add Archives - Page 2 of 4 - Regional Psychological Services

Jun 26, 2024 braccioj Blog, Podcasts add, ADHD, anger control, anger management, Anxiety, articulate, breakups, communication in relationships, dating, dealing with a narcisist, dealing with adhd children, dealing with breakups, dealing with difficult people, Depression, difficult breakups, difficult coworkers, Divorce, emotional support animal, expressing yourself, Happiness, loneliness, Love, making friends, narcisism, narcissist, persuasion, psychology, relationship, relationships, SOCIAL SKILLS, sociopaths, support animal

Dr Braccio & Mike Austin of 1320 AM discuss HOW NOT TO ARGUE WITH AN ARGUER- Subscribe to our page!

June 25, 2024- There are people we know and may even love that seem to live to argue. They are arguers. They are not necessarily bad persons at all, but they thrive on debating or challenging ideas just to cause a stir or prove they are always right and great thinkers. There are even some people we may try to stay away from in conversations just so we do not have to argue whatever might be on the menu of arguments for the day. For this discussion, we are eliminating the totally rude and offensive person who does not argue in an honorable manner but loves to make derogatory comments and simply tries to put you down to always win the argument . No, we are talking about the person who likes to argue and debate whatever it might be. They may be very pleasant people most of the time. They can be anybody, even your spouse,parent,child or sibling. The following are some suggestions on what you might do to not argue when your arguing friend, associate, family member or person you encounter in life wants to argue: 1. Try to make some neutral statement to turn the conversation away from the point of possible contention. 2. Indicate some general agreement and try to move on to something else. 3. Do not become defensive and fall prey to the arguer and start arguing. 4. Ask to delay the discussion to a later time. 5. Ask questions to hopefully not allow the arguer the opportunity to argue. 6. Stay calm and do not get emotionally upset. 7. Arguments on religion and politics are particularly wise to stay away from on most occasions.

Jun 19, 2024 braccioj Blog, Podcasts add, ADHD, anger control, anger management, Anxiety, articulate, bipolar, breakups, communication in relationships, dating, dealing with a narcisist, dealing with adhd children, dealing with breakups, dealing with difficult people, Depression, difficult breakups, difficult coworkers, Divorce, emotional support animal, expressing yourself, Happiness, loneliness, Love, making friends, narcisism, narcissist, persuasion, psychology, relationship, relationships, SOCIAL SKILLS, sociopaths, support animal

Dr Braccio & Mike Austin of 1320 AM discuss THE PAST DOES NOT DETERMINE YOUR FUTURE

June 18, 2024- We live in the world where too many persons allow their past to determine their future. The result is there can be no happiness in the present or future if a person has negative beliefs about what they can achieve now because of real or perceived failures in the past. The past is over. It is always important to remember that life on earth is a one time brief shot. It is like an extremely brief lightning strike in an ageless universe . The result is we need to utilize life as best we can. It is of limited quantity.That is done by making good decisions in the present and not allowing bad ones from the past to cloud our vision. We need to learn from previous experiences that failed or did not work out to one degree or another. We need to make sure we do not do them again and must use them as guides to help us as we navigate what often are difficult life experiences that impact all of us at one time or another. This seems simple enough;however,if each of us examines our thoughts,we must admit failures from the past do cloud our vision as we meet new challenges. Instead of an exciting new challenge in life being undertaken with gusto,the failures and perceived failures from the past can limit or even eliminate the ability to overcome the challenge it if we allow it.

Jun 13, 2024 braccioj Blog, Podcasts add, ADHD, anger control, anger management, Anxiety, articulate, bipolar, breakups, communication in relationships, dating, dealing with a narcisist, dealing with adhd children, dealing with breakups, dealing with difficult people, Depression, difficult breakups, difficult coworkers, Divorce, emotional support animal, expressing yourself, Happiness, loneliness, Love, making friends, narcisism, narcissist, persuasion, psychology, relationship, relationships, SOCIAL SKILLS, sociopaths, support animal

Dr Braccio & Mike Austin of 1320 AM discuss FREE YOURSELF FROM TOXIC PARENTS

June 11, 2024- It’s still amazes me how many adult children who have toxic parents are not aware of it. They will often complain about feeling overwhelmed by parents or feeling they can never meet their approval or that they feel that their needs come second to their parents or they feel they are always letting their parents down. Sometimes when they finally realize or are willing to admit they have toxic parents, they are somewhat in shock. They may know it, but they do not like to admit it. They have conditioned their lives to do what the toxic parent wants. Typical examples of the toxic parent would be they are narcissistic, they want control, they are critical of whatever you do, they lack boundaries, they play the victim, and you are in a situation where you can never get their approval. Because toxic parents know how to push your buttons, as they have created them over the years, it can be difficult to separate yourself from them and recognize you are not wrong when you have these feelings of never being able to satisfy a parent and having negative feelings about yourself. The things you need to do in order to free yourself from the control of the toxic parent, assuming your goal is not to sever the relationship completely but to keep it under control, would include the following: 1. Stop trying to do everything you can to make them happy. Accept you can never accomplish that. 2. Set boundaries of what you find are acceptable behaviors by your parents and enforce them. If they believe they can control you at any time of the day or night and demand you do things, now is the time to say that is not going to happen anymore. 3.Accept they are not going to change, but accept you can change. 4. Do not allow your parents to define who you are. That is your right and responsibility as an adult. 5. Your toxic parents will no longer be the judge and jury of your behaviors and what you are doing. 6. Recognize the manipulation they do and do not not allow it to occur. 7. Seeking out an experienced therapist may be helpful if you need support in altering a relationship with toxic parents… these may seem when reading them or hearing them to be simple things to do. They are not simple things to do. If they were, the person would recognize they have toxic parents and they would not allow them to control and manipulate them. Now is the time to take a look at the relationship you have with your toxic parents and determine how healthy the relationship is from an emotional perspective. If you feel it is not appropriate, and there is a major level of toxicity, now is the time to follow some of the suggestions I have mentioned and put things in a proper perspective. You are each an adult responsible for your own actions without all controlling toxic parents demanding they control yours.

