My Best Parenting Advice
In a recent interview, I was asked for the best parenting advice I have to offer. My usual response is “Never take too much credit and never take too much blame.” By this, I mean that your child is his or her own person. Though we do our best to guide and shape our children, […]
Embracing the Awkwardness
A childhood friend recently posted a photo on Facebook of our “girl squad” from middle school. As I looked at the expression on my face, it was clear how unsure I felt at the time. I had a visceral memory of how uncomfortable it was to trying to join this group of girls who already […]
What can you let go of?
I was recently reminded of an ancient fable that teaches us about what we hold on to and whether or not that serves us. The story takes place in ancient China where, apparently, there was a monkey problem. To set a trap for the monkeys, the villagers cut a narrow opening into a coconut and […]
Has your Mental Load Become Too Heavy?
Don’t you love it when a buzzword perfectly describes your experience! The most recent buzzword that seems to have struck a collective nerve is “mental load.” Mental load refers to all the mental work–the organizing, preparation, and planning etc.–that you do to manage your life, your household and your kids. Mental load is real and […]
Do You Run Your Life on Routines or Reactions?
Well, it’s unofficial. Summer is over. Yes, I know that it doesn’t technically end until September 22, but Labor Day weekend is the psychological end of summer. Time to switch gears and get prepared for the school year. Some of us greet the new school year with dread—homework, packed schedules, the days getting shorter and […]
Are You Stuck In Your Own Virtual Reality?
When I was a teen, my mom used to say to me, “Melissa, you may be wrong but you’re never in doubt.” I never really understood what that meant but I knew she was saying she’d had enough and I should stop trying to convince her that I was right–about everything. Like most kids, […]
Is it time to create a “new normal?”
“Sometimes, I wish I was a celebrity,” Lisa said as she walked in to my office. She explained that she wasn’t interested fame or materialism. She was jealous of the celebrities who were being treated for exhaustion. Lisa was stuck in a vicious cycle. She knew intellectually that if she didn’t do something to take […]
Whew… that was a close one!
As you may know I have been very busy in 2017. In January, I was focused on creating my first webinar, 6 Steps to FEEL in Love All Over Again and February was spent getting to know so many amazing couples who enrolled in my online coaching program The Relationship Roadmap. All of this was […]
Are You Always Exhausted?
Have you noticed that feeling exhausted is now the common cold of the human condition? We act like it’s not that debilitating. We pretend it doesn’t really negatively affect the people around us. We think that we don’t have to do anything about it and it will eventually resolve itself. Exhaustion and depletion are not […]
Not Enough Time for Self-Care? I’ve Got the Solution for You.
In social work school, students are taught you don’t need to have the same experience as your clients in order to help them. After all, I have treated plenty of heroin addicts without ever using the drug. But there is one area where, looking back, I just didn’t get it: parenthood. Until I became […]
