The late Albert Ellis, one of the pioneers in the field of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, introduced the word, catastrophizing, into the psychology practice literature. Catastrophizing refers to the cognitive processing of information in such a way that things that are objectively annoying, inconvenient or unpleasant are treated as if they are awful, horrendous, or tragic. There is…
One of the real joys of working with people is the opportunity to be involved in their growth and change. One of the real challenges, however, occurs when I observe someone changing up to a point – and the s/he stops and either goes no further or even reverts to old behaviors. It’s almost…
One of the good things about setting goals is that it forms the basis for initiating a chain of behaviors directed at goal-achieving. As long as you stay with your plan, you will stay active in pursuit of your goals. It’s a really simple concept but an important one. If you have something to do,…
It finally happened. My hard drive crashed. Thanks to being pretty good about having my stuff backed up, I didn’t lose too much data. But it was an inconvenience to take the computer for diagnosis and repair, wait a day for the new drive to be installed, reinstall some programs that aren’t on the new…
Do you wake up with enthusiasm? Or do you wake up with apathy or even dread? If you are not beginning your day on a positive note, it is probably because your expectations are low. You may be going to a job you don’t like or dealing with a project that doesn’t interest you or…
Like many of you, I am on Twitter and find it to be a really helpful source of information. There is one thing I don’t like about it, however. The people in one’s network are called your Followers. I’ve always felt that Participants would be a better name because your so-called followers who re-tweet the…
When facing challenges and making decisions, one of two things can happen; we can either move forward or decide not to. When we make the decision to attempt something, one of two things can happen; we can be successful or fall short. Not every challenge that we encounter is the right one for us and…
The Mental Fitness Game Changer (Transcription) Hi everybody! This is Dr. Ron Kaiser with your May 2014 audio pod cast from the mental health gym. Today I would like to talk about a concept that I developed a few years ago called “The Proactive Positive Explosion”. It was really based upon years of working with patients and…
May is Mental Health Month. Each year, when I hear that a month is being devoted to mental health awareness, I’m reminded of the time when I was a young parent and was taught the appropriate response to the question that almost all children would get around to asking. When a child becomes old…
When I teach relaxation skills or biofeedback, I encourage my patients to practice twice a day at roughly the same times each day so that their bodies and brains begin to treat to their “behavior medicine” in the same way that they would adjust to a daily oral medication. People who have regular meditation practices…
Throughout the year, we have a number of chances to reassess our progress, modify our plans, and resolve to better ourselves in various ways. These can be considered as times for renewal. The start of a new year is such a time. So are birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, and changes of season. Now is a particularly…