Mental Filtering: Do You Filter Out the Good or the Bad?
Mental filtering is a cognitive distortion that occurs when you filter out positive information and only focus on negative information.
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A Stoic Approach to Understanding a Pandemic
For the destruction of understanding is a pestilence, much more indeed than any such corruption and change of this atmosphere which surrounds us. Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Book IX Stoicism introduced to the world the idea that perception is reality. But Stoics did not forget that reality is reality, too, and that we all should strive…
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Mindfulness Meditation: Choosing Which Train of Thought to Take
Mindfulness meditation is the practice of focusing your attention to a neutral source, such as your breath, and then refocusing that attention when your mind inevitably wanders. It’s a simple concept, but it can be a frustrating experience if you don’t know what to expect. In this article, I’ll explain the way I teach mindfulness…
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Melting the Emotional Snowball
Emotional snowballing happens when our reactions to uncomfortable emotions create more uncomfortable emotions. This core emotion grows as it goes, like a snowball gathering more snow as it rolls down a hill. A common example is worry about worry, but emotional snowballing can occur when any one emotional reaction builds from another. Before we dive into…
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Radical Acceptance: The Age-Old Challenge to Accept Truth
“Radical acceptance rests on letting go of the illusion of control and a willingness to notice and accept things as they are right now, without judging.” – Marsha Linehan “Despite my many ordeals, my advanced age and the nobility of my soul lead me to conclude that all is well.” Oedipus Rex Radical acceptance is…
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Pluralistic Ignorance: Why We Reluctantly Accept Christmas Consumerism
The real tragedy of The Grinch Who Stole Christmas is that he eventually gave it back. Okay, not really. But some aspects of Christmas have become pretty toxic, and here’s one reason why: Pluralistic ignorance is a circumstance of social psychology in which each member of a group privately rejects a norm, but believes everyone…
