Thursday, November 7, 2019

When Do College Acceptance Letters Arrive for Regular Decision For Early Decision or Early Action

When Do College Acceptance Letters Arrive for Regular Decision For Early Decision or Early Action SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Applying to college is a confusing and stressful process, but waiting to hear back from the colleges you applied to can be just as anxiety-inducing. When do college acceptance letters arrive? In this guide, we explain when to expect to receive your college decision notifications. We also give you a chart of estimated college acceptance dates for 2019 and offer helpful tips on what to do as you wait for your college acceptance letters. When Do College Acceptance Letters Arrive, Generally? First off, when do college acceptance letters arrive, broadly speaking? While the answer to this question really depends on what colleges you’re applying to, in general most decisions come out in the springtime, that is, in either March or early April. The latest you might hear back from a college will be the first week of April. This is because most schools require decisions from applicants on where they want to attend by May 1. Some colleges work together to release their decisions at the same time. The Ivy League, which is composed of eight highly prestigious colleges, releases its decisions on "Ivy Day," a specific day at the end of March (note that the exact date changes each year). But what if you applied to a college early action or early decision? In these cases, since applications are due earlier (usually in November), you can expect an earlier decision notification as well- usually around December. Some schools offer secondary early decision plans called Early Decision II for which applications are due a little bit later, usually in January. For these plans, decisions should come out around February. Here is a chart showing the general trends of when college acceptance letters come out: Application Deadline Estimated Decision Notification Date November (Early Action/Early Decision I) Mid- or late December January (Early Decision II) February December, January, or February (Regular Decision) March or early April These days, most college acceptance letters will arrive as either an email or application status update on a college’s own application portal. Afterward, you’ll usually receive a hard copy of your acceptance letter in the mail and further updates via email or mail. An Aside: What If You’re Waitlisted? Sometimes, instead of getting a college acceptance letter or rejection, you’ll get a letter stating that you’ve been waitlisted. This means that the college is still considering you for admission depending on how many admitted applicants choose to enroll. As a result, you’ll need to decide (typically by May 1) whether you want to stay on the waitlist to see if you get off it, or take yourself off the waitlist, thereby eliminating your chances of getting in. If you decide to stay on the waitlist, you won’t get a college decision notification until possibly as late as August, right before the school year starts. When you hear back ultimately depends on the school and how quickly it's able to fill up its new freshman class. College Acceptance Dates 2019 We have a general understanding of when college acceptance letters arrive. But when do college decisions come out in 2019? And how do these decision dates differ depending on the college? To answer these two questions, we put together an extensive list of popular schools and their reported or estimated college acceptance dates for 2019. All dates below represent the last day by which you should receive an admissions decision notification (unless otherwise noted); thus, it’s possible you could receive a decision earlier. All schools are listed alphabetically. School Early Action/Early Decision Regular Decision Amherst ED: Mid-December 2018 April 1-7, 2019 Boston College EA: December 20, 2018 Spring Freshmen: December 15, 2018 April 1, 2019 Boston University ED: December 15, 2018 ED 2: February 15, 2019 Late March to early April 2019 Brown ED: Mid-December 2018 March 28, 2019* Caltech EA: Mid-December 2018 Mid-March 2019 Carnegie Mellon ED: December 15, 2018 Early Admission (juniors only): April 15, 2019 April 15, 2019 Columbia ED: December 15, 2018 March 28, 2019* Cornell ED: Mid-December 2018 March 28, 2019* Dartmouth ED: Mid-December 2018 March 28, 2019* Duke ED: December 15, 2018 April 1, 2019 Emory ED I: December 15, 2018 ED II: February 15, 2019 Scholar Programs: March 1, 2019 April 1, 2019 Georgetown EA: December 15, 2018 April 1, 2019 Harvard EA: Mid-December 2018 March 28, 2019* Harvey Mudd ED I: December 15, 2018 ED II: February 15, 2019 April 1, 2019 Johns Hopkins ED: December 15, 2018 April 1, 2019 MIT EA: December 15, 2018 Mid-March 2019 Northwestern ED: