Blog for Better Living

The Fawn Response

By: Michael Toohey, Psy.D. | December 9, 2022

Fight, Flight, Freeze……Fawn? Most people are familiar with the stress responses known as fight, flight, and freeze. These are natural responses to real, or perceived physical or emotional threats. These responses help us evade and manage threats and dangers we encounter to keep us safe. Have you heard of the fawn response? It’s less well […]

Bullying, Stress, Trauma

Why are holidays so hard? A Guide for Coping

By: Rochelle Perper, Ph.D. | November 25, 2022

If the holidays don’t feel like the often quoted ‘most wonderful time of the year,’ you aren’t alone in that feeling. At an early age, we learn that the holidays are times for festivity, a time for the entire family to come together in perfect joy. Social media shows idyllic images of beautiful families together, […]

Family, Grief, Holidays, Stress, Trauma

Compassionate Self-Talk for the Stressed-Out Parent

By: Kristen Lipari, Ph.D. | November 18, 2022

The tasks of parenthood can feel overwhelming. Whether you are a stay-at-home parent or balancing a job with parenthood, these years are trying. You’re managing your own mental and physical well-being as well as that of tiny humans. There are dozens of seemingly invisible tasks that add up and it feels like there’s never enough […]

Children, Family, Parenting, Stress

How to Positively Respond to Change

By: Lisa Card Strong, Ph.D. | September 2, 2022

Our society is changing in cavernous ways. I never expected a pandemic combined with such significant political and social unrest. I am shocked and profoundly saddened by the horrible rebounds and backward motion for women’s rights and LBGTQ+, Black, and minority communities. I am shaking in my boots from it all. Okay, I’m not wearing […]

Navigating Infertility

By: Jen McWaters, Psy.D. | August 26, 2022

What to Say to a Loved One Struggling and How to Cope Yourself Driving to work recently, I was surprised to hear an advertisement on the radio for an In vitro fertilisation (IVF) clinic. This made me reflect on how much more normative the topic of fertility or infertility has become. Given the increased […]

A Mom’s Perspective on Summer Vacation: Dream vs. Reality

By: Natalie Rice-Thorp, Ph.D. | July 15, 2022

Every year as summer approaches, I count down the days until school ends, awaiting the time when I have less on my plate. Exhausted from trying to balance my kids’ school demands, keeping the household functional, and keeping up with my own job, I look forward to not tracking almost daily COVID at-home tests, packing […]

Children, Family, Parenting, Stress

Finding Hope

By: Michael Toohey, Psy.D. | July 8, 2022

How do we find hope when everything around us feels overwhelming and impossible? How do we get through the day when there has been so much loss for so many? How do we find the strength to raise our heads when we feel beaten down? I’ve often thought of hope as having a future orientation: […]

Self-Care Doesn’t Always Feel Good

By: Rochelle Perper, Ph.D. | June 10, 2022

Self-care has shifted in recent mainstream dialogue from a specific definition to anything that loosely relates to feeling good. Admittedly, I am guilty of using this watered-down, overly generalized definition at times. When I think about self-care, the things that pop into my head are getting a massage, going to the beach, or cuddling on […]

Looking Inside “The Man Box”

By: Demet Çek, Ph.D. | May 6, 2022

Coauthored by Demet Çek, Ph.D. and Rochelle Perper, Ph.D. “Speaking for my gender, there are two qualities that define most men: we seldom like to ask for help, and we do not like to talk about our feelings. Combining the two – asking for help about our feelings – is the ultimate affront to many […]