We all have conflicts, and the closer the person, the more intense the conflict. In fact it’s in our closest relationships, with husbands, wives, and children, that our conflicts can become pretty painful fights. At their worst, those fights repeat over and over again in a pattern that becomes a nasty fight cycle. Couples often come to me when they’re stuck at this point. They want to change but it’s really hard at this point for them to do it on their own.
Managing college stress
After a month since returning to school, how are you doing? Feeling any of that Syllabus Shock? Have you settled into routines of classes, dining hall hours, sports practice or music rehearsal or the on-campus job? For a lot of students, September is an exciting time of reconnecting with friends, meeting new people, signing up for clubs and committees. With so many opportunities offered to you at the start of each semester, it can be easy to overbook yourself and forget to leave time for, oh, I don’t know…sleep. Exercise. Eating well. Studying, even.
Compassion and Comparison
How many times have I been in a support group and someone says, “I’m not like them. Why should I be here?” Or maybe, “You’ve never been through it, so how would you know what it’s like?” I think that when people say this, they’re really asking the question: Will anyone get it? Will anyone take the time to hear, to see, to suffer with me?
Helping children cope with chronic illness
The diagnosis of a chronic and/or life-limiting illness in a child can overwhelm a family. While parents are coping with their own grief and fears, they also have much to learn and many decisions to make. One of the biggest challenges they face is how to talk to the child about the illness.
Digging deep?
You can’t dig your way out of a hole. Think about it. You are in a hole and you keep digging. What happens? Eventually, the hole gets so deep that you can’t throw the dirt out of the hole anymore and it just keeps falling back down around you. If you start to dig sideways, the integrity of the walls weakens and risks falling in around you. What should you do?
Storytelling
Storytelling is an ancient art. Once upon a time, humans relied on the spoken word to pass down information about origins, about beliefs and cultural identity. Nowadays, we have books, e-readers, podcasts, live theatre, social media, scrapbooking, television, documentaries, newspapers, magazines, all dedicated to telling stories. Some are “true” and some are “fiction” and most are comprised of a little of both.