Holidays are conflicted for many people. Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, in particular, are especially hard because of the complicated relationships we often have with our parents, our children, our grandparents, and the history of those days. It can be painful to see commercials celebrating seemingly perfect parent-child relationships, receive texts and calls, and feel obligated to see family.
Here’s the solution: Treat these days like Arbor Day. You know, Arbor Day, when you’re supposed to…worship trees like a druid? Plant trees? I don’t know. But we never even notice it passing on the calendar. Let this be that. Take those texts in like “Happy Arbor Day!” and those invitations like “Let’s celebrate Arbor Day together” oh, no thanks. Switch the words in your head and eliminate some of the heaviness.
Autumn Hahn is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor, and Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist practicing at Clear Mind Group in Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Nevada, New York, and Virginia. Call 407-494-5280 for a consultation. Follow Clear Mind Group on Twitter & Facebook.
This post is intentionally controversial. Rather, this post asserts my position firmly and you’re welcome to disagree with me.
Avoid arguments with your child and encourage compliance by scaling the number of choices down by the age and stage of your child. For children under 10, 2 options will be sufficient. Lay out tomorrow’s clothes and ask, “Would you rather wear the brown pants or the green ones?” As your child ages, so do the decisions. “Would you rather have the Spiderman backpack or the Dora one?”
Question: How can I enjoy my visit with my friend, who is often plagued by anxiety so badly that he makes plans, but then can’t or won’t leave the house? On past trips, I’ve been so frustrated by his seeming ambivalence to go out with me that I’ve wanted to leave early. I’ve gotten angry and upset and it ruined my visit. I want to have a different experience this time, but don’t know if things will be any different on his part.
For me, the worst thing about being a therapist is seeing people in pain who are not yet willing or ready to make a change. This includes people who resonate with the following statements:
Short-Term Therapy 