Jun 4, 2024 braccioj Blog, Podcasts add, ADHD, anger control, anger management, Anxiety, articulate, bipolar, breakups, communication in relationships, dating, dealing with a narcisist, dealing with adhd children, dealing with breakups, dealing with difficult people, Depression, difficult breakups, difficult coworkers, Divorce, emotional support animal, expressing yourself, Happiness, loneliness, Love, making friends, narcisism, narcissist, persuasion, psychology, relationship, relationships, SOCIAL SKILLS, sociopaths, support animal

Dr Braccio & Mike Austin of 1320 AM discuss STOP BEING A CONTROL FREAK- Subscribe to our YouTube page!

June 4, 2024- STOP BEING A CONTROL FREAK- Even though there is no psychological diagnosis for a control freak, it is a term people understand and it is clearly used to identify persons who try to control every aspect of many if not most things in their lives. We tend to think about the havoc they cause the persons they interact with as they tend to deal them out of possible joint activities or demand they behave exactly as the control freak states. Control freaks are often the result of high-levels of anxiety, low self-esteem, fear of failure, personality disorders, perfectionism and a clear overriding desire to control all aspects of a situation. Often when experiencing interactions with the control freak trying to control all aspects of a project or even a person’s life, it can be very frustrating. It also can create great anger and either damage or destroy relationships with people. The point here is to recognize that control freaks are often not happy and desire control over activities to make up for inadequacies they do not see in themselves but falsely see in others. If you are a control freak and desire to end the unhappiness that accompanies the need for total control, the following are things you can do to overcome this type of behavior: 1. Determine why you do it. Find the reason. Is it control, reducing anxiety, fear of failure, need to dominate, perfectionism, etc.? 2. Be aware of what you were thinking and self reflect on what you are doing and saying when you go into control freak mode. 3. Be aware of those around you and accept the negative impact your controlling ways are having on them and your relationships. 4.Talk to friends, associates and family to determine how they see you and get suggestions from them on how you might become more reasonable and less controlling. They may genuinely care for you and want to help you. 5. Make it a priority to bring others into the decision making process and implementation. 6. Move forward at a pace you feel comfortable but clearly moving forward. 7. Eliminate controlling and even demeaning vocabulary from your speech. 8. You can seek out a trained and experienced therapist to help you get over your control freak ways as you feel that would be helpful.

May 28, 2024 braccioj Blog, Podcasts add, ADHD, anger control, anger management, Anxiety, articulate, bipolar, breakups, communication in relationships, dating, dealing with a narcisist, dealing with adhd children, dealing with breakups, dealing with difficult people, Depression, difficult breakups, difficult coworkers, Divorce, emotional support animal, expressing yourself, Happiness, loneliness, Love, making friends, narcisism, narcissist, persuasion, psychology, relationship, relationships, SOCIAL SKILLS, sociopaths, support animal

Dr Braccio & Mike Austin of 1320 AM discuss CELEBRATE YOUR SUCCESSES- Subscribe to our YouTube page!

May 28, 2024- Too many successful persons live their lives without the enjoyment of celebrating their successes. Too often, persons go from one activity to the next without taking a time out to enjoy what they have accomplished. They run the risk of leading what is seen as a successful life to others but not for them. They may accomplish a long term goal of maybe many years that they desired, but realize at that time they never enjoyed the road of life to get there. They then often can be very disappointed and even very depressed. Life has an expiration date and to not enjoy it as we live it is a big mistake if not a tragedy. This does not mean that one does not tend to business and is always celebrating themselves. No, the point is that in order to have good self-esteem it is necessary that one be aware of the successes they have and celebrate them. This type of self encouragement will lead to even more successes. The enjoyment that comes from the successes one has in one’s life carries over to better self esteem and more successes. Not acknowledging your successes as you have them can make for a tedious life with little enjoyment as one goes from one task to another. To just lead a life without stopping to enjoy their personal,family,friendships and work successes would be like taking a coast to coast drive from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and not stopping to notice the beautiful natural and human made marvels along the way. Enjoying life requires one to periodically take time out from the pressures of life and congratulate self on accomplishments ranging from good friendships, successful work experiences, caring family experiences, completion of activities to something as basic as sitting down and reading a book or watching a movie. The list is as long as activities you try to do and have success. I hope this can be a wake up call to persons stuck in the drudgery of life and not enjoying their successes. This often leads to unhappy lives which can lead to less fulfilling personal, family and work experiences in general. If you feel this is you, now is the time to simply make some changes in your life. Take time outs from the successes that you have and enjoy them like you do a wonderful meal with friends and family. Even if you feel you do not have many successes in your life, if you look hard, you will find some. If you start focusing more on those successes and enjoying them, that will open the door to more successes. Let this be the first day of you more celebrating your successes and enjoying everything that will result from it in personal satisfaction. You will also find those around you will enjoy you more and enjoy your successes with you. A bonus is that you will not only be a happier person, but you will be a more enjoyable person who persons will want to spend time with.

