I’m back to blogging – this is blog #3. The first one was started in late 2007 or early 2008, I think, and lasted for a handful of articles before my practice got busy and my time management skills apparently vaporized. Then, in late 2008, I made another attempt, which I called “Happy Now, Sad Later”.  It lasted somewhat longer, but became neglected when my father was dying. Before I got it started again my daughter was born, and, well, here we are in August of 2011…

For those of you who don’t know me – in my professional identity I’m a psychotherapist (counselor) with a private practice in Sacramento, California. (More about me here.)  Over the years that I’ve been working as a therapist, I’ve had the privilege of getting up close and personal with a lot of people and their relationships. I’ve learned a lot about what does and doesn’t work in relationships and come to see just how much we can be influenced by the myriad messages we get exposed to in our interruption-oriented, info-overload world every single day that set us up with unrealistic expectations.  No wonder we all struggle! When you mix this with how our brains are wired, challenges are sure to follow.

I’m not quite sure what shape the blog will take this time around, but I’m hoping to help my readers learn more about how to navigate the challenges of being in relationships and dealing with the stresses of our 21st century world.  I anticipate that it’ll be a mix of articles offering information and tips about relationships, book recommendations, information about our amazing (and sometimes challenging!) human brains and how they both help and hinder us, commentary on articles I see in both the psychological and popular press, and probably some other random things.  I encourage you to share your thoughts and comments and suggestions – I’d love for this to be a discussion, not a monologue!

I’ll also be recycling some of the articles that I originally wrote for Happy Now, Sad Later with a bit of polish or additional information, as I think they cover some important topics.

That’s it for now – until next time, take care.