The first site that I found is by far my favorite. A division of Scientific American, 60-Second Psych is a fun and quick way to catch up on current events. Each "post" is in the form of a one minute podcast that usually integrates elements of psychology into current events. While riddled with promotions, the overall layout of the site is visually pleasing and extremely easy to navigate. I enjoyed the podcasts I listened to so much that I would have liked to see more frequent posts. However, I think that for information on current research findings in psychology smoothly blended with current events in the media, 60-second Psych is a perfect spot for on-the-go information.
The next set of sites I found, while not as interactive as 60-Second Psych, are wonderful resources for those wishing to find more information on specific sub concentrations and professional practices that fall under the umbrella of psychology. Psychology Campus and A Guide to Psychology and it's Practice offer a comprehensive analysis of several disciplines. I particularly like the question and answer section of A Guide to Psychology and it's Practice because of its practical information on graduate school and becoming a successful practitioner in clinical psychology. The author of the site is a practicing Psychologist and much of the information found on the site, especially regarding the graduate school admissions process might need verification as it is based only in his experience. While I would have preferred a more interactive experience at Psychology Campus, the wealth of information I found there was admittedly impressive. Following up on my earlier post about evidence-based practices, I was able to use this site to further explore some of the current therapies that have been approved by the American Psychological Association as "empirically tested." The Society of Clinical Psychology, while much narrower in its focus and clearly meant to be viewed as only a subdivision of the American Psychological Association's homepage, supplements the information I found at Psychology Campus and allowed me to verify the account of the author's experience on A Guide to Psychology and its Practice. Similar to the Society of Clinical Psychology, The American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy is narrow in focus, but provides a comprehensive picture of how to study to be, and eventually become, a successful practitioner focusing in treating couples and families. Many of the links regarding career development, the licensing exam, and the divisions of the AAMFT are open to the "everyuser," however much of the site is restricted to paying members which proves frustrating when trying to get specific information on a topic.
Psychology is only a subset of a the broader field of Mental Health which encompasses social work, some nurse practitioners, and even policy makers. The National Institute of Mental, Health (NIMH), the National Council for Community and Behavioral Healthcare, Mental Health America, and HealthyMinds.org are similar to the cluster of sites in the previous paragraph in that they are more informative than interactive, however they take a broader approach when providing information which can be really useful as a jumping-off point for research. For example, NIMH has an arm in policy and research as well as practice. Because of this, the site is mostly dedicated to mental health-related news headlines. The National Council for Community and Behavioral Healthcare is organized in the same fashion. This site, like AAMFT's page, is largely restricted to members. Thus, it takes some work (and money) to unlock all of the resou
rces that this site has to offer. Mental Health America is almost solely devoted to updates on mental health policy. Formerly known as the National Mental Health Association, this agency is dedicated to helping all individuals receive cost-effective mental healthcare. The information on this site is particularly interesting because the site and the agency are run by current and former mental health consumers. Once again however, this site is mostly dedicated to members of Mental Health America. The site primarily seems to serve those who are already "in the know." Following up on my earlier post about phone therapy, HealthyMinds.org is a wonderful resource run by the American Psychiatric Association and meant for the consumer seeking information about mental health. The information is presented in a clear and concise manner with a focus on making it understandable to individuals who are not professionals within the field of mental health. This is the only site thus far that I have come across that has a section specifically dedicated to minority mental health.
rces that this site has to offer. Mental Health America is almost solely devoted to updates on mental health policy. Formerly known as the National Mental Health Association, this agency is dedicated to helping all individuals receive cost-effective mental healthcare. The information on this site is particularly interesting because the site and the agency are run by current and former mental health consumers. Once again however, this site is mostly dedicated to members of Mental Health America. The site primarily seems to serve those who are already "in the know." Following up on my earlier post about phone therapy, HealthyMinds.org is a wonderful resource run by the American Psychiatric Association and meant for the consumer seeking information about mental health. The information is presented in a clear and concise manner with a focus on making it understandable to individuals who are not professionals within the field of mental health. This is the only site thus far that I have come across that has a section specifically dedicated to minority mental health.The last site in this cluster of professional organizations and societies is NARSAD. Formerly known as the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression, NARSAD has expanded its boundaries and become the largest donor-supported organization in the world that supports research on brain and behavior disorders. While the agency is largely dedicated to funding research, the site does have some limited information on disorders which can be found under the "diseases and conditions" tab clearly labeled on the navigation across the top of the page.
