therapy
Can EMDR Help Me Change an Old Pattern?

Can EMDR Help Me Change an Old Pattern?

Tomorrow I will be a guest on the internet radio program Growing Up Chaotic to discuss EMDR and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. It's at 7pm EST and I hope you will listen. As a result, I've got EMDR on the brain. I've been using this type of therapy with many of my...

Mission in Progress

Mission in Progress

A couple of weeks ago, I posed the question: Does therapy need a makeover? Many people wrote back saying that while therapy is (or at least can be) great, people without first-hand experience tend to feel negatively towards it. Since then, I have been working on ideas...

Does Therapy Need a Makeover?

Does Therapy Need a Makeover?

I’m on a mission to convey to people everywhere that working on your emotional life is a positive and useful endeavor that yields good results. I may have my work cut out for me. I have a deep concern that most people have negative associations with words like therapy...

Asking for Help is a Skill

Asking for Help is a Skill

There is a grocery item that I buy on a regular basis. It's in a glass jar and it's on the top shelf. Now if it were a box of cereal, I could easily give it a little poke and it would likely sway and bounce off the shelf and into my hands. I'm less than eager to try...

Surviving the Holidays Even When You Don’t Feel Festive

Surviving the Holidays Even When You Don’t Feel Festive

If life has been difficult, the holidays can be especially trying. For people who have been laid off of work, are struggling financially, dealing with a loss, or struggling with life changes, trying to find cheer during the holiday season is tough. The truth is that...

Stepping Back

Stepping Back

One of the things I love about summer is that the pace of life slows down. There are more opportunities for recreation and leisure. It just feels right to sit on the porch in the evening, as if that counts as an activity. There is a little more room to breathe. I...

Very Curious

Very Curious

I know the saying about the cat, but really I'm interested in who killed curiosity. I could probably blame standardized testing or the ability to know all instantly with the internet. Regardless of the suspect(s), I would like to advocate for regaining some respect...

I Do What I Say, And I Say What I Mean…As Much As Possible

I Do What I Say, And I Say What I Mean…As Much As Possible

In a memorable moment in graduate school, my professor said, "A good social worker needs to walk the walk, not just talk the talk." I knew instantly that it was true. It is helpful and necessary in my job to say things, make suggestions, offer observations, provide...

Mistakes and How We Respond to Them

Mistakes and How We Respond to Them

In elementary school, our art teacher would coax us into making some unintended dribble or scribble into a "happy mistake." I was not receptive. I would rather have started over so that I might have some pristine piece of art when I was done. A quarter of a century...