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I’ll bet you a shiny penny that one of your New Year’s resolutions is more self care? More “me time”?  Maybe it’s self improvement regarding …

Continue reading “Pretty Tough”

I can’t tell you how many times I heard someone say “I can’t wait for 2018 to be over” or the amount of memes I …

Continue reading “thank u, next”

Life and Heath Coach January has arrived and with it the beginning of a New Year. With a New Year comes confusion and stress with …

Continue reading “2019 Here We Are – Bigger and Better Than 2018”

These last couple of years, I’ve become incredibly grateful for the life I’ve had. This includes all my past and present experiences, along with every …

Continue reading “Existence, Waking Presence”

It’s the most wonderful tiiiiiime of the year!… Right? For some of us the holidays bring on a great deal of anxiety due to a …

Continue reading “9 Holiday Tips to Keep the Kids Stress Free”

The Holiday Season doesn’t have to end with you pulling your hair out. Try these seven skills to create a more peaceful, joyful and mindful …

Continue reading “7 Tips for Coping with Holiday Stress”

Licensed Mental Health Counselor The holidays can bring up a full range of emotions for many of us, from joy and excitement, to fear and …

Continue reading “Coping with the Grinch”

Life and Heath Coach Tomorrow’s my birthday. In celebration, I thought I would share lessons I wish my younger self would’ve known 30 years ago. …

Continue reading “Things I Know for Sure at 60 – I Wish I’d Known at 30”

Sometimes we can feel as though there are not enough hours in the day to accomplish everything we need to get done. And it can …

Continue reading “No time for self-care? PLEASE make some!”

Why is it so much easier to look at the bad stuff than it is to see the good stuff? Even when everything is going …

Continue reading “Embrace the Positive in Life”

From about the age of 4, I suffered from chronic asthma attacks. You never forget something like that. You know what else I never forgot? …

Continue reading “The 3 Most Important Skills for a Healthy, Joyful, and Inspired Life”

Life and Heath Coach Today, October 31, 2018, marks the year since the beginning of my wellness journey after my September 2017 diagnoses of Invasive …

Continue reading “Journey to Me”

If you are considering on becoming a candidate for bariatric surgery, you will most likely be referred for an evaluation with a clinical psychologist. Although …

Continue reading “Path to Success for Bariatric Surgery”

When I was thinking about writing this blog about women’s health, I thought of so many different issues impacting women. All of those issues always …

Continue reading “Women and Stress — Impact and Intervention”

Licensed Mental Health Counselor & Doctor in Psychology Depression is a real illness. The REALITY is that many people will not talk about nor share …

Continue reading “Depression – Changing the Stigma”

Coming out of addiction is one of the hardest things anyone can do. Not only do you have to make it through withdrawal symptoms, but …

Continue reading “How to Thrive in a Life Without Addiction”

So you want to improve? But do you…really? Our society is so obsessed with improvement and perfection – billions of dollars and myriad industries attest …

Continue reading “So you want to improve?”

Licensed Mental Health Counselor Everyone knows that feeling. You wake up, look in the mirror, and don’t like what you see. Bad body image, its …

Continue reading “Embrace Your Body: 10 steps to better body image for larger bodied women”

Founder and Director Encore Academy of the Arts “A large number of scientific studies have found that music education improves our cognitive and brain functions, …

Continue reading “The Benefits of Music Education”

Life and Heath Coach As we approached the start of a new school year, I was excited. Excited because it was time to spend time …

Continue reading “Back to School from a Grandmother’s Point of View – My Second Chance”

Licensed Mental Health Counselor Back to school season can be stressful for some parents, but it is more complicated when you are going through a …

Continue reading “Helping Your Child with Divorce”

Licensed Mental Health Counselor With school right around the corner, I’m sure many of you are beginning to think about the mental and physical prep …

Continue reading “Back to School Challenge”

Certified EMDR Therapist In my last blog, “Parenting your college age child,” I spoke about how to shift your parenting style when your child goes …

Continue reading “Back to School for the Adult You”

At times it is easy to be negatively affected by insignificant stressors because we internalize and allow them to alter our moods. Often, we are …

Continue reading “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and How our Kids are Affected”

PH. D., LMHC, CAP Licensed Mental Health Counselor & Doctor in Psychology Purposeful Parenting is significant because it gives parents the opportunity to create an …

Continue reading “The Art of Purposeful Parenting”

Licensed Mental Health Counselor This blog goes out to all parents, single parents, grandparents, adoptive parents, foster parents, and guardians. We are dealing with a …

Continue reading “Calling All Parents…”

The so-called “Man Code” is a collection of unspoken limiting rules that men often learn at a young age. Sometimes, in order to demonstrate their …

Continue reading “Discover Your Soul”

Life and Heath Coach As we have recently seen in the last six to seven months, the resurgence of the #Metoo Movement has dragged men …

Continue reading “#Metoo Movement – the new feminism?”

