The Dynamics of Change
It takes real commitment to change old habits and familiar ways of looking at life. Our brains hardwire automatic responses—which we often experience as our personality. So often in sessions I hear people say, “That’s just the way I am,” or “I’m just an angry, anxious, or depressed person.” If you continue to convince yourself that this is who you are, how can you possibly change? Life is...Learn More
What to Look for in Counseling
This article is written for people who have never attended counseling or who have tried it and found that it didn’t work. There are many factors that can cause treatment to fail. Let’s look at the obvious ones. You didn’t like the counselor. In counseling, it is important to create a “therapeutic bond.” If people don’t like one another, it makes it difficult to develop trust, which is...Learn More
Ask Your Therapist: How Do We Heal?
If you are looking for a therapist, ask them, “How do we heal?” It is important to find out their theory of healing before you enter their counseling room. Unfortunately, this isn’t the question potential clients ask me—they want to know if their insurance will pay the bill. I ask you to decide one of two things: to do it the cheap way or the proper way. And, in fact, the proper way can...Learn More
The Basic Steps of Counseling
We have a new intern at Basic Steps Mental Health, and I thought it would be helpful to write out the basic steps of being a therapist for them. Then it dawned on me that writing an article on this would be helpful for anybody interested in the healing arts. For those who do not want to go into the field but suffer from mental health and substance-related problems, this article can also be...Learn More
Freeing Your Mind
I realized I have been trying to spread the news of Spiritual Psychology for 32 years. For the past 10 years, I have been writing these articles, now numbering in the hundreds. It is exciting to share something that drastically impacted my life, and because of it, I transformed from a drug addict to owning my own mental health clinic. The tools I present aren’t new to the industry, with...Learn More
What’s the Point?
“What’s the point?” said a client to me the other day. How about you? How many times have you felt like giving up? I have found that people with a history of things not going their way assume that everything in their life will go bad. But this doesn’t have to be the case. What is the point? Life may come down to this question: Do you give up, or do you keep pushing forward? This is what...Learn More
Common Relationship Problems
Relationships take a lot of work to keep alive, fresh, and upbeat. You would think that falling in love was all that is needed, but to be honest, when two people connect, they bring with them their doubts, fears, and unresolved issues. Maneuvering through this can bring heartache if one doesn’t know the proper tools. For myself, relationships are complex. Since I have made all of the...Learn More
The 12 “Basic Steps” to Issue Resolution
It had been 15 years since I was reunited with my paperwork from school. Like an ancient treasure that I vaguely remembered, all of the handouts we used at the University of Santa Monica lay before my grubby hands! I was over the moon with excitement because what lay before me changed me from a little boy to a man! I had a vacation home in the desert outside of Joshua Tree National Park and...Learn More
Self-Care and Mental Health
If we treated ourselves with respect, the majority of our problems would improve. Even though this states the obvious, it is not as simple as it sounds. Why don’t you take the ultimate care of yourself? Is there not enough time? Would people judge you as selfish? Maybe you find it more fun drinking with your friends than growing? The biggest element of change is the desire to change. Going...Learn More