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Articles from Suzanne St. John Smith | Selfgrowth.com
- #MeToo: Add My Voice to the Cultural Ground Swell against Sexual Abuse - by Submitted on Nov 18, 2017 from Suzanne St. John SmithWe are living in powerful times. A crucial time in the lives of those who’ve been sexually abused. For girls, boys, men, and women, it’s a long-awaited time when people are becoming empowered to speak up against the sexual abuse they’ve experienced during their lifetimes with the hope of making ...
Views: 1117 - Body Acceptance: How to Strike Up a Loving Relationship With Your Most Loyal Companion - by Submitted on Oct 19, 2017 from Suzanne St. John SmithAs a psychotherapist, I’m in the business of hearing how people, especially women, talk about their bodies using hateful and disparaging terms. They aren’t alone. I’ve done the same myself, and so I know how hard it can be to make peace with our imperfect bodies (are they ever anything else?) ...
Views: 2034 - Focusing on Positivity Can (Sometimes) Drive Us “Crazy” - by Submitted on Sep 21, 2017 from Suzanne St. John SmithSometimes I feel like complaining. About whatever. And it feels good – that is, when I’m not in the company of the kind of person we all know who see it as their job to drag us over to the “positive perspective” corner of the room. “Leave me alone. I want to feel miserable for now,” I want to ...
Views: 1262 - When it’s Time to Shift Priorities - by Submitted on Aug 15, 2017 from Suzanne St. John SmithI’m a perfectionist. Always have been. And sometimes it drives me crazy. Like most ‘Type-A’ people, there isn’t enough time in the day to be a perfectionist about everything, so we often prioritize areas of our lives where our standards need to reach their highest, and those where we can ...
Views: 1035 - The Importance of Maintaining a Healthy Distance in Relationships that Matter the Most - by Submitted on Feb 08, 2017 from Suzanne St. John SmithAs a psychotherapist, I often meet individuals, couples and families who at first describe the relationships that matter the most in their lives as ‘very close’, ‘tight’, and supportive. But later, after understanding the issues that brought them to my office, I view them more as insular systems ...
Views: 1249 - Adults Teaching Children: The Legitimization of Bullying - by Submitted on Dec 20, 2016 from Suzanne St. John SmithNever making the decision you know you need to make has been called ‘analysis paralysis’; ‘sitting on the fence’; ‘considering your options’; ‘waiting for the right time’ (when there is no right time); ‘not wanting to rush into anything’; and, in new age lingo ‘being kind to myself by NOT making ...
Views: 1834 - Adults Teaching Children: The Legitimization of Bullying - by Submitted on Nov 03, 2016 from Suzanne St. John SmithWhen I was in Grade 4, I struggled with an ability to read, especially when asked to read in front of the class. I wasn’t dyslexic but I was quite shy, and not at all confident about my intellectual abilities relative to my peers. Unfortunately, I had a teacher who, I discovered many years ...
Views: 1252(1 vote) - When the Opinions of Others Matter Too Much - by Submitted on Oct 07, 2016 from Suzanne St. John SmithFrom the moment we’re born until the day we die we are continually absorbing messages that tell us who we are, what we’re worth as human beings, what we should be doing at any given time, how we should look (and especially how we shouldn’t look), what we should eat, what we should buy, what ...
Views: 1240 - Transitions: The 3rd Inevitability (in addition to death and taxes!) - by Submitted on Sep 11, 2016 from Suzanne St. John SmithOver the years, I’ve discovered there are few among us who embrace transitions. I’m not one of them. Just ask my husband. For perhaps the first ten years of our lives together, when we vacationed overseas (before the aid of the Internet to illustrate the sort of place we were headed to), ...
Views: 1049 - Friendships: Time for Some Spring Cleaning? - by Submitted on Aug 08, 2016 from Suzanne St. John SmithAt one time or another, we’ve likely all been advised that we should go through our closets on a regular basis to weed out what no longer works for us, and to remind ourselves what does. After months of procrastination, I tend to carry out this arduous task every couple of years, and not ...
Views: 1137 - In Celebration of Committed Parents – Right Down to Their Socks - by Submitted on Jul 18, 2016 from Suzanne St. John SmithJune is convocation month, and all around the world students are celebrated as they make their way out of their post-secondary, and often, personal, nests as they fly toward the next phase of their lives. Most of us watch them cross the stage with joy at the possibilities that we imagine for ...
Views: 1149(1 vote) - Finding Meaning in Everyday Life - by Submitted on Jun 01, 2016 from Suzanne St. John SmithClients come to my office for a number of reasons. For example, when they’re feeling depressed, when they’re feeling anxious, and when they are experiencing conflict in their relationships, but also when they’ve become bored with their lives. For these people, meaning and engagement in life ...
Views: 1342 - Why ‘Perfectionist’ Should Not Be A Dirty Word In Business - by Submitted on May 31, 2016 from Suzanne St. John SmithWays Your Website Should Be Perfect to Avoid Losing Sales “I can see I’m dealing with a perfectionist here.” This is what a client said to me the other day when I pointed out a glaring error on her website that we had just launched for her, appearing after her assistant made an ...
Views: 886 - Moving Beyond the Playground: A Healthy Approach to Female Conflicts - by Submitted on Mar 02, 2016 from Suzanne St. John SmithFor many women, their female friendships have been a source of comfort, support, laughter, and joy. For others, they have been mired in betrayal, mean-spiritedness, and competition. But for most of us, they’ve been a combination of these two extremes, and typically, even before we reach ...
Views: 1135 - When Selfless Giving Involves Self-Forgetting – Giving When It Stings - by Submitted on Dec 18, 2015 from Suzanne St. John SmithJust the other day, I was involved in a situation that reminded me of the amount of courage it takes to give selflessly. I was acutely aware that few of us know the kind of love that’s willing to offer this sort of giving, particularly if it means experiencing personal suffering in the ...
Views: 1188 - Gratitude: A Recipe for Maintaining Positivity - by Submitted on Dec 07, 2015 from Suzanne St. John SmithJust as I was leaving my office last night, I discovered THE most beautiful bouquet of flowers sitting beside my door awaiting me. I was so taken back by the thoughtfulness of whomever had arranged this lovely gift, and when I opened the card and read that it was from my clients who ...
Views: 1203 - “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year”… Really?? - by Submitted on Nov 27, 2015 from Suzanne St. John SmithWe’re about to head into what is likely your busiest time of the year, and yet songs joyfully remind us that it’s THE most ‘wonderful’ time of the year. Most people wouldn’t agree. Expectations for the holiday season seem to grow exponentially each year, but in reality, all you need to do ...
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