Navigating a Nation on Edge: Resilience Amid High Stress
Even in what might seem a “mild” season of forest fires, the air feels charged, as though we’re walking on smoldering embers. Tensions are high—both within us and in the world around us. Fuses are short, demands pressing, tempers flaring, and even the sincerest apologies often seem to fall flat. We are living through a […]
Silent Storms: How Mindfulness Helped Me Reclaim My Self-Worth
“You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.” ~Jon Kabat-Zinn We often hear about storms as powerful forces of nature, but for many of us, the most intense storms are the silent ones—those we battle internally. For me, this storm took the shape of bullying. While I appeared to handle the daily […]
Research-Tested Ways to Preserve Democracy
Just days before the presidential election, U.S. political divisions are bitter and deep, and polarization seems like a permanent condition. But a new approach developed by UC Berkeley researchers shows strong promise as a way to ease suspicion and rebuild trust among voters on all sides, according to a mega-study released last week in the […]
The Brain’s Cholesterol Holds Promise for New Treatments
Before we discuss the exciting new discovery of cholesterol-based drugs, have you ever considered why your brain is white? It is because the brain synthesizes its own cholesterol through a process called de novo lipogenesis. The brain’s ability to produce cholesterol is essential because it cannot rely solely on cholesterol from the bloodstream due to […]
Differentiating Mental Health, Illness, and Performance
Mental health, mental illness, and mental performance are distinct concepts that impact the way we think, feel, and behave. They may be correlated to each other, but not always. Understanding and improving Mental health, mental illness, and mental performance can help us live our most healthy and authentic lives. This post will define the concepts […]
How I’m Learning to Live with Anxiety, Not Against It
“Your anger? It’s telling you where you feel powerless. Your anxiety? It’s telling you that something in your life is off balance. Your fear? It’s telling you what you care about. Your apathy? It’s telling you where you’re overextended and burnt out. Your feelings aren’t random, they are messengers. And if you want to get […]
How Self-Compassion Can Help You Deal With Stress
While we may have heard that it’s important to treat ourselves with kindness, sometimes this is easier said than done, especially when we’re under stress. When we’re facing challenging circumstances, we may fall back into less productive thought patterns, like ruminating or blaming ourselves. We may even worry that we’re going too easy on ourselves […]
Resistance in the Black Community to Mental Health Services
I met with a group of approximately 40 Black women and proposed this simple question to them: “What Is It?” In my clinical experience, I frequently listen to comments from other Mental health professionals and agency representatives about why the Black community often seems to fail to seek Mental health diagnoses, treatment, and services. Two […]
A Simple Formula for Making Career Decisions
Source: Camrocker/Depositphotos No matter how much you want to make a change in your career or life, if the change requires taking risks, your brain will likely concoct rationalizations to avoid possible pain, even if the choice clearly offers personal satisfaction and meaningful success. The awkwardness of trying something new or showing up in a […]
Parental Stress at an All-Time High
Co-authored by Sarah MacLaughlin, LSW You’ve probably heard about the recent U.S. Surgeon General Advisory on parental stress. Parents and caregivers feeling stressed is not a new phenomenon. However, today’s levels of stress have parents at a breaking point, with 41 percent of parents saying that most days they feel so stressed they can’t even […]