One of the best things about the holiday season is getting together with people you haven’t seen in a while. This time of year often brings the opportunity to catch up with friends and family members. While this is wonderful, it can also be difficult to know what to talk about, how to start a […]
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……We all want to believe that we are good people, and that we contribute well to our communities. Acts of kindness and giving, even small gestures, validate these lovely parts of ourselves. What better way to feel like a kind and loving person than through small little actions that put more good out into the world……..
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Read this article to learn facts about psychotherapy that may improve your understanding of how it works. The science and practice of psychotherapy is a fairly young profession. Most of us have heard about early founding members, especially figures like Sigmund Freud. Early practices of psychotherapy were often run largely by the therapist, who would […]
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Self-compassion is an important part of parenting children and adolescents. A few years ago, the Washington Post published an article called “Teaching Children Self-Compassion by Modeling it Ourselves” by Mandy Lange. The article addresses the idea that children learn how to respond to their difficulties, stressors, and mistakes through their own experiences, and through what […]
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The summer before college represents a huge transition between high school graduation and leaving for school in the fall. Families are proud, excited, worried, and quite busy. There is much to do and prepare for, especially if that teen is headed to college in the fall. The summer after graduation is an exciting and overwhelming […]
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Communication is difficult, and often very complex. Everyone has a slightly different style; some people are highly animated, while others are quiet and reserved. Some people tend to be very direct and clear about what they mean, and others use more subtle clues in their communication to get their meaning across. As we all try […]
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It’s really hard to be a student You don’t have a choice over how your day goes. You have to ask permission for everything. It’s easy to feel like your day is full of people trying to catch your mistakes. You are constantly being evaluated. You have a full day of class, then a full […]
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Sportsmanship (and compassion for people) is important in both the participation and viewing of sports Sports are a common past-time for many of us. I was watching the big Bears/Packers rivalry game this week, and saw Aaron Rodgers leave the field with a very painful, and very distressing, injury. I went online to see if […]
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Kindness is an important concept to understand. We are programmed to be kind to one another, even though sometimes it seems that the world has lost this instinct. You can train yourself to be kinder, and as a result, you may also be happier, healthier, and find more meaning in your life. Kindness makes us […]
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Getting angry is a part of life. None of us will live a life free of stressors, and sometimes, whether we want it to or not, anger bubbles up as we try to deal with our stress. Anger is natural, but the behaviors that come out of anger can be scary, hurtful, and harmful. Below […]
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“And” is a word that we don’t often think about. It is quite powerful Let’s start by looking at the following examples “I really liked your presentation, but I think you could make a few improvements” What do you take away from that statement? Do you think you would walk away thinking “boy, that person […]
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Here in eastern Iowa, we have had a huge March snow, with a likely April snow ahead. The winter has been long, and many of us are feeling it. Given that we can’t control (or even reliably predict) the weather, especially here in Iowa, here are a few tips for pushing through until the warmth […]
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