October 2012
1 post
8 tags
A Dying Happiness
Recently I took a trip to my local Barnes & Noble bookstore for a slow cooker cookbook, which went against my newest promise to myself. I have many such promises: cut back on sugar, garden more, make a dent in my ever-growing stack of reading. The bookstore promise is a little different; my husband was in on this one.
He reminds me occasionally that we posses a robust collection of...
September 2012
3 posts
10 tags
The Distorted Reality of Pop Culture
Without my permission, I am faced by increasing information, postings, and coverage of the Twihard romance of Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson. They’re called K-Pat for God’s sake! I can’t seem to get away from it and I actually like the books and movies. .
The Huffington Post, OK!, Forbes.com and Examiner.com all have been posting articles about the ensuing...
8 tags
Is Equality Really Possible?
Equality is such a lofty goal really. Striving to make people or things uniform and accepted as such when there are so many inherent differences. It seems everywhere I look equality is on the forefront of people’s agendas. But is it really possible?
Now that we’re on the other side of the political conventions, one of the clear themes to emerge, beside the constant volley of who’s lying and who...
11 tags
Getting What You Want
I wrote the following article for a local publication in my community, Ross Living. I based this piece on the myriad of clients I see that struggle with finding happiness in what they think they should be doing.
In today’s lifestyle, it is easy to get sidetracked with multi-tasking and competing for the next must-have item to complete our lives. As a psychotherapist I find I am confronted with...
August 2012
1 post
14 tags
Vessel or Person?
Women are powerful, and not only because we have the power to reproduce. I believe that is why reproductive rights continue to be political cannon balls when women’s bodies have no business being fodder for campaigns when it realistically is a social issue and ultimately a personal one. Period.
The following article is taken from Amanda Marcotte’s August 27th post on RSN.org (Reader...
July 2012
4 posts
11 tags
A Dark Hour for the Dark Knight
In the aftermath of the mass shooting in Aurora, Colorado, I am surprised by the copy-cat behavior reported in the news. Have you ever heard of this before? Normally this type of copying is only seen in the aftermath of a suicide, therefore the media’s hush hush approach on the subject. After Senator Gabrielle Giffords shooting, I don’t recall hearing about any copy-cating in the...
10 tags
In Prison We Trust
I normally don’t think much about incarceration but I just saw an episode of Modern Marvels on prisons and was fascinated by the rich history. The correctional system is chock full of juicy tidbits that are made interesting as only the History Channel could make it.
Although the Romans were credited with the first prisons (at least on this show, but hard to imagine that the Chinese or...
The People Watching Is Great!
Do you find when you’re in a new situation or environment you can’t help look at all the people around you, and then judge them? “Look at how fat that guy is”, “wow, she’s wearing the wrong thing”, “look at all those tattoos-how trashy”, “is that a celebrity? She doesn’t look as good in person”.
I think people watching is the...
12 tags
Why The Heck Should I Care About Kate Moss?
I was sitting at the salon last week and therefore thumbing mindlessly through the requisite fashion mags there when I came across the recent issue of Bazaar (Harper’s Bazaar before they dropped the full portion of their name) and was confronted by the solitary image of Kate Moss.
Immediately I was offended by the cover simply because of the image of Kate Moss. The 38 year-old British...
June 2012
1 post
9 tags
What Would Tiger Say?
Did you happen to catch Tiger Woods amazing chip in the Memorial tournament yesterday? It was truly an amazing shot, and worthy of his reputation as the best golfer in the world. It also got me thinking about the flip side of his talent, his very public struggles - as most celebrities trigger us to think about the duality of positive and negative.
I wondered if being Tiger Woods was worth it....
May 2012
1 post
10 tags
Can That Cause Permanent Damage?
We are all guilty of asking someone, usually a doctor, if something we have done or been exposed to can cause permanent damage. Safe to say a majority of it occurred in our college years, but turns out violence does have a permanent effect. On a cellular level no less.
According to a recent study at Duke University, the stress people encounter from violence causes permanent molecular changes....
April 2012
3 posts
11 tags
Girls in the Media
Recently I viewed Jennifer Siebel Newsom’s new documentary Miss Representation. I referenced it in an earlier posting and like the message it provides: girls and women are dramatically underrepresented in politics, horribly devalued in the media and generally still valued as objects by mainstream society. Not that I like that women are portrayed in this manner, but I feel that Newsom’s...
7 tags
Taking It Too Far
If you live in the Bay Area, perhaps you have heard of Francis Ford Coppola’s lawsuit against small business owner John Pirraglia and his family who own and operate Tavola restaurant in Novato.
Incredibly, this lawsuit asserts that this most basic of Italian words, meaning table, infringes upon Coppola’s trademarked term “a tavola”, translated as to the table and is...
