Boundaries are a frequent topic in therapy spaces during the period leading up to Thanksgiving and Christmas. And while it makes perfect sense that we need good boundaries to have happy relationships, creating boundaries can be frustrating and confusing. Add in other people’s reactions, and you have the recipe for more than turkey and stuffing.
Family gatherings often come with a range of expectations, from the pressure to participate in every tradition to dealing with difficult conversations or old unresolved conflicts. Without clear boundaries, these situations can quickly become overwhelming.
How we move forward in victory or defeat, will have a profound impact on our relationships, our mental health, and our ability to have a positive impact on the world. In the aftermath of this election, it is time to hold ourselves to the highest standards in how we show up to our (virtual and real) communities, our relationships, our places of work, our places of worship, and our families. No matter who the elected leaders are in this country, we have a lot of work to do to repair the damage we have done to each other during this election cycle and work to foster a culture of decency and respect.
As you prepare for the aftermath of this election, I encourage you to stay grounded in these principles:
While the death of a loved one, the death of a dream, or the reality of life’s painful limitations requires that we let go of things that we have cherished, grief can become fertile ground for discovery of meaning and connection to that which is most valuable to us.
Grieving the loss of what you thought your life would be can be a painful part of approaching middle age. This form of grief can come up when reality differs from the life you envisioned for yourself. It can stem from unfulfilled dreams, unexpected life changes, or the realization that certain goals or aspirations are no longer attainable.
Grief is the feeling that occurs when you lose someone or something important to you. The loss can be through death or change related to a friend moving away or even changing schools.
Grief is often associated with death, but it can also be a response to other kinds of loss. When you go through a major life transition, even positive changes can bring about feelings of grief.
When your child has experienced the loss of a friend or loved one by suicide, it is incredibly important address the issue directly, honestly, and with tenderness and compassion.
Teenage depression can be difficult to detect sometimes. Teen therapist, Cathy Birden, shares some helpful ways to talk to kids about depression and provides information for parents about the warning signs to look for.
Suicide is the number one fear of friends and family when a loved one is suffering. The good news is that there is help! Family therapist, Denise Rhew, highlights warning signs of suicidal behavior and provides resources for the prevention of suicide.
Launching your kids into the world can make you feel lost, often searching for purpose and meaning in life as your roles shift within the family. Therapist, Nancy Cofran, offers some helpful tips to discovering joy and meaning in this new phase of life.
Launching a child off to college is a bittersweet experience and a time of transition for kids and parents alike. Family therapist, Denise Rhew, shares some practical tips to help navigate the empty nest and embark on a journey of new meaning and purpose.
Summer is wrapping up and before we know it, school is back in session! Child therapist, Jennifer Hendricks, shares some practical tips to help your family transition back to the school routine.
Are you struggling with rumination and worry? Do you feel like you are on a vicious loop in your mind and you can’t get a break? Therapist, Beth Dean, shares some practical tips to ease your mind and find some relief from obsessive thoughts.
Anxiety is a bold, seductive liar that fills our heads and our hearts with doubt, fear, and trepidation. When we are unable to distinguish our “anxiety” voice from our “wise” voice, it can be difficult to discern the truth from the deception of anxiety.
Welcome to the world of therapy. It can seem mysterious at first - ‘what do you talk about? How do you know if you are getting better? How long will it take?’ All good questions, and you will get slightly different answers from different types of therapists.
We engage in therapy because something hurts and we hope to see it change. The safety and ease we once felt in a relationship is gone. Our outlook on the world has changed from rosy to gloomy. Perhaps we feel stuck in a traumatic moment or notice lingering anxiety in our minds and bodies even after a threat has passed.
It’s been said that marriage is hard and a lot of work. When both partners share a common vision and are invested in the process, marriage counseling can be a lifeline for struggling relationships. But what if you don’t know if you want to be married anymore? What if you are desperate to save your marriage but your spouse isn’t sure?
Holistic therapy is an integrative, progressive form of therapy that combines different tools and approaches to fit the needs of the individual client. The therapist’s goal is to empower clients to take control of their mental, physical and spiritual health to reach their goals through inspiring wellness. This unique approach looks at how healing the body heals the mind and how healing the mind heals the body.
What is EMDR (eye movement and desensitization reprocessing) therapy used to treat? The answer used to be straight forward, it was developed to treat PTSD in veterans. However, after it proved to be very beneficial, professionals began to apply it to many other types of problems- recent event traumas like car accidents, assaults, surgeries, deaths, and then to other issues like memories of sexual or physical abuse, alcoholism and addiction, phobias, anxiety, relational trauma or bereavement.
Looking for ways to support a child that has experienced a trauma? Play therapist, Jennifer Hendricks, shares some practical tips for supporting children through difficult times.
Have you ever wondered if you are still being impacted by overwhelming events that happened in the past? Has an event left you with a lingering sense of powerlessness, guilt, distrust, or shame? Are your current emotional reactions out of proportion to your situation? Do you re-experience past events or work hard to avoid thinking about them? Trauma can have lingering impact on you and EMDR therapy can help.
EMDR is ‘short’ for eye movement, desensitization and reprocessing therapy. It is a comprehensive type of therapy, not just the part most people associate with it: which is the eye movement back and forth (bilateral stimulation). The eye movements can be achieved through finger movements, watching a light bar, holding the buzzers, tapping on knees, or audio tones through headphones. It is an eight phase treatment created by Francine Shapiro for addressing traumatic memories which includes such steps as: history taking, practicing re-stabilizing your emotions, the actual processing of the trauma, the closure step, logging your reactions, and then re-checking the memory during the next session.
As a parent, watching your child grieve can be an incredibly painful experience leaving you feeling helpless, heartbroken, and lost. For some families, grief shows up after a transition: a divorce, a move, or an illness. For others, the loss of a family member, a friend, or a beloved pet initiates the grief process. During these times, parents struggle to talk to their kids about the difficult emotions commonly experienced with grief. Although periods of grief in a family can be incredibly difficult, they can be invaluable in creating intimacy in close relationships and building strong coping skills throughout the emotional process.
Here is an experiment for you: The next time you are experiencing interpersonal conflict, try something different. Look for something that you can validate and speak those words aloud. “It makes sense that you feel…….”
Have you ever known something was wrong in your life? The signs are there: anger, emptiness, and withdrawal from relationships. Maybe you notice ever-present anxiety, jealousy, or substance abuse. You ruminate on past events or seek to control everything and everyone around you. You can see the "swelling."
Understanding sexual desire in women can be a mystery. Couple’s therapist, Denise Rhew, unpacks issues associated with women’s desire and gives us some tips on how to rekindle passion in your relationship.
While we might want to give and receive unconditional love, the “unconditional” part often comes with many conditions, including expectations and disappointment. We cannot take a magic pill for this to happen: connected couples work on their relationship to keep it strong. Anyone can experience this kind of deep connection, as long as they are willing to work for it.
Has someone told you that you have a problem with alcohol? Are you wondering if your drinking has become a problem? Are you struggling to know how much alcohol is too much? Therapist, Beth Dean, specializes in problematic substance use and offers some wise and practical tips to help you determine if alcohol has become a problem in your life.
Boundaries are a frequent topic in therapy spaces during the period leading up to Thanksgiving and Christmas. And while it makes perfect sense that we need good boundaries to have happy relationships, creating boundaries can be frustrating and confusing. Add in other people’s reactions, and you have the recipe for more than turkey and stuffing.