Blog Articles
Additional resources written by our PCS therapists.
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The First Few Days of Vacation Aren’t Wasted Time
It’s summertime, and for many people, that means a vacation, often with travel involved. For those of us who live in Southern Arizona, we’re trying to get out of the heat and cool down. Although cooling down might be one reason we’re trying to escape the heat, a mental break… -
Deliberate Play: A Motivational Hack for Skill Acquisition
In psychology, the inverted U-curve, also referred to as the Yerkes-Dodson Law, is used to illustrate the relationship between stress and performance. The law states that performance improves with increased stress (i.e., physiological activation), but only up to a point. Once that upper threshold is breached, performance then begins to… -
Parenting and Perinatal Mental Health: The Stuff We Don’t Say Out Loud
Several months ago now, my colleague and friend Dr. Erin Buggy and I were discussing the ever-challenging transition to parenthood. If there’s one thing I wish every parent heard early on, it’s this: You’re not failing. You’re adjusting. Adjusting is messy. Parenting has a way of cracking us wide open—not… -
The Coin of Conditional Worth
The coin of conditional worth: I’m OK/NOT OK if, when and because….” Bob is feeling good about and liking himself today because he not only sold more cars this month than he did last month, but also because he sold more cars than anyone else on the sales team. He… -
The Case For Connection
A friend of mine has a bumper sticker on her car that says, “Don’t Honk if You’re Introverted.” This always makes me smile. She knows she needs more quiet, reflective and alone time than some others do, and yet she is often the one to initiate visits with our special… -
Learning to Trust Yourself Through Change
When I was catching up with a friend recently at a coffee shop, she shared that she had accepted a job she had been interviewing for months and one she had desperately wanted. After the initial celebration, she paused and admitted something unexpected: she felt terrified to step into this… -
The Spiral of Overfunctoning: How to Benefit Your Relationships by Doing Less
The “ant spiral of death” is a phenomenon where blind army ants, which rely on pheromone trails to navigate, get trapped in a mechanistic, circular march that results in exhaustion, and eventually, death, from dehydration and starvation. Sadly, nature offers several such examples of how different species can engage in… -
Reconnecting With Your Inner Child Through Hobbies
A few years ago, I received a model rocket kit as a gift. This wasn’t a random present. As a kid, building and launching model rockets was one of my favorite hobbies, and it brought me a lot of joy. I loved taking a pile of parts and turning them… -
How Do I Know If I’m In A Cult?
Recognizing when a group you are part of maybe a cult is not always easy to identify. The word “cult” can evoke images of extremism and isolated communities but exist anywhere; sometimes even presenting as harmless organizations, spiritual communities, or self-help groups. If you are questioning your involvement with a… -
Self-forgiveness
Self-forgiveness is a process that many people find deeply challenging, yet profoundly healing. It is often far easier to extend compassion, patience, and understanding to others than it is to offer those same qualities to ourselves. When expectations are not met or choices lead to outcomes different than hoped for,… -
The Preoccupied Mind – “You Left Your Shoes at the TSA Checkpoint”
My wife and I were traveling over the holidays and while in the airport we heard this announcement: “If you LEFT YOUR SHOES at the TSA checkpoint, we have them for you.” It gave us both a chuckle, which only increased when the announcement was made a second time with… -
Loneliness Sucks
Loneliness sucks. It hits quietly at first—an ache, a heaviness, a moment where we realize we are sitting with ourselves, wishing someone else were beside us. Feeling lonely isn’t a sign that something is wrong with us. It reflects a longing for connection,… -
How Stress and Trauma Become Physical: The Mind-Body Connection
Many people think of stress as something that happens in the mind – racing thoughts,worry and emotional overwhelm. But the body is listening to everything, and when itcomes to trauma or chronic stress, the body doesn’t just listen, it remembers and holdson.When something overwhelming happens, your nervous system responds. Your… -
Thinking About Thoughts
Why are we in our own heads so much? And what can we do about it? We think about ourselves frequently, don’t we? Sometimes incessantly. We think about our lives—our situations, our actions, our relationships—and then we think about the thoughts we’re having about what we’re thinking about. It’s no… -
Managing the Holidays with an Eating Disorder
Whether you may partake in diet culture from time to time or have been struggling with an eating disorder (ED) for years, the holidays can be a difficult time for many of us when it comes to disordered eating and issues related to body image. It can also be a… -
Self-Care & Grounding Toolkit
In a world that glorifies hustle and productivity, we often forget to pause. We move from task to task, constantly planning the next achievement. With this future focus, we take time away from ourselves and enjoying the present. At times I feel myself living in the future. I find it… -
Diane Keaton: What Her Way of Being Can Teach Us
In the wake of Diane Keaton’s death, I have felt moved by the immense outpouring of heartfelt tributes honoring her. Sure, when any Hollywood legend dies, tributes follow, but in Diane’s case, remembrances of her life and impact appear to be infused with a certain je nai se quois. Maybe… -
Why We Avoid & What To Do About It
When I sat down to write my last blog, I immediately wanted to avoid writing it. When Imentioned this to a colleague, a suggestion was made to write about avoidance in my next blog.That got me thinking about what’s really going on when I resist writing something others mightsee? Am… -
Empty Nest
I remember when my kids were in elementary school and life had finally hit a predictable pace; I knew at the time there was an expiration date to all of it, that someday they’d certainly leave; I’d tell myself, yes, but it’s not right now. Right now, I get spend… -
Time Confetti: How Notifications Are Shredding Our Free Time and What to do About it.
This probably sounds familiar. You sit down to watch your favorite show, and before you know it, you’re rewinding because notifications on your phone stole your attention. For me, it was the survival series Alone. I missed a medical evacuation while reading about a hot dog eating contest. I missed a…
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