Nightmares can be overwhelming and distressing. They can ruin your day and leave you feeling anxious, depressed, and out of control. I never experienced debilitating nightmares until I worked as a psychologist in prison. I was absolutely stunned by how … Continue reading How to Overcome Nightmares

Distorted thinking can create a great deal of stress and anxiety. Most of us do not know when we’ve distorted reality with our thoughts. Everyone distorts reality from time to time because many cognitive distortions are socially acceptable forms of … Continue reading 9 Cognitive Distortions and How to Challenge Them

Being an effective parent with children who’ve had their lives turned upside down due to the COVID-19 crisis can be difficult. Emotions are heightened, no childcare is available, and parents are still expected to perform at high levels in full-time … Continue reading 7 Strategies for Effective Parenting

The emotion of shame can be overwhelming to say the least. Shame-inducing thoughts tend to fall into three categories: Self put downs such as “I’m stupid,” “I’m fat,” “I can’t do anything right.” Catastrophic thoughts about one’s ability to handle … Continue reading Stopping Obsessive Shaming Thoughts

When we have unrealistic expectations for the people in our lives, it sets us up for disappointment. Am I saying that we should not have expectations at all? Of course not! We should expect the best of our loved ones, … Continue reading People Aren’t Perfect

At times, stress and anxiety can be very difficult to tolerate. Sometimes we find ourselves in uncertain situations with no end in sight. These situations create a great deal of stress, anxiety, irritation, frustration, and worry. Over time we might … Continue reading 3 Ways to Tolerate Stress and Anxiety

Making therapy and mindfulness fun! For most of my life, I have thought of my emotions as people. Jealously was a green monster, sadness was a blue creature hiding under my bed, anger was a nasty spike ball, anxiety was … Continue reading Emoji your Emotions

In a previous post, I wrote about the practice of radical acceptance. Radical acceptance is accepting life on life’s terms. It is derived from deep spiritual wisdom that goes back thousands of years. The practice of radical acceptance has helped … Continue reading 9 Ways to Accept Reality

Acceptance is the only way out of suffering. For thousands of years, religious and spiritual traditions have advocated acceptance and surrender as a way to manage the challenges and stressors of life. This deep spiritual wisdom has helped people survive … Continue reading The Practice of Radical Acceptance

Eating mindfully is a most important practice of meditation. – Thich Nhat Hanh Today, I thought it would be nice to write a post about mindful eating. Those of us who are familiar with mindful eating have heard about the … Continue reading Eating Mindfully: The Cookie Meditation