Do you remember the children’s book (later turned movie that I never saw), Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day? I had a day like that recently. A day when it felt like everything that could go wrong did go wrong. My family and I were travelling to the opposite side of......
“Art is restoration: the idea is to repair the damages that are inflicted in life, to make something that is fragmented – which is what fear and anxiety do to a person – into something whole.” – Louise Bourgeois Anxiety is a normal reaction to stress. However, anxiety can become overwhelming to the point of......
Let us be brave. Let us feel so deeply that we are afraid of what we will discover. We are not finite. We are tied to the idea that who we are is connected to what we do. We believe our worth is rooted in the perception of others; that our life narrative is prewritten......
When our children are struggling, or in pain, we scramble for answers, support, interventions — whatever we need to do to get them help, even more frantically when they are fighting for their lives. As adults, with all of our internal and external resources, it is still exhausting, desperate, and heart wrenching. It becomes easy......
Everyone struggles in relationships, especially with their intimate partners. Some people struggle a great deal and can see patterns showing up over and over again in relationship after relationship. Why is this? What makes relationships so difficult and why do we see the same challenges showing up over and over? Recent research has looked at......
To some people, therapy is a “blame your parents” exercise. Once you have thoroughly dragged your parents through the dirt, you pay your money, and politely leave the office. By blaming your parents in this way, you effectively abdicate responsibility for your own life and feel better. In reality, effective therapy is just the opposite.......
“Participating in a PCS Intensive Treatment Program is an opportunity each of us have longed for, yet avoided. In 8 days and 68 hours your story has time to unfold and be received by a team of compassionate professionals whose primary purpose is to create a safe and equally challenging environment. The treatment process involving......
Vaping, which is the practice of inhaling the vapor produced by an electronic cigarette (e-cigarette), was declared an epidemic in youth by the U.S. Surgeon General in December 2018. In my therapy practice, which includes specializing in children and adolescents, I have witnessed a stark rise in this behavior, especially among junior high-aged students (i.e.,......
Allow my children to fail? Huh? How does that make sense? Why would I not protect my children from failure? If I don’t, my children may feel sad or left out or not good enough. His or her self-esteem will be damaged. Isn’t it my job as a parent to make sure my children are......
There are a lot of hot topics in the mental health arena right now. People love to talk about self-empowerment, ending toxic relationships, and mindful meditation practices. These are valuable talking points with plenty of helpful information to be gleaned. But there is another, less “hot” topic that we need to discuss. The T word.......
