A Counseling Blog: Helping You Help Yourself I now have a Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/EwaSchwarzCounseling...There have been quite a few postings here recently so I want to say a few words about them... 06 Feb 2012 16:23 EST http://www.onlinecounseling.org/counseling_blog.htm#0131b 001-01 The current understanding of how to make changes in our lives and changes in our relationships is backwards. Most people struggle to try and make things work, yet the same... 30 Dec 2011 10:35 EST http://www.onlinecounseling.org/counseling_blog.htm#1230 051-01 Sue wrote a comment: "I KNOW I am suffering from fear. I have identified it but am struggling getting past it." One of the missing components in our personal growth is... 03 Nov 2011 15:36 EST http://www.onlinecounseling.org/counseling_blog.htm#1030 050-01 A young girl, a teenager contacted me about the emotional stressors involved with being overweight and these are some excerpts of what she wrote: I am very emotional. My family thinks I'm 'fat' and they... 18 AUg 2011 11:38 EST http://www.onlinecounseling.org/counseling_blog.htm#0808 049-08 A guest left a comment that I would like to address. Naveen said: "tell us what should a person do if he dont love anything, anyone, even himself". I would like to use this comment as an example of how... 24 Jul 2011 12:35 EST http://www.onlinecounseling.org/counseling_blog.htm#0724 048-07 To get back into the swing of blogging after a break, I am going to answer the recent comments posted to my blog this month. I am going to use each of these postings to show you how to be curious and what kinds of questions... 22 Jun 2011 17:01 EST http://www.onlinecounseling.org/counseling_blog.htm#0622 047-06 One of the biggest issues in most relationships is that we think we know our partners or others. It is a cause of so many different kinds of problems. But there is no way of knowing or understanding... 01 Jun 2011 15:25 EST http://www.onlinecounseling.org/counseling_blog.htm#0601 046-06 I like to check in with my clients periodically when I haven't heard from them in a while and this is what one person replied (used with their permission): "Things have been going very... 26 May 2011 8:43 EST http://www.onlinecounseling.org/counseling_blog.htm#0526 045-05 I am so far behind on my blogging and still am pressed for time, so I am repeating an old but very valuable blog entry. There are people who will actually say that they don't have any fears... 21 May 2011 16:15 EST http://www.onlinecounseling.org/counseling_blog.htm#0521 044-05 I was asked to cover a particular topic in my blog, of the contradiction that a gay person experiences when their religion condemns homosexuality. This is both a sensitive and tricky subject ... 11 May 2011 17:33 EST http://www.onlinecounseling.org/counseling_blog.htm#0511 043-05 My blog entries are usually based on one simple idea that I have and then I allow the thoughts to just emerge. This is how I allow my understanding to develop and evolve, even as I talk to you... 03 May 2011 10:18 EST http://www.onlinecounseling.org/counseling_blog.htm#0503 042-03 One of the questions that occasionally comes up in a counseling session is why can't a person just take on new beliefs to replace the old ones, why do old beliefs need to first need to be identified and... 29 Apr 2011 12:25 EST http://www.onlinecounseling.org/counseling_blog.htm#0429 041-03 Being happy and joyful. Sometimes it seems like a tall order and sometimes it is just there. We so appreciate the moments when we are joyful for seemingly no reason at all. Those are the times when we simply have no... 25 Apr 2011 16:45 EST http://www.onlinecounseling.org/counseling_blog.htm#0425 040-03 I came across a great article by Sonia Barrett last year about the importance of our breathing habits (yes, how we breath is under our control, even if the breathing itself is not!), which is linked to the autonomic nervous system, affecting our health... 22 Apr 2011 13:52 EST http://www.onlinecounseling.org/counseling_blog.htm#0422 039-03 I would like to revisit the concept of how "your thoughts create your reality" or how "you create what you think about" from a different perspective. It is really important for you to understand just how this works... 16 Apr 2011 15:26 EST http://www.onlinecounseling.org/counseling_blog.htm#0416 038-03 I have not written about movies in a while because I simply have not seen one with an interesting enough message. This movie finally has broken the dry spell! "Inception" has a unique plot that makes many suggestions about the subconscious mind ... 09 Apr 2011 09:19 EST http://www.onlinecounseling.org/counseling_blog.htm#0409 037-03 Many times people will focus on a goal that they want, yet have fears and doubts that will interfere with achieving those goals. Most people do not understand why it is essential to work through the fears and doubts, that otherwise... 