Read excerpts from Psychology Today below, and click to see full articles!
Why High Achievers Can Struggle in Therapy
It is disorienting. You lose something, possibly something or somebody important, but the grief is not what you expect it to look like. It’s abbreviated. Truncated. Maybe you return to feeling “normal” relatively quickly. It feels like you should still be mourning. What’s going on?
18 Signs That You’re Dealing with a Passive Aggressive Person
At our core, we are meaning-makers. We live through and then interpret the events of our lives, bringing order to our experiences. When we endure pain and unhappiness, we find ways to frame and understand it and sometimes even find value in it. That process is integral to moving through and living with the experiences.
2 Types of Invisible Grief
When our biggest emotions come knocking — anger, sadness, grief, fear — it can be difficult to let them in. It may feel easier to ignore them, reject them, avoid them, or numb them than to face them, welcome them, and address them. But why is that? Why is it so difficult to accept difficult feelings? What happens to us when we come face to face with so much discomfort?
5 Reasons People Stay in Unhappy Friendships
Just like romantic relationships and family bonds, friendships grow and contract, evolve and stagnate. But for some, it’s extremely difficult to step away from a friendship, even if it becomes unhealthy, toxic, or just unsatisfying. But why? Why do we stay in friendships when they clearly stop working for us?
5 Emotions You Didn’t Know Were Part of Grief
Many people’s frame of reference for grief comes from Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’ five stages of grief. In her analysis, a grieving person will move through denial, anger, depression, bargaining, and acceptance. And while all of these may be part of the grief experience, the simplified description of these phrases fails to chart the wide emotional range of experiences a grieving person may experience. Here are some other emotional experiences a grieving person may encounter.
6 Ways People Shut Down Difficult Conversations
Accepting feedback is one of the most difficult communication skills to master. It requires hearing how you hurt somebody else and learning the ways you will need to grow. But sometimes, the person receiving feedback finds ways to cut off or short-circuit the conversation in unhealthy ways. Let’s look at a few of the most common forms of conversation enders.
3 Reasons We May Not Grieve a Big Loss
It is disorienting. You lose something, possibly something or somebody important, but the grief is not what you expect it to look like. It’s abbreviated. Truncated. Maybe you return to feeling “normal” relatively quickly. It feels like you should still be mourning. What’s going on?
Learning to Embrace Both / And
At our core, we are meaning-makers. We live through and then interpret the events of our lives, bringing order to our experiences. When we endure pain and unhappiness, we find ways to frame and understand it and sometimes even find value in it. That process is integral to moving through and living with the experiences.
How to Become Higher Maintenance (Yes, you read that right!)
At our core, we are meaning-makers. We live through and then interpret the events of our lives, bringing order to our experiences. When we endure pain and unhappiness, we find ways to frame and understand it and sometimes even find value in it. That process is integral to moving through and living with the experiences.
Never Say These 2 Words to Someone in Pain
At our core, we are meaning-makers. We live through and then interpret the events of our lives, bringing order to our experiences. When we endure pain and unhappiness, we find ways to frame and understand it and sometimes even find value in it. That process is integral to moving through and living with the experiences.
Are You Too Low-Maintenance?
We wear the term "low-maintenance" as a badge of honor, something to aspire to in our relationships. But there are deep misconceptions about what it means to be low-maintenance and whether we should aspire to it.
5 Ways Parents and Adult Children Can Improve Their Relationship
Relationships between parents and their grown kids can be incredibly meaningful when worked on intentionally. But too often, old habits of speaking and interacting stand in the way of parents and children forging and maintaining mutually fruitful relationships.
The Truth About Aha! Moments in Therapy
While aha! moments are part of the therapeutic process for many, they are far more nuanced than movies portray. They take many forms and impact clients in a wide range of ways, both short-term and long-term.
4 Clear Signs That You've Outgrown a Friendship
As children, we learn that friendships last forever. And some do. Some friendships grow and mature. Others atrophy, leaving one or both participants in the friendship feeling unfulfilled and frustrated. Drifting away from a friend can feel confusing and painful. But there are signs that you may have outgrown the relationship.
Grieving the End an Unhappy Marriage or Toxic Friendship
Sometimes, the people closest to us cause the most pain and lose the right to be part of our lives. In these cases, ending a relationship, be it an unhappy marriage, a one-sided friendship, or a toxic family relationship is the healthiest choice. But the decision to end a relationship and the process of extricating ourselves can bring up all kinds of difficult feelings.
The High Price of Parental Guilt Trips
A sitcom is not a sitcom without a nagging mother pressuring her adult children to call or visit home more often. The choreography is always the same, with the mother applying pressure for greater contact through passive aggression, outward hostility, or persistent complaints.
How to Defeat Your Inner Critic
This voice occurs with a harshness that we reserve only for ourselves. The voice becomes automatic, white noise that shapes our inner experience and robs us of the consideration, kindness, and encouragement we so easily give to others.
4 Reasons Why We Refuse to Feel a Feeling
When our biggest emotions come knocking — anger, sadness, grief, fear — it can be difficult to let them in. It may feel easier to ignore them, reject them, avoid them, or numb them than to face them, welcome them, and address them. But why is that? Why is it so difficult to accept difficult feelings? What happens to us when we come face to face with so much discomfort?
5 Times You Are Still Allowed to Grieve
It feels like grief comes with rules. There are rules about who can grieve which losses, how long grieving can take place, and what losses deserve to be grieved. These rules, silent but present, can make it harder to move through the already present pain and add feelings of guilt, confusion, and shame, and loneliness. These rules deserve to be dismantled.
Wish the Joneses Well
The Joneses are everywhere, living seamlessly successful, glamorous, meaningful lives. Their skin is clear, their physiques impeccable, their jobs both lucrative and deeply fulfilling.