Imagine that you have to deal with the following two people at work: The first person is a new on the team. She’s young, fresh out of school, inexperienced, and has to cope with a steep learning curve, but her academic record bears out the fact that she’s not afraid of hard work. She’s eager […]

There have been several memorable “thank you” speeches from athletes, actors, and other award-winners. Adrien Brody’s smooch with Halle Berry after winning the Oscar for “Best Actor”; Roberto Beningni’s chair-leaping; Michael Sam’s speech that brought many to tears, and Nelson Mandela’s powerful oration after winning the Nobel Peace Prize. There is one common thread in […]

In last week’s blog we discussed the protective role of emotional intelligence. Specifically, it’s ability to act as a buffer against depression. Here are the next list of factors where depressed individuals and non-depressed individuals in our study differed the most: Self-esteem Score for depressed group: 56 Score for non-depressed group: 73 Self-esteem is like […]

When I was a teenager, I used to imagine what it would be like to have a switch in the back of my head that could shut off my emotions, never having to feel sadness, anger, and anxiety until I wanted to. Despite the fact that I am extremely analytical, striving always to find a […]

It hasn’t been easy for Millennials. They’ve been labeled as selfish, self-absorbed, apathetic, and over-indulged. An article in the Daily Mail described them as being “unable to deal with the real world.” The Atlantic simply classified them as economically unlucky, while Moneyish gets down to specifics, claiming that Millennials are so stressed out that some […]

Deterministic theory proposes that all events and actions are caused by factors outside of human control. Something in our environment or in our genes pushes us to inevitably make a certain decision or commit an act, like a child who grows up to become aggressive as a result of being raised by violent parents. This […]

When two of my Millennial cousins graduated from high school, they both decided to become police officers. A year or so into the program, both quit. One is now an accountant, the other is a gym teacher. My Millennial brother completed his accounting degree, but went back to school and is now an English teacher. […]

In last week’s blog, I started a top ten list of traits that can act as a protective barrier against stress. Let’s continue: Optimism Score for happy, non-therapy group: 63 Score for unhappy, in-therapy group: 43 I think when most people envision an optimist, they picture an airy, tree-hugging idealist with no common sense and […]

I am not at my best when I am dealing with a stressful situation. I’m distracted, indecisive, and on edge. I can’t eat and I can’t sleep. I am barely functional. So when the time comes for the zombie apocalypse, let’s face it: I’m zombie lunch for sure. I just won’t have the psychological wherewithal […]

I’m not one of those people who eat up celebrity gossip magazines like fries. The only time I even glance at one is when I’m waiting in line at the grocery store, and only because they’re so conveniently located near the cash register – and because the headlines honestly make me giggle. I do, however, […]

I happened to be at a friend’s house when she ripped into her mother for something that I perceived as a minor issue.  After screaming in a dialect that I couldn’t understand, she visibly forced herself to calm down and turned back to me. “People really shouldn’t mess with me when I’m PMSing.” I smiled…until […]

“Procrastination makes easy things hard, hard things harder.” Mason Cooley We often equate procrastination with laziness. It’s the “I’ll-do-it-tomorrow” syndrome, which often turns into next week, next month, next year, or never. It’s how I react to spring cleaning. I’ll look at the windows, knowing that they need to be washed, and then think, “It’s […]