Just got out of class and just thinking about a lot of the stuff I'm learning. Most of it I will never use outside the academic realm. (who wants to learn about latent inhibition in rats?) Other stuff like brain function may be interesting for a moment in an otherwise casual conversation. Though I am learning a lot from my clinical psychology class. Much of what I am learning is very indirect. *I actually believe you learn very little about what people are actually like in lecture* I think actual understanding of people comes from thoughts that are generated from seeing the trends in people. *I think it also explains how someone could get a PH.D and not be a competent psychologist*

In class, all we really talk about is how various theories see the orgin of issues. There is some discussion of treatment but I think the real learning has to do with your own evaluation of how it competes with reality. *however subjective reality really is* I think I have come away with several things that all the major theories have in common. I think it really boils down to the basic concept that people just want to be heard, understood and accepted.

I believe you first establish this mutual trust and acceptance between the client and psychologist. I then think you help them generalize this way of being to life in general. (very humanistic) Though I also think that cognititve psychology method of probing negative thinking and eventually attacking the illogic in them is very helpful I also like a bit of psychodynamic therapy's focus on the past. I dunno if it always helps rid the issue at hand, but I think it gives someone an understanding that all behavior has roots that started very early. (I think that approach it best for people who have long standing depression that isn't chemically related). I personally think it is fun to see the link between past and present behavior, though I think it is an ineffecient way of attacking a problem. Though one thing I find funny and interesting is that no one approach has been proven over another. Instead,it all depends on who's treating you. And you know what the common factor is? Percieved empathy.

The more and more I read about how people get cured from whatever that ailes them, it seems people just want someone to see things their way. It goes with what I always have said, people like people like themselves. *how does that go?* I think we like and even fall in love with people can see the world from our vantage point. Just look at all the movies. Even when the two seem initially different, they find common ground. Neurologically, I think it has to do with the way we are programmed. We have these things called mirror neurons. These lil cells understand another's action by pretending they are enacting or feeling what another is doing. (the reason we can feel agony when our favorite team loses has to do with the fact that we pretended that we were literally the other person, chemically made ourselves even feel that way and then, we interpret them as us) I think a connection to another has to do with how many mirror neurons are activated when encountering another. If they react similarly to us to a particular situation, then its literally less effort neurologically to process. Moreover, I think it's just easier to get them.

Ever meet someone who was maybe Muslim. (given that you aren't muslim) I think that it creates a lot of effort to figure them out as they react so differently. I think it borders on annoying after awhile. (notice how most of your friends are just like you, or rather, the close ones are) Anyways, my point is that I think a good theraputic outcome depends alot on whether you think they know where you are coming from. If he/she can restate what you said properly and then offer some advice as to some blind spots, you are more likely to take it, even if someone else said the same exact thing and they said it in a way where you couldn't relate. *I think this is currently playing out between me, michelle and her sister. I am currently trying to help her with various issues. However, I think Michelle has tried giving similar advice but says it in a way where her sister can't relate to the information. Thus, the advice is discarded. Then when I say it, it has more cache.

I think here at DD and other blogs, I think comments have more impact than someone telling you in real life partly because the perception that someone knows you more if they are reading your diary. *though I'm starting to think diaries provide a more incomplete picture of a person than most think as the blogger's image is positively skewed by the blogger* Plus, you can't see a blogger's body language when they are saying something. I don't think writing style provides the same amount of rich content that meeting in person does. I think it is why friendships created online take longer to really form. There is an element of uncertainty. This person sounds like me, but is he really?

As for myself, I think initially I provided a rich flow of information about myself. Now, I am very guarded. Its why I don't write here much. I can't be confident that what I write now won't be used against me in the future THough I have already ruled out any sort of bids for political power or what not. I have too much out there in forms of pictures and words that would be a public relations nightmare. *hehehe* And yet, there is more. But I am more willing to open up privately to those I know for awhile, just you have to ask the right questions. I am chatting to kristy now. Surprise surprise, she still wants to chat w/ me. Woo hoo. that's all