Mid-December 2018 Late March 2019 Notre Dame EA: Mid-December 2018 Late March 2019 NYU ED I: December 15, 2018 ED II: February 15, 2019 April 1, 2019 Penn ED: Mid-December 2018 March 28, 2019* Pomona ED I: December 15, 2018 ED II: February 15, 2019 April 1, 2019 Princeton EA: Mid-December 2018 March 28, 2019* Rice ED: Mid-December 2018 April 1, 2019 Stanford EA: December 7, 2018 April 1, 2019 SUNY System ED: December 15, 2018 EA: January 1, 2019 Rolling Tufts ED I: Mid-December 2018 ED II: Mid-February 2019 April 1, 2019 UC System - Mar 1-31, 2019 UChicago EA: Mid-December 2018 ED I: Mid-December 2018 ED II: Mid-February 2019 Late March 2019 UMass Amherst EA: Starting mid-December 2018 Spring Applicants: Starting mid-December 2018 Starting early March 2019 UNC Chapel Hill EA: End of January 2019 End of March 2019 University of Florida - Mid-February 2019 University of Illinois EA: December 14, 2018 March 1, 2019 University of Michigan EA: December 24, 2018 Early April 2019 University of Rochester ED: December 15, 2018 April 1, 2019 University of Washington - March 1-15, 2019 USC Merit Scholarship Applicants: February 1, 2019 April 1, 2019 UT Austin Priority: February 1, 2019 March 1, 2019 UVA EA: End of January 2019 End of March 2019 Vanderbilt ED I: Mid-December 2018 ED II: Mid-February 2019 Late March 2019 Vassar ED I: Mid-December 2018 ED II: February 1, 2019 Late March 2019 Wake Forest ED: Rolling (as early as December 1, 2018) ED II: February 15, 2019 April 1, 2019 William Mary ED I: Early December 2018 ED II: Early February 2019 April 1, 2019 WUSTL ED: December 15, 2018 ED II: February 15, 2019 April 1, 2019 Yale EA: Mid-December 2018 March 28, 2019* *Estimated Ivy Day 2019 based on the patterns of previous years. Ivy Day is always at the end of March. See our guide to Ivy Day for more info about how we came up with this date. Want to build the best possible college application? We can help. PrepScholar Admissions is the world's best admissions consulting service. We combine world-class admissions counselors with our data-driven, proprietary admissions strategies. We've overseen thousands of students get into their top choice schools, from state colleges to the Ivy League. We know what kinds of students colleges want to admit. We want to get you admitted to your dream schools. Learn more about PrepScholar Admissions to maximize your chance of getting in. Waiting for College Acceptance Letters? 3 Tips for What to Do We've given you the general dates you can expect to receive your college admission decision. But what should you do in the meantime, after you’ve submitted all your applications and are waiting for decision notifications from colleges? Here are three essential tips to keep in mind during this time. #1: Focus on School One of the most important steps you can take is to focus on school and keep up your grades. Try your best not to let senioritis hit you, especially considering that most colleges will want to see your final transcripts before you get to campus- even after they’ve admitted you. If you have any big dip in your grades senior year, a college could rescind your acceptance and reject you instead. Do not take any chances at this time! Continue to work hard, study for all the tests you have, and finish your homework on time. Keep making school a priority. Finally, continuing to do well in school is especially important if you plan to take any AP tests at the end of senior year. You want to keep up your studying so that you can earn a passing score on the tests you’re taking, hopefully earning you some college credit. Resist senioritis- keep up with your studies. #2: Apply for Financial Aid and Scholarships If you know you’ll need some help with money in order to attend college, these months of waiting for decisions to come out are an ideal time to shift your focus from college applications to FAFSA and scholarships. Applying for FAFSA makes you eligible to receive federal-, state-, and/or college-sponsored financial aid, including loans, grants, and work-study. If you’re interested in winning free scholarship money, I'd advise you to do some research on any college scholarships you might be eligible for. These scholarships can be based on merit, such as your GPA and SAT/ACT scores, or financial need (or both). For more tips on how to find and apply for scholarships, check out our financial aid blog posts as well as our most popular scholarship and aid guides: Simple Guide: How to Apply for Financial Aid How to Find Scholarships for College: Expert Guide Top Scholarships for High School Seniors The Easiest Scholarships to Apply For Easy Scholarships to Win: How to Find and Apply The Complete List of Community Service Scholarships Amazing Full-Ride Scholarships You Can Win Complete List: Weird Scholarships You Can Win How to Get a Merit Scholarship: 6-Step Guide #3: Keep