(310) 455-0928 DrAPolard@verizon.net
4 Benefits of Hugs, for Mind and Body

4 Benefits of Hugs, for Mind and Body

Research finds surprising power in even casual embraces. I had the honor of introducing Zen Psychology Therapy (ZPT)* at the World Congress for Psychotherapy in Shanghai in May 2014 [1]. What an experience! In retrospect, two impressions struck me the most, the first...
Why Must I Worry: Five Zen Remedies

Why Must I Worry: Five Zen Remedies

Zen Psychology does not begin with a concept of your self or your problems, but with an open mind. The intervention emerges within the sacred space of kind attention, deep listening, and questioning. When I meet a person who wishes to widen his or her inner space to...
The Ultimate Gift of Love

The Ultimate Gift of Love

All experiences are mysterious; love is no exception. We cannot accurately reconstruct any experience because too many vivacious variables are involved, however attentive or scientific we go about the reconstruction. Bits and pieces and the whole of life are twirling...
Causing A Great Ripple Effect

Causing A Great Ripple Effect

When I was young, I wanted to change in major ways. I wanted to be as thin as my sister, as beautiful as Marilyn Monroe, as creative as Einstein and Picasso combined, as trail-blazing as Madame Curie, as loving as Jesus, as natural as Lao Tzu, and as still as a Buddha...
The Antidote to Lying and Keeping Secrets

The Antidote to Lying and Keeping Secrets

How “Facing and Embracing” the truth can set you free I very much enjoyed Jane Isay’s cover story about “Secret and Lies” in Psychology Today. Busy trying to make ourselves feel good or at least give the appearance of feeling good, we do not...