Glossary

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C - D

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P - Z

Coaching: assists with transitions in their personal life, and in the process of self-actualization.

Childhood Depression: A mood disorder among children that resembles depression in adults, but shows up in very different ways in children. Children with depression may appear persistently sad, may no longer enjoy activities they normally enjoy, or they may frequently appear agitated, hyper or irritable. Depressed children may frequently complain of physical problems such as headaches and stomachaches and often have frequent absences from school or poor performance in school. They may appear bored or low in energy and frequently have problems concentrating. A major change in eating or sleeping patterns is a frequent sign of depression in children and adolescents. Significant depression probably exists in about 5 percent of children and adolescents in the general population. Children under stress, who experience loss, or who have learning disorders are at a higher risk for depression.

Chronic Dieting: Chronic dieting disrupts healthy eating patterns and involves negative self-thoughts based upon external appearance.

Clinical Psychologist: Mental health professionals who have earned a doctoral degree in psychology ( Ph.D)

cognitive: Pertaining to thoughts or thinking. Cognitive disorders are disorders of thinking, for example, schizophrenia.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): Cognitive behaviour therapy aims to identify and correct distorted thinking patterns that can lead to feelings and behaviors that may be troublesome, self-defeating, or even self-destructive.

Compulsions: Compulsions are repetitive/ritualistic behaviors intended to ward off harm to the sufferer of obsessive-compulsive disorder

Compulsive Overeating or Binge Eating Disorder: Compulsive overeating is an eating disorder which involves binge eating without the purging behaviors typical in bulimia

Compulsive Personality: Personalities who are unusually tidy and even rigid in their daily behavior, but do not find their behavior distressing or perceive their behavior as interfering with their lives.

Communication Disorders: A group of disorders where there are problems in communicating, either through difficulties in receiving language or in speech.

Conduct Disorder: A persistent pattern of behavior that involves violation of the rights of others (disobedience, destructiveness, jealousy, boisterousness, inadequate feelings of guilt). Verbal and physical aggressions are key features of conduct disorder.

confrontation: A communication that deliberately pressures or invites another to self-examine some aspect of behavior in which there is a discrepancy between self-reported and observed behavior.

coping mechanisms: ways of adjusting to environmental stress without altering one's goals or purposes; includes both conscious and unconscious mechanisms.

Cyclothymia: A mood disorder of at least two years' duration viewed as a mild variant of bipolar disorder.

defense mechanism: Automatic psychological process that protects the individual against anxiety and from awareness of internal or external stressors or dangers

delusions: Gross misrepresentations of reality which are a common symptom of schizophrenia and other psychoses. Typical delusions include those of persecution, romance, grandeur, and control.

Dementia: Dementia is a problem in the brain that makes it hard for a person to remember, learn and communicate

denial: A defense mechanism in which a feeling or wish is blocked by the person because conscious admission of the thought or feeling would be too painful.

Depression: A mood disorder involving disturbances in emotion (excessive sadness), behavior (apathy and loss of interest in usual activities), cognition (distorted thoughts of hopelessness and low self-esteem), and body function (fatigue, loss of appetite). Two neurotransmitters-natural substances that allow brain cells to communicate with one another-are implicated in depression: serotonin and norepinephrine.

detachment: a behavior pattern characterized by general aloofness in interpersonal contact; may include intellectualization, denial, and superficiality.

Developmental Disorders: Serious delays in the development of one or more areas of functioning.

Dissociative Disorders: A mental disorder in which normal consciousness or identity is split or altered; often a result of an intense psychological trauma, as in psychogenic amnesia post-traumatic stress disorders or multiple personalities.

Dopamine: A neurotransmitter in the brain

DSM-IV: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition

dysphoric mood: An unpleasant mood, such as sadness, anxiety, or irritability.

Dysthymia (also known as dysthymic disorder): A mood disorder characterized by chronic mildly depressed or irritable mood often accompanied by a loss of interest or pleasure in normal activities that is present most of the time for at least two years

displacement: A defense mechanism, operating unconsciously, in which emotions, ideas, or wishes are transferred from their original object to a more acceptable substitute

dissociation: A disruption in the usually integrated functions of consciousness, memory, identity, or perception of the environment. The disturbance may be sudden or gradual, transient or chronic.

distractibility: The inability to maintain attention, that is, the shifting from one area or topic to another with minimal provocation, or attention being drawn too frequently to unimportant or irrelevant external stimuli.

dyslexia: Inability or difficulty in reading, including word-blindness and a tendency to reverse letters and words in reading and writing.