playtherapist

• playtherapist 20 Dec 2010 3:48 UTC

  42 points

  in reply to: jimrandomh’s comment on: The Santa de­cep­tion: how did it af­fect you?

  jimrandomh’s mom here. That’s not exactly right. It’s a town wide program, all volunteer. Parents drop off gifts at a central location on a set day. Routes are planned, each with a driver and a volunteer. The gifts are delivered on Christmas Eve. Santa comes and rings the doorbell and comes in, often posing for photos. I’m pretty sure we only did it once, when he was 4 or 5, but it made a lasting impression, he knew that Santa came to the house and was not his dad, as his dad was right there.

• playtherapist 28 Oct 2010 2:31 UTC

  15 points

  on: Wel­come to Less Wrong! (2010-2011)

  Hi. I’ve been lurking here for awhile, because my son is a major contributor. I recently confessed that I was reading his posts and he urged me to register and contribute. I made my first comment a few minutes ago, in response to “What hardcore singularity believers should consider doing.”

  I think I’m probably atypical for this site. I’m a 58 year old, female, clinical social worker. I’ve worked in mental institutions, foster care for the disabled and, for the past 21 years as a play therapist with children. I’m also a part-time artist and a volunteer executive director of a non-profit organization. I’m not sure that I am a “rationalist”.

• playtherapist 26 Apr 2011 17:34 UTC

  13 points

  on: SIAI Fundraising

  Employee compensation generally includes more than just salary- there’s the cost of the employers share of social security, health insurance and any other benefits. If these are included in the figures listed, then the employees salaries are considerably less. If the Singularity Institute isn’t providing health insurance, than buying individual policies is a major expense for the employees. The Bay Area is also one of the most expensive places to live in the U.S.

• playtherapist 28 Oct 2010 2:08 UTC

  9 points

  in reply to: jimrandomh’s comment on: What hard­core sin­gu­lar­ity be­liev­ers should con­sider doing

  I did a little Googling. It seems that cats and dogs that are castrated do live longer than those that don’t, so lower testosterone might be correlated with longevity. I think, though, that the effect on patients in mental institutions may be greater than on the population as a whole. Mentally ill, institutionalized patients are often violent. Castration would tend to calm them down. It would lead to less fights, less time in isolation rooms and being treated better by the staff. That would all contribute to longer lives on average.

  In any case, even if castrated individuals don’t live longer, it would FEEL longer.

• playtherapist 17 May 2011 1:14 UTC

  8 points

  in reply to: David_Gerard’s comment on: [LINK] Two ar­ti­cles on Bitcoin

  It’s a state, not a country, obviously- but until recently New Hampshire had not sale or income tax. The government was funded almost exclusively by real estate taxes and government run liquor stores.

• playtherapist 21 Dec 2010 17:38 UTC

  7 points

  in reply to: shokwave’s comment on: The Santa de­cep­tion: how did it af­fect you?

  You must misunderstand why my name is “playtherapist”- which is understandable. I really am a playtherapist. I do therapy with children, using play. I get paid for playing with doll houses, sand trays, play dough, action figures, etc. with troubled little children. I help them to work out their anxiety, anger, feelings of loss, etc. using play.

• playtherapist 1 May 2011 19:55 UTC

  6 points

  in reply to: Cayenne’s comment on: Miti­gat­ing So­cial Awkwardness

  I’m atypical of people on this board, as some of you might know. I found it through my son, who fits the demographics much more. I’m a clinical social worker/​ child therapist- thus my name “play therapist”. What I didn’t see mentioned, which I think is probably a more common problem than people not using the right body language to convey what they mean to, is not picking up on the body language, tone of facial expressions and tone of voice of people you are speaking to. I don’t have any easy answers about how to learn to read them, it’s something that is intuitive for most people. If you can learn to read people that way, though, it will be a huge help in social interactions. For example, when you say something and there is no response, there will usually be non-verbal cues as to whether you were heard.

• playtherapist 24 Dec 2010 4:27 UTC

  6 points

  on: New­ton­mas Meetup, 12/​25/​2010

  Kevin, I think it’s really nice of you to invite everyone and to elicit their food preferences. I live on the other coast, and have other plans. It looks to me like you have taken vegetarians into consideration. If I were invited to a party and was concerned that their was not going to be enough food that I could, or wanted to eat, I would offer to bring a dish of something that I wanted to eat- with enough to share.

• playtherapist 31 Dec 2010 18:59 UTC

  4 points

  in reply to: jimrandomh’s comment on: Self Im­prove­ment—Broad vs Focused

  Such good suggestions. Your mom must have done something right. :)

• playtherapist 2 Dec 2010 2:34 UTC

  4 points

  on: Smart peo­ple who are usu­ally wrong

  Everyone’s judgment and prejudices are influenced by their life experiences and, to some extent, their personalities. On just about any topic where the facts aren’t entirely clear, intelligent people are not going to all agree. The directions in which they disagree will be determined by judgment and prejudices. It makes sense that people on this board will find themselves disagreeing with the same people repeatedly.

