Being there for your kids - Focus on the Positive

Episode Date: March 20, 2026

It's true. What you pay attention to grows. Focus on the negative, negative grows. Focus on the positive, and the positive grows. While we do need to address feeling overwhelmed and put the negative in perspective, your healing journey begins when you pay attention to the positive. Check out my new book, The Healing Journey: Overcoming Adversity on the Path to the Good Life on amazonbooks.com by clicking on https://www.amazon.com/Healing-Journey.../dp/B0CY9PQXMZ Blessings,  Dr. Jon

I'm Dr. John Robinson, and this is Teachable Moments. Let me give you a word to the wise. What you pay attention to grows. There's so much pain and suffering in the world that thinking about it can be overwhelming. While we need to take the time to make a difference in painful life circumstances, it's also important to remember the good stuff, however small it might seem to be. After all, what you pay attention to grows. Janice had told me during her first session that she had been depressed, quote,

all my life. Why do you say that, Janice? Because it's true, she pleaded before looking down at her folded hands in her lap and falling silent. Forgive me, Janice. I can imagine how hard this is for you. I was losing her and wanted to empathize. Janice settled somewhat. You're the third shrink I've seen over the last ten years. The other two just took my money. I sighed, softly smiled and suggested, let's make sure that doesn't happen again. Janice then spent the remainder of the session detailing her grievances and how nobody seemed to, quote, get me. I soothed her, acknowledged her pain, and suggested that we get to it. What do you mean? Just like that? She said incredulously. Well, Janice, you see, I paused to emphasize my perspective. You've told me why you're depressed,

but I don't really see how the whys are going to relieve your depression. You thoroughly know why. I'm more of a what doctor. That is, what's going on in your life? What can you do to help feel better to go from stuck in depression to soaring and joy. With a glimmer of hope, she settled, okay, let's do it. I explained Arnold Lazarus's multimodal life history questionnaire to Janice and asked her to complete it thoroughly between now and her next session with me. This document gives you an excellent foundation for your healing journey with me, I assured. During subsequent sessions, I explained to Janice the content of mental and intelligence psychotherapy, that is MPT, and how what she pays attention to will help her grow and soar.

In addition to staying mindful in the moment to minimize depressive symptoms, I helped her find gratitude in every day, a hallmark of positive psychology. I also helped her minimize her absolute thinking that fueled her depression and asked her to find at least one positive event or feeling she had each day, writing them down to share with me during her next session. Janice was in my clinical care for a while, and she rolled with occasional depressive lapses, but also soaring joy.

Follow Janice's healing journey in my new book, The Healing Journey, Overcoming Adversity on the Path to the Good Life. You can buy your copy at amazonbooks.com. If my comments here stir questions of your own, contact me through my website at www.org for my kids.com or email me at John Robinson.00 at bell-south.net. I'm Dr. Jonathan C. Robinson, licensed clinical psychologist, and author of Teachable Moments, Building Blocks of Christian Parenting, and my new book, The Healing,

The Healing, Overcoming Adversity on the Path of the Good Life. Blessings, Dr. John. Teachable Moments, Building Blocks of Christian Parenting, is available online at Amazonbooks.com and in local and national bookstores. More on Dr. Robinson at TMC-P-I-N-C.com.