5 whole years of Psychology Intake!

Hello everyone! Hope you've all been well, and making the most out of the last 16 days of 2025. I know I am.

As the above title states, my blog is officially 5 years old! (Well, as of the 12th of December). I was supposed to do this blog on the Friday just gone, but I had something on that day, which prevented me from being active on here. Anyway, I got time today, so 3 days late isn't too bad!

In this special blog, I just want to take a moment to reflect on why I wanted to start a blogging site, as well as what my intentions are with being a blogger & the content I create with all things psychology.

What was my reason for creating this blog? 

Back in 2019, I started growing a passionate interest for psychology. As of such, I began reading psychology articles to feed my brain with psychology facts. Fast forward onto 2020, where I had spent a large chunk of my time being at home, I wanted to gain a more deeper knowledge of psychology by doing a few courses on The Open University. 

And my learning thirst didn't stop there... My mind was craving after more psychology articles. By the 12th of December of that year, I plucked up the courage to create my own blogging site based on my growing passion for psychology. So here we are!

Did I want to use psychology towards anything?

Yes, I did. I want to be able to use psychology to work with people & their mental health. Although I wanted to go through a psychology degree at a university. Back then, I had to go through 3 courses at college to get towards studying a psychology degree at university. In other words, I was 3 years away from getting to that stage. During these 3 years, I have learned about the importance of exercising to uplift mental health & wellbeing, conformity, conditioning & Maslow's Needs.

However, 3 months prior to leaving college, all of that changed... I ended up not going the university route to undertake a psychology, as I was told by one of my college tutors that all it will be, is a subject on a piece of paper in a glass frame when I graduate. Instead, I went down a different route...

And that route was getting to work in education, as well as expanding my skills & morals into youth work. All in all, I'd definitely say that me inheriting all of this psychology knowledge & facts was 110% worth it! This is because I get to use it as a superpower to understand young people's behaviour. With that said - Goal achieved!🎉  

How the power of play is so impactful on young people

Hello everyone! Hope you've all had a good August, I know I have!

I say that, as I was working during the weekday for 3 weeks from the 28th of July - the 19th of August. Not to mention that I got to enjoy myself doing other things over the weekends in between as well. I even had a an enjoyable holiday from the 20th and only got back home yesterday (the 28th).

Since I have downtime for most of today, I thought I'd do a post on here which is inspired by the Challengers' Impact Report of 2025. Especially how my life involves that place at the moment. It will mainly consist of how play is so vitally important to help young people with various disabilities navigate the world.

One of the core values at Challengers, is to NEVER exclude anyone regardless of how complex their needs are. This is done to ensure that they all fit, as well as interact with every other young person on scheme who all have similar needs to them.

Now, let's talk about inclusivity... What do we do at Challengers to ensure every young person feels included on scheme? The answer couldn't be much simpler, we provide a range of activities which are all accessible to suite every young person's need. Even if the activities are not accessible to some young people at first, we will always make every effort to make them accessible to those young people.

This also leads me to the next rhetorical question... How do all of the staff at Challengers let the young people have fun playing on scheme? We (as staff members) undergo regular safeguarding, first aid & crisis drills training to ensure every young person who comes on scheme is in safe hands & well looked after. To this extent, we get visits from Ofsted to check we meet the safeguarding needs that Challengers provides to young people.

And the big rhetorical question... Why are both of these things blended together so vitally important for young people to play on scheme? This is because we are dedicated to bringing laughter & smiles out of these young people despite the challenging behaviour that they present us with. Although in all of the schemes I've worked in, it's some more than others. Allowing challenging young people to play really helps them to become more happier, and they can demonstrate that (verbally or not) by interacting with us, as they rarely get so much of that much needed intensive interaction elsewhere. Some young people are even aware of how well we look after their medical needs, as we will always welcome them with warm arms into our schemes where no other place would due to how complex their medical or behaviour needs are.

To see the evidence for yourselves, I have attached the Impact Report of 2025: https://disability-challengers.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Challengers-Impact-Report-2024-25.pdf

*I began this post on the 29/8, but didn't finish it until the 30/8*

An insight to SEMH: A new journey

Hello everyone! Well, what can I say, it's obviously been a long time since I was last active on here. And there are 2 reasons why...

I suppose the 1st one being I couldn't be bothered.

The 2nd one, however, is because I now have a weekday job in a SEMH school. To be more precist, I began this new job on the 25th of November of last year.

Since I have a day of nothing today, (which rarely happens anymore these days!😂) I thought I'd make use of it by utilizing the time to make this post. 

As the above title states, I will be talking about the 'ins & outs' of SEMH. I will also be sharing how much I have learned about SEMH.

You're probably asking: "What does SEMH stand for?"

SEMH stands for Social, Emotional & Mental Health.

Now you're asking: "What is Social, Emotional & Mental Health?"

Social, Emotional & Mental Health is a complex mental health condition, where people experience significant struggles with managing their behaviour & emotions. Alongside this, they may show inappropriate behaviour & language when it comes to reacting to a demand that they do not want to do. An example of this could be being told to undertake 3 pages of Maths work.

A person with SEMH will often feel anxious & insecure most of the time, as they feel like they are no good at anything due to all of the trauma, humiliation & shame that they have experienced whilst growing up. Moreover, they will most likely feel intimidated by other people who seem "normal" to them. Or even try to compare themselves to any "normal" person.

