The Vampire Affect: Fear of Facing Your Reflection

Hunger Pains and Poison Cookies: The Dangers of Substitutes and Alternatives

I thought about this title, its concept and what it would actually entail if I decided to turn it into a book. I thought about it for many years, since 2011. After many sessions of self-reflection in the area of decision making and observing the decisions of others and the consequences of those decisions, I finally said to myself -- the time is now. The necessity of such a book is vitally important in a time where it is the norm to want what we want and go after what we want by any means necessary. The problem with that is the desire to have what we want often overrides the importance of what we need. We hunger for the want at a rate much higher than that of the need, which usually results in filling the void of hunger with something or someone that ends up making us sick, or worse, and that is the poison cookie. How many of you can remember when you were children playing with a set of blocks that came in an array of shapes, sizes, and colors? Some of the blocks had letters and oth...

Compassion Fatigue: Going the Distance Without Giving Up Or Giving Out

If you've ever been in the position of being someone's primary care giver, you will definitely relate to what is to follow. If you are working in the medical field in any capacity, i.e. nurse, doctor, certified nursing assistant, physical therapist, clinical counselor, psychologist, psychiatrist, social worker, parent, and even as a mentor or life coach, you too will also relate to the content of this blog. the title 'Compassion Fatigue' is a professional term who's primary use is in the arena of vocations where working in close proximity to a patient/client is required, such as the aforementioned in the first paragraph. The definition of Compassion Fatigue, according to University of Tulane Professor Dr. Charles Figley is two-fold: 1. The emotional residue or strain of exposure to working with those suffering from the consequences of traumatic events. It differs from burn-out, but can co-exist. 2. The mental and physical exhaustion and emotional withdrawal e...

Contempt: The Seed That Familiarity Breeds

First, I'd like to start off by apologizing to those of you who enjoy reading my blogs for the long delay in between articles. I've been dealing with a few health issues. But today I feel well enough to sit down and share with you one of the many observations that has caused me to want to write about it. The brother in the above video is Alvin Brown; if you listened to it you already know what he does and what his credentials are. In this four minute segment he makes several statements regarding the title of this blog that can be used as good talking points. The first of many for me was at the 1:32 mark where he says, "Sometimes when you get familiar with something or use to something you overlook the value of it." This is very true. But let us take an up close and personal look into why. How many of you recall when you were younger and everything you got came out of your parent's pocket? You got a new pair of sneakers, mom or dad bought them. You got a ne...

The Samuels Perspective

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