#behavioral-change

#behavioral-change

Even as new GLP-1 agonists with brand names like Wegovy and Zepbound make it easier to achieve weight loss, and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors ( SSRIs) like Prozac and Zoloft provide a hedge against depression, there is growing interest in an old idea: psychedelics. The drugs are not being researched as a diversion from life, but instead as a therapeutic intervention to help us handle life's challenges in more creative ways.

In personality psychology, trust is understood as a facet of agreeableness, the Big Five personality trait that describes how we tend to relate to other people. Specifically, trust reflects how willing someone is to assume good intent, share information, and rely on others. What many people don't realize is that trust, like other personality traits, is malleable. Not only that, you can take a proactive role in becoming more trusting.

Empathy flourishes in relationships that feel safe and nonjudgmental. The human brain resists large demands but cooperates readily with small, manageable ones. When the goal is too big, motivation collapses under the weight of expectation. But when the goal is tiny, the nervous system relaxes long enough to try. When a relational goal feels too big or too inauthentic, the nervous system can perceive it as a heavy load and shut down in response.

Bailenson is the founder of Stanford's Virtual Human Interaction Lab, a research center studying the psychological and behavioral impacts of virtual and augmented reality, the latter of which overlays digital images onto the real world. He's worked on experiments aimed at increasing people's focus on climate change for more than a decade, having found some success. His team discovered that when people put on a VR headset and cut down a tree, feeling the vibration of the chainsaw, they use less paper afterward.

For many people, Thanksgiving week kicks off the most psychologically intense stretch of the year. Those in therapy or actively working to improve family relationships often feel the pressure most acutely. As a therapist, this is a week filled with conversations about anxiety, dread, and longing. Many clients share some version of the basic sentiment: "I've built an independent, responsible life, but the moment I walk through the Thanksgiving door, I'm suddenly a miserable teenager all over again." This is the week when many clients prepare to approach the holiday differently, hoping that by changing themselves, they can influence the family system.

Harley-Davidson's Jochen Zeitz contributed a new view about the role of companies in the battle to build a sustainable economy, one that everyone can embrace in their daily life.

We tend to think that we experience the world as it is. We see and hear things, store them away as knowledge, and then take new facts into account. But that's not how our brains actually work. In reality, we filter out most of what we experience, so that we can focus on particular points of interest. In effect, we forget most things so we can zero in on what seems to be most important.

Most people grapple with aspects of themselves they wish to enhance. A meaningful life can stem from aligning personal values with behaviors, leading to better choices in difficult situations.