Anyone is raising a child realizes how exhausting and difficult it can be to be a parent. At every stage of development there are problems: How to potty train?; separation anxiety starting school; nightmares; siblings fighting; poor eating habits; whining; loss of a pet; getting adjusted to a new school; bullying; friend drama; etc. But […]
Falling in Love, Do’s and Don’ts
“I’m in love. I thought I would fall in love when I was much older, maybe 15. Not today. I was sitting in class, reading, when the door opened and this new kid walked in. As soon as I saw him I knew. I felt excited, like I suddenly had a secret. “Our eyes locked.” […]
A Porch Party Bully
A bully at a fun party for girls is no fun. Bullies have always been around. However, for today’s tweens and teens things are much worse. Not only does that bullied kid have to feel hurt, left out, made fun of, or worse in public, as in this footage, but she may go home to […]
Kids Have Deep Thoughts and Feelings, Too!
Sometimes, maybe often, in the hustle and bustle of living and getting kids ready for school, driving them to after school activities, thinking about braces, homework, calling them out on minor offenses, worrying about how we will pay the bills, and sometimes much more serious dilemmas: someone is ill, dad lost his job, the marriage […]
Is a Positive Person Happy all the time?
A positive person is not happy all the time. But a positive person has either innate character traits and/or has learned techniques to help herself restore herself is she falls into some despair or lowered mood state. For example, a “positive” person realizes that things do not always go our way. However, even if she […]
THE ENCHANTED SELF, That’s Each of Us!
In my years as a psychologist, I have come to believe that most people seeking psychotherapy are unhappy. This is not only due to earlier hurts and traumas, as well as present frustrations and problems, but because they cannot access earlier happy moments often enough. The unfortunate result is not being able to experience enough […]
Barbara Becker Holstein in “Four Gateways to Happiness” from Women’s Paths to Happiness
“When you fall in love with yourself, you begin to feel the positive self-esteem that comes when we don’t deflate ourselves. “You’re ready to take yourself out for tea or to that wonderful spa for a day, or to go back and play the piano, which you always wanted to do. You’re ready to recognize […]
Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein, discusses her positive psychology approach, THE ENCHANTED SELF and a great new book in positive psychology, WOMEN’S PATHS TO HAPPINESS, in which she is one of the authors.
As the years have passed and I have become increasingly convinced that happiness is not an option. When you take away joy we immediately find ourselves in circumstances that seem to drain tire and weaken us. I developed The Enchanted Self as a positive psychology approach to work in the treatment room and outside of […]
Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein quoted in the WSJ ON STYLE January 14, 2010
A New Look for a New Life, by Christina Binkley Bye-Bye, Bottega: A Former Executive Purges Her Closet in Search of Deeper “People often feel the need to reinvent themselves when they reach midlife or the years before retirement, says Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein, a psychologist in West Allenhurst, N.J. It’s common for people like […]
Managed Care: Path to Professional Disillusionment Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein
Those of us who became clinicians 15, 20, 25 and 30 years ago did so because we had a mission. Each in his or her own fashion had a reason for becoming a clinician that tapped into a need to be of service to humanity, dedicated to utilizing skills that stressed talking and listening as […]