The Mental Emotional Health Blog

I recently found a magazine named “Psychologies”, and it is an impressive publication. My understanding is that it originates from France, but the issue I read was published in the United Kingdom. It is also appears to be for women. I did not realize that fact as I paged through, and I think the material is beneficial to men as well.

“Psychologies” is completely new to me in the area of mental health magazines. I have read “Psychology Today”, “Family Therapy”, and “Mental Floss” in the past. I’ll use the 5-star approach for quality assessment of “Psychologies” and maybe someday I’ll get to reviewing the other magazines listed above for comparison. This review covers the March, 2008 issue.

Content (5 stars out of 5) - This is what I buy magazines for: to learn. The content in this issue covered a multitude of areas in the mental health field: personality, social functioning, parenting, relationships, depression, and others. I am nothing but impressed at the range in quality topics.

Readability (5 stars out of 5) - This is also what caught my attention. The writing is as good as I’ve seen in terms of using practical, every-day language whenever possible. You will find psychological or medical terms in any mental health publication, but I didn’t feel overwhelmed with jargon or “psycho-babble”. Another aspect I enjoyed was what I call Action Lists that have specific steps to take, or just some reminders. Organization is often as important as content. The Table of Contents was presented well, and articles/sections were easy to find.

Interest (5 stars out of 5) - Yes, it kept my interest. I occasionally found myself finishing a page and quickly moving on, and the rest of the time I just went through normally. After about the first 30 pages, I shifted my strategy and started going back to the Table of Contents to determine where to go next instead of reading straight through. The results were improved, and it seemed better to be selective and jump around (figuratively).

Overall (15 stars of out of a possible 15) - Was there any doubt? I would consider this one of the best magazines I’ve ever read on any subject, including sports. With some magazines, the content starts getting reprinted or repackaged, and I hope I don’t find that with “Psychologies” as years go by. The content was relevant with today, and the writing was excellent. Although the publication seems to be geared towards women, I consider it to be a good resource for me as a male and a therapist. I would suggest “Psychologies” to anyone.

(Note: I wrote this review on my own, without prompting from anyone including “Psychologies”. I was not compensated or promised compensation before writing the review.)

Oh, and I would love to hear your thoughts and comments if you read the magazine.