News and Insights

Getting over the loss of somebody special is not an easy task. In graduate school, they taught us people have to feel their feelings during this period. Feeling your feelings for somebody that is not used to feeling emotions can be a difficult process. The intention of this article is to assist people who are struggling with loss to get through it. Loss can be as simple as the loss of a pet or...

Twenty-seven years in the industry and I am still learning that heart-centered listening is the best way to treat people. After thousands upon thousands of sessions, I often hear the same things, but I feel it is ultimately important to simply listen with a full heart. I teach my interns how important it is to not fix people. If we were to do this, they would be dependent on us. When you help...

When I was five years old my mother divorced and married her soul mate – if there is something like that – my stepfather. Who knew that he was going to make such an impact on me? My natural father was an angry and bitter man who exhibited daily fits of rage. Not Les, Les was a kind soul that was genuinely happy, loved being around a lot of people, and always had something memorable to say or...

My have I changed. As a child, we never talked about the things that were going wrong with us. We put on the “I’m Fine” mask and pretended to be great. To my family, outward appearances were very important. When Covid first came on, a client came in, got the whole staff sick, and we didn’t know what it was but after 10 days were all better and things were, more or less, back in order.  Then...

When you are sick and tired of feeling sick and tired what should you do? Most people wait and hope for the symptoms to go away, which will only push the inevitable away. Eventually, you have to face the facts that your efforts aren’t working and need to do something about them, but what? Depending on the ailment, it is important to address the symptoms head-on. If you have a physical ailment,...

Beyond all the theoretical approaches, the social support networks, the medication, the paraprofessionals, friends, and family, the thing that will get you through addiction is your determination. Psychologists explain addiction as a hard-wired pattern that is hard to break. When a stimulus happens, for example the desire to use, it is hard-wired to respond by using. Any attempt to stop this...

Our Intensive Outpatient Program isn’t easy. Different from most, the emphasis is on healing underlying core wounds. The aim of our program is to teach people how to be a counselor to themselves. Are we successful? It depends on what measurement you use. But when graduates of the program call years later just to say hi and give a report of their current lives, to us that is the greatest...

Coming from Los Angeles, we knew that when the weather got hot, the violence increased. In this area, it seems like the heat has the same effect. At my housing complex, we have had a sudden increase in violence that has unnerved a lot of people, including myself. What can a person do about it? There are a few psychological models that are perfect to turn to when violence is taking place. As...

For many people, life is but a blur. Activity, activity, and then the big crash – or is there one? Often when we are too busy it becomes difficult to unwind. Did you know that relaxation is a necessity in life? So is time away from the electronics. Do you give yourself time to simply let your mind go to where it wants to go? It’s true that Psychology is the study of relationships, but have we...

As the state gets back to normal, we are seeing a lot of people coming in for treatment. Perhaps it is the shock of being out in the public again. For whatever reason, it is good seeing so many people making the effort to improve themselves. For many, working on themselves is foreign. Unlike having regular doctor or dentist appointments, our mental health is very important because how we are...