An old Cherokee chief is teaching his grandson about life. “A fierce fight is going on inside me.” The chief said to the boy. “It is between two wolves. “One wolf is evil. He is guilt, anger, envy, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, self-doubt and
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Shared by Aaron Karmin, LCPC, Contributing Blogger December 11, 2019
Many people with clinical depression have tried an array of medication and still feel sick. Maybe they’ve tried different selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) or selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs). Maybe they’ve taken these antidepressants along with an antipsychotic (a common strategy to boost effectiveness). Either way, the lack of
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Shared by Margarita Tartakovsky, M.S., Contributing Blogger November 27, 2019
Most of us have very specific, vivid ideas about what staying in a psychiatric hospital looks like. These ideas have likely been shaped by Hollywood or sensationalist news stories. Because how often do we hear about someone’s real-life stay at a psychiatric facility? If going to therapy is rarely talked
Read More Shared by Margarita Tartakovsky, M.S., Contributing Blogger September 6, 2019
Anger is like fire: it cannot survive without fuel. Like fire, unchecked anger can grow out of control and cause enormous damage and pain. But also like fire, anger can be recognized, controlled and managed in our lives. The fuel that keeps anger burning can come from many sources –
Read More Shared by Aaron Karmin, LCPC, Contributing Blogger August 14, 2019
The Secret Service’s National Threat Assessment Center, examined 28 mass shootings, which claimed nearly 150 lives and wounded hundreds. Between January and December 2017, 28 incidents of mass shootings, during which three or more persons were harmed, were carried out in public places within the United States. The assessment discovered
Read More Shared by Aaron Karmin, LCPC, Contributing Blogger August 8, 2019
You’re intensely insecure and self-conscious, so much so it feels like one of your prime attributes. You’d describe yourself as a true-blue pessimist or cynic. You don’t really get excited about anything. You have a hard time connecting with others. And you find yourself constantly exhausted and drained. Because it’s
Read More Shared by Margarita Tartakovsky, M.S., Contributing Blogger August 1, 2019
I had a client named Jack, who couldn’t see why he shouldn’t be “hard” on his wife and kids. It was for their own good. “I’m no harder on them than I am on myself,” he would say. In reality, no good could come of his critical and blaming approach to
Read More Shared by Aaron Karmin, LCPC, Contributing Blogger July 30, 2019
The more aligned a couple is on certain crucial dimensions, the better off they will be in the long term. Below are questions that can help to start thinking about how compatible a couple is: • Do we expect our partner to tell us the amount of money spent on
Read More Shared by Aaron Karmin, LCPC, Contributing Blogger July 24, 2019
We must allow children to experience the consequences of their choices. A consequence is defined simply as “the natural outcomes of behavior”. Consequences teach a valuable lesson: we make a choice/take an action or we do not, either way there is an impact on the outcome of events. Logical consequences
Read More Shared by Aaron Karmin, LCPC, Contributing Blogger July 24, 2019
The moment your body perceives a threat, the brain undergoes striking changes. Communication breaks down between the prefrontal cortex, where rational thought and judgment reside, and the amygdala, where fear rules the day. Your brain gets pumped up on hormones like testosterone and noradrenalin and epinephrine. It’s the latter two that pack the real emotional punch. But they
Read More Shared by Aaron Karmin, LCPC, Contributing Blogger July 24, 2019