Jess Allen

Part One in an NPR Ed series on mental health in schools. You might call it a silent epidemic. Up to one in five kids living in the U.S. shows signs or symptoms of a mental health disorder in a given year. So in a school classroom of 25 students, five of them may be struggling with the same issues…

We’ve all heard about the power of positive thinking. But will it help me sleep? My problem isn’t falling asleep – it’s staying asleep. This particular form of torture has been dubbed “sleep-maintenance” insomnia. Call me a high-functioning sufferer: I’m usually O.K. once I’ve had my morning coffee. But I worry about the long-term health ramifications of losing sleep. Now…

MINDFULNESS HOW SKILLS What you are supposed to do to be mindful has already been explained in a previous post. Observe, describe, and participate are three different ways of engaging in life in a mindful way. To make those experiences more powerful, you need the “How Skills,” or instructions on how/the way you are to practice the “what skills.” ONE-MINDFULLY…

People who have difficulty controlling their anxiety generally worry a lot about a lot of things. This is known as generalized anxiety. One factor that often fuels generalized anxiety is difficulty accepting the absence of certainty. For most people, uncertainty about important areas of life is unpleasant. It may seem as though life would be easier if you knew how…

People often ask me for recommendations for good, evidenced-based books based on cognitive behavioral therapy and mindfulness. There are quite a number of good ones out there, unfortunately they are vastly outnumbered by self-help books that are poorly-written, vague or unhelpful, and sometimes even harmful. The following is a list of self-help books based in contemporary psychological research, and that…

There is a lot of information on the internet about healthy sleeping habits, commonly referred to as sleep hygiene. Behaviors such as maintaining a regular bedtime, making the bedroom comfortable, not watching TV in bed, etc. – all of these can be very helpful for helping people go to sleep. However, if you have difficulty waking up in the middle…

What is Catastrophizing? The cognitive distortion of catastrophizing is pretty much what you might think it is: making something into a catastrophe when it's not. When we catastrophize, we tell our selves that something is so awful, so terrible, that we won't be able to handle it.That we would fall apart, or die. The more we tell ourselves the problem…

What is the hype around Meditation? How can it help? The purpose of mindfulness meditation is to bring your mind fully into the present moment, without being distracted by unrelated thoughts, or unhelpful judgments. We are usually caught up in our thoughts, not realizing we are totally disconnected from what we are doing. This can have many negative consequences, the…