by Marcia | Sep 15, 2015 | Medical Care, Mental Health
You may have noticed in recent years that more and more doctors are hanging out new shingles. The sign that used to read “Roger Kurall, MD,” now says something like “Cheatham Hospital Medical Group.” The same change is in the works for...
by Marcia | Sep 8, 2015 | Relationship Skills
As a therapist, I find that my biggest single job is help people connect with themselves and each other. In fact, you will have trouble connecting with anyone else if you cannot connect with yourself. You must be able to touch base with your heart, your mind, and all...
by Marcia | Sep 4, 2015 | Living Well
A few weeks ago, after my dear old cat died, I looked for a new one. Enter BosBos (pronounced BoesBoes), almost two years old. Half Egyptian Mau and half Arabian Mau, he suffered abuse in the streets of Egypt before being flown to an Egyptian cat rescue last year....
by Marcia | Sep 1, 2015 | Childrearing, Learning
Sick and tired of computer games that isolate kids in cyberspace while keeping their eyes riveted on the monitor? Board and card games, better for young brains and bodies, are also great ways of having fun while building social awareness, fine motor skills, and...
by Marcia | Aug 25, 2015 | Living Well
Throughout history, games have offered people relief from the stresses of the everyday world. Play lets you fool around and have fun in a make-believe universe where risks and consequences aren’t a problem. Good games also have some not-so-obvious benefits....
by Marcia | Aug 21, 2015 | Childrearing
When a child breaks household rules, many parents invoke consequences. “Okay, that’s it,” they say. “No cell phone. No computer. No iPad. No Wii.” Sometimes kids are grounded for months. Consequences of this sort are really just ordinary punishment, which usually...
by Marcia | Aug 18, 2015 | Living Well, Mental Health
What is therapy anyhow? When I put this question to clients, they usually mention talking, personal problems, and solutions, which everyone seems to assume lie within you. The insurance companies that pay me would ratchet up the definition to specify medical problems...
by Marcia | Aug 11, 2015 | Relationship Skills
Many people—including some therapists!— don’t know how to express negative feelings and are afraid of doing so. Some prefer to say only things that seem likely to please their listeners. Everyone feels sadness, disappointment, shame, embarrassment, anger, and anxiety...
by Marcia | Aug 4, 2015 | Living Well
When I was about ten years old, my mother bought me piano lessons. It was the mid-1950s, and we were living in Washington, D.C., in those days still a sleepy town. My mother would drop me off at the teacher’s ranch house in Chevy Chase. Helen Jenks was a lonely...
by Marcia | Jul 31, 2015 | Living Well, Workplace and Career
Life is unpredictably challenging. Relationships are a rollercoaster. Work can be endlessly frustrating. Stress is exhausting. How many tools do you have in your kit to help you cope? Try these. 1. Are you in a dreadful situation with no way to escape? While you go...
by Marcia | Jul 28, 2015 | Love & Marriage
He’s married, and he looks at another woman. She, with a husband and two kids, lunches alone with a single male coworker. Does this behavior amount to cheating? What about text messages and phone calls? In the television series Orange Is the New Black, Piper has sex...
by Marcia | Jul 24, 2015 | Love & Marriage
Most people think getting married is procedurally pretty simple. You connect with someone you like and find attractive. You date for a while. You meet the folks and the friends. You compare notes: living and working where? how many kids? You affirm your love....
by Marcia | Jul 21, 2015 | Love & Marriage
When I was a kid, back in prehistoric times, someone published a book with answers to all the questions people had about sex (so the title proclaimed) but were afraid to ask. Nowadays no one seems to be afraid of asking anything, but sex is still a bugaboo. He doesn’t...
by Marcia | Jul 17, 2015 | Love & Marriage, Relationship Skills
When I see couples for therapy, the problem is always the same: communication is blocked. It’s my job to ensure that both people speak and that both feel heard. In sessions with individuals I help clients probe their thoughts and feelings, but with couples I become a...
by Marcia | Jul 14, 2015 | Relationship Skills
I have been in practice as a social worker for twenty years, seeing adults, couples, children, and families. My experience has taught me that for all of us, or almost all, alcohol is an issue. The question is not whether you drink too much in your opinion or someone...
