Self-Care vs. Coping Skills: how free do you want to be?

Self-care should not be an attempt to overpower or conquer oneself, but rather the free experience of oneself. If conquering yourself—i.e., making yourself not angry, not sad, not nervous, etc.—is your primary aim, then chances are, however you go about the conquering, you will only succeeding in fortifying whatever neurosis you were struggling with in… Continue reading Self-Care vs. Coping Skills: how free do you want to be?

Viktor Frankl on the “Will to Meaning”: an introduction to self-care

“I consider it a dangerous misconception of mental hygiene to assume that what man needs in the first place is equilibrium… a tensionless state. What man actually needs is not a tensionless state but rather the striving and struggling for a worthwhile goal, a freely chosen task. What he needs is not the discharge of… Continue reading Viktor Frankl on the “Will to Meaning”: an introduction to self-care

Depression? Anxiety? A Therapist’s Guide to Staying out of Therapy

Why would a therapist write an article helping people avoid therapy? For the same reason a physical therapist would write an article helping people avoid injury. It's part of the gig. A therapist should be interested in helping people avoid a situation that requires therapy, and I truly believe that the obvious points I'm going… Continue reading Depression? Anxiety? A Therapist’s Guide to Staying out of Therapy

“He who despairs finds the eternal man” –Kierkegaard

The following piece was written a little over a year ago, but for some reason never made it to my blog. Reading it over again brought back some insights that I wanted to share with my readers. My hope is that it finds its way to people working through similar issues who might need a… Continue reading “He who despairs finds the eternal man” –Kierkegaard

Beating Anxiety: 3 ways to control worrying

In a previous article I highlighted 5 popular beliefs about the supposed benefits of worry. I explained why there is no such thing and how worry only leads to more worry, less emotional maturity, and more entrenched fears. Here I want to finish what I began in that article and provide a few basic techniques… Continue reading Beating Anxiety: 3 ways to control worrying