As the coronavirus spreads worldwide and with the first confirmed death in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have indicated that it is not a matter of if the Coronavirus becomes an outbreak in the United States, but when: “It’s likely that at some point, widespread transmission of COVID-19 in the United […]
Do you want to be right or do you want to be happy?
Often we are so focused on being “right” that we miss the bigger picture. Sometimes our need for control manifests in our need to be right. Being right can become a type of defense mechanism called reaction formation. Reaction formation protects us from painful or difficult feelings by expressing repressed feelings in a contrasting form. […]
Emotional Snipers
Chances are you already have an emotional sniper in your life-you just don’t realize it. Emotional snipers are those friends (or frenemies) who can never be truly happy for you. You know the type-the friend who can’t resist taking a cheap shot just to make you look bad or the person who encourages you to […]
Food Pushers
Food serves many purposes. Its primary function is biological-to provide nourishment and the basic nutrients to sustain our body and its many functions. Food by its very definition and use is nutrition-it is what we consume to sustain our bodies so we can live. Without food or adequate nutrition we cannot survive. But food has […]
Is my family enmeshed?
Having a hard time seeing where you start and your friend/partner/family member end? During the 1970s, Salvador Minuchen introduced the concept of enmeshment and enmeshed families. Enmeshment is a term used to describe the blurring of personal boundaries. Whether it’s a relationship between family members, partners or spouses, limits simply don’t exist in enmeshed relationships, […]
Parenting Q&A
Some of the questions I receive most frequently revolve around parenting, raising healthy children and “discipline” so I thought I would take a moment to answer a couple of these questions here. Q: With all the stories in the media about kids being molested, should I talk to my 5 year-old daughter? How do I […]
Myths About Therapy
You may be considering therapy for a variety of reasons but are hesitant to take the plunge because you still have some reservations. Unfortunately there are a lot of misconceptions about what therapy is, what it isn’t, who it is for, and how it works. These “myths” persist and unfortunately the continuing stigma surrounding mental […]