How to Get the Most From This Site

Welcome to StepsforChange.com!  My name is Greg Hamlin and I am a psychologist and life coach. 

One of my passions is to develop shorter, faster, less expensive, and easier ways for people to make good and positive changes in their lives.  Notice I said "easier" and not "easy."  Big changes that make a real difference for our lives are usually difficult.  Change is hard.  In my way of thinking that means it is even more important to eliminate as many of detours, dead ends, and roadblocks as possible.  This site is not about shortcuts.  However, if you put some the tips, tools, and steps into practice it may feel like your taking a shortcut.  We can't wriggle out of most of life's challenges and difficulties.  But we can reduce stress when we take the right steps for the situation.

People come to this site for tips, tools, and perspective on personal change.  They want more satisfying relationships.  They don't wish to settle for a life of mediocrity.  People also come to this site for answers to their questions or topics such as these:

• Show me how to stop anxiety!
• What is the best treatment for anxiety?
• How to fight depression
• What about marriage counseling -- does it work?

So what's different about this site?  First of all, I try to mix solid information with pracitical steps.  It seems like it's easy find magazine articles, books, and websites that give you the steps and tell you what to do.  But why follow those steps?  The problem with quick tips is that they can often be shallow.  Shallow is not so good when have you have to dive in!  We need steps for change that are embedded in a deeper perspective.  When you have perspective you can see what others don't see.  You know how to handle the exceptions to the quick tips.

Second, StepsforChange.com is about crafting a smart strategy for using whatever motivation you have for positive change.  Motivation is like a precious metal (or should I say mettle?); the less you have the smarter you must be about how to use it.

What will you find here?

• Audios
• Videos
• Articles
• Free tutorials
• In-depth courses

Short videos, audios, and information articles examine the symptoms of anxiety attacks, depression symtons, signs of clinical depression, symptoms of anxiety AND depression, marriage counseling questions, and steps for choosing a therapist vs. self help for anxiety and depression. Steps for change articles and videos address how to find treatment for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), attacking anxiety and depression, how to determine when a marriage is in trouble, how to save a marriage, and where to find free online marriage counseling tips that are genuinely useful.

Here is what I recommend:  After you browse through some of the pages of this site, sign up for the Resource Letter.   This will allow you to get brief emails (no spam) letting you know about upcoming free teleseminars or webinars.  It doesn't cost anything and you can unsubscribe at anytime with a few clicks.  When you sign up, you gain access to the silver membership area of StepsforChange.com that includes free downloads and other resources that can really make life easier.  There's tutorial on understanding depression. There's set of audios about marriage.  There are transcripts that are not available anywhere else. 

Next, I would suggest you jump in the growing community forming around StepsforChange.com.  You can do this by "following" me on twitter (visit Twitter.com/stepsforchange) and by returning to the blog often and writing your thoughts in the comments box.  Just click on "blog" in the menu bar above or go to StepsForChange.com/blog.  As we go along I will give tips for how to use the social networking sites to enhance your adventure in personal change.