Joanie V Connors

... different from individual behavior. Groups of nice children can become cruel to a weaker child or to an animal. ... As numerous channels of flow move through each individual, this stresses and impacts their energy core, causing vibrations (known in systems as perturbations). ...

Systems Theory provides a new and expanded way of understanding the psychology of trauma. Systems Theory helps us to see trauma as a nonlinear, holistic dynamic of life that can add to well-being as well as take away from it.

I am still working on this paper, and would love to have suggestions for improvement, as well as possible journals for publishing it!

The long, painful declines of many relationships have often been described as a descending spiral, a feeling that a relationship is "going down the drain." This is similar to what many failing couples report - negative interactions come more and more frequently while civility and kindness gradually wane. How can once-loving partners become so intensely obsessed with useless blaming, always focusing on what is wrong with the relationship and each other?

Despite 40+ years of attention to the damage it causes, the harmful cycle of bullying continues undiminished and it is no longer limited to boys in schoolyards and alleys. Bullying means to intimidate, humiliate and cause harm to another, usually someone who has less power or ability to defend themselves. We tend to think bullying is simple and wrong-bad people hurting good people and that bullying can be stopped by catching and punishing the bad perpetrators. Bullying has traditionally included physical abuse, psychological abuse, and verbal abuse, but new forms have evolved, including cyber bullying and several forms of sexual harassment. Physical bullying includes physical actions of abuse, including physical violence and threats of physical violence, in addition to chasing, grabbing, tripping, spitting at, stealing from and destroying property. Psychological bullying includes spreading malicious gossip or lies about someone, excluding someone from social connections, or making them do something they don't want to do in order to shame them, show power over them and/or reduce their social standing. Verbal bullying includes intentionally insulting, demeaning, humiliating or offending someone in order to damage their self-esteem or tease them.

Relationship researchers have learned a few things that can help you make better choices and create love relationships that will last. The first section of this article concerns new or impending relationships with the aim of providing guidance before making a commitment.  The rest of this article applies to relationships at any stage, and hopes to help you clarify the difference between love and the rest of what happens between people.

Change is unavoidable because it is a necessary condition for life. Everything that is alive changes continuously on every level.Each of us has a threshold of how much change we need and how much we can handle. If we have too little change, we get bored so we seek change and diversity. This paper examines the change process and how to work with it without being overwhelmed.

The image of hungry ghosts can be useful to symbolize the needy and demanding people who frequently play roles in our day to day difficult interactions. Hungry ghosts represent the people we all encounter who demand more than their share of resources and attention and create conflict over minor details. This article provides some guidance to understand and cope with hungry ghosts in your life.

Though inner ghosts are just echoes of past experiences, they can be extremely powerful, and have ruined millions of lives, keeping people in fear and other negative feelings, and controlling their choices in life. This article discusses how to take the power away from inner ghosts.

Decades of research seem to prove happiness comes about half from what you're born with (nature) and half in what happens afterwards (nurture). And of the half that happens afterwards, nurture's influence on happiness, most (80%) is through choice-what you do! It is a challenge to be happy when you are too poor to have the resources you need to be safe, warm and adequately fed, but rich people are no happier than the lower middle class. A new wave of psychological researchers, such as those at the Positive Psychology Center have found that happiness can be developed by a number of methods, and these will be discussed here.

Authored by scholars from a variety of disciplines, including English, Theology, Philosophy, Communications, Sociology, Humanities and Peace Studies, this edited volume provides detailed descriptions of the many ways popular culture can be used to teach peace.

Chapters discuss documentary and feature film, music, television, literature and more, providing both educators and the general public with a timely and useful tool. From popular dystopian novels like The Hunger Games to feature films like The Matrix to modern rap and hip-hop music, contributors not only provide critical analysis of the violence in popular culture but also an assessment of how the same or alternate forms can be used by peace educators. Additionally, each chapter project synopses and teaching ideas, as well as recommended resources.
available at http://www.infoagepub.com/products/Teaching-Peace-Through-Popular-Culture