As much as we want to equate men and women, the reality is we are different. Not only physically but mentally and socially. With those …

Continue reading “Understanding a Man’s Process”

Ten years ago, while on a men’s journey, I came across a quote by Joseph Campbell “follow your bliss”. Wow! I thought to myself. How …

Continue reading “The Call to Adventure and Following your Bliss”

Life and Heath Coach I’ve always not only looked down on myself as a procrastinator, but constantly called and described myself as one – as …

Continue reading “Procrastination – To Be or Not to Be…”

Certified EMDR Therapist Suicide is the third leading cause of death among persons aged 10-14 and the second among persons aged 15-34 years. A precedent …

Continue reading “Major Depression in Adolescence: Suicide Prevention”

You don’t have to be “crazy” to seek mental health treatment.  This is a truth for two big reasons: We should all be focused on …

Continue reading “Mental Health Treatment”

Licensed School Psychologist Many often associate success in life with high mental intelligence, proper schooling, and perhaps even a streak of good luck. Of course, …

Continue reading ““Emotional Intelligence: A Key Element for Success in Children””

Motivational Singer and Breakthrough Hypnosis This is a question that has run through my head for quite a long time. My adolescent years were filled …

Continue reading “What advice would you give to your 16-year-old self?”

Before I became a therapist I heard the term PTSD used and I connected it to the military or war veterans. Also, I didn’t really …

Continue reading “Post Traumatic Stress Disorder — What Is It?”

The definition of peace is freedom from disturbance, quiet and tranquility. Can you think of the last time you had peace? Mindfulness is a practice …

Continue reading “Peace Within No Matter What Throughout”

Today we’re getting so many messages from all avenues of the media reporting on mindful living and that we should “learn to love ourselves.” Sounds …

Continue reading “Loving Yourself Leads to a Balanced, Happy Life”

You’ve had mindful moments. You’ve already practiced mindfulness. You just don’t realize it. And you don’t realize it because you were just BEING, and not …

Continue reading “Slow Down, Tune in, Go with the Flow”

  Love is a catch-all word that people use and we seem to think it means the same to you as it does to me. …

Continue reading “Your Love is Different”

  It’s that time of the month when “love is in the air” and everyone seems to be talking about romance. Stress levels seem to …

Continue reading “Love Yourself First”

Over the years, I have been given the incredible opportunity to work and study one of life’s most elusive and complex topics: Love. Through my …

Continue reading “Love: The Solution to Most of Your Problems”

Licensed Mental Health Counselor & Doctor in Psychology As we near the end of February, we celebrate love; the love of self and others. Love …

Continue reading “6 Keys to Loving Yourself and Others”

Life and Health Coach On September 25, 2017 at 8:00 A.M., while in my car, on my way to my 13 year old niece’s Junior …

Continue reading “When Life Throws You Lemons…”

  What if you are good enough, as you are? What if your New Year’s Resolution doesn’t involve a sweeping life change? Maybe, your life …

Continue reading “You’re Amazing, Just the Way You Are”

Licensed Clinical Social Worker Constant open communication with your children/adolescents is important throughout the year. However, sometimes with so many family activities during the Holiday …

Continue reading “Holiday Talks”

I remember as a child the excitement of the beginning of the holiday season. The arrival of the Christmas tree was an important event. As …

Continue reading “Family Traditions”

Contrary to the popular societal belief that defines intimacy as a sense of physical and emotional closeness and connection with another human being, I have …

Continue reading “Healing through Intimacy”

Director Palmetto Bay Academy “Happiness depends upon ourselves.” – Aristotle Or does it? They smiled at me. Maybe it wasn’t the biggest smile in history, …

Continue reading “Strength in Gratitude?”

