Therapist Chicago
By: Bridgette W. Gottwald, LPC, NCC Social comparison — it’s a “pervasive social phenomenon.” Not only do we utilize comparison to judge the standing or ranking of ourselves and others, but we also use it to evaluate current and past outcomes, as well as future prospective outcomes. According to Brene Brown, this means that “significant parts of our lives, including our future, are shaped by comparing ourselves to others.” Comparison can be a difficult word to define…
Read MoreZoe Mittman, LSW Covid-19 has impacted mental health on a global level. Studies have found a significant increase in the prevalence of anxiety and depressive symptoms amongst children and youth. Furthermore, a meta-analysis of studies found that anxiety and depression have doubled among this age group, and has increased later into the pandemic. About one in four children/adolescents are experiencing depressive symptoms, and one in five are experiencing anxiety symptoms (Racine et al., 2021). These statistics are…
Read MoreMegan Mulroy, LPC We’ve all been in overwhelming situations that feel unbearable and intolerable. There are a variety of things that cause us pain and distress. Maybe you are in a fight with your partner, or maybe you were disciplined at work or school. Maybe something completely out of your control happened like a car accident that made you late. If you ever feel unable to tolerate painful events, urges, and emotions, Marsha Linehan, the creator of…
Read MoreBy: Danielle Bertini, LCPC Let’s face it, sometimes apologies can be tough. They require us to put our egos aside and acknowledge that we may have hurt someone we really care about. And what people don’t realize is that understanding how to apologize is something that can be a learned skill. Phillips (2021) offers five tips on how to have more successful apologies. The Apology Must Restore Self-Respect and Dignity Words or behaviors that make a person…
Read MoreAmanda Ann Gregory, LCPC, EMDR Certified The end of a romantic relationship can be devastating due to all the losses that you are forced to experience all at once. You have lost the relationship, future plans/aspirations, financial/physical/emotional support, and perhaps, even aspects of your own identity. These losses need to be grieved so that you are able to move forward. After a breakup, you might immediately begin grieving, or it might take some time for you to…
Read MoreAmanda Ann Gregory, LCPC, EMDR Certified When you experience intense anxiety, anger, sadness, or excitement, you might need to calm yourself. But do you know how? Are you aware of the self-calming methods that might work best for you? Self-calming methods are often considered coping skills and are ways of exercising self-care, yet different methods work for different people. The trick is to discover which methods best meet your needs and are the most effective in…
Read MoreAmanda Ann Gregory, LCPC, EMDR Certified When you experience intense anxiety, anger, or sadness, you might need to calm yourself. Do you know how? It’s important that you find self-calming methods that work best for you. There are physical and cognitive methods for self-calming, and they often overlap (for an account of common methods of physical self-calming, see my blog piece titled How Can I Calm Myself Down? Physical Self-Calming Methods). Try these cognitive self-calming methods in…
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Hannah Hopper, LCPC Emotional neglect is typically something we think about in association with childhood, but it can also take place in a committed relationship. It’s the absence of enough emotional awareness and response and can be a painful experience at any point in life. Because emotional neglect is invisible, a couple may be experiencing pain in their relationship for many years without fully understanding what’s causing it. In a relationship with emotional neglect, both partners are…
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By: Bridgette W. Gottwald, LPC, NCC Anxious? Depressed? Worried? Stressed? It happens to the best of us, at least every now and then with all of the many curve balls and unexpected things that life throws at us. Mindfulness exercises allow us to stop what we are doing, take a breath, observe thoughts, feelings, and emotions, and proceed with something that will help us in the present moment. It will result in us tapping into the present…
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Mary-Lauren O’Crowley, NCC, LPC I recently found myself instructing a patient who had expressed feelings of anger to utilize relaxation techniques in an effort to mitigate the emotion. The patient responded by telling me that relaxation, including meditation and deep breathing, had proved useless; they still felt angry, overwhelmed, and worked up. This got me thinking — why are we so quick to fix or get rid of anger? And why must the “fix” involve doing the…
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