Author Archives: Rick J Petronella PhD

When A Little Jab Gets Our Attention… Easter

Dr. Rick Petronella Growing up in an Italian family with 6 kids, there was never a dull moment. My brothers and I went to an all-boys Catholic High School.  Before you feel sorry for us, there were also three all-girls Catholic High Schools not too far off. Our family grew up Catholic. My grandparents are […]

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What Have We Learned About Ourselves This Year?

Dr. Rick Petronella Self-Sabotage: Why we do it, when we do it, and how to stop doing it—for good. Conflicting needs can create self-sabotaging behaviors. This is why we resist efforts to change, often until they feel completely futile.  But when we are able to have insight into our most damaging habits, building emotional intelligence, releasing […]

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Can Happiness Create Unhappiness?

Dr. Rick Petronella Do we really know what “happiness” means? We seem to have a growing obsession with happiness. When people tend to place much importance on being happy, they tend to become more unhappy and depressed. When I ask parents, “What do you most want for your children?”, most will say “happiness.” Unfortunately, recent […]

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Breaking Habits and Addictions: There IS a Way!

Dr. Rick Petronella Habits have a way of running our lives. Nearly everything we do on a daily basis is based on habits we’ve developed over our lifetime. Habits are behaviors that have become automatic, meaning we hardly need to think about them. We just do them reflexively. Like most of us, some of those […]

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Take Ownership of Your Mistakes

Dr. Rick Petronella Nobody is perfect. We all make mistakes. But it can be really hard for us to own our mistakes sometimes. It can trigger our vulnerabilities, which can be unsettling for some of us, particularly if we prefer to be perceived as strong, in control and as a person upon whom people can […]

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What Does It Take to Find REAL Happiness?

Dr. Rick Petronella Is it really true that more and more of something (love, sex, fame, drugs, etc.) will make you happy? Unfortunately, if you are not careful, the more pleasure you get the more you will need in the future to continue making you happy. This is referred to as hedonic adaptation. Your brain […]

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How to Rekindle Love

Dr. Rick Petronella Valentine’s Day is always a time for us to reflect upon our relationship with our partners. This is when things can begin to improve in our relationships. Will you continue to feel exhausted, burnt out, unmotivated and blah? Or will you be open to giving and receiving more love in your relationship? Or will […]

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Cancel Your New Year’s Resolutions

Dr. Rick Petronella Goal-setting is great. We want to better ourselves and our lives. January is a popular time for New Year’s resolutions on our minds and in our sights. The gyms are bursting at the  seams. The health food stores have empty shelves. Married couples have a renewed sense of devotion. Family budgets are in place. And, […]

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Surviving or Celebrating the Holidays

Dr. Rick Petronella The holiday season can bring mixed emotions for many. For some, it’s their favorite time of year. It’s a time of joy, celebration, family, and warmth.  For others, it can bring feelings of sadness and loss. It’s a time of remembering loved ones they have lost, struggles with addiction, financial worry, and other […]

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Why Do We Have Negative Thoughts?

Dr. Rick Petronella Even with the benefits of speaking, the tongue has power to destroy. The angry words we mumble under our breath on our way out the door, the words we shout out when someone driving their car cuts us off, those words we hurl when we’re on the defensive— all of them can […]

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