Financial Denial and Avoidance

img financial denial and avoidance

Do you avoid looking at your bills or bank statements? Do you know how much you currently have in your accounts or how much you owe? Does thinking about your financial situation cause you anxiety, distress, or guilt? Do you avoid discussing or thinking about your financial situation at any cost to avoid feeling negatively…

Read More

Any Progress is Still Progress

Any Progress is Still Progress

Making changings in ourselves and our lives involves a lot of determination, motivation, time, and effort. It can be easy to get discouraged, lose motivation, or want to give up along the way, especially when we feel as though we are not making progress and will never reach our goal. In order to stay on…

Read More

Fighting Together: Appreciating the Value in Relationship Conflict

fighting together appreciating value relationship conflict 900X300

Conflict often carries a negative reputation. It feels uncomfortable and emotional, and it sometimes brings out sides of us we would rather avoid. Conflict also plays a key role in a healthy relationship, as it supports connection and long-term growth. Couples without disagreements face limited opportunities to express needs, solve differences, or build emotional maturity.…

Read More

What Does Money Mean to You?

sdfssadf

Think about money. What is the first word or words that come to mind? Does your word or words include power, success, protection, security, independence, love, or freedom? Or maybe oppression, control, manipulation, anxiety, stress, or avoidance? Many of us have a pretty strong reaction to money and the meaning it holds for us. It…

Read More

Finding Balance in Work and Life

In a world of smartphones and tablets, texting, unlimited access to email and internet, constant contact, and high expectations for immediate or quick responses and turnaround times, how are we supposed to have balance between our personal and professional lives? In much of my work with clients I often hear a significant amount about work…

Read More

Acceptance

Acceptance

There are certain habits, situations, characteristics, thoughts, beliefs, opinions, etc. within ourselves and our lives that we have control over and are able to improve, change, or stop. But there is also a significant amount, especially when other people are involved, that we do not have control over or are unable to change or stop.…

Read More

Money Scripts

monsc2

We all have certain views, opinions, and beliefs about money that influence our thoughts, behaviors, and emotions around spending, saving, debt, worth, and our relationship with money. During our lives we have come to form these beliefs based on what we were taught within our families growing up, often passed down from generation to generation,…

Read More

Finding Comfort with the Grey Zone

shutterstock 181299146

Black or white. All or nothing. Right or wrong. Left or right. Yes or no. Republican or Democrat. Rich or poor. City or country. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The world is full of dichotomies, situations, and labels in which there appear to be only two options available, where we feel we…

Read More

Money Talk, It’s Time to End the Taboo

blog 160608 01

Let’s be honest, we need money to live. Even the basic functions of living: air, water, and food, require some amount of money and spending to be able to obtain them and maintain our lives. Add in the need for clothing and shelter and there is no way one can argue that money isn’t a key component of and a necessity of life. We may not want to acknowledge it or give money such “power,” but it is a basic fact of life. Despite the inherent necessity of money in our lives, we treat it like a dirty little secret, a horrible habit, or a disgusting disease that we refuse to acknowledge or talk about. Why is money considered such a taboo topic to talk about overall, and even with people close to us or in confidential settings?

Read More

Live in the NOW

Do you ever get to where you are going and realize you don’t remember walking or driving there? Do you have conversations with other people but can’t remember what was said afterwards? Do you eat meals but don’t really pay attention to what you are eating or how it tastes? Does the end of the…

Read More