By Gina Simmons, Ph.D.
Chelsea King, 17, went for a jog after school last Thursday.  Her body was found Tuesday in a shallow grave a half mile from her car.  Chelsea was a straight A student, an athlete and a musician in the prestigious San Diego Youth Symphony. Beloved by many for her charming personality, Chelsea [...]

...more

By Gina Simmons, Ph.D.
It poses quite a challenge to an anger management professional when your website gets hacked.  That’s exactly what happened to us two weeks ago.  Some lonely soul with too much time on his hacker hands sent visitors to our site on a joy ride through Chinese websites.  The hack sidelined our site [...]

...more

By Gina Simmons, Ph.D.
Most baby boomers will switch jobs 10 times in their life, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Ideas about corporate loyalty and job security seem quaint and antiquated now. Today everyone is a free agent. When job competition appears steep and jobs are scarce, a bad boss can mess with [...]

...more

By Gina Simmons, Ph.D.
The 2009 Road Rage Award goes to Dr. Christopher Thomas Thompson, 59. The doctor wins for speeding past two cyclists, slamming on his brakes, causing one to hit the rear window of his red Infiniti, and the other to suffer a separated shoulder. Dr. Thompson, unable to bear the (one-second, two-seconds, three-seconds) [...]

...more

By Gina Simmons, Ph.D.
At the start of a new year, news outlets, psychics and financial analysts give their predictions for the new year. Psychic Sylvia Browne predicts 2010 will bring an increase in childhood skin cancer and a cure for the common cold. CNN predicts web trends like more television starts coming to us via [...]

...more

By Gina Simmons, Ph.D.
As a child I was blessed with two friends who profoundly inspired me. Michelle, blind from birth, was one of the most popular girls in the school. With exquisite auditory acuity, she recognized voices and would shout out across the quad, “how ya doin’ Gina!” before I ever saw her. She remembered [...]

...more

By Gina Simmons, Ph.D.
Many years ago my friends and I found ourselves facing a holiday season with no money and no family. Too broke to travel home, we decided to get creative. A twisted, puny, discarded shrub, stuck in a coffee can wrapped in aluminum foil became our Christmas tree. We took needle and thread [...]

...more

By Gina Simmons, Ph.D.
A few days ago my daughter and I were diagnosed with the swine flu also known by the less friendly, H1N1. Symptoms include head ache so bad you can’t lift head off bed, sore throat, post-marathon fatigue (without the runner’s high) and body pain like being run through a rock polishing machine. [...]

...more

By Gina Simmons, Ph.D.
“I hate happy people,” said Mark, a former anger management client. “I just want to punch them in the face.” Mark wore his unhappiness with a hostile chip on his shoulder. Unable to appreciate the joy in others, even the sweet innocence of a baby’s laughter, he consumed himself with bitter envy.

...more

By Gina Simmons, Ph.D.
Heather wiped her tear-streaked face with tissue.  Memories of her father, who abandoned her as a child, still tormented her emotionally, two decades later.  As she moved through her home, vacuuming the living room and cleaning the kitchen, the tears ran down her cheeks.   Her husband Dan came home from work [...]

...more