Posts by Laura K. Schenck, Ph.D., LPC
Founder of DBT Reveals Personal Struggle with Mental Illness
“You can feel like a mental patient, but that doesn’t mean you have to act like one.” – Marsha Linehan In the Thursday, June 23rd, 2011 issue of The New York Times, renowned leader in the field of mental illness and creator of Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Dr. Marsha Linehan revealed her own personal struggle with…
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Warm Water Alleviates the Pain of Loneliness
“When you close your doors, and make darkness within, remember never to say that you are alone, for you are not alone; nay, God is within, and your genius is within. And what need have they of light to see what you are doing?” – Epictetus The experience of being alone with our thoughts, our…
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Get Out of Your Own Way!
“In the midst of winter, I found there was within me an invincible summer.” – Albert Camus How many times in your life have you set goals, aspirations, or dreams for yourself only to find yourself falling short time and time again? Sometimes that initial “steely” resolve is chipped away by one event after another…
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Obstacles to Mindfulness
“Two thoughts cannot coexist at the same time: if the clear light of mindfulness is present, there is no room for mental twilight.” – Nyanaponika There Most people who are interested in learning how to live mindfully experience obstacles to mindfulness from time to time. The five basic obstacles to mindfulness are: (1) desire, (2)…
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Doing What’s Effective
“Life is not about being right, it is about being effective.” – Marsha Linehan, Ph.D. Dr. Marsha Linehan, founder of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), contends that it is far more important in life to be effective than it is to be right. At a recent DBT emotion regulation training event that I attended, Dr. Linehan…
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Recognize Your Emotions in 6 Steps
“Let’s not forget that the little emotions are the great captains of our lives and we obey them without realizing it.” – Vincent Van Gogh In order to effectively manage our emotions we must first learn how to accurately recognize them. Some people try to ignore their emotional reactions, letting a whole host of emotions…
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Autonomy & Freedom Make You Happier Than Money
“Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish have been caught will we realize we cannot eat money.” – Cree Indian Proverb According to a recent study published by the American Psychological Association (APA), “freedom and personal autonomy are more important to people’s well-being than…
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Do You Have a Passive or Aggressive Interpersonal Style?
“The secret of many a man’s success in the world resides in his insight into the moods of men and his tact in dealing with them.” – J.G. Holland Our patterns of relating to others have an incredible impact on all of our relationships. We generally learn our adult styles of relating to others through…
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5 Basic Tension & Relaxation Exercises
“There is no need to go to India or anywhere else to find peace. You will find that deep place of silence right in your room, your garden, or even your bathtub.” – Elizabeth Kubler-Ross Visualizations allow us to create mental scenes or images that promote a sense of general relaxation and well-being. We all…
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Identify Your Core Beliefs with “Laddering”
“This is how humans are: we question all our beliefs, except for the ones we really believe, and those we never think to question.” – Orson Scott Card Our core beliefs are the most basic assumptions about our identity and place in the world. They are the deep-seated beliefs of being lovable/unlovable, worthy/unworthy, or bad/good. …
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