cognitive behavioral therapy
Breakups and separations are one of the most common reasons for which people initially seek therapy with a psychologist or counselor. These life experiences often stir up our deepest insecurities and fears about both the past and future. This seems to be true whether you are the one pursuing or the one on the receiving end of the breakup. While they can bring up intense, often overwhelming feelings, breakups can also bring an infusion of new energy…
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We all have beginnings as children, playing, laughing, loving, and interacting with the world as if it were magical. Even though we age, our earlier life experiences are still within us. Those creative, carefree, and childlike parts are still there, and so are any challenging and traumatic experiences we may have experienced in our youth. Both the positive and challenging experiences can affect our mental health into adulthood. As we age, it is common to consciously and/or…
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Are you feeling stuck in your life? Trapped in your feelings of anxiety? Unsure why you continue to engage in behavior that doesn’t work for you? When was the last time you took an honest inventory of your life? Spiritual giants, therapists, and 12-step programs all espoused the necessity of consistent self-reflection. It was Socrates who reportedly said that “the unexamined life is not worth living,” yet his remark remains just as true today as it…
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“Self-care” has become a familiar term in pop culture and is commonly promoted by Millennials through hashtags, personal blogging, and other media outlets. Therapists commonly talk to their clients about the importance of practicing self-care on a daily basis as a way to help with anxiety, depression, and other mental health concerns as well as a way to improve overall well-being. However, what may not be talked about as much is what self-care actually is and why…
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Many of us spend a lot of time, money, and effort into making our tough feelings go away. When someone says, “I’m feeling really anxious” (or sad, overwhelmed, depressed, etc.), a common response is to see your doctor for medication, talk to a psychologist to work through it, or go do something that will distract you from what you’re feeling. The general goal of doing these things is to make us feel better, or to avoid sitting…
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By: Margaret Reynolds, LCPC Part 1 (Navigating the Terrain) What follows is a visualization exercise to help you find perspective and develop awareness, appreciation, and authorship for your life’s journey. This will involve painting a mental picture for yourself and then looking at it in three distinct ways to learn and grow from the experience. Doing this will come naturally to some and will be more difficult for others. I recommend that you make notes or sketches…
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Do you listen to your inner child? As adults, we often become preoccupied with our “adult” roles and forget that despite the aging process, we were all once children. Your inner child is within you no matter how old you are, and this part now depends on your adult self for nurturing. If you struggle with mental health issues, even if it’s not depression with a capital D, your inner child may benefit from more nurturing. Many…
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Situational mood problems like a temporary break up, money issue, or argument with a friend can seem devastating but anxiety or depression treatment can seem unfit at the time. Mood problems in general can create various types of distorted thinking like tunnel vision, all or nothing, and black and white thinking. I like to call this type of thinking “Rough Draft” thinking because it’s sloppy and not reflective of our entire strength and resilience. More specifically, the…
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By Andrew McNaughton LCSW CADC How we choose the words we use in expressing our thoughts to ourselves and others directly impacts how we make ourselves feel. I have previously addressed rational and irrational thinking in a previous blog, and this will expand on those concepts by demonstrating the benefit of exchanging the vocabulary of demands with preferences. The difference might, on the surface, seem slight, but the impact of our use of preferential instead of demanding…
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By Andrew McNaughton LCSW CADC Change is a process, and certainly not an easy one, but the benefits of making positive changes will almost certainly outweigh discomfort felt during the process. We are not, however, always prepared to dive into making changes, or are even able or ready to see that we could benefit from changing. Before attempting changes, it is useful to be able to identify how ready we are to begin to make them. This…
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