Search Results for: couples experiencing relationship trouble

creating a life of meaning

Creating a Life of Meaning and Compassion: Part I

…nd feelings is a necessary but insufficient component in creating a loving relationship. Love must also be expressed through loving behavior to optimally affect our partner, family member, or friend. Abstract Reasoning and Creativity Human beings have the unique capacity for abstract thought. The creation of language, the development of complex mathematical systems, and the evolution of culture began with the ability to think abstractly, in symbol…

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“Nobody Likes Me:” Understanding Loneliness and Self-shame

…cal Inner Voice Dr. Robert Firestone known as Voice Therapy. If someone is experiencing feelings of depression, anxiety, loneliness or social isolation, it can be extremely beneficial to seek therapy. This can help them sort through where their self-shaming feelings come from and how to challenge them. Going through the steps of voice therapy with a trained therapist can have significant benefits. There are also exercises we can practice on our ow…

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Self-Loathing

…r, fear, self-hatred, in fact, the whole complex of emotions the parent is experiencing at that time. And so, due to very human – hence very fallible – upbringings, we have all been subjected to situations and times in which we were made to feel like we were somehow bad, inadequate, or desperately needing to prove otherwise. Robert Firestone’s most recent work, Overcoming the Destructive Inner Voice – True Stories of Therapy and Transformation, is…

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Accepting Our Anger During the Pandemic

…I have anger. I’ve been surprised to find that I’m not the only one who’s experiencing this. People I’ve talked to recently have expressed the same frustration, impatience, and irritability. And they’ve also felt the same confusion and disapproval of their reactions. As much as I know that all feelings are natural and part of being human, I keep forgetting that it is okay to feel angry. I have to remember to accept anger as easily as the Dalai La…

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I Feel Lonely: What To Do When You’re Feeling Alone

…what you want from your social relationships and your perception of those relationships.” Feeling lonely can trigger thoughts that we are unloved or unlikeable. Your critical inner voice will come up with a nasty list of reasons that you are lonely, viciously attacking you and the people around you. For example, you may attack yourself for being “awkward” or “creepy” and then act quiet in a group of people. Subsequently, you may then attack yours…

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Nourishing Your Resilience in Hard Times

…enter a new year. At one point, he offhandedly remarked that we seem to be experiencing so many daily sources of alarm and distress that we don’t even have time to process one before we’re on to the next. This simple statement resonated with me. So many people seem to barely have a handle on one unprecedented circumstance when another is thrown their way. This can lead to a sense of disarray or feeling of perpetual anxiety. My question for 2021 is…

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Coping with Grief

…que to us. It cannot be washed away by the waves of sadness anyone else is experiencing, but the fact that others are going through the same thing can help us connect even more to a sense of our common humanity, resilience, and compassion. Grief is part of the human condition, and we all have the capacity to heal and cope. This does not mean we will forget or get over anything, but we can start to make meaning of our experience and find ways to mo…

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The Art of Calming Down

…gel calls “Mindsight” to step back and create a barrier between what we’re experiencing and how we react. Mindsight describes our “capacity to label, analyze and clarify our internal emotional world and how it responds to the world around us.” We can cultivate this capacity by using mindfulness skills. Mindfulness allows us to see our thoughts and feelings like ships passing on the horizon. We can watch each silhouette sail by, but we don’t need t…

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Understanding Our Emotional Triggers

…l triggers is to look deeper than the present words or circumstances we’re experiencing. Instead, we must look back into the hurtful events that impacted us in the past, particularly during our developmental years. Our intense emotional responses are heavily shaped by our history. The feelings or words that trigger us have direct connections to the ways we were seen and treated as well as attitudes to which we were exposed. Triggering events tap i…

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Challenging Depression

…f During the pandemic, a major study showed that the number of U.S. adults experiencing depression tripled. Depression is already the most common mental health disorder in America. With more and more people being affected, it is essential that we uncover tools, techniques, and treatments that help those suffering understand and overcome depression. Effective therapies to treat depression involve dealing with distorted cognitions and beliefs as wel…

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