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How to Write a Moving and Authentic Memoir
'Tis the season to test the presidential waters with political memoirs. At the top of the list: Dr. Ben Carson's "One Nation: What We Can All Do to Save America's Future," and Hillary Rodham Clinton's...
View ArticleMore on the importance of fathers from Susan Newman.
In a post on my new book, Do Fathers Matter? What Science Is Telling Us About the Parent We've Overlooked, PT blogger and author Susan Newman points out a few important observations about fathers that...
View ArticleWhat is Heart Rate Variability? And Why Does it Matter?
What is heart rate variability?Heart rate variability (HRV) is a physiological marker of how we experience and regulate our emotions. But before we discuss HRV and emotion regulation in greater detail,...
View ArticleThe #1 Most Powerful Way to Melt Shame
The walls of my elementary school classroom, like most, were hung with posters carrying all manner of inspirational messages. (“The best preparation for good work tomorrow is good work today!”) The...
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Prison Interviews: Book Excerpt
The parking lot of a California state prison is huge, open, and nondescript, with the exception of an enormous fenced-in complex right next to it. There is a constant flow of foot traffic into the main...
View ArticleHypnotic Regression and Healing the Unconscious Mind
Our mind is uniquely prepared to experience the continuity of time. While we are advised to live in the here and now, we all wander into the past or future. Our memory and imagination vary greatly from...
View ArticleHow to Make Mindfulness Accessible
Many clinicians wonder how to bring mindfulness to chaotic or vulnerable clients. There are many people in my caseload who simply aren’t interested in closing their eyes and sitting still. It’s often...
View Article“Maleficent,” “Frozen,” and the Pain of Love
When it comes to new movies, it’s a great time to be raising a tween girl.My daughter, who is 10, has been raised on a steady diet of princess power movies: "Mulan,""The Princess and the...
View ArticleI Am An Emotional Overeater
Given the number of Apps for IOS (Apple devices), and smartphones, for the number of apps that monitor every morsel of food put into one’s mouth, everyone who owns a cell phone should be skinny....
View ArticleHelp Wanted: A Politician We Can Trust
The gap between “In God We Trust” and "In politician we trust" is wide enough to drive (and lose) our future through.I recently attended the William O. Douglas Awards presented at the Public Counsel...
View ArticleConversational Neurochemistry
Why do negative and judgmental comments and conversations—especially from people in positions of authority—stick with us so much longer than positive ones?Once I coached a senior executive from...
View ArticleReading Leaders Right
The New York Times reports today that President Putin’s gestures toward Ukraine seem conflicting: he talks of peace while sending arms.[1]Grasping a foreign leader’s intentions is notoriously...
View Article5 Reasons to Pray
According to a 2013 Pew Research Poll, over half of Americans pray every day. A 2012 poll found that over 75 percent of Americans believe that prayer is an important part of daily life. Other polls...
View ArticleUnleashing Innovation
For some, the word “innovation” conjures up feelings of open frontiers, the future, and unbridled possibilities. For others, the word conjures up feelings of dread. Not because they are not interested...
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Anxious Kids, Anxious Parents
It's natural for parents to want to protect their kids from anxieties they had as children. The solution, however, is to step into the fear, not away from it. Is there a mistake or set of mistakes that...
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Why Some People Seem to Lack Empathy
"You OK? You seem distracted", asks Alice's coworker."Yes, I'm OK", Alice responds. "It's just that my mother is in the hospital again, and I'm not sure she's going to make it this time." Alice's voice...
View ArticleAre Males and Females Equally Emotional?
In a previous blog, I discussed why some people seem to lack empathy. The short answer is that empathy (feeling distress when viewing another's pain) can be exhausting and lead to burnout. I also...
View ArticleDefining Recovery
Because it can be applied to many different contexts, the meaning of recovery can be ambiguous and, in turns, confusing. Dictionary definitions include: the act or process of becoming healthy after an...
View ArticleLittle-Known Danger of Bullying...(as if we needed more)
Hey Joel, Just listened to a disturbing and disheartening report on the CBC about an eleven-year-old boy in Newfoundland who has been bullied so severely that the school is apparently going to hire...
View ArticleParenting my Atheist Sons
Adolescents are driven to try out new identities and unfamiliar behaviors. They take risks about which their youthful sense of immortality diminishes their estimation of potential for harm. Teenagers...
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