The Inauguration, The Trojan War, and the Tenderness Cure. By Faith Bethelard (From Faith’s article on ThriveGlobal.com) Watching the inauguration, after the terrible events of January 6, brought up an unexpected connection to a Greek Classics course I took in college, when we were reading Homer’s The Iliad. Written more than 2500 years ago, it […]
It’s all about paying attention to the small things in our lives that help us maintain stability and a positive outlook. By Faith Bethelard (From Faith’s article on ThriveGlobal.com) My work in the area of tenderness, as in “tending to each other and to ourselves,” is a kind of therapeutic intervention not terribly dissimilar to […]
A haircut and a clip from a war movie spark a deep desire for more familiar comforts and connections to help us maintain our well-being during these disconcerting times. (From Faith’s article on ThriveGlobal.com) Hair salons are normally hopeful places. We walk in with a need for improvement and come out looking much improved and […]
Tsewa, the Buddhist concept of warm-hearted tenderness, shines a powerful light on the way forward toward greater human connection and overall well-being. By Faith Bethelard, Psy.D. (From Faith’s article on ThriveGlobal.com) If you believe in synchronicity, as I do, and love to read, then you may have had this same experience as I did: the […]
By Faith Bethelard, Psy.D. D.S.S., Clinical Psychologist (From Faith’s article on thriveglobal.com) The time is more than right, right now, for us to define, examine and put into play a new type of intelligence that I call a Tenderness IQ—TQ for short. TQ, for me, is a combination of emotional intelligence and moral character. Specifically, […]
During this time of isolation, small moments of tenderness can help us feel more connected than ever. By Faith Bethelard, Psy.D. D.S.S., Clinical Psychologist (From Faith’s article on thriveglobal.com) During the quarantine, I’ve noticed a lot of recipes being shared on social media. It makes sense: people are home with extra time to cook. Home-cooked […]
Last summer, the summer of 2019, which seems so long ago now, I was telling a friend about writing a new book, and that it would be on tenderness. My intention, I explained, was to do a shorter and “friendlier” version of my previous co-authored book, Cherishment: A Psychology of the Heart. In the new […]
It’s April, 2020. Spring Equinox has passed. I am in Southeastern Pennsylvania, where Spring has sprung early. On a leisurely walk with my friend yesterday I was rewarded with a magnificent feast for the senses: daffodils, forsythia and magnolia blossoms preening happily, showing off their beauty and strength. Though I live in New York City […]
The Coronavirus has provided us a crash course in tenderness consciousness. There is a near global shut down of day to day life with widespread concern for oneself, our loved ones, and apprehension about the future. Human beings have never faced a fear of the unknown so collectively. What we do know is that the […]