Why Do We Dream?

Boundaries remain important even though a parent may be heavily involved in an adult child's life. Money and the exchange of it can be symbolically charged and needs to be handled carefully and with attention. Differences in opinion about childrearing are a hot-button issue for many adult children and their...

The pleasure of completing a piece of professional development never seems to last, so we often crave more training and seminars. It’s the "hedonic treadmill" that brings us back to where we started, satisfaction-wise. There are ways to get off the professional development treadmill. Start by appreciating what you...

A camera’s sensor has many pixels and it sees a full-detailed picture all of the time. But the eye can’t freeze and record all of the details. While the camera can and does record what’s actually there, it can’t reproduce what was in your mind when you took the picture.

Microdosing refers to taking a sub-perceptual dose of a substance, usually in the range of a tenth to a twentieth of a full recreational dose. Before microdosing, consult with a healthcare professional, understand the laws in your area, and be aware of potential negative effects. Microdosing is not a substitute...

Following death, divorce, moving, and illness, the loss of a job is one of the top life stressors. Studies show that job instability is linked to worsening mental health. Feelings of powerlessness and lack of agency are two of the contributors to the emotional distress caused by job instability. Another...

Discover how to convey you desire for adolescents to be their authentic selves, but that maturity demands sacrificing for the greater good. Recognize what our unwritten social contract is within the world around us and how it works for us or against us, like it or not. There are practical...

Around 42 percent of Americans "actively avoid the news at least some of the time." Research shows that different ways of engaging with the news can be either harmful to our mental health or empowering. By assuming detached engagement, we can strive to be invested in what’s going on in...

This post was co-authored by Laura O'Loughlin. Steering out of a driveway, I noticed a squirrel sprint onto the sidewalk near my car, so I stopped to watch. A companion squirrel ran after and stopped as well. The first squirrel started convulsing which turned into a long violent seizure. The other squirrel and I watched, stunned. After many moments, the first squirrel died. The other one, in a very human sort of way, looked distraught, scared, and sad. As I watched this scene, I noticed a fog descend over me. I was frozen and floaty. I couldn’t think straight. This was a familiar feeling; I was dissociating.

People who watch romantic television and movies report higher relationship commitment and satisfaction rates. Though we often blame romantic movies for setting too high expectations for relationships, they may make relationships better. Despite the stereotypes, many men like watching romantic movies. It seems that most couples I know are experiencing...

Artificial intelligence will never provide the same emotional high of creativity. Focus on the process, not the product, and enjoy creating. Regardless of the current hype in the media today, AI will never replace the writer. Last Friday, I received an email from my boss. The subject line: Implications of...

Living single can be such a vastly different experience for different people. At one end are the people who are distraught to be single and often invest heavily in becoming coupled. At the other end are the "single at heart"—people for whom single life is their best life—their most authentic, meaningful, fulfilling, and psychologically rich life. The single at heart are not settling for being single—they are embracing it. In single life, they flourish.

Many theories hold that males are naturally more aggressive than females. Several studies now show that women tend to be more aggressive than men, at least online. It may be time to re-think whether aggression is a biological trait or a social one. New research into cyberaggression suggests women are...

Did you know lifestyle changes activate genes to fight cancers? That how you spend your time influences both genetic function and how you function?. In his groundbreaking National Geographic piece, Michael F. Roizin makes an undeniably compelling case for leading a healthy lifestyle. He asserts that 40 percent of premature deaths in the United States are related to lifestyle choices.

Some people never got what they needed from their parents, while some parents who were once good caregivers stop giving to their adult kids. Children tend to blame themselves when their parents are unkind or ungiving. Children also tend to believe that parents are capable of doing whatever they need...

Procrastination is a tool that people use to feel good and avoid pain. Avoidance of pain through procrastination is ultimately harmful as it reduces resilience and keeps an individual stuck in procrastination loops. To address procrastination, one must look at the root emotions beneath the surface, rather than focus on...

We engage in cultural affirmation when we broadcast positive, valuable aspects of belonging to a particular cultural group or social category. Because we experience higher self-esteem when we belong to a valued group, we’re sometimes motivated to devalue other groups. A better way to increase self-esteem is to build...

When zero-gen daters are exposed to a novel romantic situation, they could freeze. ‎. Any breach of the social script could lead to social exclusion. How to relate to people is a delicate dynamic that frustrates many zero-gen daters.‎. Mohammed is a pseudonym of a zero-gen dater through ‎whom I...

A highly relational person (HRP) is highly tuned in and reactive to relational dynamics and invested in maintaining relational connection. HRPs can find comfort and strength simply knowing that there are others like them. If you’re an HRP, when you hone your relational gift and cultivate relational skills, it can...

Answers are overrated in the art of living. Sometimes we are afraid to both move forward and turn back; we're stuck right where we are. Learning through exploration and curiosity fuels the potential for change and growth. One of my therapy clients said something so profound the other day it...

For children on the spectrum, behaviors that may seem similar to their neurotypical peers can be attributed to varying underlying mechanisms. A profile offers clarification into a child’s experience and how the environment can support them. Profiles are helpful tools for facilitating understanding and communication. Here, in Australia, a...