Therapy grounded in real inner work and genuine human connection.
It’s easy to get overwhelmed when you are taking the first steps to begin therapy. You might be wondering if now is the right time to start therapy; or you may have already made the decision to move forward with therapy but are not sure …
In today’s society lots of activities, both business and pleasure, involve a screen. It’s important to understand the impact of too much screen time and to consider ways to manage it wisely. Did you know that looking at a screen all day can impact your …
Aside from “how long does therapy take?”, which was discussed last week, another common question is “how often should I be seeing my therapist?” Again, it depends. So let’s talk about that. What follows applies to those who are coming in for individual, family, couples, …
Not everyone is convinced that feelings are important. I get that. If you are one of those people who is not totally convinced that feelings are that big a deal, this is for you. I explain it this way often to my clients… How hard …
Burnout is real. Not only is it miserable for you, it’s toxic for your health and your relationships. You know this already.
What you might not know about is these four signs that are about real life. Be honest with yourself when you look at this: 4 Signs of Stress and Burnout.
Why? Because it might be relieving to know that you are not just a jerk. And, realizing that you are stressed is the first key piece of information that indicates you need to focus on stress management.
Check out our post about how to use Stress to Your Advantage. And the one about how to figure out Your Stress Management Formula.
Get ahead of it. Jeopardizing your quality of life, your relationships and you health is just not worth it.
This viral video was shared in a group recently and it stopped me in my tracks. Watch what he does in the first video (3 min) and then listen to what he says about that experience in the second video (4 min). And then I’ll …
You are not alone! Many people have the experience of these conflicting states at times and this Huffington Post article brings together what people have to say about it. I find it helpful when I know there are others who have similar experiences. And I …
I’m pretty sure you would answer with a resounding “YES!” if I asked you whether you wanted to raise your child to be resilient.
Right, because you care about raising a child that can be a successful, well adjusted, contributing member to society.
See these articles about educator’s perspectives on this subject here and here (this one is what made the term go viral recently).
It is the successor of the famous parenting temptation called “helicopter parenting”.
In essence, it means trying to “mow” down obstacles for your child so that they feel cared for and do not have to experience struggle.
Of course, every parent wants their child to be happy. And, to be honest, a kid who is not having big emotions also makes your job easier in the moment. It is HARD to watch your kids struggle.
It’s about the long game here.
Because life is not something we get to control, there will always be moments of challenge and struggle. Circumstances will occur that we cannot change.
Because this is just the truth of living as a human being on the planet, we are best served by learning how to manage our internal world as opposed to trying to control external circumstances.
By giving your children the opportunity to navigate these feelings and responses to circumstances outside themselves on a smaller scale (feels big in the moment!) like hurt feelings between friends at girl scouts, you are giving them the opportunity to train for what they will encounter as adults (maybe office politics or competition in sports or raising children of their own).
This, of course, will depend on their age and maturity level.
It requires mindful consideration about when it will be best to let them work through it.
Sometimes the best time to let them work through it is when you have enough resources to help them navigate the challenge.
Sometimes is it not best to let them work through a struggle when you are also struggling. When you are depleted, it is hard to coach them through the wave of emotion.
And, it takes some practice to be able to breathe through the discomfort of your child’s emotions arising.
It is something you can always ask other parents, teachers or a therapist about if you are not sure what that line should be of allowing them to practice managing adversity or coming in to offer support.
Adopting a new way of handling difficult things is usually not something you bother to do when everything is going great. Usually you decide you must make a change when there have been tough times. You are built to be drawn toward what is familiar …