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ARTICLES
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Mentalization—the ability to understand our own thoughts, emotions, and intentions, as well as those of others—is at the heart of human social interaction. At the Center for Applied Theory of Mind, we publish articles that explore mentalization from a range of perspectives, providing a thoughtful and comprehensive understanding of this essential psychological capacity. We also examine other fascinating aspects of human cognition and behaviour that shape how we think, relate, and act.
Many of our articles demonstrate the CAToM Framework in practice, integrating insights from psychology and related disciplines to offer practical perspectives on mentalization, human behaviour, relationships, decision-making, and real-world applications.
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Is AI in the Workplace Making You Disappear?
When organizations automatically translate increased efficiency due to the use of AI into an opportunity to squeeze more productivity out of their workforce, or even as a downsizing opportunity they neglect to consider the possibility that their employees are increasingly seeing AI as a threat rather than as a work productivity assistant.
12 min read
Are You Psychologically Safe at Work?
Let’s do a pulse check! Photo by Adam Rutkowski on Unsplash Throughout my career, I have taken on long‑term projects across many organizations, motivated by a desire to strengthen my organizational psychology and business administration skills. Along the way, I worked with a wide range of leaders, each with their own leadership style: transformational, transactional, democratic, autocratic — and, of course, occasionally the toxic kind that bullies seem to prefer. Unsurprising
12 min read
How Hunting Can Help Men Improve Their Emotional Conversation Skills
Truth be told, some of the training methods aimed at men are actually based largely on how women have learned to express their emotions. Therefore, finding a training that men feel is within their comfort zone and aligns with their masculine ideals is not easy.
10 min read
Will Inducing a Near-Death Experience Become a Therapy for Alleviating Fear of Death?
Researchers are experimenting with techniques that can induce several traits of an NDE Photo by Alexander Grey on Unsplash “I do not...
9 min read
AI-Theory of Mind Systems: A Tool for Social Growth or Mentalization Atrophy?
Photo by julien Tromeur on Unsplash “Please come home to me as soon as possible, my love,” the chatbot said. “What if I told you I could come home right now?” Setzer asked. “Please do, my sweet king,” the chatbot responded. This was a final set of messages exchanged between a chatbot from Character.AI and Setzer, a fourteen-year-old boy, who shortly thereafter committed suicide, according to a lawsuit brought by his parents. In their complaint, Setzer’s parents alleged that
6 min read
Do You Know When Someone is Trying to Manipulate You?
Samples of Robert Greene’s 48 Laws of Power explained with the psychological processes described by Robert Cialdini
13 min read
How Chris Rock Might Have Failed To See Will Smith’s Slap Coming
How Chris Rock Might Have Failed To See Will Smith’s Slap Coming.
8 min read
Coming To Terms With ‘Wearing’ Another Person’s Face
Coming To Terms With ‘Wearing’ Another Person’s Face, the medical and psychological complications of a face transplant.
8 min read
‘It’s Our Time To Eat’: The Role Of Social Division In Post-Election Violence
What Americans could learn from the 2007 Kenyan elections “Donald Trump pressed ahead with his ongoing effort to erode confidence in U.S....
14 min read
How I Leveraged ‘Agentic Power’ To Help Kenyan Women Take Control Of Their Lives
It is impact rather than outcome that determines the success “I ask no favor for my sex… All I ask of our brethren is that they take...
7 min read
Becoming a Little Addicted to the little Green Dot
How the little green dot on Medium became a symbol for me of learning opportunities and motivational incentives I also post our articles...
5 min read
When Emotional and Behavioral Contagion Go Wrong
A healthy self-other distinction is critical for an accurate understanding of ourselves and others About 15 years ago, while working as a...
8 min read
How a Fear of Sadness Prevented My Friend from Saying Goodbye to Her Dying Brother
The interplay of affect phobia, alexithymia and somatic symptom disorder Several years ago, I learned from my mother that the brother of...
12 min read
Understanding Bipolar Mind-Blindness
How anosognosia and impaired theory of mind reasoning explain certain aspects of manic behavior. “I have become fundamentally and deeply...
11 min read
Committing Cultural Faux Pas
We all do it, even in the field of psychology Committing a cultural faux pas — doing something that is unintentionally offensive to...
7 min read
In This Nursing Home I Am Not Allowed to Die
The debate over euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. Mentalizing different perspectives on the matter. Growing up as a child in the...
15 min read
I Hired a Con Artist
To Hire the Right People We Need a Mentalistic Approach Even under the best of circumstances, hiring the right people can be a complex...
12 min read
The Therapeutic Benefits of Mentalization, Meditation and Hypnosis
Three practices which, together, promote attachment-informed trauma treatment Since founding the Center for Applied Theory of Mind a...
8 min read
Mentalizing Malicious Mindreaders
There’s more than one way to skin the Dark Triad. Harvard University recently decided to remove the cover of a Houghton Library book...
9 min read
Witchcraft or Madness?
Chilling rituals of Kenyan coastal tribes. The accounts in this article are anecdotal. At times, they might make you feel uncomfortable....
6 min read
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