As a parent with a child about to turn one, it’s hard not to look at all the arbitrary check lists out there to make sure one’s child is “on track.”   As nice as it is to have Google at our fingertips with all of its normative statistics to catch red flags in development, I often wonder if it…

Evan’s Story From addicted musician to professional therapist: Though the drugs have gone, the music goes on strong In the end, the light at the end of the tunnel had shrunk down to a tiny pinhole and all around me was a roiling universe of self-hatred, hopelessness, and fear. That’s where addiction took me.  What had once filled the hole…

There’s some debate in the therapy world about the value and necessity of no-show fees. On the one hand, time is money and someone who cancels at the last minute is bad for business. On the other hand, no one’s perfect. Life happens. To charge or not to charge, that is the question! Or is it? For me, this is…

There are certain companies I hate dealing with: AT&T, Direct TV, shady home warranty people, etc… Vista Print, however, is not one of them. For anyone looking to create their own brand for a business, event, or personalized gift, Vista Print is truly the way to go. Case in point, I recently ordered two branded coffee mugs. The Mental Fitness…

Stress is a natural reaction to threatening situations in life. Often, it kicks in our primitive “fight-or-flight” reflex leading us to believe we have only those two options. This common misconception is not only not true, it can be downright dangerous. Taken at face value, stress makes our thinking more myopic. The trouble here is that by getting sucked in…

In my field, I see a lot of families who do a lot of therapy. Granted, this is a great problem to have as it shows the family is motivated, engaged, and invested. Still, when problems arise, more often than not my suggestion is NOT for more therapy. In many cases, my suggestion to the parents goes something like this:…

The Symptoms of Stress According to the website, http://www.healthline.com/health/stress/effects-on-body,  “untamed” (my term, not theirs) chronic stress can have numerous negative effects on various components of our health.  The following is a brief synopsis on how each body system is affected by stress. Mentally, Emotionally and Socially             Symptoms of chronic stress include irritability, anxiety, and depression. You may suffer from…

Dieting… blah! For many of us, when we hear the word “diet” we cringe. The word itself brings about thoughts of restriction, giving up of our favorite foods, and confusion: eat this, don’t eat that, etc. Going on a diet becomes a chore. Sometimes we have the will power to stick with it for a bit, but more often than…

At the surface, this may seem a bit counter-intuitive; that retreating from one’s emotions would be the first step in mastering them. Yet, it’s most often the case that when we react impulsively and emotionally that we get ourselves into trouble. We’re reactive before we’re reflective.  It’s Not Always a Straight Path to Move Ahead In addition to giving us time…

You Don’t Have to be a Therapist to be Therapeutic I was recently watching an online video by author and entrepreneur, Gary Vee, that really impressed me. It was a short video; simple and to the point. While riding to and from appointments throughout the day, he simply filmed himself making three-minute phone calls to several of his fans just…