Articles on Popular Psychological Topics

By Dr. Lynn Margolies

5 Common Mistakes When Engaging Someone Who Won’t Talk

People make similar mistakes that are not so obvious when trying to engage someone who doesn’t want to talk. Considering the audience and previous interactions with them allows us to predict how conversations will play out and make informed decisions. Good timing is observing the other person’s mood and state of mind, and getting their consent before launching a question or statement.

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Dr. Lynn Margolies

Are You Confusing Rumination With Problem-Solving?

An ill-fated but common problem is failing to recognize rumination as a sign of anxiety, and confusing it with thinking things through.

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Dr. Lynn Margolies

Couples Therapy

Marital/couples therapy is a form of therapy which involves working with both partners of a couple to improve their relationship and/or help them make important decisions about the relationship.

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Dr. Lynn Margolies

Getting Unhooked From Pain & Choosing Happiness

Self-defeating behaviors can be understood as habits with psychological, often unconscious motives. Breaking these habits requires not only insight into the function they serve and the resolve to stop them, but the courage and initiative to try out new behaviors, thereby setting in motion a different chain of events. On a neurobehavioral level, new behaviors that generate positive feedback create new pathways in the brain, allowing momentum for psychological growth and change.

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Dr. Lynn Margolies

Good News If You Often Feel Rejected

We all experience rejection as painful. The need to fit in and be accepted is hard-wired. The primal sensitivity to rejection impacts adult relationships, child and teen peer relationships, as well as parents and their children.

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Dr. Lynn Margolies

How to Get People to Make Good Decisions (and Not Cause Them to Do the Opposite)

When we witness people in our lives headed down the wrong path – it’s a natural instinct to correct them, educate them about what’s wrong with what they’re doing, and argue the merits of our position. But this approach, rather than helping people change their ways, can rope us into a frustrating and exhausting struggle. Worse, though we may be “right”, this logical strategy frequently backfires and, unbeknownst to the helper, ends up reinforcing the other person’s will to do the opposite – on top of creating conflict in the relationship.

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Dr. Lynn Margolies

How to Overcome Obstacles to Change

We all are faced at times with trying to persuade other people, or ourselves, to change a behavior. BUt our efforts and good intentions can leave us feeling frustrated and helpless. Why is it that people don’t just do what is needed to change unhelpful patterns, even when they promise to do so and it’s obviously in their best interest?

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Dr. Lynn Margolies

How to Resist Temptation & Be More in Control

There are two states of mind we can be in when it comes to temptation: zooming in and fantasizing about the rush, or zooming out and seeing the broader picture of how things will play out if we act on our impulses. Knowing where our actions will lead before a tempting situation takes hold gives us a chance to make an informed decision.

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Dr. Lynn Margolies

How to Tell If It’s Time to Cut Your Losses: 6 Signs

Knowing when to quit (and that you’re not just bailing) involves predicting how the future will play out, thinking about our future self, and what matters most.

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Dr. Lynn Margolies

How to Tell If Your Decisions Are From Your Evolved or Primitive Brain

Decisions can be motivated by thoughtful consideration from our higher mind (frontal lobe/executive functions), or fear-based survival instincts (amygdala, impulses) from a more primitive mind. When decisions are informed by our higher mind, they are more likely to lead to positive outcomes. Alternatively, decisions driven by fear and survival instincts from the past can leave us stuck in old patterns and hold us back.

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Dr. Lynn Margolies

Individual Therapy for Relationship Issues

Relationships and the ending of relationships are one of the most common reasons for talking to a psychologist. When relationships end, many people find themselves overtaken by powerful feelings.

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Dr. Lynn Margolies

Influencing People: What Works to Change Behavior (and How It Applies to Parenting)

Without accurately understanding children’s behavior, we may intervene in ways that compound the situation, creating a control struggle on top of the original problem. To be effective in helping children, we must accurately diagnose the problem and be curious: What’s causing this behavior? Though they may look the same, a problem of defiance is handled differently than one of capacity. Learning difficulties involving executive functioning are neurologically based, but executive functioning is sensitive to and impeded by stress. Parents’ reactions can, in this way, become an additional impediment to children’s executive functioning.

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Dr. Lynn Margolies

Should You Punish Bad Behavior? the Answer May Surprise You

Should you punish bad behavior? Punishment, including self-punishment, can teach the wrong lesson and is different from consequences. Even when we (or someone else) deserve to feel guilty, guilt can backfire and make people worse.

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Dr. Lynn Margolies

The Psychology of Adults Who Are Controlled by a Parent

When childhood dynamics play out in adulthood, the spouse can get roped in.Conflict over competing loyalties is a dysfunctional family dynamic with men who haven’t psychologically separated from their mothers. To have a secure adult relationship, a developmental transition has to occur in which the spouse replaces the mom as the primary attachment. Childhood emotional manipulation can create psychological vulnerability that affects adult romantic attachments.

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Dr. Lynn Margolies

Weddings, Graduations & Other Chapter Endings

Milestones such as weddings and graduations and other chapter endings are complicated and not always filled with bliss. This article is about the psychologiy of navigating major life transitions. Major transitions are difficult because they unexpectedly activate struggles around saying good-bye, letting go, facing change, and interpersonal conflicts.

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Dr. Lynn Margolies

When Perseverance Costs You Success

Most of us know that persevering – staying the course and not giving up despite difficulties and setbacks – is an important part of what it takes to be successful in many areas of life. But perseverance, like other intrinsically healthy behaviors, can be taken too far and actually work against moving forward.

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Dr. Lynn Margolies