Openness

What does it mean when a feminine glamour icon attends a fashion show without makeup? Learn more about the help and harm of breaking cultural norms.

Making the Upcoming Holidays a Little More Enjoyable

When family members get together for the holidays, things may not turn out the way everyone hopes. The answer is to adjust expectations and try to get some love in there.

Liars Are Less Attractive

New research details three studies showing evidence that people are rated as more attractive when they tell the truth rather than lie.

Prioritizing Pleasure

Personal Perspective: Why we should open ourselves to pleasure without the guilt.

Understanding Is Seeing a Pattern

The most important forms of learning involve understanding. Analogies are strong tools when teaching patterns.

The Surprising Psychology of UFO Reporting

Here's why the public perception of both UFOs and those who report them matter.

How Not to Let Politics Ruin Your Family Dinner

Three powerful steps to create greater understanding.

Why Some Partners Seduce and Abandon

I have seen the most pain, disillusionment, and torture in those who have fallen in love with people who seduce, capture, and then leave without a trace.

Rethinking Self-Disclosure: When Should We Tell Our Secrets?

We like to think we control the personal information we share with others. But they acquire it in many ways.

After a Breach of Trust Don’t Make It Worse

How to avoid making a breach of trust worse.

Negative Capability in Client-Centered Psychotherapy

It is as vital for a psychotherapist as for a poet to keep an open and receptive mind.

Do We Really Need to Feel More Empathy?

Empathy (feeling with) is more likely to produce kindness and the willingness to help when held within a larger field of compassion (feeling for).

Learning to Use Your “Sixth Sense”

Tuning into your gut feelings could make a positive difference in your life.

The Fostering of Love Through Relationships

Intimacy and concern found in “love relationships” are crucial for emotional and physical health, no matter one's age.

Does Your Favorite Color Reveal Anything About You?

Are color-based personality tests a window to our soul—or just a colorful mirage? Unravel the truths and myths here.

You Are the Answer

No one else can solve your problems. Self-help really is self-help. Even if you haven't found the answer yet, only you know the you you are now and the you you have in mind to be.

Authenticity in Sexual Expression and Communication

A parallel process exists between having great sex and living authentically. Lessons from sex can guide us in a life of authenticity and vice versa.

The Hidden Benefits of Working With Pre-Licensed Therapists

Could a pre-licensed therapist really have what it takes to help you? Often, the answer is yes—here's why.

How Can We Fix Our Empathy Deficit?

Are we losing our sense of empathy? Research shows that empathy has been on the decline for decades. Improv may be the surprising solution.

Effective Decision-Making Through Inward Searching

Our culture emphasizes making quick decisions. Hesitation is considered weak. Taking the time for the inward searching process will reveal what works best for you.

Why “Nice” Is America’s #1 Brand

Personal Perspective: If I’m gone from the U.S. for an extended period, I forget how it feels to return. Somehow, it still takes me by surprise that there is a palpable difference.

Why Are More Senior Citizens Smoking Pot?

Americans over 65 are the fastest-growing segment of marijuana users. Here's why.

The 5 Keys to Sharing Sexual Secrets

You have a sexual history, but should you share it with your current, committed partner?

Think You Are Having a Conflict With Someone?

Quite often, people mistakenly believe they are engaged in a conflict when they are not. Here are two characteristics of a conflict that must be in place for a conflict to exist.

Listening: Your Key to Success

You'll be amazed by how powerful listening can be. It's not just about being civil. If you want to be influential and improve your relationships, listening is essential.

Why You Find Yourself Rethinking Everything at Midlife

Pausing to take stock of how much you’ve learned and grown as a human can be tremendously life-affirming.

10 Tips to Combat Loneliness

1. Stop telling yourself that you're unlikable.

Recognizing Our Barriers to Self-Compassion

Personal Perspective: How mindfulness helped me to identify and manage my inhibitions in self-compassion.

The Unfree Tourist: Visiting Paris, But Not the Louvre

A Personal Perspective: Many tourists feel like they have to visit particular landmarks (and be impressed). Why?

Double Vision: Searching for Sight in the Desert

A Personal Perspective: In losing sight, visions from the past often merge with those in the present.