Many of us practice the same routines every day: wake up, eat, work, eat, sleep. Daily life starts to seem a little repetitive, albeit a little boring, and sooner or later we start to feel trapped and begin craving a deeper meaning — something that makes each day feel less monotonous. A meaningful life is a textured life — a life that has some variety besides doing the same old same old — and one of the best ways to texture an otherwise “flat” day-to-day life is to use the power of rituals.

You may be thinking about superstition, spirituality, or religion, and while rituals can certainly involve those things, they can also just be seemingly normal moments that ground you. Let’s talk about how to bring some mindfulness into your day through rituals. I also offer mindfulness and meditation holistic psychotherapy that is great if you are looking to cultivate a deeper understanding of mindfulness and practical ways to incorporate that into your life. To learn more,...

Having someone tell you that you “need therapy” can feel stigmatizing, and sort of like an attack — like something is wrong with you. While therapy can actually be extremely beneficial in helping people walk through their issues and become better equipped to face their challenges, some are hesitant to give it a shot. It may take some time for you to feel comfortable with the thought of going to therapy, and perhaps even a little bit longer for you to actually start scheduling sessions. After all, it does take a level of braveness to sit and be vulnerable with yourself.

When any type of mental health or emotional concern affects daily life and function, therapy may be recommended because it can help you learn what you’re feeling, what you might be feeling, and how to cope with it. My name is Dr. Shea Kamlet and I offer a variety of services, including individual therapy in Denver,...

You open up your preferred social media platform(s) to find that your friends are planning a cross-country road trip, or you a family member moving to a beautiful new country. Immediately, you feel envious, and taking a look around you, you realize that maybe your life isn’t as exciting as you thought it was. It pales in comparison to your friend who lives in Cost Rica and gets to wake up to the sound of tropical birds and ocean waves, while you sit at your desk drinking stale coffee and staring at a computer screen all day.

You begin to mindlessly scroll through social media feeds, and the downward spiral begins. You start feeling bad about yourself and your life. Does it sound familiar? If it does, you are certainly not alone. The game of comparison is as old as humanity, probably, but has been increasingly accentuated with social media.

In this blog, we’ll talk a little bit about developing awareness about social media and how you can take a step back and consider your life — and not in comparison to another’s.

These days are marked by a steady stream of difficult headlines in mainstream media and weekly, if not daily struggles of making it through this beautiful gift of life. If you are someone who wakes up and dreads the day before it has already begun, I invite you to keep reading. I would also invite you to continue reading if you are someone who pounces out of bed with vigor, excitement flowing through you with the eagerness to receive whatever miracles are coming your way. These mindfulness practices can be completely eye-opening for those who are familiar with mindfulness and meditation and for those who are just starting to dip their toes in the water.

With all of the unknowns that the future holds, it is all too easy to get stuck in negative feedback loops which ultimately breed stress in the body, which then manifests itself into how we perceive our outside life circumstances, which is oftentimes negative. So, in this blog post, I would like to talk about how you can train your brain with intentional mindfulness practices that help you stay focused on the positive so...

Meditation is only growing in popularity, being hailed as a way to boost mental health, help chronic pain, reduce stress, and build a new appreciation for the world around us. Even with all of the interest surrounding meditation, there are countless misconceptions about the ancient practice and what it can do for human health and well-being. Below we will discuss some of the most common misconceptions about meditation and demystify all of the misinformation shrouding the practice.

If you would like to cultivate a sense of spirituality with your mediation, then contact me, Dr. Shea Kamlet, and ask me about my mindfulness-based therapy services in Denver, an approach that helps you feel and strengthen the connection between the mind, body, and spirit. I would be honored to assist you in your journey!

The holidays are an incredible time, but they can also be very stressful, especially in the workplace. Stress tends to skyrocket during late November and throughout December, which can greatly affect a person’s work and personal life. The holiday season is no doubt one of the busiest times of the year, but it’s not “being busy” that stresses people out, it's the way that they have to balance their work life and personal life during this time, even in the midst of a pandemic. Instead of being stressed out about how to best balance your time, there are plenty of things that you can do in order to help cope with this stress.

We've been in the new year now for a couple of months, and the year seems to be moving just as fast as 202 did. While we’re still in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, but there is so much new hope with the year 2021. The near year means that people are thinking of ways to create better versions of themselves through resolutions. Since New Year's resolutions don't usually stick, it is worth re-thinking your resolutions, bringing more mindfulness to them and you. In this blog post, I will be discussing some of my favorite resolutions that bring awareness to current habits and help you form new ones that bring you closer to yourself. Keep reading to learn more!

The following article is a response to a popular blog post published on the New York Times website titled, “Go Easy on Yourself, a New Wave of Research Urges.” The theme of the article was self-compassion. Dr. Mark D. White considers the blog and how, or if, it can be applied to people who suffer from self-loathing. The problem with self-compassion as applied to a person who suffers self-loathing, is that a self-loathing person does not respond to external praise well. They will minimize it or dismiss it, because they know themselves better than the person praising them and “know” that they do not deserve the praise.

Cody Wheeler had a major mindset shift while he was approaching the end of his bachelor’s degree. At that point he displayed what might be thought of as typical college behavior. He spent his time playing video games, sleeping in, hanging out with friends, or going to parties. His grades were fine, but there was not much forward momentum to his life. For him, it took a time inventory assignment to open his eyes to the time he wasted every week. A similar technique might work for everyone. The actual project was to keep a journal recording what was done for every single hour throughout an entire week. How is your time spent?

In managing our relationship with ourselves and our relationships with other people, it is important to recognize what character traits, emotions, and behaviors hurt us more than they help. What we see in ourselves and others has a strong impact on how we view both ourselves and others. The idea of the “strong” person can be problematic in this context because there is often inaccuracy in how we label “strength” which can then impact the qualities that we admire in ourselves and others. Common traits identified as “strong” are grandiosity, contempt, rigidity, stubbornness, aggressiveness, and the desire to control others. These traits are often confused with “strength” because of their association with “power.”

A new study from the University of Bristol shows that humans use the same traits to be caring toward our partners as we do to nurture our children. This was discovered in a study to study how caregiving plays out in a family and how one relationship affects another. The study looked at 125 couples with children between 7 and 8 years old. It examined how the couples were attached to each other and the parenting styles that were used, as well as their parents’ “caregiving responsiveness.” Caregiving responsiveness is essentially the ability to respond appropriately to a person’s moods and needs.

Therapist Holly Brown writes that life is all about trade-offs. If people are willing to make trade-offs, they might not be able to have it all, but they can have a lot. What this means is examining the choices people make and what effect they have on other aspects of their lives. If it can be determined what things can be sacrificed or traded off in order to accomplish other things that are desired, a person can find an individual and very personal lifestyle that gives them the most of what they’re looking for in life.

If a person doesn’t like where their life is at, they have not only the choice to change it, but also the obligation. The key is in taking small, manageable steps. While change may be hard, it is important to keep moving. If a person feel stuck, it is probably because they have ceased to move forward. Here are nine reasons why that might be the case. A person may be stuck if they can’t take responsibility for their circumstances. If a person doesn’t believe they have any bearing on where they are, they are unlikely to take the initiative to make a change. Another reason for being stuck may be giving in to fears.