What Brings You Joy?
Caught up with the ‘doings’ of life? Don’t know what you like anymore? Lost all notion of your interests? Haven’t been in touch with Yourself in years due to child-rearing, the busyness of life, just trying to keep your head above water, working long hours, juggling it all ….. Start to get back in touch […]
It’s Spring – Come On Out
Opening ourselves up to springtime – a time of renewal and growth. It’s been a long, cold and snowy winter here (on the East Coast of the United States). We are so ready for spring. How wonderful to see those first crocuses popping their heads up. I noticed a lot of purple ones, but maybe […]
Being There For A Friend In Need
I’ve got a few friends going through some really tough times now. And I’m feeling so helpless. I think of them and their situations very often and feel really awful. Thinking of them, feeling for them, empathizing, doesn’t cut it. Yes, I know – Be there for them. But how does being there translate into […]
“I Did It” Promotes Self-Pride
It’s not so much how we do something but that we do it. The group of students (5th and 6th graders) who attended the public speaking parent/child workshop brought this idea to life. For the past three sessions, each child got up to give a short talk in front of the group. We all know […]
Focusing On What’s Working Well
What’s going well? What’s working for you? This is the key focus of positive psychology. We start here and work from this perspective into the areas that are problematic. When I take students out of class for their 30 minutes of counseling, I start with WWW – what went well so far today. (Credit goes to […]
Positive Psychology – A Way of Life
I just completed my 11 month course in positive psychology. I feel proud and really good about it. I had initially been ambivalent about taking it because I wasn’t sure if I had the discipline to stick with it, as most of it is online: weekly videos, writing assignments (reflection papers) and study group calls, […]
Mental Exercises To Prepare For Your Day
We wake up in the morning to a whole new day; another chance at a fresh start. We all know the usual rush rush rush, stress stress stress mornings. How much better it could be if we built in a few minutes to psyche ourselves up to greet the day with our best self. We’d […]
Meaning Helps Us Live Well
One of the most powerful ways of dealing with a difficult challenge is to find meaning or bring meaning to it. It really helps us be able to tackle a hardship and later on to be able to not just survive it but thrive through it. When my daughter was in the throes of her […]
What Do We Do With Failure?
Tal Ben- Shahar, a positive psychology master, has a great line that I find myself using in most of my workshops. It’s that universal a concept. “ Learn to fail or fail to learn.” It’s simply a fact of life and no amount of shielding can keep us from experiencing failure at some points in […]
Creating A Better Life Through Choice
“We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms – to […]