  “Sometimes I thank God for unanswered prayers, Remember when you’re talkin’ to the man upstairs, That just because he doesn’t answer doesn’t mean he …

Continue reading “Thankful for Having, and for Not Having”

  Although there may be times in our lives we feel overwhelmed and surrounded by negativity or bad luck, it can sometimes become difficult to …

Continue reading “Be Happy, Be Grateful”

The concept of appreciation and thankfulness is as much an exercise as it is a feeling. Being able to recognize and express what we are …

Continue reading “Gratitude”

As a Health Coach, I’m always asked if I have any self-care tips I can share. However, before sharing anything, I always like to try …

Continue reading “Breathwork: Connecting to the Mind, Body, and Spirit”

  I’m a man, writing about women’s health. (That’ll be relevant later). I’m also married. A feminist. A specialist in health psychology. And I almost …

Continue reading “Women’s Self-Care (from a Male Perspective)”

Certified EMDR Therapist In light of the recent natural disasters, terrorist attacks and unforeseen attacks on the public by mentally unstable individuals, I’d like to …

Continue reading “Recognizing PTSD Symptoms”

  What is self-improvement? According to Webster’s Dictionary, it is “improvement of oneself by one’s own actions.”  It is an inner process that requires inner …

Continue reading “Choosing The Path To Self-Improvement”

  As I sit here in my living room with my husband, balcony furniture, bottles of water, canned beans, nuts and fruit, waiting for Irma …

Continue reading “With devastation – Comes lessons learned”

When we think ‘Back to School’ we often relate it to children shopping for school supplies and all dressed up in their school uniforms for …

Continue reading “When Back to School Week Isn’t That Cute”

The wind is blowing my hat towards my cheek, and I can hear my children laughing with their daddy. It is an absolutely breathtaking day …

Continue reading “Sometimes I Want to Give up on Parenting”

Attention ALL PARENTS: These stats are scary!  “Bullying” is a problem that affects millions of students and children of all races worldwide. 1 out of 4 …

Continue reading “Stomp Out Bullying”

Many parents ask me: “Am I a good parent?”; “Am I doing it right?” The answer is: “You’re doing the best you can with what …

Continue reading “Parenting: Meeting the Challenge”

  As parents, we often forget that kids are kids and they will learn from their mistakes. The question is, how do we make sure …

Continue reading “Kids – Are They Learning From Their Mistakes?”

The earlier we teach our boys to think healthy, the more likely it will be they will grow to become healthy men. However, in order …

Continue reading “Healthy Men – Start With Healthy Boys”

Teen stress is an important issue. The teen years are marked with rapid changes and most teens face stress from puberty, self image, relationships, responsibilities …

Continue reading “Teen Stress”

There are many recovery survivors whose addictions are rooted in their childhood. These are formative years, so aside from the damage their bodies have sustained, …

Continue reading “Childhood Addiction: Recovery Survivors Break Free”

You hear a lot about the challenges that your child with ADHD faces but what you don’t hear discussed as often is the positive side …

Continue reading “The Positive Side of ADHD”

In Zen tradition, we start a mindfulness practice with a “beginners mind.” That is, a childlike innocence towards allowing new experience without expectation or judgment. …

Continue reading “Mindfulness – a Step at a Time”

  Mindfulness is a state of being that people are becoming more and more familiar with. Many understand it as being aware of their surroundings, …

Continue reading “Mindfulness – Inside and Out”

  Living a modern life involves plenty of sitting hours. When you’re busy working at the office – or commuting to and from – you’re …

Continue reading “Our Body’s First Line of Defense”

  According to the CDC 2016 Breastfeeding Report Card, the rate of American women who are breastfeeding has increased. It also indicates that the number …

Continue reading “A Mother and Her Baby”

Coral Gables Counseling Center Today, our team from the Coral Gables Counseling Center participated as part of the “Southern Smash,” an event where literal scales …

Continue reading “Which Wolf Are You Feeding?”

  February is designated as the month of love. When I think of love, I automatically think of all the people that I love and …

Continue reading “Too much or Too little Self-Esteem: The Balancing Act”

  Valentine’s Day is a remembrance of the love and value we feel for our significant others. As we raise awestruck eyebrows in wonder of …

Continue reading “Love Yourself This Valentine’s Day”

(Note: We thought we would close the month with an extra blog which we feel sums up what it takes to be successful in meeting …

Continue reading “Create Solutions, Not Resolutions”

I am a feminist, in the social movement sense of the word. Additionally, I use elements of the feminist theoretical style in my psychotherapy practice. …

Continue reading “Women’s Rights are Human Rights”

