Therapy and Counseling Articles

Recently, one of my coaching clients, Terri was trying to move forward with her business but could not quite figure out what was holding her back. She had participated in all the usual coaching sessions and yet, she still felt stuck. Something was not feeling right, she said, yet she had a ...

I hope you're doing well. I truly do. This means you have taken some deliberate steps, clear or not so clear action, that has led you to doing well today. You'll know, if you've read some of my other articles, that I'm a firm believe in paying close attention to your thoughts. Thoughts can regulate emotion which can change the chemistry of your body. Thoughts are what must come before anything else. When you realize without thought we wouldn't have airplanes, cellphones, computers, priceless artwork or awe-inspiring architecture, I think you'll quickly understand what I mean.

FOREWORD – ABOUT THE MIND BRAIN BALANCE TEAM “The Center for Mind Brain Balance” was established to bridge the gap between a person’s psychological and emotional needs versus their brain-based or physical imbalances that are so often overlooked.

Welcome to article number 2 in our series “Bodybuilding Sins That Cause Back Pain and Missed Workouts”. In this article we are going to talk about how bodybuilders tend to create massive muscle imbalances and what you can do to not be one of them. If you missed the first article, you can read ...

A lot of people call me who can’t afford to pay for therapy. It’s true that many of the most powerful ways to work on yourself cost a lot of money. Psychotherapy, high priced seminars, bodywork, yoga classes, nutritional supplements, and seeking advanced training in your field will all improve your life but take significant financial commitment. I personally don’t regret a dollar of the many thousands I’ve spent on the above, but in this economy some people are reticent to make such an investment in themselves. Then again, some of the most effective technologies for change cost no money:

Frustration can sometimes look like anger, but this emotion is just a little bit different. The underlying foundation of frustration is loss. As a child develops, they begin to realize that life is made up of choices, and when a choice is made, the option that was once available to him or her is gone. This situation breeds frustration.

“ “The only thing worse than being alone is being with the wrong person” Reuben Schmidt, 89 years old—happily married to Joyce Schmidt for 53 years. Look around you. Do you see couples that are wonderfully happy together? Happy and joyful couples bless everyone they come in contact with. ...

In modern societies, stress is becoming one of the major wellness problems. Stress from human relationships, financial troubles, work, family pressures, the world is becoming more active. Taking so much to do but getting little time to do it all. Here’s five quick ways to ease the pressure and relieve stress: 1. If you’re dealing with a irritating situation and you have a lot on your plate then it can be very hard to find resolutions. You’re caught up in the midst of a

Can it be true? Yes. Is there such a thing as hypnosis for fertility when couples are having problems becoming parents? Oh, Yes. It’s hard to believe because over thousands of years no one has been able to explain fully why hypnosis works in the easy cases, let alone a complicated topic like fertility. Easy cases like stopping smoking, weight loss, and insomnia are still somewhat mysterious, but Hey, evidence is evidence: you sleep through the night, lose weight, have no urge to smoke. Everyone can see it (except insurance companies).

Anger is one of the four primary emotions and has a very good purpose of alerting us to our boundaries being crossed by others. It serves us well when it's expressed in a healthy way. However, when anger becomes screaming, ranting, raving, or becoming physical with another person, you may have a ...

Todd came to see me at the encouragement of his mother. He "talked the right talk" about leaving his drugs and alcohol behind, although he had a long track record of failed attempts. Todd had been in and out of residential treatment programs without success. This young man looked to me and rational recovery as his last chance to live a lifestyle free of the ravages of addiction. I pushed Todd to explain to me, in every conceivable manner, how "this time" things would be different from all of his other failed attempts at sobriety.

Online Internet Psychotherapy and Counseling through Skype is becoming more popular than ever for busy people. As a professional online psychotherapist, I have noticed a dramatic increase in the number of clients who prefer to have therapy sessions in the comfort of their own homes rather than driving to a therapist’s office. All say that they find online sessions using Skype or other videocam formats to be less intimidating than face-to-face sessions and that they feel generally more relaxed and in charge of the process.

In an earlier article Phobias - A Description I told you about the way Jane reacted when confronted with a snake. What follows is a brief introduction to the model I use to explain phobic reactions and why they are so very real for the individuals that experience them. All phobias are apparently irrational, but in truth they are not. They are based upon primitive self survival knowledge / instinct. In order to stay safe we must be aware of dangers in our environment. Natural

In our high-speed society, there is a quick fix for everything. Our rational minds are sharp and facile. If we have a problem we find someone who knows how to fix it and we follow through—no problem. That may work for your computer. But emotional, spiritual and general problems of energy and ...

Meditation has been around for thousands of years and there are many different approaches. The most common forms of meditation usually involves focusing on a particular object, such as a word mantra, as in Transcendental Meditation; a divine image as in some forms of Tibetan Buddhist meditation; an inspirational phrase or image, as in Christian contemplative meditation; or mindful contemplation of breathing, as in Buddhist samatha meditation.

Single Parents And Security Blankets Among other things, a good marriage is a salve against the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. It is also a shelter from the storm of Murphy’s Law and, a safe haven of mutual support and security where we insulate ourselves from the impersonal and ...