In no way at all are people with SEMH bad with an unruly attitude, they are simply scared by all of the trauma & abuse that they have been through in their early stages of life. Even I can say for myself that I've seen/heard people with SEMH do incredible things! For example, they can obtain phenomenal knowledge about an industry that they are interested in. Especially the practical industries.

It is essentially mindful to know when you encounter a person with SEMH being dysregulated, they are NOT doing it with the intention of choosing to cause disruption. They are in that emotional state, because they have no other coping mechanisms. This is what is known as a "fight or flight" response.

All in all, people living with SEMH want to be like other people, as well as to be able to do things that other people do. In my opinion there isn't nearly enough SEMH awareness out there, so this is half the reason why I have made this post.

For those of you who have found this topic/post interesting, thank you for reading through, and I do plan on making more posts associated with SEMH in the future. 

Just bare in mind that I am only 3 months into this journey, so I wouldn't say I obtain a professional knowledge. I am still in the process of learning something new about SEMH everyday whilst at work. As for somebody who has been into psychology for 6 years now, I am very much looking forward to be riding on this journey...

What does the word 'Reflect' mean to you?

Hello all, and I hope you're all having a great 2024 so far! I know I'm 2 days late here with this post, but if I'm being honest, I really couldn't be bothered to post on NYE.

Anyway, as the above rhetorical-questioned title states, I am curious to know what reflecting means to you. Does it consist of reflecting on yourself? Last year? (2023) Or even a few or more years back? Whatever your thoughts are, do feel free to type them in the comments. I personally, will be using this post to reflect on how 2023 has been for me. Although I'm not one of those people who tends to have a priciest opinion on how each year has been for me, I can definitely say, without a doubt & as a fact, that 2023 has been my best year so far. And I'll tell you for why...

What does reflection mean to me? If I was to choose how to best answer this rhetorical question, I would say looking back over the past 4 years on how far I've progressed with myself, compared to where I am now to this day. If I was to think deep about it, my mind just feels like it wants to explode with disbelief. It's also if my mind still cannot actually believe how long my self progression has been!

Let's go back to late 2019, where I had manifested my interest & passion for psychology. A.K.A, pre Psychology Intake times. (And of course, COVID-19😂) The most I was doing, in terms of anything psychology related, was looking up psychology quotes on the internet. I was pretty much doing the same for the 1st 5 months of 2020. A short while after that, I random began looking up the psychology behind some old children's TV shows I used to watch when I was in my single digits, as well as actually watching them on YouTube myself. (I think I can be excused for doing this, being that I wasn't allowed to do much back then😂)

In December 2020, I suddenly had the idea of starting my own blogging site, where I can distribute my knowledge, as well develop more knowledge on psychology. Most of which had consisted of the psychology behind something to shape it how it is. I was fully active on here back then as well. In terms of my education, I was doing a course in Outdoor Activities at college, where I got to undertake a lot of sport & fitness. As I got to learn a lot about mental health in sport & fitness, I was able to do a couple of posts about something on the lines of the the psychology behind keeping yourself active. (I know I wasn't being accurate here, as I've not looked back on my previous posts lately)

Moving onto September 2021, where I got accepted onto a 2 year Public Services course at college. This has been, without a doubt, the most stressful 2 years of my life, but I can happily wholeheartedly say that it was worth it! Not just in terms of getting closer into my dream career, but also there was a huge amount of psychology on that course I had found interesting. An example of this was to learn & understand about conformity.

In March 2022, I undertook the 310,000 steps in March Challenge for Samaritans. This challenge had taught me that I can achieve absolutely ANYTHING at all, if I can put my mind to it. This was also where my walking had turned into a regular hobby by going out as much as possible in my spare time. During that year, I was a wee bit less frequent with my blogging on here, but I was fairly active. My mind was rightly cautious to stay focused on my 1st year of my Public Services course.

In January of last year, where I applied for, and began working at a local MIND shop. I knew I needed to boost my people skills & employment. My 3 month absence period on here (forcely) occurred a month later, as my mind was sensible enough to put my coursework first due to it being the most important get done, or else I'd fail the 2 years of hard work & effort on that course.

In April & May of last year, I attended 2 major sporting events up in London, ad I had signed up to be a Samaritans Events Volunteer. This had also helped my to build up my people skills by doing thing out in the community. (I'm hoping to do some more voluntary work with them this year)

Also in April last year, I began my part-time job with Disability Challengers, where I got to put my psychology skills to good use by working with children & young people with different behaviours. I'll tell you what, after 8 months of working with them, I feel like a different person. (I'll save that for a separate post)

In terms of my blogging site for the remainder of 2023, I had spoken out about the work that MIND do, and shared it with LinkedIn, so I was able to gain more recognition of what I do on my blogging site. In fact, I did the same for some of my other posts that raise awareness about importance topics, such as ADHD. (I intend to do much more of that in the future)

Finally, in November of last year, I became a member of the Surrey Youth Commission, which is where I meet with a group of other people in my county area to discuss how crime is impact ing people in communities. Again, another "putting my psychology skills into good use" & a another step closer to my dream career industry opportunity there.

