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
Research shows that trauma impacts the body on a cellular level. The longer that we are exposed to trauma, the higher an impact that trauma has. As the trauma continues, our capacity to manage the fear and the sadness lessens. Community trauma, such as a global pandemic, affects more than our body. The last nine
Anger- is it a symptom or a solution? I would argue it is neither. Read on to learn more about anger and when to ask for help. Are you easily irritated or frustrated? Do you find yourself feeling angry more often than you probably should? If so, then you are like millions of people who
For some, Christmas morning, can be full of joy, wonder, and simplicity. I know we don’t all have it so easy, right? But at some point, in our lives, be it as children, young adults, or now; didn’t we all sometime feel so giddy and carefree before the worries, anxiety, depression, etc. started? What happened
Photo by Kyle Broad on Unsplash Relationships can be extremely confusing and challenging. Especially, when the man you are interested in pulls away just as things seem to be going smoothly. Women are often left wondering “what should I do now?” To avoid this type of outcome in your relationship, I recommend you evaluate the
Tips for Homeschooling During COVID-19 During this time of COIVD-19 there are so many challenges and new ways of life for now, one of the many tasks that parents are undertaking is homeschooling their children. This can pose stress for parents and kids, which can affect mental functioning, relationships, and parents’ ability to work from
Photo by fotografierende on Unsplash Accelerators and Brakes: What We Know About Intimacy and How to Connect A relatively new concept was developed by Dr. Emily Nagoski, author of Come as You Are. She assured me that it is not a play off the Nirvana song. In her book, she describes the analogy of accelerators
What is My Intention? In a time where we are stuck at home and may be unsure about our financial situation or our health, it can feel very challenging to determine how to create purpose for our days. In this blog, we are going to discuss what it means to set an intention to create
Photo by Mateus Campos Felipe on Unsplash In a world where many things are uncertain, at Brightside Counseling Services, we are doing what we can to provide the very needed support to get through these trying times. All of the therapists and staff at Brightside highly value the face to face interactions between therapist and client. However,
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash Are you anxious about the coronavirus (COVID-19)? Talk and concern about this pandemic is everywhere right now, and it’s scary! There are many ways you can actively prevent contracting and spreading the virus, which can best be accessed by visiting the Center for Disease Control’s (CDC) website. There are also several ways
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 Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash As beautiful as this famous song is there are times within a relationship that love is not enough and there are other aspects to consider. You may be thinking “of course I love the person so why is there a reason to leave?” However, there are times when love can become toxic
Let’s talk about sex baby! Just kidding. We can’t talk about sex without first talking about consent. It is interesting all the ways in which we consent in life. We consent to medical services. We consent to formal education or not. We consent to have bills (wait, what? Oh yea.) We consent to approach conversations
Photo by Crazy nana on Unsplash The beginning of the year has so much promise…and so much expectation. “New year, new you”, new year’s resolutions, fitness and health goals. Multiply that times a thousand at the beginning of a new decade. “Where were you ten years ago, where will you be in ten years”. All of these phrases
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
