We fear saying the wrong thing to a bereaved person. It’s worse to say nothing at all'I’m sorry for your loss' acknowledges what a bereaved person is going throughThu Jul 21 2022 - 05:00
Noshtalgia: nourishing the link between food, security and affectionComfort eating is okay so long as you don’t stuff yourself with itThu Jul 07 2022 - 06:01
Behind all the shouting, most people are relaxed about transgender issuesWhether a transgender person shouts it from the rooftops or whispers it, courage is and probably always will be neededThu Jun 23 2022 - 06:00
Is loneliness a trend of our era?Loneliness, bad in terms of physical and mental health, may be an accelerating trendThu Jun 09 2022 - 06:01
‘Some women experiencing abuse will also be at the end of their life’Padraig O’Morain: Abuse has no age limitsThu May 26 2022 - 06:01
A willingness to see beyond hurt and despair will see us throughPadraig O’Morain: Our human spirit can help us cope with events like Covid and warThu May 12 2022 - 06:01
We have arrived at riskiest time of year for suicidePadraig O’Morain: Image of summer as season of happiness and bliss doesn’t hold trueThu Apr 28 2022 - 06:01
Listening is a form of agreement that the other person’s emotions are realPadraig O’Morain: Healing depends on people knowing their feelings accepted as genuineThu Apr 14 2022 - 06:01
We are living in a moment of ‘big change speeded up’The prospect of a return to ‘normality’ is growing dimmer by the dayThu Mar 31 2022 - 06:01
Watch out for begrudgery: it’s bad for your happinessPadraig O’Morain: The ability to adapt will remain with us as we navigate the post-lockdown worldThu Jun 25 2020 - 06:01
Begrudgers should allow other people’s happiness to spark joyPadraig O’Morain: Bringing joy into your life is a key element of Buddhist philosophyThu Feb 13 2020 - 06:01
When your time is up, I hope you drop like the dead donkeyThe sooner we realise we are all going to die the better – it gives us time to get used to the ideaThu Jul 18 2019 - 06:00
Stonewalling: What to do if your partner won’t talk to youIf one side ‘checks out’ of a discussion there is no point in pressing forwardThu Jun 13 2019 - 06:01
Should couples live together before getting married?The jury is out on whether cohabitation before marriage reduces divorce, but regardless, all relationships go through the same four stagesThu Apr 25 2019 - 06:01
Fight, flight or freeze – people react differently to threat of violenceIt’s helpful for targets of such attacks to know something about our built-in responses to frightening situationsThu Dec 06 2018 - 06:01
Domestic violence hasn’t gone away you knowSadly there is still a pressing need for vital organisations such as Women’s AidThu Oct 11 2018 - 06:01
How to silence the harsh self-critic in your own headLearning to still be a friend to yourself despite your imperfections is a vital skillThu Sept 20 2018 - 17:01
Social anxiety: The fear that ruins marriage, career and holidaysA workplace with ‘slagging’ going on can be a torment to a person with social anxietyThu Sept 06 2018 - 07:01
Retirement: a life without challenges is as boring as a novel without conflictPeople facing retirement should think carefully about what they will do with their timeThu Aug 02 2018 - 06:01
Adoption controversy: ‘The nun said to me, kiss him goodbye now, and she just whipped him away’Misleading information made it almost impossible for people to find each other following an adoptionThu May 31 2018 - 01:00
It really doesn’t have to be alright to be alrightThe words uttered many years ago by a lazy colleague are true: if we want to find moments of happiness we have to find them in the imperfectionSun Mar 25 2018 - 06:01
Worried about losing freedom if you move home as an adult? So are your parentsThe adult child who moves home isn’t the only one losing their freedom – their parents lose it tooWed Mar 21 2018 - 18:01
When you are preparing for an exam, bring some self-compassion to the tableAttitude can make the big difference to how you feel and to how you approach upcoming challenges such as examsWed Mar 14 2018 - 18:01
Irish institutions: We gave them fawning respect without even thinking about itOne by one, the reputations of trusted institutions have disintegrated – the Catholic Church, the banking system and now the charitiesTue Mar 06 2018 - 06:00
