Wishing you and yours a most happy, healthy and fulfilling 2009! Rather than getting stuck with the idea of making resolutions for the New Year (and the attendant guilt of not fulfilling them), try, “Makin’ a list and checkin’ it twice”, by asking these questions as 2009 approaches: 1. In what SPECIFIC ways do you [...]

Never underestimate the importance of having back-up plans. Rather than being wedded to specific outcomes, try having one or more additional ideas of how you can meet your needs or objectives if all does not go exactly according to schedule. What do you do when things don’t work out just the way they were “supposed [...]

A recent study conducted at the University of Missouri-Columbia, indicated that spending an inordinate amount of time dwelling on problems can have serious negative effects, including depression, anxiety and hypertension. Although this study focused on “co-ruminating” (excessive discussion and re-hashing of problems, accentuating negative feelings without taking steps to ameliorate the dilemmas), between girls, the [...]

Automatic Negative Thoughts (ANTS) are automatic largely because they have recurred many times over one’s lifetime. Significant emotional experiences during childhood or adolescence intensify these responses, so the likelihood of them disappearing overnight is between slim and none! ANT elimination therefore requires repeated counter-attacks. Placing them under the “microscope” reveals them to be untrue and [...]