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The Supervising / Enforcing Personality Type

The “Supervising / Enforcing” Personality Type, or the ESTJ personality type, describes a person who is an Extrovert (E), who perceives the world through Sensing (S), who relies on Thinking (T) to problem solve and make decisions, and who views the world from the vantage point of Judgement (J). If you are an extrovert, you enjoy interacting with the outside world around you, as well as the people in it. You thrive from this interaction, and very much prefer it to being alone with your own thoughts. You like to use your five senses to identify what the facts of … Continue reading →

How’s Your Attitude?

These days we here a lot about how a positive attitude can affect events. No where is this more true than in marriage. It seems it doesn’t matter whether it is a footy team talking about their need for self belief that they can still make the finals despite some bad results, or people who are trying to overcome a serious illness and believe a positive attitude can help them win through. The reality is when we enter into marriage we need to go into it with the right attitude. We need to have an attitude that we are committed … Continue reading →

What Are You Thinking?

‘I think therefore I am,’ Descartes said. The apostle Paul obviously considered a person’s thought life to be important. Philippians 4:8 reminds us ‘whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is anything excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your minds dwell on these things.’ Our pastor recently suggested, ‘a man is not just what he thinks he is but what he thinks about – he is.’ The reality is that as our minds are transformed so are our attitudes and behavior. What we … Continue reading →

Growing Love

As I wrote in another blog the other day, I don’t know if it’s the season or what but I’m more in love with Wayne than ever. Which feels really nice considering earlier this year we were facing a marriage crisis. This morning I told him, “I don’t know how it’s possible that after 20 something years my love for you just keeps getting stronger, but it does.” I’ve sort of been thinking about that for the rest of the day so far. And since it’s so much on my mind, I figured that’d make something good to write about … Continue reading →

Stress: Always Look for the Bigger Picture

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It’s a strange fact, yet I encounter it over and over again. The people who have relatively minor worries in their lives often stress more than those who have genuine life-threatening or life-destroying illnesses. Now this doesn’t seem to make sense. Yet, as stressed as many of my clients are, in general, they worry a lot less than those who live more seemingly carefree lives. As a psychologist, I have over the years heard some terrible stories of extreme hardship, and yes, these people are often chronically depressed and anxious. And yet, the majority of the so-called “normal” and “healthy” … Continue reading →

The Power of Laughter

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They say that laughter is the best medicine and they’re not wrong. Not only is laughing fun to do but it has long-term health benefits, especially for mental health. And it also contributes to you leading a longer (and happier!) life. Dr. Tim Sharp, a psychologist from the Happiness Institute in Sydney, Australia maintains that laughter has positive benefits, both physiologically and psychologically. Sharp claims that: “People who see the funnier side of things tend to be more resilient. These people are also able to see things from a different perspective.” Laughing clubs have sprung up around the world as … Continue reading →

Open Yourself to the Opportunities

It may not look like your life is full of opportunities—in fact, during the average day it may just look like duties, responsibilities, and “have to’s”—not exactly what one might think of when one looks for opportunities. But what are challenges and obligations if not really opportunities in disguise? For me, shifting my thinking to “opportunities” can be incredibly powerful. Of course, as I am only human I do not always remember to do it! For some reason I cannot help but get bogged down with feeling a bit downtrodden and weighted with obligations. Parenting and running a family solo … Continue reading →

Author Interview — Nancy Oelklaus

Today we are joined by Nancy Oelklaus, who has taken time out of her busy schedule to talk with us about her new book. Thanks for being here, Nancy! Your book is entitled, “Journey from Head to Heart: Living and Working Authentically.” What does it mean, to live and work authentically? When one lives authentically in every area of life, professional and personal, life is simply easier. Situations get resolved with least effort and best results. What this way of life requires is that we become aware of how we’re feeling from moment to moment—that we keep “checking in” with … Continue reading →

Your Beliefs and How They Can Make You Unhappy (2)

Ever wondered why some people are happier than others? Most of us tend to put it down to the fact that these happy people have more money, better jobs, better behaved children, no children, close family, etc, etc. Sure, these factors do play a huge part in how happy a person has the potential to be. But they are not the controlling factor. It is what we believe about ourselves and the world we live it that largely determines how happy or otherwise our lives are. We have all heard the stories of the wealthy yet unhappy socialites, so it … Continue reading →

“My Son Has Juvenile Diabetes and Autism.” A Mother’s Interview

The following interview is with Ammey, a mother whose children have multiple medical and cognitive conditions. Of particular interest to me is her situation with her oldest son, Khy, who has both juvenile diabetes and autism. Ammey responded to my blog, Do You Have BOTH Juvenile Diabetes and Autism in Your Family? Here is her story. 1. Tell us a little about your family. My name is Ammey, and I’ve been married for thirteen years to my husband Mikel. We have three children: Our son Khy is 14, Kaine is 11, and Lilli is four. Khy has autism, asthma, type … Continue reading →