I spent my childhood in fear. I thought I was going to fail my exams and spend the rest of my life on the roads, begging for food and shelter. I obsessed that forgotten homework would end my entire school career. I lay awake at night, convinced that burglars would enter and kill us or our house would burn down. In college, I used the same two words as a source text and thought I’d be convicted of plagiarism and kicked out of school. I always worried I’d forgotten something. That I wouldn’t...

How do I lead a positive life? I am asked this often. How I look at the positive in every life experience and manifest hopefulness and acceptance. As a young woman in my 20s, I lacked the confidence and self-belief to pursue my dreams. I felt down with every setback in life. Small setbacks included a bad table at a restaurant, a friend not showing interest in meeting, and a manager’s negative feedback. I took a 3-month sabbatical from work, traveling through various silent retreats in South...

(Client identities have been changed to respect confidentiality) Awen, 26-year-old female I realized that I need motivation to reduce my compulsions. Motivating yourself to cease compulsions begins with a straightforward mental shift: understand that compulsions perpetuate the cycle of anxiety. By deciding to pause, endure the brief discomfort, and shift your focus, you train your brain to see the urge as not a...