A few months back, the owner of a popular specialty store in my town got into a little conflict with the owner of a neighboring store. The neighboring storeowner initiated the conflict with a rude and abusive phone call, rife … Continue reading
Q: How can I approach someone about their beer drinking without having them go on the defensive and possibly turning their back on me? I feel it is increasing because he lives alone and at present is not working regularly … Continue reading
It doesn’t take a village to know the truth. The truth comes from facts. Facts will form into concepts, and concepts can identify truths of reality via the use of logic. Any individual has the capacity for discerning truth, provided … Continue reading
Somebody sent me the following story (author unknown) entitled, ‘Psychiatrists vs. Bartenders.’ Ever since I was a child, I’ve had a fear of someone under my bed at night. So I went to a shrink and told him: ‘I’ve got … Continue reading
What does it mean to call something (or someone) a ‘blessing’? Usually, the term has a religious or supernaturalist reference. In other words, to call something a blessing is to speak of it as an almost causeless wonder. In my … Continue reading
Conclusion of yesterday’s column ‘Social justice’ is usually code for ‘self-sacrifice.’ You would be encouraged by such a therapist to sacrifice, wherever possible, for the sake of ‘the social good’ as against the good of the individual; specifically ‘the social … Continue reading
A reader wrote and asked me if for a person with serious emotional issues related to his or her life situation, is there any help to be had from most therapists? He stated, ‘My experience when I was younger was … Continue reading
A reader recently wrote and asked if it’s true that even a pet’s love is conditional. He wrote, ‘From my own experience it is. Perhaps it seems so to people in general — that a pet loves them unconditionally — … Continue reading
Is all anxiety bad, or based on faulty thinking? Of course not. Are all negative thoughts erroneous, just because they describe or embody negative ideas? No. Anxiety is a useful and necessary thing, when it involves a call to rational … Continue reading
The ‘entitlement mentality’ is just as destructive to personal relationships as it is to society. First, let’s be clear about what the entitlement mentality actually is. It’s an irrational belief that one is entitled to things, people or relationships — … Continue reading
Dear Dr. Hurd: I have always found the following very difficult. When to discuss a subject, incident, action that upset me with the person involved? My thinking goes something along the lines of this: What do I hope to gain … Continue reading
Thanks to a reader, I recently ran across a somewhat cynical yet surprisingly astute commentary on human relationships: There’s a really good chance that the last person who got annoyed with you for seemingly no reason at all did it … Continue reading