by Bryan Bushman, Ph.D. | May 15, 2026 | News Letter
Swimsuit season can trigger anxiety, self‑criticism, and avoidance even for people who are otherwise confident. The goal isn’t to force cheerfulness or to promise instant body love; it’s to build practical, evidence‑based habits that reduce distress, increase agency,...
by Bryan Bushman, Ph.D. | Apr 20, 2026 | News Letter
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) teaches that suffering is not caused by the mere presence of negative thoughts, but by the way we relate to those thoughts. When we fuse with them—treating them as literal truths, urgent commands, or accurate reflections of who...
by Bryan Bushman, Ph.D. | Jan 9, 2026 | News Letter
Goals can be important; however, sometimes we need to slow down and consider the foundation of any goal. Otherwise, we may pursue a course of action (i.e., goal) to only belatedly figure out that we may have been – as an old saying goes – “climbing a ladder that was...
by Bryan Bushman, Ph.D. | Dec 10, 2025 | News Letter
I am watching my 4-year-old daughter sleep during one of her recent naps. Suddenly, an unbidden thought comes to my mind: she may die of cancer someday. My daughter is not sick, but I used to work with such kids, and my mind is flooded with images of what losing her...
by Bryan Bushman, Ph.D. | Oct 8, 2025 | News Letter
In last month’s newsletter, we discussed how we can tell ourselves either contamination stories or growth stories about our past. Contamination stories suggest things are fixed. We label ourselves as being “losers”, “broken” or...
