If our minds are projectors of a combination of psychological activities, then why is this idea of projecting ourselves relegated to just unconscious thoughts surfacing? When we say “They’re projecting”, as it’s used in psychology to describe unconscious thoughts said to another (particularly in heated or controversial discussions as we encounter them that makes it most noteworthy to mention) what if we could re frame this to include a surfacing of the conscious mind as well, making it more integrated to what projecting could potentially entail?

Hi everyone,

I’m seeking recommendations for research-based resources—books, scientific papers, or studies—that can help me better understand the grieving process, both emotionally and cognitively, as well as effective ways to support someone who is grieving.

I’ve been seeing a wonderful man who lost his long-term partner, and I know he’s still processing that loss. While our relationship is not defined, I care deeply about him and want to be there in a way that respects his grief journey. I’m interested in understanding what he might be going through psychologically, as well as learning proven supportive approaches.

If anyone knows of well-regarded research, books, or studies on the grieving process and practical, evidence-based ways to offer support, I would truly appreciate any recommendations. I’m particularly interested in understanding what happens in the brain and mind during grief and any structured approaches that might help me be a compassionate, understanding presence in his life.

Thank you so much for any guidance or resources you can share!

Is there a branch of psychology dedicated to studying people who self sabotage and in some bizarre way think that they are better of for it?

Has anyone come across the term “interpretive violence” in the context of clinical therapy? Describing when a clinician imposes their interpretation onto a client’s experience rather than truly hearing and seeking to understand it.

It came up in a conversation with an AI, and I can’t find any actual instances of this phrase being used in this context. I’m thinking it was a particularly creative hallucination from the AI.

Addicted to the sound and warmth blow-drying your body.

Hi this is probably a dumb question but is there any method to help someone remember a certain period of their life? Or what it may be even called?

Hello everybody, I'm currently working on my thesis for my Master's degree in History, and I'm doing my research on an Italian foundling home in Padua in the 16th-17th centuries. Studying the documents produced in that period by the institution gave me the impression, and quite a bit of clues, that some form of surrogate parency frequently developed between the foundlings and the wetnurses/nannies and the families of said nannies (most of the children/kids were sent out to live at their nannies' houses). In fact, the vast majority of adoptions, at least when it comes to the years which registers I consulted, involved nannies and the foundlings they were hired to care for.

I'm afraid, though, that my general lack of formation on childhood and parental psychology and sociology could harm my dissertation and maybe lead me to draw uninspired or flawed conclusions, so I thought about asking you if you know any scientific works or authors that could help me better understand how parental instincts/parental love can develop in humans when they are taking care of a child which is not their own. Any suggestion is welcome, especially if you know about any psychohistory work!

Thanks!

If so, by how much? And what other social situations can cause Testosterone to spike?

Hello. This question is related to a fictional case study I have been working on. My question today is if someone scores abnormally high in all 6 facets of openess to experience (Emotionality, imagination, artistic interest, adventurousness, liberalism, intellectual interest), is this an indicator of a schizotypal personality profile or predict the development of future schizotypal symptoms? Particularly, if paired with high neuroticism and low conscientiousness. It should be noted that the patients behavior has up until now been described as somewhere with the bounds of OCD, ADHD (hyperactive/impulsive), and even Bipolar 2.

I was just curious if one can display some degree of remorse for their actions, and be hurt/empathize when, for example, their partner is hurt. Also, can the deceitfulness and manipulativeness come out of a place of insecurity rather than personal gain? Although I suppose quashing insecurities by controlling others rather than fixing them yourself is personal gain.

Also, is playing up remorse a form of manipulation even if they genuinely cannot experience it to the degree required to show others they're sorry?

What would be the reason that in a whole empty parking lot, a person would choose to park next to one of the only few vehicles present?

In technical language we do this all the time; fool's gold isn't gold, computer memory isn't memory. We're used to it and it's useful.

But even in the definition of mental disorder, the word disorder is used as shorthand for the words mental disorder. Or maybe there's an implicit claim that a condition is a group of symptoms? That seems important.

A condition is a way of being, and it implies the existence of a potentially unknown etiology. A group of symptoms, meanwhile, is a header in a summary report. A condition can certainly result in the observation of a group of symptoms, but result and observation are doing a lot of work there.

I'm assuming they spent time on this in your courses because the diagnostic manual cannot be interpreted without getting it straight. And that's kind of where I'm lost, too.

Is there a pattern, or is it random? Is it that people usually get a similarly themed delusions, or it's usually different each time someone gets a delusion?

Does the theme of delusions mean anything about a person, does it depend on their personality, fears and wishes, or is it random? I assumed they depend on circumstances (people raised in a religion more likely to get religious ones), am I right? But do they also depend on someone's personality traits and other things I mentioned?

