I received an email from a reader regarding a recent column where I wrote that a fear of success could be a fear of being “found out” as a fraud – whether you earned the success or not. The writer … Continue reading →

Contrary to what the drug companies would have you think, anxiety can often be a useful and necessary thing; specifically, when that anxiety triggers a call to sensible action. For example, you feel anxious at the sight of an oncoming … Continue reading →

Pop-psychology loves to tout that the purpose of therapy is to “deal with the past.” I suspect that at least part of that comes from the feel-good prattle that pervades Oprah, Ellen, and the rest of daytime TV’s vast wasteland. … Continue reading →

It never ceases to amaze me how people can fire off a snippy email to me when it’s obvious that they haven’t even read my entire article. (I urge you to keep on firing, however – I get many of … Continue reading →

I get a lot of questions about hypnosis. The most common misperception is that it’s a state of unconsciousness, like sleep. Actually, most experts define hypnosis as a “special psychological state with certain physiological attributes, resembling sleep only superficially and … Continue reading →

Well, it’s just around the corner. Though most of us full-timers secretly look forward to it, we still grumble, “I’m sick of the traffic! What? More construction? Things aren’t what they used to be! Who are all these people!?” But … Continue reading →

A University of Wisconsin-Madison imaging study shows the brains of people with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) have weaker connections between a brain structure that controls emotional response, and the amygdala, which plays a key role in the processing of emotions. … Continue reading →

People – divorced, widowed or single – ask me what it is that can prevent a person from finding a loving relationship. The answer boils down to a combination of factors, the first of which is simply not searching persistently … Continue reading →

One of the down sides of Alcoholics Anonymous and similar programs is that they have convinced many people that alcoholism is a medical disease. There’s no proof of this, i.e., no empirical evidence of disease verifiable by MRI, blood test … Continue reading →

One of the subjects that occasionally comes up in my office is the issue of anorexia; generally defined as a pathological refusal to eat. According to Dr. Walter Kaye, professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh, people with anorexia … Continue reading →

A reader emails that her boyfriend expresses no preferences or opinions regarding pretty much anything. She’s beginning to feel resentful about it, and asks if it’s wrong to resent a love interest who consistently does this. It’s hard to believe … Continue reading →

Well, it’s that time again. As we wade through heart-shaped boxes of candy, peanut butter eggs, marshmallow chickens, jelly beans (and those Cadbury caramel eggs!), how can one possibly lose weight for the approaching beach season? Isn’t there some sort … Continue reading →