Suzi. She Brought Out the Best in Me, Emotions and Stress

Suzi. She Brought Out the Best in Me Emotions and Stress Suzi went travelling this morning. She’s the tan and white one. She was almost 24 years old. I’ve always believed pets are on this earth to remind us that we were created to live in joy. In joy now. …

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Ask a Psychologist: Married with Friends

Nickel Therapy, Ask a Psychologist **“Why Nickel Therapy” is background for this article. The Case of “Married with Friends” Dear Dr. DeShong: I’ve been married over twenty years. I love my husband and ours is the most important relationship in my life. Still when I need to talk about something …

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Me? Host Thanksgiving? You’ve got to be crazy! . . . Siblings

Me?  Host Thanksgiving?  You’ve got to be crazy! Stress and Sibling Position The importance of sibling position didn’t really come up in our family until the Thanksgiving my older sister had reasons she couldn’t host the big meal. She announced this alteration to life’s grand plan at a Sunday dinner in …

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Dreams, Goals. How to Get Stuff Done

Dreams, Goals. How to Get Stuff Done The lead photograph is a picture of Alvin Bailey, the head groom at the stable when I was a kid, a beloved friend, and one of my finest teachers. He was close to eighty when I asked him this question, “Alvin, why do …

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Money Doesn’t Live Up to the Hype: Lessons from Eloise

Money Doesn’t Live Up to the Hype:  Lessons from Eloise If the Book Is a Mistake, Put it Down! For quite a while I’ve wanted to do a series based on lessons I learned from a late friend, older than me by several decades, and wealthier than me by several …

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Hope: Two Women, Robin Williams, and Living NOW

MysteryShrink: Two Women and Living in the NOW The truth about psychology and psychologists:  We long to be scientific—to prove our medications, our talk therapy works.  We long to assist ourselves and other humans to find more joy and make more sense of their lives. We mostly fail on both …

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Life, Death, Self-esteem, and Writing Stories, Part 1

Life, Death, Self-esteem, and Writing Stories, Part 1 This article was written as a guest post on the blog of Literary Agent Helen Zimmermann who has Project Publish, a helpful blog for aspiring writers. The topic of my entry is the emotional side of writing—specifically on how your life can …

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