Dr. Psych Mom

08/04/2026

Wow! Many of my clients, my husband and I are in the minority by far! What about you guys?

08/03/2026

"I feel as if my ex-wife’s desire for the four of us (she includes my fiance) to be ‘amazing co-parents’ is part of her desire to vindicate her choice to be unfaithful and start batting for the other team. '

Despite our asking her to cool it, she’s openly invited us continuously to come hang out at the country club with her and her partner, to come to dinner, to have drinks etc.

It makes me nauseous and my fiance furious."

She started a life with a female friend of theirs and he is struggling... and then there's his own love life update at the end!

08/03/2026

Food and dating have always gone together, but this survey shows just how much people read into what happens at the table.

More than 90% of single men said a traditional dinner date is still the ideal setting for a first or second date. Once you're there, manners matter. Sixty seven percent of singles don't want their date ordering for them. Sixty two percent are turned off by someone who asks to split the check. Fifty six percent dislike a picky eater, and an incredible 87% said flirting with the wait staff is a major turn off.

The little things count too. Seventy percent appreciate a date who knows something about food and wine pairings, and 56% enjoy when their date offers them a bite of their meal. These small gestures communicate confidence, generosity, and shared enjoyment.

The funniest finding? If forced to choose, 39% of single women said they would rather give up s*x for a year than give up their favorite food. Only 16% of men said the same. Among those choosing food, chocolate narrowly beat steak as the meal most worth sacrificing s*x for.

Relationships aren't built on dinner alone, but the way someone behaves around food often tells us a lot about how they'll behave in a relationship.

Match Media Room. "Love Bites: Singles Dish on Food, Dating and S*x." https://match.mediaroom.com/news-releases?item=133732

08/03/2026

Midlife gets an unfair reputation. We hear so much about the "midlife crisis" that we forget what the research actually shows.

For many people, midlife is a period of psychological growth. Emotional regulation tends to improve. People become more accepting of themselves, more resilient, and clearer about what truly matters. Relationships often become deeper because there's less interest in pleasing everyone and more interest in investing in the people who genuinely enrich your life. You are less concerned with outward appearances and more interested in depth of character.

This doesn't mean midlife is easy. Many people are simultaneously caring for aging parents, supporting children, navigating career changes, and adjusting to physical changes. Those stressors are real.

But research consistently suggests that alongside these challenges comes greater perspective. Many people become better at letting go of unnecessary conflict, focusing on meaning rather than achievement alone, and building a life that feels more authentic.

In my clinical experience, one of the greatest gifts of midlife is that people stop asking, "What will make other people approve of me?" and start asking, "What kind of life actually feels like mine?"

Sources:
• Carstensen LL et al. (2011). Emotional experience improves with age.
• Blanchflower DG, Oswald AJ. (2019). The U shape of well being over the life course.
• Lachman ME. Development in Midlife. Annual Review of Psychology. 2015.
• American Psychological Association. The Psychology of Midlife.

08/03/2026

Sometimes it's you ... and sometimes it's her.

08/03/2026

When you are an Emotional Orphan, you have realized there is no situation, not divorce, cancer, mental health issues, or even child loss that will ever make your parent act like a healthy parent.

They will never be there for you, will never protect you, and have absolutely no ability to act in any way that does not put their own self above you.

Therefore, they cannot really be considered a parent at all.

At what point do you need to recognize that a parent will not change?