A Year to Change Your Mind

Psychology underpins our whole lives. It is involved in the decisions we make, our relationships, the places we live and work, and the dilemmas, large and small, which we encounter daily. The changing seasons influence human behaviour, encouraging many of us to fall into unhelpful patterns again and again each year. In identifying those issues most frequently encountered in each month, Dr Maddox shows us how psychological processes thread through our lives and how using principles from psychological therapies can help us with the human experiences we all face. In reflecting upon our past experiences, both joyful and painful, we can learn from them in order to live a more thoughtful, positive life that prepares us for the future. From the tendency to lack motivation in January and to experience red-hot anger in the heat of August, to the weight of expectation associated with that back-to-school feeling in September and the pressure to enjoy the December holiday season, Dr Maddox examines common features of behaviour over the course of the year. In sharing with us the most useful psychology ideas she has learned in her 15 years as a clinical psychologist - ones she uses in her own life, and returns to time and time again with people who have come to see her for therapy - she provides plenty to think about that we too can put into practice to improve our own lives.