While general information is helpful when doing research, psychology is a profession of opinion. Thus, I have found what I believe to be six outstanding blogs all focusing on different aspects of psychology. Research Blogging and Cognitive Daily are perhaps the most professional of the bunch. Informed by current research, author and psychology professor Greta Munger's posts on Cognitive Daily are both informative and stimulating. Research Blogging is a little bit broader than cognitive daily. Where Cognitive Daily simply focuses on research furthering our knowledge of the brain, posts on research blogging are farther-stretching. This site is an amalgamation of blogs from different authors and serves as an excellent resource when looking for current findings related to a given topic within the field of psychology or neuroscience. Following along the same lines as Research Blogging, the blogs at Psychology Today are also a centralized group of a variety of different blogs written by Psychology Today staff members. What I particularly liked about this site was the ease with which the reader can search through the group of blogs in pursuit of posts on a given topic. It is in essence like a compressed version of a blog engine. I was however disappointed to find that many of the blogs only have one or two posts. On Our Minds is the official blog for the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare which I mentioned earlier. Contrary to the homepage for the the National Council for Community and Behavioral Healthcare, On Our Minds is easy to navigate and is not restricted. The layout of the site is somewhat cumbersome as it has a relatively large sidebar that does not house any pertinent information, but it does offer some interesting information on a variety of current events within behavioral health with a specific focus on healthcare coverage. PsyBlog's layout is also quite bulky. Two large sidebars with clashing orange, yellow, and blue accents are distracting from the posts. However, the sidebars are not without purpose. This is perhaps my favorite blog simply because of its "Explore" section. Housed in this section are links such as "10 Weirdest Psychology Studies" and "7 Sins of Memory." While their location on one of the sidebars adds to the distraction from the actual blog entries, I found the inclusion of these links to really enhance the information in the entries as well as the interactivity of the site as a whole. Run by Psych Central, a site that provides comprehensive mental health information to consumers, World of Psychology is a blog that compliments the information provided on the home site by offering opinions and expanding on the topics that are merely touched upon in the information section of Psych Central. The layout of the blog is pleasing and the tags to the left of the entries are well organized and varied in topic. Last, but certainly not least in the group of blogs I discovered is Positive Psychology News Daily. Positive Psychology is a newer branch of psychology that focuses on mental health instead of mental illness. This blog is definitely one of the most comprehensive sites I have found thus far on positive psychology. The blog is written by a large array of authors, each specializing in a specific application of positive psychology. I did however find the site to be difficult to navigate. The homepage is so cluttered that I found it hard to know where to look first (see above left) There are also some problems with the html on the site as one of the sidebars overlaps the text making it difficult to read. Despite these formatting faux pas however, the themes discussed delve deep into this new approach within psychology.
For any information or topic not included in the above websites, look no further than PsychSplash, mindsite, and MedlinePlus. Many of the sites I mentioned in the previous paragraphs were aimed at practitioners and students, but these sites were creat
ed solely for consumers. All three are meant to assist the consumer in diagnosing and seeking treatment for mental health-related ailments. What WebMD is for colds and muscle sprains, MedlinePlus is for depression, eating disorders, autism, and just about any other mental health disorder or malady one can think of. I would personally hesitate to encourage self-diagnoses of mental illness, however I firmly believe that the informed consumer is the best consumer. While all three of these sites are search engine-like, I found mindsite to be the easiest to navigate and the most interactive (see right). The available information is somewhat limited, but this shortcoming is more than made up by the ease with which the visitor can find whatever information is of interest. PsychSplash is an interesting variation on the psychology website search engine. It provides a snapshot of the home page, relates the target audience of the site (for example, professionals), and gives a brief description of the kind of information that can be found. I enjoyed this site so much that I was disheartened to learn many of the links, especially on the older listings, were no longer live.
ed solely for consumers. All three are meant to assist the consumer in diagnosing and seeking treatment for mental health-related ailments. What WebMD is for colds and muscle sprains, MedlinePlus is for depression, eating disorders, autism, and just about any other mental health disorder or malady one can think of. I would personally hesitate to encourage self-diagnoses of mental illness, however I firmly believe that the informed consumer is the best consumer. While all three of these sites are search engine-like, I found mindsite to be the easiest to navigate and the most interactive (see right). The available information is somewhat limited, but this shortcoming is more than made up by the ease with which the visitor can find whatever information is of interest. PsychSplash is an interesting variation on the psychology website search engine. It provides a snapshot of the home page, relates the target audience of the site (for example, professionals), and gives a brief description of the kind of information that can be found. I enjoyed this site so much that I was disheartened to learn many of the links, especially on the older listings, were no longer live.It is my sincerest hope that the above explanation of websites and blogs will serve as valuable resources when exploring the expansive world of psychology and mental health.
1 comment:
Overall, I was very impressed with this post, most notably with its depth and organization. It is immediately apparent that you spent a great deal of time combing through and narrowing down the vast online resources relating to psychology. It seems to me that you were able to pick the best of the best in terms of what suits your specific blog best. Moreover, I liked that you organized the the post by separating your different links into general information websites, the most helpful and dynamic blogs, and lastly, sites designed specifically for the consumer. This made it very easy to explore each site without having to figure out which parts of it were useful to you. In addition, I felt that you transitioned well, not only between links, but between groups of links. In the second paragraph, for example, you nicely transitioned from one site to the next by mentioning that while the latter site was much narrower in its focus, it nicely supplemented the information that you had found at the previous site. I also appreciated the depth of commentary that you provided on each link. Rather than focusing exclusively on one or two aspects of IMSA or Webby criteria, you noticed a variety of factors for different sites and blogs, from content to authority to visual design.
However, I did find that a few minor parts of this post could be improved. For one, it seemed to be a bit long, although I recognize that part of this is due to your effectively formed transitions and detailed accounts of each link. Perhaps if you had broken up a few of the longer paragraphs, such as the second one (maybe a new one starting with the sentence “Psychology is only a subset…”), the post would have been easier to navigate. Because you provide the links to the site within the post, it is easy to follow the links and explore the sites on your own. Based on that, maybe limiting the descriptions on a few of the links to one positive and one negative, or only one or two positives, might have contributed to a more concise entry. At the same time, I was guilty of the exact same thing, so I admit my suggestions are somewhat hypocritical and such length issues are difficult to fix with this specific post. This post was overall very well-researched and well-written.
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