Why do we resent having problems? Scott Peck began his classic The Road Less Traveled by saying that life is difficult and the sooner we accept that, the sooner our lives will improve. So why do we so resent and reject that notion? Why do we feel like failures when problems pop up, especially those […]
Why Are the Holidays Difficult? Everyone knows that the holidays are difficult for many people but sometimes it hard to pin down exactly what this season brings up for us. For those who have experienced a significant loss, especially since the last holiday season, getting through that first round of holidays without a loved one […]
Our Two Lives In the 1952 novel “The Natural” by Bernard Malamud about a baseball prodigy whose career is sidetracked when he is shot by a sociopathic serial killer, later turned into a Robert Redford (drool) movie, one line rings true for all of us. It goes something like this: We get two lives, one […]
The Top Ten Worst Ways to Say “No.” Ten: Isn\’t it my turn next month? You\’ve got an expectation here that the asker will let you off the hook. Even if you\’re correct, the asker may still want you to do this month too. Nine: I think I hear the teakettle. Delay isn\’t a bad […]
Looking Back – My Forty Years as a Psychologist This month\’s column records my personal journey as I head for retirement this fall after being employed 40 years as a clinical psychologist. Perhaps my comments on my own journey could have meaning for some of you if you are on a similar journey. I got […]
The Treatment Model of Psychotherapy This month\’s column is based on a very interesting presenting I heard a year or so ago from Dr. Arthur C. Bohart about what actually makes therapy work. The traditional assumption is that a patient or client presents their problems and the therapist makes a diagnosis. From that diagnosis, the […]
What Is It Like When Things Fall Apart? Just in the past few months, as our worldwide economy is falling apart, I am witnessing an increase in the number of women who feel their own personal lives are falling apart. They are experiencing not only the usual drain of chronic health issues and conflict-filled relationships […]
…by Prill Boyle If you\’re like many Americans, you\’ve already given up on your New Year\’s resolutions. Research shows that 80 percent of people who pledge in January to change their behavior have lost heart by Valentine\’s Day. According to clinical psychologist Dr. Marion Jacobs, author of Take-Charge Living: How to Recast Your Role in […]
…by Prill Boyle The daughter of a friend of mine was rejected last week from both her first and second-choice law schools. She was wait-listed from the third and hasn\’t heard yet from the fourth. Understandably, she was demoralized. She\’d been dreaming of living in Chicago next year and eventually, law degree in hand, working […]
…by Prill Boyle “Sixty should be the time to start something new, not put your feet up,” British novelist Mary Wesley (1912-2002) once quipped. Following her own advice, she published her first book in her 70s. Over the next 20 years she wrote nine more, eventually selling upward of 3 million copies. Wesley\’s success, however, […]
