Five strategies for building resilience. In many ways, Summer 2020 beat me down hard: COVID was rampant, my kids were home, my business was slow, and my anxiety was high. However, last summer also lifted me up in ways I never would have expected. How? The resilience I...
8 Ways Regret Can Lead to Your Personal Growth:
Make meaning, fortify gratitude, and live in the present moment. I work with an array of patients who very often express regrets. I hear, “I wish I didn’t say what I did, I just inadvertently and impulsively blurted it out”, “If only I chose another college, then I...
The Ultimate Growth Mindset Exercise
Relate to your mind like a tantruming child. A growth mindset, was coined by Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck and colleagues, which stipulates the belief that a person's talents, intelligence, and abilities can be developed and improved over time through effort,...
The Intrigue of Revenge Fantasies
Who is prone to them, what role do they play, and how to effectively heal. The desire for revenge is a universal personal response in all human cultures. The greater the harm and transgression caused, typically the greater the desire for revenge. I have a patient who...
Why Practicing Self-Love Isn’t Optional but Necessary
12 ways to practice it and getting on board with the #HowBeautifulChallenge. I had the honor of interviewing the band On the Outside. They are inspirationally challenging youth and others to cultivate body positivity and self-love with their #HowBeautifulChallenge....
A Letter to Your Anxious Mind
For the mind that overthinks, worries, catastrophizes, races, and/or ruminates. Dear Mind, While you are a vital organ that helps me in fundamental ways, I realize that I have a divisive relationship with you. I am hoping to improve the relationship, as I realize that...
The Power of Self-Love & Self-Compassion
The longest relationship you have is with yourself. 10 tips to enhance it. We often make broad generalizations about who we are, how we function, and how we think, feel, and behave. Sentiments like I am a mean, selfish, ineffective, unlovable person, or some other...
STOP Preaching Happiness, Gratitude & Positive Affirmations.
It's a sure way to lead to your unhappiness. We grow up with very distinct messages, both overtly and subliminally, that the most sought after state is one of “happiness”, a “positive attitude” and eternal “gratitude.” Our society supports these ideas and ideals. Take...
15 Ways We Beat Ourselves Up
The solutions we need for building a growth mindset We all fall victim to beating ourselves up. For some of us it is merciless and for others it may just be our initial thoughts and we are easily able to brush it off and merely take notice of it, rather than buy into...
What First Responders Teach Us About Cumulative Stress
Understanding this for the sake of your physical and mental health. A firefighter and EMS worker I recently saw reported that he had been on the job since he was 18 years old. He recognized that over time his cumulative stress impaired his relationships and ability to...