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Exercise and Mental Health: Getting Started

September 16, 2020

Megan Mulroy, LPC  It’s no secret that exercising can improve your mental health. Moving your body regularly for even just 20-30 minutes a day can decrease symptoms of anxiety, depression, and increase mood and boost energy and productivity levels. Even though we have this information, starting to add exercise to your routine can be overwhelming, especially if you don’t like exercising or if you haven’t done it in a while. There are so many options and if…

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Four Tips for Building Your Sense of Self

September 15, 2020

By: Danielle Bertini, LPC Building your sense of self is often a lifelong process of figuring out who you are, what you value, and what is important to you. This is especially hard in our world now where we are constantly sent messages about who we should be and what we should like. It can be difficult to find our own voices among the midst of so many other ideas and opinions. Cohen (2019) offers four tips…

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A Therapist’s Experience with “Doomscrolling”

September 14, 2020

Matthew Cuddeback LCSW Doomscrolling is a term that references how we can scroll through our social media and news outlets rapidly, often absentmindedly, looking for the newest opinions and information about difficult things going on in the world. It is something that can easily become maladaptive and unhealthy if left unchecked and is also difficult to avoid in our current environment. I have experienced the draws and negative effects of this phenomenon myself. Let’s talk about doomscrolling…

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The 90-Second Rule: Reacting to Hippopotamuses

September 11, 2020

By: Bridgette W. Gottwald, LPC, NCC According to Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, a Harvard brain Scientist, there is a 90-second chemical process that happens within the brain and body in reaction to an external stimulus that feels dangerous or threatening. After this takes place, the person has a choice to make. Do I want to stay in this emotional loop or can I leave this behind? Any additional emotional response is the result of remaining within that…

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6 Ways to Better Utilize Your Mentors

September 10, 2020

Amanda Ann Gregory, LCPC, EMDR Certified  Mentors are all around you. These experienced and trusted advisers can be bosses, coworkers, friends, family members, neighbors, community members, coworkers, and children, to name a few. They provide modeling, education, feedback, and growth in both your professional and personal development. Are you utilizing your mentors? If not, you could be missing out.  Consider these 6 ways to better utilize your mentors: Identify. Who are your mentors? It’s important to be…

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Using Psychodrama

September 9, 2020

By Eve Brownstone, LCPC, Certified Psychodramatist Psychodrama was designed as a group therapy method, in the 1920s, but I find psychodrama techniques very useful with my individual clients. Clients talk about issues but also move into action and try out new behaviors and situations before trying them in “the real world. Psychodrama is also great for taking care of unfinished business with a loved one or helps us learn how to heal from trauma. It helps clients…

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Ways to Curb Your Drinking Habits

September 8, 2020

While we were being sheltered-at-home and summer starting, I have noticed a slight uptake in the increase in alcohol intake. Have you ever realized how much you might be drinking on a night out with friends or while watching a movie at home? Sometimes we do not realize what we are doing or how things are affecting us. Have you tried to stop or curb your drinking? Continue reading to identify a few ways to help regulate…

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How to Make Working from Home, Work for You

September 6, 2020

While working from home may be the new normal during this time period, many people have been working from home prior to the spread of COVID-19. For anyone making the switch from an office setting, working in the field, or traveling to then working from home, it is likely a huge adjustment regardless of what’s happening in the outside world. It’s important to implement new self-care strategies in order to make working from home a positive and…

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It’s All About Change

September 2, 2020

By Eric Dean JD, MBA, MA, MA, LPC, CADC Change is hard, especially for habits and activities with which we are deeply familiar. Even when we are sure that change would be beneficial, the comfort and safety of familiarity can outweigh any of those perceived positive effects. Sustaining motivation to change is also difficult. For example, if I wanted to start exercising regularly, I may do so for a few weeks and then lose motivation to continue…

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Understanding Schemas

August 31, 2020

By Eric Dean JD, MBA, MA, MA, LPC, CADC Our perspectives are constantly being shaped by a plethora of environmental, genetic, and behavioral factors. Our perception of what we experience, has a significant impact on how we feel and behave as a result. Being exposed to a vast amount of information daily, we often use cognitive shortcuts to make assessments about situations. The mental models we use to classify and organize myriad ideas and information are called…

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