Category: Psychology
Psychology – When Illnesses Collide: Bipolar and ADHD
A large number of people with bipolar disorder have coexisting conditions. It could be anxiety, a substance abuse disorder, an eating disorder, or in my case, ADHD. When I was diagnosed with ADHD in 2002, my parents were shocked. [...]
Psychology – Abundance is a State of Mind
I come across clients all the time who have self-defeating and negative thoughts. Its amazing how early it starts. I am always inspired by the courage that I have seen when people dig in and take a good hard look at those thoughts and choose to let them go. We all have these thoughts, whether [...]
Psychology – Talking to Your Children About Tragedy
We live in a world that is all at once beautiful and ugly. Peaceful and violent. Safe and scary. I look back on 2012 and I see these dualities resonating throughout the world, like an intricate web. I was on my lunch break when I heard about it – the tragic shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. [...]
Psychology – Giving and Receiving the Spirit of the Season
Have you ever caught yourself sneaking in a knowing nod of the head when, in the hustle of the holidays, you hear a cartoon character on a Christmas special utter a “Bah Humbug?” It is all too common of an experience that the joy of the winter holidays is often dampened, or even completely overtaken, [...]
Psychology – Thanksgiving…Don’t be a Turkey!
I must have been about thirteen or fourteen years old watching TV as some “futurist” was telling us viewers how we were all going to be having all our meals in pill form, and that we would all have so much leisure time we would only work if we chose to. Boy, was that expert [...]
Psychology – What are Our Options for Juveniles in Jail?
Today, I found out that Stacey, a 15-year old , 9 month pregnant juvenile, lost her unborn child’s father to an overdose. Although I sat with her for a long time, I knew that it would not have mattered what I said because, despite being a psychologist, I knew I could not understand the depth [...]
Psychology – Finding Your Way in the Wake of Divorce
“I never would have believed this would be happening to me and my family.” She was reeling, this thought replaying over and over in her head; she was unable to get away from it. “We are getting a divorce,” she repeated to herself, struggling to accept that the end of her marriage had somehow become [...]
Psychology – Stay Where You Are or Go Somewhere Else
Vacation or staycation? Two choices for a holiday – either go somewhere or stay where you are. Either way you are investing your time and energy into something. I have found this to be a really useful metaphor for the choices we make in life. About 26 years ago (to save you doing the math [...]
Psychology – Graduating from Therapy
Termination. This is the word that Psychologists’ use to describe the process of ending therapy. Termination. Whenever I hear that word, I have a mental picture of Donald Trump sitting in my office yelling, “You’re fired!” Not so therapeutic. So, I prefer to think of the end of therapy as a graduation process, like moving [...]
Psychology – Through the Eyes of My Inner Child
The sunlight streaming through the window tickles her little face as she lies sleeping in bed. The warmth cajoles her out of her slumber and her eyes flutter open. A sense of excitement embraces her and lifts her out of bed. She hears mama in the kitchen but she’s not ready to open that door [...]
Psychology – Searching for a Cause
When a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is initially made, a referral for a genetic consultation is commonly one stop in the line of specialists to which a family is sent. In the United States, ASD is estimated to affect approximately 1% of children and least 10% of ASD has a known etiology, which [...]
Psychology – Putting a Positive Spin on a Negative Behavior
If you have read any of my other articles, then you know that I work with “highly behavioral” children, or least that’s what they are often labeled at my place of work. Having a behavioral disorder has a very negative stigma and is associated with unpredictability, chaos, and sadly, poor outcomes. Through my work with [...]
