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.
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- Self Esteem
- Anxiety
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- Relationships
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- 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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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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Diagnosis Disorder
I would like to propose a new disorder for the American Psychiatric Association to consider in its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
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Making New Year’s Resolution…
Year after year, we make New Year’s resolutions that over time wither and fade into failed attempts to transform some aspect of our lives. The
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When Doing the Best You Can Be…
Is it always a good idea to do the best you can do? This question came up recently in a therapy session and catalyzed me to look more deeply into the
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Turning Crisis into Opportunit…
Crises come into our lives, no matter how we may try to avoid them. They are troubling, unwanted experiences or events that take us out way out of
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#137 Overcome Anxiety
[powerpress] In The Possibility Podcast episode 137, I share my approach for overcoming anxiety, fear and distress cultivated from principles of
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The Problem with Perfection
In recent years, I’ve treated increasing numbers of individuals who are driven to distraction through their pursuit of perfection. The desire
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Staying Resilient and Manifest…
Wednesday 05/13/2020 3:00 PM - 4:15 EDT This event will be recorded and sent to registrants Sliding scale fee: $30.00, $40.00, $50.00 To
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Overcoming Anxiety in The Time…
Let's begin by looking at what we mean by the word anxiety. Anxiety is the emotional/physical response that occurs when our thoughts attach to
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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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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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Is Our Society Manufacturing D…
An Epidemic of Depression Our society is in the throes of a virtual epidemic of depression. The numbers are quite staggering. More than twenty
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Breaking Free from Your Comfor…
Our Most Intimate Relationship The most intimate relationship we will have in our lives is not with our parents, our spouses, our children or
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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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Do not measure thyself!
In my work as a psychotherapist I often see individuals who are plagued by a relentless measuring of themselves. These people carry on an internal
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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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Breaking Free from Your Comfor…
Our Most Intimate Relationship The most intimate relationship we will have in our lives is not with our parents, our spouses, our children or
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What Do We Mean by Death, and …
We recently announced a new feature at A Shift of Mind called the Question of the Week. The following is my response to Sherin, who wrote: "You have
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What Do We Mean by “Movi…
We recently announced a new feature at A Shift of Mind called the Question of the Week. The following is my response to Louise, who wrote: "People
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What Is a Mistake?
My previous post, “The Problem with Perfection,” unraveled some of the mythology and beliefs about notions of perfection that limit and impede
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Don’t Call Me A Shrink
The Myth of Objectivity When people ask me what I do for a living, I typically respond that I practice psychotherapy. I often hear the response,
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