May 22, 2024 braccioj Blog, Podcasts add, ADHD, anger control, anger management, Anxiety, articulate, bipolar, breakups, communication in relationships, dating, dealing with a narcisist, dealing with adhd children, dealing with breakups, dealing with difficult people, Depression, difficult breakups, difficult coworkers, Divorce, emotional support animal, expressing yourself, Happiness, loneliness, Love, making friends, narcisism, narcissist, persuasion, psychology, relationship, relationships, SOCIAL SKILLS, sociopaths, support animal

Dr Braccio & Mike Austin of 1320 AM discuss HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR LISTENING SKILLS

05-21-2024- Most persons you talk to would admit that listening skills are critical in successful relationships. They also would indicate many of the persons they interact with do not listen to them. The one element that is often lost is that the person agreeing to this is often not a good listener or is someone who could be a far more effective person with better relationships if they could find a way to become a better listener. The positive thing is that one can develop better listening skills by simply trying to pay better attention to persons they talk to and with intentionality respond with caring, understanding and empathy. Too often in this busy electronic based society,people have lost the skills of in person interaction that is made even worse with persons so busy leading their own lives that they have little desire to interact with others; and if so,often simply only want to talk about themselves and their areas of concern. A good way to improve your listening skills would include such basic things as making direct eye contact and showing the person verbally and with body language that you care. This means you need to take a time out from whatever you were thinking about and try to give attention to the person you are talking to. You need to let the person get out their whole message and try to understand it. If concerned you can go back and reframe what the person says to make sure you fully understand it and let them know you are paying attention and trying to understand what is being said. You show the person you care about them and what they are saying when you respond to what they are saying and give feedback. Not enough to interfere with their decision-making, but in the form of understanding and trying to help the person get out whatever they are trying to say. This may seem simple enough, but it is an area that a large percentage of persons fail. You can just randomly talk to people you know and they will tell you how hard it is to find someone they can talk to with empathy and desire to understand their feelings. We all need validation of who we are, what we think about and what is important to us. When we validate the concerns of the person, make an effort to understand what they are saying and try to be helpful as they make decisions or express feelings that are important to them, you are then better developing listening skills. This is often called active listening when a person listens intently to another person to try to fully understand what they are saying. They do not have to fully agree with what the person is saying, but are willing to totally listen to what is being said in an attempt to understand what the person is saying. They do not judgmentally enter into the discussion and often end it with statements like, “You should do this” or “Quit thinking that way”. Good listening requires a person not to squelch the opinions persons talk about but give every attempt to understand what is important to them. A complaint a person might have in hearing this is that other persons never listen to them. They can use that as an excuse not to listen to others. The important thing to remember is that successful relationships require that each person effectively listen to the other person. If each person makes every effort to try to understand the views of those we interact with, we will not only be a more empathetic and caring person, but we will have far more successful relationships with human beings which we all need to have good self-esteem and lead happy lives.

May 16, 2024 braccioj Blog, Podcasts add, ADHD, anger control, anger management, Anxiety, articulate, bipolar, breakups, communication in relationships, dating, dealing with a narcisist, dealing with adhd children, dealing with breakups, dealing with difficult people, Depression, difficult breakups, difficult coworkers, Divorce, emotional support animal, expressing yourself, Happiness, loneliness, Love, making friends, narcisism, narcissist, persuasion, psychology, relationship, relationships, SOCIAL SKILLS, sociopaths, support animal

Dr Braccio & Mike Austin of 1320 AM discuss THE DIFFICULTIES OF BIPOLAR DISORDER

May 15, 2024- Bipolar disorder is a mental health condition that causes extreme swings of mood in a person. They can be very disrupting to both them and those around them who do not understand their condition. Bipolar disorder was previously called manic depression. The emotional difficulties result from a person trying but not able to lead a normal life without any control of mood. They too often are either depressed or in an exceptionally good mood. We tend to think of persons like this as moody and not aware how difficult it can be for them to lead their lives. It is important to note everyone has shifts in mood from sad and depressed to being quite happy. Those are the normal emotional swings of a human being. It is when they become so noticeable they not only impact themselves,but also those around them. Often,people are not comfortable being with them. The manic state can be annoying to others when the person is so revved up and positive they discuss doing things that everyone knows at that time they are not capable of achieving. While that can be annoying and difficult, the sadness and depressed mood that regularly occur with bouts of depression are clearly a difficult time for them and those around them. It is important we have sympathy and understanding for persons with this condition. Could you imagine being in a situation where your mind shifts from mania or hypomania, which is not as high a level as mania, where you can be filled with energy and excitement and all of a sudden find yourself depressed, and sad and not sure when you will come out of it. Both mood swings can affect sleep levels, judgment, relationships, job security, behavior, desire, substance abuse and the ability to get things done

May 9, 2024 braccioj Blog, Podcasts add, ADHD, anger control, anger management, Anxiety, articulate, breakups, dating, dealing with a narcisist, dealing with adhd children, dealing with breakups, dealing with difficult people, Depression, difficult breakups, difficult coworkers, Divorce, emotional support animal, expressing yourself, feelings, Happiness, loneliness, Love, making friends, narcisism, narcissist, persuasion, psychology, relationship, relationships, SOCIAL SKILLS, sociopaths, support animal