Tabs on Your Email and Application Status As you wait for college decisions to come out, it’s important that you routinely check your email (whichever email you put down for your college applications) and application status on the school's website. Some schools will only announce their decisions online through their application portals, some will email their decisions directly, and others will mail their decisions before sending out emails (this is becoming less common, though). Even if you’re not expecting to get a college decision anytime soon, try to keep tabs on your inbox and application status. This will help ensure you’re not missing any application materials and that the college isn’t trying to contact you about any last-minute problems with your application. Conclusion: When Do College Acceptance Letters Arrive? There are many answers to the question, "When do college decisions come out?" In general, most college decisions are released online by email or through an application portal in March or early April. If you applied early action or early decision, you can expect to hear back about your application status in December (or around February if you applied Early Decision II). The latest you’ll get a college acceptance letter is the first week of April, since most colleges require admitted applicants to submit their decisions about where they want to attend by May 1. If you get waitlisted at a college and choose to stay on the list, you won’t receive an official decision until possibly as late as August. Once you’ve submitted your applications and are waiting to hear back from colleges, be sure to take these three steps: Focus on school and continue to keep up your grades Apply for financial aid and scholarships, including FAFSA Keep tabs on your email and application status by routinely checking your inbox and the school's application status page As a final tip, stay positive- you never know where you're gonna get in! What’s Next? What do college acceptance letters look like? Learn what a typical college acceptance letter says and how it looks with our in-depth guide. Got rejected from your top-choice school? Or scared of getting a rejection letter? Read our guide to get tips on how you can get through a college rejection and what you can do to improve your chances of getting in. The key to getting a college acceptance letter is having a great application. And the best way to ensure you have an impressive application is to know what looks good on it. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points? We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Foo Fighters and UFOs

Foo Fighters and UFOs Foo Fighters and UFOs Foo Fighters and UFOs By Maeve Maddox Only recently have I come across the delicious term Foo Fighter. foo fighter: Any of various unidentified lights encountered by airborne forces during the Second World War (1939-45), interpreted variously as enemy weapons, natural phenomena, or alien spacecraft. OED According to a lengthy and informative article at Answers.com, foo fighters were seen at sites all over the world during World War II: 1941: Indian ocean: 1942 Java Sea, Solomon Islands 1945 France The etymology of foo fighter is uncertain: The term is generally thought to have been borrowed from the often surrealist comic strip Smokey Stover. Smokey, a firefighter, was fond of saying, Where theres foo theres fire. (This foo may have come from feu, the French word for fire, or Feuer the German word for fire, or from Smokeys pronunciation of the word fuel.) A Big Little Book titled Smokey Stover the Foo Fighter was published in 1938. Foo may alternatively have come from either of the French words faux meaning fake, or fou, mad. Answers.com The term flying saucer to describe an unidentified flying phenomenon dates from 1947. The term Unidentified Flying Object dates from 1950; the first documentation of the abbreviation UFO is from 1953. The abbreviation led to the coining of the unlovely word Ufology: the study of UFOs. Perhaps because UFO carries connotations of craziness, a new acronym has come into use: UAP, Unidentified Aerial Phenomenona. There’s a National Aviation Reporting Center on Anomalous Phenomena dedicated to the study of UAP sightings. Whatever you call them, these strange aerial phenomena have been around for a very long time. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Direct and Indirect ObjectsEnglish Grammar 101: Verb MoodThe "Pied" in The Pied Piper

Sunday, November 3, 2019

