Want to receive a great gift? If you can imagine a gift as an item that’s not tangible, not store bought, not gift wrapped, yet is something special that’s been given to you, then I have the gift for you.…
Posts published in “Self-Esteem”
Spring is truly a natural time to reawaken your spirit and get a fresh start inside and out. Perhaps there is a change you have been considering for months or even years. Maybe a new and invigorating idea has swept…
A few years ago, I had a delusion that I was Wonder Woman incarnate and penned these words: “I am thrilled to say that my invisible Wonder Woman cape and tights are in the Jeep (along with my faerie wings, which are…
Low self-esteem can turn our lives into a series of self-fulfilling prophecies. Lack of belief in ourselves — the feeling that we are unworthy, or destined to fail — often goes hand in hand with self-sabotage, and this link can…
You’ve rehearsed every interview question in the book. Your suit is dry-cleaned. Your bag is stocked with extra pens, just in case. You seem to have all the pieces in place. Now the anxiety starts to build. How do you…
Most successful and beneficial relationships include an element of trust. Expecting loyalty, reliability and trustworthiness you assume that the other person will do what they say, that their word can be relied upon and that promises, commitments and agreements will…
You didn’t do everything on your to-do list. You let a loved one down. You yelled at your spouse, or your six-year-old. Or both. You still haven’t gotten over your ex. You thought someone else would make you happy but…
With the holidays around the corner, dinner table conversations about work are bound to come up. It’s common to feel anxiety at the thought of explaining what you do for a living to a skeptical audience, especially when your job…
When life is busy or challenging, most people get so caught up in what goes on in their head that they forget all about the rest of their body. But problems and difficulties are best addressed with the whole of…
The most powerful way to genuinely connect with anyone is to give them our time and attention—genuine, all-in, physical and emotional attention. Without our phones. Without any electronics. Which, of course, is very hard to do today. Because we’re all…
The term gaslighting comes from Patrick Hamilton’s 1938 play Gas Light, which was later made into a film in 1944 starring Ingrid Bergman. In both the play and movie, a wife becomes concerned about the dimming of her upstairs lights. When she…
Long time readers of mine know that I do two things on my birthday every year: Write a blog about the previous year through the lens of living with bipolar disorder. Whine, exactly the same way a toddler would if…
As a psychotherapist treating Adult Daughters of Narcissistic Mothers, I see how her daughter, trapped in the role of the “Good daughter,” hides her true self behind a mask of faux perfection. In this article, I explain how she becomes…
When we talk to a friend about a personal concern, what are we really seeking? Advice? Direction? Or maybe something else? If we feel muddled about a difficult relationship or a job search, we might use a friend as a…
The phrase “self-esteem” is thrown around frequently when discussing mental health. In the 70s, programs in public school systems encouraged children to think better of themselves. They thought having higher esteem would bolster confidence and fight off depression if it…
As central as the mother-child relationship is to psychological health, that of the mother and her daughter has its own specificity. Daughters whose emotional needs weren’t met in childhood or who were actively disparaged, ignored, controlled, or scapegoated emerge into…
Even the most secure people need reassurance sometimes. It’s part of being human. Even if you need lots of validation, this is nothing to be ashamed of. Many of us didn’t receive enough reassurance growing up. We didn’t get the…
Disappointments can be deeply painful, crush our self-esteem, and shake our world. Disappointment is defined as “the feeling of sadness or displeasure caused by the unfulfillment of one’s hopes or expectations.” So, naturally, disappointments leave us feeling sad, regretful, dismayed…