Start your morning right with a journal entry. They say the day is shaped by the tone of your morning ritual. So make it productive, uplifting, and grounding. There are many benefits of journaling. It's an emotional cleanse, a refocusing on the positive, and a reminder of your purpose and vision. Try these tips to maximize the potential for your day and to keep you on target with your goals...
Heather Edwards, LMHC, NCC, BCC is a New York State Licensed Mental Health Counselor, National Certified Counselor, and Board Certified Coach. She is a frequent contributor to Psychology Today writing on topics of wellness, clarity, and being the best version of yourself. She provides individual and couples therapy, and life coaching for career, relationships, and wellness. Located at Oasis Day Spa, One Park Avenue, New York, NY she offers the following services: The Couples Reconnection Session: Validate and leverage your strengths as a couple. Rekindle the aspects of your relationship that drew you together and keep your bond strong. Together, shift your attention to the love, desire, and soulful foundation of your connection. Constructively, develop skills to work through conflict productively. The Individual Reconnection Session: Take a moment to reflect...
Do you ever wonder if you’re being selfish? Or even worse, a Narcissist? Narcissism gets a lot of press. It's on the most unwanted list of personality types. To boot, it’s not just an undesired type - it’s a diagnosable disorder that needs psychotherapeutic treatment and a whole lotta insight to change. But chances are, if you're concerned about spending too much time on your own interests, then you're probably not a narcissist. So take a breath. There is a healthy amount of self interest and need for validation that helps us be successful and fulfilled. Everyone benefits from acknowledgement and appreciation. But there is a fine line that when crossed, becomes difficult to retract. The narcissist receives their validation through constant admiration by others at any cost....
Loss. Heartbreak. Tragedy. Despair. It’s felt by millions everyday. Today, it hits my hometown. Confused, saddened, enraged. I’m moved by the heartfelt Facebook posts of friends, classmates, and neighbors memorializing the life and gifts of a friend, mother, sister, and role model passing on too soon. Yesterday, she was murdered. Domestic Violence claimed her life. It's a senseless, tragic misuse of power and control. According to DomesticViolenceStatistics.org: Every 9 seconds in the US a woman is assaulted or beaten. Around the world, at least one in every three women has been beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused during her lifetime. Most often, the abuser is a member of her own family. Domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women—more than car accidents, muggings, and rapes combined. Studies suggest that...
Welcome to the mean girls club! Unless you're ready to sail the seas of cheese, you've got to step up and ground yourself in what can be a gut wrenching work culture. Politics, alliances, agendas, clicks, personalities, micro-management, and worst of all - the blame game are just a few of the head trips that play out. Where there’s position, power, and money, there’s competition, manipulation, and greed. So use these tips to stay steady and true to you. At the end of the day, it’s your conscience that allows you to rest comfortably in the arms of Morpheus (the Ancient Greek God of Sleep). Boundaries: Recognize what you have power over. Focus on what falls within that realm and do your job like a pro....
Yep! It hurts! You know it. It’s that moment of psychological knock-down. Someone took a sucker punch at your psyche. It feels like an existential crisis, an emotional assault, or plain and simple embarrassment. You just experienced a narcissistic injury. You know the scenario, you approached a situation or person with an “I got this” attitude, then Whamo!, your ego took a hard right south. You feel stupid, ill prepared, and less than worthy. Sometimes egos take a beating when they're too expansive. It’s empowering to feel strong and confident. It’s what you want, but how do you temper it so it’s balanced, wise, and grounded? After all, you don’t want to be perceived as cocky, self absorbed, or the “n” word - narcissistic! Ugh! This is a conversation...
[caption id="attachment_2349" align="alignleft" width="320"] Source: Photo: iStock[/caption] Clean Your Mind of Harmful Toxins - And Feel Good Again Post published by Mark Banschick M.D. on Aug 04, 2015 in Psychology Today. By Heather Edwards - Guest Blogger As I sit down to write this blog, I'm struck by three common themes in conversations with clients, family, and friends. Most of us have clarity about how we want to feel - happy, free, grounded. But instead, we end up frustrated, overwhelmed, and burdened. We get stuck and confused about how to internalize fleeting positivity in an enduring way. In the quest for the seemingly elusive states of calm and life satisfaction, several common toxins manifest. But you can change them! Or better, clear them out. Take stock of your life and notice which...
If you’re anything like me you struggle with staying on task. In this immediate-gratification-digital-world it’s a challenge to sustain focus on anything for any uninterrupted amount of time. The average attention span is estimated to be about five minutes long for a two year old child, and up to 20 minutes in older children and adults. Just guessing - but it will probably take you longer than 20 minutes of focused attention to achieve your dreams. Try out these 10 tips for clearing and clarifying your mind.. Establish a Morning Ritual: What you do in the morning sets the tone for the day. Begin each day with 10 minutes of nurturing self care. Stretch, breathe, meditate, or read a few pages of a self improvement book. See how...
Among the hundreds of people I’ve coached and counseled, there’s a striking and honorable theme. It’s one that prompts people to seek support in becoming their best self. It's one that guides behavior, values, and wants. It motivates their reflection, desire for improvement, and a genuine regard for having a positive impact on the greater good. So let’s give credit where credit is due. After all, that’s what keeps us going. The theme I’m referring to is the ripple effect. Regardless of the particulars that bring people to coaching or counseling, clients share a common concern about the imprint they leave on society - their family, friends, colleagues, neighbors, clients. This collective consciousness about their personal effect on what extends beyond their immediate reach impresses me. So much...
Is ego, fear, or someone else’s vision keeping you stuck? You are the expert, master, and keeper of your life. What are your guiding philosophies? Are you functioning from a place of blame, entitlement, lack, fear, and greed? Or from a position of responsibility, abundance, wealth, courage, and charity? And I’m not talking about money - but rather about strength, purpose and meaning. Maybe your mind is scattered and unfocused, or it seems too late to change course now. Maybe you forgot to ask questions and push back a little along the way. Perhaps what you want seems unobtainable. Maybe you’ve never been a lucky person, or there’s too much burdening you to see the possibilities. Our perspective is much like a camera lens. Sometimes we need to stop to adjust...
