Broaden and Build.

Most of us live in a culture where we send others positive wishes. “Happy Easter”, “Merry Christmas”, “Good Morning”, “Pleased to meet you”, “Nice to see you”, “Warm wishes on your anniversary”, “Have a generous Ramadan”, “Sending you peace” – and on and on and on.  We use those positive words, words like:  Yet, did […]

Uncle Jeff – and a few trillion gallons of water.

Some of my earliest memories involve my Uncle Jeff.   Uncle Jeff was my dad’s cooler and less risk-averse younger brother. He was a Marine and an attorney and wore stylish clothes and big sunglasses with his big dark hair.  And when he and his family came to visit us from California, or met us […]

Mr. Ficks and Alligator River.

According to the Oxford Dictionary, psychology is “the scientific study of the human mind and its functions, especially those affecting behavior in a given context.”  And I love it.  It is the thing in this world that has received the very most of my attention, time, brain power, and resources.  It is something I have […]

Becoming our own wayfinders.

I have spent the majority of my life in a ‘grid’ city.  According to Wikipedia, “In urban planning, the grid plan, grid street plan, or gridiron plan is a type of city plan in which streets run at right angles to each other, forming a grid. The grid plan dates from antiquity and originated in […]

The reframe your brain needs.

I have a step-daughter-in-law and a little sister who are both Registered Nurses, or RNs.  One is in the first couple years of her career and one has been a nighttime newborn ICU nurse for almost 30 years. Imagine that! Almost 30 years of being a witness to some of the toughest and most tender […]

Efficacy and “Question Coleen.”

Recently I had a client tell me that she thought she’d done a disservice to her teenager.  “She’s so used to me fixing everything for her that now she can’t figure out how to do it on her own.  I can see so clearly that it’s my fault,” she told me.  I decided to tell […]

Fortune Cookies and Optimistic Action.

Please pick a number between 1 and 10.  Really.  Pick it.  Got it??  Ok, now kindly hold on to it for a moment.   When I retired from education about a year and a half ago, my tribe of girlfriends threw me a brunch.  It was so kind of them.  I decided I wanted to […]

Josh, the Jazz, and some Collective Group Effort

I want you to picture the person in your life who is the most die-hard of die-hard sports fans.  My brain immediately goes to my Dad’s brother, Jeff.  Do you have yours?  Ok.   Now ten times that level of fandom.  Seriously.  That’s my friend, Josh.  And he just got some news that I am […]

7 Things You Can Do To Live An Amazing Life (Sally’s Version).

A few of you may have heard the story of Daniel Seddiqui, the USC graduate in Economics who – after having 40 job applications rejected – took a novel approach to doing something about it.  He decided to load up his jeep and try 50 different jobs in 50 different states – a week each. […]

Protective Factors Checklist.

In counseling vernacular, there is a term thrown around that I have had on my mind a lot lately: Protective Factors.   Protective Factors are probably exactly what you’re imagining – factors that protect people in times of challenge and increase their resiliency.  The more protective factors one has, the greater the likelihood that they […]