According to the latest US Census Bureau, there are more than 22 million adult children living with their parents. This may be due to economic factors, such as the cost of housing and the challenging job market, cultural factors, such as changes in the average age that people are getting married, or developmental and medical…
If you are like most people, you are just now winding down from the whirlwind of the holidays. Despite the excitement and joy that are expected at this time, many people feel stressed and overwhelmed during the holidays. If you suffer from a mental illness, such as depression, and have turned to alcohol or other substances in an…
Like most of the families with whom I work, I have now become caught up in the whirlwind of responsibilities and appointments that get ushered in once September hits each year. As I return to schools and greet clients, I am routinely asked about my summer, to which I invariably respond, “it’s not over yet.”…
One of the challenging aspects of addictions is that society often views those who wrestle with addictions in a negative manner. The images of addicts often depicted in the media views them as being morally deficient, perhaps even choosing a lifestyle of depravity over one of responsibility. This “moral model” depicts addiction as a choice—…
The buzz about soccer has been hard to avoid these past few weeks, as the US team has limped its way into the so-called knock-out rounds of the World Cup. Not that I have been trying very hard to avoid it. Truth is, I have always been a fan of various sports, having been raised…
Now that the snow has finally melted and the rain has (mostly) stopped, our thoughts naturally turn toward the outdoors. And with that, the opportunities to be active increase. Physicians have long advocated physical exercise as an essential part of a healthy lifestyle. Most of us have repeatedly heard of the value of exercise in…
In our work here at Salem Psychological Associates, we routinely encourage our clients to try something new, to push themselves to approach something a different way. Whether that means asking children to use words rather than behaviors to express themselves, asking an adult to test whether their longstanding fears are justified in their adult lives,…