Being there for your kids

Do you typically find yourself bogged down in what's wrong? Or are you in search of what's right in your life. Focusing on the positive can make a huge difference in affect, activity, and accomplishment. Amanda's healing journey from stuck in depression to soaring in positivity is chronicled in my new book, The Healing Journey: Overcoming Adversity on the Path to the Good Life. Buy your copy at am...

Lots of life choices chang who we are. Where to go to school. Who to marry. Having children. Add to the list your choice to get started in counseling or psychotherapy. In this podcast I share tips about what to include in finding an effective therapist. I also identify how mentalligent psychotherapy (MPT) utilizes components that help you get unstuck and then begin to soar. Check it out at The Hea...

Loving yourself is both a skill and an art. It leads to increased self-esteem and self-confidence. It helps you soar as you overcome adversity. With mentalligent psychotherapy (MPT) patients can learn to love themselves through the seamless weaving of mindfulness, positive psychology, and cognitive behavioral interventions. Check it out in my new book, The Healing Journey: Overcoming Adversity on...

We need a degree, certification, license, or other such credentials to do our jobs. We get nothing to help us learn to be good parents. What's with that? In this podcast, I'm sharing with you one of the hallmarks of effective parenting. For more examples, buy your copy of my new book, The Healing Journey: Overcoming Adversity on the Path to the Good Life on amazonbooks.com. Follow this link: https...

The most wonderful, curious, and confusing thing about parenting is what kids come up with. Each exchange is a challenge. Do you impart wisdom? scold? challenge? Or do you just go with it? My daughter, Rachel, asked me a question when she was 7 years old. "Who peed in your cornflakes?" Whoa!! What did you say? I was about to go off about her being disrespectful to her elders when I stopped myself...

There's a word you don't hear very often. When your brain is working as it is supposed to, it's shutting down often used but unhealthy neuropathways and shifting to new, healthier ones. Over time, these new pathways become engrained, and you are changing how you think, feel, and react. Andy had a lot of work to do to get unstuck, but he stayed with the process on his healing journey and is now soa...

Being grateful is not just a moment. It's a mindset. Having an attitude of gratitude can set the context for each of your days. I know. You are grateful for your spouse, for your job, for life. That's the big stuff. How about the little stuff? She really made an effort to put together a great meal tonight. Your little girl gave you a big hug and said, "I love you, daddy" just out of the blue. You...

Mindfulness is one of those funky words that only shrinks use. However, most of us know how to be present, to focus on your now. In Mentalligent Psychotherapy (MPT) this helps you set aside issues and redirecting your energy on what works to soar. Be mindful and embrace possibilities for soaring. Check out my new book, The Healing Journey: Overcoming Adversity on the Path to the Good Life. Buy you...

Sadly, or happily, all of us fail at something. Sometimes we fail often. I would contend, however, that there is no such thing as failure, only an arbitrary limitation of options. Continue finding options and your worst nightmare will be just another opportunity for success. Avery wants a relationship but she is having "boy problems" in her sophomore year of college. While giving up and becoming a...

We all know what being stuck is like. How about soaring? Birds with large wingspans fly on thermal updrafts with their wings out, catching the current and soaring up and up on it. Imagine. If you find yourself stuck in lunhappy, unhealthy circumstances, starting your healing journey might just lead you out of being stuck and onto soaring. In my new book, The Healing Journey: Overcoming Adversity o...

Does it feel like you are always walking through deep mud? Slogging along but not getting very far. Going in the same direction but not getting very far? Does it feel helpless? hopeless? Ya know, insanity is not just being bat bonkers. Insanity is also defined as doing the same thing over and over again, only to get the same results. Getting nowhere fast, huh? In my new book, The Healing Journey:...

Things happen, ya know? We don't ask for the bad stuff. It just happens. For people with stress, anxiety, or depression, those things become a burden that weighs them down. What if we were able to convert that burden to a bridge. It would become a means to leave the past behind and forge ahead, soaring to t new tomorrow. Find April's story in my new book, The Healing Journey: Overcoming Adversity...