The Different Aspects of Reality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Different Aspects of Reality - Essay Example Obviously, this is all fantasy as a falling star cannot be caught, and mandrake roots and mermaids are purely mythological. This fantastic imagery helps to reveal the imaginary and impossible theme of Donne’s poem. Nevertheless, such impossibility teaches the reader to be realistic and to realize that there is no perfect lover in the world. Although it is the fantasy that masks John Donne’s realism in â€Å"Song,† Frederick Nims’ â€Å"Love Poem† is downright honest in saying that perfect love does not exist and that if one loves another then one has to embrace all of his or her lover’s shortcomings. Nims uses the imagery of an unskilled and disorganized woman in revealing the reality of imperfections in relationships. In the first stanza, Nims describes his lover as his â€Å"†¦clumsiest dear, whose hands shipwreck vases† and someone â€Å"at whose quick touch all glasses chip and ring† (Nims 366). Such a woman, as depicte d by the imagery, is always making mistakes. She is also known as an â€Å"unpredictable dear, the taxi driver’s error† as well as a â€Å"Misfit in any space/ And never on time† (366). She is, therefore, lacks finesse and punctuality. Nevertheless, although she is â€Å"Forgetting [her] coffee spreading on [their] flannel,† the poet and she are â€Å"so gaily in love’s unbreakable heaven† (366). This means that no matter how careless and imperfect she is, the point is that they love each other so much. Love, therefore, can bloom despite the imperfection, and this is real love. One should, therefore, love his or her lover despite all his or her shortcomings. The imagery in the final stanza reveals a rather exaggerated form of acceptance of one’s lover: â€Å"Smash glasses/ I will study wry music for your sake† (366). This means that no matter how clumsy the lover is, as long as there is love, there is a necessity to wholehearte dly embrace all his or her imperfections. The exaggerated imagery of the last two lines then ultimately reveals that one’s happiness even depends on such an imperfection: â€Å"For should, your hands drop white and empty/ All the toys of the world would break† (366). This simply means one thing – without such lover’s hands, no matter how imperfect the labor that they produce is, nothing would be done at all, or without such an imperfect lover, there would be no happiness at all for the person who loves him or her. Although happiness is derived from imperfect reality, sometimes such reality is boring and one needs to make himself happy from his daydreams.  

Friday, November 1, 2019

Azhar Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Azhar - Research Paper Example n.The poem that I am considering is daddy by Sylvia Plath, this poem highlights the male dominating society through the character of a father, who is excessively dominating and neglects his daughter by being emotionally absent when she needs her ( Plath). This poem depicts the narcissistic attitude of a man towards women. Hence, through this poem one can realize how a man easily dominates over women in the society without feeling guilty. The short story that I am considering is â€Å"Hills like white elephant† by Ernest Hemingway, the writer explains how a woman is under immense pressure during pregnancy that she is fearful as to how she would raise this child. Her partner who is mentioned as American is shown to be very indifferent towards her, that he convinces her to have an abortion. The â€Å"white elephant† (Hemingway) is referred to the unborn child, who only the women can see. This story is also about the relationship of a man and women that is ending. The modern song that I am considering is â€Å"Modern Women† by Billy Joel, although the lyricist is a male but he beautifully portrays by using words like â€Å"Intellectual† and â€Å"confident.† The writer does not look down the women; instead, he sends a powerful message to the readers that a women today is no longer vulnerable so, men should not take her for granted because she is a â€Å"modern women† (Joel). The first academic article that I am considering is â€Å"men women and murder: gender-specific differences in rates of fatal violence and victimization.† shows the difference in the incidents of homicides involving men and women. Although, the male victims were 77% and females victims were found to be just 23 %,( Kellermann & Mercy), but the research shows that the incidents of murders of women by their husbands were much higher. Hence, after reading the article one comes to the conclusion that women in our society are still treated badly and a clear discrimination exists. Connecting Gender

Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Entrepreneur Project Part II Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Entrepreneur Project Part II - Research Paper Example (Longley, 2004). This shows that a large percentage of US population will comprise of people above the age of 65. The idea of starting this project was to enter into a business that has not been fully ventured into by different organizations. Our research into the idea showed that not many organizations are providing all the services and home-like environment in adults care centres. That is why it is a great opportunity to enter into the business and take advantage of the financial benefits that it provides. The vision statement therefore refers to being the most sought-after organization in adult care, among the families of the old age people and the old age people themselves. By providing different services like physical and mental health care, personalized care, providing equipment for people with disabilities, teaching home-based care, and providing home like environment and networking with other elder people can make our organization reach high demand among the targeted population. The vision aims to be the best at what we are going to provide. The organization will not be any small sized adult day care centre. It aims to provide a variety of services to the old people so that they are comfortable, are taken care of, and feel like they are at home. President: The president of the organization is the top head of the organization. S/he belongs to the upper most tier of the organization. The president will deal with all the highly strategic decision making process. The president does not go into the details of the minute things happening in the business. S/he will just guide the department heads and CEO with the overall running of the business. Only extremely important and major decisions will be finalized under his/her leadership. For example a decision to open the business in a new country will need the consent of President. Therefore President will be the leader of the entire organization and its

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Approaches to Treatment and Therapy: Case Study

Approaches to Treatment and Therapy: Case Study Case Study 1 (Phillip) Background Phillip is displaying multiple adverse psychological symptoms that would best fit the diagnosis of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). Specifically Phillip is a compulsive washer as he maintains a high level of cleanliness, having showers up to three times a day. He also only eats frozen food in order to avoid contamination and organises his furniture, making sure that they are all perpendicular to the wall. These compulsions are repetitive, purposeful behaviours designed to prevent or reduce anxiety (De Silva, 2003). Some, if not most, of Phillip’s anxiety arises from the intrusive thought of stabbing his mother which has become a clinical obsession because he believes that the thought has personal significance and meaning. This may be because Phillip has an inflated sense of responsibility and so believes that he is responsible for preventing the intrusive thought from actually happening (Rheaume et al., 1994). This has led to Phillip avoiding people, his Mother especially, but this has only increased the frequency and severity of his compulsions. It appears that Phillip is stuck in a vicious cycle of his obsessions and his compulsions feeding off one another and so intervention will be needed in order to help him. Theoretical Framework There are two central aspects of OCD, the cognitive aspects which include intrusive thoughts, obsessions and cognitive distortions, and the behavioural aspect of compulsions. In cognitive theory, intrusive thoughts (e.g. I want to stab my mother) occur automatically and usually have no emotional significance but can take on significance, depending on the context in which intrusions happen (England Dickerson, 1988). Such thoughts are very common and have been reported to occur in almost 90% of the population (Rachman de Silva, 1978) but once an individual deems these thoughts as significant it can cause distress and the belief that they are personally responsible for preventing the thought from actually happening. The distress caused by high levels of perceived responsibility has been found in multiple studies (Shafran, 1997; Roper Rachman 1975) as obsessional patients felt a lot more uncomfortable performing checking rituals when they were on their own and calmer when the therapis t was there as the patient felt less responsibility. This sense of responsibility is associated with both worry (Wells Papageorgiou, 1998) and OC symptoms (Salkovskis et al., 2000a). Specifically, the lowering of responsibility is associated with a significant drop in discomfort and need to check (Lopatka Rachman, 1995). One explanation for inflated responsibility is the ‘thought-action fusion’ (TAF) theory which suggests that obsessions occur in people who believe that thinking about a disturbing event is the same as doing it and that having an intrusive thought is morally equivalent to acting on said thought (Rachman, 1993; Shafran, Thordarson Rachman, 1996). TAF is an example of ‘thinking errors’ outlined by Beck (1976) which are used by most people all the time