Have you ever bitten your nails or cuticles when you were stressed? Or found yourself pulling on your hair while reading a book or watching TV? For many people, these behaviors come and go. But for others, they persist and are hard to control, often evolving into ongoing repetitive behaviors that are hard to control and can be emotionally distressing and physically harmful. Chrissy was a teenager who came to see me because she was pulling out her hair and her eyebrows. She had a bald … [Read more...]
When Bad Habits Aren’t Easy to Fix: Understanding Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors (BFRBs)
May 6, 2026 By
Understanding the Difference Between Worrying and Problem Solving
January 28, 2026 By
For all of my anxious readers out there, I thought this chart might help you understand how worrying functions and does not help us versus how problem-solving not only has immediate positive effects but can also have longer-term benefits. Worrying is problem-centered with your thinking zeroed-in on what went wrong rather than on a solution. When you begin to be problem-solving focused, you are thinking about those things over which you have some control. Look at the differences in the chart … [Read more...]
Two Kinds of Stress
September 15, 2025 By
I was sitting at my desk getting ready to finalize the curriculum for a class that I teach when I was informed via email that the books I needed for my medical residents had not arrived. Not only had they not arrived, they had not been ordered! I thought the top of my head would explode. I could teach the first two lectures, maybe the first four, but after that, the next two or three segments of the curriculum were blown. I wasn’t just stressed; I was in distress. Distress is negative … [Read more...]