Understand Your Personality (Free Test)

You may have taken a Keirsey/Jung or Myers-Briggs Personality
test as part of a career guidance exercise in school, or as a component of a job application or training. Have you taken the time recently to take a personal inventory
of the strengths and challenges common to your specific personality
type?

Consider the reason why employers use these tools and the
implications such information may have on your marriage/relationships, sex life, job, friendships, social life or your efforts to stop a dysfunctional cycle or behavior.

Recently, I re-took the Keirsey Temperament Sorter (KTS)*, and I
was surprised by the things I learned about myself—and the areas of my
personality for which I was able to have grace after taking the short exam. I must say that I found the results to be very accurate.

The Jung Typology Test is another measurement tool that is similar and can be used
to help couples determine their areas of compatibility, problem
areas, and ways to work with each other.

Both of the below tests are equal in length, free, and should theoretically
give you the same results. (I took them both and scored as an INFP on both).
I found the JTT to be a bit less complicated in the wording.

The first site is for the Jung Typology Test (JTT) FREE.  Note that the compatibility function between personality types is not free, and is offered for a small fee.

The second Site is for the Keirsey Temperament Sorter(KTS) FREE: Make sure at the end you click (No Thanks, Just The Results)

So, what were your results?  Click here to find out what they mean. Did you agree or disagree with your personality assessment?  How did the results change the way you view your personal strengths and / or challenges?

*The KTS is an assessment shown to have validity with the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator(MBTI)—a more extensive exam that was developed in 1962 by Katharine Briggs
and her daughter, Isabel Myers, based upon Carl Jung’s book PsychologicalTypes (published 1923).

Just Relax?

Sitting in a coffee shop recently, I overheard a conversation in which one gentleman said to his friend, “She’s always wound so tight…she just needs to relax.” Ever heard that before? Whether you’re the anxious friend or the one who is criticizing her, the groundbreaking research of Dr. Sonia J. Bishop from the University of California, Berkeley may be of interest to you.

In her award-winning research, Dr. Bishop has linked variations in brain functioning to differences in how people experience and cope with anxiety-provoking stimuli. Essentially, her research suggests that the guy you know who would calmly continue eating his deli sandwich while watching an awful accident through the café window has a brain that works differently than his girlfriend who faints at the sight of the same accident.

The calm guy, for the sake of example, likely has a less responsive amygdala (the area of the brain that links memory and strong emotion), and a very active prefrontal cortex (PFC), the part of the brain responsible for planning and calm judgment.  His girlfriend has an overactive amygdala and a less active PFC, so she reacts differently to the same situation.

Dr. Bishop’s research suggests that if you are anxious, it is not your fault. Your brain simply works in a different way than your ever-composed friend.

This, however, does not suggest that people with anxiety are doomed to live an anxious life. Similar to having straight vs. curly hair, or a diesel vs. gas engine in your car, having a more active amygdala and a less active PFC simply means that you need different tools to keep your mind healthy. Some proven methods for anxiety reduction include regular cardio exercise; daily diaphragmatic breathing & meditation/prayer; and learning through counseling to effectively confront thoughts that cause unneeded anxiety.

If you would like help with anxiety ask your doctor to recommend a therapist who can help you to conquer your anxiety, and teach you a lifestyle that will keep your overactive amygdala in check.

www.pittsburghcounseling.org