psychology. We maximize our sense of wellbeing by focusing on what we want, not on what we don’t want. Optimistic people seem to have a brightness of the future. Their more pessimistic compatriots worry about the future.

Today I read an interesting New York Times article about mortality among optimistic versus pessimistic older adults. It was entitled "Yet Another Worry for Those Who Believe the Glass Is Half-Empty." It starts off with, "Now, it seems, pessimists may really have something to worry about: their health."

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