The Importance of Boundaries and Road Signs in Relationships

Navigating relationships with significant others or spouses is a lot like driving on back roads. There are few stoplights, street markers or warnings posted. You only know you're in a blind alley, pitfalls or wrong turn when it's too late. In relationships, the only warning signs are those partners erect themselves and, as with traffic signals,they're usually not erected until an accident has occurred.  The Importance of Boundaries and Road Signs in Relationships 

How to parent kids who cut without getting hurt

Meander through any parenting forum and the subject of kids cutting themselves is bound to come up. Intentional self-harm is scary and hurts everyone involved. It's a painful subject just to talk about, let alone try to parent. As a parent to a child with an eating disorder and a childhood self-abuser myself, I've walked through many self-harm issues. Here's my emotional "first aid kit" for cutters and those who love them.   How to parent kids who cut without getting hurt 

Teach teens to tame temper tantrums

Teaching teens to tame temper tantrums is neatly alliterative, but in real life it's easier said than done. As parents, we often (wrongly) think it's our job to keep our kids under control. We can only model good choices, establish boundaries and enforce consequences. The teen must learn to manage his emotions and behavior. Here's how parents can help teens deal with anger. Teach teens to tame temper tantrums

Alanon Slogans to Treat Depression--One Day at a Time

Depression can be a crippling mental health condition. Though it manifests itself differently in different people, one common challenge is with control issues. Depression is often a precursor for addiction, power struggles in relationships and self-control problems.

Even though I've been in recovery for years, I still struggle with bouts of depression. Depression bouts are often triggered by negative experiences--job loss, relationship splits (or just rocky patches), health issues, kids moving away. Since I've hit menopause, I've been in a colossal depression jag. It's so bad that I've considered restarting an antidepressant after successfully weaning 2 years ago. It feels PMS everyday. All this reminds me that I can't quit quitting (the mental health work).

Alcoholics Anonymous and its partner groups Al-Anon, offers many helpful recovery tools. Even if there's no active addiction or codependency going on, Al-Anon is still really helpful. I find the slogans used by AA and Al-Anon, listed Addiction A-Z, particularly useful to heal issues associated with depression. I mediate daily on different slogans. Here are some thoughts on the slogan "One Day at a Time."
Al-Anon Slogans to Treat Depression--One Day at a Time

How Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Heals Negative Thoughts, Depression

I wouldn't say depression and I are friends, but we're definitely old acquaintances. I've tried different therapies to treat my depression. Counseling, journaling, herbal treatments, antidepressant medications, self-help books-each has helped me in some way. How Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Heals Negative Thoughts, Depression 

Using Al Anon Slogans to Heal Negative Thoughts, Depression

Depression is a lonely, scary condition. You feel like no one has ever felt like you feel. While I don't know exactly what you're feeling or what happened to cause your depression, I empathize. Depression and I go back a long way. I've tried many different techniques to heal or at least just cope with my it.

About 10 years ago, I tried Al Anon, the companion support group for Alcoholics Anonymous for a drinking issue. I discovered that Al Anon principles were useful for treating a gamut of emotional issues, including depression. See, depression stems from that stinking thinking they're always talking about in AA/Al-Anon. Usually codependency is somewhere tangled up in the roots. Recovery for me requires new self-talk, new I-messages.

Some of the most helpful components of Al-Anon, for me, are the recovery slogans. Addiction A-Z lists a collection of slogans for all different sorts of situations. There are general helpful reality checks and mental health tools, too.  Here's how I use them in recovery. Using Al-Anon Slogans to Heal Negative Thoughts, Depression . If you're feeling despair and you can't find help, get to a meeting. If you can't, check out Daily Strength.org. Remember--one day at a time. This too shall pass--and it will, I promise. 

Distorted Stinking Thinking of Low Self Esteem, Depression

Have you ever wondered what goes on inside the head of a person with low self-esteem? I can clue you in. I've had a lot (too much) of experience with it. If you're experiencing low self-esteem for the first time, it can be pretty scary. If you've not experienced it, it's hard to imagine why we behave as we do.

Low self-esteem often manifests as depression. It's a complex melange of feelings, but it's based on negative thinking. Stinking thinking, as Al-Anon and Alcoholics Anonymous would call it. Everyone has some thoughts of self-doubt, but in a person with low self-esteem, these thoughts are pervasive. Teens are particularly vulnerable. Negative thoughts are obsessive, inaccurate and distorted, too. Here's how people with low self-esteem think about themselves. Distorted Thinking of Low Self-Esteem, Depression