My clients often ask me: “What is a healthy relationship?”. This is a great question because it’s not obvious or instinctual to many, especially if you were abused as a child or you’ve witnessed or experienced abuse in a romantic relationship. If you’ve had a history of abuse or other trauma, it can be hard to know what a healthy relationship […]
Tag Archives: san jose
14 Ways to be Happier in 2016
14 ways to be happier in 2016. This article provides straight-forward strategies to increase your happiness and create a happy, healthy life in the new year.
How to Create Lasting Change through Therapy
After 20 years as a therapist, I know a few things about how to promote lasting change through therapy. I wrote a post called How to Succeed in Therapy and another one called How to Get the Most Out of Therapy. But there are still a couple things worth emphasizing if you’re serious about changing. I like to set realistic expectations when I […]
Is Silicon Valley Stressing You Out?
After 20 years in Silicon Valley, I’m well acquainted with the ups and down of life in the high-tech world. Silicon Valley is a unique place – home to technology giants like Google, Facebook, Adobe, and Apple, a diverse workforce, and housing shortage that can only be described as insane. And stress. Lots of stress. For as long as I can remember, […]
Conversations Infertile Couples Need to Have
Infertility is extremely stressful for couples. It challenges your decision-making skills, finances, emotions, physical health, and sometimes religious or spiritual beliefs. And although infertility isn’t uncommon, I continue to see couples suffering in secret. Guilt and shame in addition to sadness and frustration can lead to isolation. It’s hard to emotionally support your partner when you’re both experiencing high levels of stress, anger, and sadness. When you’re struggling to […]
Perfectionist Habits
I recently wrote an article for Psych Central titled The Top 10 Confessions of a Recovering Perfectionist. In it, I revealed ten of my perfectionist habits. I’ve worked long and hard on overcoming perfectionism. And I still continue to challenge that negative internal voice that says “it’s not good enough”. I’ve learned to let go of a […]
Spring Cleaning for your Emotional Life
Spring is a time of new beginnings, growth, hope. It’s also the time of year to clean out the garage and closets, discard what’s broken or obsolete. Perhaps you’ll find some treasures among the junk as well. But when’s the last time you cleaned out your emotional life? Things can pile up in our emotional life as well. Sometimes you’re […]
How to get the most out of therapy
Therapy is a big investment of time and money. We also know it is a lot of work and can have a huge payoff. Here are a few suggestions for getting the most out of therapy. Keep your appointments: It seems obvious, but many people are inconsistent with their attendance and don’t make therapy sessions a priority. Nothing slows […]