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All couples fight— in fact, the process of rupture and repair can actually be strength building. The key as to whether an argument or difficult conversation makes a pair stronger lies in HOW a couple fights. Adaptive Disagreement Strategies S L O W D O W N Take a breath. Don’t act and react on impulse. If you need to, take an agreed upon period of time to collect yourself and your thoughts so that you can…
Read MoreAll couples fight— in fact, the process of rupture and repair can actually be strength building. The key as to whether an argument or difficult conversation makes a pair stronger lies in HOW a couple fights. Maladaptive Disagreement Strategies: Defense Mechanisms Common defense mechanisms employed in arguments include (but are not limited to): Acting out: performing a behavior in order to express a thought or emotion that may otherwise feel too difficult to express. (ex: punching a…
Read MoreHolidays are not always the happiest of times for everyone. If loved ones have passed during the year, the holidays are always a part of the “firsts” which is of course hard to handle. If you have to work and are unable to get to your family or friends is also difficult. When feeling down and having to attend multiple functions can be overwhelming and can lead to toxic relationships. In this post, I will identify 5…
Read MoreWe tend to forget about ourselves and not love ourselves as much as maybe we should. No one else will love you, more than yourself. When you learn to love yourself unconditionally, you will have a more positive outlook on life and will be happier, which in turn reflects on how you treat others. Channel your inner self Remember who you are. Engage in yoga, mindfulness, meditation, anything sort of activity that makes you stay true to…
Read MoreMental health has a very bad stigma that we need to break. There is nothing wrong with mental health or having to see a therapist or taking medications. Why do we feel like we cannot talk about what is honestly happening in our lives? Being honest with ourselves and with others about mental health can help break the stigma that we live in. Talk openly about mental health. Be honest and open with friends, co-workers, family, people…
Read MorePaula Gonzalez MA, LPC (Licensed Professional Counselor) Dialectical Behavioral Therapy is more widely known as DBT and is an evidence based therapy that teaches a broad range of behavioral skills. The skills DBT teaches are to help clients reduce their symptoms and change their behavior. DBT is a form of talk therapy that resembles Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) but more of the focus on is changing behavior than on changing cognition. DBT is used to treat borderline…
Read MoreMadissyn Fredericks, Licensed Professional Counselor, Symmetry Counseling We are all guilty of it. Many of us overuse Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat to fill most of our free time. If there is some extra down time at the office, on the commute home, or on our days off it feels basically automatic to pull out our phones scroll through social media. According to Social Media Today, the average person is spending approximately 2 hours per day on social…
Read MoreMadissyn Fredericks, Licensed Professional Counselor, Symmetry Counseling Every breakup takes it toll one way or another but there are certain heartbreaks that leave you feeling utterly devastated. During this kind of heartache it seems impossible to eat, sleep, see people, or even be happy or laugh. All you really want to do is isolate from others, cry, avoid the situation, and potentially try to “just try to move on”. While healing your heart is a different process…
Read MoreAs a therapist, I often see in session the struggles my clients have with patience. I have experienced couples being frustrated with one another about their conflict cycles continuing, or annoyed with their partner for not doing household chores when asked. I have also heard individuals get frustrated with the traffic that made them late to the sessions, or express frustration with the therapy process as a whole because things are not changing as quickly as they…
Read MoreMatthew Cuddeback, LCSW When you experience trauma, there are a lot of ways that it takes a toll mentally. Frequently people experience agitation, mistrust, anger, depression, and many other symptoms. One of the most difficult results of trauma is often described as not feeling like yourself, feeling distant from your life and others, or a lack of feeling. When this occurs, people sometimes lose track of time or may not remember how they got to where they…
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