Counselor Chicago
By Melanie Lustbader, LPC When individuals thinks of music therapy, it is not often thought of with eating disorder treatment. Music therapy promotes self-determination and collaboration in clients who are experiencing mental health concerns by focusing on an individual’s strengths. Some people may experience decreased stress and lowered anxiety while listening to music, but that goes for playing instruments as well. When an individual plays or listens to music, it may boost self-confidence and self-esteem in playing…
Read MoreBy Eric Dean JD, MBA, MA, MA, LPC, CADC Fighting about money is one of the leading causes of divorce in the United States. As a therapist who does Financial Counseling, I work with couples to create financial goals, facilitate open communication about finances, and explore emotions associated with money and financial decisions. In my experience most couples, even partners who have been together for a long time, have had very few substantive conversations about finances or…
Read More
By Eric Dean JD, MBA, MA, MA, LPC, CADC If you have been in therapy before, odds are you have talked about boundaries at some point. This post will describe what boundaries are, why we should set them, and the importance of enforcing them. Future posts will review ways to set healthy personal boundaries. A personal boundary is a limit or rule that we set for ourself or others. Let’s start off with some examples: John sets…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read MoreBy Eric Dean JD, MBA, MA, MA, LPC, CADC This is the million-dollar question to which I am going to respond with the unsatisfying answer: “It Depends.” Of course, there is no way to accurately predict the future, especially when it comes to relationships which are inherently messy and complicated. However, there are common reasons why relationships end. In this post, I will share four of them. Overdependence on one partner for emotional well-being…
Read MoreDo You Need Help?
Not what you were looking for?