Kate Motaung

Have you ever truly loved someone and given of yourself for their well-being? It might have been Plato or Shakespeare who said something about love being a sort of madness, and that has a ring of truth to it. Love, however, doesn’t have to be self-destructive or uninformed. It certainly doesn’t need to be codependent to qualify as love, and that’s one reason why knowing the signs of codependency can help you show love well. Several signs of codependency will [...]

Infidelity can turn your world upside down, causing you to feel shocked, angry, wounded, betrayed, and confused. You may find yourself wondering if and how you can possibly heal from this overwhelmingly devastating experience. If so, take heart. As shattering as the betrayal of infidelity can feel, it does not have to mark the end of your relationship. With hard work and dedication, trust and intimacy can be restored. It may, however, be a long and painful process that involves [...]

Many things are good and helpful in moderation, but bad and destructive in excess. One of those things is anger, which is a natural human emotion that we’ve all felt at one point or another in our lives. Maybe you last got angry when you felt that the wrong politician got voted in, or when someone was late to a meeting and didn’t apologize, or when your children sassed you. Whatever the occasion, we’ve all felt anger in one [...]

Not everyone alive today will reach old age. However, it’s hard to see aging as the gift and privilege it is because society is geared toward youth and the young. The beauty and wellness industry, advertising, entertainment, and professional sectors have drilled it into our thinking that old age equates to mental decline, disease, and unhappiness. Not only is this insulting to those who are aging, but it’s incorrect. While there are new challenges to face as you age, [...]

Many people who had a difficult childhood grew up knowing that their parents were the problem, but only much later realized the specific issue was that their parents were narcissistic. Narcissistic parents are self-centered, controlling, or emotionally neglectful and tend to cause much emotional and psychological damage to their children. Sadly, narcissists do not change with age. The first step in dealing with narcissistic parents is to learn the particular tactics they use. If we can’t teach an old dog [...]

We all walk into marriage hoping and praying for the best. When we make our vows at the altar, we pledge our love and loyalty to the man we have chosen to spend the rest of our lives with. When we talk about standing with our partner in sickness and in health during our vows, most of us use physical sickness as a reference, but we rarely think of mental health issues like depression as being in that category. Depression, [...]

Typical teenage behavior can confuse even the most knowledgeable parent. Behaviors such as the teens wanting more private time at home, wanting to hang out with friends more than their family, or they might stay up all night on Friday night playing video games, only to sleep until Saturday afternoon. None of those behaviors alone are necessarily bad for your teen. But when does seemingly normal teen behavior become a serious problem? How can you tell if your child [...]

We’ve all been angry at one point or another. Perhaps your anger is a thing of legend among your loved ones, or maybe you feel that you don’t struggle with anger. One of the challenging things about anger is that you can’t always predict what will happen and how you’ll react. Anger is one of those big emotions that can overtake you if you aren’t careful or haven’t learned how to regulate your emotions effectively. Anger can show up in [...]

As the cost of living continues to rise, a majority of Americans are struggling to make ends meet and keep up with household expenses. More and more people are living in debt and cannot afford to have emergency savings to turn to on those inevitable rainy days. Amidst these financial struggles, having to care for one’s aging parents can present a significant challenge. Aging in America has become increasingly expensive. Care homes and paid caregivers are unfortunately out of [...]

Menopause is a natural transition for women, but its emotional and mental symptoms are rarely addressed. Society focuses heavily on a girl’s stages of puberty, pregnancy, and post-partum but seems to lessen its focus on menopause and its effects on mental health. Many women struggle with menopause and anxiety due to hormone fluctuations. Menopause: A Natural Transition Menopause is the transitional period between menstruation and post-menopause when a woman stops the menstrual cycle altogether. This transitional period begins in [...]

There’s always something new to learn when you watch nature documentaries, if you’re into that sort of thing. Some of the most fascinating clips are when you look at a setting – it could be in the jungle, a desert, or next to a river – and everything initially appears safe. On closer inspection, however, you find that there’s some creature right there; well camouflaged, but right there, ready to deal death. Often, when it comes to toxic relationships, [...]

There is no doubt that the world we live in feels like a curious mixture of good and bad. Our world has beauty in it, both natural and created by people, but it also has a lot in it that brings tears to one’s eyes. Families are generally a good thing; they are the first place we learn what belonging means, and that’s beautiful. However, families can also be hotbeds of dysfunction, and they can be places of deep [...]