Hi folks. Here is something I published last week in Metro. It is a concept I have discussed with almost all of my clients over the years. It is also a part of almost every presentation I give. I thought it was time to try and summarize the idea in my 400 word-limit column. Not an easy task [...]
Category Archives: Relationships
Secret lovers never argue over cheese
Secret lovers never argue over cheese (source: Les amants ne se dispute pas à propos du fromage. Journal Métro, November 6, 2012. Voir plus bas pour la version Française.) My wife and I have a constant battle over cheese. When she opens a package, she leaves it in the original container and then stuffs it [...]
Love lists
We almost all have a list of ideal qualities sought in a mate. Some make lists out of fun but others take them quite seriously. Lists tend to lean heavily, albeit not exclusively, on physical traits. But you may notice that while physical traits lead us to form connections with others, it is the psychological [...]
Children as baseball bats
I guess I hit a chord with people with my last post. Thank you to all who sent comments and e-mails, and to those who tweeted, facebooked, reddited, called, etc. While no parent is perfect, I think people were struck by the article because they realize the importance of maintaining a good relationship between parent [...]
Why am I always attracted to abusive alcoholics?
Intriguing title for this blog post, don’t you think? Well it is an actual question I have been asked more than once in my career. It certainly does make you wonder. It’s not as if on a first date, we would typically ask something like, “Are you the kind of person that will make my [...]
Let’s be friends…or not
One of the funniest lines from Seinfeld was when Jerry asks; How do you break up with a friend? You can’t say ‘let’s be friends.’ In fact, when you don’t want to be friends at all, what do you say? ‘Let’s just BE?’ The famous (or infamous) line, ‘let’s be friends,’ used in break-ups is [...]
Thick head or thin skin
If a subordinate makes a mistake do you always point it out? How do you deal with someone who reacts badly to criticism? Do you continue to criticize? Do you address the person’s hypersensitivity? Or do you step back? The fact is, the best answer depends completely on the person being criticized. If the person [...]
Why is that guy looking at me like that?
I suppose a little paranoia is good. It keeps us on our toes. As threats become more real, paranoia becomes an ally. The problem is that in normal times, the hyper-vigilance caused by paranoia and fear can seriously ruin what we are trying to protect. In my column of May 3, using an analogy of [...]
The browser and the browsed
Hi folks. Here’s something I wrote last week. It explores the modern day reality of internet dating. Computer dating and the shoemaker (source: Trouver chaussure à son pied. Journal Métro, April 5, 2011) Gluttony of choice. That’s what its all about these days. No matter what you are looking for, the choices usually seem limitless. [...]
People don’t like me. I don’t like people.
Ahhhh…look at all the lonely people. That’s my attempt at singing a Beatles lyric in print. Today’s post is about people who have few or no friends. There are many such folks. Some are happy about it and some aren’t. In clinical practice you meet many people who are relatively isolated and it doesn’t take too [...]
