As a psychologist in December, I get a lot of questions about typical holiday concerns.  Pulling off Christmas without running out of money, energy, and time is a big challenge for most of my clients.  But what really piles on stress for people at this time of year is pressure to live up to pervasive [...]

Many clients come to me because they feel stuck in a personal or professional situation – stale relationship, job they could do in their sleep, that sort of thing — that no longer suits them.   Most clients respond well to my optimistic message that they are resourceful beings who can accomplish whatever they want with [...]

Not long ago I was interviewed for an article called “How to Handle the Hectic Weekend.”  The reporter asked me if I agreed that awareness of too many recreation options has made weekends far too busy for most Americans.   Recalling the stressed-out clients I see on a typical Monday – when the work week has [...]

I once worked for a large publishing company that employed the author of an award-winning book about two African American boys growing up in the projects.   More than anything I’d ever read, this heart-wrenching, exquisitely rendered social expose’ opened my eyes to the unflinching tragedy of poverty and prejudice.  I found the book truly life-changing [...]

 One typical day this past week I was sprinting up the stairs to get some necessary item from my bedroom.  The house was a mess, the dogs were wrestling, my stepdaughter Hunter was running to answer the phone, my husband Mike and stepson Ryan were rushing out the door to Ryan’s baseball practice, and the [...]

What keeps a person feeling discouraged is the certainty that everyone else is jumping joyfully out of bed in the morning.   I learned this from an astute professor in a graduate school course on the diagnosis and treatment of depression.   Depression is a prolonged state of hopelessness and helplessness – not just a case of [...]

I realize, having recovered rather well from more than a few major disappointments in my life, that I will be just fine no matter what happens. But talking sense to irrational thoughts, just like talking sense to irrational people, is an utter waste of time. It only escalates the argument. Push against an unreasonable force and it will just push back more intensely.

My blog will be a responsibly constructed and genuine record of walking the talk of Life Your Way. And my motivation will always be to honor my own intuition, trusting that if I write in line with my deepest inclination there is no way to lose.

As is always the way with major life change, transitioning from writing my first book to being a published author has been an adventure of adjustment. Like most American adults, I love the idea of new territory but am a creature of comfortable habit. So when my life is transformed in any way, even when [...]