Oakland Focus News | Oakland News Online Blog

What’s a 'cognitive distortion' and why do so many people have them? Cognitive distortions are ways that our thought patterns can convince us that something is true or false. These are typically thoughts that occur automatically, and are usually used to reinforce negative thinking or emotions. Our automatic thoughts can feel rational and accurate, and most of all, they can feel factual. But with examination, we can often find evidence that our thoughts are NOT factual, but based on a set of negative thought patterns that have developed based on our feelings, rather than factual evidence. Cognitive distortions are at the core of what many cognitive-behavioral and other kinds of therapists try and help a person learn to change in psychotherapy. By learning to correctly identify distorted thoughts, a person can then respond to the disorted thoughts by balancing them with thoughts that are more balanced, and based on fact/reality rather than negative feelings. By refuting negati...

The City of Oakland, California's post-World War II history has been one of deep racial diversity and integration. Racist actions were few and far between but that's changing and it's happened in fits and starts over the last six years. This blogger has been in Oakland since 1974. Never in less than a year (pay attention to that) have there been incidents like racist statements against Martin Luther King Day written on the bathroom walls of an establishment like Cafe Van Kleef in downtown Oakland, or even worse, a Swastika painted on the same Greek Orthodox Cathedral that serves as the home of the annual Greek Festival, an event I love to attend, or Yoshi's in Oakland making a jazz compilation of performers at the club without a single black jazz performer in it . Something's going on. I personally think Oakland has been invaded by the "New Oaklander": the person who's only lived in Oakland as much as 10 years, from 2000 to 2010 at best, an...

Just a brief take on the Oakland Marathon and Oakland Running Festival held on this lovely weekend in Oakland and before the video's up in this space. First, congratulations to Race Director Gene Brtalik, who was a one-man band, meeting with officials, politicians, the media and people, even making sure that cups of water were filled for runners. Regardless of who is named, Gene Brtalik of Corrigan Sports, and newly-minted Oaklander, made the Oakland Running Festival not just a reality, but a smoothly-running event. What's annoying was the TV coverage by ABC Channel 7, who on Sunday afternoon ran a brief but oh-so-insulting clip that featured an unfortunately disabled and down-on-his-luck African American man saying that he essentially thought something bad was going on but saw something good, the event. Then Channel 7 ran a story about another crime committed in Oakland - East Oakland.  Channel 7 didn't bother to talk to anyone else at the Oakland Marathon who was ...

Oakland Councilmember and candidate for Mayor of Oakland Jean Quan held her kickoff event Saturday at "Humanist Hall" one block from Broadway Auto Row (or what's left of it after the economic downturn). The event was a rousing and surprising success. Surprising to this blogger because of not just the number of people who came but the range of people from the perspective of well-known Oaklanders, like Assemblyman Sandre Swanson, Assemblywomen Mary Hayashi, and longtime Lakeshore Business representative and politico Pam Drake, a number of people from the Oakland School Board and the education community, and a lot of new Oaklanders. The idea that Councilmember Jean Quan would lose votes to Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan always seemed silly in this corner, and because Kaplan's relatively new to Oakland, doesn't have the history of working with Oakland's school system, and is young. That was confirmed Saturday. Quan's event was more like a "Jean...

Washington, DC - March 21, 2010 Congratulations to President Obama and Congress for the historic passage of the health care reform legislation, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (H.R. 3590) , along with the Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act of 2010 (HR 4872) which makes improvements to the Senate bill. The reforms should provide quality, affordable health care to nearly all Americans for the first time in our nation's history. So what does this mean for mental health care? As a Clinical Psychologist in private practice for the past 3 years, I have seen many patients struggle to afford the psychological treatment they needed for their mental health. When I first began my practice in 2007, essentially all of my patients were paying for therapy out of pocket, or without the help of their insurance benefits. In the Bay Area, the average cost is $150 per therapy hour, with some therapists allowing a sliding scale fee...

Most of us imagine feeling happy and content should we ever achieve the wealth, fame and notoriety associated with being a celebrity. However, the experience of being a person who is highly visible in the media can take a tremendous toll on one’s psychological functioning. Even the most grounded actors, musicians, professional athletes, and high-ranking officials are vulnerable to the deleterious effects of being in the media spotlight. In his research, Jib Fowles, author of Star Struck: Celebrity Performers and the American Public ( Smithsonian Institute Press ), found that the average age of death for celebrities overall, was 58, compared to an average of 72 years for other Americans. His findings also revealed that celebrities are almost four times more likely to kill themselves than the average American. This article serves to explore the negative psychological impact of being in the media spotlight, which leads many celebrities to struggle emotionally. As you read ...

The possible sale of The Golden State Warriors has got "Warriors to SF" fans excited once again. The last time there was this much interest in the possibility was 1997 through 1998, when the Warriors were temporarily playing their games at the HP Pavilion in San Jose until the newly refurbished Oakland (Oracle) Arena was finished. Then, like today, the idea of the Warriors moving to San Francisco was floated in the media, and without checking with anyone in Oakland regarding the Warriors lease situation, and that's happening again today. The idea of the Warriors moving to SF has spread like wildfire online and offline. Someone forgot to call Oakland City Attorney John Russo. Aside from representing the City of Oakland in legal negotiations with its sports teams, Russo was also an Oakland Councilmember and was there when the Warriors were waiting for the then-new Oracle Arena to be complete. Today, he says that the idea of the Warriors going to San Francisco is ju...