Routines Versus Rituals

Are routines and rituals both needed for a healthy family environment? As human beings we all begin and end things each and every day.  Mealtime, chores, work, school, and many more activities.  One of the most important endings of a day is mealtime and putting our kids to bed.  Both are a time to reconnect…

Navigating Trauma Triggers in Marriage

How does trauma impact our relationships? Trauma alters the nervous system. The experience of threat and danger has changed the way that survivors interact with and perceive the world. They experience feelings of being hyper vigilant, anxious, confused, fearful, irritable, and emotionally detached. Their minds and bodies have been rewired by their traumatic experiences to…

Summer’s Coming: It’s Time to Enjoy it!

In the book of Ecclesiastes, it is written, “I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God’s gift to man.” (Ecclesiastes 3:12-13) The Bible is telling us – Enjoy!! With…

Five Signs You May Need a Mental Health Check-Up

Let’s face it. Life comes in hard and fast at times. It leaves you scurrying from task to task and just hoping when you lay down to sleep that you’ve done enough and been enough to keep your head above water and your relationships intact. Time escapes from grasp and the feeling of being caught…

Loving Your Kids in Their Language

Valentine’s day; think about what that day means to you. For some, it’s flowers, chocolate and a romantic date night. For others, its new valentine’s pajamas for your kids, buying cards and treats for their classrooms, and making heart shaped food. For some, you experience both of these on February 14th. Valentine’s Day is a…

New Cycle for a New Year: Watch Your T.E.M.P.O.

Emotional cycles are the interactive elements in our relationships with family members, friends, and co-workers. Negative cycles start when we become triggered by a someone’s troubling tone of voice, facial expression, or remarks. Immediately, we will feel an emotion that often prompts us to get angry or anxious. We may feel a bodily sensation due…

Gratitude: Motivation & Practice

Hope for Humility & The Good Life As we gear up for a season with seemingly endless opportunities to receive gifts, I contend that one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself is developing a more robust practice of gratitude. Even though we like to believe that we do things altruistically for others most…

The Lost Art of Tuning-in    

One of my fondest memories as a kid in the early 70’s was tuning-in to AM pop radio stations on family trips. This was during the days before the availability of digital car radio tuners. To listen to music without static, I had to be skilled at “tuning-in” to the desired station as we traveled.…

Wordle, Walks, and Ways to Connect with Your Teen

When I was a teenager, I sat down to breakfast each morning and waited for my dad to pass me the sports page. The 20 minutes we spent talking headlines, him in his suit, me in my flannels and Timberland boots – it was the 90s – was critical to our relationship. It was just…