Thoughts of a Therapist
Perpetual Mother’s Guilt: Why You Have It and What to Do About It
Parents in general, but especially mothers, are saturated with an abundance of guilt. I hear it all the time from patients who feel that they’re not being mindful enough, attuned enough, or equipped enough to deal with the challenges presented by mothering their...
3 Critical Facts to Know About Your Emotions: Your Mental Health Depends on Self-Acceptance and Self-Compassion.
Recently the New York Times published an article, “Lean into Negative Emotions. It’s the Healthy Thing to Do.” It spoke to current research, suggesting that our perspective on our emotions can substantially affect our mental health. I wasn’t surprised to see this...
Our Kids Are Not Okay: The Frightening Truth About Suicidality and Fentanyl Poisoning
Our kids are not even close to being okay. I’m astonished at how many patients I’m currently treating that have been directly or indirectly impacted by suicide or Fentanyl poisoning. Recently, a patient’s high school senior experimented with an opioid and never woke...
18 Tips to Change Your Habits for Good: Create the Life You’re Proud of.
We form positive and negative habits throughout our lives. And once a habit is formed, it’s hard to break free of it. It’s as if our brain stops fully participating in decision making and relies on our automatic routines. Our brains form neural pathways that get...
10 Steps to Making This the Best Year Yet: Always Notice What You’ve Learned
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics, Americans born in 2021 can expect to live for just 76.1 years, the lowest life expectancy since 1996. This is the biggest two-year decline—2.7 years in total—in...
16 Mantras to Reset Your Mindset for Joy: What You Put Energy and Effort into Grows Stronger Over Time
With holidays and a new year approaching, we have moments to contemplate how we want to move forward and approach our lives. We always have choices; even inaction is an action taken. Self-affirming mantras help to center and ground us so that we’re pausing,...
