I have been on sabbatical. When my wife took a sabbatical from her position I found that I, too, took time off from some of my regular activities to pay attention to others. A sabbatical is a time away. It is a break from what you are normally doing, typically related to one’s profession. In [...]
When I think of asking for help I might think of asking a colleague for advice on a project. I might think of asking my wife something about a home project or a gift for our kids. I might ask my son how his work is going. I might ask a friend for help with [...]
One of the re-emerging health concerns during these days of economic struggle and its mental and spiritual stress is compassion fatigue. Compassion fatigue is what occurs to a caregiver when they have given too much. A person can succumb to anxiety and depression. The caregiver might have survivors’ guilt that the condition of concern happened [...]
The current anxiety, fed here in Michigan by job loss, threat of more job loss, threat of loss of income, inability to get credit, fear of not being able to pay bills, buy food, heat my home for many of us keeps our anxiety level very high. It is true that our mental and emotional [...]
I have asked my colleague, Kathy Gleason, M.A., LMFT, to tell our readership a little bit about play therapy. As you will see it is useful for children, to gain the necessary emotional or relational strength they often need but don’t know how to talk about to their parents. So, Kathy, please explain what play [...]
Mental Health Month is an annual observance designed to increase awareness about mental health and mental illness. This year’s theme, “Mental Health Matters: In Your Life,” reminds Americans that caring for their mental health is as important as taking care of their physical health because mental health impacts all areas of life. This observance is [...]
When Fred Rogers died several years ago I wrote a column called “About My Neighbor”. In it I reflected on how Mr. Rogers, through the quiet and low key atmosphere and message of his TV show, gave so many children and families a chance to feel good about themselves, know that they were valued and [...]
This is a question I hear all the time in my psychotherapy practice. Actually the way it more often is shared it comes out “I don’t want to change but I don’t like the way things are.” But most often what brings an individual or couple of family to our agency is the awareness that [...]
It is common for people to speak of forgiveness, especially in couple relationships. It either should happen or should not. People speak about it and expect it to be there at will. When, in fact, forgiveness can be a long and complicated process. Even spiritually forgiveness gets misused. The Bible, both Hebrew and Christian Bible, [...]
December might be called “miracle” month. Hanukkah celebrates the miracle of lanterns burning for 8 days. It points us to a story of liberation. The Christmas miracle describes the birth of Christ, and God becoming Emmanuel, God being born into the human race. Miracles play a role in many of the world’s religions. Islam, Buddhism, [...]