And that was how 2023 had earned its title "best year ever so far." Now here I am in this day & age, looking to make 2024 a bigger & better year for me... Although I wouldn't want to jinx it though, as my mind has the important job of opportunity hunting. And that itself, is no easy task.

I just want to say, if anyone has survived reading down to this point of the post, thank you so much!

*I began this post on the 2/1/2024, but didn't finish it until the 5/1/2024*

Conversations In The Community Review + Key Takeaways (A MIND accredited online course)

Hello all! As the above title states, I will be distributing what I have learned, as well as include some key takeaways/points from an online course that I have managed to complete recently.

A little backstory for you here, I was working at my MIND store one day back in July, and I happen to glace up at a poster which was advertising an online course associated with MIND. Me, being the curious-minded person I am, only decided to scan the QR code on the poster to see what the said course (in the above title) was all about. Then me, also being the scatter-brained (sometimes) person that I am, only managed to get through 1/5 modules the next day, before ending up not getting around to doing it again until a week ago.  

*This was the only convenient picture I could find on the internet*

What was the online course about? Conversations In The Community is purely about educating people about the best ways of beginning, flowing & ending conversations with other people. And this can be having a conversation with anybody at all, regardless if they are struggling with their mental health or not. Moreover, this course goes into fish tank depth about the pros & cons of forming a conversation with somebody in the community. (I'll bullet point them later in this post)

How did the online course provide me with useful information? The online course provided me with a lot of tips of how to make a good & effective conversation. The information had also stated that it is important to bare in mind no conversation ever HAS to be perfect, as there isn't such thing as a 'perfect conversation'. The useful tips had included respecting the person's or your own boundaries, never ask leading questions, always remind the person that your there for them & try to show interest.

Would I feel more confident about starting my own conversations In the community? In a word, definitely! To further extend my reasoning, I will now remind myself to always begin a conversation to anyone by using open questions, like: "Hiya, how has your day been today?" or "Hey, how has life been for you lately?"

What are the pros & cons of forming conversations?

Pros:

• Finding a suitable environment
• Allowing the person to take their time
• Asking open questions
• Reminding the person you'll be always be there for them
• Respecting your person's privacy 
• Giving yourself an appropriate time

Cons:

• Being insulting
• Comparing your person's struggles to everyone else's
• Asking leading questions that will make your person feel uncomfortable 
• Not showing interest
• Violating your person's privacy
• Not going through the flowing & ending process in the conversation

What have I learned? As I have mentioned earlier, I have learned that any form of conversation doesn't NEED to be perfect, as long as I make the effort to actually make any form of conversation at all. And as long as the person I am having a conversation with is satisfied with everything, then I will be more than happy.

I have also learned that conversations are more effective when you allow your person to have their preferences. This is to provide them with empowerment that will make them feel comfortable & secure prior to a conversation. An example of this could be allowing your person to convey the conversation in a wide open green space, where they feel more comfortable by knowing that nobody else is going to invade the private conversation.

Finally, I have learned that you are entitled to setting your own boundaries when it comes to finding the most convenient time to form a conversation with somebody. This is important because you must consider you self-care before thinking about beginning a conversation with somebody. Especially when you know in advance that you are going to be having an emotionally draining conversation with somebody who is fighting depression.

Conclusion: Even though I was inattentive towards the online course when I have first started it back in July, I have found it really interesting & enjoyable throughout when I had eventually got my inattentive self round to getting through the rest of it, and managed to complete it on Wednesday. (The day before my birthday!) After doing the course, I feel more confident about forming conversations with people whenever I go out & about into the community. Although I know in the back of my mind that is easier said than done, as I still consider myself to be a shy person when having a random conversation with anyone out in the community. That being said, I can easily just shrug it off, and just focus on making conversation.

If anybody would like to develop better conversation forming skills when out & about in the community, I definitely recommend doing this course! Direct access link: https://www.conversationsinthecommunity.org.uk/

An introduction to MIND Side By Side

Evening all, and happy Friday! I hope you're all looking forward to celebrating Christmas this year, however you may choose to celebrate it. 

In contrast, it is important to bare in mind that some people out there may not choose to celebrate Christmas due to certain issues they could be dealing with. An example of this could be their mental health. I, for one, can totally relate to this, so I know how it feels to be overwhelmed during the run up to Christmas. Let alone on Christmas Day.

Whilst still on this subject, I have just recently signed myself up to the MIND Side By Side community scheme. Although I have only discovered this community scheme within a short amount of time, I can already provide a useful introduction about it to anyone who is also considering to join up as well.

What is Side By Side? Side By Side is an online community group, where people all over the world can connect with one another. Going into more depth, Side By Side creates a sole purpose of supporting people who are battling mental health. (Myself included)

How does using Side By Side make me feel? Overall, I would say that using Side By Side helps me to feel relieved, by being allowed to express myself freely with other people without any judgement. That being said, I feel like I can relate to other people on the community site by developing an understanding of what they may be going through in terms of their own mental health. Every story is different & interesting to say the least. Whenever I use Side By Side, my mind breathes with relief, as it casually puts itself in timeout by knowing that it is going to get a well deserved break from reality. Making an effort to connect with other users helps my mind to unload all of the piling stress that cannot seem to disappear. This is purely because talking about how you feel to someone helps my mind to get rid of its load of excessive & repetitive thoughts. And in most cases, prevents them from reoccurring.