but can be detrimental when thinking errors become central to thought processes (Nisbett Ross, 1980). The most prevalent thinking error in those with OCD is that having any influence over the outcome means that you are responsible for the outcome. Due to the distress caused by the appraisal of intrusive thoughts, individuals aim to neutralise the anxiety caused through mental reassurance and overt compulsions (such as washing and checking) (Salkovskis, 1985). However attempts to neutralise the thought can sustain and potentially increase responsibility beliefs and the occurrence of intrusive thoughts. A common type of neutralising behaviour which is present in Phillip’s case is compulsive washing. Almost 50% of patients with OCD are compulsive washers (APA, 1994) and it is even more common in childhood cases of OCD like Phillip’s with 85% of young patients displaying washing rituals (Swedo et al., 1989b). It has been suggested that one of the main attributes of compulsive washers is perfectionism (Tallis, 1996). Tallis claims that most compulsive washers do not exhibit such behaviour because they are concerned about contamination or illness, instead they are more concerned with maintaining their environment perfe ctly and thus feeling fully in control. Research has found that there is a significant link between perfectionism and OCD in general, not just in compulsive washing (Bouchard et al., 1999). As Phillip appears to be displaying the perfectionist personality trait, it is important to consider this in therapy. As perfectionism has been found to correlate with depressive symptoms (Enns Cox, 1999; Flett et al., 1991) it is possible that a negative mood may be a factor in Phillip’s thinking errors. The mood-as-input theory (Martin et al., 1993) suggests that people use their mood as a factor to decide whether or not they have completed a task. When people are in a positive mood they are more likely to take their affect as a sign that they are progressing in a task and achieving more (Hirt et al., 1996). Whereas those in a negative mood experience the opposite and interpret their mood to mean that they haven’t progressed enough and so must continue with the task (Schwarz Bless, 1991; Frijda, 1988). This may occur because people in negative moods have been found to process tasks more extensively than those in positive moods (Mackie Worth, 1989). This is a significant theory for Phillip’s case as individuals with OCD tend to use internal states that are difficult to achie ve such as ‘having a gut feeling’ to help them decide when to stop compulsive behaviour (Salkovskis, 1998). They therefore have stricter personal requirements for making decisions and so what should be an automatic decision becomes a strategic one and the strict criteria have to be met before anxiety is reduced and the compulsive behaviour can stop (Salkovskis et al., 2000a). Problem Formulation Phillip presents all of the issues outlined in the theoretical framework which will act as the foundations for intervention. Figure 1 shows the main aspects of Phillip’s case and highlights his rules for living and the cycle in which he is trapped. From the information given in Phillip’s case, it appears as though the bottom line of his psychology is â€Å"I have to have full control over every aspect of my life† which may have been caused by authoritarian parenting (Timpano et al., 2010) or childhood trauma (Lochner et al., 2002) which have both been found to significantly correlate with OCD symptoms. Whilst there isn’t enough information about Phillip’s childhood to speculate if such things have happened to him, these are factors to bear in mind during treatment. This strict bottom line in Phillip’s life has led to certain maladaptive rules of living including his perfectionism (control over actions) and inflated responsibility (control over thoughts and feelings). He also has a generally negative mood as an input to his thought processes because he can never fully satisfy the strict standards that he sets himself. Then, when Phillip was a teenager he began experiencing intrusive thoughts about stabbing his mother. Such intrusive thoughts are not usually enough to trigger anxiety but due to Phillip’s rules of living, he finds personal meaning in the thought and feels responsible for preventing the thought from happening. This triggers anxiety and so he seeks to neutralise the thought through compulsive washing, arranging furniture and socially isolating himself. When these neutralising behaviours reduce his anxiety it reinforces Phillip’s thinking errors, his rules of living and his bottom line. Thus, when his anxiety is triggered again he repeats the behaviour and so Phillip is trapped in a cycle of his compulsions and obsessions reinforcing one another. Figure 1. Problem Formation flow chart for Phillip Treatment Intervention