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Mary-Lauren O’Crowley, NCC, LPC No matter who we are or where we are from, we will experience pain- whether through neglect, abuse, death, or disease. We are all human and thus, we will all sustain emotional injury throughout our lifetime. Many of these wounds, however, will be experienced in childhood, as we are at a pivotal stage in development and tend to be more vulnerable. Any wrongdoing done to us at such a tender age in life…
Read MoreMary-Lauren O’Crowley Sometimes referred to as relationship addiction, codependency is a learned behavior through which an individual comes to rely heavily on their partner, often forgoing their own needs and desires in the process. This gravely impacts the individual’s ability to have a mutually healthy and satisfying relationship. A codependent individual may take on the role of a caregiver in meeting the physical, emotional, or psychological needs of their partner or their friends and family. The codependent…
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Mary-Lauren O’Crowley, NCC, LPC Have you ever wondered how certain people are drawn to others? What makes an anxious, insecure and often clingy young lady drawn to a self-absorbed and avoidant young man? Why does an unemotional female seem to always be drawn to a man who feels a need to get desperately validated? What is the basis for toxic relationships? The answer to these questions is often accounted for by therapists in the sum of two…
Read MoreTo answer this question, one must first ask, how does resentment find its way into your relationship? Resentment is defined as “a feeling of bitterness, animosity, or hostility elicited by something or someone perceived as insulting or injurious (APA, 2020).” An article from BetterHelp (2020) has broken down resentment into three components: persistent anger, unfair treatment, and dwelling on upsetting experiences. Persistent anger is pretty much what it sounds like. It’s a feeling of anger, or even…
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Jessica Pontis, LCSW Everyone wants to have a voice, but sometimes we struggle to connect with our strength and speak our truth. We all wish to be assertive when it comes to standing up for ourselves and what we believe in, though struggle to find the words or are concerned about the perception of others. To be assertive is to show confidence and appropriate forcefulness in situations where our beliefs, opinions, or desires differ from that of…
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Steven Topper LCPC Over the past few years, we’ve seen a boom in the proliferation of mindfulness. Commodified to apps, businesses have attempted to harness the power of mindfulness to increase productivity. Within that proliferation has been a watering down of the tenets of mindfulness- which is frequently the case when ideas move into the mainstream. In an effort to reach more people, the ideas themselves become homogenized, more easily digestible. And while Headspace and Calm have…
Read MoreSteven Topper LCPC Take a moment to reflect on the last few weeks. What has been a struggle? Where has pain showed up in your days and nights? What has gone well? What do you wish could have been different? How do you wish you could have been different? See if some of these reflections yield familiar results. Themes that you’ve known about for quite a while. Commonly, our struggles are old ones, maybe repackaged for new…
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I remember one of the first times I was introduced to the concept of “fat”. I was a third grader (about 8 years old) when a friend made the comment, “my mom told me if your arms or thighs jiggle, it means your fat.” As a child I remember feeling so concerned that because my thighs gave the slightest jiggle, I must have been fat. I grew up in the diet culture of the 90’s and early…
Read MoreBy: Bridgette W. Gottwald, LPC, NCC If you read my last blog post, which was part one of this two-part blog series, you learned many things that you would be able to observe from the body language of others. It discussed studying the eyes, facial movements, and proximity of body positioning. Part two includes information about mirroring, head movements, feet and hand signals, and more! Is the other person mirroring you? Mirroring of body language or behavior…
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