I have never been a “Pollyanna” type of person. While I am positive and find joy in everyday life, I am also a realist. I think about the positive and negatives of situations and I deeply empathize with others’ suffering—hence the career as a psychotherapist.
Even if you are not what people refer to as “clinically depressed,” you may believe happiness is elusive, an enigma or just something you see on TV or in movies. Few people seem to exude joy and happiness on a regular basis. And yet, if you surveyed people on the street for a day outside […]
I have never had what you would call an “anger problem.” However, during graduate school to become a licensed mental health counselor, I discovered two main things about myself and anger. The first is related to forgiveness and the second involves stress and daily life.
Whether from real life or Hollywood movies, you have probably heard of counting to ten, walking away or taking deep breaths to help manage anger. There are many ways to deal with anger, both positive and negative. However, until what is hiding behind the anger can be uncovered and dealt with, utilizing coping skills like […]
Published in the Southwest Orlando Bulletin 5/2013 Everyone has a bad day once in a while. But what happens when a bad day turns into several weeks or months? How can a person tell if he has a case of the blues, or something more, like depression?
In my opinion, there are two main ways personal growth happens in life. The first way comes when we consciously choose to try and become better in a specific life area like work or marriage. The second way personal growth occurs is from weathering various life trials and as a result discovering personal strengths we […]
Most people, I believe, want to become better—at their jobs, at home as husbands, wives and partners, at friendship, even at communicating. We want to make more and more good choices every day so that we can grow personally and professionally. And yet, we are creatures of habit, often making the same choices over and […]
I can remember being a young girl and offhandedly complaining to my mother as we were packing for a beach vacation that it seemed like a lot of work. She looked at me and not so depressingly said, “Everything in life takes work, even going on a vacation. You work before you go and you […]
“I just want to have mediocre sex,” or “I just want to talk LESS/spend LESS time with him/her,” said no one ever in a healthy romantic relationship.
In today’s society, self-esteem is perhaps more elusive than ever. All day long we are bombarded with images of what we should look like, drive, wear, etc. Women and men feel extreme pressure to live up to the standard of Hollywood’s idols—movie stars who have unlimited access to trainers, chefs and yes, plastic surgery.
