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Escaping the Avoidance Trap
When the summer heat made its way into town this year, I was excited about getting to cool off in my above ground pool. But, there was a problem. The pool was a murky, dark lagoon of sticks, leaves, and algae. Plus, it smelled terrible. Now if you are thinking, “How did she let her pool get that bad?” Please know, it’s a question I asked myself many times. The truth is the pool didn’t turn into a murky mess overnight. It was a slow progression over a period of 10 months. It all started with me missing cleaning it once one week which turned into two weeks then two…
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5 Benefits of Premarital Counseling
Deciding who you will spend the rest of your life with is one of the most serious decisions you will ever make. Planning a wedding requires a lot of time, energy, and money to get all of the details for your big day just right. However, planning for an actual marriage goes far beyond the wedding day. If you and your future spouse would like to build a love that lasts a lifetime, consider the following benefits to seeking premarital counseling: Provides an Opportunity to Address Issues Oftentimes, having necessary conversations about serious marriage topics can be uncomfortable and challenging for couples to navigate alone. Premarital counseling is a great…
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Athletes and the Mental Game
Embracing a Mind-Body-Spirit Connection to Create Your Best Performance Why Did I Feel This Way? Not once in my training had I ever even come close to the required swim pace I would need for this race. IronMan regulations give you 1 hour and 10 minutes tops to complete the swim distance or you are not allowed to move on to the bike and run portion. My fastest time as of yet was something like 2 hours. The day before the race, I became completely depressed. Panic and hopelessness were close behind, and shut down wasn’t too far after. What had happened to all the courage I had felt? My…
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5 Ways to Support Children with ADHD
Does your child have ADHD? Do you ever feel stuck or overwhelmed trying to connect and communicate with your ADHD child? You are not alone. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, is very common in children. Children with ADHD can have difficulty paying attention and concentrating. They can also be hyperactive or impulsive. While some children cope well with their symptoms, other children have more difficulty. Here are five ways you can support children with ADHD. Create a Schedule Making a schedule and sticking to it may seem impossible for busy parents. Creating a schedule, though, can make your child’s day organized and predictable. Parents can begin by slowly integrating…
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Connecting with Angry Children 101
Warning: This article is for parents and caregivers who know that they aren’t perfect, who occasionally are afraid to take their kids out in public, who know that they will find nothing monumental in the following article about parenting, but love their kids and are willing to trust their own intuition over any one single “proven” parenting strategy. A teenager and his mom arrived in my office one day, one looking angry as hell and the other at her wit’s end. Her son was in trouble at school, in trouble at home, a behavior problem everywhere he went, with not a single respectful bone in his body. His attitude in…
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4 Ways To Cope With Anxiety
Have you ever woken up and felt anxious? Almost like there is a weight on your chest that you can’t explain? You dread starting the day and want to crawl back in bed and hide from the world around you. Do you find it hard to cope with anxiety? This is the whisper (or yell) of anxiety trying to creep its way in. In my own life and work as a therapist, I have found that anxiety, in some form or fashion, is something many people struggle with. With everything happening in the world, it’s not surprising. For some anxiety is debilitating, for others it is a small feeling that…
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Feeling Angry? Here Are 3 Steps to Take
Recently, I talked to someone who stated they were feeling angry with their intimate partner. When I reflected back to them that they said they were angry, they looked back at me confused. They responded by trying to say they weren’t really angry, because they felt like it was “not acceptable to be angry with those they love”. Here’s something we should all know, it is OKAY to be angry with the ones we love. In fact, it is inevitable that we are going to feel at least some form of anger towards them at some point. We are human. The important thing is to recognize when we are feeling…
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Mental Health is Health
May is mental health awareness month. Mental health is a very important part of our overall health. Each year millions of Americans are affected by mental illness (1 in 5 adults and 1 in 6 youth aged 6-17). One way to break the stigma that continues to surround mental health is to talk about it. The more we talk about it, the more it will encourage those struggling to seek the help they need to live healthy, fulfilling lives. Life Can Be Hard We can all agree life comes with challenges. Many of the challenges we face are not ones we ask for or seek. Yet, they are still things…
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How to NOT GIVE UP
Ever feel like giving up? Maybe it’s a task you’re working on, goal you are aiming towards or just life in general that isn’t going the way you thought. You may start to think, “This is too hard. I can’t do this. Is this worth it?” You start compiling the list of reasons why you should just give up. And then one day you find yourself curled up in a hypothetical ball, telling yourself not nice things, ready to throw in the towel. However, just days, weeks, months, or years prior you thought to yourself with adamant resolution, I will not give up on _________ (fill in the blank).” …
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The Many Faces of Depression
By: Christy Pennison, LPC-S The many faces of depression can cause a work in your life. Around this time of year when it gets cloudy, rainy, and cold, many individuals can begin to feel “depressed”. You’ve probably heard of depression before, may struggle with it yourself, or know someone who does, but what is depression really? What does it look like? Well, depression can look and feel different from one person to the next. Depression has many faces. As a family member, friend, or coworker you may never know if the person next to you is struggling with depression because they look fine on the outside. They seem “okay”, but…
