Hope. It is a necessary thing for us to hold onto. Whatever may be hurting and frustrating you today, you can hope that the problem goes away or at least hurts less down the road. It seems strange that there could be a negative side to hope. Some problems just don’t seem to improve no matter how hard you try. That is the risky side to hope. Have you ever set your sights on the following week being a [...]

Do you have a heavy blanket over you called anxiety? Does it feel like you can’t get away from the weight that troubles you? If so, you are not alone. An estimated fifteen million Americans suffer from social anxiety disorder, according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA). The number of people with some form of anxiety without the “disorder” label is greater than that. When I feel hopeless, my mind tells me that this is the [...]

So many people seem to be walking around with heavy weight on their shoulders. They are busy, worried and tired. Does this ring true with you? My career often feels like I am walking uphill with eighty pounds of barbells on my tired shoulders. My neck gets stiff and achy. I find myself getting frustrated and grumpy over little things. Most of the time, I plod onward and try to ignore the signs of the problem. There is an [...]

No, we aren’t talking about a dance move today. Funny how we Americans seem to take fun and positive things and go extreme and dark on them. Just when I thought the negative influences on our children couldn’t get any worse, we get “dabs” or “wax,” the latest teen craze. So many of our youth think dabbing is harmless and a mighty fun thing to be doing. After all, “it’s just marijuana, dad!” Not so fast there son. “Dabs” [...]

Are you hurting on the inside at this moment? Maybe you are reading this because you feeling bad about something. Some problems are not only painful but seem to be impossible to fix. The internet is full of information. Unfortunately, much of it is designed to mislead or to separate you from your cash. It may not offer you much help if you are already confused about things. So, where do you turn for answers? I wish I had [...]

​Are you trying to help a loved one who suffers from mental illness? Millions of Americans are in this position, loving, caring and hurting alongside someone with such an illness. As a lawyer, I work with mentally ill individuals regularly. I see the endless referrals to psychologists, psychiatrists and therapists. No easy solutions exist, and family members’ struggle can seem never ending. It can be a roller coaster ride. Sort of like life itself. Many of the professionals who [...]

In our family, we had to make a decision when my pre-teen son told me he was playing a game called “Call of Duty.” He told me over and over that “all the kids are playing it” and “my best friend’s parents let us play at his house.” I spent some time on the computer learning about video games. It did not take long for my wife and I to reach a decision for our family. We found out [...]

Many people just spent the holidays feeling a sense of loss, missing someone they love dearly, or wishing they were part of a warm circle instead of feeling cold and alone. A human truth is we can be surrounded by people and still feel we’re alone -–on the outside looking in. Have you ever wanted to be part of something only to feel the doors are closed to you? So you walked away without trying to make a connection? [...]

By now, most people know about the crisis. Heroin is resurgent and more popular than ever before. In every community, it is shattering lives and sowing grief. Experts call it the opiate epidemic. Do you have someone in your life addicted to heroin? America blinked and the unthinkable happened. Heroin became demystified, even okay to millions of young people. It is no longer the big city street junkie drug. How did we get to this point and what can [...]

Are you missing your child right now? Seething with anger and frustration that you’re not getting time with him or her? You have all the love in the world to share, and, yet, you’re being forced to wait and wait without any end to the hurt. Time passes and nothing changes. Still you hold off. Maybe you’re afraid of angering your ex and being cut off from visitation completely. Perhaps you think if you push it, you will be [...]