04 Apr 2011 11:53 EST http://www.onlinecounseling.org/counseling_blog.htm#0404 036-03 Most people believe that the process of learning, when applied to relationships, communication, or personal growth, is a process one of adding in new information. That somehow the new information will ... 30 Mar 2011 15:26 EST http://www.onlinecounseling.org/counseling_blog.htm#0330 035-03 Today's topic is very difficult to put into words. It is about the miniscule sense that we have of the world and of all the other people in it. That we are only aware of what is in our own minds, our own perception, our own experiences... 26 Mar 2011 14:24 EST http://www.onlinecounseling.org/counseling_blog.htm#0326 034-03 Everyone and everything in your life acts as a teacher in that there is always something to learn from observing and interacting with every person and in all situations. On of the way that we learn best is by... 23 Mar 2011 16:05 EST http://www.onlinecounseling.org/counseling_blog.htm#0323 033-03 I think I can safely say that just about every person has heard this saying at some point in their lives. I would even venture that most if not even almost all people who know this saying believe this to be true. I can't say all... 17 Mar 2011 10:08 EST http://www.onlinecounseling.org/counseling_blog.htm#0317 032-03 This morning I was able to catch up on the details of what has happened in Japan, watching videos of the tsunami, reading about the nuclear explosions. It is absolutely surreal to be sitting in the comfort of... 15 Mar 2011 09:50 EST http://www.onlinecounseling.org/counseling_blog.htm#0315 031-03 Do you know the feeling when somebody says something that is upsetting to you, that you don't like, or that you don't agree with? Did you know or were you aware that more often than not, you unknowingly... 12 Mar 2011 16:40 EST http://www.onlinecounseling.org/counseling_blog.htm#0312 030-03 It occurred to me today that as a general rule, we really don't know our bodies, that we are generally just so disconnected from them. Our bodies act as a vehicle that we drive recklessly, take for granted, abuse, neglect, and even ... 09 Mar 2011 11:55 EST http://www.onlinecounseling.org/counseling_blog.htm#0309 029-03 What do you feel when you receive a compliment? There seems to be two general groups of reactions to compliments. One is where the receiver does not believe or doubts the compliment, and the other feels... 04 Mar 2011 09:51 EST http://www.onlinecounseling.org/counseling_blog.htm#0304 028-03 Everyone has the need to feel heard. Even the need to be understood is almost secondary, because you can't be understood if you are not first heard! But how many times do we speak and still not feel... 01 Mar 2011 08:25 EST http://www.onlinecounseling.org/counseling_blog.htm#0301 027-03 Self love, schmelf love, who cares about loving yourself. We all want answers and we want them now. Solve the problem, give me the solutions, I want the answer. We actually demand without even realizing it. Our expectations are... 24 Feb 2011 16:30 EST http://www.onlinecounseling.org/counseling_blog.htm#0224 026-02 The whole concept of mirroring, or of how other people's behaviors reflect back aspects of ourselves to us can be easily misunderstood and become confusing. In the worst case scenarios, people use it as yet another way in which to... 22 Feb 2011 16:33 EST http://www.onlinecounseling.org/counseling_blog.htm#0222 025-02 The concept of love as it exists today is very confusing. Is it any wonder that so many people have problems in their relationships, that communication breaks down, that the "love" that both parties first felt seems to change and/or disappear... 20 Feb 2011 09:00 EST http://www.onlinecounseling.org/counseling_blog.htm#0220 024-02 I have written a lot about how to change our communication so that we stop making all those assumptions that we all unknowingly make and to learn how to use curiosity to explore why people act and say what they do instead... 16 Feb 2011 15:02 EST http://www.onlinecounseling.org/counseling_blog.htm#0216 023-02 Have you ever wondered about all those thoughts that you have about yourself that don't make you feel good? All that self doubt, all that self criticism, all that guilt; do you know what all those emotions and thoughts really do to you?... 10 Feb 2011 10:29 EST http://www.onlinecounseling.org/counseling_blog.htm#0210 022-02 http://www.onlinecounseling.org/counseling_blog.htm The whole concept of devotion has been rising in my consciousness over the last few weeks if not months. What is devotion? It is not a word that is very commonly used much these days. What does it bring to mind for you? Is it... 7 Feb 2011 16:15 EST http://www.onlinecounseling.org/counseling_blog.htm#0207 021-02 For all these years we have been told that we lose up to 1% of our muscle mass every year as we age...That our aerobic capacity diminishes in midlife by up to 10% per decade. I am thrilled beyond pieces to announce that that has been debunked. ... 3 Feb 2011 6:52 EST http://www.onlinecounseling.org/counseling_blog.htm#0203 020-02