Dr Braccio & Mike Austin of 1320 AM discuss HOW NOT BEING LOVED AS A CHILD CAN IMPACT YOU

MAY 9, 2024- Life can be a challenge for a person who comes from a loving home. Unfortunately, for persons who come from non-loving homes, the probabilities of them suffering many characteristics that negatively impact their ability to have happy lives is greatly enhanced. I am not saying all persons who grew up in non-loving homes will be miserable and unhappy persons and cannot be highly successful persons. To the contrary,there are many examples of persons who have come from difficult non-loving homes and have been successful. With that said, not being loved in a home is not only difficult during their youth, but the characteristics they too often acquire can make their lives very difficult to even miserable and self-destructive. The following are characteristics that too often occur for adults who were not loved as children: 1. Low self-esteem. The negative words they heard day after day when growing up unfortunately can continue throughout their lives. The internal critic too often rules. 2. Being a pleaser to the point the person has no boundaries on what is good for them and they simply will do whatever it takes to make another person approve of what they are doing. 3. Isolation from others because of the belief they are not worthy to be with other persons can result in a miserable isolated life. This is what they believe they deserve and where they feel safer emotionally. 4. A desire to control others they encounter in their own lives because they never had control of their lives when growing up. This is obviously self defeating because they then negatively impact relationships with other persons and often lose them and continue to be unhappy and often alone. 5. Addiction and inappropriate use of alcohol and drugs in an attempt to stop the emotional pain which is obviously self-destructive and has no happy ending.. 6. Overcompensating in a job or career that may look successful to the rest of the world, but is only being done to seek approval for their achievements. It is a hollow success that is not being done for their own self satisfaction, but hopefully from receiving approval from others. 7. Abandonment fears in any relationship that does not go well with the belief no one will stay with them because of their conviction the person will, like their parents did, emotionally leave them. Sadly,this often occurs because the other person tires of someone who is always fearful they are leaving and often can be quite drama producing with constant tests to show they will not abandon them. 8. Constant fear of failure because they were never given approval for successes when growing up and believe it will eventually always occur in whatever they try to accomplish. 9. An inability to share insights and deep inner feelings about themselves for fear the information will be used to hurt them. 10. An inability to trust others because of fears of future betrayal and abandonment.

Apr 26, 2024 braccioj Blog, Podcasts add, ADHD, anger control, anger management, Anxiety, articulate, breakups, communication in relationships, dating, dealing with a narcisist, dealing with adhd children, dealing with breakups, dealing with difficult people, Depression, difficult breakups, difficult coworkers, Divorce, emotional support animal, expressing yourself, feelings, Happiness, loneliness, Love, making friends, narcisism, narcissist, persuasion, psychology, relationship, relationships, SOCIAL SKILLS, sociopaths, support animal

Dr Braccio & Mike Austin of 1320 AM discuss BEWARE OF THE MANIPULATING “LOVE BOMBER”

April 25, 2024- Someone falling in love with you is an incredibly exciting time for an honest person looking to love and be loved. The problem is there are persons who are highly manipulative and will take on the role of a manipulating “love bomber”. This is a person who will use all the psychological tools they can to manipulate you to or fall in love with them. Their ultimate goal is to take control of your life and totally destroy your self esteem and identity as a person. While even the most perceptive of persons runs the risk of falling under the almost hypnotic spell of the “love bomber”, the most vulnerable are persons naïve to loving relationships or desperately looking to love and be loved with someone in a loving magical relationship. As a result,anyone wanting to be loved and love someone is vulnerable to the “love bomber” and can fall under their sway. Love bombers are a form of sociopath in the sense they have no feelings for the person they are “love bombing”. Their goal is to have the person fall fully in love. Then they will gradually take control of their lives, isolate them from others and very candidly make them and their lives very miserable. The following are some things to look for that are typical of the “love bomber”. If you are experiencing some of them, the best advice is try to end the relationship as soon as possible and move on emotionally to save yourself from potentially a very damaging and destructive relationship. 1. In a beginning relationship ,when the person seems to be remarkably better than common sense tells you, you are probably right. 2. Expensive gifts way beyond the stage of the relationship. 3. Wanting to control all your free time. 4. Cutting you off from having time to see friends and family. 5. Warnings from family and friends you trust that the relationship is not good for you. 6. An attempt to mirror your likes and dislikes to a level of agreement that is unreasonable and clearly manipulative to show your complete compatibility. 7. The pace of the relationship is way too fast. 8. Praise and compliments that are way beyond reasonable . 9. Planning future events when the relationship is not at that stage. 10. Strong resistance with “love bombing” at any attempt to slow down the speed of the relationship.

