The Juan Psychologist

20/01/2026

I love teaching biological psychology! 🧠✨

Much of this love comes from being able to somehow use my talent in drawing as I illustrate biological processes during class, helping my students follow the lessons.

There’s always a spike of happiness after every lecture, knowing that I delivered the lesson the way I once wished it had been taught to me.

Pero mas tuwang-tuwa ang mga estudyante sa tuwing magbibitaw ako ng litanyang:
“Hanggang dito na lang ang lesson natin.” 😂😂😂

20/01/2026

Open the door when you are ready,
when courage has found you,
and strength has returned enough to keep going.

You may have built the walls for protection,
but you were never meant to live within their limits.

Once you become a safe space for yourself,
open the door and meet the many versions of you
still waiting to be discovered.

18/01/2026

The Eddie Garcia Law (EGL) protects the rights of film workers and promotes safe, respectful working environments in the Philippine entertainment industry.

The discussion was highly productive, beginning with a clear explanation of the law’s purpose and extending to its implementation covering expected work tasks, regulated working hours, and proper channels for escalating grievances.

Through its implementation, the law ensures that film workers have a voice and have humane, fair, and just treatment within the industry.

When laws are properly implemented and clearly understood by the people, they do more than regulate systems they protect dignity, restore a sense of safety, and profoundly shape overall well-being.

17/01/2026

The strength to keep going lies within you!

This doesn’t mean shutting yourself off from the help others offer.

Social support matters. It sustains us. But when you are finally alone facing the noise in your mind,, everything you received from others should become stored strength… something you can draw from to stand up again and to put new set of batteries to keep going!

You are healing every step of the way! ✨🫂🫶

17/01/2026

My 2016 self was one of the peak moments of my self-discovery.

Dati pa man, very dynamic na ang aking activities. I pursued a new career as a behavioral therapist, giving up my long-term career as an ESL instructor, while trying to finish my MA in Clinical Psychology with sides of doing event hosting stints and auditioning to finally turn my childhood frustration into a reality as an MTV VJ!
(Not to mention, I also started becoming a Pokémon Trainer because that was the year Pokémon Go first came out! Hahahaha)

Grabe, no? How time flies! One day you were just dreaming, chasing possibilities with so much hope. But yeah! fortuitous events are funny yet deeply significant factors in our personality development.

Now, being a psychologist and an academician are the professions where my passion has found its peace and congruence, because parts of those past dreams still get to live through me at the same time.

Ikaw? Anong kwentong 2016 mo?

15/01/2026

Yes, walls can keep us safe but they can also leave us feeling isolated.

Sometimes, when we let people inside our walls, we forget to build windows and a door. So when they leave, they have no way out except to break the walls we built. And we are left feeling threatened, anxious, and hurt because we made them our whole world within those walls.

So if you build walls, build windows and a door as well. Windows to see and assess the world beyond, and a door that allows people to enter… and to leave.

Walls protect us best when they do not become our prison ✨🫂

- Rainier Ladic

14/01/2026

Hey… are you okay in there?

It’s alright. Take your time. The walls offer safety. But I hope you don’t stay there too long because it can get lonely.

I know the outside world doesn’t always feel safe.

Still, I hope that when you’re ready, you find the courage to loosen your walls, even if it’s just one brick at a time.

There are people worth breaking our walls down for. 😉✨

10/01/2026

Clinical psychologist Rainier Ladic, meanwhile, believes it's because of the desire to "preserve one's peace and authentic self."

“Many people feel the need to adjust to trends because they have a fear of missing out or not being relevant. The trends set a sense of belongingness and acceptance, but some people’s preference for simplicity helps them to reduce the stress from social pressures while keeping their confidence intact," he added.

Thank you, PhilSTAR Life! ✨

THE LOW-MAINTENANCE LIFESTYLE

Some people call it effortless, but behind that “simple” look are costly routines and treatments designed to save time, stress, and energy every day. Is it really worth it?

Read more at the link in comments.

09/01/2026

You are in charge of the happiness you choose to create.

Happiness exists in many places, people, and moments. It doesn’t have to be grand!

It lives in simple joys, genuine connections, and small wins.

Keep creating meaning from your experiences, and one day, you’ll find happiness in places, people, and moments you never expected. 🫶

07/01/2026

The storyteller is all of us. 📖

In times of grief, sorrow, and moments when life no longer makes sense, we soothe the anxiety within us by creating stories, especially when our own story does not end in a happily ever after.

Stories that give hope.
Stories that help us move forward.

Alfred Adler coined the term “fictional finalism,” a concept that explains how people create imagined, future-oriented goals or ideals that guide their direction in life. We move forward because we create meaningful stories even when they have not yet come true. These stories shape our behavior, allowing us to move ahead rather than be defined solely by what has happened to us.

Mike, in his grief and sorrow, held on to a theory that no one could confirm as true. Yet, he believed in it deeply. This is different from a delusion. A delusion is a fixed distortion of reality that persists even when evidence is presented. A belief, on the other hand, is a conviction that can change as reality unfolds. A delusion destroys but belief inspires.

In our lives, we create stories. Stories that save us from pain, stories that help us survive one day at a time.

These stories guide us toward the future self we imagine ourselves becoming. Maybe a stronger version of us. A healed version. Or a future where we are no longer merely surviving, but finally thriving.

So keep creating meaningful stories in your life.
You are, after all, the author of your own journey.

04/01/2026

‼️ Warning: Some spoilers and trauma-related discussions ahead ‼️

Stranger Things explores many mental health themes from breaking Vecna’s curse to understanding how one becomes Vecna himself.

One of the most striking symbols is Henry’s fear of the cave. The cave represents the place where his trauma began and the protective wall trauma survivors often build to avoid revisiting overwhelming pain.

We all have a cave we’re afraid to enter.
For trauma survivors, avoidance can feel like safety.

In therapy, the rising anxiety clients feel when approaching traumatic memories often signals that they are nearing that “cave.” While uncomfortable, this is also where real healing begins when guided safely, step by step, by a competent therapist who ensures emotional regulation before and after revisiting the core memory.

Just as Vecna trembles near the cave, the body reacts as if the trauma is happening again. Trauma responses in the present often mirror the past, making survivors relive moments as their younger selves.

What happened to us is not our fault. But choosing what we do with that pain is within our control. Unlike Vecna, most of us choose healing over destruction.

Trauma is not something to romanticize. Healing can take years from wounds formed in moments but there is a way out.

The first step is getting the right help. And with it, you’ll find yourself walking forward with less fear because you are not alone in your healing journey.

04/01/2026

As Filipinos welcome 2026, a psychologist encourages people to veer away from the pressure-packed thinking of a “new me” and instead focus on small, meaningful wins and self-compassion, saying personal growth does not have to be dramatic to be real.

-NewsWatch Plus Philippines