Time Does Not Heal All Wounds
“Just give it time and you’ll be fine,” he told Allie. “I’m not worried about being fine right now Sam, this is sad and I want to feel it.” Just give it time, is a common fix-all response of people who mean well and of people who want to avoid feeling an emotion....
Acknowledgement Can Calm An Anxious Heart
In my years of doing therapy I've come to see that acknowledgement is one of the easiest ways to calm an anxious heart. Acknowledging another person's feelings can also help you make early connections as well as build and rebuild relationships. It's about stopping and...
Grieving is Not Always About Death
She taught me my first professional lesson about the power of discussing the emotional events in our lives. I was in my first year of training as a therapist and she was in her early 70‘s, articulate and pretty with short-cropped salt and pepper hair. “My children...
Are You Divorcing Me Too?
Are You Divorcing Me Too? Is a program that gives parents and children the tools to talk about the parents' divorce. I will focus on the children's fears, concerns about how they will be perceived by their friends, what life will look like going forward and their...
Listen And Let People Know They Matter
More than likely, you've either felt it or done it, but probably haven’t read about it. Why? Because after years of noticing it and doing it myself, I just decided to give it a name. Emotional Swat! It goes like this... You’re sitting in your 4th. therapy session and...
Talking With Your Children About September 11
We sat in a circle in a bookstore in Alpharetta, Georgia, on a Saturday morning. At least a dozen parents had signed up for one of the workshops I was offering on talking with your children about the recent September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. I...
How to Really…Say I’m Sorry
Hey, If you say I hurt you..well then, I’m sorry. Um...does this FEEL like an apology to you? I didn't think so. What I've learned is that when an apology is real, you’ll feel it. Your body and your brain know the difference between words of, I’m sorry and feelings...
You and Emotionally Manipulating People
People feel emotionally and physically terrible when they realize they have been manipulated. They’ll say, "I feel so stupid, why didn't I see this, or I thought I was going crazy." Most all of us have been emotionally manipulated at least once in our lives, and it...
