Proximity

I am grateful.  I have colleagues that I work with daily in our offices that I respect and admire.  They wow me with their insights and wisdom. If you could hear our walls talk, you would hear stories of wonder–the work with the therapists do with our clients is incredible. Sabrina Friesen is one of …

Nudging and being nudged

One of my favourite things that happens in therapy is this: A couple comes in for an initial session.  There is tension between them.  They are fighting.  They have forgotten how to be friends…they have forgotten they are friends. They begin with the complaints…He works too hard.  She complains too much. yada yada As the …

Trust is an emotion.

Trust is an emotion–a distinctly human feeling. And normally business likes to think it runs on facts, and we think that feelings don’t belong. People who “deliver” regularly–who do everything they promise they are going to do–they are reliable…it doesn’t mean people will trust you.  You know…you have a good long term friend who messes …

The Influence of Others

We are wired for connection… Yeah, I know…you’ve read that a time or two on this blog, right? What it means is that we are social creatures, wired to want to belong.  We feel better when we have people surrounding us…and it is helpful to split up chores and responsibilities, to band together against the …

Building Capacity: You Can Do It!

I am not a morning person. This might be an understatement. I’m quite certain that all of my college papers were written between the hours of 11:00pm and 1:00am, and that I never really engaged meaningfully in class until after 9am and a few cups of coffee.  Many years later, and in spite of parenting …

Hump Day Nudge: You Don’t Have to Walk Alone

I love a cappella music…voices blending together in beautiful harmony just melts me. There’s something about voices giving beauty to each other. When a voice finds its pitch in relationship to others, well…that seems exquisite to me. Voices supporting each other, adding to the others by their own unique contribution. In a cappella music, each …

Life Opportunity #4: Have good friends

I recently spoke to a group of young adults (and their teachers/family/friends) at their high school graduation. I’ve written beforeabout Bronnie Ware’s The Top 5 Regrets of the Dying. These themes are also echoed within the walls of our therapy offices at Bergen and Associates every day, and whispered to each other in The Daring Way™ groups that I offer regularly. And I thought …