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By: Bridgette W. Gottwald, LPC, NCC If you read my previous blog post, you learned about passive, aggressive, and passive-aggressive communicators. This second and final part of this two-part blog series about communication will discuss assertive communicators and the fluidity of communication styles. “To get to the next level of greatness depends on the quality of our culture, which depends on the quality of our relationships, which depends on the quality of our conversations. Everything happens through…

By: Bridgette W. Gottwald, LPC, NCC Did you know that behavioral traits affect communication? Learning about and being able to understand communication styles can drastically improve your relationships. How knowledgeable or skilled you are in navigating difficult conversations depends upon your ability to connect with other people. According to Christian, “when communication breaks down, it’s often because the patterns and habits of how we communicate — our communication styles — get in the way.” In working to…

By Eric Dean JD, MBA, MA, MA, LPC, CADC How you interpret your experiences will have a significant impact on the way you feel about them. If you can change your perceptions of your experiences, you can change the way they make you feel.  How Our Perceptions and Interpretations Effect Out Feelings This is far from earth-shattering news. It is the basic premise of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), a modality in which the therapist works with the…

Plascilla Foster, LPC, NCC  A Netflix series entitled “Ultimatum: Marry or Move On,” follows six couples. In each relationship, one partner wants to get married, and the other partner is unsure. Reasons that one partner may choose to give an ultimatum are fear that their time is being wasted, wanting validation that they are important in the relationship, wanting to feel heard, wanting to feel seen, needing to be a priority, desiring to share the same goals…

Zoe Mittman Licensed Social Worker  “Just calm down.” “It’s not a big deal, just forget about it.” “It shouldn’t be having this much of an impact on you.” Have you heard these statements before? Has anybody ever said these to you when you were feeling upset? It may be that these statements made you feel worse. They sure would make me feel that way. These statements represent a lack of empathy — the inability of someone else…

Mary-Lauren O’Crowley, MA, NCC, LPC  Do you find that you say “yes” when you want to say “no”? Do you often play Devil’s Advocate? Do you tend to go with the flow, not offering your own opinion? Do you often get referred to as “generous”, “kind,” or “helpful”? You may be a people pleaser. When we think of pleasing those around us, this might not sound so bad. Most of us have an innate need for community and…

Mary-Lauren O’Crowley, MA, NCC, LPC Many of us have heard about regulating our emotions but not as many may know about regulating our nervous system. Yes, we can in fact intentionally relax our nervous system and help our bodies to get out of the fight, flight, freeze state. Our nervous system is responsible for respiration, heart rate, body temperature, digestion, and metabolism. More specifically, our sympathetic nervous system controls the fight-flight-freeze response. Our parasympathetic nervous system controls the…

Mary-Lauren O’Crowley, MA, NCC, LPC Did you know that chronic stress can have a negative impact on both your mental and physical health? In order for the body to thrive, it needs to be able to deal with stress in healthy and adaptive ways that ultimately allow the body to recover. You may be asking what is classified as chronic stress? Chronic stress is a continuous feeling of pressure and overwhelms stemming from both professional, personal, and…

Mary-Lauren O’Crowley, MA, NCC, LPC  The average person has up to 60,000 thoughts per day. Most of our decisions are based on this inner dialogue, and yet, for many of us, this inner dialogue is not pleasant, encouraging, or reassuring. While self-talk and even introspection are important, as it allows us to become aware of our strengths as well as areas for growth, we often confuse constructive criticism with destructive criticism. Begin observing our inner dialogue and…