When I’m working with a client, one of the first things I have to assess is how ready they are to change. There are formal questionnaires that can be used to measure how ready an alcoholic is to give up drinking or how ready an addict is to give up their drug of choice. ForContinue reading “Readiness to change”
Author Archives: alexm1008
Sports Parenting Part 2
We’ve all been there. You’re at the game, watching happily as your child plays their chosen position. Then they do it. They make the worst decision they could possibly make. In soccer, which my daughter plays, they do a soft cross in front of their own goal when playing defense. Your heart sinks. The otherContinue reading “Sports Parenting Part 2”
Food and love…
Food is love. For me and for a lot of people, food is a way to offer myself care and rewards. It’s one of the ways I show my kids I love them (hello rainbow cakes). When I was a child and I did something good, my mother would take me to Dairy Queen. ThisContinue reading “Food and love…”
The tyranny of the blank page – ALSO controlled breathing skill training
Today was a difficult one for a lot of different goals. For example, it’s 10:12PM and I’m just now sitting down trying to figure out what I want to write. I also woke up at 4AM, my heart racing and my breath short – for no reason that I can come up with, other thanContinue reading “The tyranny of the blank page – ALSO controlled breathing skill training”
Sports Parenting
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about sports parenting. Or really activity parenting. My own parents drove me to whatever sport I wanted to participate in, but were never the team mom or all that involved. They attended games, but never had an opinion on how I played – or really even knowledge. My dadContinue reading “Sports Parenting”
Enough is enough
Football was one of the first professional sports that I really enjoyed watching. I loved the story lines and the ease of understanding it. I didn’t really play team sports as a child. I didn’t have time. I was a figure skater. I lived at the rink. Three hours before school and another three afterContinue reading “Enough is enough”
Self care and waiting
Running has been difficult lately. We’ve been busy with back to school and birthday craziness (second rainbow cake finished and halfway consumed). And it’s been hot. I have a lot of very good, logical reasons why I haven’t been great about putting on my shoes and heading outside for an hour. But the truth isContinue reading “Self care and waiting”
Certainly uncertain
Uncertainty is uncomfortable for human beings. I think we like to know what’s going to happen. To be certain of what to expect and when to expect it. The unfortunate reality is that life ISN’T certain. A fact which makes me and many of my clients uncomfortable. I remember thinking a lot last year aboutContinue reading “Certainly uncertain”
Back to school
Back to school. When I was younger back to school was the best and the worst day of the year. Best, because I loved the smell of freshly sharpened pencils and new notebooks. Worst, because of the early morning after a summer of lazy sleeping in or, when I got a little older, working oddContinue reading “Back to school”
Red Light, Green Light
We have girls. I’ve mentioned this before. But it bears repeating whenever I think about parenting. We have two tween (or tween-adjacent in the case of number 71) girls. There’s a lot of affect flying around this house. Affect, meaning outward displays of emotion in therapist speak. It’s hard for my husband because with theContinue reading “Red Light, Green Light”
Running for Disney 