Apr 18, 2024 braccioj Blog, Podcasts add, ADHD, anger control, anger management, Anxiety, articulate, breakups, communication in relationships, dating, dealing with a narcisist, dealing with adhd children, dealing with breakups, dealing with difficult people, Depression, difficult breakups, difficult coworkers, Divorce, emotional support animal, expressing yourself, feelings, Happiness, loneliness, Love, making friends, narcisism, narcissist, persuasion, psychology, relationship, relationships, SOCIAL SKILLS, sociopaths, support animal

Dr Braccio & Mike Austin discuss CRITICAL FACTORS FOR PARTNER EMOTIONAL COMMUNICATION

April 16, 2024- One of the major complaints I regularly hear from one spouse or partner about the other over the years in my work as a psychologist is the lack of needed emotional communication and ongoing commitment to continue it. Like a garden,emotional communication must be addressed daily. If problems are not addressed and changed,they can lead to very unhappy relationships and too often can end them. The general belief is that this is more of a problem with men than women. Even if this were true, there are certainly many women who have problems in communication at an emotional level. With that said, it is safe to say each person is unique in regards to their willingness and ability to have effective emotional communication and commitment to it. There are some critical factors that are important in order for a partner or spouse to know the other desires a strong emotional commitment and is willing to work on it. This requires the willingness to share important things about themselves that allow a loving long term relationship or marriage to grow positively against all the pressures that can and predictably will occur over time. Critical factors would include the following: 1.Honest and authentic expression of feelings about yourself. 2.Be willing to be vulnerable emotionally and share how you truly feel about things. 3.Explain previous experiences in life to help explain how you have become the person you are. 4.Turn off electronic and other distractions for hopefully daily times to share feelings. 5. Try to use active listening to make sure you get the full message being sent to you before responding or interrupting. This can be very hard to do if you feel you are not being understood. 6.Recognize there will be rough spots where honest disagreements will occur and emotional communication will not succeed. Accept that and keep trying. 7. Be available emotionally during difficult times. 8. Hugs and kisses are important forms of emotional communication. 9 .Develop stronger spirituality with the possible support of a priest or minister could be helpful. 10. Seek out a therapist if you feel necessary to help give guidance on how to be more effective at emotional communication.

Mar 28, 2024 braccioj Blog, Podcasts add, ADHD, anger control, anger management, Anxiety, articulate, breakups, dating, dealing with a narcisist, dealing with adhd children, dealing with breakups, dealing with difficult people, Depression, difficult breakups, difficult coworkers, Divorce, emotional support animal, expressing yourself, feelings, Happiness, loneliness, Love, making friends, narcisism, narcissist, persuasion, psychology, relationship, relationships, SOCIAL SKILLS, sociopaths, support animal

Dr Braccio & Mike Austin of 1320 AM discuss SURVIVING AN UNEXPECTED PAINFUL RELATIONSHIP BREAKUP

March 26, 2024- The goal or dream of most persons is to have a loving, long-term relationship with a partner. Even if not in a marriage, the goal is the same because most human beings do not like being alone and tired of many ongoing and generally shallow relationships. The pain can be very difficult emotionally when one believes they are in a relationship that may potentially be lifelong, and it suddenly explodes into an unexpected break up. The person then is in great emotional distress even if they knew the relationship was not going well when it unexpectedly breaks up. Even if this is something that occurs in a short term intense relationship, that does not minimize the pain emotionally the person suffers who experiences it. The following are things to do if this occurs in your life: 1. Recognize that as painful as it is for you emotionally, you will be able to move on and most likely eventually find a successful, long-term relationship. 2. Try to determine what actually destroyed the relationship. When persons are blindsided and a relationship ends, there often were signs that were not noticed and sometimes did not want to be believed. 3. Try to learn from what happened to make sure it does not happen again. This sounds very simple, but requires a lot of personal analysis. 4. Recognize that most relationships that break up,whether long or short term, are the result of problems on both sides. 5. Without developing guilt and great remorse, it is important to see if you had problems with possessiveness, criticalness,, selfishness, envy, or what Shakespeare called the Green-Eyed Monster of jealousy. 6. Seek out friends and family who will be supportive with you during this period of difficulty. Do not overwhelm them with your feelings, but rather seek their support and love in difficult emotional times. 7. Accept there will be a painful emotional period of grieving for what has been lost and you believe could have developed. 8. Recognize the ending of the relationship may be very helpful to you psychologically if the two of you were a bad fit and only future problems would have occurred if you stayed together. 9. If you find it is impossible to sort out what has occurred on your own, seeking out an experienced therapist with short term and long-term failing relationships could be helpful to prepare you psychologically to be more effective in future relationships.

Mar 20, 2024 braccioj Blog, Podcasts add, ADHD, anger control, anger management, Anxiety, articulate, breakups, dating, dealing with a narcisist, dealing with adhd children, dealing with difficult people, Depression, difficult coworkers, Divorce, emotional support animal, expressing yourself, feelings, Happiness, loneliness, Love, making friends, narcisism, narcissist, persuasion, psychology, relationships, SOCIAL SKILLS, sociopaths, support animal

Dr Braccio & Mike Austin of 1320 discuss NARCISSISTS (NPD) AND SOCIOPATHS (ASPD)

March 19, 2024- Even though we encounter them regularly, narcissists(NPD) and sociopaths(ASPD) continue to fascinate us. The fact they can be very charming and sometimes seeming to greatly care, makes them very difficult to deal with emotionally for a person who trusts easily and gives people the benefit of the doubt. The problem is that narcissists have at their best little empathy and sociopaths have none. The difference is that the narcissist has a grandiose sense of self and constantly needs others to reflect back their superiority and unique skills. Narcissism actually feeds on other persons agreeing and vindicating their feelings of superiority. The sociopath is totally different. The sociopath has no empathy and often uses charm and manipulation to get what they desire from someone. Because of their lack of feelings or empathy, they can easily cause great psychological harm to individuals who care and love them, as well as friends, business associates, coworkers, and employees who depend on them. The problem for the average person is that they often will humor the narcissist, even if they find them overbearing and annoying. The sociopath is much harder to uncover. Their acts of sabotage can skillfully be done with manipulation, lying, “love bombing” and being cleverly irresponsible in a way it is hard to determine what they are up to. If you feel you are having negative interactions that are impacting your own self-worth and happiness by spending time, or even loving a narcissist or sociopath, the following are some suggestions on how to help set yourself free emotionally: 1. Set firm boundaries on the interactions you will have with these persons. 2. As needed, separate yourself from toxic persons in your life regardless of the relationship you currently have with them. 3. Learn to be more perceptive when persons are simply looking for adoration or seem to be doing things that are making you feel less of yourself due to gaslighting behaviors. Even though this may be hard for you to process psychologically, the painful emotional results will be obvious even if it seems you are under their spell. 4. If in a psychologically destructive relationship with a narcissist or sociopath and not sure how to get out of it, seeking a therapist experienced with treating persons involved with narcissists or sociopaths to help you move away from the person and be able to lead a normal and happy psychological life could be helpful.

