Author Archives: Laurie Marsden

IS IT A BAD DAY OR A DEPRESSION?

            Weeks after Robin Williams’ death many people are still asking questions about depression, trying to understand how someone outwardly so joyful and giving could be struggling with such a fatal disease.  Depression isn’t just a bad mood or a few bleak days.  It’s a serious illness that if left keep reading

HOW TO KNOW IF YOU ARE MINDFUL

How to know if you are mindful?  To be mindful is to be fully aware, to live in the present moment with acceptance, gratitude and kindness to yourself.  Children are naturally mindful, but as we grow up we start to lose this natural inclination.  We start planning and worrying about the future, multi-tasking in our keep reading

Are You On The Hedonic Treadmill?

What, you may ask, is a hedonic treadmill??!!   I first heard the term from Ronald Seigel, Psy.D., at a conference put on by Harvard Medical school on positive psychotherapy and resilience.  I’m sure you have heard the terms hedonism and hedonist, the pursuit of and the person who prioritizes pleasure.  A hedonist will pursue pleasure keep reading

5 TIPS FOR SAILING THROUGH A FAMILY GATHERING

It’s true what they say that you can’t pick your relatives. People from the same family can be very different, so different in fact that at times you can wonder if you really do share a genetic heritage. And these differences include each individual’s perceptions about themselves and their role in the family system. This keep reading