*I began this post on the 22/12/23, but didn't finish it until the 23/12/23*

The psychology behind I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here!

Happy Friday all! I cannot believe we're now in December already?! This only means I can begin the official countdown to Christmas, my birthday & 2024. (They all come at once for me within just 7 days😂 )

Putting that obvious, but irrelevant information aside, I want to do a kind of blog post which I haven't done for as long as I could remember the last time I did so. (As the 3 first words in the above title state)

And because it's also that time of year again, where a certain iconic TV programme invades ITVX (as it's now known as these days) for 4 weeks, I felt like discussing the psychology that lies behind it. Just to pre-warn you all, I will be sharing my thoughts in this post as well.

I'm sure most people can say that I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here is one of the most entertaining programmes to come around every year, as 12 celebrities participate in scary & silly challenges. All of which is set in a remote jungle located in Australia. And the 2 hosts are none other than the Geordie duo, Ant & Dec.

But I ask myself this rhetorical question: "What makes this TV programme so entertaining & popular?" Could it depend on what celebrities go into the jungle? Could it depend on which celebrities do what challenge? Could it be that Ant & Dec are the main hosts? Could it even be the the fans' gossip/opinions on social media? The possibilities are endless.

In my own personal opinion, I would say all of the above. Purely because this TV programme has been running the same way since 2002. (Including when the show had to relocate to Wales for 2 years running due to COVID-19 restrictions)

Whenever I watch a celebrity take on a thrilling challenge on public television, it makes my mind think: "Wow! They are so brave at doing that!" And yes, even the celebrities who do these challenges on IACGMOOH like to think they are hard as nails, just for the purpose of the rest of the public to think that way as well. However, the harsh reality is, that it's easy for any celebrity to forget that they are a human being at the end of the day.

To further extend on that point, they get into this habit of people pleasing by thinking they can do anything, as they chose to go on a popular TV programme to undertake a series of crazy challenges. This is also where they develop this mindset of behaving as if they were Superman or Superwoman, (for all you feminists out there) and that giving up is simply not an option. But if any celebrity ended up having to shout: "I'm a celebrity, get me out of here!" When they feel like they cannot cope with a challenge due to feeling too scared, they just end up feeling guilty afterwards. Again, this is their Superman or Superwoman mindset talking to them by telling them that they should've done better.

I can only imagine the celebrities' thoughts if they were to bother reading the fans' comments all over social media about them...

All in all, IACGMOOH is always, and will always set out to people please. Whether it's aimed at the celebrities taking part or just the public watching at home. Especially if the programme itself is still encouraging social stigma across all media.

Growth Mindset VS Fixed Mindset

Happy Sunday all! I hope you've all had a great week, wherever you are in the world. I've mainly been busy prioritizing my self-care throughout this week by not spending too much time on the internet, as spending too much time on the internet does genuinely kill my productiveness.

Anyway, as the title states, I shall be explaining what is a growth & a fixed mindset, as well as explaining the differences between them both. This was another one of those psychology studies which I have learned about back in my 1st year of my Public Services course at college, but had never gotten round to sharing it onto here. The fascinating aspect about this study, is that it can be used to analyse other people's minds. This can mostly be effective for when you are watching studying answer some questions in a classroom. The same method can also apply for when your mind is being studied by somebody else.

What is a growth mindset?

A growth mindset is where you are always looking for ways to learn & grow. This is very commonly used when it comes to making a mistake. For example, when you see somebody being asked to work out a question on chemistry, and they get it wrong, they would want to know where they went wrong in order learn from that mistake.

What is a fixed mindset?

A fixed mindset is where you like to think you are perfect all of time by not making any mistakes. In fact, you try to avoid making mistakes all together for the sake of looking like a genius all of the time. For example, when you see somebody in a classroom copying somebody else's answers in chemistry, because they are too headstrong about making mistakes if they were to provide their own answers. The trouble is that person won't be able to learn how they got their answer in chemistry, as there are no mistakes to help them learn.

Here is the attached picture that shows the characteristics of the 2 contrasting mindsets. Although I may do a separate post on here fir another time, which involves discussing each of them in more detail.

*I began this post on the 29/10/23, but didn't finish it until the 31/10/23*

The psychology behind social media influencers

Good evening everyone, and happy Friday! I hope you've all had a good week doing whatever you've been up to.

As for me over here, I've been busy for the first 3 days with my extra credit, then I had 2 days of doing nothing. As of right now, I thought about doing another blog post, since I currently have nothing else more important to do. 

As the title states, I will be explaining the psychology of what makes people think they are social media influencers. I was actually doing my research on this whilst on my lunchbreak on Wednesday. 

What is a social media influencer?

A social media influencer is a type of person who likes to make themselves look, as well as be popular across every social media existing. They do this by constantly posting what they like doing, with the sole intention of attracting followers, and people liking their posts. 

What makes social media influencers popular in today's society? 

Social media influencers are becoming increasingly popular by the second of every day due to the amount of money they are making just by posting on their social media. This can also be done due to the fact that it's easy to become addicted to social media. On the subject of social media addiction being easy to get into, a lot of people use it to create their own businesses on it to earn money. If we even look at the term 'influencer' this is where social media influencers encourage other social media influencers to get involved in the world of social media influencing by purposely making posts that will make their followers think: "Wow! They look really cool doing that!"

