The definition of integrity covers two parts that sometimes seem to be talking about two different things. Integrity is "1) the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles, moral uprightness, and 2) the state of being whole, undivided." While many use the second definition to talk ...read more
Bullying by any other name is still damaging: First in bullying series
Bullying. Social aggression. Physical aggression. "Mean". "Burn". "Diss". "Cut". Whatever the name or term, it's damaging. We have a problem in society and sometimes trying to pin down exactly what to call it only gets in the way of doing something about it. For the purposes of this ...read more
The Lost Art of Apology: How to Say I’m Sorry
Has giving an apology become a lost art? Often I hear about how our society is less civil and it seems that one part of that loss is the ability to apologize well. Linked closely with an ability to apologize is obviously the ability to take personal responsibility or to hold someone accountable. ...read more
Friendship: Essential to a Well Lived Life
Did you know that Aristotle is considered the father of friendship? He believed that true friendship was essential to a well lived life. Friendship really IS important for all of us, having important ties to our social support, our physical health and our emotional well being. Research on ...read more
The Importance of GOOD Premarital Counseling
Engagements bring much excitement and dreams about the future but often don't bring up thoughts on the importance of good premarital counseling. It's so easy to worry that this kind of counseling will somehow "spoil" the joy. Given that engagements should be about marriage and not a wedding, it's ...read more
Exercising Empathy: Understanding Each Other
Most people know that exercising is important for overall health, even if they don't like it. Did you know that exercising empathy is equally important in relationships for understanding each other? First it may be important to really know what empathy IS. The most basic definition is the ability ...read more
Giving the Benefit of the Doubt
When a good friend tells you something came up and she has to cancel plans, what do you do? Do you make the worst case assumptions about the "real" reasons or are you good at giving the benefit of the doubt? Often, in friendship and in early dating, we are all better at giving the benefit of the ...read more
Is it screen time? Parenting the digital child.
Facebook. Snapchat. Instagram. Kik. Yik Yak. Tumblr. Twitter. Vine. Google+. What's App?. Whew! How in the world to keep up with parenting the digital child today? Every day it seems that there are more and more social media sites parents need to be aware of and understand. A recent Pew ...read more
“Home” for the Holidays!
Here it is, the thick of the holiday season. Between the just past Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanzaa and New Years we have so many opportunities to gather in groups and families to celebrate things. Funny how the very celebrations we look forward to all year also bring so much stress and ...read more
Before You Say “I Do”: Pre-Marital Counseling
Pre-marital counseling is often recommended or required for many weddings that will occur within a religious institution. On one level, many couples want the opportunity to deal with some issues that could become a future problem for their marriage. Unfortunately, however, not all pre-marital ...read more