Why ChatGPT Is Not Your Therapist: And What You Actually Need
By Justin Stum, LMFT | Licensed Counselor & Therapist Relationships are messy. They are supposed to be. The friction, the misunderstanding, the repair: that’s not a flaw in the system. That is the system that’s the painful but beautiful way relationships work. So when millions of people started quietly opening ChatGPT and typing out their […]
When the Body Says No: A Book Every Person in Therapy or Considering It Should Read
By Justin Stum, LMFT | Book Review If you’ve ever said “I don’t feel stressed, I just keep getting sick,” you’ve already stumbled into the central mystery that Dr. Gabor Maté spends an entire book unpacking. When the Body Says No: The Hidden Cost of Stress is one of the most compelling books I’ve encountered […]
Why Cold Plunging Might Be the Best Thing You Do for Your Mental Health
By Justin Stum, LMFT | Licensed Counselor & Therapist If you had told me a year ago that one of the most powerful tools for nervous system regulation I’d add to my personal wellness routine in St. George, Utah I would involve sitting in near-freezing water at PLUNJ, I probably would have smiled and said […]
What Is a Faith Transition and Why Is It So Hard?
If you’ve recently found yourself questioning beliefs you’ve held your entire life, you may be going through one of the most disorienting experiences a person can face. It doesn’t have a lot of public language around it. Your friends might not understand it. Your family might be frightened by it. And you might not even […]
Social Anxiety During the Holidays
If holiday parties, family dinners, or work events make your chest tighten and your mind race, you’re not broken. You’re human. For many people here in St. George Utah and across Southern Utah, the holidays bring warmth and connection, but they also bring pressure. The good news is that there are real, research-backed ways to […]
Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) in St. George, Utah
Hope and Healing Are Possible Accelerated Resolution Therapy, often called ART, is an evidence-based therapy that helps people heal from trauma, anxiety, and emotional pain in a direct and compassionate way. Many clients are surprised by how quickly meaningful change can happen. Old memories lose their emotional charge, the body calms, and life begins to […]
Elevated Counseling and Wellness in St. George Utah
In April of 2022, I transitioned into a group practice setting in new offices and I’m so excited. New space and new offerings with great people, I’ve created Elevated Counseling and Wellness and we’re already up and running I’m just doing a blog post about it now on this page. Elevated Counseling and Wellness is […]
Breath Work: Balancing Your Nervous System
Breathing is a vital part of life and a fundamental aspect of physical and mental health. Feeling fried emotionally or do you find you are edgy and irritable much of the time? I encourage many of my clients to engage in a practice of breath work to setup their body and mind for balance and […]
How Your Nervous System Responds To Trauma
The Process in Your Brain You react to threat in micro-seconds, processes within the brain unconsciously activates rapidly in a pattern to protect you in a moment of cerebral overwhelm. Our brains are each hardwired to protect us from harm. We generally move into fight, flee, or freeze states. It’s at these moments when we […]
Understanding The Conceptualization of the Self
The Ego Alan Watts, a philosopher and thinker gave a speech some time ago about the false idea of who we are. What he said in his speech was pretty rich in some ways yet also profound as you think about who you are, what do do, and how complicated yet beautiful life can be. Alan […]