An Open Letter to Self-Appointed Control Freaks
Dear Fellow Lovers of Control, Let me start by saying this: You are my tribe. I get you. I like you. I am you. (Read
Suzanne Manser, PhD
August 5, 2026
Category: Anxiety
Intergenerational Pain as a Game of Hot Potato
It’s helpful to think of intergenerational pain like a giant game of Intergenerational Hot Potato. Let me explain. When a person has big emotional pain
Suzanne Manser, PhD
June 25, 2025
The Art of Letting Go
I’ve been a therapist for over 25 years, and in my experience, there are two things that humans are extraordinarily bad at: self-compassion and letting
Suzanne Manser, PhD
March 26, 2024
Worriers, Catastrophizers, and Overpreparers: This One’s For You
Those of us with anxious brains spend a lot of time focusing on potential future pain. We pre-suffer. We’re causing ourselves unnecessary harm. It’s time to stop.
Suzanne Manser, PhD
October 10, 2023
2 Tools to Help You Manage Overwhelming Feelings
Feelings can be HARD. The ones that are uncomfortable or painful are just so … uncomfortable and painful. They feel bad and can be overwhelming
Suzanne Manser, PhD
April 12, 2022
How To Go with the Flow, for Those of Us with Anxiety
The Anxious Approach Those of us with anxious brains tend to go through life with a white-knuckle grip on it. We like structure, we like
Suzanne Manser, PhD
September 28, 2021
Getting Comfortable with Discomfort
“Get comfortable with being uncomfortable.” -Flip Rodriguez, American Ninja Warrior Somehow, we have gotten a very dangerous idea in our heads. We, as a society,
Suzanne Manser, PhD
September 18, 2020
The COVID Marathon
It’s the beginning of Week 5 for most of us.* Most of us started hitting our wall last week. I heard it from patient after
Suzanne Manser, PhD
April 14, 2020
Perfectionists and Perspective Shifts
“Someone once asked me, ‘Why do you always insist on taking the hard road?’ I replied, ‘Why do you assume I see two roads?’” –
Suzanne Manser, PhD
February 1, 2020
Choosing Focus to Impact Your Experience
In Don’t Believe Everything You Think, I talk about the idea that although you can’t control which thoughts enter your mind, you can choose which
Suzanne Manser, PhD
April 13, 2019