Few things in life are more pivotal than a shift of mind. This profound experience catalyzes defining moments that enable you to embark on exciting new paths. The following articles are devoted to that purpose.
- All
- Self Esteem
- Anxiety
- Parenting
- Depression
- Relationships
- Communication
- Quantum Perspectives
- New Thinking
Getting Beyond “How Does…
"How does that make you feel?" is almost a therapy cliche. Mel Schwartz explains why moving beyond feelings leads to truly effective...
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#122 The Inner Path of Leaders…
In another cross-posting of the blog and podcast, Mel reveals the three pillars of singular, excellent leadership. The podcast includes a...
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#121 How Wealth Can Negatively…
In a special cross-posting of the blog and podcast, the focus is on how wealth can often be detrimental to healthy interpersonal and familial...
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Over-Simplifying Equals Dumbin…
Either / or thinking leads to stagnation, while embracing complexity brings clarity of thought. Read to discover how our relationships evolve once we...
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Can Our Relationship Be Repair…
This very question highlights the problem One of the primary problems in relationships arises from how we envision our relationships. Conventional...
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Why Acting Strong is Actually …
A troubling theme that I come across in my work as a therapist -- and in my observation of people in general -- is the belief that we should always
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Why I Can’t… or Wh…
The beliefs we carry with us carve out forks in the road of our life. They direct us down very different paths and experiences. Our primary beliefs
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Raising Resilient Children
As parents, no matter how devoted and nurturing we may be, our children often struggle with low self-esteem, anxiety, depression, and a host of other
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Why You Shouldn’t Put Yo…
Most people begin their dating relationships by putting their proverbial “best foot” forward. We do this to entice the other person to like us
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Freeing Yourself from the Grip…
To further our exploration of developing authentic self-esteem, I'm pleased to announce the launch of the Self-Esteem Workshop, a live, interactive
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The 5% Rule — Breaking T…
Early in my career as a therapist, I found myself feeling frustrated in my ability to assist a couple with whom I was working. They were
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Mastering Your Communication S…
Mastering your Communication Skills: Breaking Through to the Other Side A Real-Time, Interactive, Online Workshop To enjoy resilient
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For the Sake of the Children
I’ve often heard people in conflicted and unhappy marriages claim that they are staying together for the sake of the children. Their implied
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Raising Resilient Children
As parents, no matter how devoted and nurturing we may be, our children often struggle with low self-esteem, anxiety, depression, and a host of other
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Shared Meaning
We take for granted that our words convey exactly what we intend them to. This is a particularly misinformed assumption. I have observed that upon
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To excel or to have fun? That …
I was recently having a conversation with a young man about his passion in certain sports. As we talked further it became very evident that he would
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Getting Unstuck: Overcoming An…
In any given year approximately 40 million Americans will suffer from a debilitating encounter with anxiety. Over the course of your lifetime,
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Raising Resilient Children
As parents, no matter how devoted and nurturing we may be, our children often struggle with low self-esteem, anxiety, depression, and a host of other
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Overcoming Anxiety: Turning Yo…
Overcoming Anxiety A LIVE Interactive Videoconference Learn to turn your thoughts into your ally! 3 Wednesday evenings — 7:15-8:30 PM
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Rethinking Anxiety
When a dysfunction such as anxiety – or depression, for that matter – becomes so commonplace, we must turn to our culture, which is our aggregate
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Low Self-Esteem: A Missed Diag…
According to the National Institute of Health, one in every two Americans will ultimately be diagnosed with some form of mental illness. What’s
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Coming into Balance
A few summers ago I broke my foot, the fracture occurring as I missed a step on my front porch. The break occurred on the outside part of my foot —
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Does Familiarity Breed Contemp…
The expression "familiarity breeds contempt" is all too familiar. Yet, as the case with many common sayings, we might benefit from taking a look at
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Marriage: Work or Play?
Most marriages and primary relationships these days tend to focus more on expediency and structure than on substance and content. In a culture that
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Commitment
Why Do We Mean by Commitment? What does the word commitment suggest? It usually evokes a strong sense of intention and focus. It typically is
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To excel or to have fun? That …
I was recently having a conversation with a young man about his passion in certain sports. As we talked further it became very evident that he would
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Are We Really Speaking about t…
How often have you felt frustrated in conversations as if you were each talking about a different thing? That's because you were... To experience
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Be the Change You Seek in the …
Few things are as common to our relationships as our asking for, if not demanding, change from one another. These may begin as requests and over time
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Being Heard: Breaking Through …
In my last post, Silence: A Relationship Killer, we explored the ruinous consequences that intentional silence has on relationships. Silence is
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Silence: A Relationship Killer
Over the many years that I’ve been practicing therapy, I’ve found that couples that are struggling in their relationships often succumb to the
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A Radical Reality
To this day, quite possibly the most provocative, if not astounding, discovery of modern science remains relatively obscure to the general public.
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#132 Quantum Physics and Psych…
[powerpress] The Possibility Podcast with Mel Schwartz episode 132 is a bonus episode: an interview I gave Dwight Hurst on The Broken Brain
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Breaking Free From the Groove …
Those of us old enough to remember vinyl records-notwithstanding their recent comeback-might recall that when there was a scratch on the album, the
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Change a Word—Change Your Li…
Many years ago, I’d often fall into a recurring disagreement with my former wife. At bedtime I’d frequently find myself saying, “It’s hot in
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Breaking the Cycle of Negativi…
Too often, when we encounter challenges and conflict in our primary relationships we tend to spiral down very quickly. When we’re in this down
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Why We Suffer From Anxiety and…
In any given year approximately 40 million Americans will suffer from a debilitating encounter with anxiety. Over the course of your lifetime,
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To excel or to have fun? That …
I was recently having a conversation with a young man about his passion in certain sports. As we talked further it became very evident that he would
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The pathologizing of a culture
A young woman in her mid-twenties recently came in for her first visit with me. Three months earlier she had experienced her first bout of anxiety
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The Paradox of Expectations
Beginning a new year often brings forth a review of our expectations and I thought it might be a good idea to briefly examine this topic. As with
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Looking at greed as an addicti…
Looking at Greed as an Addictive Dysfunction The saga of the Bernard Madoff debacle, AIG bonuses and the host of other repugnant behaviors
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Why Psychotherapists Shouldn&#…
Why Psychotherapists Shouldn’t be Shrinks On occasions when people might inquire as to what type of work I do, I’d typically respond that I
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