Sleepless in Self Quarantine

gregory pappas rUc9hVE L E unsplash 1 5ea0722f635af

Bridgette W. Gottwald, LPC, NCC  It’s normal to have difficulty sleeping during this unprecedented time of transition and uncertainty. COVID-19 evokes emotions such as fear and anxiety, which clearly have a drastic affect upon our sleep quality and rapid eye movement (REM) cycle. Lately, I have passed along the following suggestions to my clients about…

Read More

Semester Interrupted: Finishing Your Academic Year During the Coronavirus Pandemic (Part I)

emma matthews digital content production O CLjxjzN3M unsplash 2 5e9f67ad134d4

Megan Mulroy, LPC  Within the past month, colleges and universities across America have been forced to move to online learning platforms due to the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). This brings a number of unparalleled challenges for college students. Graduation ceremonies have already been cancelled, and some are planning on having a virtual ceremony. Student’s licensing exams…

Read More

Quarreling with Quarantine

jose antonio gallego vazquez eTEapkhz0Lc unsplash 1 5e9f31bad6a66

Bridgette W. Gottwald, LPC, NCC  I know I’m not the only one who is quarreling with quarantine and disappointed and shocked at how 2020 has turned out thus far. Watching people arguing in the grocery store about toilet paper is something I never expected to see. We’ve all been pushed out of our comfort zones…

Read More

Confronting Corona: Mitigating Anxiety

engin akyurt fboaVuIdgzU unsplash 1 5e9f29f09a4ad

Bridgette W. Gottwald, LPC, NCC Feeling anxiety related to coronavirus, also known as COVID-19? Well, it’s safe to say that you’re not alone! There are so many things to be anxious about – catching the virus itself, adjusting to a new routine during quarantine, financial burdens, school closures, cancelled events, and many other things floating…

Read More

Navigating Stress/Anxiety and COVID-19

danielle macinnes 9Qu8rZxwz g unsplash 2 5e9f283261116

Uncertainty can be scary and can often increase symptoms of anxiety and stress. The end of this COVID-19 pandemic is not yet in sight, and I have been hearing from a lot of friends, family, and clients that their levels of stress and anxiety have been significantly higher since Chicago went on lockdown. It appears…

Read More

Waking Up on the Wrong Side of the Bed

dreamstime xxl 151397263 1 5e73ea3056d08

Kyle Lawell, LPC There are days where we wake up and know that something is “not right.” From the moment you woke up, there was something holding you back from being your authentic, happy, and caring self. Maybe you had troubling sleeping, maybe it was the shouting from your kids in the back seat of…

Read More

GIVE: The Key to Effective Communication in a Relationship

volodymyr hryshchenko V5vqWC9gyEU unsplash 1 5e73e8d1b4e4b

Maintaining effective communication within a relationship can be a challenging task, yet when individuals within a relationship are able to express their needs and wants appropriately, the relationship is much more likely to flourish and prosper. Expressing our desires to our loved-ones, however, can sometimes be difficult due to extraneous factors such as our fear…

Read More

A Mindful Minute

dawid zawila zb2vBaHYB2I unsplash 1 5e73e73394ebe

Oftentimes our lives can feel incredibly overwhelming with everything we have to accomplish throughout the day. From preparing your kids for school in the morning, going to that yoga class you nervously signed up for last minute, getting the groceries to feed your family, and remembering to turn in the report your supervisor asked for…

Read More

What To Do If You Think Your Partner Is Cheating

dreamstime xxl 151921084 1 1 5e73e288bfcbb

It is often a terrible gut-wrenching feeling when you start suspecting your significant other might be cheating on you. Maybe there was an unexplained situation that put you on high alert or possibly a comment from him/her/them or a friend that made you start suspecting. Whatever the situation might be, it is often discouraging, saddening,…

Read More