We know that each day we wake up to news updates and an ever growing list of changes we are making in our lives. It can bring up a lot of fear, anxiety and even grief as plans are cancelled, social distancing happens and daily routines are completely shifted. We truly value our relationship and [...]
If you’re like most of the population, in order to make a living you get up every weekday morning and report to work. In fact, the average person spends 90,000 hours at work over the course of his lifetime. That means that a majority of your waking hours are probably spent at work, and you [...]
Often, we blame our unhappiness on circumstances beyond our control. We let our automatic thoughts, the cognitions that occur to us naturally, to take control of our thinking and thus how we feel. You have more control than you think. Changing your thought processes starts by paying attention to what it is that you are [...]
What if we create and maintain problems in our life because it provides us with a sense of identity and comfort? For example, the way we hold onto the pain of a break up because that’s the only thing we have left of the relationship, or staying angry at someone for something he did because [...]
We live in a culture that is obsessed with love. You need only to turn on the radio, and you will hear love song following love song. Romance movies are likely the highest grossing films, and in almost every novel you pick off the shelf, the protagonist has a love interest. Why is this? Humans [...]
Traditionally several modalities have been used either separately or in conjunction for treating chemical dependency and process addictions. These include 12 Step oriented interventions (which support the utilization of the 12 Step program as used by Alcoholics Anonymous and like fellowships, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and Motivational Enhancement Therapy. More recently clinicians have been adding mindfulness [...]
It seems automatic, something happens and we feel a specific way as a result. Someone says or does something, things don’t turn out how we would like, and we get angry, feel sad, disgusted, etc. We often think, “She made me mad,” or “He really upset me.” In actuality, there is no switch that someone [...]
We seek happiness, often numbing or ignoring painful feelings. We power through distress, thinking that if we ignore it, it will go away. Sometimes the pain does disappear if we tune it out, but more often than not, it seeps into other parts of our lives and makes us miserable. So many of us run [...]
It’s the most wonderful time of the year….but is it? Although holidays are a time of joy, cheer and laughter for some, for others, the opposite holds true. Research indicates that 1 in 10 Americans will experience depression at one point in their life, and this number increases during the holiday season, which starts at [...]
Studies have been done for years regarding the physical and mental health effects petting a dog has on humans. However, the realm of pet-assisted therapy is still in its infancy. As researchers learn how and why our bodies respond the way they do when we interact with dogs, the evidence will get more difficult to [...]
