24Jun

Pride is Important for Mental Wellness

Pride is way more than the rainbow section at Target or just the 30 days pride month encompasses. Pride is for everyone and all the time. Pride elevates marginalized voices within the LGBTQ+ community. It’s important to remember that the LGBTQ+ plus community has not been acknowledged or affirmed by the general population until very […]

18Jun

Self-Care

When I started my own mental health journey twenty years ago, I had my therapist ask what I was doing for self-care. I responded with showering, brushing teeth and hair, eating right. I remember her smiling and she said while it was good, I was taking care of my physical body, what was I doing […]

12Jun

Panic Attacks vs Anxiety Attacks

It has always interested me how different sources seem to have conflicting opinions on anxiety attacks and panic attacks. Some medical and psychological publications and sources treat them as synonyms, meaning the same thing and only being a matter of preferred name. Other sources that are legitimate treat them as separate experiences, with panic attacks […]

06Jun

The New Social Distancing (a.k.a. Anxiety)—The Personal Side

Years ago, I had the privilege of going into homes to provide support and therapy. I will spare you the specifics of the populations I served and the challenges I helped people face. However, there are some lessons from that career season that have stuck with me and been brought back to my mind since […]

22May

What is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)?

If you have ever seen a therapist, watched a therapist on TV you have probably heard the term cognitive behavioral therapy or CBT for short. CBT is based on the cognitive model of psychotherapeutic treatment that helps people learn how to identify and change destructive or disturbing thought patterns that have a negative influence on […]

15May

Chronic Pain and its Impact on our Psychology

There are few things in life that are harder to deal with than chronic pain. Pain, chronic or not, is one of the most intense motivators of anxiety, frustration, anger, and depression. Chronic pain has been one of the most studied challenges that human’s face and yet, finding good ways to manage it has been […]

07May

Suicide—The Personal Side

Having done a decent amount of grief work during my years practicing, I have had the honor of sitting with others experiencing grief due to the loss of a loved one by suicide. Grief work is always difficult, but the suddenness of suicide brings an added layer of challenge to the healing process.

01May

Suicide—The Practical Side

One person dies every 40 seconds by suicide (www.who.int). Suicide is a word we do not often hear or talk about, yet it is happening every day. In recent years the deaths of celebrities like Kate Spade, Anthony Bourdain and Robin Williams have brought awareness to this topic. And yet, it remains a subject few […]

22Apr

Self-Esteem

During my undergraduate program, in one of my textbooks I read a paragraph that has stuck with me. It talked about self-esteem and how our self-esteem is rooted in our childhood, that if we had a childhood filled with chaos, neglect or abuse that our self-esteem would be low, on the other hand if we […]