You may cringe every time you hear Andy Williams sing the classic, “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.” You’re not a Grinch if you feel this way. You just may be dreading going home for the holidays. If you come from a toxic or abusive family, the feeling of obligation to spend time with them over the holidays can be enough to ...read more
Do You Text Your SO Too Much?
When digital dating happens with a swipe, one can easily rely on texting as a relational crutch. But how do you know if your level of texting with your loved one is healthy or potentially crossing over the digital divide? I was recently interviewed by Elite Daily about warning signs that may be applicable to the way texting plays out ...read more
Coping with the Holiday Season When You’re Feeling Down
Holiday parties every weekend, traveling long distances, preparing for Thanksgiving. Christmas lists from the kids to Santa, Hanukkah presents for eight nights, extra time with extended family. Colder, winter weather (well, as cold as it can get in Southern California!) and endless sweet treats when we’re trying to follow a healthier eating ...read more
Postpartum Anxiety: What It Is and Tips to Help You Cope
I frequently receive referrals of clients from pediatricians and OBGYN's. One of the most common reasons is that their patient has reported feeling somewhat depressed and/or anxious, post-delivery. Most everyone is familiar with postpartum depression. However, we don’t often hear about postpartum anxiety, which is a condition that can lead to ...read more
Bullying on Social Media (and Other Places): Tips to Lessen or Even Eliminate the Impact
Bullying has historically included physical, sexual, emotional, verbal bullying. Now you can add cyberbullying and most recently, political bullying to the list. Often, in incidences of bullying, the perpetrator uses more than one of these tactics on his/her victim or escalates from one to the next. Given the current environment, several ...read more
How to Know If Someone May Be Considering Suicide and What to Do
September is Suicide Prevention Month and it’s an important topic. Statistics show that eight out of ten people considering suicide give some sort of sign of their intentions. Imagine someone that you care about, a friend or family member, is having a rough time (like we all do occasionally), YOU could be the person that makes a difference in ...read more
How Helicopter Parenting Impacts a Child’s Confidence
Parenting is… hard. As the father of three, I get it. Issues with parenting can occur anytime and anywhere – morning, evening, middle of the night, at home, while driving, in your local mall. Parental anxiety and the conflicts which emerge from it can pose real problems for parents and children. In addition, our role as parents has many ...read more
How to Create the Best Possible First Day Back to School for Your Child…and You!
Parents, before you start doing your celebration dance with the kids going back to school, make sure you have your ducks in order, physically, mentally and emotionally, so both you and the kids are prepared before the first big day. And I know many of you may have already gone back to school, but it’s never too late to have these conversations ...read more
Dating Anxiety in The Age of Tinder
There are so many singles I see in my practice who struggle with dating. It’s one of the most talked about issues among my clients. Some feel anxious and confused about the whole dating scene. So, let’s start with some of the basics. First, here’s some information about anxiety in general. About 18% of American adults have been diagnosed with an ...read more
Taking Care of Your Mental Health AND Your Relationship
Since May is Mental Health Awareness month, I thought it would be good to share an article from Bustle where I was recently interviewed about how to talk to your partner about your mental health. Sharing your experience with anxiety or depression with someone you’re in a relationship with can be daunting. This article offers a number of things ...read more
11 Tips to Help You Cope with Rejection
This is going to be one of the deepest dives I have ever done on almost any other blog I have ever written. That’s because feelings of rejection are one of the most common, powerful, and confusing emotional experiences any of us can have. This subject simply doesn’t lend itself to a few electronic soundbites. The feeling of rejection hurts. It ...read more
Navigating Fertility: 9 Practical Tips to Help You Cope
Navigating the emotional issues that naturally occur during your fertility journey is not always an easy path – as an individual and as a couple. And you are definitely not alone, although it may feel that way at times. Fertility issues impact 1 in 8 families in America. The stress can be enormous. Not just the societal pressure to have a family ...read more
17 Tips to Help Reduce Anxiety and Panic Attacks
People seek me out for many reasons. Anxiety is one of the top three reasons, alongside depression, and relationship issues. In fact, at any given point in time, at least 20 percent of people are suffering from some type of anxiety. What is anxiety? Anxiety is actually a very normal, but unpleasant reaction to one or more situations ...read more
4 Tips to Help You Overcome Shyness and Social Anxiety
It’s the holiday season. For many, it’s a time when we may be spending more time with family, friends, and fellow workers at any number of social gatherings. For some, this is a time of excitement, but for others, the holidays can be a time when we just might prefer to avoid holiday parties. Don’t worry. If that’s you, you’re not alone. And in ...read more
Not Sleeping Well? 12 Tips to Get Better Zzzz’s
In a few days, our clocks are going to change, and although most of us are going to “gain an hour” of sleep, there is still going to be some disruption to our sleep routines when we set our phones, clocks, and other devices back one hour. This seems to be a good time to explore sleep in general, and just how vitally important good quality sleep ...read more