Only the most rigid of non-empathic parents would watch their child bake a pretend cake and take it upon themselves to remind the child that it’s not really a cake – or watch a child color a picture of a horse and remind him or her that horses aren’t really blue, and “You’re also supposed…
Social connectedness is one of the cornerstones of mental health. I consider it as being one of the “non-negotiable 4” elements necessary for emotional growth – along with keeping the brain active, eating healthy, and owning your body through exercise, proper sleep, and meditation. The average person has various categories of social connections, many of…
It has been told that when Michelangelo was asked how he was able to take an unformed block of marble and create the masterpiece statue of David, he reportedly answered that it was easy, “I just chipped away the parts that didn’t look like David, and what was left was David.” There’s no verifiable evidence…
Ageism is a form of stereotyping and/or discrimination based upon a person’s age. It has often limited older adults from employment opportunities and leadership positions in organizations because of a feeling that older individuals are not as healthy, sharp, or able to function effectively as someone who is younger. When this thinking is applied without…
Do you remember when the only thing that you could use a phone for was to make and receive calls? That seems so boring now that we have smart phones that can do a multiplicity of tasks. Among other things, a smart phone can also serve as a computer, camera, texting machine, postal service, word…
When I feel overloaded and overwhelmed and a sense of loss of control over important parts of my life, I can usually look at my desktop to help me regain a sense of control. As much as we have come to rely on electronics for communicating, banking, and other activities, I still get a lot…
In working with individual patients, I’m often intrigued by the fact that individuals with low self-esteem can be quite critical about others with whom they interact. It’s actually quite paradoxical but frequently observed that a person with low self-esteem is bothered by the fact that some of their peers choose to act in ways or…
Among the things that people are never trained for is how to be a bystander. Whether we are a bystander at the scene of an accident or we are supporting a friend or relative who is dealing with an injury or illness or death of a loved one or we are navigating the process of…
Do you ever take a meeting with yourself? At the risk of sounding weirder than usual, I believe that most people don’t spend enough time talking with themselves. As a result, we may take too many actions without pre-planning or without fully researching our options. The best way to get around that is to have…
I don’t usually get overly personal in these blogs, but events of the past few weeks make it a little different this week. Like every couple, especially one who has raised children, we’ve had to deal with our share of stresses over our 52-year marriage. Since we have lived healthy and active lives, however, few…
If I were to become King of the World, or at least the social media world, the first thing that I would decree is that the administrators of all the social media platform get together and forever banish the word, FRIEND, and come up with a better term to describe those with whom you connect…