Changing Your Mindset
My panic attacks began when I was a teenager. From that moment my only focus was on avoiding them at all costs. Little did I know that with this way of thinking, I was attracting panic attacks to me. I vividly remember waking up in the morning, opening my eyes, scanning if the panic symptoms were present, and then found my heart racing. I felt trapped in my own living hell and from that...Learn More
Desire – Helping Others Before Myself
For Thanksgiving, I was about to do the typical “stay-at-home thing” like I had for the last few years but wanted to be with family. It had been a while, being caught up in running the facility, but now I needed a break and wanted to make my 90-year-old mother happy. I was getting back into the habit of making others more important than myself, burning myself out, and simply needing to get...Learn More
Limiting Beliefs
Just before I began writing, something upsetting happened that got me upset. This happened because my expectations weren’t met. It’s hard to admit that I reacted like a spoiled child, but it is true. I had just gotten back from a great week of recovery work in Los Angeles, due to all the fires, and as the plane landed in SeaTac I guess all my maturity was left on the tarmac. And thus, as...Learn More
Surviving Trying Times
It’s been a trying week for many people with the changing of the president. When there are uncertain times, how do you cope? People of color, those from other countries, and those who are gender questioning or living alternative lifestyles have been the most vulnerable because of what they went through in Trump’s last presidency. I heard one black person receive an explicit text...Learn More
Ending of a Year Beginning of the Next
How was your year? Did you accomplish what you wanted? Another year down and another one is about to start. Such is life. The ultimate question is, what did you learn? Since life is all about trial and error, if we fail to learn from failures, we are destined to repeat them. And, if you fail to try, you will be destined to repeat the same behaviors over and over again. Yes, it can be easy...Learn More
Top 10 Relationship Mistakes
Relationships take work and if you don’t know the proper skills, it can be easy to fall into the usual pitfalls that I have fallen into so many times in my life. I guess through all my mistakes I am well aware of the most common mistakes people make. Now, this is not the full list by any means. This is why thousands of books on this subject have been written. It is always advised to attend...Learn More
Give and Take
It finally happened, Basic Steps Mental Health now has a waiting list. All I can say is that I am honored by your testimonies and your recommending us to family and friends. Because of this, the way that we have been providing time during the sessions will need to change. From the beginning, we have always used the full 60 minutes to treat people. The beauty of our approach has been to allow...Learn More
The Spirituality of Psychology
I’ve hesitated for years on presenting this topic due to the fact that when I entered this industry my coworkers looked down on my approach. In graduate school, we all spoke the same language and had one thing in common – a belief that there was a higher purpose in life than eating, getting married, and creating a replacement for yourself. To us that seemed so pointless. We were on a search...Learn More
Who Are You? – Creating Your Identity
Identity issues are common with people coming in for treatment. For so long they’ve changed themselves in order to survive. If you find yourself always caring for others and making their wishes more important than yours, it is time to take an honest look at this. Genetically speaking, we are all the same. Nobody is above or below another, but why do you belittle yourself and cater to those,...Learn More