When SAD (Seasonal Affect Disorder) Meets Winter with COIVD-19, and Chronic Depression As if it hasn’t been enough dealing with sickness, loss of loved ones, homeschooling, and all around trying to cope with a global pandemic, we are now about to enter into winter with darker days, and colder nights, and sometimes less motivation. While
Photo by Keegan Houser on Unsplash Important Concepts Existential therapy integrates several disciplines that all have perspectives on existentialism. It remains a topic of discussion in philosophy and is driven by an interconnectedness between humans, human experience, and the relationship between humans and their world (Barnett & Madison, 2012). Existential therapy utilizes the therapeutic alliance in a person-centered
Photo by youssef naddam on Unsplash It is very natural to fear the unknown. Our media represents counseling and other forms of therapy in all sorts of different ways. Most often these representations could not be further from the truth. This blog post serves to provide an outline of what to expect from a counselor during your first
Accept, Change or Eliminate Deciding how to approach challenges or issues we face in our life can sometimes leaves us stuck in the problem. “What should I do?” “How should I handle this?” “I don’t even know where to start.” These are questions/statements that many of us tell ourselves when we are confused and faced
Healing Attachments Attachment—the critical bond that develops between baby and primary caregivers–is one of the most important aspects of infancy and early childhood. The nature and quality of our earliest attachments tends to affect all our relationships, “from cradle to grave.” When circumstances such as adoption, illness, financial stress, loss, or lack of family support
What is the difference between shame and guilt? Shame and guilt are two very powerful emotions that can affect the way we live our lives and the way we interact with others. Shame is the feeling of being unworthy, usually coming from a place of negatively judging oneself. Guilt is similar in that it also
The effect of PTSD can be far-reaching. This can be a debilitating disorder, and its symptoms can have a negative impact on a number of different areas in a person’s life. In particular, PTSD can negatively effect a person’s mental health, physical health, work, and relationships. Some of the difficulties that people experience in these areas are
What is EMDR? Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a psychotherapy approach that has helped a variety of people of all ages relieve many types of psychological distress. It was developed by Dr. Francine Shaprio, who made a chance observation that eye moments can reduce the intensity of disturbing thoughts under certain conditions. No
After several requests to put this relaxation podcast on the website, here it is. Take the parts that work for you and use them. Not everyone will benefit from this, however, using a relaxation technique such as this one, has been shown to help decrease anxiety and worry and increases clarity and feeling safe.
In today’s society, it is really hard growing up. Our children today, have to compete against not only everyone in their school, but now with social media the way it is, they also need to compete with every other child all over the country on these platforms. Ugh! What pressure it is to look like
Your Mental Health Matters I read an opinion piece the other day called, “Amanda Bynes, Robin Williams, and the Spectacle of Mental Illness.”* The author wrote about how when celebrities struggle with mental illness, the general public tends to gawk at and taunt those who act in bizarre manners until a person dies because they
Depression Sometimes we find ourselves in a funk: feeling sad, irritable, lonely or “down.” And sometimes this makes sense to us. We might be going through a loss such as a pet dying or a divorce, or job loss. Maybe it’s a life transition such as moving or one chapter of life ending and another
