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By Dr. Lisa Firestone, Ph.D For years, I’ve taught a weekly psychology class to students ranging from 7 to 14 years-old. In this class, I encourage self-reflection, asking kids to identify and express what they think and feel and to consider the thoughts and feelings of others. The results are often surprising. Strong, self-aware statements […]

BY BRIANNA WIEST Inner peace is not the insistence that you can’t tolerate “negative” people, places or situations, it is having the ability to cope with them. Think about the language that surrounds cultivating happiness: “We need to release every cell of negativity.” This implies that love, the “highest vibration,” is happiness. But love in

By Traci Stein, PhD, MPH, Complementary and Alternative Medicine Topic Expert Contributor Humans have been making music ever since they realized that tapping two sticks together could create an engaging beat. Music can foster feelings of joy, unleash our creativity, and is often a key feature of our most enjoyable social gatherings. Ever versatile, music can set the tone for

adobe stock    By Patricia Rockman Mindfulness is disruptive, says Patricia Rockman, because it changes how we pay attention to things, and ultimately, our experience of the world. Here are mindfulness techniques that can help you shift your focus. Although curiosity killed the cat it would appear that it is an essential quality for human

By Line Goguen-Hughes  How Can Mindfulness Help Shyness? Mindfulness is the awareness that grows from being present in the unfolding moments of our lives without judging or trying to change anything that we experience. It’s a friendly and curious awareness that we all have, though we may not experience it very often because we are so

By Karen Hall,PhD When faced with a difficult problem, you might find yourself paralyzed over deciding what to do. Emotionally sensitive people often have difficulty making decisions, tend to ruminate about issues and can become increasing upset as a result of thinking about the issue over and over. Searching and searching for the right solution,

 By Andrew Archer, LCSW, Mindfulness-Based Approached / Contemplative Approaches  Swimming through the frenetic current of life (i.e., work, children, death, and pain) can be exhausting, and the idea of having a moment to come up for air, let alone silence, may seem outlandish. And maybe it is. Part of Pablo Neruda’s poem, Keeping Quiet, introduces this

Contributed by Tammy Fletcher MA, IMF, CFT We see a number of people in our practice who struggle with feelings of anxiety. Working with mental and emotional responses to stress is helpful for these people. We also take time to learn about where the person feels his or her anxiety in the body. Some common physical manifestations of anxiety

By Jeremy Schwartz, LCSW , Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Topic Expert Contributor Marsha Linehan’s groundbreaking introduction of dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) through her 1993 treatment and skills training manuals has brought effective therapy to many people living with the symptoms of borderline personality. Linehan worked with women who had histories of suicide attempts, self-harm, frequent experiences of crisis, and difficulty

By Margarita Tartakovsky, MS  Associate Editor When you don’t finish everything on your to-do list and more tasks keep piling up, try to be patient with yourself. When you look tired and your skin feels like sandpaper and you hate the way you look in everything, try to be patient with yourself. When you get