Imagine a world where you could place electrodes on your head, send your brainwaves to a computer, and control a video game without using your hands, just by changing your brainwaves. Picture a world where you could teach your brain to perform better. Perhaps you could improve your IQ, concentrate better, or sleep better. Maybe you could organize better at work, close more sales, get better grades, or be more productive. Maybe you could spiff up your memory that you have noticed is slipping lately.

"Dreams and visions have no boundaries. While limited by our consciousness, dreams and visions are the bridge from our unconsciousness to that not yet realized." --Suzanne Kyra When I try to imagine the incomprehensible immensity in which we live, I visualize a tiny box on a planet that is ...

If You're Already Feeling Anxiety or Stress Because You're About to Learn How to Perform a Relaxation Technique, You're in the Right Place! The Progressive Muscle Relaxation exercise is great to help anyone suffering from stress and anxiety. I often tell clients it is a wonderful exercise to attempt at bedtime. Most of my clients suffering from stress and anxiety have difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep and doing this exercise before bed definitely helps. Besides, I've found that if you're performing the exercise correctly, you can easily fall asleep.

Many families are often confronted by situations that may cause stress, anger, tension and heartache in the family dynamics. For this reason, a family may consider going to family therapy sessions to work through some of those problems and challenges. A therapist is a good sounding board when individuals are arguing and can't get along and can help them through these issues so they can get back on track of experiencing a loving, healthy relationship. A lot of the therapist wi

Real love is not only hard to find, it’s hard to accept. This may seem counterintuitive, I know, but if you really ponder it long enough to get it, it could change the way you think about love. All of us have been wounded in some way, whether by early love relationships or later ones. ...

FOREWORD – ABOUT THE MIND BRAIN BALANCE TEAM “The Center for Mind Brain Balance” was established to bridge the gap between a person’s psychological and emotional needs versus their brain-based or physical imbalances that are so often overlooked.

We are entering a mind field here where the only way to find the right help for you is by trial and error, in my own experience I spent so many years doing just that. At times I felt as if here was no one out there that could ever fill those shoes. The key here is to consider other aspects of our lives. Example – we have all been in a position that requires us to shop around; maybe we even go home empty handed. I myself have returned many items that I thought suited me whilst

We need to touch and be touched. The body's skin needs and hungers for contact. Since touch is the earliest sense to develop in the human embryo, it becomes a major source of physical nourishment throughout our lifetime. When holding and hugging a loved one, contentment soars and the senses open ...

But it takes motivation, determination and discipline to change your brain over time. Most people believe that once you learn something your behaviour should reflect what you know. The brain doesn’t work like that. We have more information than ever before on nutrition and the benefits of a healthy diet, yet more people are obese and fast food consumed in record amounts.r

Daisy, a 16 year old high school student, was referred to me by her school. According to her school counselor, Daisy was hospitalized recently for suicidal ideation and needed to be seen for her depression. When Daisy walked into my office, the first thing I noticed was all of her piercing. She had a few piercing in her arms, a few on her cheek, and two on her chest. I also noticed the cuts on her wrists and shoulders. I put my observations to the side and decided to come back to them later. I had to build rapport with Daisy first.

One of the delights of Clinical Hypnosis work is introducing a simple breathing technique to children – and adults – adapted from Joyce C. Mill’s work, which she calls “The Magic Happy Breath”. In these days of color codes for security, not just for ozone levels, rising stress levels, etc., remembering how to enjoy the breath we take in seems vital. I first ask children to show me how they take a deep breath. Invariably, they adorably screw their foreheads in concen

HEALING OUR EMOTIONAL PAIN AND RELATIONSHIP PAIN DR. BARRY HAMMER An important key to emotional self-healing is to fully embrace our emotional pain and relationship pain with an open, nonjudgmental, nonpartisan, compassionate, warmly loving heart. That warmhearted, compassionate, loving embrace of our emotional pain releases, untwists, or dissolves it back into its underlying substratum of undivided, pure, clear, love-life energy, which is inherently, naturally wholeness, sel

Recently it came to my notice that Physical Therapist Dr Glenn Dorman has celebrated his nintieth birthday. His book, "How to Teach Your Baby to Read," co-athored with Janet Dorman over forty years ago, started a whole new approach to teaching reading to the very young. It all began while Glenn Dorman was teaching brain damaged preschool children to read at Philadelphia's Institutes for Achievement of Human Potential. Dolman claims that a baby will learn the written word as easily as spoken language and can even learn to read before he or she learns to speak.

The dictionary defines gratitude as: a feeling of thankful appreciation for favors or benefits received; thankfulness. Appreciation is defined as grateful recognition. Wayne Dyer who coined the term ‘an attitude of gratitude’, says that gratitude is a sacred space where you allow and know that a force greater than your ego is always at work and always available.

If you are like many people these days you are feeling chronically overwhelmed. And if you have ADHD you probably struggle more than most. Feeling overwhelmed occurs when we feel we have too much to do and not enough time to do it. We fall behind and we are constantly trying to catch up and keep up with the demands on us. Phew! I felt that familiar feeling of overwhelm just writing that sentence! Here are some great suggestions for how to avoid overwhelm.

