ELINOR STANTON

Do you have difficulty starting and/or finishing projects? Or initiating a new behavior, such as exercising or working out? Do you become excited thinking of tackling a long postponed task, only to become discouraged and overwhelmed when you try to ...

A common social problem that exists at many levels and can probably be found anywhere in the world is domestic violence. Women and children tend to be the most likely victims but males are not immune to domestic abuse.

Do you often find yourself worrying about everyone else and neglecting your own needs? Do you tend to become overly committed and overwhelmed? If so, you may be codependent or tend toward codependency.

Do you often find yourself worrying about everyone else and neglecting your own needs?

An ingredient missing in many relationships is respect.

Are you in a space where you want to make your marriage or most significant relationship better?

Are you feeling stressed, overwhelmed or filled with anxiety about how much you want/need/can’t accomplish

Men are not like women; women are different from men.

Clients arrive in my office bearing a wide variety of problems, ranging from depression to difficult relationships and adverse life circumstances.

Life is full of rules and laws. Without them social and political stability would be tremendously compromised and many societies would exist in anarchy, so we have governments to enforce laws. We also have spiritual and religious leaders to interpret ...

In less than two weeks we will celebrate the closing of 2009, with traditional parties to acknowledge another ending.

Has your husband recently retired after a long and successful career?

How many readers have wondered about love; what it is, how to know when it’s real, how to differentiate it from infatuation? It’s a common question with many answers.

Children express themselves through their actions.

If you’ve ever wondered why your monthly landscape maintenance bills can be so expensive, a little home grown detective sleuth work might turn up a few answers.

Domestic violence has recently made frightening headlines with the mass murders of a local family. Domestic violence occurs everywhere and among all social classes. Most often, women and children are the victims, usually of men who are either addicted to ...

There are many measures that may alleviate or treat anxiety, a pervasive problem of society today. Prevention is the first step. Some individuals are more prone to anxiety than others. This is due in part to heredity, as well as ...

Are you one of millions who suffer from anxiety? Do you regularly avoid certain situations because your discomfort is unbearable? Do you bravely push yourself through dreaded activities, hoping no one will suspect how nervous you are? Or perhaps a ...

Are you happily married? If so, can you honestly say it’s been wonderful every day, 24 hours a day, for 40 or 50 years? Only a chosen few can honestly say, “Yes.” For most, marriage is truly a mixed bag; ...

As we grow older, we hope to grow wiser. The sages of old are depicted as mature men, with long white beards and kind, thoughtful faces. In our culture, wisdom is less valued than in other parts of the world, ...

Do you tend to put yourself down by minimizing your abilities and accomplishments? Are you one of those people who realize only a small percentage of your true potential? Do you often tell yourself you could never achieve or accomplish ...

There’s an old saying that honesty is the best policy. Most of us espouse that belief; we don’t lie, steal or cheat. Honesty is a universally admired character trait by which most of us try to live. In spite of ...

Why do people hurt each other? Why do war, brutality, and personal vengeance exist? Man’s inhumanity toward his own has made history for eons. It provides the stuff of headlines, jobs for lawmakers and law enforcers. Is there any way ...

According to statistics at least fifty percent of marriages fail. These numbers do not include fractured relationships that never made it to the altar, nor do they refer to thousands of hearts broken and dreams shattered when seemingly perfect relationships ...

Assertiveness is a learned behavior defined as “clear, honest, authentic communication about oneself, while preserving respect for the other person.”

A successful marriage is a work in progress, as is any important relationship. If anyone thinks that making those “I do’s” at the wedding will guarantee eternal bliss they have only to check the statistics on divorce to see how ...

What happens in therapy? What should you expect? Why do we believe therapy helps? Individuals usually seek help from a therapist when overwhelmed by life’s problems. Life tends to be very difficult; sometimes we are stressed beyond our capacity to ...

When Sigmund Freud developed psychoanalysis in the nineteenth century he opened the door to the mysteries of man’s mind and launched us on an endless journey of discovery.

Stress haunts us. Its ugly presence makes us fret, doubt ourselves, overwork to earn enough money and make sure our loved ones are happy and pleased with us. Stress begets stress. The harder we strive the more we see what ...

Everyone needs someone. It’s a fact of life. Only from a safe, loving connection with another can we find the emotional fulfillment we desire and need.

Addictions to various substances and behaviors have plagued world societies for thousands of years. Only in the past few decades has a clearer understanding emerged on causes and effective treatments.

Identification of core beliefs can be challenging because the unconscious parts of our ego and psyche go to great lengths to protect us, with amazing success, from a negative self-image.

Most of us walk through life influenced by certain core beliefs. Although we are only minimally aware of these beliefs and how they affect us, they impact us daily. A primarily goal in psychotherapy is to uncover negative core beliefs, ...

On Valentine’s Day what topic could be better than romance? One definition for romance in Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary is: “A romantic affair or experience; a love affair.” Not one of Webster’s many definitions alludes to lasting love. How interesting.

To maintain a vital, thriving marriage, partners need to be nurtured physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Mutual nurturing enriches and enhances relationships but too often couples become complacent and take each other for granted.

The inspiration for this week’s topic comes from a casual conversation about one of the difficulties of being a man; and for the women who live with them. A rather common male affliction shows up when the refrigerator door is ...

Among a very large segment of the population that is required or advised to take medications, very few are aware of basic rules that should be imparted when prescriptions are written and filled.

Trouble and relationships go hand in hand. Not only are romantic relationships prone to conflict; any and all are susceptible. Can anyone say they’ve never had a disagreement with a friend, relative, supervisor, coworker or employee?

One week into the New Year and we’re all ready stressed out, or perhaps still stressed out is more accurate. Why not begin a de-stressing program? The following exercise can help to reduce the stress in your life.

As we launch into another year amid dire reports of global warming, financial chaos and nuclear proliferation it’s hard to believe in a “Happy New Year.” Fear is in the air and we have good reasons to be apprehensive. News ...

Last week, we presented an example of how change, in the form of divorce, can and usually does impact an entire family. Anyone involved is going to have an opinion and a reaction.

Imagine you’re a mother and grandmother in your 60s. You live alone by choice. You raised a daughter by yourself after a brief marriage ended in divorce. Initially you dated a bit but soon determined you wanted to be the ...

Questions about medications for psychiatric and mental health conditions frequently arise in therapy. People want and need to know if medications are safe, effective and really necessary. I will attempt to address some of these concerns.

Today’s topic concerns power — personal power. We tend to confuse power with control, a confusion that shows up in relationships as conflict. After the romance wanes we still want to feel special, but have forgotten about the sweet little ...

This past week, through a stroke of luck I was privileged to participate in a program at the Hanley Center in West Palm Beach. In the belief that it may be helpful to some readers, I would like to share ...

We live in a harsh world. It’s appalling how many of us grow up in families where tolerance, understanding and compassion are missing. I decided to write about this with the hope that it might inspire deeper levels of understanding ...

Anyone who is elderly and lives alone faces a special set of challenges, beginning with health issues. Physical and mental health should be priorities. Let’s begin with physical health which is a very basic need but one that for most ...

What does one do about a life of regret, a life not fully lived, thwarted by fear, circumstance or victimization? To look back and see from the wisdom of years a big stretch of wasted time is a very painful ...

Money management comes naturally to a chosen few; the remainder must learn either from books or the school of hard knocks.

In our society one of the most long awaited and anticipated life events is retirement. Countless individuals toil for years in work for which they have no passion, counting down the years and months with only a vision of a ...