Thoughts on Abating Anxiety, OCD & Stress
Anxiety and stress can be pervasive and wear on ones emotions as well as your body. Anxiety can manifest itself in a variety of manners, many of which are somatic, meaning in the body. It creates a chain reaction with symptoms of stomach pain, shakes, sweat, sleep difficulty, and fatigue. Most often anxiety can effectively […]
Relationships and Perception: Are You Sure?
I work with individuals and couples weekly that seek help in my office for relationship challenges. Some arrive due to issues of trust and infidelity while others are seeking answers to issues that stem from their families they grew up in. Most individuals, healthy or not, seem to battle or engage in a phenomenon that […]
Healthy Relationships & Ways of Being
People are complex individuals with their histories, hopes, and habits. When two individuals come together in any relationship, married or not, they are combining two unique lives to form something complex yet beautiful. The assumptions and beliefs of both of those individuals also come together to influence the relationship. It’s important to honor that with […]
Infidelity: Marriage Meltdown After An Affair
When Betrayal Breaks the Bond I recently heard a client ask, “I feel completely betrayed after finding out about my husband’s affair. Does it even make sense to do counseling if my spouse had an affair? Isn’t it over?” Betrayal and broken trust are among the most difficult obstacles any couple can face, and they […]
Strengthening Relationships Through Family Traditions and Rituals
With the holiday season approaching, countless events become abuzz with holiday parties, church and social events, and family dinners typical for the season. These events serve many purposes and when understood more clearly enhance, solidify, and safeguard your relationships and overall emotional health. Rituals are activities that couples and families create that occur on a […]
Recovering Your Identity
The term identity is one commonly used by developmental psychologists and researchers when referencing an individuals sense of ‘differentness’ or ‘likeness’ with others. Ones identity is often tossed around with terms like ego strength, self-esteem, individuality, etc. Many individuals find that they need to ‘send’ or ‘broadcast’ a given set of values or beliefs in […]
Secrets Keep You Emotionally Stuck
There is an old adage in the world of therapy and treatment, the adage is “Secrets Keep You Sick.” While I don’t personally affiliate myself or my thinking with terms like ‘sick’, I do find that secrets in fact keep individuals stuck. Stuck in unhealthy relationships, stuck in unhappiness, and stuck in frustration.I remember working […]
Worthiness: A Key To Overpowering Depression
I was at a conference for therapists last week and listened to various workshops by therapists presenting about counseling and what they are finding is helping people heal and grow based on the current research. Let me tell you about one such topic, was given by Brene’ Brown, a therapist and social researcher I came […]
Boundaries: What They Are and How to Create Them
Boundaries are unwritten and unspoken lines that mark where you begin and end in relation to where others begin and end emotionally and physically. For example, we have clothing as a boundary not only to protect our skin but as a physical cue and symbol that you are you and that is where you begin. […]
Aspirations: Goal Setting and Achievement
Each year hundred of individuals set goals with hopes to have a brighter future and healthier relationships. Generally speaking, most venture in with good intentions to attain and achieve but rarely know what their goals are by late spring, and have completely forgotten them by summer. I think of goals that are not written down […]