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The English poet John Keats first used the term negative capacity in a letter, where he used the term to describe the abilities of great writers. Keats writes, “several things dovetailed in my mind, and at once it struck me, what quality went to form a Man of Achievement, especially in Literature, and which Shakespeare…
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Do you ever find yourself asking, “Why am I doing this?” How do you answer when someone asks if you had a good day? Do you find yourself reviewing the tasks you accomplished? If so, you are certainly not alone. Our society is hell-bent on productivity as the highest virtue; a sentiment that is reflected…
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Our inner landscape is complex. If you slow down and watch, you might notice that we are constantly telling ourselves stories. Our mind generates stories that can protect us by registering threats and danger by categorizing and developing schemas or scripts to simplify the complex world around us. However, our minds also give us richness…
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Wise mind is a concept and practice that allows for us to acknowledge and sort through challenges and distress with the goal of arriving at a balanced response. It is also the place where our emotional mind and our rational mind overlap. Typically attributed to Dialectical Behavior Therapy, the notion of wise mind has a rich history connected to ideas…
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People often seek therapy to get support dealing with emotions, or more specifically, uncomfortable emotions, such as fear, anger, or sadness. It is not uncommon to want these emotions to be stopped, shut-off, or taken away. However, such a goal is ultimately impossible as emotions are an inherent part of human experience and play an important…
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When we are feeling distress or struggling with strong emotions, our cognitive system can quickly take action in an attempt to contain, control, or otherwise resolve our distress. However, this does not often prove useful given the many shortcuts we take based on our biases and beliefs, as well as our history around specific fears…
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Loving ourselves is a process. Generally, self-love evolves as love might evolve between two people. It requires taking time to cultivate our inner relationships and learn to understand ourselves better. It also requires respect and patience as well as acceptance as we admit mistakes and accept parts of ourselves that are sometimes difficult. Self-forgiveness is…
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Ease is defined as the absence of difficulty or effort. To ease is also defined as to make something less serious or severe, soften, and to move carefully and gradually Living with ease is different from being relaxed. Specifically, relaxation has more to do with lessening our feelings of tension and reducing stress. Ease has…
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Transitions are often filled with mixed emotions. Sometimes transitions are by choice, but many times we are not given a choice. People handle transitions and change in all kinds of ways. Depending on the nature of the transition, you may feel anxious and experience self-doubt or feel angry and confused. In some cases, you may…
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We all deal with stress on a daily basis. However, when stress becomes prolonged, we can begin to experience emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion. This state of exhaustion is referred to as burnout. At some point we cannot continue to cope effectively with the high level of sustained stress, and we begin to experience symptoms such…
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Depth-oriented therapy for high-functioning professionals in pittsburgh 