7 Steps To Creating Compassion In Your Life [EXPERT]

Don't let jealousy, revenge, shame, and blame rule you.

People usually confuse guilt with shame. Guilt is a feeling that you have done something wrong whereas shame says I am bad. When we feel shame we want to hide and we certainly do not want to talk about it. This is where compassion comes in, to help with these difficult feelings.

Crime, Shame, Compassion & Self-Forgiveness [EXPERT]

How a direct investigation into shame can reveal the heart of compassionate self-forgiveness

Crime is a word we use to speak about one of the more negative aspects of our humanity — an action or omission that is considered to be shameful, wrong, or evil. These are attributes we all tend to want to avoid. For this particular investigation let's consider crime in a very broad way, crime at its most basic, the sorts of shameful or wrong actions or behaviors that might generate comments like, "the way she lied to him is a crime," or, “his behavior was so despicable, it's criminal.”

You Must Know What You Want, To Get What You What You Want

5 steps to knowing what you want.

Let's get clear about you. Our minds tell us many things, some are true some are not. We all want to be clear and feel connection to our true selves. Sometimes what that is can be confusing to us. Follow these steps to get clear: 1:Connect with your body.Notice sensations in your body and let these sensations speak to you. Your body doesn't lie. For example: If you have tension in your chest ask yourself, what this tension is representing to you. Usually body sensations are physical reactions to something you are thinking about.

Mindfulness: The Art of Cultivating Resilience [EXPERT]

In the spirit of Female Empowerment let's build the 3 R's: Reflection, Resilience, and Relationships

Undeniably, sooner or later, we all have to deal with life’s realities—those hard surprises and “unknowns” that can literally change everything in less than a nanosecond. Imagine you’ve just been fired. Many of us would react to this situation in at least some of the following ways: “I’m terrified." "I should have seen this coming.” “I’ll never find another job in this economy.” “Am I going to be homeless?”

What To Do When You See A Friend Self-Destructing [EXPERT]

How can you help a friend who you think is self-destructing? Can your friendship & respect save her?

Here's a listener question I received. Dear Maryanne, One of my best friends has been unhealthily obsessed with the same guy for almost four years (we're now seniors in college). They have hooked up intermittently over this time but have never been on a date or spent any platonic time together. He has never displayed any actual interest in her or her feelings despite it being incredibly obvious that she is very attached. She refuses to show interest in any other person.

3 Tips For Expats & Cross-Cultural Relationships [EXPERT]

Cross-Cultural encounters of the loving kind involve extreme compassion and empathy.

Living in a foreign country and enjoying a cross-cultural relationship can be one of the most rewarding — and challenging — experiences one could ever imagine. I never thought I'd be in one when I first went to France in my early twenties. However, the universe had other plans when in my first week of classes I laid eyes on the man who would be my husband for 27 years.

Have You Been Burned By Heartbreak? [EXPERT]

Don't let the sting of a bad breakup leave you feeling burned.

In a new study using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), researchers have found that the same brain networks that are activated when you're burned by hot coffee also light up when you think about a lover who has spurned you.

Investigating Your Perfection [EXPERT]

Find out if having a perfect life is really a good thing. Plus, great advice to readers' problems!

What if your life was perfect? What if all paths actually led up the mountain regardless of what choices you made, how much money you had or lost, how many times you were married or had sex, if you cheated or were totally devoted to the same person for 65 years? What if no matter which way you turned, a hundred or a thousand times, it all led to the same place? What if enough was what you already have? What if you were born with it and no matter what you did, it would be simply to gain more of what you already have? What if right now, it was true that you have enough love, enough attention, enough freedom, enough health, enough sex, enough courage and enough of what it takes to know you can never really have any more than what you have right now?

Feeling Disconnected From Your Partner? [EXPERT]

Do you often feel disconnected from your partner? Discover why - how to re-connect.

"We can't seem to connect anymore." This is one of the most common complaints I hear in my counseling practice. We all know that it is generally easy to connect at the beginning of a relationship - before all the protections and defenses come up. But what do you do to reconnect once you feel disconnected from each other?

Is Your Marriage Feeling Dead This Valentine's Day? [EXPERT]

Understanding your "dead spouse" is the key to bringing your relationship back to life again!

How do you "celebrate" Valentines' Day when there is that nagging feeling in the pit of your stomach that your partner somewhere back on the road of the relationship has died? One of the most difficult marriage counseling cases is the one where one of the spouses is dead. Marriages where parties are fighting are still engaging, there is still passion on some level. It is the spouse who is “dead on arrival” when it comes to relating in the marriage that brings a very challenging situation to the counseling room. If your spouse has recently suggested you look in the obituaries to find your marriage, read on for some great pointers to give you help and hope.

How Compassion Can Enrich Our Lives [EXPERT]

A life compassionately lived is an inspiration to others.

A skit on Saturday Night Live about twenty years ago depicted a man and woman standing outside of a 'therapist's' office. One actor asks the other if this is his office. He answers ‘Yes” and she slaps him across the face. He acknowledged being 'TheRapist'.