Dr. Chloe Carmichael Blogs

You probably don’t need to anyone to tell you this, but Americans are more polarized than ever before on the topic of presidential approval. According to a recent Pew Research poll, 88 percent of Republicans approve of President Trump, while just eight percent of Democrats approve. Not surprisingly, all of this discord is causing stress: A recent poll by the American Psychological Association found that 59 percent of American adults experience stress from the current levels of social divisiveness.

As a yoga teacher-turned-psychologist, I’ve always been amazed at the overlap between psychology and yoga, specifically in mindfulness and in silence. One yogic practice that I find fantastic as a psychologist is intentional and compassionate silence. Whether you are in a relationship or currently single and living alone, you might feel some sort of pressure to always answer the phone, constantly make small talk with a partner, or always have “something interesting” to say. Intentional silence is a great way to combat this pressure, and can just be a fun way to deepen your relationships and play around with nonverbal communication!

Please note that the blog below was written in December of 2020, when we were less than a year into the pandemic.  As of this note (January 2022) many new developments have arisen, such as the development of three vaccines and an assortment of antiviral medications and other treatments.  At this point, many readers are no longer needing to quarantine, or their quarantine periods are limited to just a few days rather than the indefinite period we were facing at the time of the blog below.  Readers may be more interested in resources like my video on transitioning OUT of quarantine (linked here).  Wishing you good health and all the best as we move forward together!

Quarantine life has been called “the new normal” over the past couple of months. Although it may be “normal” in the sense that it’s become common, it is understandably not feeling at all normal to us in terms of our wellbeing: in fact, quarantine life can pose some very unique challenges.  While I can’t take that stress away, as a clinical psychologist I can offer some practical tips to handle quarantine life from a cognitive, behavioral, and emotional perspective. Some of the tips I offer will be exercises or other behaviors you can try, and some of them will be just simple ideas on perspectives that may be helpful.  Many of the ideas and exercises will actually be helpful to you even after quarantine, so take heart in knowing you’re increasing your proverbial toolbox in ways that will be useful even when COVID19 is a thing of the past, at least in terms of pandemic levels.  If you’re open to ideas on personal growth, then you’ve come to the right place!

“Why am I still single?” It’s a question I hear a lot in my practice. As a clinical psychologist in New York City, I work with many successful clients — while they’re really good at getting things done in their professional lives, their dating life is either nonexistent or chaotic.

Feelings of anxiety manifest themselves in many different ways and in a variety of situations, one of which is in the workplace. Anxiety in business meetings can be extremely debilitating if it stops you from sharing your thoughts and ideas, and being a contributing member of the team.  This pattern can leave you feeling frozen before and during business meetings,  and even end up keeping you from attaining possible promotions because you aren’t able to interface effectively with your teammates at work.

A single woman in her late twenties or early thirties may find herself looking to find a husband sooner rather than later. With her self-esteem on the line or her biological clock ticking in her ears, she may be on a one-year timeline, meaning that after one year of dating, she’s expecting a proposal of marriage.