Understanding Maternal Mental Health
Becoming a new mom for the first time or the next time is hard. And sometimes it’s hard in ways that no one talks about. Here’s a blog post talking about those ways and how to get help.
Understanding Religious Trauma
Understanding Religious Trauma Learn to recognize the signs and impact of faith trauma Religion can be a source of comfort and support and is deeply rooted in the lives of many within the Appalachian Highlands. Spirituality serves a number of useful functions. It can provide comfort, create meaning, give hope …
A Counselor’s Guide to COVID-19
Welp, here we are, three months into the roaring twenties facing a global pandemic. Just as we all might have expected. Schools are shutting down, businesses scrambling, hands cleaner than ever, and I’ve suddenly discovered an impeccable ability to imagine germs everywhere. Literally everywhere. Our world as we have known …
Communicate Better Quickly
I work with a lot of couples in conflict. I’ve been a third party to conflict about parenting, money, sex, affairs, hopes, goals, and even sweet potatoes. Being a part of these discussions, I have learned that the facts of the conflict matter very little. From my stance as an …
Helping Your Child with School Anxiety
It’s back to school time for students in the area. While students mourn their final days of break, anxiety is awaking from its summer slumber with a fresh set of “what ifs”. Soon, they’ll begin creeping into the minds of students and creating new worries or resuscitating old ones. What …
Is Your Focus Working?
Modern cameras are pretty amazing. In an instant they allow us to capture and freeze memories. It takes only seconds to transform an image existing in the scope of our vision into a timeless digital recreation. Part of this magic lies in the camera’s almost instantaneous auto-focus feature. From the …
How to Let Anxiety Go
I don’t like rainy days and that’s how I teach people to think differently about anxiety. Therapists are guilty in speaking in vague, fluffy language which can be inspiring but might late leave you thinking, “wait, what does that actually mean?”. Rainy days are perfect for practicing the mysterious concepts …
Harry Potter and the Counselor’s Couch
We’re taught to not self-disclose as therapists, but I’ve got to make a confession. I was thirty years old before I ever cracked a page of the Harry Potter books. I knew there were a few sort-of-popular movies from the series, but I hadn’t bothered to watch them either. Flash …
What’s Your “I’m Not Good Enough Story”?
I have sat across the couch from a lot of clients since entering into the counseling world. I have learned that we all have a version of the “I’m Not Good Enough” story. We might have different versions of this story. Some might have the original release (“not attractive enough”, …
Parent’s Guide to School Anxiety
7 Tips to Help Your Child with School Anxiety It’s that time of year when we kids are headed back into a new school year. Each year this brings about a host of unknowns and consequently anxieties. You can help your child learn to respond to their anxiety in healthy …