The Feeling of Being

by Marcia | Dec 24, 2015 | Healthy Aging, Healthy Living, Living Well, Remembering, Spirituality

Maybe it’s just because I take extra time off for the Christmas holidays. Or maybe it’s a sign of advancing age. Whatever the reason, I find myself increasingly savoring small things. These days I notice my senses more and the news they bring me. I relish the thrust...

The Best Gift of the Holidays

by Marcia | Dec 15, 2015 | Grief and Loss, Healthy Aging, Healthy Living, Living Well, Mental Health, Remembering, Setting and Achieving Goals, Spirituality

The end-of-year holidays form a kind of time tunnel linking the present with the past and the future. When they roll around, we take stock. What do they mean this year? How are things different from last year? We may nostalgically remember times past, before Mom died...

How to Feel Less Alone

by Marcia | Sep 8, 2015 | Communication Skills, Healthy Aging, Healthy Living, Living Well, Relationship Skills, Survival Skills

As a therapist, I find that my biggest single job is help people connect with themselves and each other. In fact, you will have trouble connecting with anyone else if you cannot connect with yourself. You must be able to touch base with your heart, your mind, and all...

Turning Therapy Inside Out

by Marcia | Aug 18, 2015 | Grief and Loss, Healthy Aging, Learning, Living Well, Mental Health, Remembering, Spirituality, Teaching

What is therapy anyhow? When I put this question to clients, they usually mention talking, personal problems, and solutions, which everyone seems to assume lie within you. The insurance companies that pay me would ratchet up the definition to specify medical problems...

Psychotherapy, Coaching, and Skateboards

by Marcia | Jun 26, 2015 | Healthy Aging, Healthy Living, Learning, Living Well, Mental Health, Setting and Achieving Goals, Survival Skills

Recently an alternative healer suggested that further training as a personal development coach could make me a far more effective therapist. This well-intentioned advice puzzled me, especially since the healer did not know my work.  How does what I do differ from...

Hope and Memory

by Marcia | May 22, 2015 | Anxiety, Depression, Healthy Aging, Healthy Living, Learning, Mental Health, Remembering, Setting and Achieving Goals, Survival Skills

In my daily work as a psychotherapist I see that hopelessness and stress often produce despair.  I wonder whether we can conquer these problems at least some of the time by viewing them from a different vantage point. Can we beat the stress by retelling our stories so...