– Carolyn Moriarty, LCPC The one thing in life we can count on to remain constant is fact that things are always changing. Change is like the undercurrent of an ocean. It’s always there, surrounding us. It affects us whether we like it or not. One minute, the waves of change are imperceptible and we float along feeling peaceful … Read More
– Carolyn Moriarty, LCPC Have you ever felt that you are “stuck” or falling behind in life? This feeling might convince you that maybe if you just tried harder, you could propel yourself into a life experience that will bring success and happiness. This feeling might prompt you to search Pinterest for motivation quotes, purchase self-help books and bullet journals, … Read More
by Carolyn Moriarty, LCPC Regret is an inescapable part of life. We are human. We make mistakes. Yet the feeling of regret seems almost intolerable at times. We may find ourselves hanging on to past actions or inactions, believing that whatever personal losses they resulted in could have been avoided. Rumination over these losses can feel like it is serving … Read More
How often is it actually helpful for someone to advise you to accept a certain set of circumstances when you are still attempting to grasp what is happening? It can be very off putting, frustrating as well as invalidating. You have to let it go! Just accept and move on! Throughout my years as a therapist, when even broaching the topic of … Read More
Is self-compassion good or bad? If asked this question, most people would agree that self-compassion is a positive thing. It’s also likely that the majority of those people have spent their lives cultivating a harsh inner self-critic and readily indulge thoughts such as “I made such a stupid mistake, people must think I’m an idiot” or “I’m not a good parent/friend/partner/employee…why is it … Read More
After a long, hectic year, autumn is a time for “new beginnings”. A new school year begins, leaves start to change and weather feels less oppressive. It makes sense, then, to take advantage of this time by taking inventory of the things in our own lives we wish to change or get rid of. This mental and emotional clutter … Read More
In previous blog posts, we talked about the role of forgiveness in alleviating resentment. The main take-away here is that forgiveness can help us to unload emotional weight we’ve been carrying around and achieve peace of mind. The tricky thing is that holding on to resentment and anger came happen so automatically that it can be extremely difficult to … Read More
In past blog posts, we’ve talked about how to use mindfulness and acceptance to cope with uncomfortable thoughts, sensations and emotions. The take-away message is that in order to avoid unnecessary suffering, we must let go of any ideas about the way we wished things could be and instead accept the way that we are in the present moment. Once we accept our reality … Read More
Sometimes, life can feel unfair—not just mildly inconvenient but, like, really unfair. We have all been there. Maybe your offer for an apartment didn’t get accepted. Or you got rejected from the job you really wanted. Or months of diet and exercise are “undone” by an unexpected injury or week of stress-eating. If several of these events happen close together, the unfairness of … Read More
