Love needs certainty and reciprocity. It's a process where each is forced to change while resisting the change. Esther Perel The challenges. As a psychotherapist, I have seen firsthand how narcissistic traits can create challenging relationship dynamics. Narcissistic traits can include a lack of empathy, an excessive need for
Photo: Helena Lopes The "feel good hormones." When we touch, or someone we experience as safe touches us – cuddle, hug, or hold hands – our bodies release "feel good" hormones. These hormones include oxytocin, dopamine, and serotonin. Once the hormones are released into our bodies, we experience
Photo: Niko Photos In nature, nothing is perfect, and everything is perfect. Trees can be contorted and bent in weird ways, and they're still beautiful. Alice Walker Why exposure to nature is important. As a psychotherapist and avid hiker, I have seen the immense benefits of exposure to nature on
Photo: Greg Rosenke Did you know about the 'Hope Molecules’? The 'hope molecules’ are live molecules called myokines in our body that release when we exercise, specifically when our muscles contract. They have an effect on our mood and brain functioning. As a psychotherapist, I often discuss the
Photo by Margarita. Spring is a fabulous time of the year... ... for noticing the changes and enduring transformations in nature, paying attention to how everything is constantly changing and rebirthing. Satisfaction comes not from chasing bigger and bigger things but from paying attention to smaller and
Photo: Priscilla du Prees Most of us want to be heard and understood. Talking about our thoughts and feelings with a supportive and non-judgemental person outside our circle of friends and family makes us feel better. Talking about your life experiences, perspectives, and emotions can help you resolve
Photo: Tyler Nix “When you get, give. When you learn, teach.” Maya Angelou. How do you want to be remembered? What are the true highlights of your life you want people to remember? At a meditation retreat, one of the exercises they gave us was to reflect on
Photo: Nikklas Ohlrogge My therapist once said -well, maybe not once but a few times :-), "anyone can feel enlightened sitting in meditation alone inside a cave or on a deserted island." Relationships are invitations to exercise introspection, self-awareness, generosity, boundaries, and empathy. They test how we
"For me, success is not a public thing. It's a private thing. It's when you have fewer and fewer regrets." Toni Morrison Raise your hand if you don't have any life regrets ....That's what I thought! Having regrets is a layer of the human experience we sometimes secretly
Photo: Felipe Souza Healing is an art. It takes time; it takes practice. It takes love. Maza Dohta Everyday living can be complex to navigate. Some of the daily events can turn to be overwhelming and stressful. When these events are too much, too soon for too
Audio Recording (8:58) dropping anchor, adapted by Margarita. 'Dropping Anchor'** is a very useful skill. You can use it for handling difficult thoughts, feelings, emotions, memories, urges and sensations more effectively. A: Acknowledge your thoughts and feelings C: Come back into your body E: Engage in what
Alice in wonderland is my name. "The household cat is really a tiger that has underwent three counselling programs." Valeriu Butulescu What science says about the human-animal bond: A study published in a UK medical journal in 2016* shows that pets are an important source of support in
Mindful Walk. Photo, Margarita. "The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeing new landscapes but in having new eyes." Marcel Proust What are the origins of Mindfulness? Mindfulness has its roots in Buddhist meditation. The concept of mindfulness takes us back to the Pali words sati,
A moment to relax. Margarita, 2021 Recently, I facilitated an Online Mindfulness Meditation Retreat: Anxiety. Connect and Reset. The COVID 19 pandemic is asking for our attention to anxiety, grief and our general mental health. Anxiety is anchored in the human need to feel control and predictability
Finding balance. Photo: Margarita Rabinovich, 2021 “Anxiety was born in the very same moment as mankind. And since we will never be able to master it, we will have to learn to live with it—just as we have learned to live with storms.” Paulo Coelho, Brazilian lyricist
"The body is a multilingual being. It speaks through its colour and its temperature, the flush of recognition, the glow of love, the ash of pain, the heat of arousal, the coldness of non-conviction. . . . It speaks through the leaping of the heart, the falling of the spirits,
“Your visions will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.” Carl Jung, Psychiatrist and Psychotherapist Photo by Margarita, 2011 “Refuge for a little bug.” Therapy is cool. It’s about learning a new life skill. I was
The post-holiday elation is upon us. Photo: Ana Sgambato & Margarita Rabinovich, 2019 "Winter friendship." I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says
Photo: Margarita, 2019 “Wings are for landing.” “The only choice we have as we mature is how we inhabit our vulnerability, how we become larger and more courageous and more compassionate through our intimacy with disappearance, our choice is to inhabit vulnerability as generous citizens of loss, robustly and fully,
Photo: Margarita, Another cycle of beauty. "When we least expect it, life sets us a challenge to test our courage and willingness to change; at such a moment, there is no point in pretending that nothing has happened or in saying that we are not yet ready. The challenge will
Photo: Margarita, 2020, “Gentle connection” “People speak to me about my son - ‘I’m so sorry for you’ - but no one says, ‘I loved him so much.’ I was busy in grief, which I don’t expect to stop. Suddenly realizing that the last thing my son would want was
Photo: A candle for Alex, Margarita, 2012 I had my own notion of grief. I thought it was the sad time That followed the death of someone you love. And you had to push through it To get to the other side. But I'm learning there is no other side.