The online complications of breaking up with someoneShortly after texting arrived, I noticed that the clean break was becoming a thing of the pastWed Feb 28 2018 - 15:01
Adolescence: how we’ve brought its stresses bang up to dateBig changes are the lengths of adolescence and of dependency during educationWed Feb 21 2018 - 06:01
‘Well, how are you?’ When an unoriginal conversation does just fineMost everyday exchanges are simply about recognising the other person’s existenceTue Feb 13 2018 - 06:01
Theory that ‘children are bad’ has not vanished in IrelandThere was an assumption that boys do bad things when left to their own devicesTue Feb 06 2018 - 03:01
There’s something about internet vigilantes that is deeply disturbingInstead of sitting back and enjoying the show, we need to have a debate before somebody gets hangedTue Jan 30 2018 - 07:01
Why are rich and famous men exposing themselves to women?An aspect of this behaviour, though, that intrigues me is the absence of shame and embarrassment on the part of these guysTue Jan 23 2018 - 11:01
Allowing a relationship with a friend to ‘fall away’‘We do not realise that poor quality relationships use our time and energy, denying us the chance of better’Sun Jan 14 2018 - 06:00
Dry January: easy for some, but for others it can be a long monthRemember the two key points outlined below and you’ll find it easier to stay off the boozeTue Jan 09 2018 - 07:01
Trying to turn yourself into Mr or Ms Perfect? Try this insteadDon’t beat yourself up over failed New Year resolutions. Try a different approachSun Dec 24 2017 - 06:00
It was party central on the Galway to Dublin trainThat’s Men: They were short on specific details, but the impression was that the ladies had found their Dublin charm irresistibleTue Oct 31 2017 - 09:00
How to be a perfect parent: stop tryingCut yourself some slack, mum and dad. Perfect parenting is inherently bad for childrenSun Mar 05 2017 - 16:00
That’s Men: Tactics for protecting yourself from bullyingPractical steps to take care of your mental and physical health if bulliedTue Nov 17 2015 - 05:45
‘Mummy, it’s time for you to go and do your breathing’Mindfulness enhances children’s focus, memory and ability to manage behaviour and emotionsTue Sept 01 2015 - 01:00
8 common causes of anxiety and how to cope with themIn an edited extract from his new book, psychotherapist Padraig O’Morain describes key causes of worry and mindful techniques for dealing with themMon Jun 29 2015 - 13:58
That’s Men: Like most ‘ignorant’ men, Steve Jobs was complex beneath the surfaceApple founder was so hurtful and aggressive he got fired from his own companyTue Jun 09 2015 - 06:00
That’s men: A slap in the face is more than a clichéMen are not immune to suffering, and the reality of physical abuse goes far beyond gendered stereotypesTue May 19 2015 - 01:00
That’s men: We need to accept that we can’t always be excellentIs the pursuit of excellence destroying our quality of life? I was left asking myself this question by three very different sources in recent weeksTue May 12 2015 - 12:00
That’s Men: Advising a drunk person to be careful is not blame-shiftingMost people would think that young people – and not only females – who become utterly drunk make easier preyWed May 06 2015 - 08:10
That’s men: Be thankful for what you have, and your heart will thank youNew research shows that cultivating a sense of gratitude could make us happier and healthier, says Padraig O’MorainTue Apr 28 2015 - 06:00
That’s Men: Tune into tedium to observe yourself, not your cellphoneWhat I find intriguing about boredom is the urgency with which we run away from itTue Apr 21 2015 - 01:00
That’s Men: Male rape victims suffer mentally, physically and silentlyIn a study of 40 men, 19 had attempted suicide after they were raped, says Padraig O’MorainMon Apr 13 2015 - 12:00
That’s Men: Smartphones are Radio Luxembourg by another nameIt’s difficult to believe now, but in the 1960s transistor radios created a sense of unease among the people in charge, says Padraig O’MorainMon Mar 30 2015 - 17:00
That’s Men: The secret appraisal: Live a real life, don’t hanker after an idealPeople suffering from ‘ideal self’ syndrome are in good company – we all do it, says Padraig O’MorainMon Mar 23 2015 - 05:00