Mar 12, 2024 braccioj Blog, Podcasts add, ADHD, anger control, anger management, Anxiety, articulate, breakups, dating, dealing with adhd children, dealing with difficult people, Depression, difficult coworkers, Divorce, emotional support animal, expressing yourself, feelings, Happiness, loneliness, Love, making friends, persuasion, psychology, relationships, SOCIAL SKILLS, support animal

Dr Braccio & Mike Austin of 1320 AM discuss WHEN SAYING “NO” is appropriate and necessary

March 12, 2024- It is amazing how many wonderful people who have the kindest of hearts and the most willingness to help others are often overwhelmed with responsibilities. They have agreed to enter into what makes their lives a completely stressful and overwhelming experience. When one thinks of it, “no” is just a word with two letters. When one considers we use thousands of words in our lives, it is amazing how that word can make life so difficult when one cannot use it. Way too many persons feel they have to say “yes” when asked to do something. This is often learned from an early age when they were children and their parents and other adults told them to always try to be helpful and do what was requested of them. It also can be true that persons feel saying “no” is hurtful and not being a good human being. Still others will not say “no” out of feelings of guilt if they do not do what is asked of them. Still others do it out of a sense of duty that someone has asked them and it would be wrong for them not to do it. Still others cannot say “no” to families out of love and sometimes engrained guilt. My point here is not that saying “yes” when a person is asked to do something is wrong. To the contrary, I believe helping others when we can is a noble and important aspect of showing and developing caring and love for others and ourselves. It also shows a commitment to the community and the persons we love and care about. The problem is when saying “yes” to too many things can lead to mental and physical health distress to the point a person cannot function effectively in life. I have worked with many persons in my offices and also have known many persons as I have walked the road of life that cannot say “no” to persons and constantly feel overwhelmed and not able to do what they desire and need to do to lead a normal happy life. They are like a golf ball being hit from one place to another with no control over their life. If this is happening to you, the following are some things to do to help you overcome the problem with not being able to say “no”: 1.Accept you have needs that must be met for your own mental and physical well being. 2.Never say “yes” out of guilt. Guilt is destructive and will harm you if you behave based on it. 3.Do not allow burnout to overwhelm you and not allow you to function. 4.Set priorities and boundaries and base your responding “yes” or “no” for requests for help based on them.5.When setting priorities and boundaries,be realistic in what you can do to have balance in your life.6.If you find you cannot say “no” when asked to do things,you might consider seeking out a therapist to help you set up appropriate priorities and boundaries.

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Dr Braccio & Mike Austin of 1320 AM discuss HELPING YOUR CHILD WITH ADHD- Subscribe to our page!

March 5, 2024- Life can be a challenge for a child who does not have any particular social, personal, or academic concerns. However, for the child who has been diagnosed with ADHD and shows some combination of the characteristics of lack of focus, inattention, procrastination, hyperactivity, and impulsivity, life becomes far more complicated for them and their parents. The parent of the child with ADHD needs to try to do whatever they can to help the child function to their maximum potential. It is important to know that many persons with ADHD can be enormously successful, as well as generally successful in life by simply controlling the extra energy they often possess when compared to the non-ADHD person. They can gain by being able to multitask much easier than the average person because their mind so quickly can go from one thing to another. The key is harnessing and channeling this ability to multitask into completion of activities started. The following are things parents can do to help their child with ADHD characteristics that are negatively impacting their ability to function effectively in life: 1. Make sure the diagnosis is correct. 2. Identify if there are any overlapping conditions, such as anxiety, depression, OCD, PTSD, conduct disorder, etc. that need to be treated. 3. Set up clear expectations of what is expected of the child and make sure they are aware of what they are and consequences if not met. 4. Take over the executive function in a way to make sure that things run smoothly because lack of organization, planning, and problems completing activities are core hallmark problems of the person with ADHD. 5. Keep the person active in sports and other activities that keep them motivated to do their best and channel what would be extra energy to other persons into the tasks and activities at hand. 6. Make sure you are not neglecting other children in the family due to the extra attention given to the person with ADHD. 7. Help teach the ADHD child who does not have good social skills how to share and be a good friend with others. 8. Work closely with involved school personnel, medical persons, and counseling persons who are involved with your child to make sure all are working in the same direction in helping your child… Because ADHD tends to run in families, there is a strong possibility you as a parent also have ADHD. If you question this and determine to see if this is true, seeking out an evaluation with a verification of ADHD could be helpful for you to better understand the characteristics of your child and offer support that can also help you. Your overall goal is to make sure you and your child are moving forward to help them overcome the ADHD characteristics that can negatively impact on their personal, social, and academic life.

