It’s not a trick question. What do you like about yourself? When I ask that question of my therapy patients, as I inevitably do, the number who struggle to find an answer never fails to amaze me. Happily some are able to answer the question quickly and forthrightly. Too many others, however, are eager to try…
There is a lot of research verifying the fact that positive people tend to accomplish more and have better health. The research is all well and good, but observation is also important. And there is one thing that I have yet to observe. I’ve never observed a positive-oriented person suggest that s/he would somehow be…
Some preseason games have already been played, and it is only a few short weeks until the games that count begin. Football season will soon be upon us in America. For many of us, football has replaced baseball as our national pastime – perhaps because it’s easier to fit watching 16 games into our busy…
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…
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…