The holidays are a stressful time for families, with more gatherings and high expectations for harmonious interaction. Especially when a family member has died, the reality of loss is painfully accentuated. Psychotherapist Alexandra Kennedy shares her own grief and gives some advice about how to deal with yours.
The truth is, our relationship with our own body is probably the most significant - and most dysfunctional - of all the relationships we have. Here's how to make your relationship with your body a more healthy one.
With the holidays come family and traditions and expectations and planning and preparation and cleaning and ... oh dear, it does get overwhelming, doesn't it? Therapist Angela Mohan explains how to handle the emortional highs and lows of the season.
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Melissa on "The Female Brain"
"The Female Brain", by Louann Brizendine, M.D., is a fascinating look at the neurological effect hormones have on us at different stages of life, shaping our desires, values and the way we perceive reality. Here is Melissa's opinion of the book.
The women in our groups universally said this is an important book for all women to read. Most were reading passages of it to their husband. Here is what Publishers Weekly had to say about it: "This comprehensive new look at the hormonal roller coaster that rules women's lives down to the cellular level, "a user's guide to new research about the female brain and the neurobehavioral systems that make us women," offers a trove of information, as well as some stunning insights. Though referenced like a work of research, Brizedine's writing style is fully accessible. Brizendine provides a fascinating look at the life cycle of the female brain from birth ("baby girls will connect emotionally in ways that baby boys don't") to birthing ("Motherhood changes you because it literally alters a woman's brain-structurally, functionally, and in many ways, irreversibly") to menopause (when "the female brain is nowhere near ready to retire") and beyond." We say, buy it now.
I’m out meeting with the press right now to promote this website, SmartNow.com, and I’m getting quite a reaction. Not to the business, but to me. You see, it’s been a while since I met with them, at least eight years. Many of the people in the press are same ones I met all those years ago. Many I don’t know. No matter if they knew me before or not, they all ask the same question: “What mistakes have you made and what have you learned from them?" And this isn’t a normal “check-the-box” reporter question. This is a loaded question with heavy reference to my past, some would say my infamous past.
Midlife Transitions
Even for a family therapist, it can be an emotionally arresting time when an only child leaves home for college. Guest contributor Alexandra Kennedy explores this delicate terrain of the empty nest, as well as how to live more authentically after a parent's death.
“The blues,” “down in the dumps,” “feeling low.” We’ve all been there. That draining feeling of discouragement, sighing and wondering when it will all get better. Sometimes we can easily identify the causes of those feelings: our hormones, stress, fatigue, work, our husband/partners/friends, the holidays. But how do we know if we ourselves (or someone we love) has been hit with a depression that is more than just a passing feeling?
Articles by Angela Mohan
Therapy scare you? No need; demystify through these articles by our expert licensed marriage and family therapist Angela Mohan.
Relationships expert Beth Witrogen answers your questions about dating at midlife, from online safety to aging issues. Send your questions to Beth@smartnow.com.
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