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Dr Braccio & Mike Austin of 1320 AM discuss WHAT FAILURE TEACHES US- subscribed to our YouTube page!

WHAT FAILURE TEACHES US

9-12-2023- All of us experience failure at one time or another. How we react to it is critically important for future success. We will achieve our goals that can make us feel successful and satisfied psychologically if we do not allow failure to sabotage us. My point is not to say that failure is a wonderful thing we should seek. No, my point is that everyone has failures in life and successful persons have learned from their failures and have made better decisions which leads to the successes they have in life. When someone gives up and becomes sad, disappointed, and even disillusioned by failures, and chooses not to continue the fight, then failure becomes the ruling psychological victor and the person runs the risk of seeing self as a victim with little or no chance for real success and happiness in life. One needs to see failure as a learning experience and begin the ongoing fight for success. The following would include what can be learned from failure: 1.Accept failure is a part of life we all experience. 2. Recognize that continuing to do something is the beginning of success. 3. Failure is part of reality. 4. Do not focus on what might have happened but focus on what can happen by learning from the failure. 5. Accept whatever blame you deserve in the failure and never take on the role of victim. 6. Never give up. As long as you are alive, there is always the opportunity for success and overcoming failure. 7. As devastating as can be a divorce,not getting a promotion,losing out on a love or getting fired, the key is to learn from these experiences and make every effort to not have them happen again. 8. Manage your time more effectively,because many failures are the result of not appropriately prioritizing what needs to be done to be successful and wasting a lot of needed time. 9.See failure as teaching us what we need to learn, as opposed to what we do not know. 10. Reduce the pain of failure by simply seeing it as part of the process to being successful. 11. Do not allow others to define you by your failures. You define yourself by your overcoming failures and being successful…My point here is not to minimize the emotional pain that failure can cause. No,my point is that failure is the first step to success by changing the process that failed and trying a new approach to lead to success. It is a positive mindset in the midst of failure. You may have to accept many failures before you reach the success you desire. Ted Williams became a great baseball hitter by constant study of the opposing pictchers and finely honing his batting skills. The whole process you are using may need to be altered or you may need new goals and projects. To never give up is the critical ingredient for success and overcoming failure.

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Dr Braccio & Mike Austin of 1320 AM discuss OVERCOMING REJECTION-

OVERCOMING REJECTION

Rejection is a common experience that everyone experiences in their life to one degree or another. It is often accompanied with anxiety,depression and low self-esteem. It is a painful experience and how we react to it determines how we will overcome it and even use it to our advantage. Rejection can relate to love, family experiences, friendships , career opportunities/promotions, or a myriad of things that one encounters in life. The important thing is not to allow rejection to devastate your self-esteem. Sadly, this happens to many persons and they are never able to fulfill their potential to become that happy and successful human being that is within them. The following are things to do to help you overcome rejection: 1.Accept rejection is a part of life. 2.Accept how you react to rejection will have a strong influence on how happy is your life. 3.Accept what happened even as you do not like it. 4.Visualize a better future and do things to make it become reality. 5. Do not allow rejection to ever define who you are. 6. Grow from your experience and learn from it. 7. Avoid unproductive continuous thinking about your rejection. 8.Surround yourself with positivity. 9. If rejected in love, recognize the other person was not where you are, and be aware that was not the right situation for you. 10.Pamper self with understanding and compassion. 11.Recognize there is a rainbow and clear sunny skies ahead of the stormy life you are experiencing. 12.If bypassed for a job or promotion, recognize you were not prepared for the job or move on to a new position that will appropriately take into account your abilities. 13.Seek out friends who you can discuss your rejection with and who can help you navigate your feelings and give you better perspective. 14.Seek out an experienced therapist who can help guide you through your rejection in your current situation or maybe your overall outlook on rejection to help you function more effectively in life…Implementing some of these suggestions will predictably help you deal more effectively with rejection. With that said, rejection is painful and how we address it psychologically impacts how happy we will be in our lives.

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Dr Braccio & Mike Austin of 1320 AM discuss HOW TO DEAL WITH ABRASIVE AND ARGUMENTATIVE PEOPLE IN YOUR LIFE

HOW TO DEAL WITH ABRASIVE AND ARGUMENTATIVE PEOPLE IN YOUR LIFE

Abrasive and argumentative people are focused on their outlooks. They are always ready to challenge anyone at any time over their views. Anger is often present. They may have personality disorders like Narcissism and Intermittent Explosive Personality Disorder. Others are just difficult people annoying everyone they encounter with their know-it- all attitude. Some of them may be this way because they were always challenged and put down when they were growing up and this is their defense mechanism to always challenge others before they even have a chance to challenge them. Still others think they are always right and others need to know they are not very smart and it is their job to let them know this whenever they choose. it also is true that abrasive and argumentative persons often have low self-esteem They feel better finding fault with others as a way to build up their feelings of inadequacy. Regardless of the many possible causes, ways to defend yourself against such difficult persons would include the following: 1.Do not argue with an argumentative person when they make negative comments 2.Drop out of a discussion that obviously is going nowhere. 3.Understand that behaviors of abrasive and argumentative persons are the result of long ingrained inappropriate social habits. 4.In spite of the oftentimes hurtful nature of their comments,do not take them seriously. 5.Consider offering support for persons when they show remorse and ask for advice 6.Do not insist on arguing with the person when you can prove you are right and they are wrong. They will become adamant and angry. 7.Interact with them as little as absolutely necessary. 8.If necessary,make it clear you will not be bullied when there is no other option…If you follow one or more of these suggestions,it is still very difficult to have positive social interactions with such persons. You may have to interact if you work with them or they are family members,friends of them or friends of friends.The main thing is not to let them impact you and your view of yourself. They are long time abrasive and argumentative by choice from negative habits they formed in the past. They have to deal with their problems. It is critical in order for you to maintain positive self-esteem that you not have others take you down with their abrasive and argumentative ways. Only you can give credence to who you are.

