Why Am I So Angry All The Time? What We Can Learn From Our Anger
It really shouldn’t be a newsflash, but we all get angry sometimes. Some of us more than others, and others yet feel bad admitting it. So for a moment, let’s pretend that anger has something unique to teach us. When we ignore our anger, or guilt ourselves for feeling it, we can miss important cues […]
Making Exercise Work for your Mental Health
Exercise is one of the greatest supports for mental health, both in recovery and prevention. The challenge is that typical exercise goals for physical strength and endurance may not be the place to start. It can be valuable to consider your mental health needs specifically before determining how exercise can help. Avoid increasing any stress […]
How To Get The Most Out Of Counseling And Therapy
While professional counseling is shown to help with both daily stresses and transitions as well as more serious mental health symptoms, some things can help you get more out of therapy. Being an experienced therapist is important, but learning how you can contribute empowers greater change. Start with a good fit. Counseling is based on […]
Managing Holiday Stress: Meaning Making and Living with Intention
A friend reminded me the other day of how humans are powerful, meaning-making beings. Even if you avoid holidays saturated with pop culture or merchandizing, they mark the ebb and flow of the year and many of the unspoken expectations around us. Pretty often, people find stress or even difficult emotions rather than relaxation and […]
Can Grief Turn To PTSD?
When we lose something or someone meaningful to us, the experience of loss never fully goes away. Grief is a process, often taking longer than we expect. Grief is learning to weather emotions and finding some adjustment to life after the loss. The extremes of emotion and the disorientation from loss can last from months […]
Why Your Therapist Always Tells You To Breathe
In my early years of practicing therapy, I would encourage my clients to use breathing but rarely practiced it with them in session. Now it is absolutely one of the most effective ways I can help my client (and myself!) find relief from stress during a session. We all talk a lot about stress, […]
Parenting Like A Boss: Decoding The Impact Of Scary Movies
The Impact Of Scary Movies On Children If you ask three different people about horror movies, you are likely to get three different answers. My own experience as a child was never rewarding, many of the unwanted scenes sticking with me for years. Others tend to insist that a little scare doesn’t bother them, maybe […]
How Toxic Positivity Hurts Us
Maybe you are a person who puts mind over matter. That’s how you get things done. Just because something is hard, you don’t give up. While it is important and even admirable to use willpower to manage emotion, there are times where individuals and groups start to reject any negative emotion or experience as a […]
How Trauma-Bonding Explains When We Stay And When We Leave
Trauma-bonding has become a popular psychological term we use to explain feeling stuck in an unhealthy relationship. But are we all trauma-bonded when we are stuck in a toxic relationship? This idea of being “bonded” or connected with someone who is hurtful really resonates for a lot of people. There are shades of difference between […]
How ADHD Traits Can Contribute To Career Success
Maybe it used to be “that loud kid” from our childhood (maybe ourselves) that represented someone with Attention Deficit Disorder, but things are changing. Teachers and parents who saw this diagnosis as a prediction of struggle with traditional schooling or even limited career choices are recognizing the complexity and even strengths it can bring. With […]