Self-Care in the New Year – Part I

I don’t know why, but I really don’t like making New Year’s resolutions.  However, I do strive for self-improvement and growth all year long.  One of my main focal points over the last year has been improving self-care, and I carry this into 2019 as well.  I have found a new at-home practice to be…

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Be Happy…”Be here now.” ~ Ram Dass

This sounds so simple, but it is certainly not easy. How many times have you been brushing your teeth only to realize that you are brushing really hard and not present with the simple task at hand – you’ve drifted away, lost in thought about the past or future? To practice, simply choose one activity to…

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Be Happier, Show Kindness

One of the best ways to create more happiness and joy in your own life is to show kindness and compassion toward others.  You don’t have to take my word for it; just take a few weeks and experiment on yourself. There are many ways to show kindness in this world, so you can also…

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Therapy Tidbits: How to Be Happy in a Relationship – Premarital Counseling

People in relationships often struggle to hold onto their own identity within the partnership.  This is not necessarily gendered or specific to opposite sex relationships. A long-term relationship (LTR) is the coming together of two individuals choosing to live their lives together.  It really isn’t the romantic notion of “two becoming one.”  This idea seems…

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Be Happy in 2017

With the New Year just around the corner, it seems important to take a look at the expectations we have around happiness in our lives. People seem to confuse happiness with pleasure and/or peak experiences of joy. We are not meant to constantly be in a state of “happiness,” which means we are chasing something…

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SECRETS TO A HAPPY LONG-TERM RELATIONSHIP – PART II

Indulge yourself.  This may seem counter-intuitive, but it works. Generally, we help care for one another in relationships, but this only truly works well when you are also continuing to care for and about yourself. Take the time to do something for you and only you at least once a week (I’d prefer once daily, but…

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