Working with human nature, not against it.
Month after month, these 5 posts from our blog have the most visitors. And there is good reason for it! These posts also contain information that I most often share with my clients at least once over the course of treatment. Have you seen these? Do they pertain to you? What’s Underneath the Cat...
This question comes up a lot. And for good reason. For parents, it can come up around whether to mandate that a child follow through with something like a sports commitment. For adults, it can come up around whether to stay at a demanding job or work through issues in friendships or relationships. Those...
How many times have you been in a conversation with a well meaning loved one and you were told something like “don’t cry”, “don’t worry”, “at least xyz didn’t happen” or “you know what you should do….”? What happened next? Did you feel heard? Did you feel like sharing more? My guess is you...
Therapy is not cheap. It requires resources. Both time and money, obviously. But in order for it to be as effective as possible, it requires your energy and attention. I think therapy can benefit most people, regardless of how well or how poorly life seems to be going. Increasingly, people are coming to therapy...
One of the foundations of emotional intelligence is being able to identify emotions. One way kids learn about how to talk about and handle emotions is from their parents, both directly and indirectly. How you handle emotions (yours and theirs) makes a significant impact. Yes, like literally being able to name a feeling. It...
Happily Family does this parenting conference every year and it is always filled with great information. This year has some great topics like digital parenting, helping teenage girls navigate friendships online, supporting kids on the gender spectrum, transforming parenting triggers, how to address the topic of racial injustice. So many good ones. And, one...
A few weeks ago, we talked about how important it is to consider the possibility that what other people do is not always about you. People are responding to you in accordance to their own past, their own assumptions and their own tendencies. This is helpful to consider because it helps with not taking...
Our very own Anna Pirkl, MFT, ATR, LADAAC partnered with South Bay Families Connected and created this wonderful series of short videos to support you in staying motivated during distance learning. I know everyone can use some support in this area. I love how the videos are only a couple minutes (if that!) each....
What a different “back to school” transition this year. Hopefully it feels a little more organized or manageable than having to suddenly switch to school online in the middle of a school year. And, I know that looking down the pike at many more months of this can bring challenges of its own. We...
This comes up a lot. I get that it is confusing. How can an interaction between two people not be personal? Meaning, how can you not take what someone does or says personally??? Well, it FEELS personal. Of course. The things is, most of what people do is about them, not about you. In...