Me Change? You’re Kidding, Right?

Practical Psychology: What Works and What’s Nuts …I have fired only one client. Mrs. X. Mrs. X, a fifty-one-year-old divorcee, came to see me because she’d heard that I work from a theory of family systems and she had a family problem. Or, at least her daughter and her husband …

Continue reading

When it Comes to Distant Mothers—This Lady Wins

When it Comes to Distant Mothers—This Lady Wins The movie, The Darjeeling Limited, is the story of one man’s attempt to save his own life and maybe those of his brothers who are equally crippled by their strange and emotionally distant childhood. **To make sense of the current story, first …

Continue reading

Which is Best? Potato Peeler or a Paring Knife?

Potato Peeler or Paring Knife? Which is Best? The lady across from me in my office described an anxious situation she experienced every time she visited her parents for Sunday dinner. Mashed potatoes were usually on the menu and my client’s responsibility. The potato tool selection is when Potato Peeler …

Continue reading

“What’s Wrong with You?” Criticism, Part Two.

“What’s Wrong with You?” Criticism, Part Two. Dateline: In the air over New Mexico, American Airlines Flight 78. It’s crowded up here in the clouds because New Mexicans levitate with the ease that you and I eat breakfast. I almost talked myself out of writing this element of “Conquering Criticism …

Continue reading

Conquering Criticism in Three Parts: Criticizing the World, Criticizing Partners and Family, and Criticizing Yourself

Conquering Criticism in Three Parts: Criticizing the World, Criticizing Partners and Family, and Criticizing Yourself– Bet you thought this was going to be about those mean other people who criticize you and how you can get them to stop. Wrong. Anyway, convincing someone else to not criticize with like emptying …

Continue reading

How to Know You’re in Big Trouble, Tanking in Vegas

Three Ways to Know When Your Efforts Toward a Goal Are Doomed Dateline: Houston Hilton International Branch Office. On another visit, my sister-in-law and I noticed and reported that the hotel was hosting a senior women’s basketball tournament or women’s basketball re-union. Later at dinner, we were corrected by the …

Continue reading

Stress. Mowing the Lawn Can Make You Blind

Dateline: Threadgill’s Local International Branch Office and former Armadillo World Headquarters frequented by: Jimmy Buffet and Ray Charles.  How to Be Miserable and Make Stupid Mistakes The promised “Lawn Mower Incident” or how anxiety can make you blind. ANXIETY: Anxiety is the body’s reaction to a real or perceived threat. …

Continue reading