Nor­mal gut micro­biota mod­u­lates brain de­vel­op­ment and be­hav­ior (at least in mice)

• playtherapist 1 Jan 2011 13:56 UTC

  3 points

  in reply to: Raemon’s comment on: Self Im­prove­ment—Broad vs Focused

  You might want to consider substituting another kind of cheese for American. I suggest this for two reasons: 1- If you have to cut it, rather than having it presliced, you’ll be more mindful of how much you are eating it. 2- American cheese has more additives than other forms of cheese.

  I, also, think the hummus suggestion is good. Keeping other healthy snack foods around might also be helpful- fruit, salsa, guacamole, carrot sticks or baby carrots and nuts.

• playtherapist 21 Dec 2010 1:43 UTC

  3 points

  in reply to: David_Gerard’s comment on: The Santa de­cep­tion: how did it af­fect you?

  p.s. Are you someone who my son has met live or just an online friend?

• playtherapist 21 Dec 2010 1:38 UTC

  3 points

  in reply to: David_Gerard’s comment on: The Santa de­cep­tion: how did it af­fect you?

  Not really. He told me about the board. When I told him I looked at his posts occasionally, he suggested I register and post myself. Then, when I told him that his post about our town’s Santa program was slightly inaccurate, he said I could clarify it if I wanted to. I pointed out that I’d have to reveal my identity and he didn’t have a problem with it!

• playtherapist 29 Oct 2010 22:37 UTC

  3 points

  on: META: Who Have You Told About LW?

  I just read the survey from May 2009 than jimrandomh posted a link to. I found it extremely interesting. I would guess, from the postings I’ve read, that the demographics haven’t changed drastically since that survey was taken.

  Re: IQ’s- I remember from one of my psychology classes that the 98th percentile is an IQ of 130 and the 99th is 150. I find it quite believable that the average IQ on this board is in the 140′s. I know my IQ is in the 98th or 99th percentile, based on how I did on other standardized tests and I feel like the dumbest person on the board when I read many of the posts.

  I recommend being selective about recommending this board. If someone fits into the demographics and seems like he would like discussing the common topics, go ahead- but it is definitely not for most people.

• playtherapist 28 Oct 2010 22:39 UTC

  3 points

  on: Even if you have a nail, not all ham­mers are the same

  One supplement that is now being widely prescribed is Vitamin D. Testing to see if one is Vitamin D deficient is common here in the Boston area. It is being suggested that insufficient Vitamin D is linked to multiple health ailments- autoimmune diseases and increased risk of heart attacks in particular. My doctor prescribed Vitamin D supplements for me.

Ev­i­dence of a link be­tween what type of fat one eats and depression

• playtherapist 16 Jul 2011 11:55 UTC

  2 points

  on: En­hanced brain con­nec­tivity in long-term med­i­ta­tion prac­ti­tion­ers

  Some people voted this up, others down- currently it’s at −1. Somehow, though, I ended up with 22 less karma points then before I posted it and it was my first post in months. Initially I mistakenly posted it to “General” instead of “Discussion”. I moved it as soon as it was pointed out to me, at which point it had −1. I’m not upset, I have a thick skin, but I’m curious about how and why I lost 20 other karma points. Perhaps many people had already downloaded it when it was posted to “general” and voted it down? Either that, or one or more people went through my very old comments and posts down voting.

  Sorry about the link being to a pay site, I still thought it was an interesting finding. I posted it without a discussion because I thought the abstract spoke for itself. Also, I’ve been told that I shouldn’t write a summary of what I link to.

• playtherapist 20 Apr 2011 20:03 UTC

  2 points

  on: Offi­cial Less Wrong Redesign: Call for Sugges­tions

  Often I’ll see that someone made a comment in response to what someone said as part of a discussion. If there’s an easy way to see what specifically they are responding to, without searching through the entire discussion, I haven’t found it. I know that one can also click on the name of the person being responded to, but if that person does a lot of posting, it can also be difficult to find that comment. A feature whereby one could click some where and be taken to the comment being responded to, in the context of the discussion would be helpful.

• playtherapist 8 Jan 2011 20:05 UTC

  2 points

  on: Help: Neu­ro­chem­istry question

  I’m a clinical social worker/​therapist and know a bit about bi-polar disorder and schizophrenia. My clients are all children and few have been given either diagnosis yet, although more will probably when they are older. I don’t think that we really know yet whether avoiding medication increases ones chances of actual schizophrenia. One article I recently read actually suggested that taking anti-psychotics long term might prevent one from making a full recovery after a psychotic episode.

  I do know that you should avoid certain psychoactive substances, most of which are illegal (LSD, uppers, etc.) and heavy alcohol use. It is also best to try to avoid super stressful situations as much as you can.

  It is my understanding that many people with bi-polar disorder (and schizophrenia) don’t like their medications because it makes them feel flat.

  If you can get objective feedback from family or friends about your behavior in manic states it would be helpful for you to assess whether you should get treatment. You could ask them whether you are doing risky things? Are you so irritable/​manic that you are antagonizing others?

  My 2nd cousin once removed, Lizzie Simon has bi-polar disorder. She wrote a book, “Detour : My Bipolar Road Trip in 4-D ” in which she writes about her own experiences and interviews with other individuals with bi-polar disorder. She was looking for individuals who were functioning well. Lizzie goes around the country lecturing about bi-polar disorder. You might want to check out the book or/​and her website.