You wake up with a familiar ache in your heart. Sadly, you can’t remember when it wasn’t there. Sometimes healing hurt seems to go on forever. You’ve done everything you can to help yourself. You started weekly therapy; began journaling, exercising, and watching your diet; and self-help books pile up on your nightstand. And yet, […]
Try these simple stress-relieving techniques. Everyone experiences stress and anxiety from time to time. Most often, stress occurs when you encounter a frustrating situation or are faced with a dilemma. Social pressures, heavy workloads and financial instabilities also cause stress which can reduce productivity, cause health problems or lead to chronic symptoms of anxiety or […]
Our language is filled with negative psychosomatic references to stress: “My boss is a pain in the neck.” “My co-worker gives me a headache.” “My ex-boyfriend makes me sick to my stomach.” Often we attempt to push unwanted feelings—such as irritation, fear, sadness—out of our awareness. We associate such feelings with hopelessness or powerlessness. So, […]
Life provides suffering, healing requires help. How do you recover when you feel utterly crushed by life? When your heart literally aches with every beat? Whether you saw it coming or didn’t, the feeling is the same: you’re devastated. You gasp at your vulnerability and wonder, “Why did this happen?” Life dishes up so many […]
By Sean Grover, LCSW A Parable… Once upon a time, there was a lost man who carried around a basket of troubles and wandered the land calling out,“Who will help me with my basket of troubles?” Many pitied him, some laughed at him, but no one helped him. Then one day a king passing by […]
That tension you feel in your neck? It has more meaning that you think, It was a moment that changed my life. It was about twenty years ago, and I was a patient in a therapy group led by Dr. Louis Ormont, a pioneer of American group therapy. I was discussing the devastating death of […]
When someone asks you a favor, do you readily agree and later regret it? Perhaps you say yes when you really wanted to say no? Afterward, do you feel victimized, lament your decision, or bemoan your fate? If you answered yes to the questions above, congratulations—you’re a people pleaser. You go out of your way […]
What to be more decisive? Here’s how: While playing it safe may be comforting, standing in the shadows, waiting for someone else to decide, or remaining dependent on friends or loved ones to make decisions for you weakens your confidence and chips away at your self-esteem. Being totally at the mercy of others is a […]
Everyone gets angry. But how we manage anger is very different. Some of us store up frustration, hold grudges, nurse hurt feelings, or isolate ourselves; others rage and blame the world and everyone in it for their problems and their feelings. These behaviors will only hurt us and damage our relationships. What’s worse, they give […]