11 tags
The Real Reality
Over the years various snapshots of celebrities have surfaced without their makeup, airbrushing or stylist’s influence. Most notably perhaps was Jamie Lee Curtis’ exposing pictorial years ago of what her midsection really looks like post menopause.
Riding that wave was Dove’s campaign for real beauty using real people without the special effects usually applied to enhance our...
March 2012
3 posts
6 tags
If That's The Worst Thing That Happens Today...
I came across the attached link (bottom of posting) for the crazy Jet Blue pilot who got locked out of his own cockpit because he became unruly, incoherent and disorderly. I find it really interesting that at the end of the ABC News video, the pilots wife is quoted as stating, “…please have patience. There are two sides to every story”.
I think that is an unusual...
Road Rage: The Most Ridiculous Anger
On March 13th, 2012, police in Richmond California were trying to track down the gunman who opened fire on a family driving home who happened to inadvertently cut him off while changing lanes. This madman shot off at least 10 rounds into this family’s car, hitting their 8-year old son. This is insanity!
I’d like to think that this man is unstable due to the severity of his actions...
10 tags
Temptation
According to Oscar Wilde, the only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it.
In today’s world of 12 steps and ever increasing codependency, that seems awfully dangerous. Temptation is a sign of the devil according to many faiths, and yet other cultures look upon it as part of the normal variance of humanity - the concept of ying yang. In it’s simplest definition, temptation...
February 2012
3 posts
12 tags
Why Whitney Houston's Death is Not That Shocking
The Grammy producers were scrambling last weekend to add a fitting tribute to the pop icon, which ultimately was punctuated by mini tributes to The Voice as she was often referred to. Much of the attention given so far to her early demise centers around her amazing talent and mysterious cause of death, but not a lot of discussion about how she fell off the showbiz map as it were. There’s a...
Incentives for Marriage Counseling
Perhaps you have thought over the years that certain situations would be better served with an official license procedure to oversee it; medical doctors, mental health workers, drivers licenses sure. How about Marriage counseling? If two representatives from Utah have their way, marriage counseling will soon become more official through incentivizing it alongside marriage licenses.
...
10 tags
Just Say No - To Sugar
The latest media buzz flying across the news outlets and social media sites concerns the dangers of sugar. Like an earlier post from a few months ago I find I am riding the fence of this argument. Content not to choose a side since I see both sides of this issue. UCSF scientists published a study in Nature yesterday claiming that sugar is as toxic and addictive as alcohol, tobacco and other drugs....
January 2012
2 posts
Social Skills vs. Winning
A high school basketball coach from Gunderson High in San Jose California has hit the news for suspending his best players for basically having bad manners and insubordination. The players were coming to practice late habitually, using bad manners and general disrespect around the coach, replete with the entitled air most of us see in the “up and coming” crowd these days.
Coach Mike...
Why Do Famous People Behave So Badly?
Recently Lindsay Lohan was praised by a judge for her compliance with legal orders in her probation. Lindsay is the most recent in a long line of celebrities to not only display bad behavior, but try to skirt the consequences. Every time the news reports another famous personality gone wild I find myself saying “what, again?” out loud.
There are the surprising but understandable...
December 2011
1 post
Anger Management Class Gone Wrong
A recent story in an ABC News blog described a stabbing in an anger management class. One female attacked another in this court ordered group in Washington; with a 3 inch knife no less! Soon anger management classes will require pat downs and metal detectors.
Yes, I’m going to poke fun at this insane story because its irony demands it.
How could this happen you say? Since the attacker...
November 2011
5 posts
6 tags
Fence Riding
I’ve just met a nice man named Mike while at a golf tournament with my husband. Mike is an agent with Creative Artists and one of the many crazy men here chasing around a little white ball while yelling at it. Over a discussion on the merits of not going to extremes, I declared that I subscribe to “fence-riding”. No, this is not an alternative to cow-tipping, but that’s...
6 tags
Just Horsin' Around
Those words will never have the same connotation in the English language thanks to Jerry Sandusky. I heard his interview with Bob Costas this morning and nearly fell over in my sun salutation as I did my morning yoga.
There is no doubt in my mind that this guy is guilty as sin. I have worked with a variety of offenders in my practice and eat has a universal “tell” - their body...
10 tags
Jodi Klugman-Rabb, MFT →
learn more about my private psychotherapy practice
7 tags
Charlie's Anger
It seems Charlie Sheen has become synonymous with anger, but let’s not forget psychosis too. Charlie has been a pretty decent actor throughout his career, yet his “winning” tirades this year were not scripted, but mental health reality. Hollywood loved the fact that he erupted with such lunacy - at least they loved it for the three weeks that he toped the news. Will Charlie be...
