In her own words, Dr. Deborah Serani is “a psychologist who specializes in trauma and depression”. She’s using this weblog as a means of sharing information she’s studied and to provide others with a place to gain some useful information about issues that “impact the human psyche”. Right off the bat, I realize that this weblog will certainly not be for everyone. If I wasn’t reviewing it, I think the author’s bio would be enough to clue me in to the fact that this wasn’t going to be a weblog that is simple to read. In this case, that’s okay! This site isn’t for everyone and the author undoubtedly knows this.
By reading the site’s very first post dated in July 2005, I learned that Dr. Serani knows what she’s talking about. With her work and educational background, this weblog is written by someone that’s spent years and years studying the history, reasoning, and effects of all different kinds of psychology. Before I could even make a reference to Tom Cruise and his expertise in psychology, Dr. Serani writes a post and includes a suggested reading list for Cruise. While the letter focused on the serious side of the spectrum, it was enjoyable to see the author using her research to tap into pop culture from time to time.
Several of the topics that Dr. Serani covers are subjects that are constantly being discussed in today’s media. With articles titled “Body Image and Self Worth In Women” and “How To Choose a Good Therapist”, there’s valuable information available to those looking for it. Once Google picks up on this site, I have a feeling it will become even more popular.
One of the posts I found most interesting is the “Questions & Answers” interactive post. She allowed visitors to leave psychologically related question, and in turn she would answer them. This post received an overwhelming response, and it will be interesting to see if she does it again. Her post about Chromotherapy was also a unique post, as was reading about her experience as a consultant on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
I’m not a fan of the layout for several reasons. It’s a Blogspot template, or at least started out to be one. The author has added about 30 different buttons/links at the bottom of the layout that really give off the impression that they were just thrown there with no rhyme or reason. Sometimes, there are images that are thrown into a post that end up breaking the layout or overlapping another image. Personally, I wouldn’t call any of this “bad”; I would just credit it to inexperience with HTML and the specific Blogger code. Then again, Dr. Serani is a psychologist – not a web designer. As with the majority of the weblog layouts I’ve seen, this one has a center table for the entries, and a side column full of links to the archives, author’s bio, external links, etc.
Dr. Serani has done a lot of research before writing the articles she posts on her weblog. She ends each article with a list of sources she’s used to validate everything she’s written. Her information is the real deal, not something that’s just coming out of an uneducated-Tom-Cruise-like person.
While, as I’ve said, this weblog certainly will not be for everyone, I found it more interesting than I thought I would. I have a slight interest in psychology, so it was enjoyable and at the same time educational to read more detailed information about different aspects of the field from someone as experienced and knowledgeable as Dr. Serani.NULL