Search Results for: lisa firestone/feed/2009/11/fear-of-intimacy

pat love relationship experts

Experts at Home: Dr. Pat Love on Relationships During the Time of Covid-19

  In our first Experts at Home conversation, Dr. Lisa Firestone interviews relationship expert Dr. Pat Love. They discuss common relationship challenges in the time of Covid-19 and how couples can use this challenging time as an opportunity for growth. You can download the questions for connecting exercise Dr. Pat Love mentions in the interview here: Connecting and Reconnecting Exercise Handout Watch Now:   Subscribe to PsychAlive (it’s free!) to…

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No Resolutions for Me

…break from being in a state of flight, fight or freeze in response to the fear and anxiety caused by this pandemic. Our lives have been upset by changes in routines, disruption of work and school schedules, financial uncertainty, disconnection from friends and family, and loss of loved ones. Reflecting So, I’m going to take the time I normally set aside for reflecting upon the last year and planning for the new one, and instead I’m not going to t…

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death anxiety, death awareness, psychalive, Dr Sheldon Solomon

Creating Meaning by Facing Our Mortality

…Conversely, both Dr. Solomon and my father, psychologist and author Robert Firestone, argue that when death awareness isn’t denied, but recognized, we can use it to promote peace and compassion. The idea that, as humans, we are all in the same boat (“all be it a sinking boat,” as Dr. Solomon points out) promotes a sense of equality and togetherness. The acknowledgement that our physical selves share the same fate, and that we all hold the same fea…

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Ways to Improve Your Relationship While Sheltering at Home

Just as it has with pretty much everything else in our lives, Covid-19 has had a significant impact on our relationships. Pair the novelty of the situation with the increased uncertainty and stress of coping with a global pandemic, and what we’ll find is that most couples are facing new strains on their relationship that are making life at home all the more difficult. The first thing to do if you find yourself in this situation is to take a deep…

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How to Stop Feeling Triggered by Your Partner

In my last blog, I wrote about some of the psychological reasons we get triggered by our partner in a relationship. I explored why tensions can rise so quickly, and things can feel heated before either person has a chance to understand what’s going on. These conflicts can be fraught enough for some people to end the relationship. Others may seek counseling. Yet, many couples just fall into a pattern of fight, make up, move on, fight, make up, mov…

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Are You Swiping Right on Your Attachment Style?

…t in romantic relationships: dismissive avoidant, anxious preoccupied, and fearful avoidant attachment. One woman I know was a self-sufficient loner who had a history of casual encounters and short-term relationships. When she signed up for online dating, her siblings teased her because she only picked women who lived across the country from her. When she became excited about a woman who lived in Europe, her sister suggested that if she was seriou…

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Is your child “drinking from a firehose” by Debra Kessler, Psy.D.

…Neurorelational Framework for Interdisciplinary Practice (Lillas &Turnbull 2009). Dr. Kessler has an active practice in Montrose, California. In a family centered manner, she treats a range of developmental and emotional issues including adoption/attachment difficulties, bipolar disorder, anxiety, depression, autism/Asperger’s syndrome, ADHD, learning challenges, regulatory difficulties and other issues that interfere with children reaching their…

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Helping Children Thrive: How I Spoke Up for One Little Girl

…before she became the Executive Director of CASA of Santa Barbara County in 2009. She knows first-hand the impact a CASA volunteer can have on a child. She told me about Alex, who was abandoned by his parents when he was 11. In foster care, Alex was doing very poorly in school. His new CASA volunteer was the first to speculate that Alex might have vision problems. Sure enough, an examination showed that he needed glasses. After having chronically…

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Compulsive Liars: The Truth About Lying

…re You Find Real Facts Rather Than Alternative Facts. Forbes.com. Retrieved 11 March 2017, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/berlinschoolofcreativeleadership/2017/02/01/10-journalism-brands-where-you-will-find-real-facts-rather-than-alternative-facts/#581db1d2e9b5 Graham, D. (2017). ‘Alternative Facts’: The Needless Lies of the Trump Administration. The Atlantic. Retrieved 11 March 2017, from https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/01/th…

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Is Cynicism Ruining Your Life?

…t to shake off. But what are the risks of indulging in cynical attitudes? A 2009 study of more than 97,000 women showed that optimistic women had lower rates of coronary heart disease, cancer-related deaths, and mortality. Conversely, women with the most pessimistic and cynical personalities, had higher rates of these diseases and death. When we think of hostility and negativity as life-threatening conditions, it makes the goal of being less cynic…

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