Last month I ended my job in community mental health after five years of service, so I've been thinking a lot about transitions. Transitions can be exciting (getting married, welcoming a child into the family, starting your own business), but even the most exciting (and "self"-promoted) transitions can be daunting. Transitions bring us into direct [...]
Do you feel you can never do anything right? Do you often compare yourself to others, and come out as the loser? Many people (you?) wrestle with deep seated feelings of inadequacy. Frequently, this feeling has a long history and goes back to growing up with a critical mother or father. Maybe their parents openly [...]
We all know it's not about the turkey. Thanksgiving is about family, friends, and about counting our blessings: a roof over our head, health, food on the table (and pumpkin pie too), people who care about us, rain after a long hot summer... Thanksgiving offers us a chance to look for the many things we [...]
It is summer, the sky is high and blue, and everything and everyone around you seems touched with a smile. Everyone except you. Of course, you are trying to put one on, maybe even practice it in front of the mirror, because a smile, after all, is what one would expect from a new mother. [...]
I recently gave a presentation on postpartum mental health to a group of new mothers. Each woman was in different state of attending to her newborn's needs (nursing, rocking, holding, soothing, cuddling, burping) while they were talking with each other, sharing community resources, advice and their trials (and errors). When it was time for my [...]