The 2022 Midterm Elections are right around the corner. Do you have a voting plan? How about a “coping with election anxiety” plan? Election season can stir up anxiety for many of us because electing new public leaders can offer us hope for a better future or leave us with a sense of dread about…
You’re on the road less traveled–navigating consensual non-monogamy in a monogamist culture. You value this way of being in relationship with others and you also struggle with insecurity, jealousy, anger, and fear of abandonment. Your monogamous friends say things like, “I don’t know how you do it. I couldn’t. I’m just too jealous.” And while they mean…
I wrote this blog post in the spring of 2022 while a grief counselor at a hospice agency. I hope you find it helpful every spring. With warm weather just around the corner and the clocks set to change, a common phrase we hear is, “Time to spring forward!” There is also a common phrase…
Try to think about the ways you have been taught how to grieve the loss of someone or something. When you were a child and someone in your family died, how did others react? Did you see outward expressions of grief? Did you talk about your feelings with others? Or, did you see the opposite:…
Practicing gratefulness while in the midst of profound grief may seem like a daunting task. When someone you love so dearly has died, how can you possibly think of things to be grateful for? How can you have a grateful heart when it has been shattered into pieces? Being grateful may not be something that…
Counseling and LGBTQ+ While this may come as no surprise to members of it, the LGBTQ+ community struggles with mental health issues at a much higher rate than many other groups. This is not a result of their gender identity or sexual attraction, but of unique stressors they often have to face as a result…
Vulnerability – how does it make you feel to read that word? Are you nervous, excited, maybe even a little scared…those are all valid responses. When you share a part of yourself with someone else, it takes courage. There is always risk involved when you open yourself up to another person or a new experience….
Starting a new relationship is exciting. You may find yourself fantasizing about the future, imagining your wedding and picking out names for your children. But that excitement and happiness may be tainted by anxiety and fear – what if I do something wrong and they break up with me? What if they learn something shameful…
Attachment is defined as the degree of closeness in relationships based on how people relate to others. Attachment is first established in childhood and is a direct response to how a child is cared for by their primary caregiver(s). Lifespan development starts at conception and ends at death. Throughout development, there are “critical windows”…
Remember those old commercials about going noseblind? Where the homeowner walks into the room thinking it smells fine, and then their friend enters and the couch suddenly morphs into a smelly dog-couch hybrid? Kinda gross, but funny and relatable too, right? Well, I’m here to tell you that you can become stressblind too. Stressblind is…