Being there for your kids - How about moving from fake happy to real happy?

Episode Date: December 5, 2025

Are you one of the gazillion people who consistently wear masks? You know, the mask that hides what you are really feeling?  Mask-wearers often engage in happy talk with others. Playing the game of socializing when you really don't feel like it. How about trading in your fake happy for real happy. Mentalligent Psychotherapy (MPT) can help you do that. By using the treatment strategies of mindfulness, positive psychology, and cognitive-behavioral interventions, you can leave your stuckness of fake happy behind and begin to soar toward real happy. Find more in my new book, The Healing Journey: Overcoming Adversity on the Path to the Good Life. Buy your copy on AmazonBooks.com at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CY9PQXMZ

Hi, I'm Dr. John Robinson, and this is Teachable Moments. Here's an interesting question. Do you want to get or to give? For my last three podcasts, I have shared with you three mental pathways on your healing journey. These pathways help you move from stuckness to soaring, from adversity to resilience. They are your journey away from focusing on what's wrong. to embracing what's right, your journey away from a one-and-done mindset which generates instability to becoming more resilient, and your journey from believing the sky is falling, which breeds fear,

to embracing critical thinking. Now, a critical question you want to ask yourself is this, do you want to get or give? Which is a clearer path to your happiness? To find calm, resilience, and emotional fulfillment, let me guide you on your journey from a consumer-generated perspective to gratitude thinking, the fourth mental pathway. Mock had been in weekly psychotherapy with me for about a month. At 35, he had checked off all the items on his to-do list to date. Finished his schooling, check. Married, check.

Two children. Boy and a girl. Check. Started his own IP company. Check. Moved into his dream home with a pool in a great neighborhood with the best private schools for his kids. Check. so tell me doc he asked after listing his accomplishments why do i wake up every morning dreading another day i have no right to be so depressed he concluded mark was clearly stuck with all of his stuff you know mark i began i don't think you're going to find happiness with more stuff you have what we call a consumer generated perspective on life mark shot a puzzle my way now i chuckled sellers love your consumer generated perspective that's how they're

make a living. You, on the other hand, that's how you make misery. I can't imagine giving it all up. I've worked so hard, spent so much time and money accumulating my wealth. He slumped deeper in his chair. Don't get me wrong, Mark, I consoled, laying a hand on his shoulder. You don't have to give it up. The question is, however, does your stuff own you, or do you own your stuff? Do you want to get or give? Mark sighed, leaning forward in his chair, head and hand. So, you know what gratitude is right sure mark responded it's like being grateful thankful for my stuff well i added it's more than that it includes making time to enjoy life sharing with others being emotionally intimate with loved ones recognizing your joyfulness with life and others less getting more giving in keeping with my mpt

treatment strategies i gave mark a behavioral prescription to make a list of 10 things for which he is grateful and share it with his wife then Note in his daily feeling log the impact of his gratitude on his depression scale. Mark's story continues in my new book, The Healing Journey, Overcoming Adversity on the Path to the Good Life. Buy your copy at Amazonbooks.com, where you can search for my title. If my comments here, stern questions of your own, contact me through my website at www. out there from my kids.com, or email me at John Robinson 0.0.0. 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 Paths 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-in-c.com.