This question & answer column is for people living with chronic health challenges and their family caregivers, who want to learn to increase the odds of improving their health by learning to live with mastery & wellbeing. I invite you to post your questions in the comments box below. When I get a certain number […]

Video: Mastery Practices That Improve Health & Wellbeing
In this video presented at The Marin Center For Independent Living, you will learn how important it is to always accept the diagnosis but not the prognosis. You will learn about the research that shows how to cultivate happiness by learning to develop autonomy, an internal locus of control, self-efficacy, self-acceptance, authentic self-expression, openness and […]

Video: How the Mind Affects Health
The mind has profound effects on physiological functioning and health. Emotional distress causes physiological stress and dysfunction, which, when chronic, eventuates in disease. In this discussion, we also address the healthy physiological effects of mind training. The concepts of self-efficacy and mastery are described. The term “mastery” is used to describe a sense that we […]
Cognitive Fusion with Cognitive Attributions is Unhealthy
Fusion, Attributions, and Health In understanding the deleterious effects of cognitive fusion, it is important to explore how the attributions we assign to all stimuli directly influence our physiology and health. We assign attributions when we connect a quality, character, or cause to a particular event—often with little awareness that we are doing this. Attributions […]

Video: Mind and Health Seminar by Larry Berkelhammer, PhD at UC San Francisco Medical Center
Discussion of the power of the mind to improve physiological functioning, subjective well–being, and health. Case studies were presented to offer specific examples of instances where the power of the mind dramatically influenced positive health outcomes.
Mindlessness, Mindfulness, and Cognitive Fusion
Mindlessness—which exists whenever we are not actively practicing mindfulness—is a mind state wherein we tend to rely upon rigid categories and distinctions we acquired in the past. New events and situations are classified according to old, timeworn labels. Our attitudes and behaviors develop out of these rigid constructs of the mind. According to Dr. Steven […]
The Fine Line Between Striving and Nonattachment to Outcomes
When living with a chronic debilitating medical condition, it is essential to do everything possible in terms of diet, exercise and rest. It is also essential to do everything possible to find meaning and purpose, to increase social support, and to do whatever it takes to develop environmental mastery—the sense of being in control of […]
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