“I’m in a lot more regular contact with the children and more of my time goes directly into helping them.”

Trappa is an Icelandic online speech therapy clinic, founded in 2014. Initially, their only clients were four students living in a remote town in the Westfjords that prior to the online services of Trappa were only able to meet with speech therapy specialists about three times a year. With Trappa’s services, the quality and frequency of their speech therapy sessions improved significantly, and through word of mouth, Trappa began to operate in schools around the country. …

This LGBT history month, Kara looks at an influential study by Evelyn Hooker that ultimately resulted in homosexuality being removed from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) of the American Psychiatric Association (APA). Homosexuality was thought to be a psychological disorder until relatively recently, and was only fully eradicated from the DSM in 1987.

Evelyn Hooker began conducting research in 1953, in the McCarthy era where penalties for homosexual activity were severe, and working alone in such research during such a time was stressful and often incredibly difficult. The interest in such research was sparked by a friendship with an…

2021 is finally upon us. While we are still struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic, for many a new year and the hope of vaccines marks a fresh start that allows us to leave behind the previous year and hope for better things. Whether you’re the “new year, new me” type, or would just like to focus on something other than the current state of the world, we’ve rounded up some research and advice on goal setting to help you stay on track this year.

In the run up to the holidays, we at Kara have been rounding up fun and interesting research around Christmas. Here’s what we found:

We have an area in our brains dedicated to Christmas spirit

In participants that celebrate Christmas and have positive associations with it, a team of researchers in Copenhagen have found significant clusters of brain activity in several cortical areas of the brain (dubbed ‘The Christmas Spirit Network’) that are related to spirituality, somatic senses and facial emotion recognition. …

There is a certain cliché about Christmas that we’re all familiar with, especially in films: there’s a lot of fairy lights, far too much family, stress and drama and cooking disasters, if you’re lucky Hugh Grant shows up on your doorstep to see the local nativity, and it’s either an awful or an amazing time. …

In a matter of a few months, we’ve seen almost every single social event in our life moved online. Work, school, university, parents evenings, drinks with friends, bingo night at the local county hall, study groups, therapy, shopping, interviews, doctor’s appointments, vet visits… if it involves contact with a living system, it’s highly likely to be happening right now on an online platform somewhere.

At a time where limiting face-to-face interaction is saving lives, switching on online is helping us stay involved and connected with society, and in many ways maintaining our mental health. But have you ever found yourself…

When using the Kara system, there are two ways to register a client to a service in order to book sessions and host remote meetings.

1. A professional invites a client through Kara. The client receives an email to confirm their registration.
2. A client requests a service with the professional using a link, provided by the professional (for example on their website).

In both of these cases, clients create an account in Kara. They register their information and can log into this account anytime, even if there isn’t a session booked. …

What is stigma?

Stigma is one of the greatest barriers when it comes to seeking mental health services and can be broadly divided into two categories:

External or public stigma is the harm that occurs when a population or community endorses negative attitudes and beliefs about a group leading to stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination.

Internal or self stigma is what happens when an individual applies these prejudices and stereotypes to themselves and internalises them, leading to lowered self-esteem, health issues, social withdrawal and shame.

Research has indicated that both external and internal stigma have an effect on people’s willingness to seek help.

How does it affect help-seeking?

Many…