Keep Calm and Merry On!

How to weather the holidays with acts of self-care.

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Reclaim Your Lost Parts, You are Worth It

Brilliant Adaptations As adults, other people’s character traits trigger us in intimate relationships Take a closer look at the characteristics that precipitate our mean-spirited response with those closest to us.  Meanwhile, in other settings, we display a loving, conscious, and empathetic pattern.  We respond to triggers with the traits that we most need. Defense responses […]

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Grief is a Journey of Self Discovery

Getting help with grief never occurred to me My father died by accidental drowning six months before my wedding. The idea of seeking counseling or attending a grief group was never suggested. I couldn’t process the loss at the time, or what it meant for my mother. I was 28 years old, absorbed in my […]

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5 Lessons from a Recovering People Pleaser

Mind Your Party Manners I grew up hearing the reminder to remember my “party manners” every time I left the house, even when I joined the soccer practice carpool. My politeness and concern for how others perceived my behaviors is a marker of my Midwestern upbringing. The phrase “Minnesota Nice” is more than a little […]

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What to Expect in a Break Up

Life Happens This time of the year can be incredibly challenging if you are in the storm of a breakup.  Over twenty years ago I sat in that seat. I never imagined this would be my journey. Why would two reasonably intelligent people travel down this road? When it was me, I found myself coping with […]

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Do you want to change your relationship? Change your Lens!

Change your lens, change your relationship! First of all, how would your relationship be different if you approached your partner reflecting on two questions: What can I celebrate in my partner? and 2. What’s right with our relationship? This sounds challenging, right? We are not programmed this way! Our default is looking for what’s not […]

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How to Be a Vulnerable Partner and Share Intimate Connection

Reality shows and Relationships I love watching reality dating shows.  Especially the more immersive, experiential ones (nod to OWN’s Ready to Love and Put a Ring on It, Lifetime’s Married at First Sight (MAFS) and 90-Day Fiancé, and Netflix’s Love is Blind, just to name a few). And kudos to the on-screen licensed therapists, relationship coaches, and […]

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There is No Place Like Home

A Love Letter to the Expat in Me My childhood as an expat in high-risk countries has greatly shaped who I am today. As a child I lived in four different continents, changed schools seven times, and resided in my home country for seven inconsecutive years. Ambiguity, regular uprooting, or living in the outskirts of […]

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What State Are You In, Today?

Knowing where you are is an invitation to understand more about how you got here.

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Are you fueling your resiliency?

What do rubber bands, willow trees, and roly-poly dolls have in common? Answer: Flexibility under pressure and the capacity to bounce back after stress. In other words: resilience! The past two years have called for all kinds of resilience from us — as individuals, as couples, as families, as a nation, and as a world. […]

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