Being there for your kids

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...

Ya know, each of us has so much going on all at once that life can be overwhelming. Making sense out of it all can be really hard. Other people's words can be hurtful and explosive, especially if you don't know where they are coming from. Ya know what else, when you are stuck like this, don't take it personally. In my new book, The Healing Journey: Overcoming Adversity on the Path to the Good Life...

Life can get so hectic so quickly sometimes that we all just need to breathe. Today's youth tell us to "Just take a chill pill." Good advice. In my new book, The Healing Journey: Overcoming Adversity on the Path to the Good Life, I share my mentalligent psychotherapy (MPT) components in real-life therapy sessions. Using mindfulness, positive psychology, and cognitive behaviors strategies blended s...

Your choice. Focus on the negative and it grows. Focus on the positive and it grows. The negative spirals you down and into your stuck-ness. The positive spirals you upward on your healing journey to soaring. My new book, The Healing Journey: Overcoming Adversity on the Path to the Good Life is a good place to change your perspective. Buy your copy at https://www.amazon.com/Healing-Journey.../dp/B...

Your daily activities determine how you reach your goals and how you feel about yourself. When you are in a downward spiral of stuck-ness, there's not much movement. Progress is slow. To begin upward soaring, consider adding therapeutic journaling as a part of your daily regimen. It's a great habit to develop. In my new book, The Healing Journey: Overcoming Adversity on the Path to the Good Life,...

Sorry for messing with you to get your attention. Your business is your own, but I do want to talk about your mind and how you can traverse stages on your healing journey, actually changing how our brain functions. There are 4 stages to your healing journey. Making the commitment to healing change, your brain develops brand new neuropathways. This process, called neurogenesis, is the source of hop...

We all endure hardships of one sort or another. If we let them, they will turn into downward spirals that leave us feeling helpless and alone. What if you could take all of that mess that is yours and turn it from a curse into a blessing? In my book, The Healing Journey: Overcoming Adversity on the Path to the Good Life, I explain using mentalligent psychotherapy (MPT) as a healing journey where y...

When we grumble about what's wrong in our life, we stay on a downward spiral. I call it the "Woe is me." Eeyore syndrome. It's hard to function while grumbling, and grumbling affects your surroundings as well. Using mentalligent psychotherapy (MPT), I help guide my patients find things in their lives to be grateful for, however how miniscule it might seem to their problems. It's true. Gratitude af...

We all worry, about all sorts of stuff. Is it possible to be worry-free? It is if you learn to trade in any budding worry for curiosity. When you do that, your "what if" worry questions become "I wonder" curiosity statements. Add a potential positive outcome to your curiosity and you generate creative thinking and positive action to keep your worry at bay. Little Jonny (that's me, back in the day)...

As we let go of the past and look forward to the future for a new year, we become more hopeful. Mentalligent Psychotherapy (MPT) offers you that hope on your healing journey. Check out how high school senior Kelly climbs out of her despair of being dumped by her boyfriend and finds hope as I use mindfulness, positive psychology, and cognitive behavioral strategies to guide her on her healing journ...

Everybody gets sad one time or another and for various reasons. What you do with that sadness can define your quality of life. The holidays are often occasions when feeling sad can overwhelm us and take us out of a good mood. Follow little Becky's exchange with her mama over the recent death of her Nana and hear an example of using mentalligent psychotherapy to conquer your holiday blues. For more...

Are you one of the gazillion people who consistently wear masks? You know, the mask that hides what you are really feeling?  Mask-wearers often engage in happy talk with others. Playing the game of socializing when you really don't feel like it. How about trading in your fake happy for real happy. Mentalligent Psychotherapy (MPT) can help you do that. By using the treatment strategies of mindfulne...

Clinical depression lives in about 20% of our population. Yet, we are one of the wealthiest countries in the world. Clearly, money doesn't buy happiness. One of the sources of stuckness is having a consumer-generated perspective. The more I have, the better I'll feel. Nope. Not so. One of your mental pathways on your healing journey is to trade in your consumerism , which keeps you stuck, and beco...

ONe of the most difficult things for folks who are stuck is to overcome absolute thinking. Chicken Little ranted in a panic about his conviction that the sky is falling. This is a folklore example of extreme, debilitating anxiety. Eeyore, Winnie the Pooh's friend ambled around believing that everything was absolutely aweful and would never change. This is a folklore example or reactive depression....