Life under lockdown: home schooling and other stresses

Dr Johanna Motzkau from the School brings her expertise as an academic and a psychologist to the realities of parenting under lockdown. Our first week under lockdown was quite challenging. I found that no amount of the OU module production team management skills that I thought would get me through this seemed quite up to…

Thoughts for the times on virus and loss

Life during the current Covid-19 crisis situation has been compared to the experience of being at war. For a better understanding of lockdown and its associated anxieties, Dr David Kaposi, a senior lecturer in the School and a psychodynamic psychotherapist, looks back to Sigmund Freud's response to World War 1, and forward to the challenge…

The importance of art and film for psychology

A new publication from the School of Psychology and Counselling challenges psychologists to take art and film seriously, especially during times of crisis when people go through 'liminal experiences'. The article is the result of a collaboration between Professor Paul Stennerfrom the Open University and Professor Tania Zittounfrom the University of Neuchâtel in Switzerland. The online first version has just appeared in…

The psychology of panic buying

In a timely discussion, Dr Volker Patent from the School considers the psychology of panic buying and some possible steps to counter it. You can read the article here https://medium.com/@volkerpatent/panic-buying-and-how-to-stop-it-1ad411462d8 https://medium.com/@volkerpatent/panic-buying-and-how-to-stop-it-1ad411462d8

Coping with coronavirus

In these anxious times, psychotherapist and School academic Dr Naomi Moller offers advice on coping with coronavirus - and sharks. Over 25 years ago now I met a man in a ramshackle bar in Tokyo who was an expert on sharks. ‘Excellent!’ thought I, time to get an authoritative answer to one of my many…