Benches
I’m a big fan of Dr. Becky’s “Good Inside” podcast, and I love a concept she talks about. I’m going to share a mental image with you: Picture a huge, beautiful garden filled with benches. Each bench represents a different…
Category Stories
Generational Legacy
Generational Legacy. That term is becoming more common-place today, thanks to Encanto and Twitter. It simply means negative behavioral patterns get passed to the next generation because we aren’t even aware that we’re doing it. I’m a therapist. I know…
Implicit vs Explicit Messages and Memories
Your brain has implicit and explicit memories. Explicit memories are factual events or information from your past. When you think about these, you actually know you’re remembering something: Your last birthday. Getting your last job offer. The movie you watched…
Why Bother Learning This New Skill?
I went skiing this weekend. I’m not exaggerating when I tell you the last time I skied was 30 years ago. My church youth group went on a ski trip. I don’t remember having lessons—although I look back now and…
My Religious Side
Some of my clients know that I’m very religious. They don’t care, as I don’t bring it into the room unless it is relevant. This is one of those times that it is relevant. This past November (2021), just a…
What do Monster Truck Tires have to do with an Anniversary Dinner?
Cheesy as it sounds, there is such inner peace when you have healthy self esteem and healthy boundaries, and that peace leads to healthy and easy decision-making. Last week was our 15th wedding anniversary and we were deciding what to…
Is Self Esteem Pseudo-science?
I was talking to someone a few weeks ago. No, I was talking to my children in front of someone. He made the comment that it shouldn’t matter what other people think of you, happiness comes from the inside. I…
A Funny Story About Time Outs
Funny story about timeouts. . . Last weekend I needed my husband to sign the back of a check so I could deposit it through my phone. We both needed to sign it and my full legal name is rather long.…
This is how I survived that house
This is how I survived that house. When I said that statement in session this week, I was specifically referring to myself and my client at that moment. And then I realized the sentence likely serves for most people. “That…