Why do people behave like a social media influencer?

This is because they follow a lot of already social media users all over social media, and they feel like they want to be like them by mimicking their influential behaviour on their social media. Doing so also helps these people, who are under the influence of social media influencers, to feel like they are being social with every single person they are connected with on social media. This would be known as the now typical social interaction. *If anyone reading this is old-skool in terms of this topic, I suggest you take your allergy tablets*

Conclusion: I think we can all agree that social media influencing will STILL continue to get competitively popular in general as time will go on. Moreover on this, social media will still be an effective tool to use when it comes to promoting, marketing or campaigning, which will encourage influential behaviour to their followers. At the end of the day, there is no right or wrong use when it comes to social media influencers, as they can make post their own content on literally anything at all to attract their social media audience. I personally am not into social media influencing, so I do not want to showcase my opinions on here, as it could cause controversy. Link to my research source: https://www.bcu.ac.uk/media/news/blog/are-social-media-influencers-really-that-significant

Anyway, hope you've all found this topic post beneficial by gaining a useful insight into what social media influencers are all about, and I shall be back very soon.

*I began this post on the 20/10/23, but didn't get finished until the 21/10/23* 

A little something for #WorldTeachersDay

Hello everyone, I know I'm a bit late on this, but I felt like I wanted to share my say on World Teachers Day. 

What is my reason for this? This is because I happen to have a passion for education, and I personally feel like everybody has a right to be educated, regardless of who they are & what they are. Moreover to this point, education gives people opportunities to thrive & become successful in the real world.

This is why I want to provide an insight to what it means to be a teacher. Just to be clear, I am not an actual qualified teacher myself, but I do consider to obtain some teacher-like qualities.

World Teachers Day is purposely aimed at teachers all over the world. They work tirelessly hard to the best of their ability to provide education to anyone anywhere in the world. Asides from providing people with education, teachers will happily go out of their way to ensure that a person is well & happy. After all, a well & happy mindset is a healthy combination to the road of success. Well, in terms of success in education anyway.

With all of that said, teachers all over the world should be applauded for all of their dedication to provide education of all kinds. Some of which do not necessarily have to be in a school, college or university environment, as there are also TV programmes that have teaching in them. For example, Abandoned Engineering, as this programme contains history about old buildings that never got finished.

Imagine a world without any education, let alone any teachers; The world would be at a stand still. And quite literally, because if you think about it, no one would have any knowledge to get things done in the world to keep things moving.

Why going to an education setting with so much opportunities can make a person thrive in life

Evening all! Hope you're all enjoying your week so far, whatever you're doing. I'm just trying to keep myself as busy as possible with my extra credit & any upcoming work I have with Disability Challengers.

As the title states, I am going to be discussing why an opportunity-filled education setting can really do people with gifted mindsets the world of good. What I mean by this, is how academic people want to be able to excel, as well as show off their learning ability in an education setting like no other.

And I will be using Epsom College for my chosen example.

Why did I choose Epsom College as my example?

I chose Epsom College, because it has so many learning opportunities like no other place does. Well, that's my opinion anyway. In comparison to other education settings, I see that this one has every single opportunity in stock, whereas other places don't. (Not trying to cause offence here)

What really helps support my option, is that I have watched the virtual tour on YouTube. The video consists of 2 students giving you the tour of the place, as well as talking about what their educational life is like for them there. Here's the video in case if you're interested to see for yourself: 

How does Epsom College cater for the needs of the gifted?

For starters, Epsom College considers the fact that there are (and still will be) people out there who want to wish to be well educated. Not just to be educated, but to be educated to the very best of standards. 

This is done in such a way, because the students who attend there, have an inquisite mindset by wanting to develop their interest in something in every single approachable way possible. It's as if their mindsets are constantly barking at them to be able to learn every bit about what their interested in that will help them what they want to do in the future.

Is there any evidence that those students do well in life after Epsom College?

Yes there is! According to the website, there is evidence that shows the support students get while applying to universities across the UK & abroad. Evidence in the website also include careers talk, discussions of their academic ability & seeking work experience. 

Conclusion:

Not every educational setting has to be made out as a stereotypical "Normal place of learning." Primarily because this particular education setting just happens to stand out more than the rest. As a matter if fact, non-typical education settings seem to achieve more praise due to how well they stand out.

WHY AM I SO INATTENTIVE?!

If you have been reading through, or still have been reading through my blog posts, you may have seen that I have been slacking on getting them finished on the same date I have started them. This is due to the fact that I now have so many things going on in my life now that simply takes away my free time to be blogging on here. 

As much as I do genuinely enjoy being busy, I also find it annoying that I am becoming too busy to be active on here doing what I love doing. Hence, I rarely have any time to be looking into what is happening in the world of psychology. Hence, my reason('s) for feeling so inattentive lately.

If I was to be honest with myself at this point, it would be that I have been feeling drained when I try to type on here. To add onto that statement, I feel like I have to put pressure on myself just to keep myself active on here, let alone come up with another post to publish.

It's not that I do not enjoy blogging anymore, or that I do not have a passion for psychology anymore, (because I still do) it's that I am now in the process of providing better future opportunities for myself. This had meant I want to put my focus onto doing that, rather than worry about trying to keep active on here all of the time.

