A few years ago I slipped on the last patch of ice from winter and fractured my wrist. I was surprised at how emotionally upsetting that experience was, as well as observing how my whole body reacted to that one limb being injured. It was not a bad break, no surgery needed, but my mood [...]
Now I am officially a senior, I get the AARP newsletter, which often has articles about strategies to live a longer and more enjoyable life, and how to reduce stress. It always strikes me as ironic that as elders we are still looking for the Magic Elixir, even though we have less time left in [...]
In my Psychology training, we were educated that responding has a more effective outcome than reacting when it comes to helping anxiety and depression. My spouse and I often talk about this, as we watch our cat, who is waiting for a hummingbird to land (she has been waiting a long time!); she would then react [...]
Lately, I have found myself talking with friends and clients about the Pros and Cons of using the Social Media. I must say that I can hardly imagine being without my Smartphone these days, but I notice myself anxiously checking it far too often. There is a sense of being on ‘hyper alert” for any [...]
A road trip- great for anxiety! Recently we planned a road trip to New Mexico and had a wonderful four days in a more remote place there. It was so refreshing to be in a different landscape, and to remember that our usual perspective on life is pretty narrow. It is easy to get into [...]
A few weeks ago I was speaking in a training workshop for emotion regulating skills. One of the participants anxiously asked what I thought about gossiping, and a lively discussion started. All the group members agreed that they never felt good about gossiping, and that gossiping could often backfire; they themselves could easily become [...]
As someone who makes my livelihood helping folks clarify issues, and often giving advice, I have been reminded recently that this is not always effective in my personal life! I got a reaction the other day from my partner that reminded me to examine my approach here. I was basically told to ‘back off’ when [...]
We were having tea with our neighbor yesterday who was talking about her New Year resolutions. I was reminded of how often we make these ambitious statements to ourselves and then in a few months we get discouraged and anxious (“I’ll never really be able to do that!”), or life has taken over and we [...]
Over the past year it has been hard to avoid being reactive. I’ve found anger, cynicism, frustration and blame present in my thinking. Nurturing negative stories and the fears that are part of them, make one an easy target for the alarmist media.., our own inbuilt alarm signals which are finely tuned, can leave [...]
New dates will be released in 2021.
