By Judith Sherven, PhD NABBW’s Associate for Healthy Relationships Hear Yea! Hear Yea! Let it be known across the land: Receiving Praise and Compliments for Your Excellence Does NOT Make You Big-headed! Yet, in a recent workshop “Overcoming the Fear of Being Fabulous: It’s Time To Shatter Your Inner Glass Ceiling” (which my husband Jim Sniechowski, PhD and I present quite often as a career building and leadership boosting opportunity for corporate audiences) predictably some of the main reasons people gave about their difficulty receiving acknowledgment of their excellence were: I’ll... Read More

By Judith Scherven, Ph.D. NABBW’s Associate for Healthy Relationships  Here we are at the end of 2014, getting ready for a new year in just a few days. For many people it will be “business as usual.” No point in getting stressed out with ideas of larger success. No point in reaching beyond what’s already working. And no point in ruffling the egos of colleagues or competitors. And that’s just fine, if it’s fine with you. BUT if it’s not, if you want to use this coming year to seriously advance your home life or your career, then here’s a delicious challenge for you: “What’s... Read More

Are You Guilty of Taking Your Excellence For Granted? By Judith Sherven, Ph.D. NABBW’s Associate for Healthy Relationships Perhaps… You did well in school with practically no effort. You’ve always been well-liked, even in grammar school. You’ve aced every employment interview you’ve ever had. Your people skills feel like second nature and people have always come to you for help. You receive praise from your manager but it doesn’t mean much because you’ve always been able to perform well. You enjoy your work because using your best skills is a real pleasure so you don’t... Read More

What Inspires Me: Understanding The Anxiety-Depression Swing By Judith Sherven, Ph.D. NABBW’s Healthy Relationships Associate When I was early on in my private practice as a clinical psychologist some 30 years ago, I kept noticing how so many of my clients suffered from a pattern of anxiety as they pursued a goal that they desired (their frustration with not achieving the goal was usually the reason they had come to me for help in the first place). Yet, after making some minor progress they would reel back from the anxiety and soon they would fall into a nagging depression. These weren’t... Read More

As It Does Every Year, The Year-End Holiday Season Offers Us An Opportunity to Recognize and Celebrate The Magic Of Our Cultural and Religious Differences. Why Not Relish It? By Judith Sherven, Ph.D. NABBW’s Healthy Relationships Expert The year\’s fourth quarter — the period from October through the first of the next year — is a wonderful time of the year. There are a number of major holidays of course. But more importantly, these events give us a huge opportunity to recognize and celebrate the magic of the global “melting pot” in which we live and work. For example,... Read More

Looking for Something to Do Together? How About Taking Ballroom Dance Lessons! (No Worries About “So You Think You Can Dance?” The Answer Is: “Yes, You Can!“) By Judith Sherven, Ph.D. NABBW’s Healthy Relationships Expert If hot and sandy activities like swimming, snorkeling, scuba diving, and surfboarding are not your thing, but you want the pleasure of moving your body—get out and learn to dance. Even if you already enjoy dancing, like my husband Jim Sniechowski, PhD and I do, that doesn’t mean there isn’t more fun to be had. We do a mean “get down and... Read More

12 Secrets To Great Romance For The Rest Of Your Life By Judith Sherven, Ph.D. NABBW’s Healthy Relationships Expert Perhaps you\’re in a long-term relationship and the joy is gone. You don\’t want to be with anyone else but you wish it could be more fun, more exciting. Do you miss when you were younger and felt more comfortable being silly and playful as a form of real romance? Did you get married and decide you had to act like “grown-ups” and a lot of the fun went with it? Or have you always thought you needed to be serious in matters of love? Maybe you’re... Read More

12 Secrets To Great Romance For The Rest Of Your Life By Judith Sherven, Ph.D. NABBW’s Healthy Relationships Expert You can have The New Intimacy in your life. And, it\’s easier than you think! All you have to do is begin practicing the first of these ten steps. When you feel comfortable, add the next one that attracts you most. Before long you\’ll notice a difference in your confidence, self-respect, your capacity to give and receive love and, of course, the intimacy that makes it all worthwhile. See what magic you create! Step 1: ACCEPT COMPLIMENTS. Do you have trouble accepting... Read More

Can You Be Loved for Being Different? By Judith Sherven, Ph.D. NABBW’s Healthy Relationships Expert Before we get into what it means to be loved for being different in your wisdom-elder years, we want to take you on a bit of a vision quest. When you were growing up what did you learn about how you were supposed to think about and treat people who were different from you and your family? What did your family say? How about your friends? Neighbors? What were the messages you received either openly or by suggestion? You may not have an answer right off, because this is not a question that... Read More

Conflicts Can Be… Romantic? By Judith Sherven, Ph.D. NABBW’s Healthy Relationships Expert Romantic conflicts are as common as . . . Money, Sex, In-laws, Holidays, Feeling Ignored, Vacations Enough Time Together, Lack of Listening, Dirty Fighting The “Right Way” to Do Things, “You Just Don\’t Get It” and on and on . . . And whether you’ve been together for years and years, or you’ve become a couple just recently, no doubt both of you have your own unique trouble spots that make conflicts even more confusing. Add to that the entrenched ideas about... Read More