When clients are going through a difficult time, they often want to work through the stressors. Of course. However, I often redirect them to really focusing on the basics to create a stable platform from which to address what is happening. Creating that stability makes approaching any stressor much more effective. You might feel...
How Do You Know When To Push Through vs. Let Go?
This question comes up a lot. And for good reason. For parents, it can come up around whether to mandate that a child follow through with something like a sports commitment. For adults, it can come up around whether to stay at a demanding job or work through issues in friendships or relationships. Those...
The Other Side of “It’s Not Personal”
A few weeks ago, we talked about how important it is to consider the possibility that what other people do is not always about you. People are responding to you in accordance to their own past, their own assumptions and their own tendencies. This is helpful to consider because it helps with not taking...
How Is It “Not Personal” When There Is A Difficult Interaction Between Two People?
This comes up a lot. I get that it is confusing. How can an interaction between two people not be personal? Meaning, how can you not take what someone does or says personally??? Well, it FEELS personal. Of course. The things is, most of what people do is about them, not about you. In...
5 Instagram Accounts That Can Support Your Growth (and help detox your feed)
There are some great Instagram accounts out there that break down old ways of thinking and teach according to current concepts and findings in the psychology world. I love how these therapists, coaches and teachers are able to capture complex concepts and put them into digestible infographics or quotes. Following accounts like these are...
5 Ways To Balance Out Fear Coming Up Around the Coronavirus
There are a few basic emotional intelligence concepts coming up that can be helpful as we navigate this territory of the Coronavirus. Let’s lay the groundwork with those. Then, we can talk about 5 helpful thoughts that we can incorporate to how we are thinking about all that is happening. First, most things are...
How Are Doing the Dishes and Dealing With Feelings Related?
Not everyone is convinced that feelings are important. I get that. If you are one of those people who is not totally convinced that feelings are that big a deal, this is for you. I explain it this way often to my clients… How hard is it for you to wash a dish? Usually...
Did You Know Foods You Crave May Be Related to Brain Chemicals and Emotions You Are Trying to Balance?
Julie Simon, MFT is an Los Angeles based therapist who works with people and their relationship with food. She has written When Food is Comfort and The Emotional Eaters Repair Manual. She also runs Overeating Recovery groups and has a 12 week program that can be done in person or remotely. I recently received...
Is Rest At The Top of Your To Do List? Why Not?
We all know there is a point of diminishing returns when it comes to productivity. But do you act on the signals your body is giving you to take a break? It’s hard to do that, isn’t it? While we all might ignore hunger, thirst or bathroom signals when we are busy, stopping to...
Telltale Signs of Burnout: the best list I’ve seen
Burnout is real. Not only is it miserable for you, it’s toxic for your health and your relationships. You know this already. What you might not know about is these four signs that are about real life. Be honest with yourself when you look at this: 4 Signs of Stress and Burnout. Why? Because...