Teaching Resilience
Article written for the Venice Gondolier’s Well Being in Paradise Magazine | November/December 2021 A child’s father leaves home and takes up with another woman and her family, leaving the child to feel abandoned, replaced, hardened. A man is encouraged to resign from his job after 26 years of service. His lack of technical skills … Read More
The Covid Pandemic: The Ugly, the Bad and the Good
Article written for the Venice Gondolier’s Well Being in Paradise Magazine | September/October 2021 The Ugly I have never been a big fan of horror movies, but I remember reluctantly joining my adolescent peers to the theater for the big feature, “Friday the 13th“. It was the first such movie, not to be confused with … Read More
The Top 10 Habits of Chronically Unhappy People
By: Dr. Christopher Cortman What creates unhappiness? Your attitude, beliefs—the way you explain the world to yourself—and your behavioral choices. Unhappiness is toxic. In truth, even the world’s happiest person would soon plummet like a rock in water were they to think and behave like those who are chronically unhappy. Let’s explore the characteristics, attitudes … Read More
A Handful of ACEs Part Deux
Article written for the Venice Gondolier’s Well Being in Paradise Magazine | July/August 2021 In part one of this article, I painted a frightening picture of Adverse Childhood Events (ACEs) and how detrimental they can be to the individual in the short term and even much later in life. Admittedly, it was a rather depressing … Read More
A Handful of ACEs
Article written for the Venice Gondolier’s Well Being in Paradise Magazine | May/June 2021 If you are brave enough to watch the news every day, you are exposed to a Lazy Susan‘s rotation of tragedies, one after another: rapes, life-consuming fires, political crime, murder/homicides, motor vehicle accidents, terrorism and mass shootings. And just in case … Read More
Only The Lonely
Article written for the Venice Gondolier’s Well Being in Paradise Magazine | March/April 2021 The last time the world had a pandemic, the Spanish flu, it was literally 100 years ago. Which means that at least half of the population of Venice wasn’t born yet and the rest were toddlers. In other words, we are … Read More
How to Cope Like a Healthy Person | A New Year, A New Beginning.
Article written for the Venice Gondolier’s Well Being in Paradise Magazine | January/February 2021 On daylight savings time fallback weekend, I heard an older gentleman at the gym, quip, “Who wants another hour of 2020?” Of course there is no magic at the end of one calendar year and the beginning of a new year. … Read More
Covid 19: Understanding the threat to you and your kids
Article written for the Venice Gondolier’s Well Being in Paradise Magazine | November/December 2020 At the time of this writing, it’s been about seven months since Corona went viral, the world closed down and we were all advised to stay home and watch TV until further notice.Much has been said about the toll that the … Read More
COVID 19 | A Plan for Man I Am
Article written for the Venice Gondolier’s Well Being in Paradise Magazine | September/October 2020
Is Your Child Consuming Digital Junk Food?
Article written for the Venice Gondolier’s Well Being in Paradise Magazine | March/April 2020 There’s a phenomenon sweeping our nation of (mostly) young girls that is as baffling to me as it is addictive to them. It’s called TikTok, and it allows little Caitlyn and Bella to choreograph dance moves to music and then post … Read More
Successful Resolutions Reflect Who You Become
Article written for the Venice Gondolier’s Well Being in Paradise Magazine | January/February 2020 Ok, admit it. This is the 463rd consecutive January that you were planning to lose weight and start an exercise regimen. You’ve probably made it as far as February a couple of times and once all the way to June. But … Read More
Not Only the Lonely
I was asked to evaluate 90-year-old George, a handsome, distinguished-looking gentleman with a full head of white hair. The hospital nurses thought he might be suicidal because he wondered aloud, “What’s the point of going on?” You see, it had been three years since George’s wife died and, after 62 years of marriage, he was … Read More
The Saboteur
As a psychologist, I was fairly sure I knew what characteristics define successful people. Don’t we all? I mean, successful people are confident, ambitious, risk-takers who persevere in the midst of setbacks and challenges. But, just to be sure, I decided to do some research into the characteristics of successful people. What I gleaned from … Read More
The Old Men of Summer
An abundance of new research suggests that longevity is not only about good genetics and clean living. Other variables like exercise, meditation, volunteering, and close friendships are also linked to extending your visit here on planet Earth. But more recent findings have revealed that passion — having a cause, purpose or pursuit — can also … Read More
The Social Black Belt
“EMPOWERING OUR YOUTH FOR A BETTER FUTURE” Prevention Curriculum Research Summary How many times have you thought, “I wish someone would have told me that before” or “I wish someone would have given me a manual”? Finally, after 80,000 clinical hours, we (Dr. Christopher Cortman and Dr. Harold Shinitzky), have created The Social Black Belt … Read More