Getting Over Loss
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...Learn More
Healing Through Compassion
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...Learn More
Scheduling Alone Time
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...Learn More
Three Foot Tosses for Mindfulness
We play a basketball game in our program where people are asked to take three shots from a marker that is three, six, nine, twelve, or fifteen feet away from the basketball hoop. When you sink a basket, you make positive points, if you miss, you make negative points. The point of the game is to make the most positive points you can. Each marker is equivalent to the number of points you make....Learn More
Sadness
If you suffer from depression, it can be debilitating. No energy, no motivation, feeling helpless, hopeless, and worthless. Even when I was working with megastars in Malibu who was well known around the world, even they would feel this way. One day I was shocked when one told me, “I want what you have – your peace”. How do we get the peace we desire? How does energy come back? How does...Learn More
Helping our Children
The pandemic has wreaked havoc on our nation in many ways. Now the latest report is the devastation it has caused for our children. For a child to grow up normally, they need love and attention from their primary caregivers – usually their parents, they need to have fun, and they need their social needs met. Object Relations Theory states that all mental illness has its root in early childhood...Learn More
Anxiety Friend or Foe?
When I graduated with my master’s degree at the University of Santa Monica, the famed surgeon Dr. Bernie Segal who wrote the book “Love, Medicine, and Miracles”, gave the commencement speech. He wished pain upon us all because with pain people are motivated to change. The same applies to anxiety. Anxiety is the mind’s way of getting our attention. Anxiety friend or foe? When you are in...Learn More
Moving to the New Office – The Saga
Blurry eyed, I am writing an account of what went down during our move to Everett Washington over the holiday season. I forgot how difficult moves can be – if difficult can come close to describing it. Why the Move Our expensive lease was up and what started out as an adventure to downsize and save some extra money each month, turned into a monster. It seemed like it was the perfect time to...Learn More
The Reality of Life – Death
The day after Christmas, after the Zoom parties, the nice meals, and the exchanging of presents, I got bad news one after the other. My fiancée from twenty years ago was found dead in her apartment probably due to alcoholism. She had just turned 60. Alcohol had put a chasm in our relationship back then and probably took her as a victim now. A bitter pill to swallow because we had been very...Learn More