September 11, 2001: 2,996 people killed and over 6,000 injured June 12, 2016: 49 people killed at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, FL  There are many …

Continue reading “The Power of Connection”

What if the “new you” is simply the same you, but more concentrated, more refined? Don’t add. Subtract. (And I don’t mean just pounds – …

Continue reading “Cut It Out”

Happy New Year! Now that the New Year is here, our goals and intentions are set and we are all off running towards the 2017 …

Continue reading “Slow and Steady”

Symptoms are an essential and continued part of our life. At times, we may experience worry, apprehension, sadness, stress, irritability, and so on. However, we …

Continue reading “Understanding Our Symptoms as a Guide to Personal Growth”

  Self-esteem is the result of being proud of yourself for your actions, and also for the person you are. People with a healthy self-esteem …

Continue reading “How to Build Healthy Self-Esteem”

When we become parents, the love that has been nurtured and handed from generation to generation flourishes, but also all the fears. As caregivers, we …

Continue reading “Parenting – Guide Yourself While Guiding Your Kids”

When someone you love is going through addiction, it is normal to feel powerless, frustrated and concerned. Addiction is a disease that leads the individual …

Continue reading “Family & Addiction”

Did you know that at least 60% of Americans report sleep problems? Did you also know that 40% of adults experience daytime sleepiness that interferes …

Continue reading “Sleep Towards a Better Life”

As the year ends and resolutions start up with the New Year, many singles find themselves hopeful that perhaps this will be the year in …

Continue reading “Singles Relationship Resolution – Food For Thought”

Life and Health Coach In my last blog, I gave tips on how to prepare for indulging at holiday parties. Today, I’d like to give …

Continue reading “Continuing Eating Through the Holidays Guilt Free”

“Eat, drink, and be merry!:” it’s a phrase with biblical origins and a mandate for the holidays, but living up to the quote may not …

Continue reading “"Eat, Drink and Be Merry!"”

Life and Health Coach With the end of the year holiday fun, also comes stress. We stress over catching up on work before taking time …

Continue reading “Eating Guilt Free Through the Holidays”

November 13th is Sadie Hawkin’s Day. This seems like a silly tradition to continue, in this day and age. Sadie Hawkin’s Day (and related dances) used …

Continue reading “The More Things Change the More They Stay the Same”

Many people that come to therapy are terrified of feeling. They suffer from anxiety and/or depression. When we finally identify the root of their present …

Continue reading “To Feel Or Not to Feel”

September is designated as pain awareness month. With that in mind, it seems fitting that a pain psychologist offer some advice on how to manage …

Continue reading “10 Ways to Manage Symptoms of Chronic Pain”

Domestic violence (DV) is a systemic and coercive pattern of behaviors that is intended to gain power and control over one’s intimate partner through fear, …

Continue reading “Domestic Violence and its Indicators”

Communication is key. I find that whether I am working with couples in therapy, consulting on workplace disputes, or helping physicians convey complicated information – …

Continue reading “The Relationship Equation”

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing) is a “science-validated approach” that gives people a new perspective and understanding of their past experiences, traumas and phobias.   The …

Continue reading “EMDR – A Brief Overview”

Alcohol is the substance of choice for many underage children. It is estimated that one third of youth begin to drink before the age of …

Continue reading “Your Kids and Alcohol”

The following is a definition of perfectionism: Perfectionism is characterized by a person’s striving for flawlessness and setting excessively high performance standards, accompanied by overly …

Continue reading “Perfectionism Isn’t So Perfect For Us”

Recently, the press has focused on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), which is the result of an incident where the individual has felt that they, …

Continue reading “Trauma: Do I Suffer From It and Is There Help?”

If you feel awkward or uncomfortable, you are definitely not alone. For most parents, sex topic discussions are one of the most complex and emotionally …

Continue reading “Do You Find It Difficult to Talk About Sex Topics With Your Children?”

Eating disorder awareness is instrumental in the health and well-being of boys/girls and men/women of all ages. In the United States alone, 30 million people …

Continue reading “What is “Eating Disorder” – Signs and Symptoms”

Life and Health Coach As Hamlet pondered whether it was better to live or die in Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”, my clients are always pondering whether it’s …

Continue reading “Will it be “Juicing” or “Blending” – “That is the Question””

When reflecting about the passing 2014, did you find that the 2014 resolutions did not make it past the first month? Here are some simple …

Continue reading “New Year, New Opportunities…. Same Resolutions?”