Life is a therapist...

Bullying. It's one of the main issues on everyone's radar these days. We hear stories from our friends or our kids; feature films double as public service announcements highlighting the consequences of schoolyard or online bullying; news programs report on teenagers who have been teased and tormented to their breaking point and see no other option but to take their own lives. We talk about the need to stand up to bullies. We are all encouraged to speak up and speak out for our peers, for those who may feel helpless or defenseless against their perpetrators. We are taught that we should be a part of the solution, or else we are part of the problem. I believe these are all strong, powerful, and necessary messages. They challenge us all to do more and discourage us from turning a blind eye to a problem that I believe is societal, not individual, in nature. We often hear these messages in relation to school-age bullying. As adults, we might have the tendency to think that b

I saw a video on YouTube today that evoked a surprisingly strong emotional reaction in me ... so I thought I'd write about it. First, I invite you to watch the video for yourself and consider your own reactions: I felt two things simultaneously as I watched, particularly as the 0:59 mark approached. First, I couldn't help but smile. I felt like laughing out loud. And in fact, that's precisely what I did, several times! . . . And then, I also felt a strong urge to cry. There was a lump in my throat that lingered, even after the video had stopped. What was going on here? As I thought more about my reaction, I realized that I felt like laughing because Matt's dancing just looked so silly and fun. Everyone who joined him seemed genuinely cheerful and happy, smiling and dancing along with him. It individuals from all over the world coming together to participate in an amazing display of -- well -- togetherness.   Then I realized, I felt like crying for exact

September 1 was unofficially observed as Random Acts of Kindness  day in several countries around the world, including the United States and New Zealand. There are a number of psychological benefits to engaging in acts of kindness. Kindness is correlated with higher levels of subjective happiness, which in turn is correlated with enhanced social relationships, more positive life experiences, lower levels of psychopathology, and increased satisfaction with life in general ( Otake et al., 2006 ). In one study conducted by researchers in Japan, it was hypothesized that becoming more conscious of how many kind acts one performed throughout the day would result in individuals experiencing a greater motivation to continue being kind to others, to identify themselves as kind people, to increase the frequency of future kind behaviours... and to feel a greater sense of happiness. Indeed, when the researchers asked a group of students to count their acts of kindness, their hypotheses were te

A girl continuously checks her phone to see if the boy she's interested in has called or texted her back. He was texting with her all day yesterday, and now all of a sudden, the messages have stopped. Maybe he's just busy... or maybe he's changed his mind about her? Did he 'come to his senses' and realize she's not good enough after all? Maybe she'll send him one more message, just to see if he responds.  A writer feels paralyzed; none of the ideas he's already come up seem to be worth writing about and he's scrapped them all. Unless he can write the most expressive, significant, thought-provoking piece of prose, what's the point of even picking up the pen and getting started? No one wants to read something that's simply substandard, after all. He'd become the laughing stock of the writing community and never be taken seriously. He'll just wait for a better idea to come along...it's bound to happen sooner or later.   A woman c

Hi there, long lost blogger friends! I apologize - again - for having fallen off the face of the interwebs. The last several months have been somewhat overwhelming for me as I attempt to settle in to a new position and I have also been battling some health demons recently, draining me of any excess energy I might have had. Please bear with me as I make a concerted effort to revive my online presence in the coming weeks and months! For real this time! ~ss~

I have been out of the private practice loop for a couple of months now because I haven't been getting too many referrals. I have a couple of 'regular' clients who generally tend to book every one to three weeks with me, but they haven't called to rebook sessions for a while now. I've thought about calling them to  'check in' since it's been so unlike them to leave so much time between sessions, but am torn as to whether this would be a good idea or not. On the one hand, check-in calls could reassure clients that you're there for them even when they aren't physically in session with you, and that you cared enough to follow up and see if they're okay. They might feel appreciative of having the opportunity to talk about anything troubling or stressful that might be going for them, and the call could serve as a friendly reminder that support remains available should they wish to resume therapy in the future. On the other hand, checking in c

Hello everyone who reads this blog on a regular basis! Yes, all three of you! :) Just a short note to say that I've not forgotten about this blog. ... okay, maybe I did, just a little, over the holidays. But then I remembered, but then life became (and continues to be) a little bit stressful, leaving little time nor motivation to think of fun, creative, thought-provoking things to write about here. But it's my post-new-year's resolution to get back into blogging as soon as things settle down a little bit, so please, stay tuned. And share this link with your like-minded "helping profession" friends, with promises of good things to come in 2012. Thanks!