What makes a good friend? There are tons of answers out there, most of which are totally subjective. However, the point is that this question has many answers that are all based on experiences from the person who may be answering it. For example, one person might think a good friend is totally upfront with them when there is hard news, while another person might prefer a little bit of sugar coating when it comes to difficult subjects. In this loose example, the process between what makes a good friend is different, but the theme of honesty is present for both.

How good is your sleep? A significant amount of people in the US struggle with not getting enough good sleep, which has its consequences. People who tend to skip out on sleep have a higher risk of an assortment of health issues, both physiologically and mentally. For example, according to Harvard , insufficient sleep has been correlated with a higher risk of weight gain and diabetes, higher risk of heart attack and increase in blood pressure, increased likelihood of catching a cold, and increased prevalence to depression and anxiety.

Do you ever experience those moments where you are shaking your fist at the world and want to shout, “It’s not fair!”, “Why is this happening to me?”, “It shouldn’t be this way!” and no matter what you do, you can’t seem to solve the problem at hand or feel better about it? I often see clients experiencing this when a major life problem arises or a pile up of minor annoyances are happening. To help them cope, I teach them a skill called Radical Acceptance.

As an Iranian-American (IA), I know how hard dating can be…and then there is adding different cultural perspectives within the community. For example, dating an Iranian may bring many obstacles that come along with Iranian culture, but not without an open place to talk about it…….