Fall semester topics
- Week 36. Benefits of volunteer work
- Week 37. Living with learning disabilities
- Week 38. Personality disorders
- Week 39. Setting up healthy boundaries
- Week 40. Learning to improve concentration
- Week 41. Suicide prevention – learning to help
- Week 42. Phobias – dealing with fears
- Week 43. Sleep disorders
- Week 44. Sexuality – the biochemistry
- Week 45. Addictive relationships
- Week 46. UNESCO day of tolerance
- Week 47. Improving self-confidence
- Week 48. Helping friends or others in distress
- Week 49. World AIDS day – living with illness
- Week 50. Value based decision making
- Week 51. Being assertive in a diverse world
- Week 52. Spirituality – spiritual growth
- Week 1. Dynamics of intro- & extraverts
- Week 2. Orientation – a career that fits!
- Week 3. Living in a foreign country
- Week 4. Overcoming test anxiety
- Week 5. Understanding dysfunction in a family
- Week 6. Smoking – giving up methods
- Week 7. Valentine’s day – commitment
- Week 8. Communication – focusing on skills
- Week 9. Domestic violence
- Week 10. Work-life balance – expectations
- Week 11. Loneliness and feeling alone
- Week 12. Understanding of joy and happiness
- Week 13. Racial discrimination
- Week 14. PTSD
- Week 15. World health day
- Week 16. Panic disorders
- Week 17. Academic honesty – authenticity
- Week 18. Death and dying
- Week 19. Job interviews – good impression
- Week 20. Characteristic of sound families
- Week 21. Celebrating cultural diversity
- Week 22. Growing up in a single parent home
- Week 23. Act of love (self and others)
- Week 24. Focusing on personality tests
- Week 25. Childhood traumas
- Week 26. Relating to the elderly
- Week 27. Grief – dealing with loss
- Week 28. Drug and substance abuse
- Week 29. Dealing with depression
- Week 30. Procrastination
- Week 31. Recovering from shame and guilt
- Week 32. Perfectionism
- Week 33. First generation university students
- Week 34. Compulsive obsessive behaviors
- Week 35. Body image – eating disorders
- Week 36. School bullying – mobbing concerns
Spring semester topics
Obsessive Compulsive Behaviors (OCD)
OCD is a disorder that has a neurobiological basis. It interferes with how the brain functions, and its effects can actually be seen on brain scans. With OCD, a person has two specific symptoms: Obsessions — disturbing, recurring thoughts, fears, doubts or urges that won’t go away. It’s as if your brain got stuck in the “worry” position and can’t restart. Compulsions — repetitive actions, or “rituals,” that you feel compelled to do to feel better. These actions can be done overtly, like washing your hands, or covertly, like saying mental prayers. Unfortunately, you feel better only temporarily. The more you perform the compulsions, the stronger and more frequent the obsessions become.
Learn more about OCD here
Recommended books
Christine Purdon: Overcoming Obsessive Thoughts: How to Gain Control of Your OCD. 2005.
Terry Matlen: The Queen of Distraction: How Women with ADHD Can Conquer Chaos, Find Focus, and Get More Done. 2015. (audio book)
Rachel Macy Stafford: Hands Free Mama: A Guide to Putting Down the Phone, Burning the To-Do List, and Letting Go of Perfection to Grasp What Really Matters! 2014.
Additional web resources
Intersting approach to understanding OCD via animals