Trick or Treat? Removing Your Relationship’s Mask before Saying “I Do”

You decide who you want to become for the night. You prepare your outfit, plan your approach and hope to end the night with a little sugar. You dream of treats, but primarily hope you don’t end up with a trick. It may sound like the average Halloween night, but this concept sadly applies to a first date. This process of masking yourself with hopes of getting treats over tricks may actually continue far past that first date. Over time, though, the relationship may grow to a point where you want to get married. Here is how you can remove the “mask” from your relationship before your big day.Trick Know Yourself without the Mask The key is to know who you are first without the [Read more...]

By Jennifer Slingerland Ryan|

Carving Season: Pumpkins and “Me Time” (Strategies for Self-Care)

Here we are, smack-dab in the middle of October. There’s talk about Halloween costumes, carving pumpkins, and the upcoming holidays. With that, now is a fantastic time to carve out time for yourself and engage in self-care strategies. [Hehe] “Yeah, sure, sounds great in theory, but, Lyndsey, I don’t have the time. Like, at all. I’m maxed out.” I hear you. I do. But let me tell you, work FOR yourself, not against yourself. I’ll explain what I mean shortly. Sometimes, life feels like it’s going faster than what we can keep up with, while other times, we may feel like there is nothing to do or maybe we feel like doing nothing. This phenomenon happens in large part because we are not placing high [Read more...]

By Lyndsey Perry, M.A., LPC-Intern|Tags: me-time, priority, relax, self-care|

7 Ways to Know You’re an Awesome Mom

Being a Mom is tough work, we Moms know that. There are times we don't live up to the expectations we have for ourselves, and as a therapist, I find myself needing to let Moms know just how awesome they are. So, I put together a list of ways to know that you are an awesome mom! The most important thing about being an awesome mom is knowing who you are and what you are becoming. You are so much more than Just-a-Mom. Your life is way more than the identifying work, "Mom." You juggle so many things in your life, from being an Kid-Uber driver to rockin' it at the office. Pantsuit by day, messy bun by night, and what you have in between is [Read more...]

By Amanda Myers, M.Ed., LPC, RPT|Tags: awesome mom, parent coaching, parenting is hard, screwing up my kids|

Suffering

Recently, a fellow cancer survivor friend was asked by a publication to write a piece about an experience that she had with her journey through cancer. She agreed, always happy to spread more awareness of the challenges of this devastating, harrowing feat that many go through. She poured her heart out, speaking authentically about both her challenges and her triumphs, but she quickly received feedback from the editors. They wanted a more "positive" piece, and wondered if she could simply edit out some of the struggle? Simple? No. Absolutely not. My Cancer Journey As a cancer survivor myself, I have frequently been put in a position where others have expected me to minimize, or even ignore, my lived experiences in order for them to feel [Read more...]

By Brandie Sellers, M.S., LPC-Intern|

Listening to Your Gut: How To Handle “Off” Situations

We have likely all experienced a time when we’ve noticed something “off” about someone we care for. It can often be unclear as to what our role is when we make this observation, but when our gut gets moving, I think it's important to take action! It could be something simply, like your friend is having a bad day. Or, it could be that this person is genuingly in trouble and thinking of something like suicide. Do you say something? Do you leave them alone to handle what they need to? Depending on your relationship with the person, you may say something immediately or wait until later. The fact of the matter is, we don’t know until we ask how we may be of help [Read more...]

By Lyndsey Perry, M.A., LPC-Intern|Tags: Friends, helping, support|

Parent Coaching

Parent coaching may seem like an odd concept, and that being a parent seems straightforward in theory. You teach your children good moral values and encourage positive behavior to excel, but life can be messy and parenting is never easy. Whether you have children who are well-behaved and fulfill every expectation or ones who are troubled and get into sticky situations, the bottom line is that parenting is never simple. One key point to remember is that you’re not alone. If you feel like you’re struggling with parenting, there a few easy things to consider. What is Parent Coaching? We all need guidance and mentoring with our parenting. At our office, you've got a team of experts who are not only parents themselves, but who [Read more...]

By Jennifer Slingerland Ryan|Tags: life coaching, parent coach, parent coaching|

Anxiety

Anxiety can be one of the most difficult and frightening mental health issues to deal with, especially since much of the disorder is self-manufactured fear. The stats say it all: over 40 million Americans are affected by severe anxiety, and 40 percent of adults will experience some kind of anxiety disorder in their life. However, only a third of adults and one-fifth of teens receive treatment. If you feel like you might be experiencing an anxiety disorder, here are a few starting points. What Having an Anxiety Disorder Feels Like Mental health terms get thrown around a lot, but what’s important to remember is that there’s a big difference between feeling anxious versus experiencing a decrease in functionality and the ability to calm yourself down. [Read more...]

By Jennifer Slingerland Ryan|Tags: anxiety, phobia, stress, worry|

ADHD: A Neurological Disorder of the Brain

ADHD, often used interchangeably with ADD, is a neurobiological disorder of the brain characterized by inability to focus on tasks or follow through with tasks, or hyperactivity. It's important to distinguish life stressors which can cause these symptoms, to that which can be considered a true disorder. The DSM outlines specific criteria that patients exhibit who are clinically diagnosed with the disorder. ADHD can be treated with a multi-pronged approach, including pharmacological options and talk therapy, but the first step is to understand what it is and how it works. What ADHD Feels Like The DSM defines the following three symptoms as indicative of someone suffering from ADHD: Inattention: The inability to maintain focus on tasks, both during work and play, that results in lack of follow [Read more...]

By Jennifer Slingerland Ryan|Tags: ADD, ADHD, Hyperactive, Inattentive|

Grief and Loss

Grief and loss is incredibly painful. Loss of a loved one either from death of the ending of a relationship is like the loss of a limb. It's part of life and something that everyone experiences at some point, but that doesn't make matters easier when you're in the middle of the depths of sadness. The first step toward healing is understanding what grief is and how it works. The Five Stages of Grief The standard stages of grief was a progression of emotions pioneered by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross of how the grieving process works. The Five Stages of Grief are as follows: Denial: Disbelief over the events that have caused loss. This may be anything from the death of a loved one to the loss [Read more...]

By Jennifer Slingerland Ryan|

Depression

Depression isn’t just having a bad day or feeling down over something that happened at work. The difference between feeling depressed and major depression is how it’s defined and how it manifests. Major depression is a depressive state of intense sadness and loss of pleasure that lasts for at least two weeks. It's feeling irritable, low, unmotivated, unfocused, and generally like you can't find clarity or direction, and aren't sure you want to. If feeling depressed or sad is more than just a short blip on your emotional radar, it’s time to seek help. What Having Depression Feels Like The main factor that sets clinical depression apart from having a rough day is the duration of time the feeling lasts. Also significant is the severity [Read more...]

By Jennifer Slingerland Ryan|Tags: bipolar, Depression, guilt, lonely, Sadness, suicide|