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excerpt from The Relaxation and Stress Reduction Workbook for Kids
Think back to your own childhood for a moment. What are the five most stressful moments that come to mind? If you are like many adults, family fights are at the top of your list.
All couples argue at some time. All kids lose their tempers, too. It is rare to find siblings who don’t occasionally quarrel or call each other names. But arguing and fighting should be an exception, not a rule. If your family life is tainted by constant bickering, sarcasm, yelling, or other forms of arguing, you should put peacemaking at the top of your stress-reduction to-do list.
Everyone, even children as young as five, can learn peacemaking or conflict-resolution skills. Conflict-resolution programs have been used in schools for more than a decade, and there is one thing we know about them: they work. There are many ways to teach these same skills at home. Here is one activity that can help family members find peaceful ways to resolve their differences.
Excerpt from
At this time in your life you are most likely going through the challenging process of figuring out your identity or who you are while trying to be the person your friends and family want you to be. This is likely to cause you additional stress. The more you learn about who you truly are, who you want to be, and what is most important to you, the better equipped you will be to cope with stress that comes from trying to meet others’ expectations of you.
Excerpt from Going Home without Going Crazy: How to Get Along with Your Parents and Family (Even When They Push Your Buttons)
Flooding occurs when an adrenaline over load over whelms parts of the brain. Have you ever been so upset you can’t think, can’t speak, can barely cope? That’s flooding. You may already know some thing about flooding from the fight-or-flight syndrome, where the more primitive parts of the brain over ride the more advanced parts. The result is knee-jerk fear or aggression and a distinct lack of level headed reason.
You can expect flooding to affect you both physically and mentally. Physical symptoms act like an early warning system.
Your ultimate goal is to control flooding rather than allow it to control you.
by guest blogger Colleen E. Carney, Ph.D., co-author of Quiet Your Mind and Get to Sleep
So you are lying awake and you can’t shut off your thoughts…sound familiar?
You are in good company. Not being able to shut off your mind is one of the most commonly cited troubles in insomnia. But many people do not have effective strategies to deal with this pesky problem.
The most common “strategy” in popular culture is to count sheep. So is it effective? Let’s first consider why someone would recommend that you count sheep to help you set aside your thoughts and go to sleep. While some believe it is an activity that would promote such boredom as to facilitate sleep, there is probably a better explanation.
Excerpt from Women Who Worry Too Much
Worry is a catch-22 for many women. It leaves them feeling wound up, on edge, and filled with self-doubt. But at the same time, a part of them secretly believes that they need their worry to manage their lives and ward off disaster. They feel stuck in a never-ending double bind, caught between a rock and a hard place. For this reason, many women find worry to be the less of two evils.
By guest blogger Duane Brown, Ph.D., author of Flying Without Fear.
Recent airline accidents may have made boarding an airplane more of a challenge for people who are afraid to fly and may have persuaded others that flying should be avoided altogether. The purpose of this note is to examine reports about these accidents and offer advice to fearful fliers.
excerpt from The Turbulent Twenties Survival Guide
“The major stress I experienced after college involved this feeling of, ‘Oh my God, now I’m actually supposed to do something with my life! What the hell do I want to do?’” says Ricardo, a twenty-six-year old from Los Angeles. “I continue to feel scared because of an overwhelming need to come up with some sort of plan for affecting the world. I enjoy my job, make a fair amount of money, and have a lot of friends in the city, but there’s a constant pressure that I should be doing more, doing a better job of living up to the promise of my college education. I feel I should be leading mass social movements, changing the world, or at least using my mind to push forward truth, beauty, and happiness. There’s a sense that a nine-to-five job is a bit of a disappointment. To whom? My parents? College? Myself, I guess. I think the major stress after college for the highly educated is that we feel like we’re suddenly done with the dress rehearsal. Now we’re supposed to use everything we’ve learned and do ‘amazing’ things. It’s often hard to figure out even how to begin.”
Excerpt from Staying Focused in the Age of Distraction
We think you will agree that the challenge is not to stretch even further to take in more information, but, rather, to be mindful and discriminating about where our attention is focused. How can we minimize distractions and overlook things that don’t matter. We all know what it’s like to try to pay attention to something when we are distracted by something else. Suppose we are feeling emotional pain, and we don’t want to focus on the negative. We can direct ourselves away from unpleasant thoughts and feelings. We can do this by mindfully attending to our breathing and being in the present moment. The additional strategies below can also help.
New Harbinger Publications
Susan Albers, Ph.D.
Ronald Alexander, Ph.D.
Lisa Firestone, Ph.D.
E lisha Goldstein, Ph.D.
Steven C. Hayes, Ph.D.
Lara Honos-Webb, Ph.D.
Susan Kuchinskas
Karen Leland
Pavel Somov, Ph.D.
Cassandra Vieten, Ph.D.
Barton Goldsmith, Ph.D. "Emotional Fitness"
Bill Knaus, Ed.D. "Science and Sensibility"
Cassandra Vieten, Ph.D. "Mindful Motherhood"
Jefferson Singer, Ph.D. "Life Scripts"
John P. Forsyth, Ph.D. "Peace of Mind"
Jonathan Kaplan, Ph.D. "Urban Mindfulness"
Karen Leland "The Perfect Blend"
Kelly McGonigal, Ph.D. "The Science of Willpower"
Lisa Firestone, Ph.D. "Compassion Matters"
Marilyn Krieger, Ph.D. "The White Knight Syndrome"
Mary Lamia, Ph.D. "The White Knight Syndrome"
Randi Kreger "Stop Walking on Eggshells"
Raychelle Cassada Lohmann, MS, LPC "Teen Angst"
Rick Hanson, Ph.D. "Your Wise Brain"
Robert Firestone, Ph.D. "The Human Experience"
Ronald Alexander, Ph.D. "The Wise Mind Open Mind"
Russ Federman, Ph.D., ABPP "Bipolar You"
Russ Harris, MD "The Happiness Trap"
Stephanie Sarkis, Ph.D. "Here, There, and Everywhere"
Steven C. Hayes, Ph.D. "Get Out of Your Mind"
Susan Albers, Psy.D. "Comfort Cravings"
Susan Pease Gadoua, LCSW "Contemplating Divorce"
Troy DuFrene "Fumbling for Change"
Elisha Goldstein, Ph.D. "Mindfulness & Psychotherapy"
Suzanne Phillips, Psy.D., ABPP "Healing Together for Couples"
Pavel Somov, Ph.D. "360º of Mindful Living"
a blog by Russ Harris, MD