This week's podcast is a short story about taking control of your own happiness and rejecting "victim mentality." I have been teaching clients for years about not engaging in this type of thinking. For clarification, I believe that as an adult, if you blame someone else for your unhappiness, you are engaging in "victim mentality." I talk about it all the time in my private practice. But this week, I discovered that I was engaging in "victim mentality" in my own life! I'm excited to share my own story in this 9 minute podcast. Most people will relate!

This week's podcast guest is the Alex Glasscock who owns The Ranch Malibu with his wife Sue. We discuss the physical and emotional benefits of a retreat program like the his, and delve deep into the astonishing physical and psychological transformation that is possible in a 6-day program.

This week's guest, Rebecca Rosen, is a nationally renowned psychic and medium. She has appeared on Dr. Phil, Dr. Oz, and is a contributor to Oprah.com. Her readings are so accurate that she has a 5 year waiting list for private readings. Whatever your beliefs, I ask you to open your mind and hold all judgments you might have about this topic. I'm going to share my own journey to Rebecca and her impact on my life. I have personally watched her help people stuck in grief, depression and heartache.

Tears ran down my face as I sat on a plane and helplessly watched the news coverage of Notre Dame Cathedral burning. As a psychologist, I treat people dealing with grief on a regular basis. The loss of a historic structure is clearly different, but some tools will apply. Here are a few thoughts about loss and what to do with the feelings surrounding grief over a world treasure like Notre Dame.

Are you creative or not? At what age did you decide you either were or were not creative? And why? In this episode, I interview writer Bizzy Coy, who explains her own assessment of living as a creative person, which includes the fact that creativity is cultivated and everyone is capable of it; Creativity isn't just for people in the arts; Creativity involves simply seeing things in a different light. 

This week's podcast is about fear and anger and prejudice. Connection to others is vital for health and happiness, and one way we find this is through commonality. However, our desire to be around familiar, safe people can not only allow us to feel bonded to our group, but it can have the unintended consequence of feeling opposed to the other group(s). I discuss some of the neuroscience behind this, and why it's important to expose yourself to people who aren't the same.

My family has been dealing with grief this last month.  Hard, biting, interrupt your life big time grief.  If you are dealing with grief in your own life, I hope you will take a few minutes to listen in. After treating clients for years as they mourned their loved ones, I was shocked by how grief knocked me off my feet. I thought my career would have prepared me for grief. I was wrong. It has taken time, reading, friends, family and trial and error for me to finally feel whole again.  In this episode, I share a few tips from my journey through grief.