Everyone talks about “being in the present moment” as a way to manage stress and anxiety. However, few of us actually understand what it means to be present. Meditating or doing yoga for 20 – 30 minutes each day may … Continue reading What does it mean to be present?
If you grew up in a dysfunctional family home, you most likely never learned to apologize effectively. As an adult, you probably apologize by quickly stating that you are “sorry” and then making excuses for your behavior or shifting blame … Continue reading 3 Steps to an Effective Apology
Resisting or fighting the symptoms of a panic attack is likely to make the symptoms worse. It is important to avoid tensing up in reaction to a panic attack or trying to suppress the symptoms. Although it is important to … Continue reading 4 Ways to Cope with Panic Attacks
To-do lists help us stay organized and focused on our goals. They are critical to our success in life. But what if we could use the format of the to-do list to help ourselves psychologically? Continue reading To-Do List for the Mind
“Dyslexic people are creative, out-of-the-box thinkers. They have to be, because they do not see or solve problems the way other people do. It is not a bad thing to be different. Sometimes it’s the mark of being very, very … Continue reading The Gift of Dyslexic Thinking
Developing a good strategy for managing conflict is critical to our wellbeing. It is inevitable that we will face challenging situations, circumstances and people in life. Staying sane in the conflict zone are skills we can learn. No one grows … Continue reading 6 Steps to Staying Sane in the Conflict Zone
Most people have difficulty managing electronic distractions. Even as a psychologist I sometimes struggle. For example, I will check my email and texts repeatedly throughout the day or watch a video for 2 hours when I planned to watch it … Continue reading 8 Ways to Manage Electronic Distractions
All of us have been toxically shamed at some point in our lives and some of us toxically shame ourselves with a critical inner voice. We might call ourselves, “lazy,” “worthless,” “no good,” “stupid,” “defective,” or “broken.” Toxic shame is … Continue reading How to Make a Shame Siren
If there was one trait that perpetuated anxiety more than any other, it would be perfectionism. Perfectionism is learned when one is valued only for doing, and parental acceptance and love are based on performance. The performance is always related … Continue reading 7 Ways to Overcome Perfectionism
“The mind is a superb instrument if used rightly. Used wrongly, however, it becomes very destructive. To put it more accurately, it is not so much that you use your mind wrongly—you usually don’t use it at all. It uses … Continue reading How to Take Hold of the Mind
The Blog of Psychologist, Christine Dickson, PhD 