If you are living your life, not knowing that there is a problem, and you don't know that you don't know, then you are clueless. If they haven't already, hopefully a good friend, spouse, co-worker will let you know how your words and actions impact them. Then, with good motivation, you can begin your healing journey in therapy. Being clueless is the starting point of getting well. In this podcast,...

Being strong emotionally in relationships is mostly a blessing to both you and your partner, until it isn't. If you are the one always doing the right thing, always putting your partner ahead of yourself, always giving in, then that's not strength. That's sacrifice, but not the healthy kind. The curse of being strong becomes a blessing when you set healthy boundaries, balance self-care with other-...

Eudaimonia is a Greek word that captures "Self-Flourishing." When you are eudaimonic, you are embracing who you are, living in the moment, being self-compassionate, and finding the positive. What a great opportunity to enjoy your life to the fullest. Follow more of Shannon's story in my new book, The Healing Journey: Overcoming Adversity on the Path to the Good Life. Buy your copy at amazonbooks.c...

AI, that is Artificial Intelligence, is here to stay. It's our job to use it wisely. I have resources to help you do just that. Don't let AI take control of you. Be you and stay in charge of how you use AI. When you, your kids, or others fall down that dark hole, understand your feelings and help others with active listening to climb back out of that hole. More on this in my new book, The Healing...

Did you know? While anger is probably the single most prevalent negative feeling, it is ALWAYS a secondary feeling. We can rant and bluster with the best of them, only to cover up what we are really feeling. The primary feelings are morel vulnerable and private. Yet, when they see the light of day, sharing these primary feelings can greatly increase emotional intimacy. In my new book, The Healing...

     When something goes wrong in your life, it's easy to fix blame, either on yourself or on others. While you may be right, how helpful is the blame game? Usually, it just stirs up hard feelings. On this podcast, I encourage you to nix the blame game. Go away from awareness of your performance. Try becoming meta-aware. That is, look around the circumstances to understand context and perspective...

Being stuck in life is no fun. Ho hum. What's new? Or worse, more trouble. Why do I keep doing that? When you realize that you are stuck in a life that's going nowhere, begin your healing journey by starting therapy. Your therapist will be your guide on your healing journey, help you get there, and share tools and life skills that will keep you soaring. Part of Hayley and Jamie's healing journey i...

This is a pivotal question in a growing relationship. Kinda taking it all to the next level. Taking time to talk through such questions with your partner and your therapist gives you a leg up on getting it all right. Begin following Hayley and Jamie's healing journey and learn the 4 stages of the healing process by listening to this podcast. The "rest of the story" is in my new book, The Healing J...

Starting psychotherapy is a big deal. Something's happened in your life and it's not going well. You know therapy is an option, but you're not sure it's "right for you." You've always been able to take care of yourself. But this time? Maybe you'll look into it and give it a try. There's this one guy you've heard good things about. Maybe...  My new book, The Healing Journey: Overcoming Adversity on...

Many of our life occurrences can leave us feeling bummed out. Part of soaring is not letting the bad stuff linger. In my new book, The Healing Journey: Overcoming Adversity on the Path to the Good Life, I introduce what I call Mentalligent Psychotherapy (MPT). With MPT, you artfully weave three components into your fabric of your healing journey. Feeling bummed out with life can keep you stuck. Th...

Living on the edge is a precarious place to be. Not sure of your footing. Having to hold on. Too much going on. Feeling overwhelmed. People find themselves living on the edge when they use a lot of extreme words to describe their situation. Words like always, only, ever, never, should, would, could shift your references to the extreme, giving you less latitude to work through the circumstances. Mo...

Life nowadays can be so overwhelming and crazy that it feels like you are going nuts, but probably not. However, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. If this is you, counseling or psychotherapy may launch you on your healing journey. Check out my new book, The Healing Journey: Overcoming Adversity on the Path to the Good Life. Buy...

It's true. What you pay attention to grows. Focus on the negative, negative grows. Focus on the positive, and the positive grows. While we do need to address feeling overwhelmed and put the negative in perspective, your healing journey begins when you pay attention to the positive. Check out my new book, The Healing Journey: Overcoming Adversity on the Path to the Good Life on amazonbooks.com by c...