When You Fear Gaining Weight
Many of us fear gaining weight. In fact, it is a fear that's hard to avoid, according to Kirsten Belzer, LCSW, a psychotherapist in private practice in Chicago. Because in our culture, the number on the scale is so much more than just a number. It is so much more than a representation of our weight.
Reflecting on Our Reflections
If you were asked to draw your face from memory, could you? Could you represent the lines, the moles, the marks? Could you describe the shape of your ears or your mouth? What about the precise hue of your eyes? What about the freckles on your nose? What about your cheekbones?
50 Fun Ways to Spend a Few Minutes or Hours
Sometimes, we take life very seriously. That’s because life is very serious. It is precious, and fragile. It is filled with responsibilities. But it’s also important to be serious about being silly. Because silliness and play create incredible moments and memories. Silliness and play is how we connect---to others, to ourselves.
Are You in a Fun Famine?
Do you feel like every waking moment is packed with something productive and useful? When was the last time you did something solely because it made you smile? Have you played any games lately---like board games or tag? Spontaneously started a dance party or tea party with your family? Does it feel like you're always working or thinking about work or reading some article that tells you how to work better or smarter? Does it feel...
When You Need to Slow Down But It’s Hard
Productivity is so seductive. It feels wonderful to accomplish a task and check it off our to-do lists. It feels awesome to accomplish more than we even thought possible in a given day.
The Power of Health at Every Size: Q&A with Therapist Kirsten Belzer
I'm not exaggerating when I say that the Health at Every Size movement changed my life. Essentially, it gave me permission to practice compassionate self-care without waiting until I lost weight and finally, supposedly deserved it. It gave me permission to focus away from weight (and other arbitrary numbers) and to truly focus on my well-being, to focus on the joy of movement and the pleasure and flexibility of eating. Because our health and...
How Therapy Can Help You Cultivate Self-Acceptance
Today is National Psychotherapy Day, a day that aims to demystify therapy and celebrate it. I interviewed one of its founders, psychologist Ryan Howes, about how therapy can help us cultivate self-acceptance.
"Self-acceptance is setting aside what we’re not, or what we 'should' be, and accepting who we are, right now," according to Pasadena psychologist Ryan Howes, Self-acceptance is not a destination we reach and simply stay. Rather, it's a "a moment-by-moment phenomenon,"...
Tending to Yourself When There’s No Time
You yearn to be productive, to blast through your to-do list every single day. You experiment with all sorts of hacks to attain the ultimate efficiency. If you have kids, you take advantage of their nap time, folding, preparing, putting things back, emailing, writing, working, running. There's so much running.
How to Tell Yourself the Truth
We lie to ourselves all the time. We say that our evening glass of wine is simply to unwind, and we don't need it. We could stop drinking, and it wouldn't really phase us. It's just not an issue.
And that's a lie.
And that's a lie.
When Self-Doubt Strikes
Coach and counselor Stephanie Kang's clients experience self-doubt in all sorts of ways. For instance, they're hesitant to speak up and feel like their work isn't good enough. They shoot down their own ideas, dismissing them as unrealistic or something they're not capable of executing anyway. They procrastinate on projects, because they're convinced they'll fail anyway. They have a hard time making decisions. They don't trust themselves to make a good choice.
Sound familiar?
Maybe...