So if you see that I am hardly active on here at the moment, or slacking to get anything published by taking as long as 5 days, you'll now know why. 

The best way to understand people's behaviour

This is a post which will be relating to my job as a disability play/youth worker. Not only that, but I will also be dishing out tips & advice for the best way to get to understand children & young people with complex needs.

What does a play/youth worker do?

A play/youth worker is a member of staff who works on play or youth scheme, (or in my case, Disability Challengers) and basically gets to work with children & young people while they get to have fun playing on scheme.

However, a playworker doesn't just play with children & young people, a play/youth worker also has an important job to ensure everyone is safe while playing on scheme. This is essentially called safeguarding.

Going into safeguarding, I, as a play/youth worker, must keep my vigilance at all times when it comes to children & young people's behaviours. This is because behaviour can either be represented verbally or physically, which could eventually become a risk to everyone on scheme, as well as themselves. If a behaviour really was to escalate into the too dangerous category, then a play/youth worker will have no choice but to perform a safety intervention. (SI) This is where a play/youth worker (who MUST be trained in SI to do this) physically removes a child or young person off from another person if they are physically hurting them.

All in all though, a play/youth worker ensures any child or young person has the best day on scheme regardless.

What is the best way to understand children & young people with complex needs?

We always do a briefing 15mins prior to the children or young people coming onto scheme. This helps us to get to know the children or young people who will be coming in for the day, as we get to read through their information sheet. Or as we call them, CIS's.

I'll use the example if I was to going get put with a 1:1 child or young person for the morning & another for the afternoon. I usually let that 1:1 child or young person do what they want to do, so it helps me to understand what they like to do best on scheme. I also pay close attention to how they communicate, whether they use a device, body language, noises or just verbally talking. No 2 people I work/interact 1:1 with are the same. 

If I was to bullet point some handy tips for you all when it comes to working with children or young people with complex needs at a place like Disability Challengers, they'll be things like:

• Always communicate to non-verbals using sign language, as they would benefit from this more
• Ensure you read through their CIS's thoroughly, so you know how to handle them on scheme
• Never show your impatience with trying to get your 1:1 to do something, like going to the toilet, as A) It will make yourself look unprofessional, and B) It may traumatize them
• Never punish a child or young person if they did something wrong on scheme, like hitting someone, as it is not our protocol to give them punishments
• Always listen to what any child or young person comes up & says to you on scheme, as they feel like they can open up to you about anything on their mind
• If you get asked to hang around with the non-1:1's on scheme, do try to interact with them all, because some of them may feel lonely without staff interaction
• In relations to hanging out with the non-1:1's on scheme, try to get them all playing together

I think that's pretty much everything covered for this long post now. 

Anyway, I hope my personal insight to what I do at work, as well as my tips has provided sine useful insight for anyone wishing to work as a play/youth worker one day.

If anyone has made it all the way down to this point, I just like to thank you for taking the time to read all of the way through, and I shall hopefully be back very soon with another post!

*I began this post on the 12/8/23, but didn't get round to finishing it until the 18/8/23*

Why de-cluttering your room can lead to increased brain power

Evening all, hope you've all had a good & productive week! I certainly have, as I've been working at youthscheme from Monday - Thursday.

Moving swiftly on, as the above title states, I know it's somewhat random, but it's the only article on PsychologyToday I could find that was interesting enough to talk about. Well, I for 1, think this article is interesting, because it tells you the different state of minds of living in a cluttered environment & a de-cluttered environment.

Key takeaways: Let's say if you was to live in a household, where there was constant clutter surrounding you, and if you wanted to focus on doing 1 thing, like looking for something, your mind will end up feeling scatty, as you won't be able to find what you are looking for due to the ridiculous amount of clutter that interferes with your focus. This is because living in a cluttered environment has a tendency to make you into an unorganised person, as it will get your mind into the habit of being generally unorganised.

But if you was to live in a household, where everything was neatly organised, (like my bedroom for instance) you wouldn't have any trouble with looking for something, as your mind will be able to recall where that something is everytime. This is what makes you an organised person, as you get your mind into the habit of everything being structured.

Moreover from the 2nd paragraph, being in an organised environment by constantly de-cluttering, helps to increase brain power. Why? Because de-cluttering helps you to focus on any task you need to prioritise. This is something that I benefit from when I constantly keep my bedroom de-cluttered. For the record, I HATE LIVING IN CLUTTERED CONDITIONS!

Think I've covered everything now, so here's the source link, for those interested to read more on how I got my information: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/social-instincts/202308/why-decluttering-your-room-can-lead-to-increased-brain-power%3famp

*I began this post on the 6/8/23, but didn't get to finish it until the 9/8/23*

Turns out that learning about psychology is just a hobby...

Good TGIF everyone! I know it's been 3 weeks since I had last made a post on here, let alone being active on here at all. To put simply, my worklife basically took over me. This meant I barely had enough time to be blogging on my site. Plus, I was away for 10 days just to kick back & relax from my busy life, which was indeed much needed! That aside, I've been feeling pretty good about myself lately.

As of now, I currently have enough down time to be active on here, as well as being able to make a post. And this post (as the above title states) shall be dedicated to something that I have learned recently in terms of the very topic of psychology. 

