There comes a time for each of us when we face the task of rebuilding an adult life from the ground up. We might be changing a lot of things at once and struggle to take action and make decisions. Job loss, loss of a significant other, death of a family member, an empty nest, or a change in economic circumstances are some of the life experiences that  trigger the need to make multiple changes.There are also many wonderful life experiences where we start over: a new job in a new city, graduating from school, leaving military service, retiring from a long term job and changing marital or parental...

Whenever an accomplished man comes forward acknowledging serious issues with depression, it comes as a shock to all who saw him as a success. Men who are deemed to be accomplished in life are seen as having it all. There is little room left for that man to have feelings that don’t fit the outward picture. Far too many men are suppressing feelings and needs that are simply human. It is easy for a man to feel as though he exists primarily to care for others and to deny as long as possible that he himself is in trouble emotionally.

Research on socialization of emotions, much of it...

Are there really as many unhappy attorneys as we are led to believe? A new study was released this month with the largest sample size of employed attorneys ever studied. The findings showed a significantly different trend than past studies. In the past, the longer attorneys were in the field, the more they tended to have problems with alcohol, depression, anxiety and stress. This recent study of 12,825 employed attorneys found a complete reversal of that pattern.  Lawyers with the highest rates of alcohol abuse were younger associates working in private law firms. Men had significantly higher...

      Attachment theory  explains why breaking up is so painful even when you know you are not right for each other. You know in your head that you are not good together but the thought of separating is...

When you have suffered a large loss, you will begin to undergo a process that can be described as a normal grief reaction. Grief is poorly understood in our society and is often not tolerated for long periods of time. The more you are able to allow yourself a normal grief reaction, the less likely you are to have prolonged or complicated grief reactions or sink into a depression. Many people confuse depression and grief because of the overlap of symptoms like fatigue or loss of pleasure in life. One way to distinguish the two is to notice that grief is “working” through and the feelings...

There is often denial in families about the emotional troubles of others in the family. This is particularly true when a mother is emotionally unstable and family members look the other way instead of stepping in and dealing with the issue. The problem with this kind of denial is that children are affected by a mother’s mood swings, alcohol use, rage, verbal put downs or neediness. The same woman that no one in the family can deal with is left in charge of the children.

Often fathers have no idea what to do and avoid the situation by withdrawing and resigning themselves...

Is there such a thing as a slacker young adult? Yes there is and they may be part of your own family or even living with you. I have recently been asked by 2 mothers who have children in their 20s living at home, how to help launch these grown children. First of all, not every child who lives in a multi-generational household is a slacker. Some are busy as students or full-time employees and it may be that these young adults are living at home to save money for something important or avoid student debt. In these cases, the children pay some of the living expenses of the house and do chores in...