What is Communication? With approximately half of the marriages in the U.S. ending in divorce, learning to communicate effectively with your partner is crucial. With some motivation and persistence, you can learn constructive communication patterns that can improve your significant relationships, rekindle the intimacy in your marriage and reward you with success and satisfaction in life. Here is an example of ineffective communication:

The “One and Only” does exist? In my opinion, this concept is the product of western civilization which assumes that you simply have to find your “true love”, progress your way through to the wedding ceremony; then you are primed to live “Happily Ever After”. The main emphasis is on the choice: you choose “The Right One”, later in the courtship you might be confronted with complications, but undoubtedly everything will quickly turn into roses at the “I do.”

When we experience depression we often describe it with phrases like: “I’m in a black mood”, or “It smothers me like a heavy blanket”, or “Its like being in a thick fog”, or “I feel like I’m wading through treacle.”r

Change can be very difficult for children. Facing new situations means a new set of unknowns and therefore a new set of fears. Your job as a caregiver is talk with your children and allow them to find the courage to face their fears. Be respectful and empathic of your child’s experience while also allowing them to maintain self-control and independence. Here are some tips on helping your children handle new experiences. • Provide a calm and consistent home environment for your child—a place where they can “check in” and feel safe.

It seems that worry has become a normal state of affairs for many, if not most, people. One only needs to turn on the television to witness conflict, aggression, lack of civil discourse, violence, death, and destruction. Repeated exposure leaves some people feeling numb and desensitized, while others feel stressed out, panicked and in a state of perpetual vigilance and fear. This feeling of anxiety can make daily life quite uncomfortable.

Every day people come to my counseling office hoping that I have some magical advice to give them to make them feel better. They come hoping I can “fix” them. I am usually not the first person they’ve seen. They’ve talked to their pastor, their best friend, and sometimes strangers. They’ve read ...

The mischievous son with an incredible knack for trouble who seems to delight in torturing his sister… The mildly deceptive daughter who takes great satisfaction in taking tattling to the extreme… Every time you try to help – the truth gets twisted, fingers are pointed, and the fighting ...

How are you feeling right now, at this time of year? Do you feel like you have way too much to do? I know I do. On top of all the tasks we usually do every day, there are gifts to buy and wrap, parties to attend (or give), h'eour d'eouvres to make, perhaps a Christmas tree to buy or put together, decorations to get out of storage, sort out and put up, electric candle lights to replace when they burn out, school or church activities to attend with our children - you know what I mean. It can be stressful and exhausting.

Most patients undergoing total hip replacement surgery want to know when they'll be able to return to their normal life. "Recovery time" is a common question posed to specialists and non-specialists alike. There are many factors that can contribute to recovery time, but typically patients can return to normal life activities within 1 to 6 months. To be more specific, however, we can examine the difference between "short-term recovery" and "long-term recovery".nnShort-term rec

Before you start your CBT Counselling treatment programme there are a number of things you can do to maximise your chances of success. 1. Prioritising yourself and your recoveryr

With couples divorcing and splitting up at the highest rate modern time, quality couple therapy is a must. And, finding a qualified couple therapist is essential. Only 14% of therapists in the United States that state they do couple therapy have actually had training in how to do couple therapy. Most therapists claiming to be competent in working with couples are applying training they received in working with individuals to the couple dynamic and think that this will work; it doesn't.

"Bully" is an important documentary that everyone should see. In this documentary, a couple of children and their families are followed as they share the pain that is caused from bullying.

Self Sabotaging Self Talk: Words That Set You Up for Failure Part 1 Excerpted from Transform Your Life Instantly: Mental Erasers Make the Law of Attraction Work for You Instead of Against You (c) 2005. In previous articles and radio shows, I have stressed the importance of choosing your words carefully to create only the life events you want to experience. Conscious Languaging is so important that during Deletion/Creation Protocols, I often have the client commit to speak only words they are willing to have become part of their life circumstances.

Do you know somebody in “The ain’t it awful club”, you know the one where life is a drag? Well we all have choices, so we can decide to join it or despise it. Many people complain and blame exte al circumstances for their own lack of decisiveness. They will go to work and complain about their ...

Couples who are having difficulties becoming or staying pregnant are not alone. Approximately 7 million couples have some sort of infertility issue and must deal with the emotional, physical and often financial ramifications. It can place tremendous stress on a couple’s relationship and on ...

Is your mojo missing? Feeling powerless? Maybe you just want to be a better version of yourself! Here are 10 ways that you can take your power back and increase your happiness. 1. Focus on what you want to happen: Positive thinking is at the forefront of every great success story. Wake up every morning with the thought that something wonderful will happen in your life, and pay close attention, you will quickly find that you are right.

This article attempts to make sense of our vulnerabilities to developing abusive or to use a more popular term; addictive relationships to activities of daily living. I will review the outstanding features of those of us caught up in addictive relationships. Then, I will highlight some ...