A simple headline in the Sunday newspaper caught my eye this morning. The headline states: “Girls may learn math anxiety from teachers”. Having struggled with math anxiety for most of my life and having seen many other women with similar struggles, I decided to dig a bit deeper into this study. Out of my [...]

I was watching Rachel Maddow’s show the other night as she interviewed Tracy Kidder. Kidder has written several books including a moving one about Haiti called “Mountains beyond Mountains” that details the work of Paul Farmer and the organization Partners in Health (www.pih.org). Kidder also wrote a New York Times Op-Ed piece this week called [...]

I’ve had a wonderful break with my family. We’ve eaten too much, watched lots of movies, and kept up our tradition of holiday jigsaw puzzles. On television and in the local newspaper a different kind of puzzle has been emerging: the year end reviews. These include lists of the most popular men and [...]

I like to scan news sites on my lunch hour to see how the world is doing. One headline that caught my eye this week dealt with loneliness being contagious. This article cited a new study recently published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. This ten year longitudinal study, which included 5000 people, [...]

Remember the childhood retort that ‘sticks and stones can break my bones but words will never hurt me’? If only this could be true! I can remember saying this on the playground to a now unknown tormentor only to turn away with tears streaming down my face. I’ve heard too many stories from too many [...]

As I review textbooks on ethical, legal, and professional issues within the counseling profession I see almost identical lists of virtues and ethics that are the foundations of the profession. These lists all include the moral principles of justice, fidelity, and veracity. As counselors, we all know that a primary objective is nonmaleficence: to do [...]

It is the day after the horrific shootings at Fort Hood. Once again we find ourselves frightened by the violent events that seem to make no sense and for which we have no context to find meaning. The news stations and websites are filled with details, endless speculations, and ongoing analysis. As I scanned these [...]

My husband and I recently made the heartbreaking decision to euthanize our eleven year old beloved dog Lucy. As we have grieved her loss the counselor part of me has been trying to make some sense of both the process of grief as well as psychological importance of the loss of a pet. I know [...]