As it turns out, learning psychology is just a hobby...

What makes learning about psychology a hobby? 

Overall, I would say that learning in general can be classified as a hobby. This is because you can learn about something by reading, researching or just doing something practical to learn about something you want to do.

Going back on topic here, in terms of psychology being a hobby, there is a huge amount of creativity that plays a part in psychology. Being creative in something can also be classified as a hobby, as it shows you enjoy creating with things.  

*This post actually began on the 21/7/23, but got published on the following day (22/7/23)* 

Where do children inherit their intelligence from?

After a long 4 month hiatus... I FINALLY have the time to come back blogging on here again! Rather then revisit on all of my reasons why, I'll just cut the long story short by saying that I had many life priorities to deal with since my last proper post on here, and quite literally many as well, which left me with no choice but to put myself off from blogging during that time. It was even longer than I had originally thought I was going to be off for.

Back to my titled above topic, I was curious to know where intelligence comes from, and especially in children. This was something I was actually doing research on bit-by-bit during my said hiatus period. Although I was looking into several articles about where do children inherit their intelligence from, just to be sure that I was going to get the same response to help me find the answer into that piece of research.

As it turns out, the final result into this research ended with that children inherit their intelligence from their mothers.

Why? This is because that intelligence is carried on something called an X chromosome. In which, woman have 2 while men only have 1. Not to criticise men in any way, but as women have 2 X chromosomes, their children are likely more to inherit their intelligence from those 2 X chromosomes.

What is an X chromosome? Because I am no expert on biology or science, I'll share this link of my finding's for you to see for yourself: https://medlineplus.gov/genetics/chromosome/x/#:~:text=The%20X%20chromosome%20is%20one,the%20total%20DNA%20in%20cells.

An X chromosome has also been believed to be a gene known as a conditioned gene.

A fun fact for you all, there was a laboratory study which had involved using genetically modified mice! The purpose was to see if any of the mice had maternal or paternal genes in 6 part of their brains. This was to see which of them controlled different cognitive functions such as, eating & memory habits.

There was another study where researchers from Glasgow took a more human approach. It had consisted of doing interviews with 12,686 young people from ages 14 - 22 every year from 1994. The determining results of these young people had included education, race, socio-economic status. However, despite this, the Glaswegian researchers found that the most accurate result was still the IQ of childrens' mothers.

Moreover, the bond of a mother & child is a crucial aspect for connecting intelligence together between the two, as researchers from the University of Washington found the link of mother & child bond & brain growth. The strong bond of a mother & child is then followed by allowing their child to explore the world, as they get given a sense of security. As a bonus, a close mother & child bond will help the child to solve problems, as well as unlocking their true potential.

That's all to say for this post now.

So if there's anyone out there who is keen to know where child intelligence comes from, you have your answer right here!

Here's the link to my research evidence: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/children-intelligence-iq-mother-inherit-inheritance-genetics-genes-a7345596.html

Since my work/study timetable isn't so manic anymore, I shall make time for another blog post next Monday. Stay tuned!😉

 

#Anxiety and living in different times

Something that I literally just came up with at the top of my head tonight.

Personally, I'm not one for being against any of which one, but I'm just interested to know why. I am wary of the amount of people there are out there (including the people I know) that tend to live in whichever moment their mindset tells them to. Some may have the mindset capacity to live in all of them. Then again, everyone is different like that, so there is no misconception whatsoever. I'm just casually spreading my anxiety awareness to everyone.

However, if anxiety was to play a part in what I'm talking about, it would be that it has to tell oneself's mind to be stuck in that mindset with no reason as to why not. Before, anyone here jumps the gun, as to say: "Do you know what you are talking about?" I actually do, because my anxiety buffers to living in each of these moments due to me overthinking about things that I cannot change or things that are likely 99.99% (being creatively mathematical here) not going to happen.

What helps me to manage this? To put simply, I very much enjoy living in the now moment. I find it an even balance of how I live day in day out, as it benefits my anxiety from going to far ahead or being stuck somewhere from what happend 6yrs ago that I couldn't do nothing about which would still remain that way now.

But if I'm talking about different people out there... What is it about them that they enjoy living in which moment of their life? For all I know, it could be anything. Are they still reeling from the past? Do they just want to be in a world when they finally change the world? Does reliving in a certain time make them feel better about themselves? Do they rather go by the phrase: 'Life is like a box of chocolates. You'll never know what you're gonna get.'? The reasons are endless...

Whatever moment works for managing your anxiety, there is no right or wrong discrimination.

Academic VS Practical (My perspective)

This is something I've been curious about for ages now, but recently, I was looking into it more than ever, so I thought about using this post to summarise the differences of how these 2 ways of learning work. (Psychologically, of course!)

In case if anyone here is unaware of the differences of being academic & practical, they have the psychological capacity of showing how oneself can learn. If oneself is academic, that means they learn by doing written examinations. Whereas, if oneself is practical, that means they learn by doing hands-on tasks. 

Luckily for me, I personally am both of those things. This means I'll have an equal say of how being academic & practical works in full effect.

