This is a (very) partial list of books and podcasts that I recommend getting started with if you’re interested in learning to let go of mental baggage so that you can experience the richness of the present moment. One of my go-to workbooks is Get Out of Your Mind & more »
It’s a privilege to meet and work with people who are willing to trust me to hear them and to help them to move through difficult situations or to make peace with painful circumstances. But when it comes right down to it, what, I sometimes wonder, does therapy actually offer? more »
Cows are among the group of mammals that we call ruminants. Like elk, sheep, giraffes, buffalo, and several other species, they regurgitate and chew on partially digested food so that they can extract every bit of nutrition from what they eat. Humans ruminate over thoughts, not food. This is, unfortunately, more »
For the first time in human history, we are trying to raise an entire generation on the message that feeling good equals living well. It is not true. It has never been true. And now we are seeing the sad results in our homes and on our streets. Our task more »
Negative self-evaluation is harmful to our health. That was the conclusion of a study by Strauman, Lemieux, and Coe* in 1993. They touted their work as “the 1st experimental demonstration that negative self-evaluation can alter immune responses,” and it has been followed by numerous studies that link self-criticism with poor more »
In 1960 R. D. Laing, a psychiatrist highly critical of the available theories of mental illness, wrote one of my favorite books of that era, The Divided Self. In it he challenged earlier explanations of psychological disorders and proposed that we develop problems when we deny our authentic selves and more »
The hospital where my dad is being treated has a host of volunteers. These are mostly white-haired women in green smocks who answer questions at the information desk, greet family members at the surgical waiting area, or sell plaster models of saints and angels in the gift shop. But there more »
I have the unfortunate habit of reading while I walk. I’ve read chapters of textbooks, academic articles, even novels, while walking down office hallways and along city sidewalks. I just caught myself reading the front page of the newspaper while walking down the corridor toward my airport gate. I say more »
The Facebook group, Everyone Matters, posted a set of “Happiest Moment” pictures this morning. They are not what you’d expect. The first, for example, is a picture of a man kissing the forehead of a woman hooked up to a ventilator and other tubes and wires. How could this be more »
Creative moments I am feeling particularly fortunate today to have a number of friends, some from as long ago as fifth grade, who have built careers around their creative talents. The work—whether building colorful clay collages, composing songs, or penning novels—calls them to sit still, listen to an inner voice, more »
A friend recently shared with me an article from the February Wall Street Journal reporting that medical doctors tend not to pursue extreme life-saving measures when they are seriously ill. In fact, as a group they are far less likely than their patients to invest in aggressive treatments for cancer more »
“Write a goal every day.” This is the advice of authors Ron Rubin and Stuart Avery Gold in their book on the development of the successful California company, The Republic of Tea (Success@Life, published in 2001 by Newmarket Press.) Writing your goal is already a step toward achieving it, they more »
You may be surprised to learn that self-compassion has been demonstrated to be even more important than self-esteem when it comes to happiness and life-satisfaction. This is what researchers like Kristin Neff from the University of Texas at Austin have found as they study attitudes people hold toward their shortcomings more »