Three Lessons on Loss and Grief
Andrea Brandt2020-08-03T13:25:56+00:00For days, weeks, or even months after losing someone, you may wake up in the morning with an overwhelming sadness. It can feel like a heaviness pushing [...]
Healing Guilt: 7 Steps to Self-Forgiveness
Andrea Brandt2020-07-29T10:53:29+00:00Your ability to forgive yourself and practice self-compassion is a vital element of self-esteem. When you carry feelings of guilt and shame, it’s impossible to feel good [...]
The Healing Power of Gratitude
Andrea Brandt2020-05-19T10:52:55+00:00Asking “what are you thankful for?” during a global pandemic might seem absurd. Every day the news gets grimmer. We hear sirens outside our windows. We read [...]
How to Set Boundaries in the Age of Oversharing
Andrea Brandt2019-12-04T13:51:33+00:00Scroll through your Facebook or Instagram feed and you’ll see photos of friends’ children, weddings, and perfectly lit meals. You’ll see updates about careers and relationships. Something [...]
Why You Should Consider Yoga and Meditation
Andrea Brandt2020-08-28T07:59:15+00:00Yoga and meditation are more than just a way to calm down and stay flexible. Both practices have powerful and long-term benefits for both the body and [...]
Improve Your Mood Now
Andrea Brandt2019-09-06T09:42:12+00:00Some things you do to improve your mental health take time, planning, and often money. There are 12-step plans and 3-month goals, therapy bills, and emotionally-exhausting hours [...]
Understanding the Difference Between Feeling Blue and Depression by Melissa Howard
Andrea Brandt2019-05-30T13:31:06+00:00Life is hard at times, and we all know that. But how do we know when it’s “too hard” and we need help? The signs aren’t always [...]
The Dangers of Perfectionism
Andrea Brandt2019-05-23T10:38:14+00:00Do you often feel like you need things to be perfect to be satisfied? Is accepting flaws or failures in yourself or others impossible? Do you feel [...]
How to Stop Feeling Shame
Andrea Brandt2019-03-11T13:40:21+00:00Shame is one of the hardest emotions to talk about. It can also be the hardest emotion to recognize in ourselves, and it can feel the most [...]
Silence Negative Self-Talk In Just 5 Minutes a Day
Andrea Brandt2019-03-11T13:36:03+00:00Your pattern and style of self-talk most likely originate from the way your parents or caregivers spoke to and treated you. If your mother was overly critical, [...]
Science Proves That Gratitude Is Key to Well-Being
Andrea Brandt2019-03-11T12:06:10+00:00“Building the best life does not require fealty to feelings in the name of authenticity, but rather rebelling against negative impulses and acting right even when we [...]
4 Ways to Be Kinder to Yourself and Build Self-Empathy
Andrea Brandt2019-08-16T13:00:52+00:00“You are a failure.” “You look ugly today.” “Everyone’s life is better than yours.” Have you ever said these things to a close friend? How about a [...]
3 Ways Mindfulness Can Help Us as We Age
Andrea Brandt2018-02-26T11:55:26+00:00Living mindfully means living in a state of awareness. You savor every flavor, admire every sunset, cherish every moment with loved ones—always grounded in the moment instead [...]
How to Live a Regret-Free Life
Andrea Brandt2018-02-14T15:07:49+00:00What is the difference between a mistake and a learning experience? Perspective. When we see mistakes as learning experiences, regret transforms from a painful emotion into a [...]
9 Health Experts Reveal How They Stick to Their Resolutions
Andrea Brandt2018-01-30T13:33:08+00:004. Think Beyond Fixing a Problem Set your sights higher than mere solutions to problems, and focus on what you really want, says Andrea Brandt, Ph.D., a [...]
When Forgiving Yourself Is the Hardest Kind of Forgiveness
Andrea Brandt2018-02-14T14:59:02+00:00So you’ve done something wrong. You’ve hurt someone else or yourself, and now you feel angry, guilty, sad, or ashamed. If someone else had wronged you, you’d [...]
How Self Love Saves Lives
Andrea Brandt2017-03-27T13:14:54+00:00When you love yourself, you don't rely on others for your self-esteem or self-image. When you love yourself, you feel comfortable in your skin and accept yourself [...]
6 Steps to a Positive Outlook on Life
Andrea Brandt2017-02-07T15:17:16+00:00Positive Outlook Whether it's January 1 or June 30, every day is one in which you can make a resolution to improve your life. Every [...]
Don’t Just Survive the Holidays, Enjoy Them
Andrea Brandt2017-02-07T15:17:16+00:00Don't Just Survive the Holidays, Enjoy Them It's that time of year again. The displays of small potted Christmas Trees and poinsettia greet you at [...]
What Do We Mean When We Say “Self-Love?”
Andrea Brandt2018-03-29T08:04:39+00:00Therapists like myself spend a lot of time talking about self-love. But if you’re like many of my patients, you might not know what self-love means exactly. [...]
Can You Hear Me Now: When to stop fixing and just listen
Andrea Brandt2017-02-07T15:17:16+00:00When a client comes to you in emotional distress and you sense that childhood wounds are the cause, your instinct is to spring into action. I’ve spent [...]
How Do You Forgive Even When It Feels Impossible?
Andrea Brandt2017-02-07T15:17:18+00:00Someone hurts us in a way that feels irreparable and we say, "I will never forgive you." Someone wounds us emotionally or physically and we think, "That's [...]
Why You Should Never Vote Angry
Andrea Brandt2017-02-07T15:17:18+00:00You're probably familiar with the adage, "The secret to a happy marriage is to never go to bed angry." I've been thinking about this a lot while [...]
6 Steps to Bring Out the Best in Each Other
Andrea Brandt2017-02-07T15:17:19+00:00It is often said that in the best relationships, partners bring out the best in each other. Sometimes in the midst of the stresses and ups and [...]
4 Tips to Help You Survive the Holidays
Andrea Brandt2019-10-15T08:32:22+00:00Between Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, and New Year's, many of us spend more time with our families in the final five weeks of the year than we will [...]
What to Do When Your Emotions Overwhelm You
Andrea Brandt2017-02-07T15:17:19+00:00Trying to control your emotions doesn't work because it can't work. When you go out in the world and interact with people, turn on the radio or [...]
3 Ways to Stop Having the Same Fight Over & Over
Andrea Brandt2017-09-18T11:02:35+00:00Can't figure out why you keep having the same arguments? Read on ... September will always be back-to-school season in my mind––the sadness of summer ending, the [...]
3 Steps to Keeping Your Cool (and Saving Your Relationships)
Andrea Brandt2017-02-07T15:17:20+00:00Your good friend says something hurtful; your partner seems remote and uninvolved; your coworker makes a new demand when you're already overwhelmed. Stress hormones flood your body, [...]
Emotional Honesty: How to Tell if It’s Missing from Your Relationship
Andrea Brandt2017-02-07T15:17:20+00:00Few of us grew up in an emotionally safe environment, a place where we could be truthful about our feelings. Instead, we inherited faulty beliefs about our [...]
How Your Beliefs About Yourself Limit Your Potential
Andrea Brandt2017-02-07T15:17:20+00:00Right now, you are talking to yourself. All day, every day, you talk to yourself about the world around you––narrating, interpreting, judging. More importantly, you talk to [...]