Special Memory #6
My sister Samantha bought me the greatest birthday gift ever, a Karaoke machine. Little did I know at the time how much that machine would enhance my livelihood. This was when I was working with the learning disabled at an independent living facility that taught young adults how to perform the normal duties of life, including cooking, cleaning, shopping, and paying bills. We’d gather at...Learn More
Down and Out, Up and Out
Lack of motivation can be a normal way of life for many people. It usually takes place when the physical body has no energy and the heart has no desire. What generally contributes to this level of blah is our level of fitness, our diet, the amount of daily exercise, and whether we are following our doctor’s orders by ingesting the proper medication. Taking care of your physical needs may be...Learn More
Doorways of Opportunity
You’ve seen it, people moping around as if there is a dark cloud above their heads. As a therapist, I see it in body posture, overall energy, and the feeling of someone feeling defeated. I guess, when life becomes one disappointment after another you just expect it to continue this way. How do we stop this slow progression into the pit of despair? Why do all the negatives keep showing up?...Learn More
Reframing – A Positive Twist
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
Beyond Intention Setting
When I learned about intention setting over 20 years ago, I thought they were something simple to say or think because they seemed so obvious, but as I have turned to them in times of need, intentions are one of the most powerful tools we can turn to in a crisis. I’ve written about intention setting before, but as a recap, intentions are something that everybody does subconsciously. For...Learn More
What Is Your Normal?
When somebody comes in for therapy, my first question is, “What brings you here?” I am grateful for the mere fact that they are willing enough to let me in. With myself, when I first went into therapy, I was guarded, minimized my symptoms, because I was trained by my family to pretend and tell everybody that I was great, which I was far from. I learned in therapy to let down my guard, let...Learn More
Fix Me Doc – The Basics of Change
When I went to therapy for the first time I was petrified. Having an anxiety disorder had me nervous about everything. I mustered up all the courage that I had and went into the counselor’s office to get that thing that would make me better in that instant! Fortunately, it didn’t happen that way, nor does it. In repeatedly showing up for sessions, I let my guard down, discovered who I was...Learn More
When You’re Down
I’ve written a lot of articles in my career and when I drew a blank today I grabbed a box of Kleenex. In grad school, whenever we were blocked, we knew that something really important would come to the surface. And whalla it did. I was fooling around with a friend recently and they said, “When you are down people kick you.” Have you ever heard that phrase, “When you are down they will kick...Learn More
An Illusion – External Locus of Control
Locus of control is a fancy term for who we believe is in control of us. If you are the type of person who focuses all of your attention on what other people are doing now, what they have done in the past, and what you think that they will do, you have an “External Locus of Control”. In our practice, probably 90% of those we treat are focused on the external or what we also refer to as – “The...Learn More