Whether by fate, transition, or poor choices – we all struggle with the horrible, hitting rock bottom (i.e. “woes“) in our life. Throughout my life I’ve faced trials in multiple arenas (I’m far from perfect – and that’s okay). However, the gifts I take from these moments are opportunities for growth and learning. We can’t […]
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How Avoiding Other People Means Rejecting Ourselves
What Avoiding Other People Means to Us When we are avoiding other people or dealing with a situation, we are really saying no to the hard things that are coming up within ourselves when dealing with that situation. *Whether we are conscious of these hard feelings or not.* This is really unfortunate because those hard […]
Hugs Can Transform Your Relationship – Here’s How!
X’s over O’s? Plenty of couples spend time, energy, and money trying to fix relationship problems, increase intimacy, or simply kick things up a notch in their relationship. Well, there is a free way to do all of the above that is often overlooked and underrated: Hugs. Yes, hugs help all of the problems listed […]
When Your Loved One Hurts You
We’ve all been there. We are talking with a loved one and out of the blue something inside of us gets triggered by what they say. Our thoughts and body begin moving faster than we can process and we get that feeling of discomfort deep in our gut or a racing in our chest. “What […]
Substance Abuse: Why Jail Fails People Who are Struggling with Addictions
*To preface this article, I want to start by saying that this is not about police bashing or to put out fear or disconnection to any sort of agency in America, this is about giving both an empathetic and responsible look at the War On Drugs and the system we are currently using with the […]
When Happiness Feels Bad
Although millions of people search endlessly and spend copious amounts of money searching for the key to “happiness”, some people find happiness to be a really anxiety-provoking emotion. This is because happiness is an extremely vulnerable emotion. As people review their lives in their head they start to think, “Life is good right now…the family […]
Embracing Failure to Succeed
As we begin our week, may we be brave enough to remind ourselves that embracing failures is a necessary part of our journey to success. In the past, I have tried to avoid failures at all costs, thinking that if I failed at something the pain of my often self-inflicted shame would consume me. Much […]
Parenting is Hard.
Rebellion One of the most valuable phrases I’ve learned when working with families is: Rules – Relationship = Rebellion This concept was originally created to help step-parents and blended families understand the oh-so common rebellion that can happen when a step-parent steps into a child’s life and tries to enforce rules, while failing to foster […]
I’m Not Trying To Fix You: A Letter to Those in Therapy
As a therapist and counselor, I am here to embrace you. The good, bad, messy, silly — all the parts. So many clients come to therapy saying “Fix me!” or “Just help me erase or get rid of these painful memories!”or “Make me better!”, especially when they’ve been struggling with pain from trauma, grief, a […]
Be Yourself. Science Says You’ll be Happier.
“Positive emotion alienated from the exercise of character leads to emptiness, inauthenticity, depression, and as we age the growing realization that we are fidgeting until we die.” What makes a person truly happy? Not the, “I just ate a really awesome slice of cheesecake happy” but true, lasting emotional satisfaction? Scientists like Martin Seligman have […]