The U.S. Open, the last of the tennis year’s four majors, is powering its way to the finals, and I’m psyched. Tennis is an intense human drama that showcases the psychology of winning — belief in self, winning through intimidation, body language, gamesmanship, positive self-talk, courage, and reaching deep past pain and fatigue to tap the will to win. It’s not surprising as a couples therapist I would remark on the […]
Photograph of Rachel and her husband Chris on their wedding day. Photo credit: Martha Manning Photography I blog for the government’s disability website, Disability.gov If you haven’t visited, do so; it’s cool, comfy, and inspiring. At a recent look-see, I plopped into a story about Rachelle Friedman, written by the person who knows her best — herself. You might remember her story. Last year, at Rachelle’s bachelorette party, a friend’s playful gesture […]
Open mouth, insert foot. It’s the verbal version of walking through the restaurant with toilet paper on your shoe. We’ve all experienced the mortification of poor verbal choices. Sometimes, embarrassing stuff just happens. Letting those blunders happen more often than not, though, is a problem that goes beyond stuff that sometimes happens. In fact, as I describe on my website www.BeingHeardNow.,com, verbal pratfalls reflect how good your communication skills are overall. Luckily, […]
I was in the health food store yesterday and helped a little girl, about 8 years old, who couldn’t reach the roll of plastic food bags. When I left the store, I saw her standing with an older woman; I smiled at the woman and asked if the little blonde was her granddaughter. In halting, Scandinavian-accented English she told me no, the little girl was her daughter. Hoping my embarrassment didn’t show I went […]
I don’t know when it became fashionable to identify pregnancy as an adventure à deux. It always seemed lopsided that pregnancy excluded men from throwing up, having swollen ankles and shrewish moods. I’m not even talking about all those forever changes like stretch marks, a bigger butt, and wider hips. With the possibility of gestational diabetes, postpartum depression, or miscarriage, the adventure becomes a challenge, albeit one that affects the […]
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