Recently my 17 year old son has taken up the guitar and over the last two years he’s gotten to be pretty good. As a result he gets asked to play for random family gatherings; backyard BBQ’s, impromptu jam sessions, even the occasional 50th year wedding anniversary. He plays and sings and I back him

Recap: We began this relational blog series looking at communication. What it is, and what it isn’t. And perhaps even more pertinent – what communicative patterns destroy relationships. The Gottman Institute has studied these patterns for over 40 years – developing a form of couples therapy that is both evidenced-based and widely accessible. Thousands of

I recently participated in the St. George, Utah Ironman 70.3 triathlon. It was such a cool experience in such a beautiful location. The desert red rock that Utah is so famous for surrounds the entire event with distant mountains framing every view and vista from the starting line to the finish line. The “70.3” is

We begin this relational blog series looking at communication and uncovering what it is, and what it isn’t. Perhaps even more pertinent – what communicative patterns destroy relationships. The Gottman Institute has studied these patterns for over 40 years and has developed a form of couples therapy that is both evidenced-based and widely accessible. Thousands

Couples Therapy and Communication It’s no secret – communication is key to successful relationships. But you might be asking yourself, what is communication? When is communication strengthening a relationship? What types of communication destroy relationships? The Gottman Method is a tried-and-true method for relational repair through couple’s therapy. Even for those not in couples therapy,

According to popular sentiment, 2021 was supposed to come along and make us all feel way better…sunshine, roses, unicorns, gatherings of 10 or more, you know a good life. Well 2021, we’re waiting…anytime now…wait for it…wait for it…almost there…almost there…stay on target…stay on target…well there’s always next year. So it turns out that reality doesn’t

Life has always been full of expectations, difficulties, and disappointments; however, the challenges of the last 12 months have been an unprecedented source of stress for nearly everyone. Now more than ever, stress management is an essential skill for creating and maintaining a well-ordered life. Since we can’t always predict the stressors that will present

We’ve been using the acronym CALM as a guide for how to help kids with anxiety. The C reminds us to catch the anxiety and anxious thoughts early. The A stands as a guide for acknowledging our kids and taking their experience seriously. The L prompts us to then listen in such a way that

Happy February to you all! This month we will continue focusing on holistic therapy and stress management. We will look at different forms of therapy such as individual therapy, young adult therapy, couples therapy, and something of vital importance for all our relationships: communication. Communication appears in all therapies across the board as both a

We have been talking about what we can do as parents to help our kids develop anxiety and stress management skills. Using the acronym C.A.L.M. as a guide, we will continue to discuss how we as parents can be the non-anxious presence our kids need as they struggle with their own experiences of fear about

I thought I would continue this month’s blog looking at spirituality and health, emotional healing, and self-empowerment through the metaphor of Eastern spiritual traditions. Last month, we looked at spirituality and health, emotional healing and self-empowerment. We were also able to discuss coping with grief and loss and dealing with stress and anxiety through Buddhist

As someone whose undergraduate degrees include both Psychology and Religious studies, I am always looking for different ways human beings can utilize both to promote emotional healing. With that being said, I don’t want to water down religious practices or philosophy; or enhance psychology to the level of religion. In fact, we won’t begin with

Welcome back to our second blog post, where we will be continuing to look at the “inner” immune system through the lens of evolutionary theories around the deep unconscious systems – that form a basis, not only for our emotional wellbeing and protection (emotional immunity), but are also theorized to be — and experienced as

Pandemic; most divisive election in recent history; on-line school; environmental crisis; social media; face coverings; protests; 24-hour news cycle; lock-down drills; SATs; economic downturn; wildfires; and if you aren’t freaking out yet don’t forget about spiders, snakes, and low flying birds. Weren’t the normal teenage stresses of dating, making the team, getting good grades, and