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Tis the Season for Stress
This past weekend, I had a customer service experience with a manager so appalling that the assistant manager felt the need to step in and say apologetically (and by way of explanation), “She’s had a...
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Having it All (Sort of)
I’m obsessed with trade-offs. If you ask me, “What’s life about?”, I’d answer, in a heartbeat, “Trade-offs.” If you say, “Can people have it all?”, I’d respond, “They can have a lot, if they’re...
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Accidents Happen (If We’re Doing it Right)
My baby’s pushing a year old, and she’s not the most physical kid you ever saw. She can get around by rolling, but her attempts at crawling look like she’s trying to do the breast stroke. She’s...
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Top Ten Things I Learned As A New Mom
Since we’re mere hours from the new year, I thought I’d count down the life lessons from my first year as a mother. Being a marriage and family therapist as well as a new mom, there were lots of things...
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Money and Mental Health
We’re not really supposed to speak about money in polite company. Therapists who are incredibly comfortable talking to their clients about sex and intimacy and even abuse can balk when it comes to...
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In Sickness and Health
Before my daughter was born, my husband and I were fairly healthy people. But since having her, we get sick more often and stay sick longer. I’m sure other parents can relate to the toll that can...
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Meltdown, Part Deux
I wrote in a previous post about my 14-month-old daughter’s first tantrum/meltdown, seemingly ahead of schedule. She went for a repeat performance yesterday in a much more contained environment: the...
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Off Balance
Until I had my daughter, balance didn’t seem that hard to achieve. I was balancing competing needs and desires, sure. But they were all mine. Now, I’ve got to balance hers and mine. Some weeks,...
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The Cost of Maternal Gatekeeping
I was listening to a radio interview with Sheryl Sandberg, the Facebook COO whose book “Lean In” is apparently inspiring and provoking women in equal measure. But that’s a story for someone else’s...
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Assertiveness for Beginners
I was just meeting with a client and discussing a situation where she was demeaned by her boss at work in front of her colleagues. Should she speak up or not? That is the question. Since I’ve been on...
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Assertiveness in the Workplace
My post, Assertiveness for Beginners, sparked some passionate discussion. There were two main–and very different–themes in the discussion. Some people were talking about isolated (or recurring)...
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What’s So Depressing About Summer?
As a kid, the start of summer wasn’t based on the calendar; it really started after the last day of school. It meant freedom and play and relaxation. And even now, for a lot of us, when we get deeper...
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Partying Like A Toddler
I took my daughter to a party this weekend where she was the only baby/toddler (she’s on the cusp, at 18 months.) There’s an art and a skill to making sure that you both manage to have fun. Here are...
View ArticleIn Praise of Laziness
A long-time client came to see me and reported that she had been enjoying several “lazy days” in a row. And I was thrilled to hear it. This particular client has perfectionist tendencies, and because...
View ArticleSocial Media: When to Stop Clicking
I am finally on Facebook. It’s a strange declaration for 2013, I know, but it’s time to start thinking about promoting my novel, which comes out in July. Time to bite the bullet and enter...
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The Best Thing We Can Do For Our Toddlers
My daughter is currently receiving services to help her with her developmental delays. Her developmentalist (yes, there is such a title, and well-deserved, too!) observed my daughter having a...
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Stress, Irritability, and Relationships
You always hurt the ones you love, as the old saying goes. And the reason is, they’re the ones who see us at our worst–at our most stressed and, therefore, irritable–and we know that they’re not as...
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Handling Rejection
As a married mother, a therapist, and a novelist, I’d like to think my worst rejections are behind me. (Wouldn’t we all like to think that?) But small rejections abound every day. We can feel...
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How to Avoid Getting Overwhelmed
It seems like life speeds up from November through January. And it’s easy to get caught up in the cyclone. But here are some suggestions for how to stay calm in the holiday storm. 1) Set realistic...
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Tis the Season (For Fighting With Your Partner)
Yes, it can be the most wonderful time of the year. It can also be the most stressful. With stress can come irritability, and it can mean conflict with your partner just when you need his or her love...
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