Connecting Considerately IF dyad is defined by Webster’s Dictionary as pair; specifically, two individuals (such as husband and wife) maintaining a sociologically significant relationship, THEN, are you (choose as many as apply): 1. Part of a dyad 2. Previously part of a dyad 3. Hoping to be part of a dyad 4. Unhappy in your dyad 5. Fulfilled in your dyad The past two months I focused on couples in my videos and posts (check them out on my social media links at the bottom of the page). As David, Ellen and I work with couples in 2024, we are seeing a lot of themes. People are struggling. Commun ..read more

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What’s your word this year? I chose TRUST because I am working on my own commitment to be in the present and trust what happens.  In a way, I have to think less.              I have been committed to (my discovery in  2021) of a less than 30-second practice each morning.  At that time, the nightly routine of setting alarms for the next morning had diminished.   That left people with more leeway to decide whether to wake up “now” or “later”…and then, the more difficult thoughts of “why” to wake up at all ..read more

There’s a lot of information out there.  Some of it is right, some of it is sort of right, and some of it is not just wrong, but dangerous.  This article explores what we have been seeing in our office with self-diagnosing and not just self-diagnosing, but identifying, and even more deliberately celebrating, with a diagnosis, as a “brand”. Then there is this article that might be read by some as right and some as wrong. I can read it and relate, and that to me is a good article.  My own venture into Instagram and  TikTok with my recent themes (Borderline Personali ..read more

Love… It is such a short word that requires a rich vocabulary.  In the book The Art of Loving, Erich Fromm discusses how the practice of this “art” is highly personal and not a goal with steps  He talks about the need for discipline, concentration, patience, supreme concern, and that you also need to be sensitive toward yourself and know yourself (aka you have to overcome your narcissism).  It includes objectivity, reason and humility.  It is always productive, courageous and requires a commitment without a guarantee.  Love has particularly been on my mind over the pas ..read more

Back to school… This time of year is a relief for some and a dread for others.  I never put a feeling to it before I dropped my oldest at college, and now it comes with all sorts of emotions.  As I think about school, I am thinking about all that our kids, however old they are, experience.  And all that the parents experience too! Actually, as I was doing my social media video on sending kids off to college, I had to do several takes, as this topic really rings close to home for me.  Check it out in TikTok or Instagram when you have a second. There is a lot of trust that go ..read more

Another month/season is flying past us! Each one brings everyone new challenges. Lately, we’ve seen adult men-both single and in family relationships- facing the challenges of post-Covid life. According to a May article in the New York Times “traditional” male characteristics of stoicism, competitiveness, and aggressiveness, for example, may be what’s creating the phenomena of men disproportionately falling behind women in pursuing higher education; of men with higher levels of drug overdoses and suicide. In the era of Covid-isolation, spouses struggled to maintain a sense of individual identi ..read more

Are you one of “those” people who say sorry and move on? In my work, I have noticed the different styles and when it comes to saying the words “I’m Sorry”, there are certainly types.  There’s even a love language version of apologies. Apologies are complicated because it’s not just about you.  Many of us don’t even really care to hear the words “I’m sorry” unless the person can express why they are sorry and what they will do differently next time, and above all, how they can now right their wrong.  But then there are others who are literally only listening for those two words ..read more

Insights and Connections and Strategies and Hope…                What brings you to Love?  Joy? …Peace? Some important messages have resonated in 2023 so far and perhaps they resonate with you too. Who are you and can you change?  Should you change?  Do you want to change?  Are you capable of change?  Try not to answer this too quickly and instead try something different.  Be curious about this answer.  When we are curious, we tend to be more self-compassionate about why we are behaving and thinking in certain ways, and ..read more

It’s 2023 I think I was projecting when I gave my quotes to Today.com for New Year’s Resolutions.  There are a lot of suggestions I made for this article that I had been saying to myself lately (among them,  I suggest the three key strategies to mental health, reframing friendships, and a reminder to all of us about how to prioritize smarter). I mention the word of the year.  Do you choose one?  I chose mine last year as a spur-of-the-moment thing and then someone gave me a bracelet with the word on it coincidentally.  It was a good word for me to keep in mind in 202 ..read more