Just Mind

By Mary Hoofnagle A couple years ago I found out my rent was increasing about 30%.  As a graduate student with bills mounting, this sent me into an immediate state of panic.  Every worst-case scenario imaginable flew through my mind.  In a matter of moments I convinced myself I had to drop out of school […] The post Solutions Aren’t Everything: Strengthening Relationships Through Reflecting Feeling appeared first on Just Mind.

Do you categorize the people in your life as either intelligent or not intelligent?  Or do you believe people can become smarter with time? Do you label people “socially awkward” under the assumption that they will always come across that way? Or do you believe that wallflowers can become social butterflies with enough time and […] The post The Key to Social and Intellectual Growth appeared first on Just Mind.

By: Mary Hoofnagle I’m in the midst of a battle. I’m fighting with my own future. I’m looking for a job as a school counselor. I need this job to finish up my graduate degree, so there is a lot of pressure riding on this moment. I started out completely faithful that my needs would […] The post Don’t Let the Future Hold You Back from the Present Moment appeared first on Just Mind.

by Margaret Fiero The dilemma of deciding to seek vengeance or strive to forgive is one that has vexed humankind since the beginning of time. Those brave souls who keep up on current events know that it continues to be a hot topic. Game of Thrones, the highly addictive HBO series that just completed its […] The post Game of Thrones and Vengeance vs. Forgiveness appeared first on Just Mind.

by Margaret Fiero Lately we have heard much about work-life balance: balancing the demands of work with those of home, especially when there are many activities and events to juggle. Now imagine trying to keep all those balls in the air while caring for an elderly loved one. This trend is rising, as people are […] The post Taking Care of the Caretakers appeared first on Just Mind.

By:  Mary Hoofnagle Have you been to a good concert lately? No, no, no…I mean REALLY been to a concert? I typically go to concerts at smaller venues, but the last big arena show I attended was Radiohead last March.  The lights came down and almost instantaneously the whole room became a sea of illuminated […] The post How to Live in the Moment appeared first on Just Mind.

Most people have an intuitive understanding of the importance of being socially connected. Almost everyone has been lonely at some point in their lives, and it doesn’t take much effort to remember how terrible that feels. The study of social connectedness (or, conversely, of loneliness) is often undertaken by psychologists, sociologists, and epidemiologists with many […] The post How Social Connectedness Affects Your Mortality appeared first on Just Mind.

Being a busy grad student, I don’t get to squeeze in as much movie-going time as I would like, so I didn’t get to see Silver Linings Playbook until just recently. Due to all the critical gushing, it was pretty built up in my mind. I feel that it delivered, though. Not only is it […] The post Silver Linings Playbook: Filmmaking Gold on Mental Illness appeared first on Just Mind.

How divorce can turn you into Voldemort If anyone told me that it would take half the time I was with my ex-wife for me to heal from my divorce, I would likely have wanted to punch them. This saying has proved true though as it has take me 3 years to heal from being […] The post How Divorce Can Turn You into Voldemort appeared first on Just Mind.

By: Mary Hoofnagle Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote,  “Finish each day and be done with it.  You have done what you could.  Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can.  Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered […] The post Letting Go of the Past appeared first on Just Mind.

By Mary Hoofnagle “And so we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” Like many movie and literature fans alike, I went to see Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby this weekend. I was never a fan of the book. After reading it several times, trying to understand its appeal, I’ve […] The post What’s so Great About Gatsby? Lessons on Living in the Past appeared first on Just Mind.

Tips on how to get hired. by Margaret Fiero Let’s face it, most of us have to work. Perhaps since we do it most of the time, career and work remain a salient topic on the collective mind of the country. The fact that so many are searching for work right now due to the […] The post How to Get Hired appeared first on Just Mind.

By Mary Hoofnagle This past week the state of Texas endured another grueling week of annual testing. I knew my students were trying to act normally on the outside while agonizing on the inside. The day before the first test I decided to give my kids a chance to talk out their feelings in an […] The post Stewart Smalley Had It Right All Along: Positive Thinking Is Power appeared first on Just Mind.

by Margaret Fiero In my last blog entry, I proposed the idea of counterintuitively accepting one’s anxiety.  It sounds interesting, but how does it work? Is it one of those things that just sounds good in theory but doesn’t really function in practice? As I am still just a student of counseling, I can’t answer […] The post Accepting Anxiety (Part 2) appeared first on Just Mind.

by William Schroeder I am always scanning news for innovative treatments in mental health and several things recently came out that are quoted as being a “game changers.” Recently a company called Oculus Rift hit the press with their smashing success on Kickstarter for some very innovative and affordable virtual reality headsets. This technology will […] The post How Technology Will Change Your Personal Therapy appeared first on Just Mind.

by Margaret Fiero The last week in America has been like none other since perhaps 9/11. One difference between this week and that deadly one in New York almost twelve years ago, is that this week involved more than one day of traumatic events. Tragedy first struck on Monday with the Boston Marathon Bombings, then […] The post Trauma at a Distance appeared first on Just Mind.

Many people suffer from depression and there easily more than 50 shades of depression. For some people, it is a light depression that periodically blips in and out of their lives. For others, it is a little heavier and stays in the background for months at a time. Sometimes it is really intense and will […] The post Life During and After Depression appeared first on Just Mind.

By: Mary Hoofnagle Let’s be honest; the world rarely lives up to our expectations. Very early in life we start dreaming of what we expect our lives to be. This vision becomes our pursuit of happiness. The implication there is that without achieving that exact picture, happiness is elusive or even impossible. Think back to […] The post Happiness Is Going from Expectations to Appreciation appeared first on Just Mind.

I have a lot of clients that venture into the online dating world. Some people are just new to Austin and some others are newly single or divorced. Either way, online dating tends to come up a lot and having experienced it myself, I have some thoughts that might be helpful to you. Below is […] The post How to Successfully Date Online appeared first on Just Mind.

There is an old cherokee legend known of as “The Two Wolves.” As the story goes, a boy and his grandfather, an elder tribesman are talking around the fire at night. The grandfather tells the boy that every day there is a battle inside of himself. “It is a terrible fight and it is between […] The post The Two Wolves appeared first on Just Mind.