Academic: The first sign of realizing you are academic is having a keen interest in writing. Although, having a keen interest in numeracy can also count as playing a role in showing signs in early academic development as well. The more good you become at doing these subjects, the more your mind becomes actively keen to further investigate the many ways of how you can make a difference to the world, as you utilise your developmental academic skills into perfect form, so it helps you to aim high as the sky in life. I mean, doing a lot of research can certainly encourage people to become academics, as doing research helps you to gain knowledge about anything at all. Or alternatively, if you're more into reading, then that too can count as inhaling knowledge to the world.

Practical: The first sign of realizing you are practical is having a keen interest in doing things with your hands. When I say that, I could be referring to building models out of Lego or trying to fix random objects. Unlike being an academic here, being a practical shows that you are eager to fit into the practical working industry. Relating to being an academic here, you can utilise your developmental practical skills to aim high as the sky in life. I'd say the most beneficial aspect about being practical is having the capacity to finding the best problem solving solutions, when needed.

Can they work well together?

Coming from me, yes they can! Although, it actually really does have a dependency on what carer path you are looking towards. There are some which are lucky enough to require both traits, but there are some which require being good one or the other.

Conclusion: It is honestly not a bad thing to be just academic or practical. Even both combined for that matter, as long as you require one of these aspects which makes you happy to do whatever it is that you do in life, then that's a match made in heaven. In all of what I've discussed, the one thing I had found fascinating was the fact that there are colleges/universities out there with either just academic or practical courses or both combined, so I'm glad that they are taking these learning traits into consideration.

However, please do bare in mind that this is how I tend to vision the 2 learning traits as an individual with its own view on something, so do not be criticisable by saying that I've got no right to judge the 2 without proving that I am right. When doing a perspective view about something, there is no right or wrong answer in any shape of form, as different people have their own right to share their own perspectives about how they vision something. 

What does it mean when you dream about someone?

Hello my people! I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend thus far. As for me, I've been back at my busy everyday college routine once again.

During my productive week off, I was curiously looking into the fascinating topic of dreams. To be more specific, I was looking into what happens when you dream about someone, and of course, why!

*Disclaimer* This evidence was looked into before publishing. I didn't just make it all up as I went along.

You see, sometimes we have these dreams, where we can actually see somebody (or more) in them. The overall question is: Why do we dream about them?

Research has shown that we dream about people we know, based on how we feel about them. With that said, these type of dreams could be telling us to pay more close attention to that person we keep thinking about. Whilst our mind is unconscious, it is trying to connect the dots to help us find more evidence.

All in all, it is a fascinating experiment to acknowledge how our unconscious mind can communicate with our conscious mind. 

In order to ACTUALLY dream about someone, our mind has to be constantly thinking about them. This will only make it harder for our mind to erase them. More to that point, this is a clever way of manipulating our dreams, as our mind has the capacity to dream about ANYTHING at all.

The misleading thing in all this, is when we dream about someone, are THEY dreaming about US because they are missing us? Although, it may be satisfying to think that's the case at first. However, the truth is, it really isn't. When we are dreaming about someone, it is a summarization of OUR life, not theirs.

I should think that answers that particular question on anyone's mind!

Just in case if any of you are wondering about my evidence, here is the source link: https://www.psychnewsdaily.com/what-does-it-mean-when-you-dream-about-someone/

How does reading make people open their eyes to the world?

Finally got a day to myself today!  I was originally going to publish this on Sunday, but I never got round to doing it in the end.

Anyways, I took a short trip to Farnborough on Saturday, I happen to stumble upon The Works store, so I had a look around and that's when I discovered the book area... I've gotta admit, that book area had some decent books. As of such, I even read through the ones I liked the look of. 

Whilst enjoying my momentarily reading session, it got me thinking long and hard... There is more to life than just playing console games, wearing popular sport clothing and wearing expensive trainers. (As a person who used to vaguely relate to this, I feel like I need to make myself heard for others to listen)

My perspective from reading:

These were my thoughts when I got lost reading a few educational books. (Meaning, I was really enjoying them)

"Wow! Inhaling this knowledge can make a really big impact on my future". 

"I suspect these authors must be passionate about how reading can strongly educate people". 

"When I think about how many people choose not to read, they seriously don't know what they are missing".

With all that in the open, reading those books has given me a lot of inner inspiration, in terms of how I can learn about how reading can have a massively positive change to the world. This statement also links to how I can actually do something about it, in order to make those changes happen.

I mean, there is no such thing as learning too much already!

How can reading inspire other people?

Think about a subject which you like, and ask yourself these questions: Does that subject interest you? What do you like learning about that subject? How can that subject help you in the future?

If all of those above questions tick all your boxes, then you will be well on your way to read your way to success! In other words, read more about your enjoyable subject.

Alternatively, think of all that knowledge you'll be able use, so you can become more intelligent about how you vision the world, in terms of how your interest can help with that. The most beneficial thing about that, is how you can educate other people to do the same!

If I was to link the term 'conformity' into this, I would say that you do NOT NEED to blend in with other people, so you can justify yourself to be having fun. 

To back up my reason of what I just said, I came across a quote from a psychological quote company, which I follow on Instagram, saying that fun doesn't have to just justify as going out partying, drinking or going on holiday. Fun can be defined as to how you make it. Potentially speaking, doing something that makes you happy.

My question to everyone is... 

Do you enjoy reading? If so, then what do you like reading about?😉