i often have clients who report feeling much angst over their finances, sharing that they feel as if have no money, are living paycheck to paycheck, or must wait to live out their dreams until they have more income. My response typically is, "Where else in your life are you withholding from yourself or others?" The reality is that money, like everything else in the Universe, is energy. The more you give of anything, be it positive or negative, the more you receive. Try this out if you don't believe me. Give someone a compliment, and listen as you receive multiple compliments in return, or make a list of all the things you are grateful for, and watch as more prosperity flows to you. Or do the opposite: try withholding, not sharing advice, words of wisdom, your time, things, etc., and watch as you begin to feel more scarce.

WARNING: This Blog may be more blunt than my usual blogs. America is a society where sex is marketed as a commodity, to be bought and sold, both figuratively and literally. These days, you can go to any bar and see women dressed in scantily clad outfits, with fake breasts (especially in Utah where we have the highest breast implant rate per capita over Beverly Hills and New York), and a size zero waist (the oxymoron in that is that zero is NOT a real size). I offer therapy to many women who are dying (literally) to be thin by using laxatives, starving themselves, or abusing drugs such as heroin, adderall, oxycontin, and/or meth to be society's thinnest 3%~ an illusive waif child like figure that men are allegedly supposed to fall over. Sadly, many men blindly support this stereotype. Has our media succeeded or failed us?

I work with many individuals recovering from alcohol and/or drug addiction. In the early stages of recovery (often within the first 18 months of recovery), many of my younger clients (between 18-26) report cross-addicting by having indiscriminate sex with multiple partners. In therapy, we often explore how clients replace their substance addiction with having sex as a means of attempting to achieve a similar high. When does this type of behavior become dysfunctional? When does one's behavior venture into the "sex addict" category?

Some note-able statistics: about 95% of all domestic violence victims are female. The majority of male victims are assaulted by other men. One third of American women and one quarter of women worldwide will experience domestic/dating violence in their lifetime. Having noted the above statistics, I believe it is critical to say that I have worked with several heterosexual male clients, who have been victims of domestic abuse at the hands, and/or words of their female partners. I have heard stories of men whose wives/ex-wives threaten to ruin their careers by crying domestic abuse/child abuse if their husbands/ex-husbands don’t do what they want. It has also been my experience that many men in American culture are taught to not report abuse for fear of public humiliation (i.e., "men can't be victims"). This is a tragedy. Both men and women can be victims of abuse that lasts far past a divorce or break up.

“As long as love is pleasure, it’s end-- a sad tapering off into indifference and inertia--is predictable” Deepak Chopra During my initial assessment with people who have substance abuse addictions, I often ask “If you take out the substance with which you are addicted, what is it that you truly crave?” A majority of the time I am met with the same response: “Love and Acceptance.”