Novice Counselor's blog

In Freudian theory, defense mechanisms are used by people to ward off anxiety. Defense mechanisms are ways to distort reality and exclude feelings from consciousness so that we do not feel anxious; they are strategic efforts by the ego to cope with socially unacceptable impulses of the id (Pervin, Cervone, & John, 2005).
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In the Novice Counselor’s opinion, the purpose of self-help groups is for people with similar issues or problems to get together and discuss their experiences, share successes and setbacks, and learn from each other. These groups provide support and a feeling that one is not alone. They provide opportunity to vent [...]

The Novice Counselor is human and like everyone else sometimes has dysfunctional thoughts. For example, the Novice Counselor has thoughts which deal with catastrophizing a situation and thinking negatively instead of positively about setbacks. For example she will think: if so-and-so has not called me or emailed her, that means he hates her; [...]