DARK SHADOWS  In the modern era, psychologist Carl Jung popularized the concept that all human beings harbor "shadow selves", parts of ourselves that contain impulses, thoughts, actions and emotions that we label as "bad," destructive, unsavory, even humiliating....

Part of therapy is setting goals, helping clients clarify where they are heading and how to get there. So often, I hear clients recite a litany of behaviors, choices, attitudes and feelings they think they, or others, "should" be demonstrating or following. "I should...

Has marijuana gone mainstream? With the states of Colorado and Washington legalizing the use and sale of marijuana, and 20 other states allowing the use of "medical marijuana" to treat certain illnesses, it may appear that marijuana use is losing its image as a health...

Most of us experience butterflies in our stomachs before giving an important speech. We may feel jittery and anxious prior to a job interview. But for individuals suffering from social anxiety disorder, social situations of almost any kind can invoke terror, intense...

Albert Camus believed that psychology is ACTION, that we cannot know ourselves simply by thinking about who we are, we must ACT. And yet owning our power and behaving from its seat within us is a daunting task for many people. Assert Yourself Assertiveness can be...

Human beings are wired to avoid pain. Touch a hot stove once, and we steer clear next time the burner is lit. Get rebuffed by a loved one when we make a request, and we may hesitate to ask the next time. Similarly, we humans pursue pleasure. Remember the advertising...

Joining a gym. CHECK. Eating healthier. CHECK. Quitting smoking. CHECK. Taking a daily multivitamin. CHECK. We easily, even casually, commit to self-care habits like these time and time again, knowing that the most effective path to good health is a proactive,...

Our fantasies about childhood include images of freedom from responsibility, long summer vacations, bike riding, knee-skinning and being in a perpetual state of wonder about the world. Most of us don't equate childhood with illness, even less so with mental illness....

I am the Ebeneezer Scrooge of pet owners. I loathe trudging through the rain, snow and dark of night to take my dogs on their thrice-daily constitutionals. I resent the hair on my sofa, the muddy paw prints on my wood floor, and my pets' craving for toilet paper. (I'm...

Much news has been made over the past few years about the plasticity of the human brain: the brain's ability to physically, neurochemically and emotionally change throughout our lifetimes. Previously, we had believed that the brain, and therefore ourselves, stopped...