We have ideals about being a good friend and, when we don’t measure up to those ideals, we judge ourselves negatively. How good a friend are you? Many would contemplate this question for a minute and then reply, “Not a very good one.” For many years I also...
- By Alan Cohen
If your family interactions are tattering your soul, you cannot afford to indulge them. You may need to step away for now. Hopefully at some point you can reconnect on higher ground. For now, you must...
Bullying in schools has been recognized as a serious and pervasive problem now for at least two decades. There is now also evidence that traditional forms of bullying in schools have decreased modestly over the last decade or so. This is very likely due to the increase in work to prevent bullying...
As a mother, I have made life choices that can’t always include everything my children want—like hiking the Adirondacks. Here’s how I learned to overcome the guilt...
Can we look deeper at the meaning of availability? On the surface, it means accessible to another person, or readiness to love and be loved in return. On the very surface, it means single or unmarried but, as we all know, this has little to do with real availability for relationship.
Awareness is the beginning of healing. It is the transformation of consciousness from feeling victimized and separate to remembering that we are always connected with a higher purpose and a greater objective than simply sleep-walking...
Couples can resolve virtually any problem by conducting marriage meetings. The meetings foster a spirit of goodwill and acceptance, a live-and-let-live, respectful attitude that allows partners to be themselves. The process results in the ability to minimize or manage conflicts that may not be resolvable.
One of the secrets of living a happy life is to become your own best friend. But you can only do this when you know who you are, when you honestly and truly know yourself. Because what does a best friend do? A best friend sees you for who you really are and unconditionally loves and supports the real you...
Almost any culture from which we originated had traditions or rites of passage that symbolized the changing individual and strengthened his status in the family and community. What's required now is to rediscover those meaningful experiences and expectations that can empower us...
According to recent surveys, more than 40m single people out of 54m singles in the US have signed up to an online dating site such as Match.com and eHarmony. In the UK, 9.1m people have used an online dating site and one in every five new committed relationships starts online.
Is relationship therapy really needed? Why can't most of us just wing it and hope that everything turns out okay? After all, many people find that perfect partner and enjoy a satisfying, healthy relationship. Incredibly, a lot of marriages are doomed to split up...
The secret to learning self-awareness, cooperation, and other “social and emotional learning” skills lies in experience, not in workbooks and rote classroom exercises.
- By Osho
You exist as a sexual being. Once you accept it, the conflict that has been created down through the centuries dissolves. Once you accept it deeply, with no ideas in between, when sex is thought of as simply natural, you live it. Sex is transcended not by any effort on your part. If you make any effort, that will be repressive...
Sitting with clients every day makes me realize that so many people are confused when it comes to the parent-child relationship and what their responsibility is when it comes to being a parent. Some parents think it’s their job to make their children happy and to think for them – but this is not true.
When we were in our twenties, Joyce and I were criticized for being too close. Some people even quoted Kahlil Gibran from The Prophet, “…and the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.” They accused us of smothering one another. Early in our marriage...
Is pill-popping the best way to ensure we stay in love with our long-term partner? Should we also pop a pill to try to fall out of love in order to end an abusive relationship? Instead of pills, there may be some useful ancient answers...
“What’s wrong?” “Nothing.” How many times have you had this conversation? Something is obviously wrong, but it is not being acknowledged. Hiding places do not work in healthy relationships. Never have. Never will.
Babies who are breastfed show signs of early brain development, particularly in regions associated with language, emotional function, and cognition.
What if you don't happen to have a Mr. or Ms. Right in the picture at the moment? Never fear! There are things to do. Knowing who you, yourself, are is the very first step to seeing what an equal partner would look like. Then, begin to...
Sexual liberation has hardly made a dent in our understanding of sexuality during pregnancy. Most of us are unclear even about the basics: Is it really all right to be sexually active? How active? For how long? What about orgasms? Is it normal to feel sexual at some times and turned off at others?
I remember reading years ago about people who used to send their mother flowers on their birthday... What's so special about that you might say. You've also sent your mother flowers on her birthday... ah, but have you...
- By Marc Chehab
Are school children educated, socialized, or indoctrinated? If there’s any wonder remaining in a student after being swamped with established knowledge throughout the day, she or he would have to pursue critical thinking in the evenings.
- By Sylvia Rimm
The complexity of today's parenting makes it important to develop some basic principles to guide parents and emphasize the foundational concepts that can help parents raise happy, achieving children. Here are the top ten steps to summarize the essential principles to assist parents with raising a happy child.