I believe that I have such a vanilla life.–Jen Lancaster In one of my last blogs “Scoop of Self” I said I would try my experiment on trying a different flavor of ice cream each week. The purpose is to see what flavor I choose says about me. I started...

“Intimacy is being seen and known as the person you truly are.” — Amy Bloom Recently, one of my clients said something to me that stopped me cold. “David, you are setting me up.” At first, I honestly did not understand what he meant.So I asked him to explain. He said,“You want...

“Sometimes we feel we must stay strong, never allowing ourselves to cry like a baby.”— David Johnson, Bashful Elephant Counseling Yesterday I was working in the garden when I tripped over a hose and landed against a stake sticking up from the ground. I scraped my calf badly—about a three-inch...

“Love is like a hot fudge sundae. Partly hot, partly cold, and always gratifying. -Unknown After nearly 30 years of sitting across from people—listening to their stories, their pain, their hopes—I’ve come to realize something that doesn’t get talked about enough. We get very good at naming things. Anxiety. Depression....

Starting Over When You’re Older What does it mean to start over when you are in your seventies… or beyond? We often hear that phrase—“starting over”—as if it belongs to the young.As if reinvention has an expiration date.As if risk, hope, love, and even mistakes are only meant for earlier...

As a somewhat normal guy—and a counselor—I find myself thinking a lot about anxiety: how it affects me personally, and what I hear from the people I work with. On my Psychology Today profile, I include a quote by John A. Shedd:“Ships are safe in the harbor, but that’s not what ships are...

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” Robert Frost I recently visited a friend and noticed a photograph on his wall—an image filled with roads. At least ten of them. Some winding. Some straight. Each one different....

“The people you love become ghosts inside of you and like this you keep them alive.” -Robert Montgomery I recently watched Flowers for Algernon, and it profoundly moved me. It captured something I—and so many of my clients—experience after a deep loss: the feeling of loving a ghost. No matter our...

I just heard this beautiful song (link below) that really touched my heart and made me think of HOME and also a lot about my sister who was a French teacher. We all smile—often without realizing it—when we think of home.There is something about the word that feels close and familiar,...

Today is the youngest I will ever be (Note 99) I have been struggling with a set of thoughts and questions for quite some time. I wonder if you have, too. Lately, I find myself asking when—or if—I should stop doing the things I love because of emerging limitations: mental,...