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Dr Braccio & Mike Austin of 1320AM discus WHEN “THINGS” DO NOT MAKE YOU HAPPY- Subscribe to our page!

August 1, 2023

It is a reasonable human desire to want things to make our life easier and more pleasant. It iscertainly true that having a nice home, car and other possessions such as electronic equipment,home furnishings, jewelry, and whatever else someone may desire to have can bring us a lot ofhappiness. It becomes a problem when we become obsessed with owning things and areconvinced by owning them we will be happy. And then,we are not happy after getting all these“things” we knew would make us happy. When this occurs,and it often does,persons need tofind internal aspects of themselves outside of their physical possessions to give greatermeaning to their lives. These would include learning new things,developing greaterspirituality,helping others,showing gratitude,focusing on being happy with what one has ratherthan always chasing the “thing” to make self happy,seeking out your purpose in life,find out whoyou really are,enjoying the moment one lives as it is all that is guaranteed in life,do not compareyour possessions with someone else,and enhance personal relationships with loved ones andfriends…A person’s world ruled by seeking happiness with owning “things” can be very lonelyand even downright depressing if one ends up alone or with shallow relationships because thisin effect can lead to the proverbial “love of gold” over personal development and lovingrelationships.

Jul 29, 2023 braccioj Blog 1320 am, add, ADHD, adhd assessment, ADHD in schools, adult add, Adult ADHD, Anxiety, cognitive behavior, dealing with life situations, Depression, east lansing, finances, finding jobs adhd, focus, inattention, john braccio, neuropsychology, ohi in schools, procrastination, psychologist, talk radio, teachers understanding adhd, wils

Dr Braccio & Mike Austin of1320AM discuss WHAT CHILDREN WITH ADHD WISH THEIR PARENTS & TEACHERS KNEW

We specialize in ADHD assessments and treatment. As a result, it is very common for us to work with children with ADHD who feel they are not understood by their parents. We also see this with adults who discuss problems they had growing up when,even when their parents were well-intentioned, they did not feel they were understood. As with children now,they were seen as lazy or purposely not trying to pay attention when they were talked to or asked to do things. This can easily occur with persons who have problems with lack of focus, inattention, and resulting procrastination. Children with ADHD have a lot to deal with themselves,let alone when dealing with parents who may very well love them, but not know how to help them and can try parenting strategies to help them that are counterproductive. In a non-technical way, ADHD persons are wired differently. It is not that they cannot focus, but they often focus on many things at the same time unless they have a great interest in something. This too often does not allow them to complete required activities in school or follow directions at home because they were asked to remember too many activities to do in a row and they usually get sidetracked and forget what they are supposed to do. Persons with ADHD can be thinking about many things at the same time, and appear not to be paying attention purposefully with say a boring conversation or something they have no interest in. They then easily drift off into other thoughts. This can be exasperating for both parents and the persons with ADHD. A further major problem with persons with ADHD is that they often have comorbid conditions of anxiety, depression,anger and low self-worth because they cannot function like the average person. Siblings and other children often mock or laugh at them and their parents can get quite angry when they do not understand they need support to overcome their problem areas and not anger,ridicule and unjustified and inappropriate discipline. In such situations, a trained therapist who is expert in ADHD Diagnosis and Treatment can be very helpful to all involved persons.

Jul 27, 2023 braccioj Blog, Podcasts 1320 am, add, ADHD, adhd assessment, adult add, Adult ADHD, Anxiety, cognitive behavior, dealing with life situations, dealing with regret, Depression, east lansing, finances, finding jobs adhd, focus, inattention, john braccio, neuropsychology, procrastination, psychologist, talk radio, wils

Dr Braccio & Mike Austin of 1320 discuss HOW TO OVERCOME TIME BLINDNESS

7-25-2023

How to overcome time blindness

Do you have the condition of TIME BLINDNESS? Even though a hallmark of ADHD,it is also common with persons with Autism, significant Anxiety,grief and Depression. It makes for a very difficult time for the person and those they interact with in all life activities. Punctuality is a trait highly respected and required to be successful in most settings. Is fact, approximately 15% of firings result from persons not being timely at work. Many persons with this condition may actually do a fine job, but lose their jobs because they are consistently late. Typical problems other than employment,even if with the best intentions, include constantly missing deadlines,not paying bills on time, forgetting important dates,not showing up for appointments or showing up very late or even the wrong time. This can be exasperating for other persons involved in their lives as well as for them. It can lead to not receiving a job, losing a job, hurting relationships and causing poor self esteem. Suggestions to overcome TIME BLINDNESS would include always wearing a watch,planning your day the day before in as specific detail as possible,do not allow the immediate interest of the moment to sabotage the day,avoid time traps electronic or with persons,have reminders to go off on your phone,start thinking of what you will do before the time you will begin,check off your daily activities as you complete them and add in breaks and additional time for projects to get them done and not end up rushing to complete them at the last minute.

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