May 26, 2015
by Cynthia Morales
A popular celebrity publication, In Touch Weekly, exposed a family secret last week hidden for over a decade by the popular reality television family, the Duggars, who star in TLC’s long-running “19 Kids and Counting”. Josh Duggar, 27, eldest male member of a family known for their televised and strong Christian views, confirmed an uncovered police report from 2008 detailing his sexual molestation of multiple girls, a number that includes his own sisters.
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May 25, 2015
by Lorna Hecht, MFT
On April 12, 2015, Hillary Clinton made the long-awaited announcement that she’s entering the 2016 U.S. presidential race. Part of the public discourse around her candidacy is the issue of sexism; is Hillary being treated differently (worse) because she’s a woman. Or maybe there’s something more basic at work here. Something fundamental to all living things. It could be that homeostasis is the common denominator driving what can otherwise be viewed simplistically as bigoted behavior in politics.
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In recent times, with the increased use of social media and the internet as a primary source of interaction between individuals, we have also seen an increase in something that has come to be known as “trolling”. Trolling is defined as an online activity where “individuals actively seek to disrupt and cause problems for their own satisfaction or enjoyment” (Pulman & Taylor, 2012), and individuals who engage in trolling are commonly referred to as “trolls”.
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Sasha enters the waiting room of her psychologist trembling. Her heart is racing as she struggles to breathe. She has heart palpitations and the room is spinning. She feels as if she is about to die. The psychologist rushes out to console and comfort her. Sasha is having a panic attack. Why? Prior to her therapy appointment, she watched countless hours of a local news network covering the recent events centering police brutality. Sasha has a similar story. She was assaulted by police several years prior. As a result, she developed Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
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Dove’s new campaign #ChooseBeautiful is challenging women across the globe to rethink what it means to be beautiful and acknowledge their own beauty. Dove’s most recent inspirational advertising placed a “beautiful” sign and an “average” sign above two adjacent doors of buidlings in San Francisco, Shanghai, London, Delhi, and Sao Paulo. The cameras were then rolling to see what women of all ages would do when faced with the decision to walk through the “average” door or the “beautiful” door. The large majority of women chose to walk under the “average” door, some with hesitation, others seemingly without thought.
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The mini-series, “The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst” recently aired on HBO. The show clearly documents the creators’, Andrew Jarecki and Marc Smerling’s ten-year immersion into the life of Robert Durst, the eldest son and heir to the Durst family real estate empire. The creators were fascinated with the story of Durst who may have been involved in the deaths of his close friend Susan Berman and his neighbor Morris Black, as well as the disappearance of his first wife, Kathleen Durst.
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101 year old Rosa Camfield’s picture holding her newborn great-granddaughter instantly went viral across social media pages. Camfield died March 30, 2015 just after creating an internet legacy. The picture was posted by Camfield’s granddaughter, Sarah Hamm, mother of the baby pictured. It did not take long for the photo of the intergenerational duo to take storm on the internet.
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AMC’s most popular and stylish drama, Mad Men, is approaching its final episodes, and throughout the course of the series viewers have observed suave playboy, Don Draper, reliably destroy relationships with his prolific and alluring love interests. Underneath the façade of mid-century perfection, Mad Men reveals the demise of modern relationship constructs that are only more prevalent today.
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March 25, 2015
by Sharon Heller, Phd
Birthday parties are meant to be special days for a child. But for a 6-year-old Florida boy, the day was devastating. Though Glenn Buratti's mother Ashlee Buratti invited his entire class over for a party, none of the 16 kids showed up.
Glenn is autistic. Children on the autistic spectrum have great difficulty in socializing and making friends and often feel isolated and alone – and especially for birthday parties where no one shows.
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Whips. Blindfolds. Handcuffs... These were the Valentines Day gifts presented between couples around the world this year. The movie, Fifty Shades of Grey, was released in theaters February 13. This movie is based on a novel that has sold over 100 million copies worldwide. Bondage, discipline, sadism, and masochism (BDSM) is the unique theme in the book and movie.
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