Practical insights and advice regarding anxiety, depression, trauma, parenting and more.
Antidepressants are a commonly relied upon solution to help reduce the symptoms of depression. But many people do not respond well to these medications, and many more experience significant side effects. Research shows that there is an alternative that is free of side effects, and equally effective in combating depression. This alternative is far too often overlooked, despite the impressive body of research that supports its power to diminish depression.
Healthy intimacy combines a sense of belonging with a sense of being deeply appreciated and desired. Because healthy intimacy involves being prized despite your flaws and shortcomings, this depth of belonging is rare. It requires building a sturdy foundation of trust, a prerequisite for genuine self-disclosure. This process is risky and consequently, time-consuming. Many people, however, try to take shortcuts. They substitute…
Teens, known for being anxious and insecure, are given the opportunity through smartphones and social media to relentlessly compare themselves to idealized versions of their peers. At the same time as they judge themselves to be failing in this regard, the same technology also opens a portal for them to be bullied and criticized by peers throughout the day. In the pre-smartphone era, a teenager’s home could be a ‘safe’ place free from the influence of negative evaluations by peers at school. No longer.
Working with a psychotherapist requires a significant investment of time, energy and money. Knowing that your efforts in counseling are leading to success is important. But sometimes it is difficult to judge whether progress is being made. This is particularly true if you have no previous experience with psychotherapy.
The ability to forgive others is key to maintaining healthy relationships and having a happy life. How to go about forgiving others, however, is difficult. In part because what it means to forgive is often wrong and includes some mistaken notion that forgiveness means you pretend that what another person did was not really all that bad. Or that forgiveness involves immediately acting as though the person who was forgiven can now be thoroughly trusted. Neither of these ideas is true….
Deep happiness has been shown to act as a protective factor against both anxiety and depression. Happier people who have not yet found success are more likely to be successful later in life than their unhappy counterparts. Many people seek out happiness by focusing on the search for immediate pleasure, and consequently never achieve real happiness. This can be fixed by...
Selecting a therapist for your child or teen can be confusing. Parents need to figure out not only whether a therapist has the skills to help, but can they be trusted to keep mom and dad ‘in the loop’ about important matters, be supportive of the parents’ priorities, and more. Choosing the wrong therapist can lead to months of wasted time, squandered expenses and possibly a worsening of the youngster’s mental state.
People who commit or attempt suicide often report feeling hopeless. Struggling with emotional turmoil, feeling helpless to bring about a solution, the suicidal person most often simply wants to escape the pain that unceasingly presses in on them from all sides. Contrary to popular opinion, they are not looking to obtain heaven. Their primary wish is to escape the hell of their current experience.
When someone overthinks their problems and worries, it can feel like a reasonable thing to do… but it’s the 100% wrong way to go if you want to be rid of depression. It may seem that focusing on your concerns will eventually lead to more insight, or a solution. Most often, however, people just end up feeling worse. Stuck in a depressive state of mind. Fortunately, getting unstuck takes just a few simple steps.
If you know what the signs of depression are, then you are much better able to take action before this problem becomes deeply rooted. Before it takes a devastating role on your life. In the following we will look at nine clear signs to look for in order to cut depression off before it gains momentum.
I’ve listened to hundreds of men and women talk about their biggest fears and their most exciting triumphs. They have spoken about what brings them the most joy, and that which creates clouds of discontent.
Through these privileged conversations, I have detected a common thread. A set of core beliefs that lead to frustration and self-doubt. Once these false assumptions are jettisoned, greater happiness follows.
Small, seemingly trivial and common place every day decisions have an enormous impact on the destinations one reaches in life. When we find ourselves feeling perpetually stuck, or repeatedly getting into relationships and situations that are distressing and all too familiar, its time to adjust the type of decisions one is making on a daily basis. Chances are they have had a major influence in creating unproductive or even destructive patterns in your life. The good news is these decisions can be easily shifted toward more positive outcomes. It’s just a matter of making a few adjustments to put yourself back on a positive life course.
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