Category: EPPP Preparation Materials

What do you wear when you study for the EPPP? Your choice of clothing could be linked to how well you focus as well as your ability to rest due to brain association. It’s the same reason studying in bed could lead to trouble sleeping.

 Your brain associates certain attire with our meaning or perception of that attire. For example, if you consistently go into relaxation mode after a day of work once you’ve put on your cozier pair of sweatpants, it might be harder for you to become motivated to do anything productive once you’ve got those sweatpants on. In this case your brain would be associating the cozy sweatpants with relaxing, making it hard to want to do anything other than relax. On the other hand, it could be harder for you to get some necessary rest after a day of work or study if you stay in the clothing you consider to be more professional and reserved for the times you’re being productive. Forbes Magazine explores this in the article Is Casual Dress Killing Your Productivity at Work?  

 “When we put on an item of clothing it is common for the wearer to adopt the characteristics associated with that garment. A lot of clothing has symbolic meaning for us, whether it’s ‘professional work attire’ or ‘relaxing weekend wear,’ so when we put it on we prime our brain to behave in ways consistent with that meaning.”  Continue reading →

Does weather affect how well we study for the EPPP? The unpredictability of spring weather is cause to think about whether productivity peaks on the blustery spring days or the sunny ones that get us excited for summer.

As it turns out, our ability to sustain attention peaks during the summer whereas sunny days decrease productivity due to distraction. Continue reading →

Work is piling up and the to-do list isn’t getting shorter. You want to take a break but there’s no break in sight. Maybe EPPP test prep is one of many things you have on your plate and it takes everything in you to power through another study session.

Feeling like you have nothing left to give is a sign that you are experiencing burnout. And continuing to power through feeling burned out can not only leave you tired, but it can impact your health. Continue reading →

The Invasion of the Negative

It’s common to hear people complain that they are weighed down by negative thoughts or depressive mood-states. This can be especially true for individuals in high stress situations, including students preparing for exams or EPPP candidates trying to qualify for licensure.

But even when we don’t have stressful life circumstances weighing in on us, many people still find themselves dragged down by a barrage of negative thoughts that seem to take on a life of their own. This has become such a problem that many practitioners in the medical community are concerned about the health effects of toxic thoughts.

Although historical evidence shows that people have always struggled with toxic thinking, the phenomenon of negative mental chatter seems to be growing worse with each passing year. Evidence also suggests that Westerners are increasingly less happy, grateful and content than those in less developed nations, even though we live in one of the wealthiest cultures ever to have existed.

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Someone recently asked me to comment on some of the budget EPPP prep materials people can buy off Amazon and which are currently being advertised through Google. Some of these resources promise students everything they’ll need for successfully passing the EPPP. This seems to be an inexpensive way for busy candidates to quickly bring themselves up to scratch on EPPP preparations.

I know that some people reading this post may have already wasted months using these resources in the hope of becoming better prepared for the EPPP, only to find that they are no nearer their goal than when they started.

Why is this? Why are students finding that the EPPP books on Amazon let them down and bring them no closer to their goal of becoming a licensed psychologist?

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If you’re studying for the EPPP, chances are one of your resolutions for this coming year has to do with EPPP test prep. New Year’s resolutions, however, are notorious for being forgotten or failed. And since 2016 is the year you will sit the exam, being diligent in EPPP test prep is one resolution that cannot be broken.

In reflecting on the reasons behind New Year’s resolution failure, I have come up with ways to help you keep your resolution of EPPP test prep success. Continue reading →

The holiday season is officially here. Whether you are party planning, Christmas shopping, or preparing to entertain that extended family you forgot you had, the holidays are meant to be a time of relaxation and joy. But the holidays can also be a time of significant stress – especially if you are preparing for the EPPP.

Last year we posted a three part series, How to Continue EPPP Study over the Holidays, where we touched on how to maintain balance, stay productive and enjoy the holidays. We posed the question; is it possible to stay productive in your EPPP studies and enjoy time with family during the busy holiday season?

The answer to this question is yes. However, in order to make the most of the holiday season and continue progressing with your EPPP studies, it is important to beware of the five most common pitfalls to holiday studying.

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Many people have repeated the phrase “practice makes perfect” so much that they end up neglecting the how and the what of practice. This leaves them trudging on with unstructured practicing while reassuring themselves that “practice makes perfect.”

Does practice make perfect? Perhaps it is more accurate to say that practice makes permanent.

Because of a phenomenon known as neuroplasticity, when we practice an action or skill repeatedly in a way focused towards improvement, this leads to habituation. Through practice, our brains become conditioned to perform an action more adequately, and success becomes habitual.

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At TSM we provide you with all the content you need for passing the EPPP. But having the content is only one part of the picture. We recognize that to achieve success on the EPPP you also need to be attentive to creating a lifestyle of success. The skills that it takes to pass the EPPP are the same skills that it takes to succeed in life: diligence, time-management, goal-setting, positive life-style, etc. Because of this, we regularly monitor what others are saying about these topics and pass them onto you. Here are some resources we’ve recently come across that are a must-read for anyone wanting to create a lifestyle of success.

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