How Your Mind Works: A Gift for All Children!
Amma saw a delightful box under the tree. The card said, “For Amma. From Santa. HOW YOUR MIND WORKS.” That sounded very interesting. She untied the ribbon and opened it…
You are stronger than your distress!
A teenage boy was in the hallway of his high school when he received a text from his boyfriend that he couldn’t meet up after school as they had planned.…
Anger Management – A Cognitive Behavioral Perspective
Mike was in his late twenties and he was crying. He sat in a plastic chair, in the corner, his head in his hands. We were having our first meeting…
Bibliotherapy and the Healing of Self
Autumn invites reading. Schools have started. The air is cooler. The daylight dims, and we all begin spending more time inside, possibly curled up with something to read. Some people…
“Clear Compassion” and the Happiness!
Once I had a colleague who was unhappy. And she didn’t like others to be happy. We worked together at a psychiatric hospital. Whenever she saw me expressing happiness, she…
Can cultivating optimism prevent clinical depression?
Can cultivating optimism prevent clinical depression? Can it nip depression in the bud? It did for Xander. He was a pessimist. Then he met Cho. She was a self-proclaimed optimist.…
Is authenticity a kind of vulnerability?
Is authenticity a kind of vulnerability? We are all born authentic, of course. As children we are charmingly, unconsciously authentic. Then, in adolescence we learn to focus instead on fitting…
No one looks good when they are learning something new!
No one looks good when they are learning something new. “Except baby animals!” said Miles, laughing. He could laugh about this now, but it had taken family support, and cognitive…
Can empathy be biased?
Did you know that empathy has two sides? Dr. Marina West did not. She only shared other people’s suffering, but never their joy. She had gone into medicine because she…
Rough Patches: An Overview of Modern Marriage Counseling
Relationships can make people happy, provide them with comfort, as well as long-term partnerships. But when something goes wrong, they can also become a source of stress and frustration. When…