Blog
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Money Challenges and the Pandemic
Money problems can be tough on a relationship even in normal times. But with the coronavirus threat bringing on shelter-in-place and a paralyzed economy, this period is anything but normal. Many families are facing loss of income. And some people have lost their jobs entirely. According to a recent survey, the Covid crisis has financially…
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Structure is Essential When You’re Stuck at Home
Maybe you’re having cabin fever while following the Covid-19 “shelter-in-place” order. But imagine what astronaut Scott Kelly went through during his year living on the International Space Station. That was real confinement! Recently he offered some practical tips for staying sane in long-term isolation. His advice can be summed up as: keep to a daily…
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Your Gut and Personality
It may seem implausible, but there’s a correlation between our personalities and the types of microorganisms living in our digestive tracts. At least that’s the conclusion of one new study. The human microbiome is composed of trillions of bacteria, viruses, fungi, and protozoa — a population of foreign cells that exceeds the number of human…
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Limiting Beliefs
Do you feel sometimes that you are your own worst enemy? Do you feel there is something inside preventing you from being the best person you can be? Maybe the source of the problem is self-limiting beliefs that you’ve been carrying around for years. What are self-limiting beliefs? These are assumptions about yourself that constrain…
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Male Loneliness
One of your New Year’s resolutions may be to deepen and expand your interpersonal relationships. After all, scientific research has revealed the emotional and physical benefits of social connections, as well as the deleterious effects of social isolation. Although loneliness resulting from social isolation can afflict any gender, it is a particular problem for males…
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Maintaining Boundaries During the Holidays
Maintaining healthy boundaries is important the year round. But they can be especially challenged during the winter when family and friends come together to celebrate the holidays. The holiday season is a time when you may be faced with unwanted invitations, requests for your time and money, pressure to travel or pressure to host events…
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Growing Your Gratitude
It’s almost Thanksgiving, a holiday when traditionally we’re supposed to recognize and appreciate the good things in our lives. Unfortunately this is something most of us don’t do. But what if the attitude of gratitude — maintained year round — is actually good for us physically, psychologically and spiritually? There’s a fair amount of scientific…
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Effects of Kindness on Mind, Body and Soul
At a time of deep political and social polarization, distrust, fear and acrimony, it’s heartening to learn of a new university research center devoted solely to kindness. Recently, UCLA announced the launch of the Bedari Kindness Institute, a group of scholars who will take an interdisciplinary approach to understanding kindness in all its effects — psychological,…
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Can Optimism Increase Longevity?
There is considerable research correlating optimism with better health. But is there evidence that a sunnier outlook can actually add years to your life? A recent epidemiological paper by Boston University and Harvard examined public health data from two cohorts: women from the Nurses’ Health Study and men from the Veterans Affairs Normative Aging Study.…
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Do You Need a Mental Health Day?
Most people think that taking a “mental health day” is a less valid reason to skip work than taking a sick day when you’re ill. But it’s important that we treat our emotional health as seriously as our physical health. So experts advise taking a mental health day when needed. (Interestingly, two states, Utah and…
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Building Self-Confidence
We think of self-confidence as a psychological problem — when we lack it. But what is it exactly? And how is self-confidence different from self-esteem or self-efficacy? A recent New York Times Smarter Living column does a good job of defining the three concepts. Self-efficacy “refers to your belief in your ability to accomplish specific…
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Grieving the Death of a Friend
All of us understand that the death of a close relative — spouse, parent or child — requires a prolonged period of grieving for the survivor’s healing and adjustment. But what about the passing of a close friend? Generally we take the loss of a non-relative less seriously and assume grieving should take less time.…