3 Nov 2011

LMNOP Is Not One Letter

Posted

Autumn is always a time of flux for me.  My life, both personally and professionally, is impacted by the academic calendar much more so than the traditional one.  While adjusting my schedule and expectations every fall, I feel unsettled and I yearn to feel the comforts of routine again. Whether transitions come from external factors […]

10 Oct 2011

Do You Feel Frazzled Every Fall?

Posted

Oh, autumn…School is back in session. We should have more time on our hands, right? Then why do we feel like we are always rushing? There has been a lot of press recently about the negative affects of over-scheduling for children.   I think we need to consider what over-scheduling does to the parents. More and […]

6 Sep 2011

A Managed Forest

Posted

I am often asked how psychotherapy really works.  After all, just talking about something does not necessarily improve it.  I try to explain that my job as a therapist is to help the client see their situation from a different perspective.  It is from this new perspective that relief can be found. In a documentary […]

5 Aug 2011

Need to Work On Your Procrastination Habit? Don’t Wait Until Tomorrow

Posted

It is natural to avoid tasks that we find unpleasant.  How can we give ourselves the kick in the pants to get over our procrastination?  I recommend trying to address some the pretexts commonly used in  avoidance. 1. We tell ourselves that there is a “better” time to address the task or issues. However, we must […]

18 Jul 2011

Not All Jugglers Are Clowns

Posted

For most mothers, juggling is a fact of life that brings angst rather than awe, guilt rather than giggles.  A friend of mine just had her third child.  The baby is a few weeks old, the middle child is 3 and the oldest is 6.  Needless to say, when I asked her how she was, […]

12 Jun 2011

It Is Hard To Hug A Cactus

Posted

My clients often ask me, “How can I be happy when someone else is the cause of my unhappiness?”  Or stated less diplomatically, “Why do I have to change when he or she is the crazy one?!” Relying on others to change so that we can be happy inevitably leads to feelings of anger,  helplessness […]

6 May 2011

When You Know Better

Posted

One thing I try to avoid with my kids is hypocrisy.  It is for that reason that I never say to them, “You know better than that!”  Believe me, I feel like saying it on an almost daily basis.  However, I refrain because, the ugly truth is, could also say it to myself just as […]

4 Apr 2011

Focus on a Simple Solution

Posted

There was recently an article in the New York Times magazine about the process of rumination and its possible evolutionary benefits.  Frankly, I find that for most people, rumination results in feeling of mental and emotional paralysis.  I try to be a solution-oriented person.  There is only so long I can listen to myself complain […]

10 Mar 2011

Hovering Above Life

Posted

I have practiced yoga for over 12 years now.  I love it for many reasons, not the least of which is that it often teaches valuable lessons for life “off the mat.”  In yoga, you practice the same postures over and over again.  If you are not focused on the present, the NOW, you run […]

2 Feb 2011

Emerge and See

Posted

In a recent New York Times Magazine article, will.i.am described how he plays with words.  For example, “emerge and see.”   He stated, “To emerge and see what is happening is truly an emergency.” While I like what he is trying to say, I think he has it backward. A mentor once told me that the […]