“Can we have some screen time?” I get this request from my daughters (ages 7 & 9) almost every afternoon. Sometimes I say yes, sometimes I say no. When I say no, sometimes my kids throw tantrums, but mostly they don’t. Mostly they find something else to do, sometimes on
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Shared by Carla Naumburg, Ph.D, Contributing Blogger May 11, 2018
Today, in our society dependent is a dirty word. It’s a synonym for weak, helpless, clinging, incapable, immature and inferior. Literally. Because when you look up “dependent” in a thesaurus, those are the very words you’ll find. Naturally, we don’t want to be any of those things, so we see
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Shared by Margarita Tartakovsky, M.S., Contributing Blogger April 26, 2018
If we have a bad tooth, we go to the dentist; if our car breaks down, we go to the mechanic. Seeking support is a sign of strength, not weakness. We all need help from time to time and it’s a sign of strength and intelligence to know when to
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Shared by Aaron Karmin, LCPC, Contributing Blogger April 24, 2018
Anxiety is frustrating. You feel like a stranger inside your own body. You feel like there are mini explosions inside your head, inside your heart. Sometimes, you shake. Sometimes, you sweat. Sometimes, the sensations are hard to describe: You simply feel off or downright terrible. Your thoughts race each other
Read More Shared by Margarita Tartakovsky, M.S., Contributing Blogger April 19, 2018
When writer Elaina J. Martin was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, she felt “less than.” “I felt like other people were better than me, less damaged than I was.” In the first few years of her diagnosis, psychotherapist Colleen King, LMFT, worried she’d never be able to function at a higher
Read More Shared by Margarita Tartakovsky, M.S., Contributing Blogger April 8, 2018
It’s hard enough to navigate social media as an adult. Many of us start feeling envious of others’ lives and experience self-doubt. Even one image can lead us to question everything from our weight to our worth, from our career choices to our day-to-day routines. We know the images are
Read More Shared by Margarita Tartakovsky, M.S., Contributing Blogger April 6, 2018
In our society, we’re constantly striving to feel positive emotions—only positive emotions. Happiness. Joy. Gratitude. Calm. Peace. We see sadness as unhealthy and wrong, so when it arises, we feel unhealthy and wrong for experiencing it. We see sadness as unproductive. We just “don’t see the point” in feeling sad,
Read More Shared by Margarita Tartakovsky, M.S., Contributing Blogger April 4, 2018
Bedtime can be rough, and not just for the kids. Folks get cranky, it’s hard to get motivated, and kids rarely fall asleep as quickly as we want them to. (In their defense, many of us adults also struggle with that same issue.) The reality is that bedtime is easier
Read More Shared by Carla Naumburg, Ph.D, Contributing Blogger March 30, 2018
Bipolar disorder is a difficult illness. It affects everything. In addition to affecting your mood, it affects your judgment, concentration, memory, energy and sleep. It affects your relationships. It affects your everyday. It can bring about a deep, sinking despair, or jolt you into a euphoric state where your brain
Read More Shared by Margarita Tartakovsky, M.S., Contributing Blogger March 22, 2018
Crazy hair day. For the record, hair chalk is a huge pain in the tushy. This weekend was a shitshow, y’all. Saturday morning found me dropping off one kid (not my own) who had spent the night at our house and then picking up my daughter, who had spent the
Read More Shared by Carla Naumburg, Ph.D, Contributing Blogger March 6, 2018