As a psychologist, I can't emphasize enough the importance of setting healthy boundaries in your life. Boundaries are not about building walls or shutting others out. Instead, they help you create a clear sense of self and build respect in your relationships. Without boundaries, you risk...

As you work on changing your people-pleasing habit, a lot is going to change with you and your relationships. Most of it is going to be surprisingly good, because the catastrophes you assume will happen, won’t happen. However, some of what will happen will be hard to cope with. Let’s...

When it comes to relationships, there's often a tricky balance - taking care of your needs versus being there for your partner. How much self-care is too much? At what point does it cross into selfishness that could harm the relationship?

Why Selfishness Hurts Relationships

Selfish...

You can feel it deep inside. There is something missing but you don’t quite know what it is. 

You might feel scared that your friends or partner don’t really care about you. 

You might feel under (nearly) constant threat of making them mad or even leaving you.

Or maybe the...

The short answer is yes, you can overcome people-pleasing. As you work to overcome people-pleasing you will be challenged and you will become more confident.

Overcoming people-pleasing is challenging because doing things differently will make you feel scared and anxious–it goes against your...

Many years ago I was at a self-development conference and the speaker said, “The quality of your life will depend on the amount of uncertainty you can tolerate.”

That quote stuck with me. I attended the conference in the early days of grad school and I often thought about how my...