When seeing individuals and couples who are experiencing difficulties in their relationships, I’m frequently told “I tried to behave differently but he/she kept up the old behavior, so I gave up and started fighting again.” In these instances, I sometimes talk about training chickens to peck out a tune on a piano. If one puts … Read more
Couples and individuals often seek treatment to address the emotional upset and relational disruption stemming from trust violations. Although emotional and physical affairs are one type of violation, they are by no means the only type. Withholding information which impacts the partner/family often results in undermining trust. Obviously, lies of any form lead to the … Read more
I attended a six week, 42-hour workshop on Aging and Wellness sponsored by the U of I College of Medicine. The presenters were multi-disciplinary and topics ranged from pharmacology to exercise, nutrition to substance abuse, physiology to pain management. If there’s a commonality across the topics, it’s the need to adapt to change, maintain resilience, … Read more
With attention focused of late on the shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed African-American teenager, by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, and other issues around racial conflict, perceptions and profiling, I have been thinking about the stereotypes that are so pervasive in our everyday lives, and the assumptions, however unwitting, that we make … Read more
I’m frequently asked by clients who are feeling depressed and anxious if they should take medication. Sometimes they have been prescribed medication prior to coming to see me and their feelings of depression and anxiety are only slightly improved, unchanged, and occasionally worse. Except in situations where there are more severe symptoms such as loss … Read more
The dictionary defines transitions as: a) a passing from one condition, form, stage, activity, place, etc. to another b) the period of such passing. By definition, all of life is a transition as we go through it. Some transitions can be foreseen and planned for such as a birth, marriage, “empty nest,” or retirement. Life … Read more