Phillip’s treatment can start with cognitive therapy aiming to focus and modify his thinking errors and inflated sense of responsibility. At the same time as this Phillip can take part in group therapy designed specifically to treat perfectionists. After these treatments and once Phillip feels ready to, he can move on to exposure and response prevention (ERP) using virtual reality to simulate dirty and contaminated environments. This will help him to control his compulsions and get him out of the obsessive-compulsive cycle. For Phillip, cognitive therapy will start by focussing on the distinction between intrusive thoughts and his negative appraisal of those thoughts. As outlined by Menzies and de Silva (2003), this begins by asking patients to reflect upon the last time they had an intrusive thought and what their behavioural reaction was to this thought. Phillip will then be encouraged to recognise that it was not the thought itself that cause his subsequent behaviour but how he interpreted the thought. It is important that the client understands the distinction between his intrusions and their appraisal before moving on to further intervention as it may otherwise confuse them. Next, Phillip taught about how common intrusive thoughts can be, to help him dismiss any feelings of shame or guilt that he may be feeling. It is suggested by Salkovskis (1999) that patients should be encouraged to view intrusive thoughts as a potentially positive and useful occurrence that can help with problem solving and for esight. The goal of this is not to eliminate their intrusions but to help them feel more positive by normalising them. Phillip is also encouraged to modify his responsibility appraisals in order to reduce his inflated sense of responsibility. Van Oppen Arntz (1994) found that even when people with OCD understand how unlikely it is that their intrusive thoughts will become reality, they continue to show compulsive behaviours because they feel a sense of responsibility to stop it from happening. Van Oppen Arntz (1994) suggest creating a pie chart with patients that they can divide up to represent the importance of factors that may contribute to a feared outcome. Once Phillip assigns percentage values to each factor he will be able to visualise that his role of responsibility is much smaller than he originally thought. This technique will help Phillip to reassess the overestimation of his responsibility and realise the importance of other uncontrollable factors. Whilst undergoing cognitive therapy Phillip will join group therapy to help him with his perfectionism. Ferguson and Rodway (1994) outlined a group therapy programme for perfectionism based on cognitive-behavioural theory. This programme will aim to help Phillip understand the problems that can arise from perfectionism and what strategies can be used in order to change his perfectionist way of thinking. The therapy will also be based on the outline provided by Kutlesa and Arthur (2007) which applies a psycho-educational approach to perfectionism, using interpersonal theory (Yalom,1995) as the psychological component which will ask Phillip and others in the group to focus on the present rather than worrying about the future. The educational component will use elements of cognitive-behavioural theory (Ellis, 1991; Beck, 1993) to teach the group about the thinking errors involved in perfectionism and skills to cope with and change these thinking errors. Once Phillip has made progress in both treatments and feels ready for the next step he will move on to ERP as a treatment for his compulsive behaviour. Firstly, Phillip will be steadily and gradually exposed to environmental triggers. He will write a list of situations in which he could be contaminated, started with the one that makes him the least anxious and working his way up to the worst. Most ERP treatments ask participants to experience these situations either through images or in vivo but a new method of virtual reality (VR) is being used in the treatment of OCD and it has been found to be effective (Kim et al., 2009; Belloch et al., 2014). Using VR, Phillip will then be exposed to the items on his list one by one, experiencing each one repeatedly until anxiety is completely reduced and Phillip is ready for the next item. Another aspect of this treatment is response prevention which aims to help patients control their compulsions in advance of triggering events (Meyer et al., 1974). This involves strategies such as using alternative behaviours and modifying compulsive rituals which can be integrated into the VR exposure. This treatment aims to expose Phillip to his triggers in a safe way reducing his anxiety for those situations and learning to control his compulsions in the process. Evaluation Using cognitive and behavioural treatments together is crucial for Phillip’s intervention