Victoria Costello – författare

Is love an exact science?The Complete Idiot's Guide® to the Chemistry of Love shares the amazing new findings about the chemical reactions that create what people call "love." With the help of neuroscience, biochemistry, and physiology, readers can finally get some real insight into the affairs of the heart and the actual "laws of attraction."?Covers the role of pheromones, neurotransmitters, and hormones that occur during sexual attraction and lead to the euphoria of "love"?Includes information on how readers can use this knowledge to enhance their significant relationships both romantic and nonromantic

Simplifying a complex subject.Child psychology is required for college level psych and elementary education majors. It is a complex subject that can include developmental psychology, biology, sociological psychology, and various schools of theory and therapies. The only sources of information about this complex subject are long, expensive textbooks. Until now. This, the first trade book to give a detailed, easy to understand explanation of the subject.? Age-by-age discussion of the psychological development of children.

Helps readers write memoirs, personal essays, and life stories of every length and type.

Every newly married couple wants to beat the odds and make their marriage work. Unfortunately, 50 percent of first marriages and 65 percent of second marriages fail. Clearly, couples need guidance and support to keep their partnerships strong. In this guide married couple Stephen Martin and Victoria Costello offer information, tips, and advice to help readers:Recognize danger signs in a marriageCommunicate effectivelyHandle discussions about money, sex, kids, and other tough topicsKeep the passion aliveMaintain a sense of identity within a partnershipNavigate special situations, such as stepfamilies and cultural differencesWith the help of this concise book, couples can address problems before they become dealbreakers. From the stress of combining finances and raising kids to dealing with in-laws and blending families, thereÆs a lot of pressure in a marriage. But all it takes is a little information and determination to make it workùand to make it last.

OCD can make a child’s life difficult, turning simple tasks like homework and chores into almost impossible challenges. A child with OCD may feel stressed, worried, and even inadequate. Parents who suspect their child is suffering from OCD—or parents of a child with an OCD diagnosis—can now rest. This helpful guide helps parents with many issues: recognize symptoms; get an accurate diagnosis; find the right doctor and therapist; develop strategies for tackling schoolwork; and decide on the right treatment. Parents will learn how to talk to a child about OCD and devise coping strategies for school, sports, friendships, and other everyday situations. Children with OCD can learn how to enjoy life—without all the worry!

Every family has secrets; only some secrets are lethal. In Victoria Costello's family mental illness had been given many names over at least four generations until this inherited conspiracy of silence finally endangered the youngest members of the family, her children. In this riveting story-part memoir, detective story, and scientific investigation-the author recounts how the mental unraveling of her seventeen-year-old son Alex compelled her to look back into family history for clues to his condition. Eventually she tied Alex's descent into hallucinations and months of shoeless wandering on the streets of Los Angeles to his great grandfather's suicide on a New York City railroad track in 1913. But this insight brought no quick relief. Within two years of Alex's diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia, both she and her youngest son succumbed to two different mental disorders: major depression and anxiety disorder. Costello depicts her struggle to get the best possible mental health care for her sons and herself, treatment that ultimately brings each of them to full recovery. In the process, she discovers new science that explains how clusters of mental illness traverse family generations. Artfully weaving the scientific into the personal, Costello takes a journey to the far reaches of neuroscience and reports back on the startling findings it is yielding about the complex interplay between genes and environment that drives mental illness, and what it now tells us about how parents can trump a lethal inheritance. She shares the results of long-term U.K. and European family studies identifying the earliest signs of mental illnesses that can be passed on from grandparents to parents and grandchildren. She tracks ongoing clinical trials to reverse the courses of these diseases through early intervention with the latest evidence-based treatments and offers brain-healthy choices individuals and families can make to prevent mental illness-freeing future generations to live healthier, happier lives.

Those in recovery are often stuck in a dangerous loop of making poor choices based on instant feel-good payoffs. Rein in Your Brain offers 10 proven techniques for intervening on faulty impulsive thinking and actions that have a negative impact on our lives and relationships.Addiction--whether to mood-altering substances, gambling, sex, or food--stems in part from an over-reliance on the reward system of a primitive part of the brain that can push us to make poor choices based on an expectation of immediate gratification. Those of us in recovery often struggle with the compulsive thoughts and behaviors that are still programmed in our addictive brains well after the drinking and drugging has stopped. These often play out thoughtlessly in our interactions with others, damaging our relationships and growth as balanced human beings.Rein in Your Brain, by addiction expert Cynthia Moreno Tuohy, offers ten tools for breaking the cycle of impulsivity. These time-tested self-interventions include standing still in the moment, giving up control, not assuming the other person’s intent, tolerating differences, accepting emotions without giving them free reign, and differentiating between immediate fear-driven reactions and measured thoughts. By incorporating these tools in your daily interactions, your relationships can move from those of conflict to mutual respect and understanding.