It is interesting how my life is repeating itself again which shouldn’t surprise me. In graduate school, we focused our attention on repeating issues, because my professors believed that they were the curriculum of life. In studying Spiritual Psychology the belief is that spiritually speaking, everything is happening in our life for a reason and it all is in regards to our growth and...Learn More
While driving to work this week my car developed a problem, now it is in the shop and getting worked on. Such is life. It seems like I have had my share of fix-its recently, including changing the internet provider for a faster network and getting a new computer because the old one was bogging down. Though, I am not the only one. Many clients have also been experiencing problems with...Learn More
When I was 32 years old, I decided to go back to school and study something I was interested in – Psychology. It had been 10 or so years since I dropped out of Long Beach State, but wanted to get out of the construction trade and knew that I needed to finish my Bachelor’s degree. In my first class back, the teacher told us we needed to read something 10 times to memorize it. 10 times!...Learn More
I was looking through my files and came upon this article that hadn’t been published. Perhaps something more important was on my mind. Re-reading this I realized that, bottom line, this article is very important because it gets down to the root of my therapy strategy.
For almost 30 years I’ve struggled to find “the solution”. You know, something that will fix everybody, so that they won’t...Learn More
If you have never gone through counseling and wondered what happens in sessions, then this article was written for you. I remember the first time I went to a counselor and could feel my heart pounding in my neck and was looking for an excuse to sprint out of there. Though to be honest, I just found myself talking about myself, which was strange since at that time, all I wanted to do was...Learn More
Way back in 1890 Sigmund Freud was developing the science of Psychology and popularized “Ego Defenses” or the mechanisms we used to keep the mind free from shattering. “Denial” makes us believe something didn’t happen, and “Repression” makes us believe the bad events that happen to us will go away if we don’t think about them. Sigmund Freud started a revolution that is common in our everyday...Learn More
In graduate school, they kept on telling us that our mind is very powerful and we just needed to learn how to channel this energy. Coming from a background of powerlessness it was hard to imagine, but as I started to use the tools they were teaching us, things in my life began to shift for the better.
I remember the first time I realized this when standing in line at the bank. I hated...Learn More
Reframing is a major tool that helps to keep me centered. Reframing is basically looking at a situation that may be bad and putting a positive twist on it. In school, they told us that Reframing is basically seeing a problem as a blessing for learning and growth. Can you think back to a situation or event that was painful when it happened, but as you view it now, it was perfect for your...Learn More
Knowing nothing is a great place to start.
I hope you end up there. -Roshi Norman Fischer
“The goal of expressing kindness and compassion to one’s self & others is enough of a challenge until we leave this plane(t)” – Dr. Noah
The above quote and Dr. Noah’s response was the last email that I received from my long-time teacher in 2013. Dr. Noah Young left this planet too soon....Learn More
In continuing the series of improving motivation, it just happens that I recently went through some emotional issues with motivation as I prepared for an upcoming trip to Europe.
When something out of the ordinary happens to me, I first get overwhelmed, then make to-do lists. Looking at the whole picture can become overwhelming, but when I list things out and go one item at a time, it tends to...Learn More