Learning to Read by Reading to Cats

Last February, photographer Mark Makela traveled to Birdsboro, Pennsylvania, to photograph a reading group where the participants were grade-school students and a group of cats. The idea for the group, known as Book Buddies, was hatched at theAnimal Rescue League of Berks County when the program coordinator Kristi Rodriguez’s 10-year-old son was struggling with reading. Rodriguez decided to bring him into the shelter, where he could be in what she called a “nonevaluative” environment in order to feel more comfortable practicing his reading skills. It worked.

Slate

I went undercover on Ashley Madison to find out why women cheat

“Honey, I have to join Ashley Madison.”

So began the pitch I gave my wife to let me join the marrieds-looking-for-affairs website, AshleyMadison.com. It would be part of my research into women who cheat, why infidelity is increasing, and what can be done to possibly affair-proof a marriage. I proposed to “cheat” on her for a few weeks, to talk to and attempt to seduce as many women as possible, and get a real-world understanding of why women want to stay married but also need some illicit action on the side.

The Daily Dot

Buddhist Psychotherapy

Renowned Psychologists like William James, Carl Jung, and Eric Fromm saw much of value in Buddhist philosophy and its positive impact on mental health. The modern mental health clinicians have found incomparable therapeutic efficacy in Buddhist psychotherapy. Buddhist psychotherapy has become a major complementary therapeutic strategy in mental health. Recent research has highlighted the importance of Buddhist psychotherapy in the treatment of depression, anxiety disorders, factitious disorders, addiction disorders, medically unexplained symptoms and various other psychological ailments. Buddhist psychology is increasingly informing psychotherapeutic practice in the western world (Kelly, 2008).

Colombo Telegraph

THE ‘BEHAVIOR GAP’ BETWEEN BOYS AND GIRLS IS BAD FOR GROWN MEN

The attention paid to the wage gap between men and women tends to obscure the fact that at the other end of the economic life cycle – early education – females are the dominant ones. And they continue to dominate all throughout school, reports the New York Times, which finds some of that fact due to a “behavior gap” among boys and girls.

Politix

Online self-injury information often inaccurate, study finds

People seeking help or information online about cutting and other forms of self-injury are likely finding falsehoods and myths, according to new research. Only about 10 per cent of websites providing information about non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) are endorsed by health or academic institutions. It’s a troubling finding, says the lead author. “This is a salient public health issue,” he said.

ScienceDaily