as they both deal with either the obsessions and the thinking errors or the compulsions but not both. If only one of these elements is dealt with then it is likely that the other will return. Whilst cognitive therapy has been found to be potentially effective on its own (Cottraux et al., 2001) studies have found that when ERP is combined with cognitive therapy it produces lower dropout rates, greater general coping and decreased obsessive-compulsive symptoms (Kyrios et al., 2001; Freeston et al., 1997). A major aspect of Phillip’s case that wasn’t dealt with in cognitive-behavioural therapy that was not covered was his perfectionism. Research has found that CBT doesn’t significantly reduce perfectionist symptoms (Egan Hine, 2008) whereas Richards etal. (1993) found lower scores on perfectionism and depression scales and increased levels of self-reported wellbeing and self-esteem in response to group therapy. The incorporation of VR is a modern approach to ERP but it is one that is becoming very popular in the treatment of many anxiety disorders (Kim et al., 2009) and has been found to be as effective as in vivo exposure (Belloch et al., 2014). One aspect that wasn’t addressed in Phillip’s treatment is that of his family. As mentioned earlier it is possible that authoritarian parenting (Timpano et al., 2010) or childhood trauma (Lochner et al., 2002) could be involved in Phillip’s case as these are common causes of childhood OCD. There are family-based therapies that are shown to be effective in these cases (Lebowitz, 2013) but there wasn’t enough information about Phillip’s family to make such assumptions. If, in therapy, similar issues are revealed then family-based therapy may be very useful for Phillip. Also, little attention was given to biological factors even though pharmacological treatments are very effective in the treatment of OCD (Abramowitz, 1997; de Haan et al., 1997). This is because it would only tackle Phillip’s symptoms whereas cognitive therapy with ERP and group therapy will help Phillip to understand his rules of living, his bottom line, and how to potentially c hange or cope with this. References

Friday, October 25, 2019

Society, Gender Roles and Gender-Conflict Essay -- Research Papers

Society, Gender Roles and Gender-Conflict Time and time again gender-conflict is brought to the attention of the public in various forms. In our time someone who wants to make a point about gender-conflict and the inequality that is present will be more likely to use television or song to reach their audience. This however is a fairly new technology. Books or some form of writing on the other hand have been around for thousands of years. Gender-conflict is nothing new. It is not as though one day it just came out of no where. It has been around since the dawn of time. What is a man’s place and what is a woman’s place in society or is there really a specific place at all; further more are we even really that different to begin with? Two classic novels To the Lighthouse and Lady Oracle are perfect examples of how gender-conflict is viewed and present in our society, but what is it that they are trying to teach us? One of the central motif’s in To the Lighthouse is the conflict between the feminine and masc uline principles at work in pretty much the entire universe. Mrs. Ramsay, with her emotional, poetical frame of mind, represents the female principle, while Mr. Ramsay, a self-centered philosopher, expresses the male principle in his rational point of view. Both of which are flawed by their restricted and somewhat ignorant perspectives. A painter and friend of the family, Lily Briscoe, is Woolf's vision of the ideal blending of male and female qualities. When looked at more deeply Lily does not only personifies the ideal male/female role in society but she is also representation of Woolf herself (Fokkema, 14). Growing up as a female little alone trying to fit into the stereotypical role a women is expected to fill in a mal... ...and ignorant. We all know what must be done to overcome the stereotypes placed in the society. It is just a matter of time. The two novels give us a better look into humanity and what it means to be human, not make or female, but human. Basically what these novels teach us is that it is fatal to be a man or a woman pure and simple; one must be woman-manly or man-womanly. Works Cited Atwood, Margaret. Lady Oracle.Toronto: Seal Books, 1999. Cooke, Nathalie. Margaret Atwood: A biography. ECW Press, 1988. Dworkin, Andrea. Woman Hating. New York: Dutton, 1974. Fokkema, Douwe W. An Interpretation of To the Lighthouse: With Reference to the Code of Modernism. Tel Aviv, Israel, 1979. Ruddick, Lisa. The Seen and the Unseen: Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse. Cambridge: Harvard, 1977. Woolf, Virginia. To the Lighthouse. New York: Oxford, 1999.