Hi! I’m conducting research on the use of AI and digital technology for preventing professional burnout among psychologists and mental health professionals.

I’m particularly interested in empirical data: which self-diagnostic and stress management apps have demonstrated real effectiveness? Does anyone have data on specific apps (like Mindstrong, TheraNest, etc.) or studies that confirm their usefulness in reducing burnout risk?

I’d be grateful for any materials or links to research, as well as specific examples that have helped evaluate the effectiveness of these tools. Thanks in advance!

I need clarification on these two. At the same time idk how to ask it in a proper context, apologies in advance if this is confusing or doesn’t make sense. Do these two fields coincide with each other? Which one would be more beneficial than the other?

What I see is that majority of people always seem to think they are more intelligent than average but from what I know, « more than average » means above half which means half the people are bellow average intelligence, so why does more than half of people think they are above average intelligence?

What are the factors that make people base their worth almost completely on the way they look? Why do they become obsessed with their appearance and feel very demoralized/want to hide if they don't look good in their opinion?

Quite often I see some form of evolutionary claim in (behavioral) psychology. "We behave like X, because it used to be evolutionary advantageous for this or that reason". Or my favorite pet peeve, "when we were hunter gatherers..."

One reason it annoys me is because a lot of non-scientists seem to use that type of reasoning in a hand wavy way to explain any little quirk.

However, even in a scientific context it would seem exceedingly difficult to establish such links. In biology, I can see how physical traits are traced back in time. But how does that work in studying the mind?

I’m curious about how to interpret social media profile pictures and what immediate impressions or assumptions are made when seeing someone’s photo.

What does psychology and research say about this? For instance, do certain types of pictures like group photos, selfies, professional headshots give off specific signals about personality traits or behaviors?

I’d love to hear any insights or experiences regarding how profile pictures impact first impressions.

What is the best book you can recommend for an introduction to someone who could benefit from CBT but doesn't really know what it is or how it could benefit them?

1. Can a city change one's behavior, for example, make you more motivated or less inclined to do exercise routines; make you more or less ambitious, etc?? Why does this happen psychologically, neuroscience wise, etc?

For example I traveled to Rio and fell in love with the city. I even thought about becoming a lowly street food vendor there. I have never thought about such absurdity and I have always been super ambitious and wanting to make millions.

2. Should happiness depend on a physical environment/geographical location?

I wanted to know if the adverse effects of social isolation can be reversed or that one can relearn all the neural connections they had before loneliness

Title! Thank y’all in advance!

First some context: I'm aware that psychoanalytic theory (which puts dream analysis on quite the pedestal) is contentious at best and debunked at worst in points, and I'm also aware that the assigning of meaning to dreams is an often subjective affair, save for ones whose content could be explained by physical stimuli. I'm also aware of the activation-synthesis hypothesis.

That being said, as I'm currently reading Freud's (very dry) Interpretation of Dreams, I got curious: Does this do anything? Like, have we ever tried running tests or conducting studies to see if analyzing/interpreting/assigning meaning to dreams does anything to our mental well-being?

Hello, I’m wanting to make sure I’m not missing any. I’ve been doing some independent research of the different psychological disorders that are mainly characterized by lying to medical professionals, having normal medical tests but not accepting, and severe exaggerations of medical diagnosis. I’m really interested in these and I feel like I’ve researched the well known psychological conditions. Does anyone have any conditions that come to mind that fit around that criteria?

When someone is trying really hard to take an action in a moment, for example saying something or doing something that is probably a good idea to do, but fails to do it and the moment passes, what is that phenomenon? Why it happens? In addition to practice what could help improve it?

From a psychological perspective, in any related branch (I labeled it social because I thought it would be correct), what is the psychological profile of a comedian (that is, of those professionals who make a living from entertaining based on humor? Are there traits that Do they distinguish them from other professionals? Do they tend, for example, to have greater social and cognitive skills? Do they tend to have better mental health?

Is it posible possible to develop a sort of trauma response to the idea of studying for a test? Could increased symphtoms of anxiety and depression associated with college exams be caused by the repeated stress of exam season over a few years? Does a trauma response presupose a heavily traumatic event or could it be caused by minor but relatively frequent periods of high stress?

How do psychologists differentiate between a lack of emotional empathy (e.g. in Narcissistic PD) and personal distress (e.g. in Borderline PD)?

For context, I am thinking of people who claim to be highly sensitive and empathic, but when faced with another person’s emotional pain—even outside an interpersonal dispute—will respond with anger or rage at the other person for being “negative” or ruining their mood, and will even demand to be consoled themselves.

That conduct strikes me as a fundamental lack of emotional empathy—but I’ve seen it characterized as personal distress instead. I’m interested in both the theoretical difference and the objective manifestations.

Thanks in advance!

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