The first thing to consider is, “Why is authenticity important?” To me, the answer is clear: being more authentic helps you have more of what you want in life. When you’re more authentic, you waste less time in activities and relationships that don’t meet your needs. You clarify your goals and can pursue them without […]
In my psychotherapy practice, I’ve noticed that a lot of the people I work with grew up with real discrepancies in the way they and their siblings were treated by their parents. You won’t be surprised to know that the people I see in therapy tend to be those who were the least favored and […]
When you think about resilience, you probably think of the ability to bounce back when faced with difficult or painful situations. You think about being able to carry on when you’ve encountered stress or loss, disappointment, frustration or tragedy. And that’s all true. Resilience, as most of us understand it, is the capacity to remain […]
I’ve been thinking a lot about self-compassion these days, and why we need it. First, though, let me define it. Self-compassion is a gentle, positive attitude toward ourselves that includes loving-kindness, acceptance, understanding and forgiveness. The reason why it’s so important to have self-compassion is that it’s what will enable us to learn, grow, change […]
It’s great that we’re holding therapists accountable for their actions. Being a therapist is an extremely important job and doing it poorly can have devastating implications with regard to the lives of patients. Still, the system is out of balance. We’re investigating therapists in record numbers – and often finding that the complaints against them […]
Our world is more toxic than ever – polluted with neurotoxic and carcinogenic pesticides; hormone disrupting perfumes and packaging additives; toxins in house cleaning supplies, cosmetics, paints, and even in the finishing sprays to keep new clothing smooth and the coating on furniture to make it non-flammable. We’re also more stressed than ever. Insomnia is […]
I’m horrified by the violent turmoil going on around us these days. Without getting overly simplistic about it, I think that one aspect of these conflicts and indeed, all global conflicts is greed. People in positions of authority are seeking more land, power, influence or riches. These leaders are greedy and they can’t be satisfied […]
I was just reading this weekend about the likelihood that there will soon be a mass extinction of many animal species. Scientists are stating that this global devastation is being driven by humans: the result of years of climate change – a problem which we human beings have been denying or ignoring for as long […]
Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about all the things that we just take for granted. We act, think, and speak without really considering whether any of this is a good idea. We get used to the status quo, even when it doesn’t necessarily make sense. Consciousness is a state of awake, alert openness; we […]
We’re all so busy in our day-to-day lives. Multi-tasking definitely isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. We find ourselves more tired, edgy and distracted than ever. The result of juggling so many balls in the air is that it’s often really difficult, even with the support of regular counseling, to find our center […]
