It’s ok to be scared of change and transition. I urge my clients to be patient, especially because we tend to associate change and transition with loss.
How Old Do You Feel? Making Gains in Emotional Maturity
We know that the age at which a person starts using drugs and alcohol to cope is the point at which their development is arrested. What we often fail to consider is that abuse, neglect, and any traumatic experience also arrest development.
Loneliness: The Most Treatable Cause of Depression
I often talk with folks who see themselves and their lives as complicated. In all my years of counseling people, I have never found that to be true. What I find is that the leading causes of depression and anxiety are very simple and correctable.
5 Ways to Stop Hating the Holidays
Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, and winter. This is the time of year we feel obligated to be around people we don’t like, have an adversarial relationship with the environment, spend too much time on the couch, experience copious amounts of stress and put ourselves in financial straits. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
Overcoming Self-Centeredness in Recovery
There’s a form of self-centeredness that isn’t intentionally selfish at all. The adage that applies is, “I’m not much, but I’m all I can think about.”
Taking Compliments & Why It Matters
We are people who desperately want praise, recognition, affirmation and validation. Sadly, we are also uncomfortable receiving them and so we often reject (minimize, water down) kind words.
Adulting in Recovery
The hardest part of “adulting” is balance. We tend to approach our lives categorically: work, home, family, friends, our recovery, and other ongoing undertakings/investments. Very often we find that parts of our lives have fallen out of sync.
Gratitude Is Key to Recovery
Gratitude and attitude have a reciprocal relationship that promotes our recovery when we’re willing to receive.
How to Grow Spiritually
My friends in AA got me started in the right direction with the adage, “Religion is for people who are afraid to go to hell and spirituality is for those who have already been there.”
Getting Used to “Being Okay” in Recovery
Serenity is a foreign feeling. We’re likely to distrust it and rail against it. Many of us create “drama” simply to get back to what we’re accustomed to. If we can tolerate the discomfort of things going well, we come to recognize the feeling as the gateway to further growth and healing.