Last week New York Times journalist Benedict Carey penned a powerful interview with Marsha M. Linehan, the developer of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). For the first time, the American psychologist opened up about her own mental struggle that began in her adolescence and continued through her early adult life. “So many people have begged me...

One of Beliefnet’s most popular galleries is “10 Inspiring Quotes for a Depressed Heart.” I’ve included several of them here.     *  “Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections but instantly set about remedying them — every day begin the task anew.”...

“Sometimes you gotta go through hell to get to heaven.” That’s what Rocky said. Countless writers and philosophers agree with him. Kahlil Gibran writes this about pain in his classic, “The Prophet”: Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding. Even as the stone of the fruit must break, that its...

I found the following excerpt in Jack Kornfield’s new beautiful book, “A Lamp in the Darkness: Illuminating the Path Through Difficult Times.” One of the world’s greatest examples of how to survive difficult times is Nelson Mandela, the first president of modern South Africa. After twenty-seven years of imprisonment on Robben Island, he remained unbowed...

“We would never learn to be brave and patient if there were only joy in the world,” wrote Helen Keller. How I wish she were wrong. Disappointments leave us with the unpleasant task of squashing, crushing, and pinching lemons to extract any and all juice. Here, then, are a few of my techniques to turn...