"Alone time" is time engaged in a solitary, uninterrupted, and satisfying activity that provides you a psychological boost. The goal is feeling refreshed despite a schedule of tightly woven work and home responsibilities. Single parents, caregivers, or those with busy jobs and chain-linked to-dos can find it difficult to schedule regular alone time. It's easy to see alone time as only a "nice-to-have" activity or to avoid it altogether out of fear or guilt. However, alone time is a tool -- a…

If you love someone who has a drinking problem, you may slowly acquire problematic ways of managing communications, social interactions, behaviors, and uncertainties you experience. These are normal responses to addiction-affected relationships. As the disease advances and you find yourself having to manage these things more often and experiencing emotional stress, your health may be adversely affected. Physical symptoms like stomach problems, depression, and sleep problems are only a few…

Are you aware of social media's effect on you? Does it interrupt your activities, consume too much of your time, adversely affect your mood, keep you inside on sunny days, cause you to be late, distract your driving, or put the kibosh on your to-do lists? Facebook and other social media platforms make their money based on usage and seek to have you spend more time online. Some studies have shown a little shot of dopamine - a hormone that creates a sense of pleasure - is released when we…

There has always been the assumption that family meals are a good thing for everyone, especially kids, but research with 1,492 children conducted by the University of Montreal documented high returns from the practice. Children were studied over a four-year period, starting at age 6. Those who participated in more family meals had higher levels of general fitness and lower levels of soft drink consumption, less physical aggression, reduced oppositional behavior, fewer incidents of nonaggressive…

Perhaps you've thought about getting professional counseling, but until now have dismissed the idea. Yet you're not making the changes you want in your life. The tipping point for many people is being fed up with feeling stuck. If you're near that point, one primary obstacle to seeking professional counseling is probably fear. That fear can be greater than the excitement for the changes you desire. Professional counseling is about going to the next level, whatever that is for you. To this end,…

To-do lists improve productivity, but they can add stress if they multiply on Post-It notes, 3x5 cards, and paper scraps. Avoid flipping through this stuff. Instead, keep one master list. Update it, and transfer undone items to a clean sheet as needed. Supercharge a to-do list with five sections: job, family, friends, leisure, and personal/health. Fit everything into one of these categories. Prioritization will be easier, and you'll reduce time spent on trivial tasks. Anxiety will lessen as you…

There are many reasons for not accomplishing a New Year's resolution, but one you may not fully appreciate is a lack of belief in your ability to be successful. You may want and hope to be successful with your goal, but a barely noticeable, negative self-talk script doubting your ability will make your goal elusive. Fight negative self-talk scripts, which you can assume will creep up on you, by practicing affirmations that inoculate you against them. An affirmation is a positive statement that…

1. Take care of yourself

It is easy to forget to get enough rest and eat right. Taking care of yourself first will help you weather aspects of the holidays that may be hard.

2. Find a way to acknowledge the person you have lost

Rather than avoiding the feelings, find a way to remember and acknowledge the person that is meaningful and positive.

3. Incorporate memories or stories about the person into your family traditions

Remember your friend or family member's role in holiday traditions…

Many people think about couples counseling, but don't go. Some may threaten each other with it: "That does it, we're going!" But how do you know if you should see a couples therapist? Will it help resolve the problems you face? Could it make things worse? One reason couples don't go for counseling is a belief that it means they've failed in their relationship. (Not true!) Surveys by professional associations vary, but most show about twice as many couples reporting improvement in their…