What situations make you angry for no apparent reason, especially when others handle the same situation calmly? Is there a particular word that irritates you? Do you get annoyed when people only drive 70 on a 55mph road? Is it situations that leave you feeling disrespected? Ignored? Like you have
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Shared by Aaron Karmin, LCPC, Contributing Blogger January 16, 2019
A stream, from a far-off mountain, passed down through the countryside, until it at last reached the sands of the desert. Just as it had crossed every other barrier, the stream tried to cross the desert, but the stream found that as fast as it ran into the sand, its
Read More Shared by Aaron Karmin, LCPC, Contributing Blogger January 16, 2019
Managing our emotions revolves around four components: • 1 Expressing ourself • 2 Taking care of ourself • 3 Building up our tolerance for frustration • 4 Maintaining a positive outlook EXPRESSING OURSELF Most of us have heard the expression that communication is 10 percent information and 90 percent emotion.
Read More Shared by Aaron Karmin, LCPC, Contributing Blogger June 27, 2018
There are four reasons we get angry: • 1 Seeking revenge. We feel hurt, so we use anger to get even and make things fair. • 2 Preventing disaster. We feel worried, so we use anger to attack others to get control. • 3 Pushing others away. We feel sad,
Read More Shared by Aaron Karmin, LCPC, Contributing Blogger June 27, 2018
Many of us perceive ourself as being at the center of the world. This attitude is called egocentrism. As a consequence of this naive, self-centered perspective, we mistakenly conclude that we are somehow responsible for everything that happens in the world. We feel accountable for all the bad things that happen
Read More Shared by Aaron Karmin, LCPC, Contributing Blogger June 27, 2018
Some of us feel terribly out of control when others are unable to “explain” events to our satisfaction. When we are unable to come up with an acceptable solution to a problem, we are often left focusing on who is at fault. It is like having an open wound. It
Read More Shared by Aaron Karmin, LCPC, Contributing Blogger June 27, 2018
When we feel badly about ourselves, we may imagine that we can relieve our pain by “proving” that we are superior. This is called overcompensation. The trouble is that it doesn’t work. We all want to be better than we are. We want to be smarter, happier, thinner, richer, wittier,
Read More Shared by Aaron Karmin, LCPC, Contributing Blogger June 27, 2018
Some people deal with their guilt by blaming others. We may deny our guilt because, very often, we are so full of guilt from the past that we cannot tolerate the addition of one more ounce in the present. We may be afraid that we will lash out, breakdown, or
Read More Shared by Aaron Karmin, LCPC, Contributing Blogger June 27, 2018
For some of us, happiness is not a given. We have to earn it. We have to work and struggle to prove we deserve it. Too many of us are working at it in an unhealthy way and wondering why our happiness is getting farther away instead of closer. The
Read More Shared by Aaron Karmin, LCPC, Contributing Blogger June 27, 2018
Anxiety is a completely normal physical response to protect ourself against a threat. It’s not ‘crazy’, ‘bitchy’, or controlling, and it is not a weakness to worry. There is a primitive part of the brain that’s geared toward driving our attention to threats. When it does, the body surges with
Read More Shared by Aaron Karmin, LCPC, Contributing Blogger June 27, 2018