Mel Schwartz L.C.S.W. Traditional therapy is often a blend of inquiry and validation, followed by the time-honored refrain, “How does that make you feel?” Although this processAlthough this process may feel nurturing and comforting for the therapy client, it often falls short…
Amanda Gilbert It can start small, like dressing the part to fit into a particular social circle or suppressing an opinion that you have over a restaurant or movie choice. The little ways we shape-shift and put other people’s happiness above our…
Pamela B. Rutledge Ph.D., M.B.A. Holiday movies are here, reminding us that it’s time for the Christmas holidays. Americans rank watching holiday movies as one of their favorite traditions, above tree decorating and cookie baking. I like to check out…
Kathleen R. Bogart Ph.D. I’ve always had an irrational fear of opening a can of biscuits. As I unwrap the cardboard tube, I never know exactly when the vacuum seal will pop. No matter how hard I try, I can never fully…
Alison Carr-Chellman Life is full of small decisions: Should I pick up that sock on the floor? Should I do the dishes before bed? What about fixing the leaky faucet in the bathroom? Leaving a sock on the ground is a…
Mark Matousek Award-winning poet, essayist, and translator Jane Hirshfield is the author of nine collections of poetry, including Ledger, The Beauty (long-listed for the National Book Award), Come, Thief, and Given Sugar, Given Salt, a finalist for the National Book Critics Award. Her two extraordinary collections of…
Sherry Amatenstein, LCSW I have always loved traveling and have been fortunate to visit a myriad of fabulous destinations from Nairobi to Nevada to New Orleans. However, the getting to and from the destination part of traveling has sometimes been…
Radhule B. Weininger M.D., Ph.D. A shocking headline in Neue Zuercher Zeitung, a mainstream Swiss newspaper, recently read: “In the USA People are Killing Themselves Like Never Before, while in Europe Less and fewer People are Taking Their Own Lives.” This article…
Steven C. Hayes Ph.D. We often reserve the term “mentally strong” to describe people who accomplished extraordinary feats in the face of great adversity. Rarely, however, do we use these words to describe ourselves; possibly because we are painfully aware…