Anxiety and depression, either alone or together, blocks us from living from our most authentic selves. Vulnerability researcher, Brene Brown, takes on what she calls our “fatalistic response” to life, turns it on its head, and offers listeners insight and great, huge, womping lots of inspiration. If you haven’t  found her yet on TED talks. Here is a link.

The Psychotherapy Networker magazine this month focuses on The Mindfulness Movement currently afoot in our culture. Because my own spiritual disciplines include meditations of various sorts, I value the transformational qualities of these kinds of practices. Some of my clients do, too, and part of our work centers around how their practices of silence and mindfulness impact their therapeutic progress.  Read more »

 At some point in the early days of our marriage (it was 43 years this summer) my husband and I started writing down 5-year plans. We’d go out to dinner with the purpose of brainstorming and we’d have fun putting our heads together to envision our lives together. We’d write down stuff like buying a house, changing jobs, having another child, landscaping the yard, traveling, getting a dog, and the like. I loved that we did this and always took pride in our purposefulness and focus.  Read more »

. . .and the partner doing the most talking is the one to blame.

 The tension of arguments, defining and expressing our own differing opinions, comprises some of the real pleasures of being in a mature relationship. Run fast, however, from any relationship rule about arguments that encourages blame.  Read more »

 As summer chugs into August, many parents may be counting the days until September! But wait, these last few weeks with the kids home remains an invaluable opportunity to get smarter about what is going on in the emotional dynamics between you and your children. A few blogs back I recommended Roberta Gilbert as a great writer on the topic of relationships. Another of her titles clearly explains how parents can become better resources to their kids rather than the alternative, which is being part of the problem.  Read more »

 I appreciate my colleague Nathan Gehlert’s recent remarks in the article the posted on video game addiction. In my practice, as well, clients bring their worries about excessive playing of video games.  Read more »

The End is Near...

...with all the dread and fear that goes with it. You hear yourself or your spouse spouting: I’m out of here. I don’t like you anymore. I want a divorce. Perhaps you haven’t said a thing, but you’re plotting your exit. There are all sorts of factors that go into discerning the rightness of dissolving a marriage or partnership. Without a doubt living with the misery that sets in between two people experiencing life on such intimate terms can become unbearable.  Read more »

Okay, obviously I like word play (I’ll get to my title in a minute).  But I like play play, too, and that's what's on my mind today. Now that I'm old enough to be observing my kids raising their own children, I'm acutely aware of how important it is for parents to get away and have fun separate from the kids.  Read more »